Design Wish - Apollo 11 Table

This accurate model of the surface of the moon around where the Apollo 11 LEM module touched down make for one of the most gorgeous furniture pieces around.

APOLLO 11 / Table

85 cm x 85 cm x 50 cm.
60 kg.
Fiber glass / Epoxy Resin.
Gloss varnish finish.
Cupro-Aluminium alloy / Steel.
Numbered models / Limited edition of 8 + 4 Ap.

From the project at Harow:
"Digital files from the NASA archives were needed in order to recreate the topology of real surfaces of the Moon, which constitute an artistic and poetic landscape. The craters are sculpted on a fibreglass slab and covered with a layer of resin, the transparency of which allows shadows to play over the lunar surface. The physico-chemical, dynamic, and thermal properties of this resin require a regular delay between each layer for perfect polymerisation, and the creation of the slab demands a confined and sterile environment. The feet, a contemporary representation of those of the LEM module, require precision manufacturing. Each piece is sculpted to the micro-millimetre, delicately and directly from the block, which is composed of a brass and aluminium alloy."

Book of the Day — Sagas of the Icelanders

These translation in the Sagas of the Icelanders from a thousand years ago, from the Vineland Sagas, The Prose Edda and the Poetry Edda, give us today access to a rich world often obscured to us.

The publication of these volumes is a reminder that the Icelandic Sagas can hold their own with the literature of the Mediterranean." ---Seamus Heaney, Nobel Laureate, 1995

5 Old Books for History: From the Ancients, Through The Rise of England to the Fight Against the Witches

The History of Herodotus

circa 425 BCE

The history of Herodotus: Volume 1

By Herodotus, Littlebury Isaac

The Western concept of history can trace much of its parentage to this book and this man.

It is however far from dry history of dates and locations. ​

“Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks” 

― Herodotus

Here are reports of exotic culture, the recounting of wars and attempts to understand the world which was largely a mystery to the Greeks at the time.   Some of my favorite tidbits include the details on the Scythians, the Batte of Thermopylae and some of the oldest reports of India from an outsider. 

Get the book »​

---

See also  My Portable Poetry Library​

Ecclesiastical History of the English People

c.e. 731

There is a blank period in my mind when it comes to northern Europe and England between the fall of Rome and the rise of the Vikings, eight hundred years later. Eight hundred years is a long time to know nothing about. ​

This is what reading this account of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes of Britain was great for.

Here is an excerpt:​

"Such,' he said,'O King, seems to me the present life of men on earth, in comparison with that time which to us is uncertain, as if when on a winter's night you sit feasting with your ealdormen and thegnsö a single sparrow should fly swiftly into the hall, and coming in at one door, instantly fly out through another. In that time in which it is indoors it is indeed not touched by the fury of the winter, and yet, this smallest space of calmness being passed almost in a flash, from winter going into winter again, it is lost to your eyes. Somewhat like this appears the life of man; but of what follows or what went before, we are utterly ignorant.” 

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The History of the Kings of Britain

c.e. 1136

Myth, history, tales, stories of heroic people; Geoffrey of Monmouth, a bishop in Wales, chronicled the ​legends of Merlin, King Arthur, Brutus and the founding of Britain. His detailed histories have influenced all of the English writers than came after him in one way or another. 

Get the book »​

The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology

By Snorri Sturluson

The Prose Edda

circa c.e. 1250

​"The Prose Edda contains a wide variety of lore which a Skald (poet) of the time would need to know and contains consistent narratives of many of the plot lines of Norse mythology."
 

Much of the creation myth, as in this excerpt:​

"The sun knew not           where she had housing;
The moon knew not          what Might he had;
The stars knew not          where stood their places.

Thus was it ere          the earth was fashioned."

Get the book »​

Malleus Maleficarum

1487 CE

The Malleus Maleficarum, which translates as the Hammer of the Witches, was the standard medieval text on witchcraft up to the early modern period. The depiction of the evil of witches and how to eradicate them continue to contribute to our knowledge of early modern law, religion and society. 

