POTTERY

The reputation of the pottery produced here is almost legendary. Over the two centuries that this family business existed, it has generated a host of loyal admirers worldwide. The collection consisted of all kinds of earthenware pieces, such as crockery, vases and flower pots, but also art objects, frescoes and even stoves. The factory was founded in 1790, but initially faced major problems, including difficulties with the supply of raw materials, but also hostility and distrust of the population. In addition, competition from mainly English producers was fierce. Around the turn of the century the factory was taken over by an inventive young German, who quickly managed to turn the tide through the introduction of new decoration techniques and the use of the finest raw materials. Napoleon became one of the primary customers, so the orders quickly came in and the company was forced to expand. The current factory, including this mold storage facility, dates from this period of expansion between 1850 and 1860. During the glory period, the company employed more than 3200 employees. The end of the 1970s marked a turning point. The company was by then taken over by another family, which stopped the production of crockery to focus on the production of tile for walls and floors. In the early 2000s, the business took a turn for the worse and was left with about 100 employees trying to keep the company afloat. Hardly 5 years later, the company goes into liquidation anyay. Shortly afterwards, the court declared bankruptcy and the curtain fell on two centuries of industrial history…

Not to report on this too soon, but Notre Dame cathedral is burning. Let us hope the damage can be contained and this icon of medieval France saved.

Current idea is this fire is related to recent renovations on the cathedral. It’s not good, it looks like the spire is going to fall.

:’{

By Marietjie Henning, Women’s Day Celebrations in South Africa

Video

With all my heart I cannot respect people who drink and drive. Because it’s 100% preventable and fucking selfish

Jesus christ, watch the video, it’s heartbreaking…..their medical bills are OVER SIX MILLION DOLLARS. I can’t even imagine this…not doing anything wrong, just get hit by some piece of shit who was driving drunk and suddenly your entire life is ruined…dear god I can’t even imagine. This is horrifying and heartbreaking.

I never have respect people who drink and drive.

Geflügelte Worte: „Bis in die Puppen“

Wer kennt es nicht? Die ersten Sonnenstrahlen küssen die vom Winter in Tiefschlaf gelegte Erde wach. Blumen erfreuen uns in den schönsten Farben. Und kaum darauf treiben allerlei Menschen unter freiem Himmel ihr Unwesen. Wie Pilze schießen auch sie aus der Erde und haben keinerlei Furcht vor Unterkühlungen, wenn sie sich vom warmen Frühsommertag getäuscht noch bis in die Puppen bei Dunkelheit draußen herumtreiben. Doch was soll das überhaupt bedeuten: „Bis in die Puppen“? Haben diese Nachtschwärmer etwa zu später Stunde eine Leidenschaft für Kinderspielzeug entdeckt?

Im weitesten Sinne ist dieser Gedanke gar nicht verkehrt. Zurück geht die Redewendung auf Berlin im 18. Jahrhundert. Am sogenannten „Großen Stern“, einem Platz im Berliner Tiergarten, wurden zu dieser Zeit antikisierte Statuen aufgestellt, die man im Volksmund recht schnell als „Puppen“ bezeichnete. Der Platz erhielt so auch den Beinamen „Puppenplatz“. Vom Stadtkern aus war dieser Ort jedoch ein ziemliches Stück entfernt, sodass man hin und wieder am Wochenende einen Spaziergang „bis zu den Puppen“ zurücklegte. Aufgrund der Distanz bekam die Redewendung auch ihren noch heute gültigen Sinn, nämlich „von langer Dauer/sehr lange“. Immerhin musste man ja eine ordentliche Strecke hinter sich bringen.

Wieder was gelernt!

Underwatched Animated Films I Recommend You See at Least Once in Your Life

EDIT: i didn’t expect this post to get so many notes. for the record, these are just my personal recommendations, not a definitive list of best underrated animation. i also did not include anything made by Disney. I know that they made some movies that didn’t get as much attention as their other hits, but lists of underwatched Disney films are pretty common, so I thought I’d make one of films by studios that aren’t household names. 

Angel’s Egg (1985)

Les Triplets de Belleville (The Triplets of Belleville) (2005)

Mindgame (2004)

Le Chat du Rabbin (The Rabbi’s Cat) (2011)

Tekkonkinkreet (2006)

Chico and Rita (2010)

Wizards (1977)

Memories (1995)

NASA Team First to Demonstrate X-ray Navigation in Space

In a technology first, a team of NASA engineers has demonstrated fully autonomous X-ray navigation in space – a capability that could revolutionize NASA’s ability in the future to pilot robotic spacecraft to the far reaches of the solar system and beyond.

