May 30, 2013
West Palm Beach. I don’t pretend to understand modern art. In fact, until this morning, I don’t remember ever reading a definition of it. According to Wikipedia, it is art created from the 1860’s (including Impressionists like Matisse, Van Gogh and Seurat) until the 1970s. Van Gogh, a modern artist? I had no idea. In the modern art era, artists threw away old traditions of viewing the world and used new techniques and fresh ideas to look at things differently. So what is Contemporary Art and is it the same as Modern Art? Generally it is art created since World War II by still living artists so there can be overlap between the two. Take the disc in this photo made by Jacopo Foggini, exhibited at Whitespace in West Palm Beach. He uses methacrylite, an industrial material used in making automobile lights, to create sculptures, chairs, lights and tables. In all sorts of cool colors. His works are considered Contemporary art as he is still very much alive. And I love it. So much to learn in this fascinating world. And to think I have just discovered there is Modern and Contemporary art I like. Including Van Gogh, O’Keeffe and now, Foggini. Just amazing! ... read more
May 28, 2013
Boston. I don’t really think of a banana as a flower, but it turns out it is a flower, an herb (the world’s largest), a fruit and a berry. Well that is pretty cool. Here you see it recreated by the Blaschka’s in their amazing Harvard glass collection. Everything you see is made of glass. Every one knows bananas are really good for you, but I didn’t know they are slightly radioactive. That’s because of all the potassium which shows up as potassium 40 isotope. I also didn’t know they are the 4th largest world crop behind rice, wheat and maize with India being the largest producing country followed by Uganda. Really! And the Cavendish, the main banana we eat, is currently being infected by an unstoppable disease and will probably disappear during our lifetime. Hopefully replaced by another one. Wow. Who would have thought the banana had so much going on. Good thing I just finished one for breakfast. > > >... read more
May 24, 2013
Boston. Amazing, stunning, impossible! All terms that come to mind as I view the Harvard Museum’s collection of glass flowers. Why don’t I know about these beautiful replicas of over 830 plant species made by father and son team, Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka, between 1887 and 1936? Turns out they were commissioned by Harvard beginning in 1886 to use as models for teaching botany. Back then, there were no photos, just paper maiche and wax models. The Blaschka’s were able to make scientifically accurate glass models using various glass making techniques which they perfected over a 50 year period. Unfortunately their glass making processes died with the Blaschka’s and no one has been able to duplicate these amazing flowers. Dale Chihuly, one of my favorite glass artists, said the exhibit of flowers was mind boggling and extraordinary. So if you get to New England, be sure to put this on your bucket list. You won’t be disappointed. I know I wasn’t. I am still learning about the flowers and some other specimens the Blaschka’s made. There is a whole world out there. I just have to pick my head up and look! ... read more
May 23, 2013
Boston. The restaurant advertised Cambodian/French cuisine. Never having eaten Cambodian, we figured why not. Plus it had a photo of a huge elephant beckoning us inside. How could we go wrong? Cambodian food, it turns out is delicious and very healthy. One of the world’s oldest cuisines, it has an emphasis on simplicity, freshness and seasonality. During the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970’s, the cuisine was almost wiped out and forgotten. How glad I am that it is making a come back! The staple foods are rice and freshwater fish. During the rainy season, the whole country is inundated with monsoon rains turning the country into rice paddies. Almost every meal is served with rice. And for fruit, the durian (remember this fruit is banned in many places because of the smell) and mangosteen are the 2 most popular. The food is much like Thai, but without the spiciness. There is a French influence since Cambodia was once a French colony. Lunch yesterday was a shrimp stir fry with a coconut milk, lemongrass broth and brown rice. Yum! If you haven’t tried Cambodian food, I highly recommend it. Especially if the restaurant features a welcoming elephant! ... read more
May 18, 2013
Korea. Flying from Atlanta to Seoul, Korea takes about 14 hours (coming home it took about 15). About half way thru our flight one of the flight attendants pulled out a piece of rounded bamboo and set it on the floor. She invited us to walk over it to massage our feet. Really? I had never seen this done. And on an airplane. Cool. Well it turns out, it is very common in Japan, China and Korea. Most households and many schools have a piece of bamboo called a takefume or fumitake (apparently it goes by both names since ta-ke means bamboo in Japanese and fumi means to step on). You step on it, rocking your foot back and forth and it feels divine. As legend goes, it was invented by the Samurai on long travels by foot. At night when they stopped to rest, they would cut a piece of bamboo from the side of the road and roll their feet on it to alleviate soreness. What a concept. Modern reflexology! So simple. And Eco friendly since bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on Earth. So where do I get one? Well, not so fast. After numerous web searches, I can’t find a single one for sale. Not one, except a rubber one with nubs in bright neon. So the search is on. If you come across one, let me know. As an instant stress reliever and massager, why would you not have one? ... read more
May 15, 2013
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May 10, 2013
Thailand. I can’t imagine what a starfish (shown in the photo with some other shells I found in Thailand) and an elephant might have in common. But they are both keystone species. So what is this new species? (And why have I never heard of it?) Think of an arch of stones with a stone at the top, the keystone. Without the keystone, the arch collapses. A keystone species (a plant or animal) acts as the top stone, playing a critical and unique role in maintaining the structure of an ecosystem. This concept was conceived by Robert Paine, a zoologist, back in 1969. Back then, he was studying tidal waters inhabited by starfish and mussels off the Pacific coast. The starfish (the only predators of the mussels) kept the mussel population in check. When he removed the starfish from the ecosystem, the mussels took over, crowding out all the other species and the ecosystem collapsed. The starfish (it turns out) were critical to the health of their ecosystem. In much the same way, the elephants in Africa eat and destroy small trees making room for the grasses for the grazing animals to eat. Without the elephants, Africa would become a woodland and no longer provide grasses for the zebra, wildebeests and other animals. So both the starfish and elephant are considered keystone species along with mountain lions, beavers, the sugar maple, grizzly bears and a host of others. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!... read more
