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10th October
Treasures of Mount Athos. From the Greek Ministry of Culture.

The American Experience: Coney Island.
A century of screams: The history of the roller coaster. 'The roller coaster has its origins in St. Petersburg, Russia, as a simple slide that took thrillseekers down an icy ramp past a variety of colored lanterns. Catherine the Great gave this custom a boost when she fitted her imperial sleigh with wheels for summer use. The next leap forward came when a French traveler beheld this odd national pastime and imported it to his homeland. Adapting the ice slide to a milder climate, the French soon learned to erect a track with a groove running down the middle. A bench with wheels was fitted into the groove, and down the Parisians went -- facing sideways ... '
Postcards.

The American Experience: The Presidents. Their lives and careers; PBS series.

Mosaics In and Around Norwich. 'Norwich is not well known for its mosaics, but there are more than you might think. This page lists a dozen, all well worth seeing, and there are more in Gallery Two. There are also galleries of tile and terrazzo doorways in the city. '

Manhole Covers of London.

Dan Heller Photography: Manhole Covers of the World. And an answer to the question, 'Why are manhole covers round? '.

Dan Heller Photography: Hanging Laundry from Around the World.

Dan Heller Photography: Night Scenes.

Dan Heller Photography: The Moon.

Dan Heller Photography: The Human Figure.

Dan Heller Photography: People Kissing in Public.

Kofuku-ji Mountain. Hanging scroll.

Shaka (Sakyamuni) Rising from the Gold Coffin. 'This scroll depicts the scene of the resurrection of the historical Buddha Sakyamuni as described in the Mahamaya Sutra. Hearing of his death, Sakyamuni's mother, Maya, rushed to him from the Trayastrimsa heaven. While Maya was crying and clutching his bowl and cane to her breast, Sakyamuni, by his divine power, opened the coffin, rose up and told her of the transiency of life. Then he lay down again in the coffin and closed the cover over himself. '

Walala Tjapaltjarri. Australian Aboriginal artist.

Barbara Reid. Australian Aboriginal artist.

Peaceful Wind: Indian and Himalayan Rugs and Textiles.

Peaceful Wind: Indian and Himalayan Jewellery. Necropsy: The Review of Horror Fiction.

Jeffrey Jones, Illustrator of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Thanks, Erin.

Christopher Hitchens on Englishness. Thanks, jp.

Overflow.

Smithsonian Gallery of Freelance Photographers. Via taz @ MeFi.

The Chinook Nation.

National Register of Historic Places. (USA) 'This site presents a range of beautiful historic places throughout the country. Visitors can access places well worth visiting in different states and counties across the nation. Both individual historic destinations and districts can be easily found that cover a tremendous range for points of interest. Get information on famous persons, events, sites, buildings, and much more. Welcome to an adventure in finding numerous places which made a mark in history ... '

The Solar System in Pictures. Always well worth looking at.

The Ukiyo-e Gallery. Huge, fantastic.

Hokusai. Via Jim Breen's Ukiyo-e Gallery.

Lafayette Square, a historic district in St. Louis, Missouri.

Prefecture of Herakleion. An interactive map and guide to historical sites in Crete.
Palace of Knossos.

Prefecture of Lasithi. Sites in eastern Crete.

Prefecture of Rethymnon.

National Archive of Geological Photographs. 'The British Geological Survey houses the National Archive of Geological Photographs (NAGP), comprising in excess of 100,000 fully-described images dedicated to the theme of earth sciences. '

Institute and Museum of the History of Science, Florence.

Parahamsa Yogananda Photo Gallery. 'Paramhansa Yogananda (1893-1952, often misspelled 'Paramahansa' Yogananda) was the first yoga master of India to live and teach in the West. He arrived in America in 1920, and traveled throughout the United States on what he called his spiritual campaigns. His enthusiastic audiences filled the largest halls in America. Hundreds of thousands came to see the yogi from India. He continued to lecture and write up to his passing in 1952 ... '

Parahamsa Yogananda Universal Shrine. 'Dedicated to ensuring universal access to the body of Paramhansa Yogananda for ALL, and the creation of a non-sectarian shrine for Yogananda's body.'

