a murder of crows

atlasobscura: odditiesoflife: The Amazing Underwater Forest of...

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:25:29 -0400

odditiesoflife:

The Amazing Underwater Forest of Lake Kaindy

What makes Lake Kaindy truly remarkable is that it contains an underwater forest. Visible on the lakes surface are the tall, dried-out tops of submerged Spruce trees that rise above the water’s surface like the masts of sunken ships. They are the only sign of the amazing frozen forest below the water’s surface.

The water is so cold (even in summer the temperature does not exceed 6 degrees) that the pine needles remain on the trees, even after a hundred years of being submerged. During the winter, the lake freezes and becomes a popular spot for ice diving.

The lake is 400 meters long and is located in Kazakhstan’s portion of the Tian Shan Mountains, about 129 km from the city of Almaty. The lake was created after an earthquake in 1911 triggered a large landslide blocking the gorge and forming a natural dam.

Even more on Kaindy Lake…

So many amazing places to see in this world. Shame to be stuck in a city.

Duo of power!

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:21:19 -0400

Duo of power!

Inspiration as I piece together my next book.

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:44:43 -0400

Inspiration as I piece together my next book.

"BLVR: Are we just swamped by fear? I mean, is that what is really going on? Not that we actually..."

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:33:56 -0400

“

BLVR: Are we just swamped by fear? I mean, is that what is really going on? Not that we actually think that what happened in our lives is less meaningful—just that we’re overwhelmed by fear and that’s how we translate it to ourselves?

TM: That could be. It could be. It could also be that things feel meaningless to us not because the alternative to their ending is their going on forever, but because the alternative is their going on a little bit more. You know what I mean? But then, we come back to the same question—why should it go on a little bit more?

My mentor once told me a story about a plant that is in the garden of some of his relatives in Singapore. The plant blooms for an hour every, I don’t know, four or five years, and it’s a beautiful bloom. And he describes what happens when people gather around the plant. They know when it’s going to happen; I guess it’s kind of like clockwork. And he says they all come and they have cameras, and it’s so urgent for them to capture this thing. And he said that it’s as though they don’t see it, because they’re so busy capturing it, instead of just sitting there and allowing this thing to happen. … But I suspect that that idea of the momentary beauty somehow just isn’t enough and perhaps is connected to that fear that you talked about. There is that sense that for it to be more meaningful, it has to last at least a little longer.

”

- The Believer | Interview with TODD MAY

A smart, kind conversation about dying and not-dying.

(via rachael-maddux)

morrisdog: I am found. Thank you, everyone. THANK GOD!

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:19:02 -0400

morrisdog:

I am found. Thank you, everyone.

THANK GOD!

San Francisco, this is the best dog in the world! PLEASE FIND...

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:05:09 -0400

San Francisco, this is the best dog in the world! PLEASE FIND HIM! His parents are getting married and they want him at their wedding.

sexpigeon:

Morris is missing. He ran out of the house he was staying in at 17th and Bryant and is now loose in the Mission. If you see him, please, please send anything to my tumblr inbox or email me at foodsco at gmail.

odditiesoflife: Nacreous Clouds Also called polar stratospheric...

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:28:44 -0400

odditiesoflife:

Nacreous Clouds

Also called polar stratospheric clouds or mother of pearl clouds, nacreous clouds are mostly visible within two hours after sunset or before dawn. They blaze unbelievably bright with vivid, iridescent colors. These clouds are rare and occur in the polar stratosphere at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 meters. They are so bright because at those heights, they are still sunlit.

Although incredibly beautiful, they have a negative impact on our atmosphere. They create ozone holes by supporting chemical reactions that produce active chlorine which catalyzes ozone destruction.

Everything beautiful hurts you.

odditiesoflife: The Wave The Wave consists of 200 million year...

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:24:56 -0400

odditiesoflife:

The Wave

The Wave consists of 200 million year old sand dunes that have turned to rock. These large sandstone formations are located on the slopes of the Coyote Buttes in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness in Arizona. The spectacular ribbons of various colors, called Liesegang Bands, were formed by the movement and precipitation of oxidizing materials such as iron and manganese in ground water. The Wave is accessible only on foot via a three-mile hike and is highly regulated.

Lightning hits the Grand Canyon, photographed by Travis Roe (HT...

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:33:25 -0400

Lightning hits the Grand Canyon, photographed by Travis Roe (HT Kurt Andersen)

Oh my god.

Sadness as I just left that fair city. eleventheleven: THE...

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:49:39 -0400

Photographer Vicky Moon | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Photographer Vicky Moon | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Photographer Vicky Moon | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Photographer Vicky Moon | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Photographer Vicky Moon | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Photographer Vicky Moon | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Photographer Vicky Moon | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Photographer Vicky Moon | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Sadness as I just left that fair city.

eleventheleven:

THE BEAUTY IN EXPIRED LA BY VICKY MOON

CA, Los Angeles-based photographer Vicky Moon - “Expired L.A. is an on going series of my exploration of Los Angeles at night. Every building is unique and captivating, as well as the individual color shifts each building creates with every exposure. I am fascinated by the drama that is created by the night sky and seek the beautiful in the over looked; I find the mundane to be extravagant and I find the beauty in the expired; This is my Los Angeles.” (devidsketchbook)

weirdvintage: Alice Cooper and Salvador Dali, 1973 (via...

Thu, 09 May 2013 22:52:09 -0400

weirdvintage:

Alice Cooper and Salvador Dali, 1973 (via SuperRadNow)

Wish I was there.

