Stannous Flouride's Book of Truthiness

This might be fake. I’m withholding judgement but what do you think?

The Freedmen’s Bureau Project — a new initiative spearheaded by the Smithsonian, the National Archives, the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — will make available online 1.5 million historical documents, finally allowing descendants of former African-American slaves to learn more about their family roots.

Genealogists, researchers, archivists, authors, bloggers, educators, and faith leaders discuss the Freedmen’s Bureau and the need for volunteers to make the records of nearly 4 million emancipated African Americans freely searchable online. http://www.discoverfreedmen.org

btw- As usual, the best coverage of this is by a non-US media source.
Pretty embarrassing for us Americans, I’d say.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jun/20/african-american-family-records-slavery-available-free-online?CMP=share_btn_tw

I know Dara O’Briain from QI and envy him this opportunity to meet his (and my) hero.

Those who receive my business card (a post card with the illustration of one of my paintings shown below) know how much of a fan I am.

The painting is titled “Black Hole” and is a 2D representation of Hawking Radiation. It is executed on black velvet and has, in the background in flat black paint, images of Einstein and Newton. Painted outside in direct sunlight, they are invisible except under very bright light.
Dr Hawking’s image, the reflected light of which is always visible, is a metaphor for the only energy to escape the black hole represented by the velvet.

I sent Dr Hawking a color copy of the painting and still have the letter I received in response.

If you’re uncomfortable looking straight down 3,000 feet (900 m) or watching someone else hanging from that height by their fingertips, you may want to skip the video clip below or this view.

Yesterday, Google’s official blog declared, “Today we’re launching our first-ever vertical Street View collection, giving you the opportunity to climb 3,000 feet up the world’s most famous rock wall: Yosemite’s El Capitan. To bring you this new imagery, we partnered with legendary climbers Lynn Hill, Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell.” Above, you can see this trio in action, talking about what makes El Cap a mecca for rock climbers everywhere.

To create this Street View of El Capitan, Hill, Honnold and Caldwell worked with Google engineers to figure out how to haul a camera up this sheer rock face. And what you ultimately get are some amazing 360-degree panoramic images. According to Caldwell, these “are the closest thing I’ve ever witnessed to actually being thousands of feet up a vertical rock face—better than any video or photo.” 

Is the toll plaza of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge which is famous for its failure on 7 November 1940:

I spotted this chair on the street while giving a walking tour and after I finished went back and got it.

It was painted in purple with a sloppy gold wash and the back was broken into three pieces.

I used the broken seat as a template to create a new seat and upholstered it with a material chosen at random at the fabric store, a bright orange snakeskin vinyl.

Next I sanded the base and applied black primer and 5-6 coats of black lacquer:

The deep curve of the back made it impossible to stretch the vinyl snugly so I decided to pleat the material:

I began by folding the material where the pleats would be, heated the edges with a hairdryer, and clamped it for several days:

Starting in the middle with a double fold I laid it out and stapled it to a piece of thick foamcore:

I then heated this with the hairdryer and weighted it with wood and a heavy box:

This worked quite well and I wrapped the vinyl over a piece of foam and attached it in back:

To hide the back I covered a piece of matte board and fastened it with upholstery tacks:

And attached the seat and back to the frame:

Et voilá:

It’s quite comfortable and looks great.

Patriotism, n.- Combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name.  In Dr. Johnson’s famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last resort of a scoundrel. With all due respect to an enlightened but inferior lexicographer I beg to submit it is the first.                                                                                          –                                                               -Ambrose Bierce, (24 Jun 1842-1914)

San Francisco editor and writer Bierce lived at 330 Guerrero St. in the Mission District.

If you’re in the market for Napoleon’s hat or one of his bottles of wine, this is the Christie’s auction for you.

Or maybe you have one or two million £’s laying about that’s burning a hole in your purse that you can use to buy this beauty:

A restored Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk.1A – Sale Estimate: £1,500,000-2,500,000.                                                   Photo © 2011 John Dibbs.