Tag: the more you know

thecheshirecass:

fearless-stormclaw:

becauseshesthe-blade:

fineillsignup:

modoru-mono:

jangojips:

teressabee:

darthmelyanna:

ekjohnston:

ironychan:

Thousands of years ago, somebody looked at a flock of sheep and went, “well, they aren’t cold.”

Guys. Guys.

It’s so much better than that.

So once upon a time, goats and sheep were essentially the same animal, and all of them had hair. Now, you can do some stuff with hair, but you can’t do a lot, so mostly sheep/goats were kept for meat and milk.

Except then a mutation showed up, and some of the sheep/goats had WOOL instead. And someone realized that 1. you could spin that shit, and 2. then you could WEAVE that shit, and 3. IT GREW BACK.

Generations of selective breeding ensued. Two visibly discrete species emerged, one primarily for meat and milk, and the other primarily for wool. They also have different behavioural characteristics, because independence was not helpful in a sheep, so it was bred out of them. Sheep remain one of the few non-draft animals that we farm even though they are not delicious.

The most similar part of sheep and goats that remains today is their skeleton. On an archaeological dig, you find THOUSANDS of bones and bone fragments that can only be identified as “sheep/goat”. It’s incredibly frustrating, but also kind of hilarious after you’ve spent enough time in the sun.

ANYWAY, human beings have always been smart and surprisingly good at changing nature because they want a sweater.

The entire knitting community needs to hear this.

Oh man I’m so glad I can add this to my arsenal of responses to people who say all GMOs are made of poison.

In zooarchaeology, sheep/goat is a valid category and no one will press you further on the issue.

@historia-vitae-magistras

Huh, I wonder if this is part of why Chinese only has one word for sheep/goat (羊). You can distinguish as 绵羊 “wool-sheepgoat” for sheep vs 山羊 “mountain-sheepgoat” for goat.

TIL.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHEEP AREN’T DELICIOUS

^^^That last comment was inevitable. (Is sheep mutton? I don’t think I’ve ever had it, only goat, which was good, but also it was in curry and I’d eat a shoe if you put it in a good curry.)

ruspeach:

Шикша – это лекарственное растение, которое используется в народной медицине против головной боли, усталости. Растение известно своим витаминным составом, благодаря чему его рекомендуют для лечения цинги. Известно, что шикша используется в тибетской медицине.

Shiksha is a herb which is used in traditional medicine against a headache, fatigue. The plant is known by its vitamin structure thanks to what it is recommended for treatment of a scurvy. It is known that shiksha is used in Tibetan medicine.

www.ruspeach.com

scarimor:

bmwiid:

woodsmokeandwords:

uidu-regani:

tardygrading:

spazzbot:

ardatli:

annathecrow:

ardatli:

childrentalking:

itwashotwestayedinthewater:

fabledquill:

killerchickadee:

intheheatherbright:

intheheatherbright:

Costume. Chitons.

Marjorie & C. H. B.Quennell, Everyday Things in Archaic Greece (London: B. T. Batsford, 1931).

Wait, wait…. Is that seriously it? How their clothes go?

that genuinely is it

yeah hey whats up bout to put some fucking giant sheets on my body

lets bring back sheetwares

When you’re carding, spinning and weaving everything from scratch, using the big squares exactly as they come off the loom must seem like a fucking brilliant idea. 90% (or more) of pre-14th century clothing is made purely on squares (and sometimes triangles cut from squares). 

How did they get the fabric so fine it draped like that? Was that something medieval europe forgot? Or do I just have a completely misguided image of historical clothing?

Medieval Europe also had incredibly fine weaves, though the ancient world tended to have them beat. Linen was found in Egypt woven with a fineness that we’re still trying to replicate, and there was a kind of cotton woven in India called ‘woven wind’ that was supposedly still translucent at eight layers, and wool shawls so fine that the entire thing could be drawn through a wedding ring. 

The way they could get away with pinking and slashing doublets in the 16th century was partially because the fabrics were so tightly woven that you could simply cut a line on the bias and nothing would fray. 

Modern fabric machining sucks ass in terms of giving us any kind of quality like the kind human beings produced prior to the Industrial Revolution. 

*yells about textile history*

Reblogging because it’s fascinating.

The Celts made very fine clothing as well. They invented plaid after all, and the same weaves that have been found at the La Tene/Halstatt salt mines in Austria were also found as far away as western China in the tombs of the Tarim mummies.

