The winner of this year’s Half Moon Bay pumpkin weigh-in shattered the old record by almost 300 pounds. Thad Starr’s 1,524 pound orange beast hails from Pleasant Hill, Oregon. But it still weighs less than the world record 1,689 pounder from Rhode Island.
The story of the death of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis is, as the N.Y. Times aptly puts it “a sacred narrative to legions of cultish fans.” Twenty-seven years later, Curtis’ life and suicide has been made into a movie, Control, directed by Anton Corbijn, the photographer who took the band’s iconic 1979 tube station photos (jpg). Sam Riley portrays Curtis, and sings the part as well. Another film being released soon, Joy Division, is a documentary directed by Grant Gee. It includes interviews with the band members who moved forward as New Order and visual proof of the group’s role at a turning point of popular music.
Tiny books, no more than 3 inches in height, width or thickness, are the special interest of the Miniature Book Society. Members are gathering in Seattle this coming weekend for their 25th annual conclave, in conjunction with the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair.
In 2005, Steve Lopez of the L.A. Times followed the life of former Julliard student Nathaniel Ayers as he survived on the streets of skid row, playing beautiful music on a dirty violin with only two strings. The initial article brought offers of donations, including a cello, Ayers’ preferred instrument. Lopez used the donated instruments to gradually guide Ayers into regular visits to a treatment center, hoping to convince him to accept help for the schizophrenia that had caused the promising musician to drop out of Julliard many years earlier. The story behind that series of articles has been turned into a screenplay, The Soloist, with Jamie Foxx signed on for the role of Ayers and Robert Downey Jr. as Lopez. Foxx, a classically trained pianist as his successful portrayal of Ray Charles demonstrated, is taking cello lessons in preparation.
Serenity/Firefly star Alan Tudyk has raised hopes that a Serenity sequel is under discussion at Universal. Considering the original was a box office flop, the direct-to-DVD market is a likelier prospect. Fans of course don’t care how they have to see or obtain it, they just want it to happen. (via every single Firefly blog in the ‘verse)
Most Fabergé eggs were created for the Russian royal family, a new one every Easter from 1885 to 1917. There are however a few that were designed for other clients, and one has surfaced in the French branch of the Rothschild family. Commissioned for the engagement of Germaine Halphen to Baron Edouard de Rothschild in 1902, the pink egg is a clock with a crowing cockerel. It will be auctioned off by Christie’s in November, estimated price is £9 million.
Alex Ross points out a letter in Science magazine that describes two past studies on the musical preferences of Java sparrows. Birds were given a choice of different perches and picked Bach over the modern composer Schoenberg and silence. Perhaps the birds just weren’t in the mood for dissonance.
It’s October, which means Christmas catalogs are arriving, heralding the holidays right around the corner. And right after that comes the New Year with the famous ball dropping in Times Square. That ball has been through various incarnations throughout the years. To celebrate 2008 and the 100th anniversary of the yearly tradition, the ball has gone green. In an upgrade close to my LED-loving heart, the ball is now lit with 9,576 light-emitting diodes. Last year’s ball had 600 halogen and colored bulbs giving off 291,541 lumens and using 30,000 watts. The LEDs will shine brightly at 625,033 lumens and use about 15,000 watts. Waterford crystal panels are still being used to reflect and sparkle the light out to the millions who watch each year in person and on television.
The Sankaty Head Lighthouse, a symbol of Nantucket, was in danger of falling into the Atlantic Ocean as the cliff eroded. The Sconset Trust, a local preservation group, has raised $3.5 million to move and restore it. The lighthouse, weighing 450 tons, was lifted off its foundation and is being pushed along on steel beams. At 62 inches every ten minutes it’s slow going, but it should reach its new home at the end of the week. The Coast Guard will then put the beacon back into service.
Why settle for fake, crystal bling when you can purchase a cell phone with 3.30 carats of geniune diamonds? Only 10 will be made of that model, but there are others available, and that very shiny 24 carat gold iPod too.