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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Popular Myths About Video Games

Below are the most common myths about video games from 10 Myths About Video Games by  and 

1: Video Games Are For Kids

from eessfkntu.blogfa.com
While it is true that kids love video games there are many, many more gamers now adults who grew up playing older games like"Mario Bros.", "Sonic the Hedgehog" or even games on the Atari -- and still love video games. This group practically  grew up with the video game industry with the latter now offering more sophisticated and violent games to keep up and support the changing tastes of this demographic.
In 2011, 53 percent of gamers fell within the 18 to 49 age range and the average gamer within that range  was 37. Gamers 50 and older now represent 29 percent of the market . Only 18 percent of gamers are under the age of 18, according to the Entertainment Software Association [ESA]. There are plenty of games still out there for kids, but the average gamer has definitely grown up.

2: Video Games Lead to Social Isolation

from destructoid.com
The usual Video gamer stereotype of nerdy indoor hobby gamers, sitting in their rooms or their mothers' basements staring at the TV day in and day out, never going outside to socialize with their peers, etc. is no more. Though accurate for some gamers, the anti-social stigma of video gaming fans has never been less true. Thanks to high speed Internet connectivity, gamers can play with one another from across the globe. More and more games are designed with cooperative play or competitive multiplayer in mind; time spent playing games often means time spent socializing. While competitive gaming also brings out a lot of trash talk in online communities, online play gives gamers the opportunity to spend time with distant friends or make new ones.

3: Video Games Lead to Violence.

from gadgetaccess.com
When youths engage in violent behavior, the brutal video games they played before they committed their crimes are generally cited as reasons for their tendencies. Logic simply follows:Violent video games make kids violent.
This idea remains conventional wisdom, although some studies of kids and aggressive video games have turned up evidence to the contrary. One 2005 study of people ages 14 to 68 who were asked to play 56 hours of the massively multi-player role playing game (MMRPG) "Asheron's Call 2" in one month found no noticeable change in aggressive behavior among players after the game. Nor did the researchers turn up an increase in aggression among gamers when compared to the control group who didn't play [source: PhysOrg].
Furthermore some more real life and crime statistics belie this notion. While video games continue to sell -- sales rose from $5.5 billion to $9.5 billion from 1999 to 2007 -- violent crime among youth actually declined. In 1999, 1,763 people under age 18 were arrested for homicides in the U.S.; in 2007, that age group accounted for 1,063 murders there [source: Safe Youth, FBI].

4: Girls Don't Play Video Games

Public perception of video games as an almost-strictly boys' pastime still remains; the relative lack of popularity of even the most obvious effeminate titles supports this notion. But does the fact that "Metal Gear Solid" vastly outsells Barbie titles on PlayStation mean that girls just don't play video games? Absolutely not.
In fact, from January to August 2008, females ages 18 to 45 came in second only to males of the same age group as the biggest spenders in video game industry (37 percent versus 38 percent) [source: Lee].

5: Pong Was the First Video Game

An upright cabinet of Pong
The common conception that "Pong" was the world's first video game is actually a myth.
Actually, another arcade game had been released a full year prior to "Pong"'s debut at Sunnyvale, Calif.'s Andy Capp's Tavern on Nov. 29, 1972 [source: BartonandLoguidice]. Contrary to popular belief, it turns out that the relatively little-known "Computer Space" holds the title of world's first arcade video game [source: Barton and Loguidice]. It was based on a computer game called "Spacewar!" that was a bit too difficult for gamers since, at that time, every gamer was a novice. "Pong" was slightly more everyone's speed; its popularity blew the doors off of "Computer Space" and led to the myth that it was the first video game.

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Famous FAILED Doomsday Prophecies- FAILS then... HITs?

Below are the top 5 failed doomsday prophecy predictions of all time from smashinglists.com. Curiously, the Top 2 Doomsday failures are very much major parts of the history of 2 famous religious movements  today- well..not total failures after all...


5. Y2K Bug


In 2000, a there was a prediction that the Internet would crash and the entire world would fail to operate effectively with predictions of planes crashing, grocery stores being emptied, and bank accounts being drained. Because of this, many people believed that the turn of the new millennium would spell the end for the world as we know it. And on the morning of January 1st, 2001, people quickly realized that the prediction was false and went back to living their lives as normal.