The demonstration, which the team carried out with an experiment called Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology, or SEXTANT, showed that millisecond pulsars could be used to accurately determine the location of an object moving at thousands of miles per hour in space – similar to how the Global Positioning System, widely known as GPS, provides positioning, navigation, and timing services to users on Earth with its constellation of 24 operating satellites.

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One Haunting Video Shows “Beauty Through The Decades” In New Light

Karolina Żebrowska’s “Beauty Through The Ages” video shows not only on the glamorized versions of women but also the real, middle and lower class women as they lived in the past century.

READ MORE

GIFS VIA.

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES THANK YOU.

Reblogging again because this is the ONLY “fashion through time” video that does it right. All the others glamorize/modernize the eras WAY too much, esp. considering they’re claiming historical accuracy. This is the only one that truly nails it.

“Underwater Ballet” by Anne Ten Donkelaar

An ethereal photo series of delicate flower arrangements submerged underwater. The artist explains that the flowers “float gracefully around in the cold water, capturing a silent image of a spirited dance”.

The Art Of Your Name - Kimi No Na Wa 君の名は。Part One - Dir. Makoto Shinkai (2016)

Kimi no Na wa / Your name (2016).

Makoto Shinkai’s Tokyo - Your Name - Kimi No Na Wa 君の名は。(2016)

Move!

• Stretch your arms/legs a bit • Take a break from the screen for at least 30 seconds • Get up and move around, just for a few minutes • Sit up straight and move to a position which allows you to maintain your posture

Happy scrolling!

Happy New Years!

By the time you are reading this you are probably full of pork and sauerkraut, candy and sweets, champagne, beer, or wine all from the New Years festivities. Happy New Year everyone!  So now of course I got to ask the question, why do we celebrate New Year on January 1st? It’s a pretty arbitrary number. Why not March 1st, or perhaps, March 25th.

The Gregorian calendar used by most western countries originates with the ancient Roman calendar. Originally the ancient Romans would celebrate the new year with the spring equinox around late March, since this symbolized the end of winter and the beginning of spring, thus the start of the planting season. Since most early Romans were farmers the beginning of this season was pretty dang important so it made sense to make the new year begin at that time. The Roman calendar is a lunar calendar, meaning the months are based upon the phases of the moon. The first day of the month begins a new lunar cycle, a day which the Romans called the Calends (where the word “calendar” originates). At some point in ancient Roman history, the Romans  began to celebrate new year on the calend of March (March 1st), probably just because it was a neat and even number on the calendar, unlike the spring equinox.

In 153 BC the Romans began inaugurating consuls on the calend of January. A consul is kind of like a president or prime minister, except there are two of them and they only serve one year terms. At this point many Romans began celebrating the new year to coincide with this important date. Thus for the first time in history, people began celebrating New Years Day on January 1st. Some Roman’s still celebrated new years on March 1st, and knowing the Romans and their love of holidays many probably celebrated both. In ancient times it was calculated that the year isn’t 365 days long, it is 365.25 days long. This extra .25 days caused the calendar to drift out of alignment with the tropical year. Thus in 45 BC Julius Caesar instituted the Julian Calendar, which included a leap year every four years. In his new calendar, Caesar set the new year at January 1st, so its apparent that the holiday had been cemented as Jan. 1st by 45 BC.

Throughout Roman history January 1st remained the new year, a tradition which spread all over Europe as the Roman Empire expanded. Then in 567 AD after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church held the Second Council of Tours to decide upon a number of policy reforms. Among them was the calendar, and when new year should be celebrated. The new year was changed from January 1st, to March 25th, primarily to celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation, when the archangel Gabriel informed Mary that she would give birth to Jesus. March 25th continued to be the new year throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. 

Remember how Caesar institute the Julian calendar to correct the problem of the calendar drifting? Well as it turns out the tropical year is not 365.25 days long, it’s more like 365.242 days long. While this may not seem like much, again the calendar began to drift, gaining about a day every 128 years. Hence why Orthodox Christians, who still use the Julian Calendar, celebrate Christmas on January 7th. In order to fix this problem, Pope Gregory XIII commissioned a project to re-adjust when leap years were to be held.  The new Gregorian calendar still has a leap year every four years, however 3 leap years are eliminated every four centuries. Years that are be divisible by 4 are be leap years, except for years that are divisible by 100. As part of the new calendar, new years was one again moved to January 1st. Not because of ancient Roman consuls, but to celebrate the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ. Jesus was cricumcised eight days after his burth, thus eight days after Christmas is January 1st. Of course Jesus probably wasn’t born on December 25th, how December 25th became Christmas is a totally different story.

