Filler Text

Stuff I like for sundry reasons

[mapsontheweb]

Unfriendly countries according to Russia vs countries where you can drink tap water.

via @spartakhero

[jackjarndyce]

[hazy-october]

source

[bogleech]

hey did you know how big an albatross was because I

VERY

fucking

did not

[ayellowbirds]

i’m so glad people are learning this.

[cryoverkiltmilk]

I… I knew in numerical values how big they were, but I’ve never seen them next to humans before

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

A LORGE BIRB

[witchyrem-ains]

I thought albatross was another word for “seagull” not for “terror of the fucking sky”

[zoreta]

The reason albatross are so huge is because they need huge wings for their unique lifestyle.

Albatross can go months, if not over a year without seeing land. There is a pocket of air trapped between wave fronts and they just ride ontop of it. To make that work, they need huge wings. If the winds die they rest on the surface, and wait for the winds to return; the huge wings mean it’s not worth it to fly any other way. When they need to eat they pluck fish and squid from the surface, and sometimes dive. Nobody is entirely sure if they sleep on the wing, and if so, how.

The large wings also mean that taking off and landing are the hardest parts of flying for an albatross. Generally they avoid it, but for nesting and resting, it’s unavoidable.

Albatross have complex mating dances, and selecting a mate can take years; as they narrow down partners they create their own dancing language that they invent themselves. Once half of a pair has died, that dance is lost. These couples do not travel together once their chick has grown (and it is always a single chick at a time). Instead they will separate to travel the world, not seeing each other again until it is time to return to the island they themselves hatched from, as have hundreds of generations before them. Wanderers, who always find their way home.

[rook-seidhr]

#farewell farewell but this i tell / i tell it to thee plain#do NOT fuck with an albatross#those fuckers are INSANE (x)

[strictlyquadrilateral]

oh noooo dont credit me, i stole that bit from scott alexander’s excellent rime of the ancient mariner 2

[notgilderoylockhart]

made a skyrim moodboard because I just really love this game

[livesunique]

In Memory of Queen Elizabeth II: Her Majesty’s Life in Portraits

(Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022)

Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest reigning monarch, passed away peacefully on Thursday at the age of 96.

The world-beloved queen was an inspiration to numerous artists and resulted in a multitude of unforgettable images in every imaginable medium during her 70-year reign. 

Together, The Queen’s official portraits, nearly 1,000 of them, present a portrait of a woman unflinching in her sense of duty. But they also reveal someone who has repeatedly embraced change, new ideas and experimentation through her sitting for such a wide range of portrait artists since she became Queen in 1952.

Arthur Machin’s portrait used on postage stamps. Photo: Jack Taylor/Getty,

If official imagery helps to mythologise a monarch, Arthur Machin did more to epitomise the idea of Queen Elizabeth than any other artist. Commissioned by the Stamp Advisory Committee, Arthur Machin developed his profile of the Queen in 1967. Known as the “definitive” in philately circles, it has since been reproduced more than 220 billion times and is still used on stamps today.

“Queen Elizabeth II” by Pietro Annigoni, 1955. Tempera, oil and ink on paper. Fishmongers’ Hall, London,

“Equanimity” by Chris Levine, 2004. Gelatin silver print on matte fine art paper on aluminum mount, 22 × 17 ½ in (55.9 × 44.5 cm),

“Her Majesty the Queen on Worcran” by Susan Crawford, 1977. Credit: Royal Collection Trust,

“Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II” by Justin Mortimer, 1998, Oil on canvas, © Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts Manufacturers & Commerce,

“Queen Elizabeth II” (From Reigning Queens) by Andy Warhol, 1985. Complete set of colour screenprints on Lenox Museum Board, 100.0 x 80.0 cm (each, sheet),

“Portrait of the Queen” by Dorothy Wilding,1952 (Hand-coloured by Beatrice Johnson) taken shortly after she acceded to the throne at the age of 25,

“Queen Elizabeth II” by Lucian Freud, , 2001, Oil on canvas, 15.2×23.5 cm. Royal Collection (Buckingham Palace), London, UK,

“The Queen” by Oluwole Omofemi, 2022, (Special commission for the cover of Tatler’s Platinum Jubilee issue. Based on a 1950s portrait of the Queen holding a fan) Courtesy Sotheby’s

“Eight portraits of Queen Elizabeth II onto Stonehenge” in celebration of the Platinum Jubilee, 2022; Each picture is from a different decade of The Queen’s reign, illuminating the ancient monument’s iconic façade in a spectacular display. (Jim Holden/English Heritage/PA Wire)

[diioonysus]

victorian era women

[centuriespast]

Mountain View Gustave Doré (1832–1883) The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation

[ltwilliammowett]

Sophie off the Catalan Coast, by Geoff Hunt 2022

A scene from Patrick O'Brian’s first Aubrey / Maturin book,  Master and Commander.

Jack Aubrey’s 14-gun brig  Sophie sights the much larger and better-armed Spanish 32 gun xebec-frigate Cacafuego through the lifting mist.

[lsleofskye]

All eyes on you | doeeme

[jackjarndyce]

[virtuallyinsane]

Photo by Annie Spratt

[mapsontheweb]

1733 Map of the British Empire in America

[ltwilliammowett]

The Götheborg of Sweden sailing under Tower Bridge, filmed 42 metres above the Thames.

Source - send by the lovely @benjhawkins thank you my friend.

[ltwilliammowett]

The Götheborg salutes the city of Götheborg, 9 Juni 2022

Source

[hayaomiyazaki]

[whatwouldelizabethbennetdo]

Pride and Prejudice/The Onion headlines

[jackjarndyce]

“Ship Balclutha. Built 1886, Charles Connell & Co.

Balclutha was a cargo ship, one of thousands of iron and steel sailing vessels built in Great Britain and Europe beginning in the 1860s. During thirteen years under the British flag, Balclutha called at San Francisco five times, bringing coal and general cargo from Europe and returning with California grain. From 1903 to 1930 the ship made yearly voyages between San Francisco and Alaska. Renamed Star of Alaska, she sailed for the Alaska Packers Association, carrying men and supplies to the canneries and bringing back packed salmon.”

Text courtesy San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park