4. Late Great Planet Earth 1970

The Late Great Planet Earth in the 1970′s provided a dispensationalist
view of the establishment being a key component of the return of Christ 
This was a a bestseller book in 1970 written by Hal Lindsey which claimed Christ’s magnificent return  within the 80s- NO specific year.  and his reputation as a writer suffered mildly with the passing of the 80s without incident but he was able to go as far as to acquire his own cable TV show which speaks about the same thing.

3. Heaven’s Gate 1997

from harunyahya.com
On March 26, 1997, a mass suicide was discovered in San Diego by the police composed of 39 people individuals all wearing the same thing. The group known as “Heaven’s Gate” were part of a cult who believed that their only chance at salvation was to kill themselves which they wanted to do before the world broke out in mass destruction and famine. 

2. The Great Disappointment 1844

On October 22, 1844, the Millerite believers, lead by William Miller, awaited the second coming of Christ. When he did not come on that day, they were greatly disappointed.
William Miller believed that the world would end on October 22nd, 1844 as this would be the day that Jesus would return and save all of those souls who were willing to accept his love guided which he deduced by doing a series of complex calculations. After his false predictions, he was never really seen or heard from much. His “Great Disappointment” proved to be too much for him and he lived the rest of his years in recluse and isolation. Out of this disappointment, however, the Seventh-day Adventist movement was born.

1. Jehovah’s Witnesses (Several Dates)

Charles Taze Russell the founder of The Jehovah Witnesses
Few can argue that the Jehovah’s Witnesses have claimed false doomsday predictions for a long time now. The group itself was discovered in 1874 by a man named Charles Taze Russell. After their inception, they had “predicted” several dates in which the world would end. These dates included 1874, 1914, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, and 1975.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Funniest Tweets: Final 2012 Presidential Debate


The following are selected Funniest Tweets on the final 212 Presidential Debate between President Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney from a cnn.com  and ibtimes.com articles:

PeterLandau -- Our presidential candidates should be doping. This debate would be greatly improved by performance-enhancing drugs.
from someecards.com
wheezywaiter -- This split screen is making it easy to imagine a Romney/Obama Siamese twin.

W. Kamau Bell -- President Obama has that "I have Bin Laden's head in a bag beneath the desk." look in his eyes. #mockthevote #debate
from thescottcarpdream.blogspot.com

Donald J. Trump -- Stop congratulating Obama for killing Bin Laden. The Navy Seals killed Bin Laden. #debate

Scary Beans ‏-- Stop congratulating The Navy Seals for killing Bin Laden. Some guns and also some bullets killed Bin Laden. #debate

Andy Borowitz -- Both candidates' use of the numbers 1 through 5 underscores the importance of keeping Sesame Street. #debate
from worldmeets.us
jamisonfoser -- Obama: "I know you haven't had a chance to execute foreign policy." FACT-CHECK: Romney organized multinational Luge competition.

Arianna Huffington ‏-- So no daylight at all btw the two on drones and Afghanistan. This is more of a meeting than a debate.
Matthew Reichbach -- Obama should have picked up a mic and dropped it after that #horsesandbayonets line.
azizansari -- "What are you guys going to be for Halloween?" #BetterDebateQuestions
Romney and Obama masks at the Halloween Adventure store. (Photo by David Crane/Staff Photographer)

nickgillespie -- Governor, you get a phone call that Candy Crowley is on her way to moderate a debate. What do YOU do?
Some Dude -- Did we get married to Pakistan during a drunken weekend in Vegas?? Was Zach Galifianakas involved? #debates
kumailn -- To divorce Pakistan, you'd just have to say "divorce" three times. #islamjoke #lookitup #debate
anamariecox -- I went on an apology tour once and I was sorry I did.
Matt Binder -- "Don't say Obama Bin Laden." - Bob Schieffer preparing for the debate "Obama Bin Laden" - Bob Schieffer at the debate #debates

