Stand in a Kiddie Pool or Go to Jail for 60 Days

Judge Cicconetti, in Painesville, Ohio, prides himself on dispensing "creative justice."  His latest judicial concoction was to sentence Grace Nash and Bruce Crawford to an afternoon of standing in a kiddie pool, wearing life jackets and handing out water safety brochures.  The two youths were arrested for misdemeanor misconduct during an emergency... more specifically, they went canoeing on the Grand River during flood conditions and lied about it.  The Honorable Cicconetti's most famous punishment was ordering a 26 year old woman to spend the night in the woods by herself.  The crime?  She abandoned 35 kittens in a forrest during winter.  

Rapture at the Edge

In general, "rapture" is what we all should desire and seek out. Art, family, and philosophy are potential sources of "rapture." Even religion can be source of rapture. But, the "feeling of intense pleasure or joy" should not be relegated to a single day in eternity or associated with the destruction of the "unclean."

Getting Hot? Try a $1000 Popsicle

While we scowl at overindulgence, the Marquis Los Cabos resort in Mexico has added to its menu the world's most expensive popsicle.  The margarita popsicle is made with Tequilas Premium Clase Azul Ultra and 24k gold flakes. This is not your childhood ice-tray-kool-aid popsicle...

84 Anniversary of Fiske v. Kansas (274 US 380)

The roaring twenties were awash with new ideas for making the world a better place: women's right to vote, prohibiting the production and consumption of alcohol, jazz music, Wobblies. The many calls for change indicated a disparity of power and a period of social unrest.  In an effort to quiet the economic unrest of the 20's, many states implemented Syndicalism laws which prohibited the promotion of organizations dedicated to crime (socialism).  The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) was the most aggressive organization, in the 20's, dedicated to labor unions and other anti-capitalist ideals.  Criminal Syndicalism laws allowed states to bring criminal charges against IWW promotors who encouraged factory workers to join the union.  Fiske (of Fiske v. Kansas) was prosecuted by the Kansas Attorney General and was found guilty of "'knowingly and feloniously persuading, inducing and securing' certain persons 'to sign an application for membership in . . . and by issuing to' them 'membership cards' in a certain Workers' Industrial Union, 'a branch of and component part of the Industrial Workers of the World organization.'" (from 274 US 380).  The US Supreme Court found that the Syndicalism law of Kansas to be "an arbitrary and unreasonable exercise of the police power of the State" because it did not require a finding that the IWW was in fact a criminal organization.

"You have nothing to loose but your chains"

Black Eyed Susan - the liquid version

In preparation for the Preakness (FREAKness) here are a couple of recipes for the drink of the race: Black Eyed Susan.

(from the Preakness website)

¾ oz. 42 Below Vodka
1-1/4 oz. Early Times Kentucky Whiskey
3 oz. sweet & sour mix
2 oz. orange juice
Garnish with orange slice, cherry and a stirrer.

(Washington Post vetted recipe)
(Note: this is not a single drink, but a punch... to be shared!)

1 1/4 cup vodka
1 1/4 cup light rum
3/4 cup triple sec
Juice from one lime
4 cups orange juice
4 cups pineapple juice
Lime slices or maraschino cherries (optional)

Post-Modern Capitalism and the Fear of Money

I don't know if there is such a thing as "Post-Modern Capitalism," but if there is, it would involve ressentiment and semi-conscious chrematophobia.  There are many reasons to fear money (dirt, credit problems, militarization of nations), but in a post-modern capitalist world, a person would fear money for the reason that many pleasures provided by money usher in new forms of misery.  For example, the Real Housewives of (name a city) encourages a belief that money is a devilish source of suffering, which is, at the same time, entertaining.

Something Fishy... Not my feet

If you are on your feet all day, such as dart champion Phil "The Power" Taylor, you may consider the latest foot treatment: Fish Pedicures.  The process consists of putting your feet in a bucket of 100 flesh eating fish for 15-30 minutes.  The Doctor Fish, garra rufa, start nibbling away your dead skin, leaving your toes baby smooth.  Not everyone is impressed with this technique.  Arizona, among other states, has banned the use of fish for exfoliation.  Arizona health officials argue that, unlike clippers and combs, fish cannot be sterilized.  Cindy Vong, owner of Gilbert Spa in Arizona, is participating in a suit against the Arizona Board of Cosmetology over the threatened revocation of her license.