I personally have used its often incantatory and fantastic (in both senses of the word) language as prompts for poems (see my poem Witness for example)​.

An excerpt:​

"For there are three things in man: will, understanding, and body. The first is ruled by God (for, The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord); the second is enlightened by an Angel; and the body is governed by the motions of the stars."
​

​Get the book »

Photo of the Day: The Very First Photo of Presidential Inauguration 1857

On March 4, 1857, John Wood took this photo of the inauguration of  the 15th US president James Buchanan in front of an unfinished Capitol Building.

Read more on TIME

1914 Paris in Color

When time and distance are suddenly jumped, when something as far off and long ago as Paris on the eve of World War I, when people then and there look a lot like people here and now. Yeah. Love it. 

Photos Frozen in a Block of Ice: 100-Year-Old Negatives of Antarctica

Ernest Shackleton's 1914-1917 Ross Sea Party, which was stranded in a hut when their ship blew out to sea, left a box of never-before-seen negatives when they were finally rescued. Recently, Conservators of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust came across the 22 exposed, but unprocessed, cellulose nitrate negatives during an attempt to restore an old exploration hut.

via My Modern Met

Book of the Day — The Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede

The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum) by the Venerable Bede written in the 8th century is a key original source on Anglo-Saxon history and in the formation of the English national identity.

Historical Correction – Photos by Maxine Helfman of Black People in Historically Flemish Costumes

In her photo series, "Historical Corrections," Maxine Helfman tweaks the way we think of the Old Dutch Masters by placing black models in the dress of high society 17th century Flanders. The new narratives contrast with and highlight so much of the frame of reference for history and race in the West.

The Michael Eric Dyson Reader

“Charity is no substitute for justice. If we never challenge a social order that allows some to accumulate wealth—even if they decide to help the less fortunate—while others are short-changed, then even acts of kindness end up supporting unjust arrangements. We must never ignore the injustices that make charity necessary, or the inequalities that make it possible.”

— Michael Eric Dyson

Get The Michael Eric Dyson Reader

from wikipedia:

Michael Eric Dyson (born October 23, 1958) is an American academic, author, and radio host. He is a professor of sociology at Georgetown University. Described by Michael A. Fletcher as "a Princeton PhD and a child of the streets who takes pains never to separate the two". Dyson has authored and edited 18 books dealing with subjects such as Malcolm X;Martin Luther King, Jr.; Marvin Gaye; Nas's debut albumIllmatic; Bill Cosby; Tupac Shakur; and Hurricane Katrina.

The Michael Eric Dyson Reader

Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X

“Hence I have no mercy or compassion in me for a society that will crush people, and then penalize them for not being able to stand up under the weight.”

— Malcolm X

Get The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X

from wikipedia:

Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was an African-American Muslim minister and a human rights activist.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (Penguin Modern Classics)

By Malcolm X, Alex Haley

50 years of Space Exploration in an Infographic

There is so much of this I hadn't the slightest idea about. It is certainly one of the great strengths of an infographic: being able to take it all in, nearly all at once.​

via NotCot

900 Classic Arcade Games in Your Browser

Yesterday, the Internet Archive released 900 classic arcade games for you to play for free in your web browser. 

A Parisian Apartment Becomes A Timecapsule From 70 Years Ago

An  apartment on the Right Bank owned by Madame de Florian, an affluent Parisian socialite and actress, was left suddenly when the Nazis rolled into Paris.

Even though she never returned, she kept paying the rent all the way up to her death at 91.

Among the exquisite architectural details, the tapestries, the view into a bygone era, was found the painting discovered to be Madame de Florian herself, painting by renowned 19th century Italian Giovanni Boldini. The painting, and several handwritten love letters from Boldini seem to confirm that she was in fact his muse.

