Unusual Musical Instruments

http://windworld.com/features/gallery/guitar-like-instruments-with-specially-made-pickup-systems/

Click on the link to hear what these instruments sound like.

Calder's Circus

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Alexander Calder (1898-1976) Calder's Circus, 1926-31Mixed media: wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, paper, cardboard, leather, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, and bottle caps, 54 x 94 1/4 x 94 1/4 in. (137.2 x 239.4 x 239.4 cm)

Karol's note: Calder is one of my favorite artists. I only learned about his circus creation a few years ago from my friend Susan. Since then, I've read the book about why and how he created it. I'm inspired by his creative vision. Maybe it's because I still feel like a kid at heart oftentimes that this kind of performance art appeals to me. Or maybe it's that he uses everyday objects to create a miniturized version of an iconic American event. Or maybe I don't even need a reason!

Adam Weinberg from the Whitney Museum: Alexander Calder magically breathed life into inanimate objects, using wire and recycled materials to create this army of circus characters. Beginning in 1927, Calder performed the Circus in Paris, New York, and elsewhere. He would issue invitations to his guests, who would sit on makeshift bleachers munching peanuts, just like the real circus. With the crash of cymbals and music from an old gramophone, the circus would begin. Many of the individual circus animals and performers include mechanized parts—Calder was originally trained as a mechanical engineer. It wasn't the tricks or gimmicks of the circus that appealed to Calder, but the dynamic movement of bodies in space. He first went to the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey circus in 1925. He was inspired by the mechanics of the circus and made hundreds of drawings of the equipment and the ropes and the guy wires for the tents. Later in his career, Calder turned his attention to more abstract work. In 1930, he visited the studio of artist Piet Mondrian. He was delighted with Mondrian's work, and later recalled, "I thought at the time how fine it would be if everything there moved." He went on to invent the mobile and other works of moving sculpture. http://www.whitney.org/www/american_voices/540/index.html

Alexander Calder (22 July 1898 – 11 November 1976), also known as Sandy Calder, was an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing the mobile. In addition to mobile and stabile sculpture, Alexander Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, tapestry and jewelry. wikipedia.com

Ways to Get Around

Couldn't help it. Shelter made me think about transportation. Transportation made me think about...Big Wheels. Remember riding one of those when you were a kid? Those were the days. For a while you could get an adult-sized Big Wheel (see photo on far right). The company discontinued that model (remember how it used to tip over when going around corners? uh huh). The newer Big Wheel wannabees are like the one in the photo in the center. You can buy a Triker at http://www.bigwheelrally.com/store/adult.htm

And I'm still trying to find out what the human-powered machine I saw on the bike path a month ago was. Anyone see that goofy monstrosity? It's not a bike. It has a wheels but the guy stands upright and there is a horizontal metal pole about 7 foot from the ground connecting the two wheels. I can't find it on Google because I don't know its name! Anyone know?

~Karol

Shelter

One of my favorite books is called Shelter. I know it's at the Eugene Public Library, but you may have to put in on hold as it's quite popular. The photographs inspire me to be more creative with my home furnishings. They also expand my horizons about what dwellings means to individuals and to cultures. Many of the people profiled in the book are craftspeople and artists. You'll be amazed at people's creative visions and that they can actually oftentimes make these visions concrete! I highly recommend this book. ~Karol

Here's the website, to read about or purchase the book: http://www.shelterpub.com/_shelter/shelter_book.html

Shelter, first published in 1973, but recently updated, has over 1,000 photographs of dwellings from around the world. here are some of the dwellings:

Caves
Huts
Dogon
Masai, Ethopian, Kabre dwellings
Iron Age Huts
Tin and Thatch
Tents
Tuareg
Bedouin
Tekna
Yurts
Early Timber
Sheds
Hexagon Barn
Floors and Footings
Concrete Floors
Windows and Doors
Roofing and Skylights
Tools and Tips
Japanese Homes
Shakes and Shingling
Eucalyptus Lumber
Saplings
Timber-frame
Mortise and Tenon
Cinva-Ram
Stone
Baled Hay
Plaster
Sod
Canvas
Hawaiian Lashing
Reed
Bamboo
Thatching
Wrecking and Salvage
Earth Shelters
Housetrucks
Houseboats, Junks
Treehouses
Carpenter Gothic
Dome
Log
Adobe
Zomes
Solar Water Heaters
Solar Energy
Windmills

photos are from : http://abduzeedo.com/unusual-houses

Funny & Strange Album Covers

C'mon, if you're of a certain age you probably remember funny & strange album covers like the ones below. Did you keep any? I had to keep some even though I don't have a turn table to play them on. I don't have any of the ones below, sadly, though I'd love to! But I do have a Beatle's album, Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom, a Nat King Cole one, and a few more I couldn't bear to part with. Include your own memories/cover photos in comments! ~Karol's comments

from: http://franklarosa.com/vinyl/

Spaghetti Sauce and Other Delights, from politically-incorrect comic Pat Cooper.
Pat Cooper was one of those ethnic comedians you might find performing in the Catskill mountains if you were an Italian from New York on vacation in the 60's. He specializes in the sort of politically-incorrect humor that you can't quite get away with today.
This is one of two albums I have that take-off on the ubiquitous Herb Alpert "Whipped Cream and Other Delights" cover art. The other is a disco album from the late 70's called "Sweet Cream", featuring an African-American woman striking a similar pose (similar to the original girl-with-whipped-cream, that is).