Monday, October 22, 2012

On This Week in History: Oct 22 - Oct 28

summarized from history.com

Oct 22, 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

from historyplace.com
In a televised speech, President John F. Kennedy announces that U.S. spy planes discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba which he called a "clandestine, reckless, and provocative threat to world peace." These sites nearing completion housed medium-range missiles capable of striking major cities in the United States, including Washington, D.C. He announced that he was ordering a naval "quarantine" of Cuba to prevent Soviet ships from transporting weapons to the island , that the US would not tolerate the existence of the site and made it clear that America would not stop short of military action to end what was then termed as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
reconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba
The Crisis began October 15, 1962 when U.S. intelligence discovered Soviets building medium-range missile sites in Cuba. The next day, President Kennedy convened his ExCom (Executive Committee) meeting of senior military, political, and diplomatic advisers which decided to reject a surgical air strike against the missile sites but agreed on a naval quarantine and a demand that the bases be dismantled and missiles removed.  This decision was announced on national television on the night of October 22. During the next six days, the crisis escalated to a breaking point as the world tottered on the brink of nuclear war between the two superpowers where at one point, the U.S. military forces went to DEFCON 2-the highest military alert ever reached in the postwar era, as military commanders prepared for full-scale war with the Soviets. The ExCom even considered authorizing a U.S. invasion of Cuba countered the same day by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev with a proposal to end the crisis- the missile bases would be removed in exchange initially only for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba upped the next day by Khrushchev publicly calling for the dismantling of U.S. missile bases in Turkey.  To defuse the worsening crisis, Kennedy agreed to dismantle the U.S. missile sites in Turkey at a later date.
On October 28, Khrushchev announced his government's intent to dismantle and remove all offensive Soviet weapons in Cuba with implementation beginning that afternoon- effectively ending  The Cuban Missile Crisis. In November, Kennedy called off the blockade, and by the end of the year all the offensive missiles had left Cuba. Soon after, the United States quietly removed its missiles from Turkey.

Oct 23, 2002 Hostage crisis in Moscow Theater

Moscow Theater Siege
On October 23, 2002, about 50 Chechen rebels storm a Moscow theater (Moscow Ball-Bearing Plant's Palace of Culture), holding  700 people hostage during a sold-out performance of a popular musical "Nord Ost”. The terrorists identified themselves as members of the Chechen Army and had one demand- that Russian military forces begin an immediate and complete withdrawal from Chechnya, the war-torn region located north of the Caucasus Mountains occupied by Russian forces after Russian authorities blamed Chechens for a series of bombings in Russia.
After a 57-hour-standoff, on the morning of October 26,  Russian Special Forces pumped a powerful narcotic gas into the building, knocking nearly all of the terrorists and hostages unconscious then surrounded and raided the theater by breaking into the walls and roof entering through underground sewage tunnels.  Most of the guerrillas and 120 hostages were killed during the raid. Security forces later defended  the decision to use the dangerous gas, saying that only a complete surprise attack could have disarmed the terrorists before they had time to detonate their explosives.  After the theater crisis, President Vladimir Putin clamped down even harder on Chechnya. In response, Chechen rebels continued their terrorist attacks on Russian soil.

Oct 24, 1901 First barrel ride down Niagara Falls

Queen of the Mist
On this day in 1901, a 63-year-old school teacher Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to take the plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel. In July 1901, the New York-born Taylor read about the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo and the growing popularity of two enormous waterfalls located on the border of upstate New York and Canada. Strapped for cash and seeking fame, Taylor came up with the perfect attention-getting stunt- going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. She took the ride on her birthday, October 24. (at age 40- but records later showed she was 63.) She was strapped into a leather harness inside an old wooden pickle barrel five feet high and three feet in diameter with cushions lining the barrel to break her fall. Taylor was towed by a small boat into the middle of the fast-flowing Niagara River and cut loose.
Knocked violently from side to side by the rapids and then propelled over the edge of Horseshoe Falls, Taylor reached the shore alive but battered, around 20 minutes after her journey began. After a brief flurry of photo-ops and speaking engagements, Taylor's fame cooled, and she was unable to make the fortune for which she had hoped. She did, however, inspire a number of copy-cat daredevils between 1901 and 1995 where 15 people went over the falls 10 of them survived. No matter the method, going over Niagara Falls is illegal, and survivors face charges and stiff fines on either side of the border. 

Oct 25, 1881 Pablo Picasso born

Pablo Picasso
On this day in 1881 Pablo Picasso was born on this day at Malaga, Spain- one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century.
Picasso had his first exhibit at age 13 and later quit art school so he could experiment full-time with modern art styles. He went to Paris for the first time in 1900, and in 1901 was given an exhibition at a gallery on Paris' rue Lafitte. His work, which comprises more than 50,000 paintings, drawings, engravings, sculptures, and ceramics produced over 80 years, is described in a series of overlapping periods. His first notable period--the "blue period"—he painted in blue tones to evoke the melancholy world of the poor (ex The Old Guitarist). This was followed by the "rose period," which depicted circus scenes and by his early work in sculpture. In 1907, he painted the groundbreaking work Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon)
with its fragmented and distorted representation of the human form and is seen as a forerunner of the Cubist movement in 1909 which established the modern principle that artwork need not represent reality to have artistic value. After Cubism, Picasso explored classical and Mediterranean themes, and images of violence and anguish increasingly appeared in his work (example Guernica). His work after World War II is less studied than his earlier creations but he continued to work feverishly and enjoyed commercial and critical success. Known for his intense gaze and domineering personality, he had a series of intense and overlapping love affairs in his lifetime. He continued to produce art until his death in 1973 at the age of 91.

