Curio Cabinet
- By Date
- By Type
April 22, 2018
-
1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : April 22, 2018
traduce \truh-DOOSS\ verb
Definition
1 : to expose to shame or blame by means of falsehood and misrepresentation
2 : vio...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : April 22, 2018
traduce \truh-DOOSS\ verb
Definition
1 : to expose to shame or blame by means of falsehood and misrepresentation
2 : vio...
-
4 minFREEPoetry Poem CurioFree3 CQ
Poem of the Day: The Unreliable Narrator. by Keith Waldrop.
with Poetry FoundationPoem of the Day: The Unreliable Narrator. by Keith Waldrop.
-
FREEHumanities PP&T CurioFree1 CQ
A Seattle suburb hides war secrets.
Don't be fooled by the sunbathing women, orderly roads, and trimmed lawns. Though it had all the trappings of the average suburb, this town was anything but. During World War II, the idyllic space protected thousands of workers busily drilling airplane parts together right underneath it, inside Boeing Plant No. 2.
The seed was planted in Washington, D.C., in 1940; Congress had just approved funding for manufacturers to churn out 50,000 new military planes a year, anticipating U.S. involvement in World War II. The Boeing company had provided the military with seaplanes during the First World War; this time around, it was asked to produce 17,000 B-17 fighter planes. Enter Boeing Plant No. 2. Situated on a former shipbuilding site near the Duwamish River, it was nicknamed "The Fortress Factory" and measured eight football fields long. Its sheer size made it the perfect place to set up an airplane-building operation requiring thousands of employees working double shifts. Many were women in their first manufacturing jobs—much like Rosie the Riveter herself.
Each B-17 cost about $200,000, the equivalent of a whopping $3.4 million today. As the war raged on, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came up with creative ideas to prevent the factory from becoming an air strike target. The Army Corps took inspiration from actual suburbs near the plant when designing their fake town, which was built on a grid exactly like that of neighboring communities.
Not a single detail was missed. Trees were crafted from chicken wire and feathers, while large wooden slabs were nailed together to look like cars. Houses appeared real from the point of view of an enemy plane scouting the area from above; a closer examination revealed some were shorter than potential homeowners! Though aware of the seriousness of their task, the Army Corps wasn't above humor; signposts appeared at street corners with names like "Burlap Boulevard" and "Synthetic Street."
The fake town certainly did its job: the plant survived the war, having produced almost all of the commissioned B-17s, as well as B-29 Superfortress planes—the most technologically advanced American military aircraft at the time. After the war, it produced commercial planes before being demolished in 2010 to make way for ecological restoration to the area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had some strange ideas—but they sure took flight!
Below: further images of Boeing Plant No. 2.
Image credit & copyright: Boeing / Seattle Times Archive
A Seattle suburb hides war secrets.
Don't be fooled by the sunbathing women, orderly roads, and trimmed lawns. Though it had all the trappings of the average suburb, this town was anything but. During World War II, the idyllic space protected thousands of workers busily drilling airplane parts together right underneath it, inside Boeing Plant No. 2.
The seed was planted in Washington, D.C., in 1940; Congress had just approved funding for manufacturers to churn out 50,000 new military planes a year, anticipating U.S. involvement in World War II. The Boeing company had provided the military with seaplanes during the First World War; this time around, it was asked to produce 17,000 B-17 fighter planes. Enter Boeing Plant No. 2. Situated on a former shipbuilding site near the Duwamish River, it was nicknamed "The Fortress Factory" and measured eight football fields long. Its sheer size made it the perfect place to set up an airplane-building operation requiring thousands of employees working double shifts. Many were women in their first manufacturing jobs—much like Rosie the Riveter herself.
Each B-17 cost about $200,000, the equivalent of a whopping $3.4 million today. As the war raged on, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came up with creative ideas to prevent the factory from becoming an air strike target. The Army Corps took inspiration from actual suburbs near the plant when designing their fake town, which was built on a grid exactly like that of neighboring communities.
Not a single detail was missed. Trees were crafted from chicken wire and feathers, while large wooden slabs were nailed together to look like cars. Houses appeared real from the point of view of an enemy plane scouting the area from above; a closer examination revealed some were shorter than potential homeowners! Though aware of the seriousness of their task, the Army Corps wasn't above humor; signposts appeared at street corners with names like "Burlap Boulevard" and "Synthetic Street."
The fake town certainly did its job: the plant survived the war, having produced almost all of the commissioned B-17s, as well as B-29 Superfortress planes—the most technologically advanced American military aircraft at the time. After the war, it produced commercial planes before being demolished in 2010 to make way for ecological restoration to the area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had some strange ideas—but they sure took flight!
Below: further images of Boeing Plant No. 2.
Image credit & copyright: Boeing / Seattle Times Archive
-
FREEAesthetic Photo CurioFree1 CQ
Time to get our climbing shoes out to see if we can scale the side of one of these bad boys. The Manpupuner Rock Formations (also known as the Seven Strong Men Formations) are a series of columns in Russia situated just below the Arctic Circle. Mountains that existed here over 200 million years ago were worn down over time, leaving only the seven rock structures, each measuring between 98 feet and 138 feet high. The stones were once venerated by the Mansi people, an indigenous tribe in the region; the Mansi believed that visiting the towers brought feelings of peace. Russian photographer Sergei Makurin found his own little slice of serenity when he visited the area in February 2014. He set up his camera to capture a time-lapse image of the formations, then walked towards the closest pillar and held a flashlight out. (He's the tiny figure towards the bottom of the image.) Makurin was lucky enough to witness both the majesty of the rocks and another formation, this one in the sky: the Milky Way itself, which makes up the lighter colored star clusters stretching from the left to the right side. Sounds like a rockstar combination!
Image credit & copyright: Sergei Makurin
Time to get our climbing shoes out to see if we can scale the side of one of these bad boys. The Manpupuner Rock Formations (also known as the Seven Strong Men Formations) are a series of columns in Russia situated just below the Arctic Circle. Mountains that existed here over 200 million years ago were worn down over time, leaving only the seven rock structures, each measuring between 98 feet and 138 feet high. The stones were once venerated by the Mansi people, an indigenous tribe in the region; the Mansi believed that visiting the towers brought feelings of peace. Russian photographer Sergei Makurin found his own little slice of serenity when he visited the area in February 2014. He set up his camera to capture a time-lapse image of the formations, then walked towards the closest pillar and held a flashlight out. (He's the tiny figure towards the bottom of the image.) Makurin was lucky enough to witness both the majesty of the rocks and another formation, this one in the sky: the Milky Way itself, which makes up the lighter colored star clusters stretching from the left to the right side. Sounds like a rockstar combination!
Image credit & copyright: Sergei Makurin
-
6 minFREEHumanities Worldly CurioFree4 CQ
A small corner of the city is becoming a gathering spot for Mexicans who lived in the United States for years and now find themselves back in Mexico, by forc...
with PRI's The WorldA small corner of the city is becoming a gathering spot for Mexicans who lived in the United States for years and now find themselves back in Mexico, by forc...
-
5 minFREEWork Business CurioFree3 CQ
AMC's boss explains what to expect as Saudi Arabia opens its first cinema.
with MarketplaceAMC's boss explains what to expect as Saudi Arabia opens its first cinema.
-
FREEAesthetic Art CurioFree1 CQ
Title: The Forerunners of Christ With Saints and Martyrs: Inner Right Predella Panel
Artist: Fra Angelico (1395-1455)
Created: 1423-24
Medium: egg tempera on wood
Dimensions: 12.6 x 25 in (31.9 x 63.5 cm)
Current location: National Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Hand over those eggs, chefs. Turns out artists may need some of them! Renaissance-era virtuosos often used paint made of yolks mixed with pigments, called egg tempera. Churches throughout Europe are full of egg tempera works by Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and 15th-century painter Fra Angelico, who created the painting above for the Church of San Domenico in Italy. Before he began giving shape to three rows of martyrs and saints, Angelico cracked open some eggs, fished out the yolks, and mixed them with either vinegar or white wine. The acidic ingredient was added to make the tempera less greasy. He then swirled in color pigments made of finely ground insects, plants, and stones. Take the female saint wearing bright red garments in the middle of the bottom row; Angelico likely used vermilion—derived from a stone called cinnabar—to create that hue. Some painters also added pleasant-smelling myrrh to cover a distinct egg-y odor. Egg tempera isn't as resistant to dirt as oil-based paintings, which became more common starting in the 1500s. But many egg tempera works have endured, some dating as far back as the first century C.E. Next time we're in a European cathedral, we may have to sniff the walls!
Below: Sandro Botticelli's The Birth Of Venus; Saint Jerome In His Study by Antonio da Fabriano II, another 15th-century artist.
Image credit & copyright: Fra Angelico / National Gallery
Title: The Forerunners of Christ With Saints and Martyrs: Inner Right Predella Panel
Artist: Fra Angelico (1395-1455)
Created: 1423-24
Medium: egg tempera on wood
Dimensions: 12.6 x 25 in (31.9 x 63.5 cm)
Current location: National Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Hand over those eggs, chefs. Turns out artists may need some of them! Renaissance-era virtuosos often used paint made of yolks mixed with pigments, called egg tempera. Churches throughout Europe are full of egg tempera works by Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and 15th-century painter Fra Angelico, who created the painting above for the Church of San Domenico in Italy. Before he began giving shape to three rows of martyrs and saints, Angelico cracked open some eggs, fished out the yolks, and mixed them with either vinegar or white wine. The acidic ingredient was added to make the tempera less greasy. He then swirled in color pigments made of finely ground insects, plants, and stones. Take the female saint wearing bright red garments in the middle of the bottom row; Angelico likely used vermilion—derived from a stone called cinnabar—to create that hue. Some painters also added pleasant-smelling myrrh to cover a distinct egg-y odor. Egg tempera isn't as resistant to dirt as oil-based paintings, which became more common starting in the 1500s. But many egg tempera works have endured, some dating as far back as the first century C.E. Next time we're in a European cathedral, we may have to sniff the walls!