the other two album covers courtesy of :

http://www.funnyalbumcovers.com/2008_12_01_archive.html

Upwards Lightning

not karol's comments: taken from BBC News---Judith Burns, reporter

Upwards lightning caught on film By Judith Burns Science and environment reporter, BBC News
Scientists have photographed "upwards lightning", a rarely-seen phenomenon where electricity from storms flows into the upper atmosphere.
During last year's Tropical Storm Cristobal, lightning reached more than 60km (40 miles) up.
Also known as "gigantic jets", these events are just as powerful as cloud-to-ground lightning bolts.
The US team of researchers also took radio measurements of the electrical charge.
The phenomenon was photographed from a field site near Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Their work, published in Nature Geoscience, gives scientists a better understanding of this form of lightning.
Gigantic jets do not occur during every storm and scientists do not yet know what types of storm are conducive to their formation.
Substantial charge
Lead author Professor Steven Cummer, from Duke, told BBC News: "What we were able to conclusively show is that these are not just sparks that come out of the thunderstorm and travel upward and tickle the upper atmosphere.
"They actually deliver to the upper atmosphere as much electric charge as the very strong lightning strokes to ground."
The jets discharge a comparable amount of electricity to conventional lightning but the charge travels further and faster because the thinner air between the clouds and the ionosphere provides less resistance.
Gigantic jets are rarely photographed because they happen so quickly that cameras have to be trained on them exactly when they occur.
Professor Cummer caught the images of the event by chance. He had trained his camera on the sky above the storm, hoping to photograph another phenomenon known as "sprites". These are blue or red electrical discharges above storm clouds.
He is planning to install a low-light, high speed camera to capture colour images of gigantic jets, which could provide information about chemical processes and temperatures.
He said: "In fact, this one that we reported came from a tropical storm - not quite a hurricane.
"There is another hurricane bearing down on us that is about to hit the eastern seaboard of the US. You can be sure that we will be training our cameras on that, just in case we are lucky."
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/8214290.stmPublished: 2009/08/23 17:50:37 GMT© BBC MMIX
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The second most dangerous sport...

after jumping off skyscrapers with parachutes is considered to be modern free diving, according to Alec Wilkinson's "The Deepest Dive" in this week's New Yorker magazine. "Modern free diving is a sport in which divers, on a single breath, descend hundreds of feet, into cold and darkness, and often pass out before they return....There are eight disciplines, three of which are conducted in a pool; the rest are called deep dives," Wilkinson writes.

Women's records: holding your breath under water Natalia Mochanova at 8:00 minutes

Sara Campbell holds the record for constant weight--divers must return to the surface with the weight he or she used to descend--96 meters, which took three minutes and thirty-four seconds. The men's record is 122 metres.

Who does well in this extreme sport? Well, after reading the article last night, I conclude that those who have set the records have remarkable physical talent-for instance, Sara Campbell does not feel the blood withdraw from her hands and feet, as many divers do on their way down. She feels no urge to breathe at depth, either, which is unusual. They also have great power of concentration. The most fatal danger is blacking out underwater--which happens to most of the long-distance free divers.

~Karol's comments

Read the abstract at http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/24/090824fa_fact_wilkinson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozzNSn_5QS0 to see the video of Campbell's 96 metre dive.

UNusual pets

from http://www.petplace.com/reptiles/top-10-unusual-pets/page1.aspx

Piranhas live up to their Hollywood reputation as vicious fish that will not hesitate to chew off the hand that feeds it. This isn't a pet for the faint of heart – only experienced aquarists should take on the piranha.Tarantulas, contrary to popular belief, are not usually dangerous or even aggressive. These large, hairy, and frequently beautiful animals are gaining popularity as interesting, low-maintenance pets.The wallaby is a miniature version of the kangaroo. The Latin name for the wallaby is macropod, which means "Big Foot." They are affectionate, playful and mischievous pets.The Madagascar hissing cockroach is no ordinary roach. For one thing, it can grow to up to 3 inches long and over an inch wide – not something you would swat with a rolled-up magazine! They are hardy creatures that do not bite, and in fact make great exotic pets for children.The skunk was once the Rodney Dangerfield of the animal world. But the perception of the skunk is improving as more people adopt these native-born animals as pets.Sugar gliders are marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea and Indonesia that have been blessed with the ability to glide through the trees in their natural habitats. From a good height, they can take "flights" of more than 150 feet.The "Pac Man" frog is an apt nickname for the ornery ornate horned frog. Legend says that once it bites, it won't let go until sundown. Just like the computer icon, this frog is ready to gobble everything in its path, and will bite cage mates, siblings, even its human handler.The hermit crab is, curiously, neither a hermit nor a crab. As a pet, he's quite sociable and does well in groups of his own species. There are about 800 species of hermit crabs and can be found all over the world. However, there are only two species usually found in the pet trade: the purple claw crab and the Ecuadorian crab.Potbellied pigs were first introduced to the United States from Asia 15 years ago. They are easily trained and have an alert curiosity and affectionate nature. They're smarter than the smartest dogs, and just as appreciative of a good belly-scratch. But prospective owners should be aware that cute piglets can grow to be quite large pigs.Stick insects are one of the most popular insects to keep as pets. They can hide in plain sight with camouflage that is so perfect they are nearly indistinguishable from the branches of the plants on which they feed.