West Baden Springs Hotel. An Indiana landmark.

Marktown Historic District, East Chicago, Indiana. 'This most unique neighborhood was designed by Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1917 for industrialist Clayton Mark. It has been referred to as "the Brigadoon of Industrial Housing, rising out of the mists of industry every few years." ... '

Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. 'Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana saves and restores irreplaceable architectural heritage, from outstanding national landmarks like West Baden Springs to modest historic houses, barns and bridges. If youre interested in the historic preservation and restoration of Indiana landmarks, youve come to the right place.'

The Blackfeet Nation of Montana. 'The reservation is made up of 1.5 million acres and located in the northwestern part of Montana, that includes most of Glacier County. On the north it borders the Canadian Province of Alberta. On the west it shares a border with Glacier National Park . The Badger-Two Medicine portion of the Lewis and Clark National Forest borders to the southwest. Other natural boundaries include Birch Creek and Cut Bank Creeks. Elevations vary from a low of 3,400 ft. in the southwest to a high of over 9,000 ft. at Chief Mountain on the northwest boundary. '

Buskaid Soweto String Project. Helping young musicians in Soweto; there is a great gallery.
Dusk in the township.

Archaeological Museum of Ceos. Via the Greek Ministry of Culture.

Archaeological Museum of Syros. Via the Greek Ministry of Culture.
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9th October
Empire Rising, by David Horsey. A satirical cartoon history.

Graphic Witness. Art and social commentary.

Senzui Byobu (Landscape with Figures Screen). 'Senzui-byobu is a type of screen painting used in the ordination ceremonies of the Shingon sect of Esoteric Buddhism. Such screens seem to have been adapted from those used in the residences of Heian nobility ... '

Anchorage Museum's Alaska Gallery.

Anchorage Museum's Art of the North.

Amy Lou's Alaska. 'Amy Lou Barney was a professional photographer in Juneau, Alaska between 1937 and 1951. Her married name at the time was Amy Lou Blood, and that is the name appearing on her photographic work, which included scenics, commercial assignments and portraits taken throughout the Territory. Amy Lou developed, printed, enlarged, tinted, retouched and framed pictures, first for Ordway's Photo Shop and later for her own business, Lu-Ek's. After satisfying a girlhood dream to learn to fly, she combined this passion with her photographic profession and began taking aerial pictures ... '
Some photos.

German Propaganda Archive. 'Propaganda was central to Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic. The German Propaganda Archive includes both propaganda itself and material produced for the guidance of propagandists. The goal is to help people understand the two great totalitarian systems of the 20th Century by giving them access to the primary material. '

Alcan Highway. 'World War II, 1942-1943, Canadian Wilderness. 10,607 U.S. soldiers built a road 1,522 miles long in 8 months. 3,695 of these soldiers were Black men ... '

Abortion Cartoons.

Bachman Eckenstein. Buddhist art from China, Japan, Tibet.
A pair of sugi-do - wooden doors.
Siddhartha - shakyamuni as a newborn child.

Himalayan Masks.

Himalayan Ritual & Domestic Objects.

Portrait of Anne, Countess of Chesterfield.

Delightful Surprise. 'Turning towards a presumed visitor, a young woman leans back on a pillow, her gown falling away to expose her upper body. '

Michael Nelson Jagamara. Australian Aboriginal artist.

Mitjili Napurrula. Australian Aboriginal artist.

Robert Hooke: The Man Who Knew Everything. 'Robert Hooke emerged as one of the leaders of this new age. Born in 1635 in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, he was educated at home until the age of 13 and then at Westminster School. In 1653, he went on to Oxford University. His interests spanned a wide range of topics. Best known as an astronomer and instrument maker, he was also a skilled physician, surveyor, architect, anatomist and artist ... '

John Harrison and the Longitude Problem.

