Randomly Pixellated

The floor is made from 15th century Italian floor tiles; there are only about 25 that are 15th century. More than a thousand copies were made from the originals so they could be used in several locations in the castle. These were made at the Moravian Pottery and Tile works in Pennsylvania. At the time, the tileworks was the global leader in renaissance and medieval tile reproductions.

The ceiling tiles are 15th century Spanish and were gifted to the Hammonds by Leslie Buzwell, John Hays Hammond, Jr.'s closest friend from the 1910s to the 1930s.

Looking like exploding fireworks, a spiked speedwell (or a garden speedwell?) blooms in glory. Billerica, MA.

The view out over Hounslow, London, EN.

(Yes, the focusing on the lace was deliberate and not a mistake. Macro mode FTW.)

A protruding wingtip excised with CleanUp.

To perceive depth, cross eyes and superpose the left image viewed with right eye over the right image viewed with left eye.

Sculpture of a Gray Whale, c.1992, by Carl Glowienke, at Cabrillo National Monument, Point Loma, San Diego, CA.

The lettering on a yellow delivery truck seen through the windshield during a drenching rainstorm. Medford, MA.

William Daniell born in Kingston upon Thames, England, 1769; active in England, China (Canton and Macao), India, and Scotland; died in London, 1837 Madras, or Fort St. George, in the Bay of Bengal—A Squall Passing Off 1833, oil on canvas The British East India Company established its first fortress in Madras, on the southern coast of India, in 1644. Constructed to protect Company trade, Fort St. George became an administrative center. Boston-born Elihu Yale served as governor there from 1687 to 1692. He controversially made a fortune through private trade before retiring to London. In the last decade of his life, he made a significant gift to this university, which resulted in the institution taking Yale's name. In this painting, the Union Jack flies high above the fortified buildings, yet the turbulent waves and darkening sky hint at the vulnerability of imperial, and corporate, power.

Handswept, hence the tilt. The full image wouldn't fit in Tumblr, had to be downscaled, hence the blurriness.

In 1842 Texas was an independent nation, and Austin was its capital. Sam Houston, the president of the Republic of Texas, regarded Austin as a vulnerable and unsuitable location for the seat of government and waged an unsuccessful campaign to have it moved to his namesake city. As a last resort, the President sent a military detachment to Austin to remove the government archives. When an innkeeper named Angelina Eberly discovered the men loading their wagons, she rushed to the corner of what is now Sixth and Congress and fired the town cannon, blowing a hole in the Land Office building and rousing the populace. The citizens chased down Houston's men, recovered the archives, and gave them to Mrs. Eberly for safekeeping. This statue honors a bold woman whose vigilance and short temper preserved Austin as the capital of Texas. It was presented to the citizens of Austin on September 26, 2004, by Capital Area Statues, Inc.

To perceive depth, cross eyes and superpose the left image viewed with right eye over right image viewed with left eye. To be sure, the background (the lawn beyond, with sunlight burning through the leaves of a tree) is already well separated from the foreground, but the depth that the brain sees is still gratifying to see.

I have been unable to find any information about whose face it is, why it is there, what does it signify, etc. It looks like it could have been an unfinished moai from Rapa Nui, but if so how did it get to a botanical garden in Sweden?

I have been unable to find any information about whose face it is, why it is there, what does it signify, etc. It looks like it could have been an unfinished moai from Rapa Nui, but if so how did it get to a botanical garden in Sweden?

Scaly carapace of some animal at the Yale Peabody Museum. New Haven, CT.

Bust of Gustav I on a big plinth in front of Uppsala Slott, the Vasa castle in Uppsala, Uppland.