See also Parisian Theatres »

View fullsize

Marthe de Florian at 24 years of age painted by Giovanni Boldini

via So Bad So Good

Soviet Era Buildings Mouldering Quietly

The years between now and 1989 (when the Soviet Union started its disintergration) are the same as between 1989 and 1964. Twenty-five years. 

English photographer Rebecca Litchfield spent over twenty of those 25 years sneaking around Russia snapping pictures, sometimes at the peril of her safety and freedom. 

Litchfield:

“Not many explorers travel to Russia, where the rules are very different, locations are heavily guarded and a strong military presence exists everywhere. There are serious consequences for getting caught. We managed to stay hidden for all of the trip, we maximised our stealthiness, ducking and diving into bushes and sneaking past sleeping security. But on day three our good fortune ran out as we visited a top secret radar installation. After walking through the forest, mosquitos attacking us from all directions, we saw the radar and made our way towards it, but just metres away suddenly we were joined by military and they weren’t happy…”

  The whole project is presented in her new book, Soviet Ghosts.

The Soldier's Kit through 1,000 years of English History

Photographer Thomas Atkinson has created this photo series, Soldiers’ Inventories, which documents the military kits of English soldiers, from the Battle of Hastings in 1066 up to today. 

Mounted Knight, Siege of Jerusalem, 1244

Fighting Archer, Battle of Agincourt, 1415

Yorkist Man at Arms, Battle of Bosworth, 1485

Trained Band Caliverman, Tilbury, 1588

New Model Army Musketeer, Battle of Naseby, 1645

Private Sentinel, Battle of Malplaquet, 1709

Private Soldier, Battle of Waterloo, 1815

Private Soldier, Rifle Brigade, Battle of the Alma, 1854

Sergeant, Battle of the Somme, 1916

Lance Corporal, Parachute Brigade, Battle of Arnhem, 1944

Royal Marine Commando, Falklands Conflict, 1982

Close Support Sapper, Royal Engineers, Helmand Province, 2014

Via Beautiful Decay

A History of the World in 100 Seconds - Four Years of 5 Things

This geo-visualization of wikipedia articles through history first appeared March 21, 2011.

Circus Girls in Sarasota, Florida, 1949

Sarasota has been the winter headquarters for a number of circuses, most notably the Ringling Brothers Circus (there is of course, their legacy: Ringling Museum, Ringling School of Art and Design, for example). 

Here from the pages of LIFE magazine are some day-in-the-life photos of the circus girls in Sarasota in and around 1949. 

via Vintag.es

Guest Post - Devereau Chumrau - Images of the History of Yoga

Devereau Chumrau - Actor & Yoga Practioner

This guest post is from actor Devereau Chumrau.

Devereau may be a native of Los Angeles, but it is also the time she spent in Ghana, in Europe and the UK, and largely as a student of the Asolo Conservatory in Florida, that has shaped her vision as an actor and as an artist. She has, all along the way, worked to develop her interest and experience in acting for the stage and for the screen.

Catch her show LOVECRAFT: Nightmare Suite opening Jan 31 at the Visceral Company in Hollywood.

Devereau:

Just call me yogini from now on!

This awesome exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, “Yoga: The Art of Transformation," has redefined my understanding of yoga with its 17 centuries of images and objects documenting yoga's history.

It's so great to be able to geek out on my fascination with both yoga and art history.  

The exhibit page on the Smithsonian site has so much enthralling history in the very specific stories that go along with the beautiful images.

See also 5 things to buy the Hot Yoga enthusiast in your life »

History Told Through Instragrams

MTV designers Gusto NYC and Gavin Alaoen smash the past into our present in Histagrams.

via Visual News

Kodak No. 1 and Its 125 year old Photos

Consumer photography took a huge leap forward in 1888, when Eastman Kodak debuted the Kodak No. 1 (the followup to the Kodak Box):

“You Press the Button, We Do the Rest.”

This leather-covered wooden box came loaded with 100 exposures, cost $25 (about $650 of today's) and $10 for developing and reloading the exposures.

These examples come from the National Media Museum’s Flickr account.

via PetaPixel