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POPSWhat Ansel Adams Saw Through His Lens "No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit." - Ansel Adams
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POPS50 (Really) Stunning Pictures and Photos "50 brilliant photos and stunning pictures — some pictures tell stories, some are incredibly beautiful, some are funny and some are very sad." All compiled by the good people at Smashing Magazine!
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POPSAll 120 Crayon Names, Color Codes and Fun Facts "The average child in the United States will wear down 730 crayons by his 10th birthday (or 11.4 boxes of 64s). Kids, ages 2-8, spend an average of 28 minutes each day colouring. Combined, children in the US spend 6.3 billion hours colouring annually, almost 10,000 human lifetimes!" "Crayola crayon colour names rarely change. However, there are exceptions. In 1958, Prussian blue was changed to midnight blue in response to teacher recommendations that children could no longer relate to Prussian history. In 1962, the colour flesh was changed to peach recognizing that not everyone’s flesh is the same shade."
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POPSThe Code of Hammurabi Hammurabi (ruled ca. 1796 BC – 1750 BC) believed that he was chosen by the gods to deliver the law to his people. The Code of Hammurabi was one of several sets of laws in the Ancient Near East. Most of these codes come from similar cultures and racial groups in a relatively small geographical area, and they have passages which resemble each other. The earlier Code of Ur-Nammu (21st century BC), the Hittite laws (ca. 1300 BC), and Mosaic Law (traditionally ca. 1400 BC under Moses), all contain statutes that bear at least passing resemblance to those in the Code of Hammurabi and other codices from the same geographic area. The complete text of Hammurabi's Code of Laws. http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/hammurabi.htm. Quite shocking. The photographs were taken at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Invictus has a clip on Hammurabi: http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/92611450-2366-40A4-8825-C9287250A843/
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POPSMysterious people who appeared in the village of Woolpit in Suffolk, UK, in the 12th century. The children were brother and sister and they had green colored skin. Their appearance was normal in all other areas. They spoke an unrecognized language and refused to eat anything other than pitch from bean pods. Eventually their skin lost its green color. When they learned English they explained that they were from the ‘Land of St Martin’ which was a dark place because the sun never rose far above the horizon. They claimed that they were tending their father’s herd and followed a river of light when they heard the sounds of bells - finding themselves in Woolpit.Some of the more unusual theories proposed for the origin of the children are that they were Hollow Earth children, parallel dimension children, or Extraterrestrial children.
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POPSColors of the Night Sky The last photo is a panorama - scroll far over to the right to see the entire image (or clicking will take you to the original). The second to last photo is called Emerald Tornado. "The blood moon is also known as the “Hunter’s Moon” or “Sanguine Moon.” While folklore warns that a blood moon is a sign of bad times, the red star of night is anything but. The name “Hunter’s Moon” originates from the fact that this moon cast a brilliant light, allowing hunters to continue to seek prey even at nighttime" "No matter how much fact stands behind blood moons, some people still continue to think of them as harbingers of doom (but they are really quite the opposite!)"
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POPSLeonardo Da Vinci's 10 Best Ideas I had never heard of his scuba gear designs. From the source page: "Da Vinci's fascination with the sea spurred many designs for aquatic exploration. His diving suit was made of leather, connected to a snorkel made of cane and a bell that floated at the surface. Proving the artist was also practical, the suit included a pouch the diver could urinate in."
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POPSThings Americans don't like to talk about Read the whole article, it is illuminating to say the least. I thought this passage said it best: " If you listen to a lot of conservatives, they'll tell you that the difference between them and us is that conservatives love America and liberals hate America.... They don't get it. We love America just as much as they do. But in a different Way. You see, they love America the way a 4-year-old loves her Mommy. Liberals love America like grown-ups. To a 4-year-old, everything Mommy does is wonderful and anyone who criticizes Mommy is bad. Grown-up love means actually understanding what you love, taking the good with the bad, and helping your loved one grow. Love takes attention and work and is the best thing in the world."
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POPSRare Photos Of Isolated Korowai "Tree People" (thanks, openthink) The Korowai have been reported to practice cannibalism as recently as the early 1990s. Anthropologists suspect that cannibalism is no longer practiced by the Korowai. Recent reports suggest that the Korowai people have been coaxed into encouraging tourism by perpetuating the myth that it is still an active practice. A lot of new photos of the tribe: http://www.georgesteinmetz.com/index.php?section=11&page=view_photos
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POPSOnly the Creepiest Photo Ever Taken "These photographs were a common aspect of American culture, a part of the mourning process. Surviving families were proud of these images and hung them in their homes, sent copies to friends and relatives, wore them as lockets or carried them as pocket mirrors. Nineteenth-century Americans knew how to respond to these images. Today there is no culturally normative response to postmortem photographs."
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POPSRussian Stone Idols of Komi The seven "stone idols" in the upper part of the river Pechora stand alone on a wide plateau. An interesting formation considering the surrounding landscape: The writer for englishrussia.com believes they were man-made. http://englishrussia.com/?p=1911 I think they appear to be formed by nature, but the location is odd. amgumen if you see this, any ideas?