Below: Sandro Botticelli's The Birth Of Venus; Saint Jerome In His Study by Antonio da Fabriano II, another 15th-century artist.
Image credit & copyright: Fra Angelico / National Gallery
-
FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
Wild thing, you make my ocarina sing! Released on this day in 1966, The Troggs' hit Wild Thing remains the only chart-topper to feature a wind instrument solo from the ocarina flute, all thanks to a simple case of misunderstanding. The Troggs' lead guitarist Chris Britton said that when the band—trained musicians—received the song's demo from their manager Larry Page, they thought they heard the strange instrument in the solo. So for the recording, and for decades of live performance, singer Reg Presley would shred on the ocarina. Years later, Britton would encounter Page, who asked him why on earth the Troggs added the odd solo to the song. It turned out the band had mistaken an engineer's elegant whistling for the earthy flute! Ocarina or no ocarina, Wild Thing went on to become a rock classic; in 1967, only a year after the jam was released, guitar god Jimi Hendrix would perform his own rip-roaring rendition of it at the Monterey Pop Festival. At the song's close, he burned his guitar in effigy and swung it around like a flaming axe. Wild thing, indeed!
Below: the original recording of Wild Thing; Reg Presley on the ocarina years later; Jimi Hendrix performs Wild Thing before burning his guitar in effigy.
Other streaming options
Wild thing, you make my ocarina sing! Released on this day in 1966, The Troggs' hit Wild Thing remains the only chart-topper to feature a wind instrument solo from the ocarina flute, all thanks to a simple case of misunderstanding. The Troggs' lead guitarist Chris Britton said that when the band—trained musicians—received the song's demo from their manager Larry Page, they thought they heard the strange instrument in the solo. So for the recording, and for decades of live performance, singer Reg Presley would shred on the ocarina. Years later, Britton would encounter Page, who asked him why on earth the Troggs added the odd solo to the song. It turned out the band had mistaken an engineer's elegant whistling for the earthy flute! Ocarina or no ocarina, Wild Thing went on to become a rock classic; in 1967, only a year after the jam was released, guitar god Jimi Hendrix would perform his own rip-roaring rendition of it at the Monterey Pop Festival. At the song's close, he burned his guitar in effigy and swung it around like a flaming axe. Wild thing, indeed!
Below: the original recording of Wild Thing; Reg Presley on the ocarina years later; Jimi Hendrix performs Wild Thing before burning his guitar in effigy.
Other streaming options
April 21, 2018
-
2 minFREEAstronomy Nerdy CurioFree2 CQ
Learn what to look for in the night sky with today’s Nerdy Curio from Stardate. The little planet Mercury just peeks into view in the dawn sky over the next ...
with StardateLearn what to look for in the night sky with today’s Nerdy Curio from Stardate. The little planet Mercury just peeks into view in the dawn sky over the next ...
-
1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : April 21, 2018
grudging \GRUH-jing\ adjective
Definition
1 : unwilling, reluctant
2 : done, given, or allowed unwillingly, reluctantly,...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : April 21, 2018
grudging \GRUH-jing\ adjective
Definition
1 : unwilling, reluctant
2 : done, given, or allowed unwillingly, reluctantly,...
-
FREEPlay Teaser Curio #134Free1 CQ
Sometimes, solving puzzles takes creativity. Sometimes, it takes perseverance. Sometimes, it takes numerical manipulation.
This one just takes a square. Take the puzzle, take your time, and take a breath. When you're done, take a drink, or take a bath, but make sure you take a bow!
Remember: a word square is similar to a square crossword puzzle, but the same words appear across and down. Here's an example of a 3x3 word square:
CAT
AGO
TOYBelow are four clues, not in order. Can you make a 4x4 word square out of it?
It might take this to break a bad habit.
You might have to take this to talk to Congress.
Things from here take an Allen wrench and a lot of patience.
What you might get if you take off a gram.Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #134" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!
Sometimes, solving puzzles takes creativity. Sometimes, it takes perseverance. Sometimes, it takes numerical manipulation.
This one just takes a square. Take the puzzle, take your time, and take a breath. When you're done, take a drink, or take a bath, but make sure you take a bow!
Remember: a word square is similar to a square crossword puzzle, but the same words appear across and down. Here's an example of a 3x3 word square:
CAT
AGO
TOYBelow are four clues, not in order. Can you make a 4x4 word square out of it?
It might take this to break a bad habit.
You might have to take this to talk to Congress.
Things from here take an Allen wrench and a lot of patience.
What you might get if you take off a gram.Think you know the answer? Email support@curious.com with the subject "Teaser #134" and let us know, or check back next week to find out!
-
4 minFREEElder Care Worldly CurioFree3 CQ
Public health experts now say loneliness is a growing health threat. Amsterdam is taking the subject seriously.
with PRI's The WorldPublic health experts now say loneliness is a growing health threat. Amsterdam is taking the subject seriously.
-
1 minFREEPoetry Poem CurioFree1 CQ
Poem of the Day: Your Kingdom. By Eleni Sikelianos.
with Poetry FoundationPoem of the Day: Your Kingdom. By Eleni Sikelianos.
-
2 minFREEWork Business CurioFree2 CQ
West Africa loses $1.3 billion a year as a result of illegal fishing from foreign trawlers. Senegal, the country hardest hit, loses $300 million a year, or 2...
with MarketplaceWest Africa loses $1.3 billion a year as a result of illegal fishing from foreign trawlers. Senegal, the country hardest hit, loses $300 million a year, or 2...
-
FREEAesthetic Art CurioFree1 CQ
Title: The Struggle
Artist: Purvis Young (1923-2010)
Created: 1973-1974
Medium: acrylic on wood
Dimensions: 88 x 77 in (223 x 196 cm)
Current location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
"It was mostly white people interested," Purvis Young once said about the attention his work received after it was discovered by the art world in the 1970s. The Miami artist never went to high school and received no formal art training; he began drawing after he was sent to prison as a teenager. When he got out, the poverty he observed in his Overtown neighborhood inspired him to create a mural in Goodbread Alley, where he lived. The mural included frenetic, expressive works like The Struggle—a depiction of a strife-torn urban landscape—and incorporated found materials like book pages, envelopes, and old doors. Young was influenced by 1960s protest art, including Chicago's Wall of Respect by the Black Arts Movement, as well as artists like Rembrandt and van Gogh. The mural caught the attention of the media and arts community, and Young became a sort of local celebrity. He seemed unfazed by the acclaim—as did his friends; according to Young one told him, "I look at your paintings but I don't see nothing. But every time I turn around you're in the newspaper." The artist just kept on working, continuing his prolific output—and his critique of social injustice—until his death eight years ago today at the age of 67.
Below: Talking to the System, by Purvis Young; the artist in front of one of his murals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2003..
Image credit & copyright: Smithsonian American Art Museum; de Young Museum of Art; Larry T. Clemons, Gallery 721, via New York Times
Title: The Struggle
Artist: Purvis Young (1923-2010)
Created: 1973-1974
Medium: acrylic on wood
Dimensions: 88 x 77 in (223 x 196 cm)
Current location: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
"It was mostly white people interested," Purvis Young once said about the attention his work received after it was discovered by the art world in the 1970s. The Miami artist never went to high school and received no formal art training; he began drawing after he was sent to prison as a teenager. When he got out, the poverty he observed in his Overtown neighborhood inspired him to create a mural in Goodbread Alley, where he lived. The mural included frenetic, expressive works like The Struggle—a depiction of a strife-torn urban landscape—and incorporated found materials like book pages, envelopes, and old doors. Young was influenced by 1960s protest art, including Chicago's Wall of Respect by the Black Arts Movement, as well as artists like Rembrandt and van Gogh. The mural caught the attention of the media and arts community, and Young became a sort of local celebrity. He seemed unfazed by the acclaim—as did his friends; according to Young one told him, "I look at your paintings but I don't see nothing. But every time I turn around you're in the newspaper." The artist just kept on working, continuing his prolific output—and his critique of social injustice—until his death eight years ago today at the age of 67.
Below: Talking to the System, by Purvis Young; the artist in front of one of his murals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2003..
Image credit & copyright: Smithsonian American Art Museum; de Young Museum of Art; Larry T. Clemons, Gallery 721, via New York Times
-
FREEComposition Photo CurioFree1 CQ
Send out the jugglers and the clowns, because British photographer Peter Lavery's new book Circus Work is a real showstopper. The collection showcases over 50 years of Lavery's big top photography across Europe, including this 1992 shot of performers with the Chinese State Circus. For such a career-spanning hobby, Lavery admits he started following circuses by accident, after a performance by Winship's Minicircus in London grabbed his attention between college studies. Today, as a commercial photographer, Lavery still runs away to the circus in his spare time, trading pristine studio portraits for the spontaneity of primary-colored contortionists and strongmen. Some of Lavery's images are somber, capturing the behind-the-scenes road weariness of circus performers; some feature a 19th-century silver printing technique, which he uses to produce dour, vintage-looking portraits of his subjects. Now behold in amazement, as Lavery balances the vibrancy of the circus spectacles with the moodiness of the backstage—a delicate high-wire act in its own right!
