In the 1960s, Jerry Uelsmann revolutionized the art of photography by manually blending negatives to produce dreamlike landscapes. “The primary creative gesture for most photographers used to be when they clicked the shutter,” Uelsmann says. “But I realized that the darkroom was a visual research lab where the creative process could continue.” Though we’re now in the era of Photoshop, he continues to forsake digital manipulation, as with the 2006 untitled image made from three photos, one including his wife’s hands. “It is an incredible leap of faith to think maybe this tree could blend into these hands,” Uelsmann says. “But the camera is a license to explore.” Uelsmann’s creations are showcased in a traveling exhibit, “Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop,” at the National Gallery of Art through May 5.
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When the tornado sirens went off around 2:15, the staff of the AgapeLand Learning Center, a day care facility, hustled some 15 children into two bathrooms, draping them with a protective covering and singing songs with them to keep them calm.
As the wind ripped the roof off one of the bathrooms, and debris rained down on the children, they remained calm, singing “You Are My Sunshine,” the assistant director, Cathy Wilson, said. Though the day care center was almost entirely destroyed, the children were unharmed.
“Not a child had a scratch,” Ms. Wilson said.
” — The New York Times. (via nedhepburn)(via nedhepburn)
Moor frogs (Rana arvalis) temporarily turning blue at the Ljubljana Marshes, Slovenia. It is thought that males turn blue during the mating season so they can quickly distinguish males from females among the dense frog populations. Photograph: Luka Esenko/Rex Features
(Source: Guardian)
Wonderland Photo by Vanessa Hirsch — National Geographic Your Shot
On a July tramp through the woods of West Virginia, I encountered many large snails as well as these Russula mushrooms with their distinctive red caps mixed among moss and acorns. It reminded me of Alice in Wonderland.
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Mountain Laurel buds getting ready to burst, outside of Mt. Vernon on Flickr.
A gorgeous view down river from above the Grotto in Zion National Park.
Photo: Tom MorrisYeah, we sort of get the “Zion” part now.
Still high on my list of places to visit.
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Study: Nearly half of all death certificates are wrong -
Death certificates are important public health documents. They help epidemiologists understand leading causes of deaths and how they are changing. They power big studies of what killed us in the past—and what kills us now. And, according to a new Center for Disease Control study, about half of them may be wrong. Columbia University’s Barbara A. Wexelman lead a survey of 521 resident physicians in New York City. About one- third of those doctors completed more than 11 death certificates in the past year, making them pretty familiar with how the system works. “Only one-third of the respondents,” Wexelman and her team found, “believed the current system accurately documents correct cause of death.” Nearly half—48.6 percent— of respondents reported having identified a cause of death that did not actually represent what the person died from. A small number, 2.9 percent, had ever gone back and updated a death certificate after learning new information about the patient’s circumstance.
Wow.
(Source: abbyjean)
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You can change the direction this train is moving just by thinking about it.
Red rose in Georgetown on Flickr.
“More than eight in 10 neighborhoods across the United States fall into the two least bikeable categories. And more than half of them — 3500 plus — are concentrated in very bottom category. Conversely, just 3.2 percent of the neighborhoods make the top-ranked category, Biker’s Paradise, while another 14.6 percent can be considered Very Bikeable.”
In honor of Bike to Work Day, Richard Florida takes a look at America’s most bike friendly cities and neighborhoods using Walk Score’s bikeability rankings.
Bike commuting may be on the rise in the United States, but the country is still far from being a Biker’s paradise.
(via theatlantic)
I love bikes (by magic fly paula)