ASTRONUT COLBERT

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Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, salutes 
the crew of STS-135 during their appearance for a 
taping of his television show, Tuesday evening, 
Aug. 16, 2011, in New York. The astronauts from 
STS-135 are in New York for a three-day visit. 
Seated from lower left are Commander Chris 
Ferguson, pilot Doug Hurley, and mission 
specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.

Image Credit: NASA/Paul E. Alers

ASTOUNDING

TEXAMORPHOSIS

STUDY IN NEUTRALS

BEWITCHING TIMELAPSE

Crater Lake Under the Star -Reprocessed from Ben Canales on Vimeo.

A HISTORIC MILESTONE

“No Obits”: 1996. For the first time in more than seventeen years, the San Fransisco weekly Bay Area Reporter made the news because of a lack of news: there were no obituaries of AIDS victims in the August 13, 1996 edition. The rate of obituaries had been declining for the previous two years following the introduction of the so-called “AIDS cocktail, which surprised scientists and AIDS advocates alike for its effectiveness in halting and even reversing the health declines of those on medications. According to an AP article at the time, “The few days leading up to Monday’s deadline for submitting obits were tense at the newspaper. In the previous two weeks, none had been delivered until the last minute. ‘It was like watching a no-hitter in baseball unfolding,’ (news editor Mike) Salinas said. “We didn’t really want to discuss it until it became obvious that it was going to happen. We held our breath waiting.’” But the obit never came by the time the deadline arrived, and the paper celebrated with a front-page headline proclaiming “No Obits.”

GOP Candidates will trek to Hilton Coliseum on the campus of Iowa State University today for the crucial Ames Straw Poll. The Straw Poll is part of a day-long event filled with speeches, barbecues, and fundraising for the Iowa Republican Party, which is why only those candidates who purchased space from the party, at a minimum price of $15,000, will be allowed to speak. For many candidates, this is the first test of their organizational strength and name recognition among Iowa voters. But other than that, the poll is utterly meaningless. 
As Politico’s Roger Simon puts it: “The Ames Straw Poll is a delightful fraud, an amiable hoax, that most people in Iowa don’t care about, but the national media eat up because the event seems so charmingly ‘Iowan.’ … It is organized bribery on a grand scale.”

THE TESLA 1300 EV ROADSTER

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 Tesla produces a full range of electric cars, from sports cars to mass-market vehicles. It is currently the only U.S. automaker that builds and sells highway-capable EVs in serial production. Palo Alto, California-based Tesla designs and manufactures EVs and EV powertrain components. Tesla has delivered more than 1,600 Roadsters to customers in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific Region. Model S, the first premium sedan to be built from the ground up as an electric vehicle, goes on the market in mid-2012. 

Tesla 1,600 Roadsters have collectively driven more than 11 million real-world electric miles. 

Tesla Motors is named after electrical engineer and physicist Nikola Tesla. The Tesla Roadster uses an AC motor descended directly from Tesla's original 1882 design, which he said came to him in a feverish hallucination due to exhaustion when he was working as an engineer and inventor in Austria-Hungary. 

The Tesla Roadster, their first vehicle, is the first production automobile to use lithium-ion battery cells and the first production EV with a range greater than 200 miles per charge. 

The base model accelerates 0–60 mph in 3.9 seconds and, according to Tesla Motor's environmental analysis, is twice as energy efficient as the Toyota Prius. As of June 30 2011, Tesla had delivered more than 1,840 Roadsters in at least 30 countries. Tesla has said that it will produce a total serial production run of 2,400 Roadsters. Tesla began producing right-hand-drive Roadsters in early 2010 for the UK and Ireland markets, then expanded sales to right-hand-drive markets of Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. 

WHAT HAS OBAMA ACCOMPLISHED?

Click here for the answer

OUR FORMER GOVERNATOR'S SON

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It's been a busy summer for 17 year-old Patrick Schwarzenegger, the eldest son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver.

In between his summer internship at The Grove, preparing to apply for college (Stanford and USC are among his top choices), and some major family drama, he has somehow found the time to pose for this 
smoldering Hudson Jeans billboard advertisement.

The New York Post points out that the billboard location, on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, might leave Patrick's Dad "red-faced" -- it sits right above the Happy Endings bar and restaurant. 

ON THE STREETS OF BALTIMORE

Bmore Murals: Horizontal Street Painting from Whitney Frazier on Vimeo.

VERY INVENTIVE FLAG

 A senior government minister in Australia has announced that her lesbian partner is pregnant.

Finance Minister Penny Wong said in a statement Tuesday that her partner, Sophie Allouache, had conceived through in-vitro fertilization and is expecting her first child in December.

The announcement comes as pressure mounts on Prime Minister Julia Gillard to support overturning her center-left Labor Party’s ban on gay marriage. The policy change will be voted on its annual national conference in December.

Tasmania state’s Labor branch this weekend became the seventh of Australia’s eight state and territory branches to pass a motion supporting gay marriage.