Below: more of Lavery's backstage photos from Circus Work.
Image credit & copyright: Peter Lavery
Send out the jugglers and the clowns, because British photographer Peter Lavery's new book Circus Work is a real showstopper. The collection showcases over 50 years of Lavery's big top photography across Europe, including this 1992 shot of performers with the Chinese State Circus. For such a career-spanning hobby, Lavery admits he started following circuses by accident, after a performance by Winship's Minicircus in London grabbed his attention between college studies. Today, as a commercial photographer, Lavery still runs away to the circus in his spare time, trading pristine studio portraits for the spontaneity of primary-colored contortionists and strongmen. Some of Lavery's images are somber, capturing the behind-the-scenes road weariness of circus performers; some feature a 19th-century silver printing technique, which he uses to produce dour, vintage-looking portraits of his subjects. Now behold in amazement, as Lavery balances the vibrancy of the circus spectacles with the moodiness of the backstage—a delicate high-wire act in its own right!
Below: more of Lavery's backstage photos from Circus Work.
Image credit & copyright: Peter Lavery
-
FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
When John Cameron Mitchell first donned blonde locks as the character of Hedwig, he probably never imagined the heights her updo would scale. But taking off Hedwig and the Angry Inch's hairspray-held tresses did play an important part in developing the story about the Berlin-chanteuse's love life and music career. Hedwig's unusual narrative style of playing loosely with time causes the tune Wig in a Box to play as a reminder that the jaded performer was once a lonely "Miss Midwest Midnight Checkout Queen"—who eventually found solace in rock 'n' roll radio... and putting on some makeup. The revealing track helped Mitchell, who turns 55 today, and co-writer and composer Stephen Trask, earn a Tony for Best Revival Of A Musical in 2014 (with Neil Patrick Harris taking on the titular role of Hedwig). In spite of her love stories gone bad and bad gigs gone worse, Hedwig could always rely on a beautiful coif and rockin' tunes to keep her spirits up!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: New Line Cinema
When John Cameron Mitchell first donned blonde locks as the character of Hedwig, he probably never imagined the heights her updo would scale. But taking off Hedwig and the Angry Inch's hairspray-held tresses did play an important part in developing the story about the Berlin-chanteuse's love life and music career. Hedwig's unusual narrative style of playing loosely with time causes the tune Wig in a Box to play as a reminder that the jaded performer was once a lonely "Miss Midwest Midnight Checkout Queen"—who eventually found solace in rock 'n' roll radio... and putting on some makeup. The revealing track helped Mitchell, who turns 55 today, and co-writer and composer Stephen Trask, earn a Tony for Best Revival Of A Musical in 2014 (with Neil Patrick Harris taking on the titular role of Hedwig). In spite of her love stories gone bad and bad gigs gone worse, Hedwig could always rely on a beautiful coif and rockin' tunes to keep her spirits up!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: New Line Cinema
April 20, 2018
-
1 minFREEPoetry Poem CurioFree1 CQ
Poem of the Day: Frederick Douglass. By Robert Hayden.
with Poetry FoundationPoem of the Day: Frederick Douglass. By Robert Hayden.
-
6 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … The head of one of Australia’s largest financial institutions has resigned after revelations the company lied t...
(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … The head of one of Australia’s largest financial institutions has resigned after revelations the company lied t...
-
1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : April 20, 2018
bloviate \BLOH-vee-ayt\ verb
Definition
: to speak or write verbosely and windily
Did You Know?
Warren G. Harding is of...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : April 20, 2018
bloviate \BLOH-vee-ayt\ verb
Definition
: to speak or write verbosely and windily
Did You Know?
Warren G. Harding is of...
-
5 minFREEPolitical Science Worldly CurioFree3 CQ
Raul Castro stepped down from office and Miguel Díaz-Canel assumed the presidency as the first Cuban president not to bear the Castro name in close to 60 years.
with PRI's The WorldRaul Castro stepped down from office and Miguel Díaz-Canel assumed the presidency as the first Cuban president not to bear the Castro name in close to 60 years.
-
FREEMusic Song CurioFree2 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
If anyone knows how to make the most of a vacation, it's Julian Bream. The maestro once took four years to study the history of classical guitar in Spain in order to bring his BBC documentary Guitarra to television screens in 1985. Amid scouting gorgeous locations to shoot at, Bream taught himself how to play the vihuela, and other ancestors of the guitar—instruments he would later champion in music education. His performance of Granada by Isaac Albéniz was an homage to the city's grand medieval landscapes. The piece was originally written for piano as part of the Suite Española, though Bream was no stranger to works adapted for the guitar. Bream was an entirely self-taught classical guitarist, in part because there were no university programs to study the instrument in England when he was young. He spent the next 55 years of his performance career correcting that oversight. Bream is now recognized as one of the first and foremost classical guitar musicians of the 20th century, and an English treasure as valuable as the crown jewels.
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Julian Bream
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
If anyone knows how to make the most of a vacation, it's Julian Bream. The maestro once took four years to study the history of classical guitar in Spain in order to bring his BBC documentary Guitarra to television screens in 1985. Amid scouting gorgeous locations to shoot at, Bream taught himself how to play the vihuela, and other ancestors of the guitar—instruments he would later champion in music education. His performance of Granada by Isaac Albéniz was an homage to the city's grand medieval landscapes. The piece was originally written for piano as part of the Suite Española, though Bream was no stranger to works adapted for the guitar. Bream was an entirely self-taught classical guitarist, in part because there were no university programs to study the instrument in England when he was young. He spent the next 55 years of his performance career correcting that oversight. Bream is now recognized as one of the first and foremost classical guitar musicians of the 20th century, and an English treasure as valuable as the crown jewels.
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Julian Bream
-
FREEPhotography Photo CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Not everyone can turn "dings" into vibrant gemstones. But in Ellen Carey's Dings & Shadows photo series, wrinkled photo paper gleams with the intensity of something much more precious. Carey creates these striking pieces by merging 19th- and 21st-century methods. First, creased, light-sensitive paper is processed in a darkroom and turned into a photogram—a type of picture first produced in 1834 by exposing an object directly to light, without the need for a camera. Then, it undergoes a mysterious process involving a modern color enlarger—a transparency projector used to make prints—to get its vivid hues. Because no light is allowed in the darkroom except upon exposure, the artist flies blind, only seeing the results of her experimentation at the end of the process. This isn't the first time Carey has reappropriated tools of the past for her contemporary creations; she's worked with one of just five 20th-century Polaroid 20 x 24 cameras in the world to create abstracted large-format prints. Further proof that embracing the past can result in uniquely contemporary gems.
Image credit & copyright: Ellen Carey
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Not everyone can turn "dings" into vibrant gemstones. But in Ellen Carey's Dings & Shadows photo series, wrinkled photo paper gleams with the intensity of something much more precious. Carey creates these striking pieces by merging 19th- and 21st-century methods. First, creased, light-sensitive paper is processed in a darkroom and turned into a photogram—a type of picture first produced in 1834 by exposing an object directly to light, without the need for a camera. Then, it undergoes a mysterious process involving a modern color enlarger—a transparency projector used to make prints—to get its vivid hues. Because no light is allowed in the darkroom except upon exposure, the artist flies blind, only seeing the results of her experimentation at the end of the process. This isn't the first time Carey has reappropriated tools of the past for her contemporary creations; she's worked with one of just five 20th-century Polaroid 20 x 24 cameras in the world to create abstracted large-format prints. Further proof that embracing the past can result in uniquely contemporary gems.
Image credit & copyright: Ellen Carey
-
FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Title: Diamond Trellis Fabergé Egg
Artist: August Holmström (1892-1903)
Created: 1892
Medium: gold, jadeite, rose-cut diamonds, ivory
Dimensions: 4.25 in tall (10.8 cm)
Current location: Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas
A real-life Easter egg hunt has just come to an end. Earlier this month, a missing piece of the ornate Diamond Trellis Fabergé Egg was reunited with its gold and jadeite vessel. The ivory elephant automaton was Fabergé's first attempt at a "surprise," a miniature sculpture designed to fit inside the egg exterior. The creature's tusks, trunk, harness, and sides are all adorned with rose-cut diamonds; when wound with a watch key, it walks with a gentle bob. The Diamond Trellis egg was originally an Easter gift to the Empress Maria Feodorovna from her husband, Alexander III of Russia in 1892. However, the two elements were separated sometime following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution; the elephant was acquired by King George V in 1935, while the egg ended up in the possession of Houston businessman Artie McFerrin. Thanks a keen curator for the British Royal Collection, who noticed the elephant matched the inventory description of the egg's missing piece in late 2015, the two are now being exhibited for the first time at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Because the only thing better than an exquisite Easter egg is one with a hidden "easter egg" inside!
Image credit & copyright: Royal Collection Trust/Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
Title: Diamond Trellis Fabergé Egg
Artist: August Holmström (1892-1903)
Created: 1892
Medium: gold, jadeite, rose-cut diamonds, ivory
Dimensions: 4.25 in tall (10.8 cm)
Current location: Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas
A real-life Easter egg hunt has just come to an end. Earlier this month, a missing piece of the ornate Diamond Trellis Fabergé Egg was reunited with its gold and jadeite vessel. The ivory elephant automaton was Fabergé's first attempt at a "surprise," a miniature sculpture designed to fit inside the egg exterior. The creature's tusks, trunk, harness, and sides are all adorned with rose-cut diamonds; when wound with a watch key, it walks with a gentle bob. The Diamond Trellis egg was originally an Easter gift to the Empress Maria Feodorovna from her husband, Alexander III of Russia in 1892. However, the two elements were separated sometime following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution; the elephant was acquired by King George V in 1935, while the egg ended up in the possession of Houston businessman Artie McFerrin. Thanks a keen curator for the British Royal Collection, who noticed the elephant matched the inventory description of the egg's missing piece in late 2015, the two are now being exhibited for the first time at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Because the only thing better than an exquisite Easter egg is one with a hidden "easter egg" inside!