Japanese Manhole Covers. (Thanks, Junko).

Tube Map with Walklines. 'For some journeys it's really not worth getting on the tube: it takes a long time, and costs you money. Sometimes it's quicker and easier to walk.' Via Frizzy Logic.

Toronto Ghost Signs. Via MeFi.

Epact: Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe. 'Epact is an electronic catalogue of medieval and renaissance scientific instruments from four European museums: the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence , the British Museum, London, and the Museum Boerhaave, Leiden. Together, these museums house the finest collections of early scientific instruments in the world ... '
Armillary sphere, circa 1500.

Cameras: The Technology of Photographic Imaging.

The Measurers: A Flemish Image of Mathematics in the Sixteenth Century. ' 'The Measurers: a Flemish Image of Mathematics in the Sixteenth Century' was a Special Exhibition displayed at the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford during 1995. The exhibition was centered around a very unusual and important painting in the Museum's collection, known simply as 'The Measurers'. The painting depicts a range of practical activities, foremost among them mathematical instrument making, and is used in the context of the exhibition both as a starting point for a discussion of the practical mathematics movement of Renaissance Europe and as a means of organizing the display of a large number of scientific instruments, texts and other related objects ... '

Indiana Historic Architecture. 'The Indiana Historic Architecture Home Page spotlights historic architecture and neighborhoods throughout all of Indiana. Here you will find an extensive photo gallery--over 100 photos--of historic architecture, with more being added all the time.'

Historic Homes of Anderson, Indiana.

Hammond, Indiana History. Fantastic images.

Gary, Indiana: America's Magic Industrial City. 'The City of Gary is best known for being one of the country's major steel producing facilities. As possessing an industry which once was a lucrative money making venture, Gary did draw large numbers of social and economic classes. One aspect of Gary history that has been overlooked is its architecture. Numerous volumes have been authored discussing the social and economic histories of the city but its actual built environment has never truly been discussed. This page is an off-shoot of my thesis research and academic interests. With this site, I hope to illustrate my architectural discoveries and document my continuing concerns to preserve one of the last American industrial cities. In this site, I shall present previously undocumented designs by numerous architects including J.T. Hutton, John Eberson, Holabird & Roche, George & Arthur Dean, George Maher & Son, and Frank LLoyd Wright ... '

Indiana Historical Society.

Utamaro. 'Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1808) is regarded as one of the foremost painters of beauty, or the "bijinga" genre. (I recently saw that 1946 classic film "Utamaro and his 5 Women", the title of which is a play on the name of his triptych "Hideyoshi and his 5 Concubines", the publication of which landed him in jail in 1805. The event figures prominently in the film.) ... '
Via Jim Breen's Ukiyo-e gallery.

Tokugawa Gallery. Japanese prints.

The Life of Parahamsa Yogananda. 'A pioneer of yoga in the West.'

Autobiography of a Yogi, by Parahamsa Yogananda. Pub. 1946. Illustrated.
Giri Bala. 'This great woman yogi has not taken food or drink since 1880. I am pictured with her, in 1936, at her home in the isolated Bengal village of Biur. Her non-eating state has been rigorously investigated by the Maharaja of Burdwan. She employs a certain yoga technique to recharge her body with cosmic energy from the ether, sun, and air. '

Soweto Township, South Africa. Picture gallery.
Hector Peterson.
Shanty towns.

The Sovereign Miccosukee Seminole Nation. A Native American nation.