Can we talk about 18th century and regency era muslin as well because that shit is gorgeous. It’s so fine it’s more transparent than silk chiffon and oh the tiny hems you can make with it!! I have an 18th century neckerchief and the hem is about 2mm wide. Not kidding, 2mm!!! Because it didn’t fray like our stuff does now. All we can produce nowadays is a rough, scratchy, bullshit excuse for muslin and it’s horrid.

I love this because we’ve gotten so blind to what makes ‘good’ fabric now – machine lace? horrible scratchy shit mostly made from poly. Actual lace is handmade, lasts for fucking EVER and looks stunning. 

Regency gowns fucking rocked in terms of fabric quality – we use muslin as a ‘throw away’ before sewing the real fabric, back then it WAS a real fabric and it was so finely made you wouldn’t even think it was the same stuff. 

Hand hemming is still the best way to finish off anything, but harder than hell because of the shitty weave of modern fabrics. 

Satin? Silks?!

Pah. Yes, fabric is cheaper, more affordable and varied than before, but it is an area where QUALITY was sacrificed for QUANTITY. 

(I don’t want to seem like I’m shitting on how great we have it now for clothes and martials or anything, because YAY!! but also, I’d love to get my mits on a bolt of real Muslin) 

archaeologists recently found some Bronze Age fabric woven on site and preserved in marsh in England. it’s fine to die for. they were exporting it and trading into Asia.

historical-nonfiction:

The Chinese ideogram for home or family was originally a pig under a roof. The character first appeared more than 3,000 years ago on Shang dynasty bronzes. Having a pig in the house indicated it was a place where people lived, not just a barn. The ideogram has slowly come to mean more and more related ideas, including home, occupation, and identity.

Ditch Ad Block Plus.

jumpingjacktrash:

madamehardy:

annakie:

And now for an announcement from your friendly neighborhood IT worker.

If you use Ad Block Plus, you should uninstall it and download and install uBlock Origin immediately.  (There are Firefox versions of all the extensions I’ll talk about here, just google ‘em.  And some for IE, Edge and Opera.)

Ad Block Plus is now now only letting advertisers pay them to whitelist some ads, but is now letting advertisers pay them to put their own ads on websites INSTEAD of what you would normally see on that website.

Please remember that it’s possible to spread malware, including Crypotowall type malware, through ads on websites.  Yes, ads are how websites make most to all of their revenue, but until ads can be trusted to not destroy your machine, you should not view them if possible.

Please make sure you get uBlock Origin and not just uBlock. 

I also suggest installing a flash blocker like FlashControl.  This will keep flash from automatically loading on websites you visit.  Unfortunately, malware can be spread through just about any version of flash. Make sure you keep flash up to date, as well. FlashControl will be slightly disruptive to your browsing habits, but most things will load with just a single click.  You can always disable it on a website if it’s being too disruptive somewhere.

If you really want to protect your privacy, install Privacy Badger.  Privacy Badger will stop trackers / cookies from knowing who you are and where you’ve been on the internet.  It also can be slightly disruptive, so if a site isn’t working correctly, disable one or both of FlashControl and Privacy Badger.

Even if you don’t want to do FlashControl and Privacy Badger, PLEASE do yourself a favor and move to uBlock Origin.  Hope this helps!

Please read.   Ad Block has sold you out to the ad industry, and this is not an exaggeration.  http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/adblock-plus-wants-serve-you-ads-wait-what-1581285

fact checked. yep, it’s for real. uninstalling asap.

asoiafuniversity:

TUMBLR 101: HOW TAGS WORK! (May 2017)

Tags vs. Search

The first 5 tags!

  • The first 5 tags are your best bet! 
  • Only the first 5 tags show up in tracked tags. Tracked tags are more reliable than search if you want your content to be seen and / or reblogged.
  • Put the important tags (ex. show name, actor name, artist name) in the first 5 tags.
  • Only the first 20 tags show up in search.
  • Only the first 20 tags will cause the post to show up in the tag on your blog
    (i.e. asoiafuniversity.tumblr.com/tagged/resources)
  • So start with the important tags for tracked tags / search, then add tags like “my edits” or “mine” for your own blog organization, and then add FEELINGS and TAG COMMENTARY at the end. 
  • Only new posts will show up in public tracked tags or search. Reblogs will not show up in tracked tags or search.
  • Avoid unnecessary punctuation. Apostrophes ’ are ok to use, but tags with a slash / or a hyphen – or a plus sign + or an equal sign = will NOT show up in tracked tags. 

