The Tyranny Of Time

The clock is a useful social tool, but it is also deeply political. It benefits some, marginalizes others and blinds us from a true understanding of our own bodies and the world around us.

On a damp and cloudy afternoon on February 15, 1894, a man walked through Greenwich Park in East London. His name was Martial Bourdin — French, 26 years of age, with slicked-back dark hair and a mustache. He wandered up the zigzagged path that led to the Royal Observatory, which just 10 years earlier had been established as the symbolic and scientific center of globally standardized clock time — Greenwich Mean Time — as well as the British Empire. In his left hand, Bourdin carried a bomb: a brown paper bag containing a metal case full of explosives. As he got closer to his target, he primed it with a bottle of sulfuric acid. But then, as he stood facing the Observatory, it exploded in his hands.

- NOEMA

Coup de Blues / Soleil

Nude Sunbathing - My husband’s friend wasn’t expecting me

It was hot, and my clothing stuck to my skin. Even with the breeze that flowed over the boat, I felt like I was in a sauna.

"Babe, it's way too hot out here," I complained.

He passed me another drink and said, "Then take your clothes off. Go for a dip in the lake to cool off and then warm up in the sun."

- MyErotica

 

The Manchineel, or 'Death Apple,' Is the World's Most Dangerous Tree

Whether you climb them, hug them or admire them, trees are one part of nature that are so easy to love, cleansing the air we breathe, offering shade from the sun and providing sweet, nutritious fruit. But love isn't exactly what you'll feel if you get too close to the manchineel tree. Known as the most dangerous tree in the world, it's found along the sandy beaches and mangroves in tropical climates stretching from Florida to the Caribbean, and down into parts of Central and South America. And this tree can cause a world of hurt.

- Howstuffworks

 

Italian Summer Transports You To The Coast of Tuscany

Lorenzo Grifantini is co-founder of a successful architectural company, but as a youngster he always had a passion for the cinema, and by extension, photography. For the past two years he has focused on improving his technical knowledge of photography while always looking for new stories to tell through his images. One of his recent series, Italian Summer caught our attention.

- The Phoblographer

 

James Franco and Christina Voros on BDSM documentary ‘kink’

While filming 2012’s About Cherry, actor James Franco had the opportunity to explore the former San Francisco Armory. The massive, castle-like building now serves as headquarters for Peter Acworth’s Kink.com, the Internet’s largest producer of BDSM pornography. The facility is operated not unlike an old Hollywood studio lot, with multiple productions occurring simultaneously across the building’s many sets and soundstages, generating a steady stream of content for Kink.com’s various websites.

Franco tapped cinematographer Christina Voros – who worked on his recent directorial efforts, Child of God, As I Lay Dying, and Sal – to spearhead a documentary on Kink.com, its employees and models, and its production complex. The film, kink, offers a rare and surprising behind-the-scenes look at the world of professional BDSM pornography.

- Under the Radar

Why Russians do not smile

Cultural differences create a lot of misunderstanding in communications between Westerners, particularly Americans, and Russians. In this mini-ethnography I present the main differences in perception of the smile in Russia and in the United States.

- The Chicago Maroon