A handmade ceramic pot serves as an ingenious zoetrope-like animation device in this collaborative video. The video was created by animator Jim Le Fevre, filmmaker Mike Paterson, and ceramicists Roops and Al Johnstone of RAMP. It was commissioned by the UK-based Crafts Council. – from Laughing Squid
I admire the concept and the skill.
Russian artist Boris Kustodiev’s Maslenitsa (1916)
I never thought about the origin of Lent, so I was interested to read this history on Wikipedia:
“It is probably impossible to know when the tradition of marking the start of Lent began. Ælfric of Eynsham’s “Ecclesiastical Institutes” of about A.D. 1000 includes: “In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor shall so shrive him as he then may hear by his deeds what he is to do [in the way of penance]”.
Some suggest that the Pancake Tuesday was originally a pagan holiday. Before the Christian era, the Slavs believed that the change of seasons was a struggle between Jarilo, the god of vegetation, fertility and springtime, and the evil spirits of cold and darkness. People believed that they had to help Jarilo fight against winter and bring in the spring. The most important part of Maslenitsa week (the whole celebration of the arrival of spring lasted one week) was making and eating pancakes. The hot, round pancakes symbolized the sun. The Slavs believed that by eating pancakes, they got the power, light and warmth of the sun. The first pancake was usually put on a window for the spirits of the ancestors. On the last day of Maslenitsa week some pancakes and other food were burnt in a bonfire as a sacrifice to the pagan gods.”
I read somewhere that housekeepers wanted to use up all of the food that would spoil during the period of Lent and that is how Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday came to be. In the time before refrigeration butter, oil and meat might go off during the the 40 days of Lent and so were used up in Mardi Gras feasting.
In the festivals listed on Wikipedia, pancakes, green peas, and general merry making feature in many cultures on this day before Ash Wednesday.
When it gets really cold outside, at -25C/-13F, soap bubble mixtures freeze faster than they pop, making for some very fascinating effects! Watch the video…
“When it gets this cold, I can often be found outside my house, bubble blower in one hand and camera in the other (I think my neighbours have gotten used to this sort of behaviour by now).
However, frozen bubble are still very fragile creatures, so I’ve experimented with different recipes to create a durable bubble wall that won’t pop in the slightest breeze; dish soap for the bubbling, corn syrup to thicken the wall and sugar to help crystallization. I let the mixture chill in the freezer to help speed up the freezing once outside:
– 200ml warm water
– 35ml corn syrup
– 35ml dish soap
– 2tbs sugar
– chill in the freezer
One other piece of advice … dress warm! It’s cold out there!
This video is in real-time … no time lapse.”
reblogged with thanks from Chris Ratzlaff via WordlessTech
Reblogged from Why? because Science. With Thanks.
Don’t touch that button (from Daily Timewaster):
This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Sir Terry Pratchett:
Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying ‘End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH’, the paint wouldn’t even have time to dry
Winds and currents all over the world. Click on the image to see the animation.
Thank you HMS Defiant.
Happy Groundhog Day – or Whistle Pig Day!
From the video, you can see why they are sometimes called whistle pigs.
Woodchucks got their name from the Algonquins who called them “wuchak” or “digger.” Woodchuck is a corruption of the Algonquin name. These large ground squirrels (Marmota monax) are also known as whistlers, ground pigs, thickwood badgers, and monax. Baby woodchucks are called chucklings.
February 2 is also known as Candlemas and falls 40 days after Christmas. Lots of other ancient holidays and observances take place in the early part of February – probably when everyone is weary of the long, dark nights and has hopes for an early spring.
With origins that date back as far as the Tang Dynasty (around the year ~700), the Chinese craft of Dongyang wood carving is regarded by many to be one of the most elegant forms of relief carving in the world. The craft is still practiced in a few workshops in the region of Dongyang, China, and most commonly appears as ornate decoration on ‘everyday’ objects such as cases, cabinets, stools, desks and tables.
Photo credit: Michael Lai
You have probably seen this video of Tian Tian at the National Zoo, but it is worth repeating. Pure joy!
Firearms, fibers, any news or behaviors that make me say, "hmm, let me take another look at this."
I still miss my man, but my aim is getting better.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 