Inner Solace

Buddha.

Another of my favourites from the Extraordinary Stories exhibit from the British Museum at the WA Museum.

It’s meant to be one of the oldest Buddhas that have been found and the detail on it is amazing.  The features are fine and the way they carved the folds of fabric just makes me feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside.  All of it is artistry.

And again, wonderment.  Wonderment that it exists, that it was carved around the time when they started creating depictions of Buddha, that it lasted this long and in such relatively good condition. That I was able to see something like it.

{021} Torc

Went to see the Extraordinary Stories exhibit from the British Museum at the WA Museum today.  This is one of my favourite pieces from the exhibit.

It’s a 1kg gold torc from a cache of several torcs (and a few coins) found buried in a field.  The lustre is from the mercury that was blended into the gold.

The torc is created from seven thin strands of hand rolled gold that have been wound together to form a rope. And several of those ropes were wound together to create the torc.  And did I mention each strand was hand rolled? Hand rolled to the exact same thickness and even end to end.  The rings at the end also have Celtic designs carved into them.

This work of art amazes me.  And it’s such a wonder as well because due to its intricacy, it would have had to have been worn by someone of high status. But we won’t be able to find out who they may have been, or why that cache was buried where it was. Extraordinary stories indeed.

theresalighton:

suitep:

A really nice and incredibly patient guy answers a lot of questions, and criticism, on how he did it. (Click through.)

Amazing transformation. Good-looking chap, too.

I lost 33kg between 2002-2004 after being grossly overweight since I was a child, and wish I had a Before/After shot like this to remind me of the achievement when I’m feeling down about myself.

Outstanding work.  And he looks like such a honey in the face shot.

And outstanding work to you too, theresalighton. :D

thedailyfeed:

This Pittsburgh volunteer fireman may only be 4 feet, 2 inches tall, but he can bench-press 265 pounds. 

“I work out a lot, as much as I can, down at my gym,” the 19-year-old told the Daily Mail. “It really helps on the job. You need to be strong.”

 Born with a form of dwarfism that stunts bone growth, Brasco is not yet allowed to enter burning buildings — not because of his size, but because he hasn’t yet passed the firefighter essentials exam.

“Uhura” comes from the Swahili word UHURU meaning “freedom”. Uhura was pretty much the first ever black main character on American television who was not a maid or a domestic servant in 1966. TV network NBC refused to let Nichelle Nichols be a regular, claiming Deep South affiliates would be angered, so Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry hired her as a “day worker,” but still included her in almost every episode. She actually made more money than any of the other actors through this workaround, and it was kept secret from the other actors, but it was still a humiliating second-class status. The network people made life hard for Nichols, constantly trying to pare down her screen time, purposefully dropping racist comments in her presence and even withholding her fan mail from her.This deplorable state of affairs led Nichols to make the decision to quit after the 1st season, but then she happened to meet the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. who pleaded with her to stick with the show because as a Black woman she was portraying the first non-stereotypical role on television.

(Source: deejaybird, via brain-food)

From imdb: ”During the filming of some scenes for The Princess Bride, the weather became markedly cold for Robin Wright Penn. Andre the Giant helped her by placing one of his hands over her head; his hands were so large that one would entirely cover the top of her head, keeping her warm.”

comic by Box Brown :: via flickr.com

That’s adorable.

(via brain-food)

disoriented:

caterpillarcowboy:

infoneer-pulse:

If You Can Crack This Code, The British Government Would Like To Hire You

British intelligence services have created an online game that they hope will identify future spies with the skills to take down (or defend) computer networks though “ethical hacking.”

The stark, unbranded website canyoucrackit.co.uk, was first unveiled a couple weeks ago on computer and hacking forums and offered up as a challenge for those who think they can decipher the code posted there. Anyone who figures out the code and enters the hidden “keyword” into the website’s form is taken to the recruitment website for the U.K.’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) which handles signals and information intelligence for the British government. If you’ve made that if far, congratulations! You’ve already passed your first interview and are on the way to becoming a nerdy James Bond.

» via The Atlantic

Nothing like some good hexcodes to spice up your day.

This is kind of cool.