Distance is Progress

imgoingtobeacook: Reese’s Cheesecake Brownies click image for...

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:56:36 +1000

Reese’s Cheesecake Brownies

click image for recipe

talkitoutwithherself: astringofpearls: dirtyysouthh: flyingsco...

Wed, 23 May 2012 20:55:32 +1000

astringofpearls:

dirtyysouthh:

flyingscotsman:

Today’s Weather: 100% chance of handjobs over Florida

basically my life

I’m laughing way too hard.

lucky Florida.

sfmoma: John Baldessari, Tips for Artists Who Want to...

Wed, 23 May 2012 20:09:31 +1000

sfmoma:

John Baldessari, Tips for Artists Who Want to Sell, 1966-68

via LATimes

fastcodesign: And now, a look at some really terrifying antique...

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:21:08 +1000

fastcodesign:

And now, a look at some really terrifying antique tools for brain surgery

ornamentedbeing: Venetian ca. 1610

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:36:13 +1000

ornamentedbeing:

Venetian ca. 1610

HBICs of history » M a d a m e d e P o m p a d o u...

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:50:00 +1000

HBICs of history » M a d a m e d e P o m p a d o u r

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour was a member of the French court, and was the official maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV. She was intelligent, beautiful, and refined. She spent her younger childhood at the Ursuline convent in Poissy where she received a good education. At adolescence, her mother took personal charge of her education at home by hiring tutors who taught her to recite entire plays by heart, play the clavichord, dance, sing, paint and engrave. She became an accomplished actress and singer, and also attended Paris’s Club de l’Entresol.

Jeanne Antoinette caught the king’s eye when she was a married woman, and her divorce soon followed. She could not be presented at court without a title, so Louis bought her the marquisate of Pompadour. The marquise had many enemies among the royal courtiers who felt it a disgrace that the king would thus compromise himself with a commoner. However, her importance was such that she was even approached in 1755 by a prominent Austrian diplomat, asking her to intervene in the negotiations which led to the Treaty of Versailles. Madame de Pompadour suffered two miscarriages in 1746 and 1749, and she is said to have arranged lesser mistresses for the King’s pleasure to replace herself. Although they had ceased being lovers after 1750, they remained friends, and Louis was devoted to her until her death from tuberculosis in 1764. At the time of her death, many of her enemies were greatly relieved and she was publicly blamed for the Seven Years’ War. Looking at the rain during the departure of his mistress’ coffin from Versailles, the King reportedly said: “La marquise n’aura pas de beau temps pour son voyage.” (“The marquise won’t have good weather for her journey.”)

mogatrat: this isn’t the Golden Compass I adored as a child

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:02:33 +1000

mogatrat:

this isn’t the Golden Compass I adored as a child

theramen: HAAAAY YAAAAa’LL~ HAAAYY YAAAA’LL~ fuck, I’ma go...

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:17:04 +1000

theramen:

HAAAAY YAAAAa’LL~

HAAAYY YAAAA’LL~

fuck, I’ma go listen to it now.

Photo

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:18:15 +1000

imgoingtobeacook: Mini Deep Dish Pizzas click image for recipe

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:31:03 +1000

imgoingtobeacook:

Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

click image for recipe

fyeahhistorymajorheraldicbeast: Asked when the Roman Empire...

Wed, 23 May 2012 07:45:22 +1000

fyeahhistorymajorheraldicbeast:

Asked when the Roman Empire fell: chuckle to self and respond “29, October 1923.”

thenommables: Nachos (by emmmiry rai)

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:55:40 +1000

thenommables:

Nachos (by emmmiry rai)

i-am-krogan: alphagravy: Men on a mission by ~JojjeE holy...

Tue, 22 May 2012 20:09:20 +1000

i-am-krogan:

alphagravy:

Men on a mission by ~JojjeE

holy shit

collective-history: Empress Wu Zetian is considered to be one...

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:23:41 +1000

collective-history:

Empress Wu Zetian is considered to be one of the most powerful women in Chinese history. She lived during the Tang Dynasty and was born to a wealthy and noble family. She was also very well educated. When Wu Zetian was 13, she was sent to Emperor Taizong’s court to be one of his concubines. After Emperor Taizong’s death in 649 AD, Emperor Gaozong came to power and Wu Zetian was sent off to become a Buddhist nun. Empress Wang, Gaozong’s wife, had come into a power struggle with one of his favorite concubines, Consort Xiao. In order to distract Gaozong’s attention from Consort Xiao, Empress Wang brought Wu Zetian back to the palace to become another concubine to her husband. This plan, however, backfired on Empress Wang. Wu Zetian eventually became one of Gaozong’s favorites and the power struggle between the three women: Wu Zetian, Empress Wang, and Consort Xiao intensified.

Empress Wang and Consort Xiao, former rivals, eventually decided to join forces in order to stop Wu Zetian’s influence over Gaozong. This plan backfired too because in 654 AD, Wu Zetian gave birth to a daughter and her daughter died shortly after. Gaozong and court officials accused Empress Wang of killing the infant. As a result, Gaozong replaced Wu Zetian as his empress. In 655 AD, both Consort Xiao and former Empress Wang were accused of witchcraft and they were both executed on Empress Wu Zetian’s orders.

As empress, Wu Zetian became extremely powerful. Toward the end of Gaozong’s life, she was making virtually all of the major decisions that affected the government. Emperor Gaozong eventually died in 683 AD and Wu Zetian became empress dowager. In 690 AD, Wu Zetian crowned herself Emperor of China and she interrupted the Tang Dynasty by creating her own; the Zhou Dynasty. Wu Zetian is the only woman in Chinese history to rule as emperor.

