We Put A Carnegie Hall Orchestra In The Middle Of New York City And Placed An Empty Podium In Front Of

Update: $28,136 raised from 836 supporters. They're taking extra care (and expense) to make sure the baboons are treated as well as possible.

Dear Tumblr,

In the next few years there could be an affordable, multi-year, reversable, non hormonal male contraceptive. You’re Tumblr, so I’ll assume you have some idea of the many many reasons this would be glorious (despite the fact that no, it doesn’t protect against stds), but it needs you and your incredible news spreading power to make it a reality. All that’s left are the last round of animal testing and clinical trials (baboons!), but because pharmaceuticals aren’t eager to fund the end of the pill, the project lacks sufficient funding. They’ve got $14,990 from their first 413 contributors, but their website asks for public support in donations of any size to help reach their $60,000 goal— even if it’s only $5 or 10. So how ‘bout it— 20oz Blueberry Mocha, or greater gender equality in respect to ‘family planning’? More information here or here. Direct to paypal here

A brief but lovely midwinter tune, written by a friend of mine.

Give thanks for this, the shortest day,

Keep out the winter's breath

Grant us health and peace and faith

And help us get some rest.

The Last Bookstore in downtown L.A., California’s largest independent bookseller.

It wasn’t until reading the second issue of The Search that I remembered that the 2x3-foot map of the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe that I drew last year is still available here as a 300 dpi, unflattened, print-quality Photoshop file.

Yee Peng Festival, Chiang Mai 

SAINT NICHOLAS WAS BLACK.

Various Artists

Saint Nicholas (Nikolaus, Bishop of Myra)

Nicholas, was probably born during the third century in the village of Patara, in what is now the southern coast of Turkey. He was born of very wealthy ethnic black Anatolians of the ancient Roman Empire.

Nicholas’ wealthy parents died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Being a devout Christian, he followed the words of Jesus to “sell what you own and give the money to the poor.”

Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He was made the Bishop of Myra while still a young man. The high office of Nicholas at such a young age speaks to dominant role played by  black Anatolians and Africans in creating the church as we know it today. Bishop Nicholas was known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned.

After his release, Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, where he worked with other early fathers of the church to establish the standardized christian doctrine of today. He died December 6, AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church, where a unique relic, called manna, formed in his grave.

The remains of Saint Nicholas are interred in the crypt of the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy. These bones were temporarily removed when the crypt was repaired during the 1950s. At the Vatican’s request, anatomy professor Luigi Martino from the University of Bari, took thousands of minutely-detailed measurements and x-ray photographs (roentgenography) of the skull and other bones.

The current professor of forensic pathology at the University of Bari, Francesco Introna, knew advancements in diagnostic technique could yield much more from the data gathered in the 1950s. So he engaged an expert facial anthropologist, Caroline Wilkinson, at the University of Manchester in England, to construct a model of the saint’s head from the earlier measurements.

Using this data, the medical artist used state-of-the-art computer software to develop this model of St. Nicholas.

1. Saint Nicholas, c. 1760. Egg tempera on wood with metal riza (possibly silver), 10½” x 12½”. Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton, MA. [x]

2. Sassetta, The Virgin with Four Saints (Saint Nicholas detail). c. 1435, Tempera on wood. Museo Diocesano, Cortona. [x]

3. Velikiy Novgorod, The Funeral of Saint Nicholas. c. 1200s. School of Novgorod. [x] [x]

4. Niklaus of Myra, Unknown Russian Icon painter, pre-1000s.

Reconstruction of Saint Nicholas [x]

[x] [x]

mom shop

Also, here’s a video version with sound.

Well, I know what I'm listening to today.

"The Best Indigenous Music of 2013" | Revolutions Per Minute

#DecolonizeYourPlaylist

Free "Fast Runner"!  Thanks, Internets!

Atanarjuat; the Fast Runner - the first feature film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in Inuktitut.

Available streaming or download here (along with the other two of the Fast Runner trilogy).