Meskwaki Traditional Arts. 'Contrasting patterns are a distinctive feature of Meskwaki art in which often seeming chaotic arrangements take on a new pattern on close inspection. This duality is expressed in the function of Meskwaki art as well. The objects are utilitarian and symbolic at the same time. Their functional purpose can not be separated from their religious, spiritual and mythological associations. Meskwaki art objects usually have spiritual associations even when they have no direct ritual function--few traditional objects are purely decorative and without meaning. '

Lantern Slides of Classical Antiquity. 'Many colleges have image collections that have been used as educational aids in classrooms and libraries. Bryn Mawr College is typical, though its collection is unusually large. The College's collection of slides and prints has been in use since before the turn of the twentieth century, and many of the images of archaeological subjects are truly irreplaceable. In fact, some of those images are now of interest and importance not only for classroom use but for students and scholars who need to examine monuments in detail. Many of the medium-format glass plates (lantern slides) from late in the nineteenth or early in the twentieth century, all black-and-white of course, were taken of monuments that have subsequently been damaged or eroded. There are also photographs of excavations in progress and of monuments in stages of repair/restoration that provide unique information to contemporary users. Thus, these images are not simply classroom aids now; they are invaluable resources for serious scholarship ... '

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Display of Plaster-Cast-Copies of Ancient Greek and Roman Sculpture.

Museum of Prehistoric Thera. Via the Greek Ministry of Culture.

Archaeological Museum of Naxos. Via the Greek Ministry of Culture.
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8th October
British Bookbindings: 16th-19th Century.

Robert & Andrew Foulis, the Foulis Press, and Their Legacy. Examples of the work of the press founded in Glasgow in the eighteenth century.
Images.

Steven Katzman Photography: Death. Use arrow keys at bottom to navigate.

Lacquer Miniatures from Fedoskino. 'The village of Fedoskino, one of the centers of modern Russian lacquerwork, is located in picturesque surroundings of Moscow, on a bank of the Ucha. Fedoskino is a very old village; about two hundred years renowned for its miniature paintings on lacquered papier-mache boxes ... '

Gzhel. 'There is a group of about thirty villages located not far from Moscow bearing the name of Gzhel, which has long been famous for its white-burning clay. Gzhel must have been the name of one of these villages...'

Northern Russian Folk Costume. 'On these pages we display the collection of Northern folk clothes of the Archangel Wooden architecture Museum. The collection numbers to six thousand beautiful pieces of folk Russian art. For 20 years (and this is how old the museum is) its scientific workers have done to a lot of expeditions to study and to collect exhibits in various districts of Archangel region ... '

Virtual Tour of the Kremlin.

Vintage Paperbacks. 'If you love vintage paperbacks, you have come to the right place. There are over 600 images of paperback books on this website.'
'Authors featured are Robert Bloch, Fredric Brown, Raymond Chandler, David Goodis, Dashiell Hammett, John D. MacDonald, Evan Hunter, Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford and Cornell Woolrich.'
'Cover artists featured are Rudolph Belarski, Earle Bergey, Reginald Heade, Robert Bonfils, Frank Frazetta, George Gross, Jeff Jones, Robert Maguire and Robert McGinnis ... '
' ... Several pages are listed by theme. Other categories include Science Fiction, Sleaze, Lesbiana, Dustjacketed paperbacks, Vintage and Drug theme paperbacks and digests.'
Galleries.

Strange Sisters. Lesbian paperback artwork from the Fifties and Sixties.

R.A. Maguire Cover Art. Paperback cover art.

How to Draw a Frog, with illustrations.

The Encyclopaedia of Hotcak (Winnebago) Mythology.

Where Sea and Land Meet: Historical Northwest Coast Settings in the Art of Gordon Miller and Bill Holm. 'A detailed knowledge of the traditional cultures of the coastal peoples of British Columbia (Canada) and Washington State (United States), and of the geographic settings in which those cultures flourished, are the source materials to which Gordon Miller and Bill Holm apply their artistic skills. Their realistic and often dramatic reconstructions depicting people, places and events from the past are based on careful study of museum collections, archival documents and photographs, and archaeological evidence. These paintings help us understand what life must have been like for the peoples who inhabited that strip of Pacific coast lying between the sea and the rain-forest. '

Shen Fan. Chinese artist.

Pu Jie. Chinese artist.

