Pretentious Pretenses

“It was a movie about American bombers in World War II and the gallant men who flew them. Seen...

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:38 -0400

“It was a movie about American bombers in World War II and the gallant men who flew them. Seen backwards by Billy, the story went like this: American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France, a few German fighter planes flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen. They did the same for wrecked American bombers on the ground, and those planes flew up backwards to join the formation. The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. The bombers opened their bomb bay doors, exerted a miraculous magnetism which shrunk the fires, gathered them into cylindrical steel containers , and lifted the containers into the bellies of the planes. The containers were stored neatly in racks. The Germans below had miraculous devices of their own, which were long steel tubes. They used them to suck more fragments from the crewmen and planes. But there were still a few wounded Americans though and some of the bombers were in bad repair. Over France though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody as good as new. When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating night and day, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody ever again.”

-Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

Textbook Anatomy Illustration

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:30:16 -0400

Textbook Anatomy Illustration

Children's Imaginations by Pierrette Diaz

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:28:33 -0400

"First they came for the socialists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:30:00 -0400

“First they came for the socialists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me.”

- Martin Niemöller

I remember seeing this quote at the holocaust memorial in Boston. It gave me full body chills and it rings true to me to this day. It is such an accurate depiction of human connection. It truly is better to focus on the similarities. (via occupyoppression)

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:33:43 -0400

Propaganda poster inspired by the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:48:00 -0400

Propaganda poster inspired by the sinking of the RMS Lusitania.

“The great wall of vegetation, an exuberant and entangled mass...

Wed, 15 May 2013 22:20:00 -0400

“The great wall of vegetation, an exuberant and entangled mass of trunks, branches, leaves, boughs, festoons, motionless […] like a rioting invasion of soundless life” - Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Comedian Kurt Braunohler hired a sky writer to do this over LA

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:32:58 -0400

Comedian Kurt Braunohler hired a sky writer to do this over LA

Photo

Sun, 12 May 2013 23:23:02 -0400

Photo

Wed, 08 May 2013 21:30:18 -0400

In 2005, author David Foster Wallace was asked to give the...

Wed, 08 May 2013 01:14:59 -0400

In 2005, author David Foster Wallace was asked to give the commencement address to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. However, the resulting speech didn’t become widely known until 3 years later, after his tragic death. It is, without a doubt, some of the best life advice we’ve ever come across, and perhaps the most simple and elegant explanation of the real value of education

"The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of..."

Sat, 04 May 2013 21:30:23 -0400

“The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.”

- Galileo Galilei

Done with Ballpoint Pen

Fri, 03 May 2013 21:30:32 -0400

Done with Ballpoint Pen

Education matters

Fri, 03 May 2013 00:42:00 -0400

Education matters

Photo

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 21:30:25 -0400

Photo

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:30:28 -0400

Humanity - Fidel Castro lays a wreath at the Lincoln Memorial in...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:30:33 -0400

Humanity - Fidel Castro lays a wreath at the Lincoln Memorial in 1959.

fuckyeahairplaness: ILS Runway 11L Tucson International (by...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:30:00 -0400

fuckyeahairplaness:

ILS Runway 11L Tucson International (by Peter Millenaar)

Hotel Lobby, Edward Hopper via nevver:

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 21:30:35 -0400

Hotel Lobby, Edward Hopper

via nevver:

"Don’t be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend..."

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:47:24 -0400

“Don’t be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying yes begins things. Saying yes is how things grow. Saying yes leads to knowledge. “Yes” is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say yes.”

- Stephen Colbert (Knox College Commencent, June 2006)