Image credit & copyright: Royal Collection Trust/Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
-
FREESTEM Daily CurioFree1 CQ
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
The most expensive material in the world? It's not diamond, platinum, or plutonium. Not even close. It's a material called endohedral fullerenes, which are molecules consisting of spherical cages of carbon atoms that house nitrogen atoms. This microscopic substance is the result of 12 years of work by a company spun out of Oxford University. Its intended use is for atomic clocks. Traditionally, atomic clocks are constructed with cesium atoms, but the Oxford team claims endohedral fullerenes keep time better. These molecules have another advantage. Cesium-based atomic clocks are about the size of a small room, but these clocks can fit on a microchip within mobile phones. Which means the technology could also greatly improve the accuracy of GPS—down from a few feet to one millimeter. Which brings us to why the material is currently worth much, much more than its weight in gold: the current craze over the nascent self-driving car industry. An industry desperately in need of more accurate navigation systems. At a recent auction, 200 micrograms of pure endohedral fullerenes sold for $33,000. That comes out to about 150 million U.S. dollars per gram! I wonder how long it will be before some celebrity billionaire tries to make jewelry out of this stuff.
Image credit & copyright: University of Oxford
It's Flashback Friday! Enjoy this favorite from the Curio Cabinet archives.
The most expensive material in the world? It's not diamond, platinum, or plutonium. Not even close. It's a material called endohedral fullerenes, which are molecules consisting of spherical cages of carbon atoms that house nitrogen atoms. This microscopic substance is the result of 12 years of work by a company spun out of Oxford University. Its intended use is for atomic clocks. Traditionally, atomic clocks are constructed with cesium atoms, but the Oxford team claims endohedral fullerenes keep time better. These molecules have another advantage. Cesium-based atomic clocks are about the size of a small room, but these clocks can fit on a microchip within mobile phones. Which means the technology could also greatly improve the accuracy of GPS—down from a few feet to one millimeter. Which brings us to why the material is currently worth much, much more than its weight in gold: the current craze over the nascent self-driving car industry. An industry desperately in need of more accurate navigation systems. At a recent auction, 200 micrograms of pure endohedral fullerenes sold for $33,000. That comes out to about 150 million U.S. dollars per gram! I wonder how long it will be before some celebrity billionaire tries to make jewelry out of this stuff.
Image credit & copyright: University of Oxford
-
4 minFREEAstronomy Nerdy CurioFree3 CQ
In today's Nerdy Curio Minute Physics, the Universe has no edge. And no center... or does it?
with Minute PhysicsIn today's Nerdy Curio Minute Physics, the Universe has no edge. And no center... or does it?
April 19, 2018
-
6 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … New leadership in Zimbabwe hasn’t brought a new economic reality. This week, thousands of nurses went on strike...
(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … New leadership in Zimbabwe hasn’t brought a new economic reality. This week, thousands of nurses went on strike...
-
1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : April 19, 2018
headlong \HED-LAWNG\ adverb
Definition
1 : with the head foremost
2 : without deliberation : recklessly
3 : without pau...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : April 19, 2018
headlong \HED-LAWNG\ adverb
Definition
1 : with the head foremost
2 : without deliberation : recklessly
3 : without pau...
-
4 minFREEHumanities Worldly CurioFree3 CQ
The Russian government is moving to block the messaging app after the company refused to comply with a court order demanding access to user data. But so far,...
with PRI's The WorldThe Russian government is moving to block the messaging app after the company refused to comply with a court order demanding access to user data. But so far,...
-
FREESTEM Daily Curio #1542Free1 CQ
How 'bout a cow theme for your Thursday? A Dutch company, creepily named Connecterra, is taking cow ranching to a whole new level. They are offering a new service, dubbed The Intelligent Dairy Farmer Assistant—or Ida—which tracks a cow's every movement via a FitBit-like device attached to its collar. The company claims that ranchers who use their service see efficiency gains of 20 to 30 percent. Ida uses A.I. to learn the behavior of specific cows, and then monitors any changes in how they walk, stand, lie down, or ruminate (chew). In theory, it can detect when a cow isn't eating, moving, or producing milk normally, and alert the rancher to a possible sickness or injury. Or suggest environmental changes to maximize milk output. It also claims to predict ideal ovulation times with over 90 percent accuracy, so farmers aren't wasting expensive bull time.
Speaking of bull, the service costs $79.99 per cow to set up, plus $3 per month per cow. That can add up when most ranchers own hundreds or thousands of cows, and only make a few hundred dollars per animal in a good year. Some critics say that such systems strip away the only rewarding part of ranching: using intuition and animal husbandry instincts to build a sustainable business. Others claim having so much cow data will inevitably result in ranchers sending many more cows to the slaughterhouse, while genetically selecting a new breed of super-cow. I say cows aren't machines in need of optimization. If we are going to drink their milk and eat their food, we should let them laze around in peace and quiet in the meantime!
Image credit & copyright: Ben Sellon/Google via AP
How 'bout a cow theme for your Thursday? A Dutch company, creepily named Connecterra, is taking cow ranching to a whole new level. They are offering a new service, dubbed The Intelligent Dairy Farmer Assistant—or Ida—which tracks a cow's every movement via a FitBit-like device attached to its collar. The company claims that ranchers who use their service see efficiency gains of 20 to 30 percent. Ida uses A.I. to learn the behavior of specific cows, and then monitors any changes in how they walk, stand, lie down, or ruminate (chew). In theory, it can detect when a cow isn't eating, moving, or producing milk normally, and alert the rancher to a possible sickness or injury. Or suggest environmental changes to maximize milk output. It also claims to predict ideal ovulation times with over 90 percent accuracy, so farmers aren't wasting expensive bull time.
Speaking of bull, the service costs $79.99 per cow to set up, plus $3 per month per cow. That can add up when most ranchers own hundreds or thousands of cows, and only make a few hundred dollars per animal in a good year. Some critics say that such systems strip away the only rewarding part of ranching: using intuition and animal husbandry instincts to build a sustainable business. Others claim having so much cow data will inevitably result in ranchers sending many more cows to the slaughterhouse, while genetically selecting a new breed of super-cow. I say cows aren't machines in need of optimization. If we are going to drink their milk and eat their food, we should let them laze around in peace and quiet in the meantime!
Image credit & copyright: Ben Sellon/Google via AP
-
1 minFREESTEM Nerdy CurioFree1 CQ
In today's Nerdy Curio from 60-Second Science, Princeton University's Jennifer Rexford talks about optimizing the Internet for the uses it got drafted into performing.
with 60-Second ScienceIn today's Nerdy Curio from 60-Second Science, Princeton University's Jennifer Rexford talks about optimizing the Internet for the uses it got drafted into performing.
-
FREEAesthetic Art CurioFree1 CQ
Title: The Newbus Ox
Artist: Thomas Weaver (1774-1843)
Created: 1812
Medium: mezzotint with hand coloring on moderately thick cream wove paper
Dimensions: 17.75 x 23.6 in (45.1 x 60 cm)
Current location: Yale Center for British Art, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Lord Dundas didn't need a sports car; when he felt like boasting about his personal fortune, the 19th-century British landowner showed off his Newbus Ox. In the 1700s and 1800s, England's elite commissioned landscape paintings of their large cattle, which were considered a sign of wealth. Living in a pre-Facebook world provided one major benefit: proud lords and dukes often asked artists to fudge a little bit, making their prize steers look bigger than they were in real life. The Victorian ideal of bovine health may appear strange to modern eyes: people thought huge, rectangular cattle looked healthiest, which is exactly what artist Thomas Weaver delivered with his painting of the Newbus Ox (above). The left side of the work shows food pellets being placed in front of the ox, emphasizing the owner's commitment to the animal's growth. The ox itself puts Arnold Schwarzenegger to shame with its bulbous torso and muscled hind quarters; we wonder how it supported itself on its stick-like legs! Images of big cattle were popular with the general public; a drawing of the popular Durham Ox was even placed on dinner plates and other household items. Maybe we should call the former British Empire the Cow-monwealth?
Below: the Durham ox, which weighed 3,000 pounds. When the ox was toured through Britain, it drew crowds of people.
Image credit & copyright: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Title: The Newbus Ox
Artist: Thomas Weaver (1774-1843)
Created: 1812
Medium: mezzotint with hand coloring on moderately thick cream wove paper
Dimensions: 17.75 x 23.6 in (45.1 x 60 cm)
Current location: Yale Center for British Art, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Lord Dundas didn't need a sports car; when he felt like boasting about his personal fortune, the 19th-century British landowner showed off his Newbus Ox. In the 1700s and 1800s, England's elite commissioned landscape paintings of their large cattle, which were considered a sign of wealth. Living in a pre-Facebook world provided one major benefit: proud lords and dukes often asked artists to fudge a little bit, making their prize steers look bigger than they were in real life. The Victorian ideal of bovine health may appear strange to modern eyes: people thought huge, rectangular cattle looked healthiest, which is exactly what artist Thomas Weaver delivered with his painting of the Newbus Ox (above). The left side of the work shows food pellets being placed in front of the ox, emphasizing the owner's commitment to the animal's growth. The ox itself puts Arnold Schwarzenegger to shame with its bulbous torso and muscled hind quarters; we wonder how it supported itself on its stick-like legs! Images of big cattle were popular with the general public; a drawing of the popular Durham Ox was even placed on dinner plates and other household items. Maybe we should call the former British Empire the Cow-monwealth?