External Links

Tagging Etiquette

  • Don’t tag your hate; it’s considered rude
  • If you use anti tags like #ANTI SHIPNAME, everyone who is searching for SHIPNAME will see your anti post. Don’t use SHIPNAME when creating your anti tag if you don’t want people to get upset about it. 
  • Don’t put something that isn’t an edit in an edit tag. People are going into the edit tag to look for edits and if your post isn’t an edit, it defeats the purpose of the edit tag. 
  • Don’t spam the tags. 
  • Reblog; don’t repost
  • The OP (original poster) will often read your tags when you reblog a post, so if you say something nasty in the tags, the OP will (probably) see it. Say something nice instead!

Other useful tips:

Inspired by this post

privatelyvex:

fetchtival:

sevensneakyfoxes:

themetaisawesome:

themyskira:

themetaisawesome:

thefingerfuckingfemalefury:

scotsdragon:

thefingerfuckingfemalefury:

themyskira:

hells-will-88:

themyskira:

nerdyfacts:

Nerdy Fact #1434: Wonder Woman was originally based on two women: the wife of creator William Marston and one of his former students that both he and his wife had sexual encounters with. 

(Source.)

How about you actually name ‘em?

Elizabeth Holloway Marston and Olive Byrne were among a number of women who contributed to the original Wonder Woman, and they’re fascinating people in their own right.

Elizabeth Holloway Marston was a brilliant woman. She earned three university degrees in psychology and law at a time when few women received any tertiary education. She was a successful career woman who assisted her husband with his work and was frequently the breadwinner of the family.

The main reason she was able to continue working after having children? Olive Byrne, who was not simply a casual “sexual encounter”, but the Marstons’ lover and life partner. To enable Elizabeth to work, Olive stayed at home and raised both her and Elizabeth’s children. She also wrote for Family Circle and contributed to Marston’s research.

Elizabeth is credited with pushing her husband to create a female superhero, and after his death she worked hard to preserve his vision for the character, urging DC to employ her as the comic’s editor (she was ignored).

Wonder Woman’s bracelet’s are Olive’s bracelets: Olive was known for wearing a pair of wide silver bracelets, and Marston had these in mind when he envisioned Diana’s bullet-deflecting accessories.

Marston died in 1947, but Elizabeth and Olive continued to live together until the end of their lives.

Wait. Clarification please. Are you telling me that the creator of Wonder WOMAN WAS IN A POLY-AMOROUS RELATIONSHIP?

Yep! They were in a poly relationship and had four children together, two by Elizabeth and two by Olive.

(And for those who’ve asked about sources, the Marstons’ story is covered in detail in The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore and Wonder Woman: The Complete History by Les Daniels)

Wonder Woman was inspired and shaped by not only a man who was incredibly progressive and awesome by todays standards let alone the standards of the day he lived in but also by a fierce, intelligent and awesome bisexual woman

This is one of the many reasons why the ways DC has ruined Wonder Woman in their pursuit of making the book as backwards and heteronormative as possible pisses me off…

Not a fierce and intelligent and awesome bisexual woman.

Two fierce and intelligent and awesome bisexual women. 

You are correct 😀

Imagine growing up in that house

“Mom wants to see you.”

“Psychology mom or bracelet mom?”

“Bracelet mom.”

According to Lepore, the kids called Elizabeth “Keetie” and Olive “Dotsie”!

That is adorable.

I have reblogged this before and will continue to do it until the day I die. The origin story of WW comics is as fucking great as the character herself.

Fun fact: Olive’s bracelets were a gift from William and Elizabeth, and were basically an alternative to a wedding ring, since she couldn’t legally marry them. Diana’s bracelets, 70+ years later, are a symbol of that relationship.

Let’s not forget about the fetish stuff…

did-you-kno:

Loveseats weren’t originally intended
for two people. The earliest versions
were meant to seat just one person, but
they had extra space so women in the
17th and 18th centuries could sit down
in their extremely wide dresses. As
fashion changed and dresses slimmed,
the chairs gradually evolved into a
cozy seat for two. Source Source 2