I never really knew what Mutual of Omaha did, but I figured they liked animals. Remember Marlin Perkins and “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”? Well it’s coming back, though alas not with the distinctive narration of Mr. Perkins who passed away in 1986. New shows will be aired next week on the cable channel Animal Planet with Alec Baldwin narrating. Wild Kingdom is produced by Mutual of Omaha, which I now know is an insurance company, hence the full name. The original series started in 1963 and ran for 10 years and even longer in syndication, which is how I saw it.

Headlines One Year Later
8:46am 9:02am 9:40am 10:10am
An Uneasy Remembrance
Year of painful recuperation
A Tentative Normality
Society’s Anxiety
‘Alert But Defiant’
Remembrance and Resolve
Resilience and Grief
Journey From Despair to New Purpose
Grieve Today and Then Grasp Tomorrow
In many ways, remembering

Women at Ground Zero

Despite having attended a women’s college where most exhibitions and performances were the work of females, I am having trouble wrapping my brain around this concept: the National Museum of Women in the Arts. There are more than 3,000 works in the permanent collection with art from the 16th century to the present. Drawings, paintings, sculpture, embroidery, even silverwork. I am just amazed and delighted that this museum exists. Rooms of art all created by women… don’t imagine it, go see it.

Alas, it appears that stores still haven’t caught onto the need to stock plenty of those extra-long sheets for dormitory bound freshmen. Despite the high percentage (90+%) of college-going seniors in my hometown, my mother still had to special order my sheets from a local store. My college roommate arrived with standard sized sheets, which kept her popping out of bed all night to get the corners tucked back in. Her mom finally found and sent her XL twin sheets, in a pretty peach color which I was envious of since all we were offered was plain boring ol’ white. These days there’s the web to turn to. Online stores that cater to college students, like AllDorm, carry a selection of XLs, even in flannel. Lands Ends’ “Dorm in a Bag” comes in XL and other popular bedding retailers have XLs listed on their sites. So while local shops may not be keeping them in stock, online merchants may have them. And, worst case, it can’t hurt to learn how to fold proper hospital corners on a mattress with flat sheets.
(via Obscure Store)

Even more colored soda? Well, you know how marketing works, when one jumps in the pool, everyone else does too for fear of losing market share. Now, the “uncola” is going upside-down as the makers of 7-Up release dnL (turn that over and see the naming inspiration). It’s bright green, caffeinated, fruity, and due out in November. Dr Pepper/Seven-Up was acquired by Cadbury Schweppes in 1995.

What does Mom pack you for lunch if she’s Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse? How about a mozzarella, roasted pepper and tapenade sandwich? Or maybe a Greek salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and romaine. Waters would take an hour to prepare her daughter’s fresh lunches and always included fruit, in season of course, cut up and often placed in orange juice, freshly squeezed of course, to prevent browning. Yum.

If you take notice of architectural details as you walk city streets, you’ll enjoy Public Letter, a walk in central London. Created by a teacher of graphic design, it explores the lettering used on buildings, starting with the British Library which, appropriately enough, has a gate made out of letters. (via Follow Me Here)

Take a look at the striking new design for the The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. The façade will be composed of identically sized vertical planks in transparent glass, translucent glass and opaque metal. The dramatically cantilevered “gallery box” section will be illuminated at night to become a glowing presence in Boston Harbor. A theater on the 2nd and 3rd floors will have back and side walls of glass allowing a backdrop of a clear view of the harbor or controlled filtering down to complete blackout. The planned completion date is 2006.

“a veritable tsunami of umami stories”? Washington Post food writer Robert L. Wolke summarizes what is known about this “fifth taste.” Named umami in 1907 by Kikunae Ikeda, glutamates are difficult to describe as far as their flavor, but then how does one describe any of the other four basic flavors without knowing them? Foods high in glutamates include popular seasonings such as Parmigiano-Reggiano, fermented soy sauce, and fish sauces. The discovery of a specific taste receptor on the human tongue for glutamates in 2000 legitimized its existence as a basic flavor. Findings this year that we have taste receptors for the amino acids found in proteins, of which glutamates are one, support the idea that our tastes provide our basic needs for nourishment. Saltiness is needed for sodium, sweetness for carbohydrates, bitterness to avoid toxic plants, he doesn’t say what sour is for (Vitamin C? :-), and the umami gives us protein.