Kinko and Other Hermits. 'Sesson Shukei was a Zen priest who worked in the Kanto district in the late Muromachi Period. According to Setsumonteishi, his essay on paintings, he modeled himself after Sesshu. However, his painting style is pleasant with rhythmical strokes, while Sesshu's works tend to be static and precisely planned. '
'The unique expressions on the faces of the hermits, one of his favorite subjects, and the variation of ink shades and subtle coloring in this work are outstanding. This painting suggests the pre-modern painting styles to come in the Edo Period.'

Losar. Tibetan New Year; photos.

Tibetan Healing Mandala. 'In response to the September 11 tragedies, twenty Buddhist monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery constructed a sand mandala (sacred painting) at the Sackler gallery. This seven-foot-square mandala, one of the largest ever created in the West, was offered for the healing and protection of America. In addition, the monks participated in chanting, meditation, and other traditional healing ceremonies.'

Musee Rodin.

Lianhuanhua Picture Stories from China.

The Madonna Inn, California. A unique place. 'A landmark on California's Central Coast for over forty-five years! '

Australia: Songlines in Aboriginal Culture.

Hundertwasser's Ultimate Stand. "Psychiatry's chief contribution to philosophy is the discovery that the toilet is the seat of the soul." - Alexander Chase.
'Internationally renown artist and architect Frederick Hundertwasser could never have dreamed of the impact he was going to have on a small, rural community when he made New Zealand his second home 25 years ago. From a sleepy hollow just off the tourist track through the Bay of Islands, the Kawakawa township has burgeoned into a "must see" mecca for Hundertwasser devotees worldwide.'
'It all happened as a result of a public toilet - probably the most unlikely building to have ever captured international visitor attention anywhere. The project has already attracted both French and Japanese television documentary teams to Kawakawa, together with international visitors already beginning to number in the thousands. Bus tours pull up outside for photo sessions, travelers familiar with Hundertwasser's work in Europe are making special visits to the Bay of Islands rural township, and domestic visitors are making a stopover for both practical and philosophical reasons ... '

Stamps of the Faroe Islands.

The Quintessential Flapper. A page about Louise Brooks, a great silent movie star (the star of Pandora's Box). Links to photographs.

The Louise Brooks Society. Much more about her.

Iowa State Steam Tunnels. With images.

Rubbings of Mayan Relief Sculpture.

The Gamble House, Pasadena, California. A fabulous place.

Chairman Mao Zedong Badges. Ephemera.

Red Heart. More Maoist ephemera.

Casbook: Jack the Ripper - Victorian London. Letters, maps, contemporary articles...

The Crime Library. Wrongdoings; great for crime buffs. Articles on everything from Christopher Marlowe and the Rostov Ripper to WMD's and necrophilia.

Industrial Workers of the World. One Big Union.

No Logo.

Playing Fantastic Four with the Computer. Fun.
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7th October
Allan and Ferguson's Views in Glasgow. 'Glasgow University Library's Special Collections Department owns Illustrated Letter Paper Comprising a Series of Views in Glasgow, a rare nineteenth-century publication featuring some of the city's landmark buildings, many of which no longer exist.'
'In June 1843 Allan and Ferguson, one of Glasgow's leading firms of lithographers, draughtsmen and engravers, advertised the publication of a new series of Views in Glasgow. They were 'Engraved on Steel, in the first style of art, from Original Drawings, executed expressly for this Work, and surrounded with beautiful Medallion Frame-work'. There were twenty plates printed in two parts. Each part sold for 2s. 6d. on proof paper, or 2d. per sheet on letter paper ...'

The Body Revealed: Renaissance and Baroque Anatomical Illustration. 'William Hunter (1718-1783), physician and collector, was unique amongst his contemporaries in several ways, not least in having had the foresight to bequeath his entire museological collections and library to his alma mater, thereby avoiding their dispersal in the salerooms. When in 1807 the collections of coins, paintings, minerals, shells, anatomical and natural history specimens, printed books and manuscripts were received, the University was given an incalculable boost, from which it is still benefiting. Hunter's library alone, comprising some 10,000 volumes, not only augmented the University's stock by fifty percent at a stroke, but also brought distinction and character to an adequate, but unremarkable academic collection ... '

The Damned Art. 'An exhibition of books relating to the history of witchcraft and demonology, drawn mainly from the Ferguson collection.'