HAPPY 81ST BIRTHDAY

Betty Boop made her first appearance on August 9, 1930, in the cartoon Dizzy Dishes the sixth installment in Fleischer's Talkartoon series. Although Clara Bow is often given as being the model for Boop, she actually began as a caricature of singer Helen Kane. The character was originally created as an anthropomorphic French poodle.

Max Fleischer finalized Betty Boop as a human character in 1932, in the cartoon Any Rags. Her floppy poodle ears became hoop earrings, and her black poodle nose became a girl's button-like nose. Betty Boop appeared as a supporting character in 10 cartoons as a flapper girl with more heart than brains. In individual cartoons, she was called "Nancy Lee" or "Nan McGrew" – derived from the 1930 Helen Kane film Dangerous Nan McGrew – usually serving as a girlfriend to studio star, Bimbo.


Betty's voice was first performed by Margie Hines, and was later performed by several different voice actresses, including Kate Wright, Bonnie Poe, Ann Rothschild (aka Little Ann Little), and most notably, Mae Questel. Questel, who began voicing Betty Boop in 1931, continued with the role until her death in 1998. 

The Origins of Betty Boop

JUMP ON THE TRANSFER ACCELERATOR

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It’s officially called a ‘transfer accelerator’ by Dutch railway maintenance company ProRail, but everyone else would say it’s a slide. An awesome slide. Installed next to a stairway at the newly renovated railway station Overvecht in the city of Utrecht, the slide offers travellers the opportunity to quickly reach the railway tracks when they’re in a hurry. But above all, the slide is a great instrument to make the city more playful. The ‘transfer accelerator’ was designed by Utrecht-based firm HIK Ontwerpers, and installed as the final piece of the renovation of the Overvecht railway station. Check out the (Dutch) video below to see more of this great urban intervention:

NO WONDER SHE'S CALLED "CRAZY EYES"

WHEN TOO MUCH IS NEVER ENOUGH

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Magnificent Vintage Italian Roll-Top Desk w/Cherubs, Ormolu & ++

Italy
20th century
Oooooo-weeeeee---FANCY! FANCY!! FANCY!!! This outrageous vintage Italian desk offers it ALL. An exquisite case of beauty, adorned with intricate marquetry, opulent cast ormolu decorations, all of this besides being purely functional, too. The cute cherubs sitting up top drinking and having a great time are actually candleholders for working late into the night. This fine roll top desk has all the bells and whistles, if it were outside, this extravagant desk would stop traffic with its unique appearance. Awesome for anyone that amasses clutter and might need to hide it quickly from those with prying eyes. Even if you aren’t in need of a roll top or a desk, this awe commanding work of art, would be outstanding storage with its abundance of drawers and cupboard space, or possibly an exciting dry bar utilized when entertaining. However you choose, I seriously doubt if you’ll ever see another like it.

Price
$13,900

Condition*
Original. Structurally sound. Please note heavy sun fading on sides and back, stains on the top (image 4) and some buckling and loose veneer. In-house restoration available-- Please call or email us for details.

Measurements
height: 4 ft. 9.3 in.
depth: 35.5 in.
width/length: 5 ft. 2 in.

Specifications
Number of items: 1
Materials/Techniques: Mahogany and cast ormolu.
Creator: unknown

Photography
provided by Antiques on Old Plank Road

Location
Antiques on Old Plank Road
1750 N. Springfield Ave.
Chicago, IL, 60647
Phone: 773-278-4040
E-Mail: info@oldplank.com

Dealer Ref. : dd315
Ref. : U11072982433272

RECORD BREAKING HEAT

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July was so hot “that just by plotting the location of each daily heat record that was broken, a nearly complete image of the contiguous United States is visible,” reports NOAA. “Almost 9,000 daily records were broken or tied last month, including 2,755 highest maximum temperatures and 6,171 highest minimum temperatures (i.e., nighttime records).” “Some cities reached daily high temperatures 19 out of the 31 days in the month.” The data is incomplete, as they include “only include weather stations with real-time electronic reporting, which accounts for about two-thirds of the locations.”

A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO

PSYCHEDELIA RESURFACES

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OR NEARLY 90 YEARS the only testament to the existence of the Bornean rainbow toad - pictured above - were a few sketches of the weird spindly legged creature penned in 1924 by the European explorers who discovered it.

Since then the animal had never been seen again, leading many to believe it had become extinct, and the IUCN placed it on their list of the 'World's Top 10 Most Wanted Lost Frogs'. But after an 87-year wait, the psychedelic amphibian (Ansonia latidisca) has been spotted once more - and this time photographed in exquisite detail.

According to Conservation International, which released the images this week, three of the toads were discovered last year in the dense forest of the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

Dr. Indraneil Das of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, led an expedition in mid-2010 to explore the 1,300m-high ridges of the Gunung Penrissen range of Western Sarawak, which forms a natural border with the Indonesian part of Borneo.  One of Das' graduate students found the toads two metres up in a tree in August, after several months of searching.