Darts "The Most Entertaining Sport to Watch"

If you have not heard of Phil "The Power" Taylor, you do not love sports. Let me tell you that the sport of Darts is at an all-time high in popularity.  Some have suggested that Darts is the most entertaining sport to watch (after the bars have closed and you can't shake your 10pm triple shot mocha coffee buzz).  The key component for dart-excitement is the dart "thrower."  The most exciting "thrower" is Phil "The Power" Taylor, four time winner of the PDC Player of the Year and two time nominee for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.  Phil, The Power, has been compared to Tiger Woods and Michael Schumacher.  Here are some key facts that make Phil the "Power" that he is: "The Power" was born to Elizabeth Taylor in 1960.  Despite his glorious success in "international" sports, his beginning were humble.  He dropped out of school at the age of 16 to make ceramic toilet roll handles.  When he picked up a sponsorship for dart playing in 1988, he abandoned his toilet-paper-handle-engineering career to play darts professionally.  To learn more, check out his autobiography "The Power."

Google Logo - Modern Dance Style

 The Google logo today, in honor of Martha Graham's 135 birthday is one of the best they have posted.  The structure of Graham's dance is very architectural.  Translating those moves into writing was brilliant.

Describing her reluctance to having her dances recorded or re-staged, she said the following:

It wasn't until years after I had relinquished a ballet that I could bear to watch someone else dance it. I believe in never looking back, never indulging in nostalgia, or reminiscing. Yet how can you avoid it when you look on stage and see a dancer made up to look as you did thirty years ago, dancing a ballet you created with someone you were then deeply in love with, your husband? I think that is a circle of hell Dante omitted.

 

What do you want on your Super Yacht?

A new production line of super Yachts in China offers such useful features as:

• Karaoke Rooms
• Disco ball
• Lounge chairs
• Kid's room with 54" TV
• Cockpit with bar, barbecue grill, and shower

Accelera 98'

Accelera exterior view

Strange news of the Day

On some days, the best entertainment is not the comics or the Office, but the news.  Fiction can be fun, but what humans actually come up with and carry out is far more amusing (if not disturbing).  Here are few recent news topics:

5 year old Suri (daughter of Cruise and Holms) makes Glamour Magazine's Best Dressed Women list.  Having reviewed the photos, she has a great wardrobe, but she is missing certain essentials like Bratz shirts and SquareBob-SpongePants sneakers.  The high-heels are a bit much.

Worlds longest cigar.  The dictatorial regime of Cuba has long suffered an inferiority complex being in the shadow Florida.

In a coke deal gone wrong, the buyer called police to file a consumer complaint.  The dealer shorted the buyer $40 in change.  The would be a case for the ducking stool punishment.

"Lady Blunt" For Sale

the Lady Blunt

Neither a Lady nor a blunt, the Lady Blunt is one of the world's finest violins.  She was made in 1721 by Stradivarius.  The Nippon Music Foundation bought the instrument in 2008 for a cool $10 million.  Now Nippon is offering to sell the Lady Blunt to the highest bidder.  All of the proceeds from the sale will go to the reconstruction efforts in Northeastern Japan. 


The Lady Blunt derives her name from an early owner, Anne Isabella Noel Blunt,15th Baroness Wentworth. Besides the lasting legacy of this violin, she has also left her mark on the modern world through animal husbandry.  A devotee of Arabian Horses, she and her spouse traveled extensively collecting horses to be bred at their horse breeding farm, the Crabbet Arabian Stud. Almost all pure breed Arabian horses trace their ancestry back to the Crabbet Arabian Stud farm. Describing her deep love and passion for breeding horses, Lady Blunt said, "it would be an interesting and useful thing to do and I should like much to try it."

Lady Anne Blunt and Kassida

iPhone Shrink Ray = TiltShift

Since we are on the topic of miniaturization... why not employ an app for shrinking objects: TiltShift.  Pogue at the NYT recently introduced me (I read his article) to the iPhone app entitled TiltShift Generator that performs a funky shrink effect on subject.  Check out these examples:

Best example I found online

Tiny Coke truck I photographed

Applied to a Walter McCown painting

Micro Art: Art so small you cannot see it.

"David"

More akin to the awkwardness of the "emperors new clothes" than the grandeur of Michelangelo, 

Will & Kate

Willard Wigan creates microscopic sculptures.  The artworks are so small that they fit inside the eye of a regular sewing needle.  Literally, you have to use a microscope to view his creations.  Mr. Wigan attributes his passion for miniature sculpture to childhood bullying.  As an escape from the torrent of teasing, he started constructing houses for ants.  His fascination with microscopic sculpture grew, but his art object did not.  A single ant house, made at the age of 5, could be a grand gallery for his sculptures. Mr. Wigan's latest creation is a commemorative sculpture of Will and Kate.  The sculptures are carefully painted using a single strand of hair from a fly.  The artist's website assures the world that the fly was not killed during the hair-extraction process.  

The Obama family.

Mr. Wigan showing off one
of his sculptures.