Below: the Durham ox, which weighed 3,000 pounds. When the ox was toured through Britain, it drew crowds of people.
Image credit & copyright: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
-
FREEAesthetic Photo CurioFree1 CQ
South African photographer Daniel Naudé may not be a cowboy, but he's certainly got a passion for cattle. Naudé traveled to Uganda in 2012 to photograph the long-horned Ankole cattle (including the one above). The species has been considered sacred for centuries; in the 1700s, Ankole with the biggest horns were set aside for royalty, earning the breed the name "cattle of the kings." Prized for their rich, creamy milk, which Ugandans used to make yogurt and butter, they were rarely slaughtered. But in recent years, cross-breeding to boost milk production has reduced the number of pure Ankole; they're projected to go extinct within the next four decades. Before they fade out, Naudé wanted to document the majestic faces and unusual, crescent moon-shaped prongs that have earned them the reverence of local communities. His candid shots portray the creatures in various moods: some images show a herd of serious-looking Ankole, while others capture a sole creature being playful. After photographing the Ankole, Naudé traveled to India and Madagascar to explore other holy cattle breeds. In 2016, his moving images were published as a collection called Sightings of the Sacred. We're praying we can get our hands on a copy!
Below: a herd of Ankole cattle in Uganda; a cow in India's Tamil Nadu region whose horns have been painted blue in preparation for a religious festival; the photographer gets an eyeful in Madagascar.
Image credit & copyright: Daniel Naudé / Prestel
South African photographer Daniel Naudé may not be a cowboy, but he's certainly got a passion for cattle. Naudé traveled to Uganda in 2012 to photograph the long-horned Ankole cattle (including the one above). The species has been considered sacred for centuries; in the 1700s, Ankole with the biggest horns were set aside for royalty, earning the breed the name "cattle of the kings." Prized for their rich, creamy milk, which Ugandans used to make yogurt and butter, they were rarely slaughtered. But in recent years, cross-breeding to boost milk production has reduced the number of pure Ankole; they're projected to go extinct within the next four decades. Before they fade out, Naudé wanted to document the majestic faces and unusual, crescent moon-shaped prongs that have earned them the reverence of local communities. His candid shots portray the creatures in various moods: some images show a herd of serious-looking Ankole, while others capture a sole creature being playful. After photographing the Ankole, Naudé traveled to India and Madagascar to explore other holy cattle breeds. In 2016, his moving images were published as a collection called Sightings of the Sacred. We're praying we can get our hands on a copy!
Below: a herd of Ankole cattle in Uganda; a cow in India's Tamil Nadu region whose horns have been painted blue in preparation for a religious festival; the photographer gets an eyeful in Madagascar.
Image credit & copyright: Daniel Naudé / Prestel
-
FREEMusic Theory Song CurioFree2 CQ
Few people in life ever attain a theme song of their own, yet comedian Don Rickles did just that. The occasional Tonight Show guest-host and buddy of Frank Sinatra developed an act that earned him the ironic nickname "Mr. Warmth" for the way he would arrive onstage and make sarcastic quips about his audience members. Rickles highly interactive and confrontational style eventually melded with his own vision of himself as a bullfighter—to which Johnny Carson began to play La Virgen de la Macarena as Rickles' entrance music, a traditional matador's song that takes the bull by the horn section. The concerto-style piece finds the orchestra posturing with bold flamenco mode notes (an altered, flamenco-sounding, phrygian scale) as the trumpet soloist sways deftly in and out of harm's way. It seems just like in comedy, timing is everything for the song!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Few people in life ever attain a theme song of their own, yet comedian Don Rickles did just that. The occasional Tonight Show guest-host and buddy of Frank Sinatra developed an act that earned him the ironic nickname "Mr. Warmth" for the way he would arrive onstage and make sarcastic quips about his audience members. Rickles highly interactive and confrontational style eventually melded with his own vision of himself as a bullfighter—to which Johnny Carson began to play La Virgen de la Macarena as Rickles' entrance music, a traditional matador's song that takes the bull by the horn section. The concerto-style piece finds the orchestra posturing with bold flamenco mode notes (an altered, flamenco-sounding, phrygian scale) as the trumpet soloist sways deftly in and out of harm's way. It seems just like in comedy, timing is everything for the song!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
April 18, 2018
-
7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service...Facebook lays out how it will comply with strict European privacy regulations, but what does it mean for the fu...
(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service...Facebook lays out how it will comply with strict European privacy regulations, but what does it mean for the fu...
-
6 minFREEHumanities Worldly CurioFree4 CQ
Teklit Michael dreamed of competing in the Olympics. But the Eritrean runner had to flee his country. He's now among the estimated 20,000 African migrants li...
with PRI's The WorldTeklit Michael dreamed of competing in the Olympics. But the Eritrean runner had to flee his country. He's now among the estimated 20,000 African migrants li...
-
FREESTEM Daily Curio #1541Free1 CQ
Happy birthday to Gustav Fechner! In case you're not a Fechnerphile, he was a German scholar born in 1801 who initially taught medicine and physics. But when an eye disorder forced him to resign, he turned his attention to the metaphysical. While recovering in bed, he noticed a relationship between his mental and material perceptions—eventually developing a formula that related the physical and psychological intensity of sensations. This led Fechner to study people whose senses were conflated, identifying this condition as synesthesia. Synesthetes are a medical category of people who have one sensory experience trigger a second, involuntary one. For example, they may perceive letters or numbers as always tinged with a certain color (grapheme-color synesthesia); or see days of the week as arranged in a three-dimensional space around them (spatial sequence synesthesia); or always taste a specific flavor when they hear certain words (lexical-gustatory synesthesia).
Around 4% of the population has the genetic marker for synesthesia, but only one in 90 people experiences symptoms. Which is why researchers from the University of Glasgow were so surprised when an animated GIF they sent out went "viral" last year. They asked if people could "hear" a sound from a silent animated image. Over 70% of the people who responded said yes! Called visual-evoked auditory response, or VEARing (sorry), the scientists say it may be a more commonly-occurring phenomenon that is linked to synesthesia. To see if you are one of the people who can "hear" the image bouncing, click here. Unfortunately, I can't hear anything! But I do turn down the car radio when I'm trying to read road signs….
Happy birthday to Gustav Fechner! In case you're not a Fechnerphile, he was a German scholar born in 1801 who initially taught medicine and physics. But when an eye disorder forced him to resign, he turned his attention to the metaphysical. While recovering in bed, he noticed a relationship between his mental and material perceptions—eventually developing a formula that related the physical and psychological intensity of sensations. This led Fechner to study people whose senses were conflated, identifying this condition as synesthesia. Synesthetes are a medical category of people who have one sensory experience trigger a second, involuntary one. For example, they may perceive letters or numbers as always tinged with a certain color (grapheme-color synesthesia); or see days of the week as arranged in a three-dimensional space around them (spatial sequence synesthesia); or always taste a specific flavor when they hear certain words (lexical-gustatory synesthesia).
Around 4% of the population has the genetic marker for synesthesia, but only one in 90 people experiences symptoms. Which is why researchers from the University of Glasgow were so surprised when an animated GIF they sent out went "viral" last year. They asked if people could "hear" a sound from a silent animated image. Over 70% of the people who responded said yes! Called visual-evoked auditory response, or VEARing (sorry), the scientists say it may be a more commonly-occurring phenomenon that is linked to synesthesia. To see if you are one of the people who can "hear" the image bouncing, click here. Unfortunately, I can't hear anything! But I do turn down the car radio when I'm trying to read road signs….
-
1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : April 18, 2018
embarrass \im-BAIR-us\ verb
Definition
1 a : to cause to experience a state of self-conscious distress
b : to place in d...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : April 18, 2018
embarrass \im-BAIR-us\ verb
Definition
1 a : to cause to experience a state of self-conscious distress
b : to place in d...
-
2 minFREEScience Nerdy CurioFree2 CQ
In today's Nerdy Curio from 60-Second Science, researchers try to figure out why every 20 years, a Pakistan glacier moves roughly 1,500 times faster.
with 60-Second ScienceIn today's Nerdy Curio from 60-Second Science, researchers try to figure out why every 20 years, a Pakistan glacier moves roughly 1,500 times faster.
-
< 1 minFREEPoetry Poem CurioFree1 CQ
Poem of the Day: You Know It As Spring. .
with Poetry FoundationPoem of the Day: You Know It As Spring. .
-
FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
Title: Untitled
Artist: Karla Piper
Created: c. 2016-2017
Medium: motor agate
Current location: Siesta Silver Jewelry
Wowza… a stone with ripples like that can make the heart race. Since 2016, entrepreneur Karla Piper and her company Siesta Silver Jewelry have been marketing "fordite" gems: curious stones with origins in retired automobile paint shops. Named after car producer Henry Ford—who died this month in 1947—the stones were created when factory workers power sprayed overlapping layers of paint onto cars (without masks!). The surplus paint pooled underneath chassis and cloyed onto handrails, before it was heated and solidified. After the cars were conveyed along, auto workers were told to remove and discard the residual dried paint chunks, but a few held on to the substance and cured gems of it. From the '30s through the '70s, these stones were pretty much worthless; but that is changing. Nowadays, Piper's above fordite pendant sells for just under $200—and is expected to appreciate in value. Since the handheld spray techniques that created fordite were rendered obsolete in the '80s, its shrinking supply is going faster than a '67 Mustang at full throttle!