Despite her ruthlessness to gain power and having many noblemen and noblewomen killed or exiled in the process, Wu Zetian accomplished many things when she was in power. She influenced the spread of Buddhism in China and eventually made it the official religion; replacing Taoism. She was also successful in lowering high taxes and increasing agricultural production. The Empress died in 705 AD at the age of 80.

Is it just me, or the queuing up posts function not working atm?

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:30:54 +1000

jabberart: My favourite people: A to Z I: Sir Ian...

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:30:02 +1000

jabberart:

My favourite people: A to Z

I: Sir Ian McKellan

SIR IAN MCKELLAN YOU ARE A FLAWLESS PRECIOUS HUMAN BEING NEVER STOP BEING AWESOME K

kuroyuki: Okayama Castle by photoninjaone on Flickr.

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:29:59 +1000

kuroyuki:

Okayama Castle by photoninjaone on Flickr.

imgoingtobeacook: Snickers Macarons click image for recipe

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:29:55 +1000

imgoingtobeacook:

Snickers Macarons

click image for recipe

mediumaevum: What People drank in The Middle Ages and...

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:46:48 +1000

mediumaevum:

What People drank in The Middle Ages and Renaissance

Water
Water was rarely drunk due to the difficulties in obtaining clean drinking water (typhoid and other water-borne diseases were highly prevalent). If water had to be drunk, spring water was preferred, as it was less likely to cause disease than river water or still water (pond water). Water was also believed to be bad for the digestion, as they believed that it would chill the stomach and hinder digestion of food.

Wine
Wine was believed to be very good for the health, and was commonly drunk with meals as it was also readily produced in many areas in Europe, and easily transported and stored. Good quality wines were the most popular mealtime drink of nobility, although poorer people could sometimes afford low quality wines.

Spiced Wines
Spiced or mulled wines were also enjoyed. These were used as an aperitif, or to clear the palate after a meal. Spiced wines were also believed to have medicinal qualities.

Hippocras was a red wine which was flavoured with spices such as ginger, cinnamon, sugar, cloves, galingale or nutmeg. Claret was a spiced wine which was often made from a white wine, and was flavoured with cloves, nutmeg, mace, caraway, ginger, pepper and other spices.

Beers and Ales
Beer and ales were very popular drinks, although they were generally consumed by lower class people rather than the nobility (who generally preferred drinking wine).

Beer was made from grains such as oats, wheat, barley or rye, while hops were not added to beer in England until after their introduction to England in 1525 (although they had previously been used in beer production in Flanders for several hundred years). Hops add a bitter taste to beer, so most medieval beers would have lacked the bitter taste of modern beers.

Ales could also be flavoured with spices, similar to spiced wines. These spiced ales were called �braggots�.

Mead
Mead is produced by fermenting a honey and water mixture. Mead could also be flavoured with various spices, either during production or immediately before drinking. Mead was considered to be an ideal drink for invalids by the physicians of the time.

Cider and other fruit juices
Fruit juices were drunk as either fresh fruit juice, or were fermented to produce alcoholic drinks like cider or perry.

Cider is produced from whole apples, while perry is produced from pears. Murrey comes from blackberries or black mulberries, while prunelle is made from plums. A more unusual fruit juice is made from ground and strained pomegranate seeds.

Milk
Milk was not popular as a drink for adults- its use was generally confined to young children. Kumiss, which is an alcoholic drink made from fermented mare�s milk, was popular in the Middle East, but was only drunk in European countries when recommended by a physician.

Tea & Coffee
Tea & coffee were not commonly drunk in Europe during our time period. Herbal infusions were sometimes drunk for their medicinal qualities, but tea was not commonly drunk until after our time period. Coffee was extremely popular in the Middle-East, and was introduced to Constantinople in 1554, but did not become popular throughout Europe for another 100 years.

stormcloak: swtorconfess: I feel like Doc doesn’t get enough...

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:19:50 +1000

stormcloak:

swtorconfess:

I feel like Doc doesn’t get enough love. I find him quite charming and I think he’s a perfect match for my Jedi Knight. They’re a good match. He makes her laugh and she makes him see the error of his ways.

OP, I assume by ‘the error of his ways’, you mean the fact that he treats women like shit under the guise of being a ~charming gentleman~? Maybe the fact that he treats Kira like an asshole because she happens to not like his come-ons? Or the fact that he mocks asexual/celibate characters because how can anyone live without sex what’s wrong with you? Because… uh… that’s why he doesn’t get enough love.

He’s basically that guy who makes “get back in the kitchen” jokes about women, and then when you get offended, goes, “What? I was just joking. Geez, you have no sense of humor, darlin’.”

I really don’t understand how people can hate on Corso and scream about him being a misogynist, while singing praises about this guy — who I consider to be far worse and far more offensive than Corso. It’s okay if people like Doc, I have no problem with people liking whatever characters they want. But when people try to talk about how nice and ~charming~ Doc is, I just want to scream, especially if they’re the same people that hate on Corso and just akjshgfksdh uuuUUUuuuUUUuuugh.

/buttmad nerdrage.

Reblogging for commentary. As much as Corso irritated me, he wasn’t as bad as Doc.

Also spoilery:

Also he dumps his former fiancee at the alter and feels no remorse or the guts to tell her or the fem Jedi Knight if you’re romancing him. And the conversations you have with him, he doesn’t even decides to express that he did anything wrong. There is one conversation you have with him that asks him, “What is it that you want from this?” and i am so annoyed there was no follow-up to acknowledge the fact that he wants the Jedi Knight (or maybe my memory is just fuzzy).