Hispanica. Rare Spanish books in Glasgow University Library - literature, science, history, music, art, etc.

Musicke of Sundrie Kindes. With images.

Mughal Miniatures. 'The art of miniature painting as book illustration for non-religious purposes, was first introduced in India by the Mughal emperors who brought with them from Iran, artists trained in Safavid art ... '

Wei Guangqing. Chinese artist.

Tang Guo. Chinese artist.

Faces of Dharamsala. Photos.

The History of Superman.

John Baeder. 'Baeder has a definite take on the subject matter that moves him. In this case it's L.A. Taco Trucks, which is the title of the exhibit. "Taco trucks, and other traveling food service vehicles (hot dog, hamburger, ice cream, catering, so forth) have always enamored me," writes Baeder. "On a very basic level, they represent the old horse drawn lunch wagon that roamed the streets." Baeder points out that the horse drawn lunch wagon grew larger and evolved into the dining cars which were eventually known as "diners." ... '

Hans Burkhardt.

R.B. Kitaj.

Marcel Bolomet. 'Bolomet's images of men, women, and children dealing with the ravages of war recall the brutal honesty of the Depression era scenes of Walker Evans and the cold war atmosphere captured by Robert Frank ... '

Michigan's Mysterious Indian Mounds. With photos.

The Inuvialuit of the Western Arctic. 'The Inuit living in the western Canadian Arctic call themselves "Inuvialuit" or "real human beings." Their homeland stretches from the Alaskan border east to Amundsen Gulf and the western edge of the Canadian Arctic Islands. It is a land of rolling tundra and high, rocky mountains, bisected by the labyrinth of the Mackenzie River Delta. '
'The traditional culture of the Inuvialuit was shattered by European infectious diseases in the late 19th century, before it could be described in writing in any great detail. What we do know has been pieced together from traditional oral histories, archaeological research, and the writings of the various 19th-century explorers, fur traders, and missionaries who visited the western Arctic ... '

The Vermont Whale. 'In 1849, while constructing the first railroad between Rutland and Burlington, Vermont, workers unearthed the bones of a mysterious animal near the town of Charlotte. Buried nearly 10 feet below the surface in a thick blue clay, these bones were unlike those of an y animal previously discovered in Vermont. After consulting with experts, the bones were identified as those of a "beluga" or "white" whale, an animal that inhabits arctic and subarctic marine waters in the northern hemisphere ... '

Nagasaki: Urakami Neighborhood with Mount Iwaya in the Distance. Photograph by Shomei Tomatsu.

Rama IX Art Museum. Thai art.

Mitree Parahom. Contemporary Thai art - identity, Buddhism, masks, nature, themes to do with greed and corruption.

Ghana Drum School.

Poussin: Triumph of Neptune.

Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.

The Fathers of the Church. An introduction to early Christian lives.

Eat the State! 'Politics with bite'.

A Friend Indeed... Indeed. Humorous tale for adult children.

Good Money. 'Social, Ethical and Environmental Investing and Consuming & Corporate Accountability.'

African Nomads. 'Over the centuries, many semi-nomadic and nomadic cultures have inhabited the desert environments which stretch across the African continent. Pastoral peoples continue to live in these harsh habitats. Their inventive architectural responses reflect timeless, sophisticated thought processes and involve cultural strategies ... '

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.

Gerald Felix Tchicaya U Tam'si (1931-1988). A Congolese poet.

Mao Zedong Badges.

National Museum of Natural History, Leiden.

Summa Theologica. Thomas Aquinas.
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6th October
Kate Peck Kent Collection of West African Textiles. 'As you will see, the people of West Africa make all kinds of beautiful, colorful cloth. Weaving and dyeing are important parts of their cultural traditions. Therefore, studying cloth can help us learn about West African people, too. '
'On this website, you will see pictures of the textiles and read information about them, just like in a regular museum exhibit. However, you will also be able to go "behind the scenes" and read documents about specific objects in the collection. Finally, you can access a list of further reading, follow links to other relevant websites, and find out which museums in your area have African collections ... '

The Clay Fertility Figures of Henan.