Below: more images of polished and rough Fordite.
Image credit & copyright: Siesta Silver Jewelry / Karla Piper / MininGeology / Fordite.com
Title: Untitled
Artist: Karla Piper
Created: c. 2016-2017
Medium: motor agate
Current location: Siesta Silver Jewelry
Wowza… a stone with ripples like that can make the heart race. Since 2016, entrepreneur Karla Piper and her company Siesta Silver Jewelry have been marketing "fordite" gems: curious stones with origins in retired automobile paint shops. Named after car producer Henry Ford—who died this month in 1947—the stones were created when factory workers power sprayed overlapping layers of paint onto cars (without masks!). The surplus paint pooled underneath chassis and cloyed onto handrails, before it was heated and solidified. After the cars were conveyed along, auto workers were told to remove and discard the residual dried paint chunks, but a few held on to the substance and cured gems of it. From the '30s through the '70s, these stones were pretty much worthless; but that is changing. Nowadays, Piper's above fordite pendant sells for just under $200—and is expected to appreciate in value. Since the handheld spray techniques that created fordite were rendered obsolete in the '80s, its shrinking supply is going faster than a '67 Mustang at full throttle!
Below: more images of polished and rough Fordite.
Image credit & copyright: Siesta Silver Jewelry / Karla Piper / MininGeology / Fordite.com
-
FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
A pair of timbale drums on a stand may not look like much, but in the hands of Tito Puente, they brought Afro-Latin music to the masses. On his signature track El Rey del Timbal ("King of the Timbal"), Puente's fiery improvisations show off his skills as a soloist and a bandleader during the fast salsa dance. Puente brought a number of musical influences into his work as a kid who grew up in Spanish Harlem, and idolized the showmanship of swing jazz drummer Gene Kruppa. Like Kruppa, Puente wanted to become a percussion soloist and virtuoso—an idea unheard of in popular music at the time. Puente persisted, though, using the G.I. Bill to attend Julliard; later, his 1958 album Dance Mania would take the world by storm. Puente's boisterous performances made him a national treasure; with appearances on Sesame Street and The Simpsons, and a pair of his timbales even displayed at the Smithsonian. It's not hard to hear why Puente, whose birthday is April 20th, was so beloved: one listen to El Rey del Timbal, and the "King of Mambo" is off and sweeping us—or should we say, drumming us off our feet!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Peter Maiden
A pair of timbale drums on a stand may not look like much, but in the hands of Tito Puente, they brought Afro-Latin music to the masses. On his signature track El Rey del Timbal ("King of the Timbal"), Puente's fiery improvisations show off his skills as a soloist and a bandleader during the fast salsa dance. Puente brought a number of musical influences into his work as a kid who grew up in Spanish Harlem, and idolized the showmanship of swing jazz drummer Gene Kruppa. Like Kruppa, Puente wanted to become a percussion soloist and virtuoso—an idea unheard of in popular music at the time. Puente persisted, though, using the G.I. Bill to attend Julliard; later, his 1958 album Dance Mania would take the world by storm. Puente's boisterous performances made him a national treasure; with appearances on Sesame Street and The Simpsons, and a pair of his timbales even displayed at the Smithsonian. It's not hard to hear why Puente, whose birthday is April 20th, was so beloved: one listen to El Rey del Timbal, and the "King of Mambo" is off and sweeping us—or should we say, drumming us off our feet!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Peter Maiden
-
FREEPhotography Photo CurioFree1 CQ
Girl power! Photographer Rania Matar creates striking, evocative portraits of girls and women at every stage of life. In her work, she is particularly interested in transitional periods, like adolescence and middle age. Yasmine 12, Beirut, Lebanon, 2012, above, depicts a girl balancing on the thin edge between child and adulthood. Engulfed in stereotypical trappings of femininity (furry throw, fandom pillows, nail polish), Yasmine is still chubby-faced and childish; we can easily imagine her abandoning her quiet pose and running out to play. At the same time, like the girls in the photos below, her gaze is direct—if slightly wary; all these girls have clearly seen something of life, despite their youth. Matar was born in Lebanon and emigrated to the U.S. in 1984; she takes photographs in both countries, but believes that most of the issues women face are universal. Matar didn't intentionally set out to make girls and women her primary focus, though. She suspects her work evolved in that direction because she lost her own mother when she was only three and is fascinated by the concept of motherhood. "In a way, I photograph all my subjects as if they were my daughters," she says—which likely explains the warm and unsentimentally intimate nature of the images she creates.
The exhibit In Her Image: Photographs by Rania Matar is on display at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, through June 17th.
Below: Maryam 9, Beirut, Lebanon, 2011, and Samira 15, Bourj El Barajneh Refugee Camp, Beirut Lebanon, 2015.
Image credit & copyright: Rania Matar, Robert Klein Gallery; C. Grimaldis Gallery
Girl power! Photographer Rania Matar creates striking, evocative portraits of girls and women at every stage of life. In her work, she is particularly interested in transitional periods, like adolescence and middle age. Yasmine 12, Beirut, Lebanon, 2012, above, depicts a girl balancing on the thin edge between child and adulthood. Engulfed in stereotypical trappings of femininity (furry throw, fandom pillows, nail polish), Yasmine is still chubby-faced and childish; we can easily imagine her abandoning her quiet pose and running out to play. At the same time, like the girls in the photos below, her gaze is direct—if slightly wary; all these girls have clearly seen something of life, despite their youth. Matar was born in Lebanon and emigrated to the U.S. in 1984; she takes photographs in both countries, but believes that most of the issues women face are universal. Matar didn't intentionally set out to make girls and women her primary focus, though. She suspects her work evolved in that direction because she lost her own mother when she was only three and is fascinated by the concept of motherhood. "In a way, I photograph all my subjects as if they were my daughters," she says—which likely explains the warm and unsentimentally intimate nature of the images she creates.
The exhibit In Her Image: Photographs by Rania Matar is on display at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, through June 17th.
Below: Maryam 9, Beirut, Lebanon, 2011, and Samira 15, Bourj El Barajneh Refugee Camp, Beirut Lebanon, 2015.
Image credit & copyright: Rania Matar, Robert Klein Gallery; C. Grimaldis Gallery
April 17, 2018
-
7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … After years of debt binges, bail-outs and sluggish growth, the European economic recovery is gaining traction. ...
(Global Edition) From the BBC World Service … After years of debt binges, bail-outs and sluggish growth, the European economic recovery is gaining traction. ...
-
FREEWork Daily Curio #1540Free1 CQ
Happy Tax Day! A single four-letter word in the 2017 overhaul of the U.S. Tax code has thrown professional baseball teams a real curveball. The word: "real." The controversy involves like-kind exchanges, which is an accounting term for when businesses swap certain assets with another party. The law was created so farmers and manufacturers could swap animals or machinery with each other, without having to pay taxes each time they do so. Instead, taxes on any gain received upon trading assets could be deferred until the asset was sold at a later date—the same way capital gains is paid on a stock or house. It was designed for cows and combines, but professional sports teams began using the provision to defer taxes owed when they traded players. It saved them millions of dollars and lots of accounting headaches.
But last year Congress changed the provision to include the word "real" in front of the word "property," instantly excluding any asset swaps not involving real estate. For all other asset trades, capital gains are owed on any gains at the time of the trade. It's projected to generate an extra $31 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years; but it's also upsetting a lot of billionaire sports franchise owners. Not only do they have to pay their taxes sooner, but they have to value the players at the time of the trade—an exercise that isn't trivial, especially if the player is injured or several years into a long-term contract. In some cases, teams could owe millions in taxes for each trade they make. As is expected, baseball lobbyists have been pitching Congress to make a quick lineup change to the new law… claiming it was a big-time swing and miss.
Image credit & copyright: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY
Happy Tax Day! A single four-letter word in the 2017 overhaul of the U.S. Tax code has thrown professional baseball teams a real curveball. The word: "real." The controversy involves like-kind exchanges, which is an accounting term for when businesses swap certain assets with another party. The law was created so farmers and manufacturers could swap animals or machinery with each other, without having to pay taxes each time they do so. Instead, taxes on any gain received upon trading assets could be deferred until the asset was sold at a later date—the same way capital gains is paid on a stock or house. It was designed for cows and combines, but professional sports teams began using the provision to defer taxes owed when they traded players. It saved them millions of dollars and lots of accounting headaches.
But last year Congress changed the provision to include the word "real" in front of the word "property," instantly excluding any asset swaps not involving real estate. For all other asset trades, capital gains are owed on any gains at the time of the trade. It's projected to generate an extra $31 billion in tax revenue over the next 10 years; but it's also upsetting a lot of billionaire sports franchise owners. Not only do they have to pay their taxes sooner, but they have to value the players at the time of the trade—an exercise that isn't trivial, especially if the player is injured or several years into a long-term contract. In some cases, teams could owe millions in taxes for each trade they make. As is expected, baseball lobbyists have been pitching Congress to make a quick lineup change to the new law… claiming it was a big-time swing and miss.