THE 1960'S REVISITED

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TRIBUTE TO ERNST HAECKEL

Ernst Haeckel was a 19th century German scientist and artist. Through the recently advanced technology of the microscope he discovered and beautifully rendered over 5000 one-celled micro-organisms, which he called "radiolaria", as well as drawing many other more complex life forms in excetional detail and with astounding skill. He was continually captivated by the never-ending variety and magnificent beauty of what he referred to as "Art In Nature". This video is a tribute to Ernst Haeckel and his inspired contributions to science, art and imagination.

Uploaded by chikey8tor on Nov 19, 2008

A HENKEL TREASURE

This fantastic shelf is by famed naturalist and illustrator Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), and can be found at Haeckel's former home (now a museum), the Villa Medusa. The decoration was applied using a technique known as pyrography, which had a bit of a revival during the Arts & Crafts movement.

Here is a brief video about Ernst Haeckel Haus (auf Deutsch). Learn more about the antique art of pyrography here.
http://thombeau.blogspot.com/

ENVIABLE DECK GARDENING

The Mobile Garden is perfect for portable gardens, and is raised enough for airflow underneath the planter, which helps prevent moisture damage or discoloration underneath.

The Elevated Garden is a year-round interior or exterior garden solution with an elevated design that is comfortable and ergonomic.

The Elevated Garden in also available in this very smart Graphite

The Classic Garden is a sturdy, molded polyethylene container that has two integral 0.5” NPT water ports.You can hook up a hose to the drainage port so as to direct excess water to another location.

Eserro creates innovative and environmentally considerate gardening products. Their latest is the Garden365 line, which is ideal for urban dwellers who want to garden but lack the space. Available for purchase on Amazon.

The line includes three configurations: Mobile Garden, Classic Garden, and Elevated Garden.

FIND THE DYING ICON?

                                                    

TONY LEAVES MORE THAN HIS HEART

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 Now we know how Tony Bennett knew he left his heart in San Francisco - he could spot it across the bay from his fancy pants home in Belvedere. Designed by Bay Area favorite Warren Callister, the 9,500 square foot beauty is on the market for a cool $27,500,000. For your pocket change, you're rewarded with views of the bay -- all of it -- from bridge to bridge and everything in between and beyond. You can be joined by hoards of your favorite people, who can relax in your 5 bedrooms or freshen up in your 7 bathrooms (4 full and 3 half, but who is counting?). There's also a separate 1-bed, 1-bath "guest quarters" for your friends prone to walking to the refrigerator naked in the middle of the night. Problem solved: give them their own apartment. We are still trying to determine if Tony has water access, because what is the point of being on the water if you can't get a little WaveRunner on, right? Have a garden party on one of the 3 "lawn areas" and invite us over when you do, pretty please.

WHAT THE MOON LOOKS LIKE FROM SPACE:

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On Sunday, July 31, 2011, when Expedition 28 astronaut Ron Garan aboard the International Space Station looked out his window, this is what he saw: the moon. And, he saw it 16 times. Said Garan, "We had simultaneous sunsets and moonsets." For Garan and the rest of the station crew, this extraordinary event is a daily occurrence. Since the station orbits the Earth every 90 minutes, each day the crew experiences this about 16 times a day.

Image Credit: NASA

ELEGANT FLIGHT

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Another Take on Supersonic

Our ability to fly at supersonic speeds over land in 
civil aircraft depends on our ability to reduce the 
level of sonic booms. NASA has been exploring a
variety of options for quieting the boom, starting 
with design concepts and moving through wind 
tunnel tests to flight tests of new technologies. 
This rendering of a possible future civil supersonic 
transport shows a vehicle that is shaped to reduce 
the sonic shockwave signature and also to reduce 
drag.

Image credit: NASA/Lockheed Martin

CLEVERNESS

Faktura Design, known for its skinny metal furniture, has two fun tables paying homage to two great US cities: NY and LA.

TRAINSHOPPING

South Korean grocery chain Tesco connects with busy people through an innovative new concept, Home Plus. They created billboards the subway stations that feature a range of products that customers can then select and scan using QR codes with their cell phones, only to have the selected groceries delivered later to their doorstep. The displays are set up just like aisles in any grocery store, so while you’re waiting for the train, you can get that pesky chore out of the way. I would love to see this expanded to other markets.

2011 WORLD PRIDE PARADES

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Revelers attend the annual gay pride parade in Madrid July 2, 2011. (Andrea Comas/Reuters)

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People attend the 41st LGBT Pride parade in San Francisco June 26, 2011. (Susana Bates/Reuters) 

Around the world, the LGBT community celebrates in environments ranging from welcoming to tolerant to violently hostile. Many cities stage gay pride parades on or around June 28, the anniversary of New York's Stonewall Inn uprising in 1969 -- what many consider the beginning of the gay rights movement. New York enjoyed its parade this year on June 26, a celebration given added spirit with the legalization of gay marriage in New York state two days earlier. Some communities in the world still meet with resistance, with activists assaulted and arrested in Russian cities, and an Indian health minister describing homosexuality as a "disease" three days after the New Delhi pride parade on July 2. Collected here are photographs of people celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered pride around the world.

The Big Picture offers special thanks to Charles Meacham for making his photographs available. -- Lane Turner (43 photos total)