• A Life of Picasso: The Cubist Rebel, 1907-1916 by John Richardson
• Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: Expanded Edition, Over Thirty Years of Conversations with Robert Irwin by Lawrence Weschler
• The Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari
• Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton
• Anatomy: A Complete Guide for Artists by Joseph Sheppard
• Orientalism by Edward Said
• The Art Museum edited by Phaidon
• The Pink Glass Swan: Selected Essays on Feminist Art by Lucy Lippard
• Illuminations: Essays and Reflections by Walter Benjamin
• Walter Benjamin: Selected Writings, Volume 1: 1913-1926 by Walter Benjamin
• Art in Theory 1900 – 2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas edited by Charles Harrison and Dr. Paul J. Wood, Wiley
• Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation by E.H. Gombrich
• Why Art Cannot Be Taught: A Handbook for Art Students by James Elkins, University of Illinois Press
• History of Beauty by Umberto Eco
• On Ugliness by Umberto Eco
• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Art History, Combined Volume (4th Edition) by Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren
• The Continental Aesthetics Reader edited by Clive Cazeaux
• ART/WORK: Everything You Need to Know (and Do) As You Pursue Your Art Career by Heather Darcy Bhandari and Jonathan Melber
• Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series by John Berger
• Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography by Roland Barthes
• Visual Thinking by Rudolf Arnheim

In addition to the concentration of sporting talent and global media, the London Olympics will host the biggest mobilisation of military and security forces seen in the UK since the second world war. More troops – around 13,500 – will be deployed than are currently at war in Afghanistan. The growing security force is being estimated at anything between 24,000 and 49,000 in total. Such is the secrecy that no one seems to know for sure.

During the Games an aircraft carrier will dock on the Thames. Surface-to-air missile systems will scan the skies. Unmanned drones, thankfully without lethal missiles, will loiter above the gleaming stadiums and opening and closing ceremonies. RAF Typhoon Eurofighters will fly from RAF Northolt. A thousand armed US diplomatic and FBI agents and 55 dog teams will patrol an Olympic zone partitioned off from the wider city by an 11-mile, £80m, 5,000-volt electric fence.

It makes me proud that Denver was the first and only city to ever reject hosting an Olympiad after being selected. The movement against hosting the 1976 winter games was based largely on environmental and financial issues. I can only hope that Colorado’s vote in 1972 will prevent it from ever being the U.S. nominee as the host site. However, there are now talks of Denver exploring a potential bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

via Boing Boing (which is doing a great job of covering the craziness that has become the Games of the Summer XXX Olympiad).

“The result was Panem, a shining capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated.”

image courtesy of badguys and aimmyarrowshigh
Click the map. It’s massive. And well thought out. It creators took into consideration all sorts of information from the books, including:

• The Capitol is in Denver.
• D12 is Appalachia.
• D11 shares a border with D12, is one of the largest districts, is South of D12, and is primarily used for growing grain and produce.
• D10 is primarily used for raising livestock. They do NOT process the livestock in D10. However, to feed an entire nation, D10 is likely another very large District.
• D9 processes food for the Capitol and the tesserae; therefore, it likely shares borders with the food production Districts (D4, D10, D11).
• D8 produces and treats textiles and is a factory District. It is POSSIBLE to reach D12 from D8 on foot over a course of weeks/months. Therefore, it does not cross a large body of water.
• D7 specializes in lumber. It’s probably large. It has no role in food processing or manufacture.
• D6 works closely with the Capitol in the research and manufacture of drugs (morphling, medicines). It likely has close ties to D5 in the production of mutts.
• D5 is entirely dependent on the Capitol, so it’s probably somewhat nearby, and specializes in genetic research and manipulation. Because of the necessity of creative thought and intellect, it’s most likely a smaller District so that it’s easier to monitor and control.
• D4 is the ocean. It does have a role in food production. It’s very large. It is a Career District, so it likely is near the Capitol and has some self-sufficiency, but not enough that it doesn’t engender loyalty. (Aside from that, D4 = perfect.)
• D3 has extremely close ties to the Capitol and works with electronics and technology. It is likely small, the Capitol can closely monitor its scientific minds. It has no role in food manufacture or processing.
• D2 specializes in weaponry, is the most loyal District (because the Capitol needs to keep its weapon specialists happy, non?), and has no role in food production. D2 also works in some minor Mining elements and trains Peacekeepers. The Panem railroad is easily accessible in D2.
• D1 produces luxury goods for the Capitol — INCLUDING having a diamond mine. Kelsey Lake Diamond Mine is a defunct diamond mine in Colorado, USA. It is located in the State Line Kimberlite District, near the Wyoming border.
• D13 specialized in nuclear power, shares a border with D12, is both visible and reachable from D12 by foot, and is North of West Virginia. Three Mile Island was in New York Pennsylvania, and probably remained a nuclear reactor or was co-opted again as a reactor. D13 is small but mighty and is surrounded by Wilderness. It is self-sufficient.