Image credit & copyright: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY
-
1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : April 17, 2018
onomatopoeia \ah-nuh-mah-tuh-PEE-uh\ noun
Definition
1 : the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the soun...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : April 17, 2018
onomatopoeia \ah-nuh-mah-tuh-PEE-uh\ noun
Definition
1 : the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the soun...
-
8 minFREEHumanities Worldly CurioFree5 CQ
The right to life of the unborn is protected by Ireland's constitution. The Eighth Amendment was passed by national referendum in 1983. In May, Irish voters ...
with PRI's The WorldThe right to life of the unborn is protected by Ireland's constitution. The Eighth Amendment was passed by national referendum in 1983. In May, Irish voters ...
-
FREEPhotography Photo CurioFree1 CQ
Three days after Robert F. Kennedy was shot on June 5, 1968, photographer Paul Fusco boarded the train that would carry the senator's body from New York to Washington D.C. Fusco was on assignment for Look magazine to cover RFK's burial at Arlington Cemetery. As the convoy traveled south, he was astonished to see quiet crowds lining up along the tracks to pay their respects. Fusco opened his window and began shooting photos. In images like Untitled, above, still figures appear against a blurred background, their shock and sadness deftly captured in the moment the train rushed by. Coming just two months after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s slaying and five years after his brother's assassination, Kennedy's murder stunned the country. He'd announced his run for the presidency just months before, and was killed right after winning the California primary. For many, his candidacy sparked optimism for the future; as Senator, he supported civil rights, traveled to impoverished regions of the country, and spoke out against the war in Vietnam. His death helped pave the way for Richard Nixon's election, ushering in the escalation of the war and the Watergate scandal. Of course, the people who gathered to see the funeral train had no idea what lay ahead. They'd just come to say a simple goodbye.
The Train: RFK's Last Journey will be showing at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through June 10, 2018.
Below: more photos from the funeral train by Paul Fusco.
Image credit & copyright: Photographs by Paul Fusco, Magnum Photos; Courtesy Danziger Gallery
Three days after Robert F. Kennedy was shot on June 5, 1968, photographer Paul Fusco boarded the train that would carry the senator's body from New York to Washington D.C. Fusco was on assignment for Look magazine to cover RFK's burial at Arlington Cemetery. As the convoy traveled south, he was astonished to see quiet crowds lining up along the tracks to pay their respects. Fusco opened his window and began shooting photos. In images like Untitled, above, still figures appear against a blurred background, their shock and sadness deftly captured in the moment the train rushed by. Coming just two months after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s slaying and five years after his brother's assassination, Kennedy's murder stunned the country. He'd announced his run for the presidency just months before, and was killed right after winning the California primary. For many, his candidacy sparked optimism for the future; as Senator, he supported civil rights, traveled to impoverished regions of the country, and spoke out against the war in Vietnam. His death helped pave the way for Richard Nixon's election, ushering in the escalation of the war and the Watergate scandal. Of course, the people who gathered to see the funeral train had no idea what lay ahead. They'd just come to say a simple goodbye.
The Train: RFK's Last Journey will be showing at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through June 10, 2018.
Below: more photos from the funeral train by Paul Fusco.
Image credit & copyright: Photographs by Paul Fusco, Magnum Photos; Courtesy Danziger Gallery
-
FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
The band members of Tal National know a thing or two about musical structure. Having recently flown across the Atlantic to perform in Knoxville, Tennessee, the band layers rhythm upon rhythm. Take the track Claire from their 2015 album Zoy Zoy; in the opening half-minute, the rhythm guitars greet each other in rhythmic unison before launching in opposite polyrhythmic directions: as one rolls, the other sputters and jerks—the two interlacing at the beck and whim of disciplined fingerwork. Tal National labored tirelessly to reach such virtuosity; almost two decades ago, the founding members gathered together during a time of intense drought and socioeconomic struggle to heal their weary minds with some good tunes. According to guitarist Almeida, the band would play five-hour sets nightly, road tripping along Saharan paths, nightclub to nightclub. With enough patience, and a little prayer, Tal National was able to outlast Nigeria's bout of adversity, and now they want to share the healing powers of music with the world!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Jason Kreps
The band members of Tal National know a thing or two about musical structure. Having recently flown across the Atlantic to perform in Knoxville, Tennessee, the band layers rhythm upon rhythm. Take the track Claire from their 2015 album Zoy Zoy; in the opening half-minute, the rhythm guitars greet each other in rhythmic unison before launching in opposite polyrhythmic directions: as one rolls, the other sputters and jerks—the two interlacing at the beck and whim of disciplined fingerwork. Tal National labored tirelessly to reach such virtuosity; almost two decades ago, the founding members gathered together during a time of intense drought and socioeconomic struggle to heal their weary minds with some good tunes. According to guitarist Almeida, the band would play five-hour sets nightly, road tripping along Saharan paths, nightclub to nightclub. With enough patience, and a little prayer, Tal National was able to outlast Nigeria's bout of adversity, and now they want to share the healing powers of music with the world!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: Jason Kreps
-
2 minFREEPoetry Poem CurioFree2 CQ
Poem of the Day: Burial Rites. By Philip Levine.
with Poetry FoundationPoem of the Day: Burial Rites. By Philip Levine.
-
2 minFREESTEM Nerdy CurioFree2 CQ
In today's Nerdy Curio from Minute Earth, the problem with plastics; the same chemistry that makes it tough, light, and flexible also makes it nearly impossible to get rid of.
with Minute EarthIn today's Nerdy Curio from Minute Earth, the problem with plastics; the same chemistry that makes it tough, light, and flexible also makes it nearly impossible to get rid of.
-
FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
Title: Spring Veils
Artist: Edna Andrade (1917-2008)
Created: 1973
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 96 x 96 in (243.8 x 243.8 cm)
Current location: The Metropolitan Art Museum, New York City, New York
Ah... look at that wonderful symmetry! Optical Art painters typically tailor their works to fool viewers' eyes with trippy illusions of motion. But Edna Andrade—the foremother of Op Art, who died this day in 2008—prized geometric harmony above all else. For her 1973 Spring Veils, Andrade patterned vertical waves that transition, left to right, from pastel gray to delicate browns. Topping off the piece is a column of golden orbs that appear to float before the illusory background. The simple yet calculated arrangement of soothing shapes and colors induces a meditative effect. Andrade's goal in her mathematical works was to use geometry and color theory to create abstract interpretations of nature's ratios and rhythms. Though many of her works, like Marriage Hall (below), look like sci-fi holograms, they are built on those natural ratios (e.g., the Golden Ratio of 1 to 1.618). In regard to her art, she once said: "It's not like showing your emotion. It's a decision to be totally visual. A story doesn't go with it." So, after a long day of work, what better way is there to unwind and empty one's mind than gazing at some peaceful Andrades?
More: other works by Andrade, including: Parade (1959), Marriage Hall (1986), and Desert Storm 1 (1982).
Image credit & copyright: Locks Gallery
Title: Spring Veils
Artist: Edna Andrade (1917-2008)
Created: 1973
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 96 x 96 in (243.8 x 243.8 cm)
Current location: The Metropolitan Art Museum, New York City, New York
Ah... look at that wonderful symmetry! Optical Art painters typically tailor their works to fool viewers' eyes with trippy illusions of motion. But Edna Andrade—the foremother of Op Art, who died this day in 2008—prized geometric harmony above all else. For her 1973 Spring Veils, Andrade patterned vertical waves that transition, left to right, from pastel gray to delicate browns. Topping off the piece is a column of golden orbs that appear to float before the illusory background. The simple yet calculated arrangement of soothing shapes and colors induces a meditative effect. Andrade's goal in her mathematical works was to use geometry and color theory to create abstract interpretations of nature's ratios and rhythms. Though many of her works, like Marriage Hall (below), look like sci-fi holograms, they are built on those natural ratios (e.g., the Golden Ratio of 1 to 1.618). In regard to her art, she once said: "It's not like showing your emotion. It's a decision to be totally visual. A story doesn't go with it." So, after a long day of work, what better way is there to unwind and empty one's mind than gazing at some peaceful Andrades?
More: other works by Andrade, including: Parade (1959), Marriage Hall (1986), and Desert Storm 1 (1982).
Image credit & copyright: Locks Gallery
April 16, 2018
-
7 minFREEWork Business CurioFree4 CQ
(Global edition) From the BBC World Service … The boss of WPP, the world’s biggest advertising firm, quit Saturday amid allegations of personal misconduct. W...
(Global edition) From the BBC World Service … The boss of WPP, the world’s biggest advertising firm, quit Saturday amid allegations of personal misconduct. W...
-
1 minFREEHumanities Word CurioFree1 CQ
Word of the Day : April 16, 2018
vulnerable \VUL-nuh-ruh-bul\ adjective
Definition
1 : capable of being physically or emotionally wounded
2 : open to att...
with Merriam-WebsterWord of the Day : April 16, 2018
vulnerable \VUL-nuh-ruh-bul\ adjective
Definition
1 : capable of being physically or emotionally wounded
2 : open to att...
-
FREERunning Daily Curio #1539Free1 CQ
Happy Patriot's Day—also known as Marathon Monday in Boston. Today's race promises a little extra excitement, as a 33-year-old Hollywood lawyer named Loren Zitomersky will be gunning for a new world record… running the marathon backwards. To set the record, he will have to finish under 3 hours 43 minutes and 39 seconds, at an average pace of eight-and-a-half minutes per mile. Backward running, also known as retrorunning, has been used in training for decades. It was first popularized by early 20th-century boxers and wrestlers. Football, soccer, and basketball coaches were soon making their teams run sprints and long distance hauls in reverse. But the idea of competing backwards didn't strike anybody as a good idea until recently—spurred by several studies suggesting backward runners could avoid knee and ankle injuries. A book called Backwards Running has also fueled the craze, as it extolls the virtues of retrorunning for building stamina, speed, strength, and balance.
