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The last Faberge egg was made in 1917, with production halting after the Russian revolution. The jewel-encrusted eggs sell nowadays at auction for several millions of dollars. The Faberge brand itself was sold in 1989 for $1.6 billion to Unilever. Pallinghurst Resources, a private-equity fund, acquired the name last year for an undisclosed price. And they are reviving the Faberge egg with a new commission. Descendants Tatiana and Sarah Faberge were brought in to lend credence to the rebirth of an old icon of Russian wealth. (via Luxist)
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"They're totemic of old growth and indicators of healthy forests. They're the little guys who build the forest by processing the material and pooping out the good stuff." That's David George Gordon, biologist, defending the honor of the banana slug. Turns out that the banana slug's little relatives who enjoy munching on our veggie gardens are stowaways from European countries. Banana slugs are supposed to be here in our moist Pacific Northwest and, says Gordon, "They make good pets."
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Thursday, May 29, 2008
At Disneyland's Tomorrowland, you can spot several edibles in the landscaping. I took snapshots of the red chard and strawberries. I also noticed a small grove of citrus fruits. I'm not sure if they get consumed by guests stuck for hours the Nemo Submarine line.
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CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) are known for providing boxes of local produce to their subscribers. In the San Francisco area there now three active meat CSAs. One sells beef, pork, chicken and eggs from a single farm. The other two combine meats from several sources.
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Would I decorate my nails with binary numbers? Yes I would. But I'd do Matrix glyphs first.
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Dr. Bonkers' Online gallery of modern and vintage psychiatric drug advertising. 7-up for babies? Maybe you've been seeking these genuine placebo pills from Eli Lilly. (via Neurophilosophy)
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Tuesday, May 27, 2008
I'd forgotten about Woxy Vintage until someone reminded me that Woxy.com was running its Modern Rock 500 this past weekend. 1980's alt/modern/synth/new wave rock fans point your streaming media players at Woxy.com's sideline Woxy Vintage.
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Two nostalgia-filled articles in the N.Y. Times caught my eye over the weekend. First, the management of the Empire State Building, looking to complement their historically accurate renovation, commissioned formal uniforms for their guards and other public staff. The design is reminiscent of the 1930s, the same Art Deco style and color of the building and its marble corridors. Although the uniforms are old-fashioned, their distribution and collection system is not. Employees use an ID card to collect and return their clothing from an automated rack. Over at Lord & Taylor, a NYC institution of the retail kind, they continue to play the Star Spangled Banner every morning before opening time. Called "the longest-running daily ritual that can be traced to the 444-day Iran hostage crisis that began in 1979," the tradition has been kept alive, even after an accompanying coffee service (originally on matching cups and saucers no less) was halted a few years ago.
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Friday, May 23, 2008
The Journal of Cartoon Overanalyzations is just too too much. (via xBlog)
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The former Denny's that was put up for landmark status in Ballard, WA by the developer who wanted to tear it down may be headed for destruction even though landmark status was approved. The preservation of the "Googie architecture" building is not economically viable as the owners have not come up with a plan that maintains the building and doesn't lose money. Supporters of the building have pointed out that a developer with an actual interest in preserving the building may have come up with a suitable solution.
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Thursday, May 22, 2008
The Victoria & Albert Museum, which is, I have to admit, the only reason I want to go to London (yeah I know there's other stuff to see like castles and the Tate), is opening a new gallery for its collection of jewelry. 3,500 pieces will go on display this coming weekend, ranging from ancient gold neckpieces to contemporary acrylics with stops along the way for royalty and Lalique.
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The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle offers dining etiquette classes almost every month at its restaurant The Georgian. 10 diners pay $69 for a three-course dinner during which they are taught the finer points of what to do with all the forks and who gets served first. A children's class is also available.
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
A cat appeared inside the packed hall of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (video) as Zubin Mehta led the orchestra for a Sunday concert where Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was a special guest.
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There's a six week waiting list for whips right now at David Morgan Inc., supplier of whips to the Indiana Jones films. Demand has always risen following the release of each movie, and orders are already up for the family owned business located in Bothell, WA. David W. Morgan started the company in the 1960s to import Australian goods, including whips. He became interested in whipmaking himself after Australia asked the U.S. to ban imports of kangaroo leather in 1974 and he could no longer sell the Australian whips (the ban was lifted in 1981). Morgan started making his own and developed a reputation that got the attention of the stunt coordinator for "Raiders of the Lost Ark." For the latest Indy film, David Morgan Inc. provided 8 whips of various styles and Australian maker, Terry Jacka, supplied several others.