The new Gregorian calendar was accepted by Catholic countries all over Europe, however most Protestants rejected the calendar because of course they did want to do as the Catholics do. Over time as the calendar drift of the Julian Calendar worsened, most realized that something had to be done. By the mid 18th century, almost all Western European and Scandinavian countries adopted the Gregorian Calendar. Eastern European countries held out until the early 20th century. With the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar, so too did they adopt January 1st as New Years Day.

LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF FIRST

Love, respect and acceptance are very important in any healthy relationship…and I’m not only talking about your relationships with other people, I also mean your relationship with your very own, precious self. 

Some tips:

1 - Make some extra effort every day

Make sure to do things that make you feel more confident, things that boost your self esteem. For example, making a homemade facial treatment, a beautiful makeup, dressing up, or doing something that makes you happy can help you look and feel a lot more confident. Remember, you dress up for yourself and not in order to impress someone… purely for your own happiness! This type of attitude will shift your perspective. By taking a good care of yourself – you show yourself love…

2 - Take a bath with rose petals wearing tiara

It’s a great way to relax and enjoy the moment. While taking a bath, think about all things you love about yourself. You will feel a lot more positive and happy about yourself!

3 - Spoil yourself once in a while

Make sure to regularly treat yourself with something pleasant, for example, buy the most delicious cake, lighten up some candles and take a moment to enjoy it, or go to shop and, finally, buy that beautiful outfit or luxurious lipstick that you’ve always wanted to get, but never thought you were worth it. You are worth it! Do things that bring pleasure, enjoyment and happiness into your life, spoil yourself once in a while!

4 - Start admiring your uniqueness

There is something about you that is unique only to you! Start admiring those things that make you “you”. Do you like wearing mismatching socks? Do you love eating ice cream together with meat balls? Or, probably, you just adore adding ketchup everywhere? Alll these little special things add up to your uniqueness! Embrace, admire and accept them, like this you will start loving yourself more…

5 - Learn to accept and love your appearance

If you want somebody to love and adore you, you need to start seeing (and admiring) your own beauty too! Don’t wait till someone tells you that you’re pretty. Learn to accept and love yourself totally, love yourself just as you are. All the features that you have are absolutely unique to you: your nose shape, your hair, your freckles, your beasts’ size…Learn to fall in love with yourself and you will see the whole world fall in love with you…

6 - Do what you love and follow your passion

It’s very important to find out what you love and start getting busy doing it. It doesn’t matter, if someone tells you that you can’t! Ignore those discouraging voices and start following your dream. Doing what you love will, definitely, add up to your sense of happiness, self worth and self love!

7 - Music and dancing

Listening to new types of music, dancing around and enjoying it with your whole being will help increase your level of happiness and make you love and enjoy yourself even more!

8 - Start wearing vibrant colors

The world already has enough of grey and dark colors to it! Wearing something bright, colorful and beautiful will add sparkle of joy into your life; it’s been proven scientifically that colors have psychological impact on our mood!

9 - What other people think about you is their own business

Stop worrying about other people’s opinions…what they think is, totally, up to them! What really matters is what do you think about yourself…

10 - Find some inspiration

Find inspiring stories and role models to follow. It will give you extra motivation to move toward the accomplishment of your goals and dreams, making you love yourself and believe in yourself more! Life is only what you make out of it, therefore, aim for the best, set yourself enormous goals, be bold, be daring; always remember, you are the captain of your ship!

11 - Self respect

Not only self love and self acceptance are important, so is also self respect. Make sure you always totally respect yourself and never accept anything less from anyone else! The sense of self worth, self love and self respect will help you also show more respect, kindness and love toward others.

12 - Spend time in nature

Whether it is walking on the beach, swimming in the ocean, or hiking in the mountains, interaction with nature seems to have a positive effect on humans. The sounds, smells, and sights of the great outdoors appear to have an amazing stress-reducing capacity. Research shows that spending time with nature can decrease feelings of depression, increase self-esteem, decrease tense feelings, help us to be more caring, less aggressive and violent, be less likely to procrastinate, and better able to work through problems.

Source: BBC

Helpful Links:

Activities and DIY:

Interactives: 

Flower painted

Dennis Perrin