When the first Retrorunning World Championships were held in Zurich in 2006, only 50 athletes participated from a handful of countries. But ten years later, over 150 athletes from 20 countries were competing for records in everything from the 100 meter, to the mile, to the half marathon. (In case you're wondering, those World Records are currently 13.6 seconds, 5:46, and 1:35:49, respectively.) However, backward running isn't without risks. Besides being gawked at by pretty much every passerby—and enduring constant calls of "you're going the wrong way!"—there is the omnipresent risk of running into stuff. Many serious retrorunners train with spotters running the, um, right way. And backward running is seriously harder than running forwards. Which, advocates say, is the whole point. We wish Mr. Zitomersky lots of luck in his efforts today. Not only is a world record on the line, but he is trying to raise $100,000 for the Epilepsy Foundation. Life for people with that disease, says Zitomersky, "is like going through life backwards." Now that's some forward thinking!
Happy Patriot's Day—also known as Marathon Monday in Boston. Today's race promises a little extra excitement, as a 33-year-old Hollywood lawyer named Loren Zitomersky will be gunning for a new world record… running the marathon backwards. To set the record, he will have to finish under 3 hours 43 minutes and 39 seconds, at an average pace of eight-and-a-half minutes per mile. Backward running, also known as retrorunning, has been used in training for decades. It was first popularized by early 20th-century boxers and wrestlers. Football, soccer, and basketball coaches were soon making their teams run sprints and long distance hauls in reverse. But the idea of competing backwards didn't strike anybody as a good idea until recently—spurred by several studies suggesting backward runners could avoid knee and ankle injuries. A book called Backwards Running has also fueled the craze, as it extolls the virtues of retrorunning for building stamina, speed, strength, and balance.
When the first Retrorunning World Championships were held in Zurich in 2006, only 50 athletes participated from a handful of countries. But ten years later, over 150 athletes from 20 countries were competing for records in everything from the 100 meter, to the mile, to the half marathon. (In case you're wondering, those World Records are currently 13.6 seconds, 5:46, and 1:35:49, respectively.) However, backward running isn't without risks. Besides being gawked at by pretty much every passerby—and enduring constant calls of "you're going the wrong way!"—there is the omnipresent risk of running into stuff. Many serious retrorunners train with spotters running the, um, right way. And backward running is seriously harder than running forwards. Which, advocates say, is the whole point. We wish Mr. Zitomersky lots of luck in his efforts today. Not only is a world record on the line, but he is trying to raise $100,000 for the Epilepsy Foundation. Life for people with that disease, says Zitomersky, "is like going through life backwards." Now that's some forward thinking!
-
FREEArt Appreciation Art CurioFree1 CQ
Title: Tall dark green incised vase
Artist: George E. Ohr (1857-1918)
Created: c. 1900
Medium: Fired and painted clay
His contemporaries may have thought him a crackpot, but George E. Ohr remained confident as he pursued an artistic vision half a century ahead of its time. The so-called "Mad Potter of Biloxi," who died 100 years ago this month, was an eccentric sculptor who completely broke away from 19th-century ceramic traditions. Take his untitled Tall dark green incised vase, above; while it may look commonplace to our modern eyes, Ohr hand-threw the pot for far longer than his contemporaries—forming wild and expressive shapes, like the vase's quasi-transparent spout. His masterful glazing also allowed him to produce the rich, amber veins that run down the neck. Unfortunately, critics pigeonholed Ohr's flamboyant pottery as a mere gimmick; his windswept mustache and penchant for handstands didn't help his case. But Ohr had foreseen the future. In his own words: "When I am gone, my work will be praised, honored, and cherished." Generations later, an antique collector discovered 7,000 of Ohr's artworks lying around in a garage during the '60s; it wasn't long before acclaimed artists like Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol were dropping thousands of dollars on them. Not so gimmicky now, huh?
Below: more works by Ohr, including: Very tall, mottled two-handled vase, c. 1900; and Light-colored mottled teapot, c. 1900. Bottom: the "Mad Potter" himself.
Image credit & copyright: Phillip Ennis / Courtesy of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art
Title: Tall dark green incised vase
Artist: George E. Ohr (1857-1918)
Created: c. 1900
Medium: Fired and painted clay
His contemporaries may have thought him a crackpot, but George E. Ohr remained confident as he pursued an artistic vision half a century ahead of its time. The so-called "Mad Potter of Biloxi," who died 100 years ago this month, was an eccentric sculptor who completely broke away from 19th-century ceramic traditions. Take his untitled Tall dark green incised vase, above; while it may look commonplace to our modern eyes, Ohr hand-threw the pot for far longer than his contemporaries—forming wild and expressive shapes, like the vase's quasi-transparent spout. His masterful glazing also allowed him to produce the rich, amber veins that run down the neck. Unfortunately, critics pigeonholed Ohr's flamboyant pottery as a mere gimmick; his windswept mustache and penchant for handstands didn't help his case. But Ohr had foreseen the future. In his own words: "When I am gone, my work will be praised, honored, and cherished." Generations later, an antique collector discovered 7,000 of Ohr's artworks lying around in a garage during the '60s; it wasn't long before acclaimed artists like Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol were dropping thousands of dollars on them. Not so gimmicky now, huh?
Below: more works by Ohr, including: Very tall, mottled two-handled vase, c. 1900; and Light-colored mottled teapot, c. 1900. Bottom: the "Mad Potter" himself.
Image credit & copyright: Phillip Ennis / Courtesy of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art
-
FREEComposition Photo CurioFree1 CQ
Rain or shine, the Commonwealth Games audience would not be deterred from their goal of watching their favorite swimmers compete. The 2018 Commonwealth Games are taking place in Queensland, on Australia's Gold Coast, from April 4th through 17th. It's an event similar to the Summer Olympics, where athletes come together every four years to represent their home countries and compete for medals—but participation is restricted to the Commonwealth of Nations, which comprises 53 current and former British territories. This crowd of waterproof poncho-clad viewers had a lot to cheer about; in spite of the unfavorable weather, their native Australians took home 28 gold medals—with 73 medals total—for swimming programs. It's a good sign for Australian swimmers looking to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, even if the skies did rain on their reign!
Image credit & copyright: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images
Rain or shine, the Commonwealth Games audience would not be deterred from their goal of watching their favorite swimmers compete. The 2018 Commonwealth Games are taking place in Queensland, on Australia's Gold Coast, from April 4th through 17th. It's an event similar to the Summer Olympics, where athletes come together every four years to represent their home countries and compete for medals—but participation is restricted to the Commonwealth of Nations, which comprises 53 current and former British territories. This crowd of waterproof poncho-clad viewers had a lot to cheer about; in spite of the unfavorable weather, their native Australians took home 28 gold medals—with 73 medals total—for swimming programs. It's a good sign for Australian swimmers looking to compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, even if the skies did rain on their reign!
Image credit & copyright: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images
-
4 minFREEHumanities Worldly CurioFree3 CQ
The Cane's were able to move back to their home after a stint in Australia because no one would buy it.
with PRI's The WorldThe Cane's were able to move back to their home after a stint in Australia because no one would buy it.
-
FREEMusic Appreciation Song CurioFree2 CQ
As a man of many alter egos, David Bowie felt Ziggy Stardust's crash-landing in the U.S. merited a rebirth of sorts. Gone was the Spiders from Mars' bandleader, and in his place was Aladdin Sane. A pun on "a lad insane," the character and album—released 45 years ago this week—ushered in a new era of Bowie's musical legacy. For better or worse, his stay in the States would be marked by glam rock and excessive substance abuse (the latter would cause him to rehabilitate in Berlin, Germany, at the end of the decade). Tracks like the stomping Jean Genie were inspired by a colorful cast of characters: Bowie named the tune after French poet Jean Genet; one of Andy Warhol's acolytes, Cyrinda Foxe (who features in the song's video), would dance around her apartment as Bowie played the melody on guitar; and the lyrics mimicked the actions of the volatile punk rocker, Iggy Pop. The end result is a jagged-sounding pastiche of jeans, Marilyn Monroe, and nutrition-peddling beauticians—in other words, all bizarre images that would rightly make a lad go insane!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: David Bowie Archive
As a man of many alter egos, David Bowie felt Ziggy Stardust's crash-landing in the U.S. merited a rebirth of sorts. Gone was the Spiders from Mars' bandleader, and in his place was Aladdin Sane. A pun on "a lad insane," the character and album—released 45 years ago this week—ushered in a new era of Bowie's musical legacy. For better or worse, his stay in the States would be marked by glam rock and excessive substance abuse (the latter would cause him to rehabilitate in Berlin, Germany, at the end of the decade). Tracks like the stomping Jean Genie were inspired by a colorful cast of characters: Bowie named the tune after French poet Jean Genet; one of Andy Warhol's acolytes, Cyrinda Foxe (who features in the song's video), would dance around her apartment as Bowie played the melody on guitar; and the lyrics mimicked the actions of the volatile punk rocker, Iggy Pop. The end result is a jagged-sounding pastiche of jeans, Marilyn Monroe, and nutrition-peddling beauticians—in other words, all bizarre images that would rightly make a lad go insane!
Other streaming options
Image credit & copyright: David Bowie Archive