Happy 10th Birthday, The Believer!

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:42:55 -0400

longreads:

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, The Believer has just published a handful of classic stories for the first time on the web, and they were nice enough to share them with the Longreads community. Enjoy:

Eddie Vedder Interviewed by Carrie Brownstein (June 2004)

“Crimes Against the Reader” (Rick Moody, April 2005)

“Transmissions from Camp Trans” (Michelle Tea, November 2003)

“Welcome to the Almost Cult-Like Fan-World of American Women’s Pro Basketball” (Stephen Burt, May 2005)

Zadie Smith Talks with Ian McEwan (August 2005)

David Cross Talks with Someone Who Hates Him [Adam Bulger] and Someone Who Loves Him [Eric Spitznagel] (May 2008)

So much magic all in one place!

ingodwetrustnyc: vintagenatgeographic: Giant century plant in...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:25:48 -0400

ingodwetrustnyc:

vintagenatgeographic: Giant century plant in Southern California - National Geographic | February 1958

The Lovers Rene Magritte, 1928 Magritte’s mother was a...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 11:18:25 -0400

The Lovers

Rene Magritte, 1928

Magritte’s mother was a suicidal woman, which led her husband, Magritte’s father, to lock her up in her room. One day, she escaped, and was found down a nearby river dead, having drowned herself. According to legend, 13 year old Magritte was there when they retrieved the body from the river. As she was pulled from the water, her dress covered her face. This later became a theme in many of Magritte’s paintings in the 1920’s, portraying people with cloth covering their faces. (source)

believermag: Via MOCAtv: “In 1965, Sol LeWitt wrote fellow...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:11:43 -0400

believermag:

Via MOCAtv: “In 1965, Sol LeWitt wrote fellow sculptor Eva Hesse a four-page letter of encouragement, urging her to stop doubting herself and to simply continue making her work. Despite the fact that some would consider their friendship unlikely, the two sculptors were close friends and wrote to each other frequently about their ideas, work, and personal lives from 1960 until Hesse’s death ten years later. Often quoted, LeWitt’s letter has become a source of inspiration and a vote of confidence for many artists the world over.
Producer Aaron Rose (Beautiful Losers, Become a Microscope) worked with punk rock band Rancid to remake LeWitt’s words into a bold and boisterous song. With wild and wavy LeWitt-inspired animation, this video energetically embodies the message of its writer.”

Read the original letter in full: http://blog.art21.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/sol-eva-letter.pdf

Unknown - Captain Constantine, 1870 Prince or Captain...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:34:51 -0400

Unknown - Captain Constantine, 1870

Prince or Captain Constantine was, according to legend, forcibly tattooed by Burmese or Chinese tattoo artists. The tattoos “consisted of 388 symmetrically arranged and closely interwoven images that covered his entire body, including his face, eyelids, ears, and penis. The designs, according to his publicity, consisted of crowned sphinxes, dragons, serpents, monkeys, elephants, leopards, tigers, lions, panthers, gazelles, cats, crocodiles, lizards, eagles, storks, swans, peacocks, owls, fishes, salamanders, men and women, fruit, leaves, and flowers. Most of them were quite small but exceptionally exact in their detail.”

odditiesoflife: Animals Acting Human, 1923-1956 Ever since...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:17:55 -0400

odditiesoflife:

Animals Acting Human, 1923-1956

Ever since photography began, the genre of animals acting human as been a popular novelty. There is something about animals mimicking human behavior that is just too cute. Whether its “Carrots” the rabbit firing table tennis balls from a toy cannon, a lamb and a cat playing checkers or a cat hanging mice like laundry, its hard not to smile.

MY FAVORITE THING IN THE WORLD: ANIMALS DOING HUMAN THINGS.

The Fante Tapes [Redux]

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:35:30 -0400

The Fante Tapes [Redux]:

John Fante’s sweet voice talking about writing for film vs. writing novels, the writers who influenced him, (one of my favorite books) Wait Until Spring, Bandini, etc.

Happy birthday, old man.

I am going to be here in two days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:56:00 -0400

I am going to be here in two days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t know how I made it, but tomorrow I will finally be on a plane to Texas. I look forward to not seeing more than ten humans a day.

Moon rise over the Chisos S0A3437 by E=mcSCOW on Flickr.

More photos here.

"Does it matter that what you’ve achieved, with your online special and your tour can’t be replicated..."

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:53:00 -0400

“

Does it matter that what you’ve achieved, with your online special and your tour can’t be replicated by other performers who don’t have the visibility or fan base that you do?

Why do you think those people don’t have the same resources that I have, the same visibility or relationship? What’s different between me and them?

You have the platform. You have the level of recognition.

So why do I have the platform and the recognition?

At this point you’ve put in the time.

There you go. There’s no way around that. There’s people that say: “It’s not fair. You have all that stuff.” I wasn’t born with it. It was a horrible process to get to this. It took me my whole life. If you’re new at this — and by “new at it,” I mean 15 years in, or even 20 — you’re just starting to get traction. Young musicians believe they should be able to throw a band together and be famous, and anything that’s in their way is unfair and evil. What are you, in your 20s, you picked up a guitar? Give it a minute.

”

- Louis C. K. on success and hard work, echoing F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous words that “nothing any good isn’t hard” and Debbie Millman’s sage advice that “things take a long time; practice patience.” (via explore-blog)