May 8, 2013
Maine. Lobsters are harvested in Maine by traps set in the coastal waters with each trap attached to a floating buoy. Looking closely at the photo, you notice the buoys all have different color schemes and striping. That’s because each lobster fisherman has his/her own colored buoy which is helpful when you have up to 800 lobster traps (the maximum allowed by law) attached to your buoys. With over 3 million buoys in Maine waters alone, a whopping 126 million pounds of lobster was harvested in 2012. Just a few hundred years ago, lobster were used as fertilizer and considered a poverty food. Today they are not only expensive, but scientists are finding lobsters have some very interesting anti aging properties. Move over Botox! Lobsters apparently age very slowly, if at all. An enzyme named telomerase is responsible which repairs the lobster’s DNA. As a result of this enzyme, it is possible (although improbable) they could live forever if not injured or captured. Pretty cool if you are a lobster. Just last year, scientists figured out how to tell a lobster’s age by the number of rings in its eyestalk (the stalk connected to the eyeball). With research continuing on this important enzyme, we will be hearing more about it. Who knows, a drink called the fountain of youth made with lobster bits may be on the horizon. Yum! ... read more
May 8, 2013
Australia. These are the coolest ants I have ever seen. This photo was taken in a rain forest near the Great Barrier Reef in northern Australia. Known as weaver ants, they live in trees, in nests made of leaves woven together with silk. Silk? Where in the world do they get it? I thought only silkworms made silk. This is where the story gets interesting. Adult ants can’t make silk (well of course I knew that. Not!). But the larvae produce it (of course). So the adults grab a larvae and gently (so as not to kill it) squeeze the larvae which secretes a drop of silk. The silk is deposited along the edge of the leaves to make them stick together (kind of an ant version of super glue). And a remarkable cooperative behavior is seen among the ants when constructing their nests. Not only do they use the larvae as tools to stick the leaves together, they pull the leaves closer to each other by forming ant chains. They grab the ant in front of them around the waist and form long lines stretching between leaves and pull to force the leaves together. Large colonies can involve multiple trees, numerous nests and millions of ants. So ants exhibit some very cool, complex social behaviors. And some folks eat the ants as part of their diet. I am told they taste like lemon. Think I’ll pass on this one. Athough as a flavoring for bird drop soup, maybe…. ... read more
May 3, 2013
Africa. Hippos kill more humans than any other animal in Africa. So why am I in a small metal boat looking down the jaws of this hippo in a river in Botswana? Well, at the time, I had no idea they were so dangerous. And this yawn is one of their most aggressive postures. Meaning get the hell out of here. As the 3rd largest land mammal (behind elephants and rhinoceros) they spend most of their day submerged in African rivers and graze at night on the grasses surrounding the river. They can easily outrun a human and think nothing about biting a crocodile (or person, for that matter) in half. Yikes! And Hippos ooze this really cool liquid that acts as a sunscreen, insect repellent and antibiotic (for healing all the bite wounds they get when fighting each other). Sounds like we need to bottle the stuff for people (and there is actually research on the liquid being done today so stay tuned on the medical front. Hippos are so dangerous, the late Steve Irwin, known as the Crocodile Hunter, considered a 5 minute river crossing full of hippos the most dangerous segment ever filmed on his show. Pretty amazing considering he met a lot of wild animals. And although our boat ride turned out ok, numerous folks have been killed in boats by hippos. So maybe a little more research next time. But then I wouldn’t have gotten this great photo……... read more
May 2, 2013
Malaysia. Remember tie dying T-shirts using rubber bands and wild, bold colors? Well this gentleman in the photo is practicing the centuries old art of batik. Cloth is hand coated with removable wax and then dyed much like tie dying, with beautiful, intricate patterns and colors. Batik has worldwide popularity (Obama’s late mother was an avid collector) and is designated a Masterpiece of Intangible Humanity by UNESCO, the World Heritage folks (a masterpiece of what??? Basically non material art forms including dance, language and sports). Since I have never heard of this designation, I wondered what else were called Masterpieces. An interesting cross section of activities, it turns out represent our traditions and habits. Carpet weaving in Azerbaijan, the Royal Ballet in Cambodia, the Bejing Opera, Tightrope Walking in South Korea, Falconry in Belgium and of course, as we now know, Batik in Southeast Asia. All designated Masterpieces. Very interesting. But back to batik. As an important part of various cultures, Indonesian officials ask government employees wear batik on Fridays; Singapore and Malaysian Airlines have batik as part of the flight attendants uniform and Nelson Mandela wears batik on formal occasions. So I am researching taking a batik class and looking at samples of batik on line. It just adds to my whole new world. What fun!... read more
Apr 30, 2013
Africa. Not only is the giraffe the tallest mammal alive, it is the 2nd largest land animal (after the elephant) and the largest ruminant. The largest what? What in the world is a ruminant (other than a really cool word)? Well, ruminates soften their food in their first stomach (they have 4 stomachs one of which is called the rumen), regurgitate it (a polite way of saying they throw it up) and then chew it again to further break it down so they can digest it. Other ruminates include cattle, sheep, goats, camels, deer and antelopes. All have split hooves and eat by grazing. Giraffes just do it from a much higher vantage point since they can be 20 feet tall. Ruminates are able to digest grasses and other vegetation that animals with only one stomach can not digest. They literally chew the cud or chew the regurgitated mass. So while chewing the cud has come to mean pondering or meditating, it also means rechewing your food, if you just happen to be a ruminant. ... read more
