The Firmament @thefirmamentblog - Tumblr Blog

Whew. That was a doozy.

You can preorder the book at this link! And check out the main site entry (click here) for art notes and breakdown of historical record versus artistic interpretation!

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PRINCE, in memoriam. Well all process loss in our own ways. So last night I sat down and drew this. Thank you Prince, forever.

#prince #music

matsuyamamiyabi

The addamsfamily in kimonos.

fuckyeahfluiddynamics

One challenge facing burrowing mammals is ensuring sufficient oxygen within their den. Prairie dogs achieve this with a clever use of Bernoulli’s principle. They build multiple entrances to their tunnels. One of them, labeled as Entrance A above, is built with a raised mound of dirt, while the other, Entrance B, is not. The raised mound creates an obstacle for the wind to move around, which increases the wind velocity at Entrance A compared to the normal wind speed at Entrance B. From Bernoulli’s principle, we know that a higher velocity means a lower pressure, so there is a decreasing pressure gradient through the tunnel from Entrance B to Entrance A. That favorable pressure gradient pulls fresh air through the prairie dog tunnels, allowing the colony to breathe easy. (Image credits: N. Sharp; original prairie dog photos by jinterwas and J. Kubina; final images shared under Creative Commons; research credit: S. Vogel et al.; h/t to Chris R.)

thebrainscoop

HOW DOES NATURE FIGURE THIS STUFF OUT

One Day art jam. Local Gallery PUSH/PULL in Ballard hosted a themed event where each participant was issued a prompt (a page from the diary of mad scientist DR. Disvello) & we had from 11am to 5pm to create art (in our chosen medium) based on it. I've been working on sculpture recently (using super sculpey), & decided to challenge myself to a timed creation. Usually I work on a piece over the course of a few weeks, a few hours here or there. I knew this was going to be a challenge. Ultimately, I was able to mostly capture my intentions that I'd come up with days before (I had my prompt for a week). Baking the final sculpture with 10 minutes to spare. It was unpainted when the exhibition went live at 6pm, but I look forward to painting it in the near future.

#sculpture #Seattle Art #push pull gallery #mad scientist #sci fi design

champagnepuppies-deactivated201

jumpingjacktrash

you go, you beautiful person. you fuckin go.

beldaran

YES FUCK YES

thatjackalope

No ok but I actually met him. Several of my colleagues and students were hired to do some assessments for several manmade and natural ponds on his property. He wanted to maintain them with several different fish populations so that kids nearby could fish and have a good time.

While we were working he rode up in his four wheeler with a terrified look on his face. I never thought I would see a former football player on the verge of tears, but boy howdy he nearly was. Several of us stop what we were doing and go over to see what was up.

“I was running the tractor through the field and almost hit a fawn.” He says.

Now, for reference, it’s pretty common to have farmers run over and kill fawns. The defense mechanism of fawns when they are young is to lay down low and not move…which obviously isn’t great for when there’s a tractor. It happens all the time, but it can be pretty bloody. It’s not a pretty sight.

So, thinking that maybe such a gory scene unnerved him and that we may have to dispose of the body, I say “Mr. Brown, is the fawn still alive?”

He says “Yes, I took it to the barn…but I’m afraid the mom won’t take it back because it has human scent on it.”

The myth about “human scent” is a common one, but it’s just that…a myth. But still, this guy was absolutely terrified that this little deer was going to live the first few weeks of its life without a parent. He was distraught.

Luckily my professor/boss was like “Don’t worry Mr. Brown, if you return the fawn relatively close to the spot that you found it, the mother will come back. The human scent thing is just a myth. The fawn will be alright, just be sure to keep the barn quiet so that the fawn doesn’t panic.”

Mr. Brown’s face lit up and he let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God” he said “I was so worried.”

And that’s the story of how I met the sweetest man ever: Mr. Jason Brown.

jumpingjacktrash

oh my god what a precious treasure of a human being

note-a-bear

#protecttenderblackmen

english-idylls

Witches and Sorceresses in John William Waterhouse paintings.

mensweardog

All I want for Christmas is snow ❄️

Happy Holidays, everyone!

lessig

The Sanders Complaint

There’s tons of analogical speculation being spewed about the web about Sanders’ lawsuit against the DNC. The complaint is here.

The key thing to remember here is that this is — so far — just a contract case. (There’s a weird negligence claim attached but that’s likely absorbed by the contract claim).

As a contract claim, the question is this — assuming the Sanders campaign breached the agreement (and that “assuming” is bolded because I don’t think anything clearly establishes that now), what remedy does the DNC have?

Sanders has a strong argument that the remedy is specified in the contract: the party claiming breach (the DNC) must give the other party 10 days to cure it.

If that is the sole remedy here, then clearly shutting off all access is inconsistent with that remedy.

No doubt, the DNC will insist there are other issues present. But so far, Sanders has made a strong showing.

kateoplis

For those not familiar with Prof Lessig, from his Wiki:

He’s the Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, former director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, Creative Commons founder, former professor of law at Stanford Law School, founder of Center for Internet and Society, and former board member of the Free Software Foundation and Software Freedom Law Center, to name a few.

So, to recap: “Sanders has a strong argument…[and] has made a strong showing.“

buzzfeed

We Had Women Photoshopped Into Stereotypical Comic Book Poses And It Got Really Weird

art-of-swords-deactivated201705

Ceremonial Dagger

Dated: mid-19th century

Culture: French

Measurements: overall length 43 cm

Described as a dagger for ‘esoteric rituals’ the dagger features a straight, double-edged blade with a triple fuller, engraved with floral motifs. The bronze hilt is depicting Death wrapped in a mantle and a snake on the quillon. The wooden scabbard is covered in brown velvet with brass mounts decorated with bas-relieved floral motifs.

supersonicart

Gustav Klimt Brought to Life by Photographer Inge Prader.

Austrian photographer Inge Prader recently recreated Gustav Klimt’s masterworks for Style Bible, a part of the Life Ball Charity Event in Vienna, Austria. A team of over 50 professionals worked on the demanding photography project which raises funds to help those with HIV/AIDS. Makeup artists, costume designers, set designers, lighting specialists and many others worked with models and fully ornamented props to bring to life the fascinating, erotically charged work that Klimt is known for during his “Golden Phase.”

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