WHOAH reblogging for future reference I have never seen an explanation for this that made sense.
(via calllmeclassy)
What the what?!? We’re very excited to announce our newest flavor in honor of NBC’s 30 Rock: Liz Lemon Greek Frozen Yogurt! A Lemon Greek Frozen Yogurt with a Blueberry Lavender Swirl, coming this spring!
uh YEAH I’ll be eating this.
(via popculturebrain)
During the act of reading engaging fiction, we can lose all sense of time. By the final chapter of the right book, we feel changed in our own lives, even if what we’ve read is entirely made up.
Research says that’s because while you’re engaged in fiction—unlike nonfiction—you’re given a safe arena to experience emotions without the need for self-protection. Since the events you’re reading about do not follow you into your own life, you can feel strong emotions freely.
[…]
The key metric the researchers used is “emotionally transported,” or how deeply connected we are to the story. Previous research has shown that when we read stories about people experiencing specific emotions or events it triggers activity in our brains as if we were right there in the thick of the action.
New study by Dutch researchers confirms previous theories that reading fiction makes you a better person by expanding your capacity for empathy.
Also see how storytelling makes us human.
(via explore-blog)
(via explore-blog)
The unstoppable Hilary Mantel has added another award to her astonishing haul of major literary prizes when judges at a ceremony in London unanimously named Bring up the Bodies the 2012 Costa book of the year. Mantel became the first novelist to win both the Man Booker and the Costa prize…
Our November interview with Mantel, author of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, here.
yeah these books are the best. stop whatever you’re doing and read them now.
I’ve seen this many times and with each viewing, it’s more touching. This is a collection of outtakes from Inglourious Basterds (2009) that features actors and others on set looking to the camera and saying “Hi Sally” to Sally Menke, Quentin Tarantino’s longtime editor.
Knowing that Menke would be sitting in a dark editing suite shaping endless amounts of footage, Tarantino thought this would be a nice way to make her smile and keep her motivated through what can be a solitary process.
Sadly, in 2010 Sally Menke died, so Inglourious Basterds was their last collaboration. And beyond the sweet sentiment, this set of outtakes gives us a little window into the intimate working relationship between Menke and Tarantino.
Tarantino has briefly talked about the emotional experience of working on Django Unchained (2012) without her, and said that during the entire editing process, there was a sign put up that read “WWSD” – What Would Sally Do?
A cautionary warning: This video contains some cursing…just a little…and it’s very funny.
- Heidi
this is the greatest.
The spread of the black death.
Poland
Poland, tell us your secret.
Poland is the
oldnew Madagascar.If I remember correctly, Poland’s secret is that the jews where being blamed all over europe (as usual) as scapegoats for the black plague. Poland was the only place that accepted Jewish refugees, so pretty much all of them moved there.
Now, one of the major causes of getting the plague was poor hygiene. This proved very effective for the plague because everyone threw their poop into the streets because there were no sewers, and literally no one bathed because it was against their religion. Unless they were jewish, who actually bathed relatively often. When all the jews moved to Poland, they brought bathing with them, and so the plague had little effect there.
Milan survived by quarantining its city and burning down the house of anyone showing early symptoms, with the entire family inside it.
I reblogged this tons of times, but the Milan info is new.
Damn Italy, you scary.
Poland: “Hey, feeling a bit down? Have a quick wash! There, you see? All better”
Milan: “Aw, feeling a bit sick are we? BURN MOTHERFUCKER, BURN!!!!!”
Also, this might have something to do with it: from what I understand, O blood type is uncommonly… common in Poland. Something to do with large families in small villages and a LOT of intermarriage. The black plague was caused by a bacterium that produced, in its waste in the human body, wastes that very closely mimic the “B” marker sugars on red blood cells that keep the body from attacking its own immune system. Anyone who has a B blood type had an immune system that was naturally desensitized to the presence of the bacterium, and therefore was more prone to developing the disease. Anyone who had an O type was doubly lucky because the O blood type means the total absence of ANY markers, A or B, meaning that their bodys’ immune system would react quickly and violently against the invaders, while someone with an A may show symptoms and recover more slowly, while someone with B would have just died. Because O is a recessive blood type, it shows in higher numbers when more people who carry the recessive genes marry other people who also carry the recessive gene. Poland, which has a nearly 700 year history of being conquered by or partnering with every other nation in the surrounding area, was primarily an agricultural country, focused around smaller, farming communities where people were legally tied to, and required to work, “their” land, and so historically never “spread” their genes across a large area. The economy was, and had been, unstable for a very long period of time leading up to the plague, the government had been ineffective and had very little reach in comparison to the armies of the other countries around for a very very long time, and so its people largely remained in small communities where multiple generations of cross-familial inbreeding could have allowed for this more recessive gene to show up more frequently. Thus, there could be a higher percentage of O blood types in any region of the country, guaranteeing less spread of the illness and moving slower when it did manage to travel. Combine this with the fact that there were very few large, urban centers where the disease would thrive, and with the above facts, and you’ve got a lovely recipe for avoiding the plague.
Interestingly enough, as a result from the plague, the entirety of Europe now has a higher percentage of people with O blood type than any other region of the world.
WHY IS THIS ALL SO COOL
When Tumblr teaches you more about the plague than 12 years of school ever did.
Just to throw a nod in, as a medieval historian, this is all credible, and is the leading theory as to the plagues effectiveness at this point. So. Enjoy your new knowledge!
And parents said teh internet is not educational.
#now you know
(via lostinhistory)
(via calllmeclassy)
Best Friends
Born in Africa to French wildlife photographer parents, Tippi Degré had a most unusual childhood. The young girl grew up in the African desert and developed an uncommon bond with many untamed animals including a 28-year old African elephant named Abu, a leopard nicknamed J&B, lion cubs, giraffes, an Ostrich, a mongoose, crocodiles, a baby zebra, a cheetah, giant bullfrogs, and even a snake. Africa was her home for many years and Tippi became friends with the ferocious animals and tribespeople of Namibia. As a young child, the French girl said, “I don’t have friends here. Because I never see children. So the animals are my friends.”
Eliza Thornberry!!
(via npr)
moorish architecture forever.
(via et-in-arcadia)