Chinese Fans.

Shaker Historic Trail. 'The National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places and Northeast Regional Office, in conjunction with the Shaker communities and museums of the east coat and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), proudly invite you to discover the Shaker Historic Trail. The Shakers, more properly known as the United Society of Believers, are one of the most compelling religious and social movements in American life. Beginning in the 1780s, the Shakers established 19 official communities from Maine to Kentucky. This latest National Register of Historic Places travel itinerary highlights 15 Shaker communities listed in the National Register, including nine which are open to the public. This online itinerary was based on the previously published National Park Service brochure, The Shaker Historic Trail ... '

Michael Bakunin Reference Archive. Nineteenth century Russian anarchist.

Emma Goldman Reference Archive. "There is no conflict between the individual and the social instincts, any more than there is between the heart and the lungs: the one the receptacle of a precious life essence, the other the repository of the element that keeps the essence pure and strong. The individual is the heart of society, conserving the essence of social life; society is the lungs which are distributing the element to keep the life essence—that is, the individual—pure and strong. "

Boobie-thon. For a good cause - go and donate!

Carl von Clausewitz Archive. "War is not merely a political act, but also a real political instrument, a continuation of political commerce, a carrying out of the same by other means. ... for the political view is the object, War is the means, and the means must always include the object in our conception."
On War.

Portrait of a Man in a Fur Hat.

The Duomo, Siena. Photographs.

Views of Assisi, Italy.

The Bon Religion. 'Bon, the indigenous faith of the Tibetan people, has long been a source of fascination. Relatively unknown among the religions of the world, the Bon faith is an enigma interwoven with the fabric of Tibetan customs and thinking.'
'Bon religious practice has a keen sense of the beautiful --- a mystic sense of nature that plays an important part in leading the mind from the mundane to the higher and deeper world of the divine and in transforming mere existence into an experience of living with wisdom and compassion ... '

Kingston, New York History. 'The National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places and the Kingston Urban Cultural Park proudly invite you to explore Kingston: Discover 300 Years of New York History. Established in 1652 as the third settlement in the Dutch colony of New Netherland, an active participant in the American Revolution, and a major river-port during New York's 19th-century canal and steamboat era, Kingston boasts a history that spans over 300 years. This National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary explores Kingston's rich history using 24 historic places that recall past eras when Dutch settlers and Native Americans warily shared river flood plains, when proud Revolutionaries and angry British armies walked its narrow streets, and when coal, limestone, and even patent medicines flowed through Kingston along the route of the Delaware and Hudson Canal ... '

Lewis & Clark Expedition. 'The National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, and Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, in conjunction with the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), proudly invite you to discover the historic places of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. This expedition, which took place between 1804 and 1806, has been described as the greatest camping trip of all time, a voyage of high adventure, an exercise in manifest destiny which carried the American flag overland to the Pacific. It was all of this and more. This travel itinerary highlights 41 historic places listed in the National Register of Historic Places and associated with Lewis and Clark. Many of these places are also part of the National Park Service's Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.'

Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. 'The National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places, the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (a National Heritage Area affiliated with the National Park Service), the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Steamtown National Historic Site, the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), and the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions (NAPC) extend their invitation to you to explore the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, featuring historic places in and near eastern Pennsylvania's canal and coal region. Stretching 150 miles from Bristol to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor follows the routes of the Delaware Canal, the Lehigh Navigation System, and the Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad. This travel itinerary explores 46 places listed in the National Register of Historic Places that illustrate the history of this extraordinary 19th-century transportation system--the backbone of the Corridor--mountain railroads, rivers, dams and canals, devised to move anthracite from mine to market. '