This information was combined with some speculation about the results of future cataclysmic natural disaster in order to reach the maps final result. Of course, to me, the most interesting aspect of the map is the Capitol is located in what is now Denver, Colorado. I like the idea of Denver being the future capital of the post-apocalyptic dystopia.

Additionally, I would be remiss to not include Nerd Friday’s version of the Panem map shown below. This arguably more accurate map places the Capitol near Grand Junction, Colorado. More information about Nerd Friday’s creation process can be found in the bibliography and referenced works as well as the frequently asked questions section.

“I was stoked and humbled when asked to do this mix. I’ve been a fan of The Beasties since I first heard Mr Magic interview them on WBLS in NY. I included some of my favorites as well as stuff off the new album. All remixed. It’s a Trip, it’s gotta funky beat, and you can bug out to it.”

DJ Format C has also put together a pretty good Beastie Boys mix you can stream below. The tracklist can be found here.

(photo from Daily Mail)

A woman’s face is said to be most attractive when the space between her pupils is just under half the width of her face from ear to ear. Florence scores a 44 per cent ratio. Experts also believe the relative distance between eyes and mouth should be just over a third of the measurement from hairline to chin. Florence’s ratio is 32.8 per cent.

Statistically speaking, there are two main universal keys to beauty for which there is persuasive evidence: facial symmetry and averageness. According to David Perrett:

The answer lies not in fancy geometry but in two basic relationships: whether the left side matches the right (symmetry), and whether the proportions match those with which we are most familiar (normality or ‘averageness’). That beauty should lie in averageness is paradoxical, because we tend to think of ‘average’ as mundane. Sure, the most beautiful faces do not have average proportions, but nonetheless learning what is ‘normal’ for the faces around us is a powerful force in defining what for us is beautiful.

This proves itself when you look at the hundreds of comments at the at the Daily Mail and Huffington Post which refer to Colgate as “boring”, “average”, and “bland”.

Chris Kotsiopoloulos has also provided a detailed tutorial on how this picture was made.
Via Colossal

Gandhi’s Seven dangers to human virtue is a list that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi gave to his grandson Arun Gandhi, written on a piece of paper, on their final day together, shortly before his assassination. Gandhi suggested it was from these blunders springs the “passive violence” that plagues the world. The list consists of:

• Wealth without work.
• Pleasure without conscience.
• Knowledge without character.
• Commerce without morality.
• Science without humanity.
• Worship without sacrifice.
• Politics without principle.

All images by Dennis Maitland

Dennis say of the photo above:

This was probably the happiest day in my life. This building was amazing. I knew I was on a time limit so I made a bee line for the roof…of course. I didn’t know what to expect but I was really happy with what this roof had to offer.This is officially the highest “dangle” as of now. Definitely higher then 18 floors, not sure how much though. All I know I I had to climb 3-4 ladders past 18.

All of these photos were taken by hand and locations were accessed without climbing equipment.

1. Stupidity
2. Pretentiousness
3. Solipsism
4. Self-deceit
5. Herd Conformity
6. Lack of Perspective
7. Forgetfulness of Past Orthodoxies
8. Counterproductive Pride
9. Lack of Aesthetics

I can mostly agree with this list.