Oct 26, 1881 Shootout at the OK Corral


On this day in 1881, the Earp brothers face off against the Clanton-McLaury gang in a legendary shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona which was one of the richest silver mining towns in the Southwest. Wyatt Earp, a former Kansas police officer working as a bank security guard, and his brothers, Morgan and Virgil, the town marshal, represented "law and order" in Tombstone. The Clantons and McLaurys were cowboys who lived on a ranch outside of town and sidelined as cattle rustlers, thieves and murderers. In October 1881, the struggle between these two groups for control of Tombstone and Cochise County ended in a blaze of gunfire at the OK Corral between the Earp brothers and their friend Doc Holliday on one side AND the Clanton-McLaury gang on the other. When the dust cleared, Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers were dead and Virgil and Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday were wounded. Ike Clanton and Claiborne had run for the hills.

Sheriff John Behan of Cochise County, who witnessed the shootout, charged the Earps and Holliday with murder. A month later, however, a Tombstone judge found the men not guilty, ruling that they were "fully justified in committing these homicides." The famous shootout has been immortalized in many movies.  

Oct 27, 1904 New York City subway opens

The New York Herald Headline

At 2:35 on the afternoon of October 27, 1904, New York City Mayor George McClellan takes the controls on the inaugural run of the city's innovative new rapid transit system: the subway.

While London boasts the world's oldest underground train network (opened in 1863) and Boston built the first subway in the United States in 1897, the New York City subway soon became the largest American system. The first line traveled 9.1 miles through 28 stations. Running from City Hall in lower Manhattan to Grand Central Terminal in midtown, and then heading west along 42nd Street to Times Square, the line finished by zipping north, all the way to 145th Street and Broadway in Harlem. 
The subway was opened to the general public at 7 p.m. that evening with more than 100,000 people paying a nickel each to take their first ride under Manhattan.  The service expanded to the Bronx in 1905, to Brooklyn in 1908 and to Queens in 1915. The system now  runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week;  has 26 lines and 468 stations in operation; the longest line, the 8th Avenue "A" Express train, stretches more than 32 miles, from the northern tip of Manhattan to the far southeast corner of Queens. Every day, some 4.5 million passengers take the subway in New York. 

Oct 28, 1965 Gateway Arch completed

The arch is it stands 630 feet (192 m) tall, and is 630 feet (192 m) wide at its base.
The cross-sections of its legs are equilateral triangles. Each wall consists of a stainless
steel skin covering reinforced concrete, with carbon steel and rebar from at the peak.
The interior of the Arch is hollow and contains a unique transport system leading to an observation deck at the top.

On this day in 1965, construction is completed on the Gateway Arch, a spectacular 630-foot-high parabola of stainless steel marking the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial on the waterfront of St. Louis, Missouri. The Arch, designed by Finnish-born, American-educated architect Eero Saarinen, was erected to commemorate President Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and to celebrate St. Louis' central role in the rapid westward expansion that followed.

 In 1947-48, Saarinen won a nationwide competition to design a monument honoring the spirit of the western pioneers. In a sad twist of fate, the architect died of a brain tumor in 1961 and did not live to see the construction of his now-famous arch, which began in February 1963. Completed in October 1965, the Gateway Arch cost less than $15 million to build. In addition to the Gateway Arch, the Jefferson Expansion Memorial includes the Museum of Westward Expansion and the Old Courthouse of St. Louis, where two of the famous Dred Scott slavery cases were heard in the 1860s. Today, some 4 million people visit the park each year to wander its nearly 100 acres, soak up some history and take in the breathtaking views from Saarinen's gleaming arch.


