(update 2, added instructions & it's also on my Kofi!)

Photos courtesy of Yves Adams

Our cement isn't as strong as the Romans, our steel isn't as strong as Damascus steel, we cannot replicate the beauty of a Stradivari violin, we've already lost some of the technology that flew Apollo and Gemini to space

To go down the list, many types of concrete we have now is stronger than roman concrete, which we do know how to make thanks to recent advancements in materials fields and research. However, roman concrete has some self-healing properties that coupled with a mostly ideal climate have made it very long lasting. Roman concrete is more durable, but it isn't stronger. It also doesn't work well in every climate, and there's reasons to use it or not to use it.

Damascus steel was great for it's time and all that, but several types of modern steel well outperform it in any category. Plenty of people have also made modern recreations of Demascus steel, so we can still do that if we feel a need to.

Stradivari violins aren't actually better instruments than other well-made violins. That's a long held myth that's been disproved time and time again by blind experiments from all the way back in the 1800s. In fact, a number of studies have shown that audiences tend to prefer modern violins for having better sound carrying quality. Expert players can't actually tell apart when playing either. The idea that Stradivari violins have some magic to them is mostly marketing.

We also haven't really lost technology from the Apollo or Gemini missions. While hardware has been discarded, it's because it wasn't useful anymore and for stuff that was useful, most of it was preserved. Almost none of the previous technology would fit in to modern plans and materials, so most of it wouldn't be of much use anyways. Technology has advanced, and methods of travel have to advance too. Even space travel.

Finally, that motherfucker above would be literally worse than a backpack to have to live out of. It's a steamer trunk, which means it's meant to be stored for a long period as you took a steamboat somewhere. They're very heavy, and good luck trying to get anywhere with that.

If you actually want a suitcase that turns into a dresser, those already exist in the modern day and they're much easier to use and they don't weigh 30 lb.

Black history is not all about slave trade

Slave trade is not just black history it’s just 10% of the history africa holds

This is a message to my black brothers and sisters in America

[Image ID: a black boot - as in the shoe - with a label that, bizarrely, reads “The greatest mafia movie ever made. Martin Scorsese presents GONCHAROV. Domenico Procacci Production. A film by Natted JWHJ0715 about the Naples Mafia.” End ID]

[Image ID: tumblr user abandonedambition replying to the picture of the boot with “this idiot hasn’t seen goncharov”. End ID]

(No, it’s not a real movie. The current tumblr meme is to joke post about the non-existent film, playing “yes, and” with other people’s posts. At the rate we’re going we will have generated a screenplay by the end of the week.