10 Levels of Intimacy in Today's Communication.




Greco-Buddhist Art.

Along the Silk Road, in Afghanistan, long ago...

'Greco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 1000 years in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE, and the Islamic conquests of the 7th century CE. '

An example of a 'Greek Buddha' : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg

'Iconographical evolution of the Greek Herakles into the Japanese Shukongoshin.' : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Heracles-Shukongoshin.JPG

Greek-looking Cambodian bodhisattva: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CambodianLokesvara.JPG




Kabul Museum.

'For thousands of years, Afghanistan was a crossroad for trade from India, Iran, and Central Asia. As a result, many treasures and artifacts have been discovered and collected. The Kabul Museum, housed the most comprehensive record of Central Asian history. Many of its pieces have been dated as far back as pre-historic times...'




The Lofstrom Launch Loop.

Better than a space elevator.




Rembrandt van Rijn: Famous Works.




Sketches of Hell by Kyosai.

'Prolific Meiji-period artist Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-1889), well-known in the West for his darkly humorous illustrations, was commissioned by Scottish surgeon and Japanese art collector William Anderson (1842-1900) to produce a large number of comic paintings in the 1870s. Anderson’s collection, which today forms the core of the Japanese paintings at the British Museum, included the handful of fanciful depictions of hell shown below. '




One Hundred Years Hence.

'The trade cards shown below are a set of 12 stock cards that predict what things will be like in the year 2000. This set was most likely produced at the Kuntsdruck-Friedberg printing plant in Berlin, Germany, and is found in both American and European versions. The images are identical for both versions, but the American cards are in English and have wider and more decorative borders. The European cards were imprinted for chocolate companies in Germany and Belgium, and the English language cards were imprinted for at least 14 different American companies.'




Wagon Train to the West.

'Daniel Jenks traveled to Yreka, California, twice from his native Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In 1849 he joined thousands of '49ers who poured into California by sailing around Cape Horn. In 1859, after a few months at home, Jenks began his overland journey, intending to mine for gold at Pike's Peak. Disillusioned, he returned to Yreka and, on December 24, 1859, bought a mining claim on Long Gulch, where he had mined previously.'

'These are four of twenty drawings illustrating his travels that Jenks created after he arrived in Yreka, in 1859. He mailed them home to his sister in Pawtucket with a volume of his edited diary.'

Cherokee Pass: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?pp/PPALL:@field(NUMBER+@1(cph+3c28886))




The Wizard of New Zealand.

'The Wizard was born Ian Brackenbury Channell, 4 December 1932 in London. He served in the Royal Air Force and taught in universities in Australia.'

'The Wizard moved to Christchurch New Zealand where he has become a national icon.'




The Anonymous Portrait Gallery.

'Anonymous art is wonderfully simple. What's there is what the artist put into it, no more or less. Intentions and creative contexts, ethnicity, mental diagnosis, educational background, the artist's art-historical role -- all are ciphers. In place of biography there is mystery, and the creative process speaks for itself to viewers who are as anonymous to the artist as the artist is to them. '




Art Deco in Lower Manhattan.




Exploring Space (1958).

'While The Complete Book of Space Travel was aimed at teen and pre-teen boys, the 1958 book Exploring Space was looking for a younger audience (still of boys, mind you, since we all know that lady-parts get confused with all that science and math).'

'Below are sample pages from the book, including one that some little tyke got after with a brown crayon.'




Tomorrow's Kitchen (1943).

'The July 16, 1943 Morning Herald (Uniontown, PA) ran this piece about the kitchen of the future, complete with built-in pots and pans. The kitchen was designed by the Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass company, which may be the same company that imagined the glass house of the year 2008.'




Antique Maps of Paris.



Astro Pics.


Diamonds in a Cloudy Sky.


Saturn's Iapetus: Painted Moon.




The African Rock and Roll Years.



King Sunny Ade in Concert :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osNAy1DNkOQ&fmt=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fIzasVGSck&fmt=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBnmwDG84kI&fmt=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqrUT-RF5VQ&fmt=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9h2ZQTVAZQ&fmt=18




Planets and Stars to Scale.




Ganguro Makeup Tutorial.



Querying the Hive Mind.


'I want to record my parents telling the story of their lives. I would love to hear tips, pointers, guides, resources or your experiences of doing the same thing - anything which might help me do as good a job as possible would be appreciated.'


'How many calories are in a human brain?'


'I've always been interested in spies, secret passages, and gadgets. How can I transform my home to incorporate these things?'




A Stroll Down Seattle's First Avenue.

'Four years after a Jog Around Lake Union, I decided to take another jaunt—this time on downtown Seattle’s main artery—and brought Caitlin Burke, friend and shutterbug, along for the walk.'

'From north to south, here’s what we saw on a sunny day in the Emerald City.'




Wolf Spider.




Butterflies.




Walking the Great Wall of China.




3D Stereoviews of Old Japan.




Someone's Photos of Vietnam.