All Aboard for Cumberland, Maryland. 'The National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places and the City of Cumberland, Maryland, proudly invite you to explore All Aboard For Cumberland. Cumberland is located in mountainous Allegany County, Maryland, at the base of converging mountain ridges at the confluence of Wills Creek and the Potomac River. Established in 1787, the city conforms in its layout to the rugged topography within which it is situated. George Washington truly did sleep here--his headquarters during the French and Indian War were located at Fort Cumberland. The fort, and later the city, took its name from the Duke of Cumberland, son of King George II of Great Britain. Known as the "Gateway to the West," Cumberland gained prominence during the 19th century as a major transportation center and as an important economic focus for the region. The city was the site of the first National Road, the western terminus of the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal, and a center for the railroad industry. This National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary explores Cumberland's past through 27 historic places listed in the National Register that reflect over two centuries of history. '

Washington DC. 'The National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places welcomes you to discover Washington DC: A Guide to the Historic Neighborhoods and Monuments of Our Nation's Capital. From its beginnings as an undeveloped rural area, to its initial planning as the Nation's capital, as envisioned by Frenchman Pierre Charles L'Enfant, to its growth in size and infrastructure at the turn of the 20th century, to its place today as a political, economic, and cultural center, Washington, DC, has engaging stories to tell about the people and places that have helped shape the Nation and this most capital of cities. '

Ely Cathedral. A most imposing building; history and virtual tour.

The Maha Kumbh Mela 2001. 'Over 25 Million people came together at the Maha Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad, India on January 24th, 2001. You are all invited to check our site for info on this, the largest gathering of humanity in history.'

America as it Was. The USA in vintage postcards - great.

Florida's Historic Places. A great interactive map and photo guide.

Florida's Historic Courthouses. A pictorial tour.

An Alutiiq Dance. 'Each fall, after the end of salmon fishing and the berry harvest, the Alutiiq people of southern coastal Alaska held a series of festivals and spiritual ceremonies that lasted throughout the winter months. Dances and accompanying songs addressed powerful spirits who could help or harm human beings, and appealed to the souls of animals upon whom life depended ... '

The Lalibelah Crosses of Ethiopian artist Aida Beshah.

Haile Selassie and Rastafari.

Li Fangying: Album of Plum Blossom Paintings.

Yun Ge: Sunset at Huawu.

Three Wives of Wassily Kandinsky. 'We have prepared a collection of paintings by the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky alongside with his biography. We would like to devote this newsletter to some aspects of the artist's private life, which were not reflected in his bio. '
Kandinsky gallery.

Temples of Justice: A Photo Tour of California's Historic Courthouses.

Pennsylvania Courthouses.

The Legend of Andrea del Castagno. Art and art folklore.

The Great Fire in Moscow (1812)(/a> in art.

Little Mos'-Woman: The Story of a Fairy Tale. 'In the summer of 1977 I spent some time at Sukyrja village in the north-western corner of a Mansi (Vogul) area, recording a considerable number of local fairy-tales and folk songs. Having as yet no experience in the transcription of texts, let alone texts in a foreign language, I asked Klavdia Sainakhova, a student of the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute, who happened to be at home on holiday, to write down a couple of more interesting tales for me, so that I could translate them later on. I noticed that while doing it she often turned to her mother for consultation. True, Praskovja Sainakhova had been the performer of one of the tales recorded. But she also found fault with the presentation of Maria Albina, saying that her language was not good and her story lacked the beginning as well as an end. So Klava supplemented the text according to her mother's instructions ... '

Draznilkas: Russian Children's Taunts.

Japan Art. Contemporary and traditional.

The Telegarden. 'This tele-robotic installation allows WWW users to view and interact with a remote garden filled with living plants. Members can plant, water, and monitor the progress of seedlings via the tender movements of an industrial robot arm. Internet behavior might be characterized as ``hunting and gathering''; our purpose is to consider the ``post-nomadic'' community, where survival favors those who work together. '

The Canada Agriculture Museum. Many interesting things here.

The Fogs of Mars.
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