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Thursday, October 18, 2012

FUN and Famous Palindromes

Palindromes are words or phrases used in such a way that they read the same forwards and backwards. Common examples are: radar, kayak, civic, rotor, and noon but they start to become tricky with longer words or used in complete sentences.Some may not be that logical but fun nevertheless... Below are some of the cleverest selected from toptenz.net  arranged in descending order based on the number of letters:

Doc, Note: I Dissent. A Fast Never Prevents A Fatness. I Diet On Cod. (14 words, 52 letters)

from anthrophysique.com

A Santa Lived As a Devil At NASA (8 words, 25 letters)

from americards.com

Eva, Can I Stab Bats In A Cave? (8 words, 22 letters)

from comicvine.com

A Man, A Plan, A Canal-Panama! (8 words, 21 letters)

from northjerseymusic.com

Mr. Owl Ate My Metal Worm (6 words, 19 letters)

from shoutysongs.com



Monday, October 15, 2012

On This Week in History: Oct 15 - Oct 21

Oct 15, 1917 Mata Hari executed

Mata Hari on a 1906 postcard
Mata Hari, the archetype of the seductive female spy, is executed for espionage by a French firing squad at Vincennes outside of Paris.

She found fame as an exotic Asian-inspired dancer born in a sacred Indian temple and taught by a priestess who gave her the name Mata Hari (eye of the day in Malay). In reality, she was Margaretha Geertruida Zelle- born in a small town in northern Holland. She packed dance halls and opera houses from Russia to France mostly because her show consisted of her slowly stripping nude. She became a famous courtesan during World War I with lovers including high-ranking military officers of various nationalities. There is evidence that Mata Hari acted as a German spy and a double agent for the French. Her military trial was riddled with bias and circumstantial evidence, and it is probable that French authorities trumped her up as "the greatest woman spy of the century" as a distraction for the huge losses the French army was suffering on the western front.

Oct 16, 1934 The Long March

Jiajin Mountain, the first snow-covered mountain crossed
by the Red Army during the Long March. [China.org.cn] 
The embattled Chinese Communists broke through Nationalist enemy lines and begin an epic flight from their encircled headquarters in southwest China. The  Ch'ang Cheng (Long March) lasted 368 days and covered 6,000 miles - crossing  24 rivers and 18 mostly snow-capped mountain ranges. It was the longest continuous march in the history of warfare and marked the emergence of Mao Zedong as the undisputed leader of the Chinese Communists. 
Mao Zedong
In 1927 a Chinese Civil war broke out between the Nationalists and the Communists. In 1931, Communist leader Mao Zedong was elected chairman of the Soviet Republic of China in the southwest Kiangsi province. Between 1930 and 1934, the Chiang Kai-shek led Nationalists launched five encirclement campaigns against the Soviet Republic- the first four successfully resisted by the Mao. With defeat imminent, the Communists broke out of the encirclement which began the Long March 5:00 p.m. of October 16, 1934. The retreating force initially consisted of 86,000 troops, 15,000 personnel, and 35 women with a line of marchers stretched for 50 miles. After enduring starvation, aerial bombardment and almost daily skirmishes with Nationalist forces, Mao halted his columns at the foot of the Great Wall of China on October 20, 1935 which ended the Long March. Only 4,000 troops completed the journey. Four years later, the Nationalists were defeated, and Mao proclaimed the People's Republic of China as chairman until his death in 1976.

Oct 17, 1931 Capone goes to prison

Al Capone's mug shot, 1931. (CHS DN-91508)
On this day in 1931, gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion and fined $80,000, signaling the downfall of one of the most notorious criminals of the 1920s and 1930s. Capone began serving his time at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta. Amid accusations that he was manipulating the system and receiving cushy treatment, he was transferred to the maximum-security lockup at Alcatraz Island, in California's San Francisco Bay. He got out early in 1939 for good behavior, after spending his final year in prison in a hospital, suffering from syphilis. Plagued by health problems for the rest of his life, Capone died in 1947 at age 48 at his home in Palm Island, Florida.

Oct 18, 1867 U.S. takes possession of Alaska

Check used to pay for Alaska
On this day in 1867, the U.S. formally takes possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than two cents an acre. The Alaska purchase comprised 586,412 square miles ( twice the size of Texas) championed by William Henry Seward, the expansionist secretary of state under President Andrew Johnson. The name Alaska is derived from the Aleut word alyeska, which means "great land." Alaska has two official state holidays to commemorate its origins: Seward's Day, observed the last Monday in March, celebrates the March 30, 1867, signing of the land treaty between the U.S. and Russia, AND Alaska Day, observed every October 18, marks the anniversary of the formal land transfer.

Oct 19, 1781 Victory at Yorktown

Lord Cornwallis surrenders to George Washington at Yorktown,
Virginia, October 17, 1781. Painting by John Trumbull.