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Monday, May 19, 2008
To get that perfect aerial shot of a condo building under construction or a snazzy new tower, Seattle area developers can call on Sandy and Fred Cavazos of Above the Rest Aerial Photography. With an 18-foot tethered blimp, remote controlled Canon 5D, and wireless TV camera, Fred Cavazos maneuvers for the perfect shot from up to 500 feet above. Their rig hits the sweet spot between cranes & lifts and low-flying aircraft.
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The legendary Gurkha soldiers in the British Army are still going strong, with successful recruitment from a large pool of men interested in joining Her Majesty's troops. Last year 17,349 applied and 230 were accepted. Recently the Gurkhas have had success in their campaign for pensions equivalent to their British counterparts and the right to live in Britain after retirement. And, in a true sign of modern times, females are going to be recruited starting in 2010. A pilot program attracted hundreds of interested Nepalese women last year.
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Friday, May 16, 2008
Kärcher GmbH & Co. keeps the world's monuments clean and gains a bunch of free publicity in the bargain. This week the pressure washer manufacturer started a project to spiff up Seattle's Space Needle by blasting it with hot water. Although the Space Needle was repainted in 1998, it has never had a real cleaning. Kärcher's rappelling cleaning crew is working during the night so the Needle can stay open and that has resulted in some superb photos of the Needle's angles with a Seattle cityscape backdrop (scroll down here). The water comes out at 3,000 pounds per square inch and 194 degrees F, ridding the structure of bird droppings and pollution grime. Kärcher's donated services included everything except the cost of rope technicians from Skala. Some of Kärcher's other cleaning jobs include Mount Rushmore, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and the National Library in Athens.
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Thursday, May 15, 2008
Paparazzi got you trapped? Slap on these black bar glasses and make a run for it. Any photos will be pre-censored for your incognito convenience. There don't appear to be matching black bar undergarments for wardrobe malfunctions, but you aren't looking for that kind of publicity anyway, are you?
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Is a tour on the Foreclosure Bus anything like a trip to Storyland at Disney? I don't think so, but a Redfin blogger draws a contrast between a sweet trip on the Storyland boats and a tour bus ride that takes you to see foreclosed houses available for sale.
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Finishing up my Beijing photos (finally), here are a few shots of the gigantic new airport terminal that opened a few days prior to my trip: the drive-up approach, crazy large interior, and the red supports along the walls. It's impossible to convey the sheer size of this building in a photo.
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PBS is reviving "The Electric Company" and updating it for today's kids who are fed a diet of hip hop and "High School Musical." For me, the original show was notable for having an actual, honest to goodness Asian person in the cast, June Angela (with the amazingly long hair). In a DVD interview, she recalls that the casting call only went out for "black and white" children but her agent asked them to see her anyway. Angela stayed with "The Electric Company" through its entire run, the only one of the Short Circus kids to do so.
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Monday, May 12, 2008
The Seattle Times got rid of 125 staff members this past week through a combination of buyouts and layoffs. Among the writers who accepted a buyout deal was Melinda Bargreen who has been their classical music critic for 31 years. Her farewell was published on Sunday. The Times intends to keep the classical music beat staffed but hasn't figured out how yet.
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Seventh-inning stretch standard "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a waltz that starts with an octave jump. At 100 years old, it is third on America's most-sung songs list after "Happy Birthday" and the national anthem. It has been recorded by more than 400 musicians. You could argue that it's helped keep Cracker Jack alive after all these years. Jack Norworth wrote the song in 1908 and it was sung in movie theaters during reel changes. In the mid-1970s Chicago White Sox and then Cubs announcer Harry Caray popularized it as a singalong in the seventh inning and the tradition soon took hold in ballparks across the country.
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Thursday, May 08, 2008
Thoughts after returning to Disneyland after 27 years:
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Irvine Robbins grew up in Seattle and worked at his father's dairy in Tacoma, so the Seattle PI's obituary has the details on his local life. The co-founder of Baskin-Robbins was born in Winnipeg, and his family moved to the area when his uncle purchased an ice cream company on Capitol Hill. He had his bar mitzvah at Temple DeHirsch Sinai, was a yell leader at Stadium High School, and graduated from the University of Washington. When he opened his first ice cream store he defected to sunny California.
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The Nintendo Fan Network at Seattle Mariners' games lets fans with a DS Lite chat with other fans in the park, order food, check game scores and stats. Seattle PI reporter Jon Naito tried it out and gave it a lukewarm review as a "nice distraction from those inevitable ballpark lulls." Now free after its $5 pilot last season, the network lets you order only basic ballpark foods, and only before the seventh inning. A DS Lite can be rented for $10 if you don't have your own. (Nintendo is the owner of the Mariners.)
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Thursday, May 01, 2008
I'm taking a few days off from blogging to catch up on work and sleep, but I should be back next week with tales of adventures in L.A.
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