Hopelessly trapped at Yorktown, Virginia, British General Lord Cornwallis surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a larger Franco-American force, effectively bringing an end to the American Revolution. General Cornwallis surrendered 7,087 officers and men, 900 seamen, 144 cannons, 15 galleys, a frigate, and 30 transport ships. Pleading illness, he did not attend the surrender ceremony, but his second-in-command, General Charles O'Hara, carried Cornwallis' sword to the American and French commanders. 

Although the war persisted on the high seas and in other theaters, the Patriot victory at Yorktown effectively ended fighting in the American colonies. Peace negotiations began in 1782, and on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, formally recognizing the United States as a free and independent nation after eight years of war.

Oct 20, 1947 Congress investigates Reds in Hollywood


On October 20, 1947, the Red Scare kicks into high gear in Washington, as a Congressional committee begins investigating Communist influence in Hollywood.
With the beginning of the Cold War after World War II, conservative Washington watchdogs led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, the most public face of anti-communism, worked to out communists in government then on alleged "Reds" in the liberal movie industry. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)  in October 1947 grilled a number of prominent witnesses. (actors Gary Cooper, studio honchos Walt Disney and Jack Warner, etc.) who gave names of colleagues they suspected of being communists. Pressured by Congress, Hollywood banned the work of about 325 screenwriters, actors and directors not cleared by the committee which included composer Aaron Copland, writers Dashiell Hammett and Dorothy Parker, playwright Arthur Miller and actor and filmmaker Orson Welles. The ban began to lift slowly in the early 1960s. In 1997, the Writers' Guild of America voted to change the writing credits of 23 films made during the blacklist period, reversing—but not erasing—some of the damage done during the Red Scare.

Oct 21, 1959 Guggenheim Museum opens in New York City

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, this museum houses Mr. Guggenheim’s collection of non-objective art. Completed after Wrights death, it opened in 1959 to rave reviews for both the architects genius and for the adventurous spirit of the founder.

On this day in 1959, on New York City's Fifth Avenue, thousands of people line up for the opening of a giant upside-down cupcake shaped white concrete building- the new Guggenheim Museum, home to one of the world's top collections of contemporary art by mining tycoon Solomon R. Guggenheim which he began collecting in the 1930s. Needing more space for his collection, architect Frank Lloyd Wright was contacted in 1943 to design a museum for the collection built over the next 16 years which opened on October 21, 1959- a work of art in itself where building and art work together to create "an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony." Located on New York's impressive Museum Mile, at the edge of Central Park, the Guggenheim has become one of the city's most popular attractions. In 1993, the original building was renovated and expanded to create even more exhibition space. 

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Saturday, October 13, 2012

Man dies after roach-eating contest

This frame grab made from video on Friday, Oct. 5, 2012, and provided by Sarah Bernard shows Edward Archbold competing in a roach-eating contest at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach, Fla. Archbold, 32, winner of the contest, died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms, authorities said Monday, Oct. 8. Authorities were waiting for results of an autopsy to determine a cause of death. - AP

Authorities say the winner of a cockroach-eating contest in South Florida died shortly after downing dozens of the live bugs as well as worms. The grand prize in Friday night's contest was a live python.
The Broward County sheriff's office says in a news release that it is waiting for an autopsy to give the official cause of death.
However, the news release Monday says 32-year-old Edward Archbold became ill soon after winning and collapsed in front of the Ben Siegel Reptile Store where the contest was held. The store is in Deerfield Beach about 40 miles north of Miami. Archbold was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police say several contestants ate insects but no one else became ill.
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Friday, October 12, 2012

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Sexist? Art? OR Sexist Art?

Restaurant urinals shaped like woman's lipsticked mouth

Agence France-Presse

These bright red-lipped urinals are designed by Meike van Schijndel.
Photo from Cool Chica Design (coolchica.nl)


A NEW French restaurant in Sydney, Ananas Bar and Brasserie, has said it would remove two urinals resembling a woman’s lipsticked mouth, apologised for any offence they have caused but at the same time saying that "the bright red-lipped urinals shaped like an open mouth were a commonly used European design piece".  The design itself was made by a female Dutch artist Meike van Schijndel“.
Sydney Morning Herald’s food reviewer described the urinals as “no real surprise here at Ananas, merely adding to the extraordinary collision of statements and intent”.
But feminist, former political adviser and writer Anne Summers said the design was offensive. “Misogyny is very widespread, and this is just an example of misogyny,” said Summers. “The concept is pretty challenging and confronting. They’re asking men to put their dicks in these mouths as urinals.”


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