Top golfer’s championship wardrobes are set far in advance by their sponsors. Tiger Woods meets with Nike 3-4 times a year to plan what he’ll wear each day of a major event. For Woods, never white or green pants, and always a red shirt on Sundays. And that red shirt sells well.
Aaron Sorkin, writer of “Sports Night” and a few other little shows and movies you may have heard of, has been brought in to fix the script for “Moneyball.” The movie is based on the book of the same name which tells about the Oakland A’s unconventional approach to creating a competitive team with significantly less money than other baseball franchises. Now you know why I mentioned “Sports Night” instead of “West Wing.” Steven Soderbergh was set to direct and did a rewrite of a script by Steve Zaillian. Sony Pictures execs weren’t satisfied and now the picture has no director but one can hope that the combo of Sorkin and Brad Pitt, who is on board to star, will keep this one alive.
This weekend the Seattle Symphony is shooting for a younger audience with performances of “Distant Worlds: The Music of ‘Final Fantasy'”. Composer Nobuo Uematsu will attend all three performances and meet with audience members at special sessions afterwards. Scenes from the video game will be shown on a large screen above the orchestra.
From a New Scientist blog: Top 10 songs inspired by the Apollo missions. David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” is missing, though you could argue since he was actually inspired by Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, it doesn’t count. But regardless, Bowie is releasing “Space Oddity” this month in a Digital EP format to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the single and the moon landing. The EP consists of four different versions of the single plus the eight original recording tracks for remixing.
You want to show off how well you’re weathering this economic climate? Grab some black leather band-aids from Scott Amron to cover your boo-boos. You might want to sign up for the Louis Vuitton ones as well. The New York Times reported last summer on people wearing designer bandages even if they didn’t need them to cover a cut.
While searching for lychee season news, I found this amusing quote from the Honolulu Advertiser: “Lychee is valuable. No other fruit grown in Hawai’i makes the police blotter as much as lychee.” I’m not surprised. I’d be tempted to steal it off a tree if I spotted some. The article is actually about a short film called Lychee Thieves. Written and directed by Kathleen Man, the film was inspired by a newspaper article about a lychee farm robbery. Casting is underway and pre-production has begun, including capturing the peak of lychee season on film.
A couple weeks ago in the Methow Valley of Washington, people gathered for the ninth annual Fairy and Human Relations Congress. The festival was held outdoors in a mountain meadow to “encourage communication and cooperation of the fairy realm.” Attendees of the three day event participated in workshops such as “Opening Your Telepathic Senses” and a parade.
Major Nicole Malachowski flew combat missions in Iraq and was the first woman selected to fly with the Air Force’s elite Thunderbirds. She was well aware of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP, the first women to fly U.S. military aircraft. Over a thousand WASP flew as test pilots, instructors, and took on other non-combat duties during World War II. They trained the male pilots who went into combat. 38 were killed on duty or in training, with none receiving military recognition or honors. The entire program was classified in 1944 and the WASP were denied veterans status, military benefits, and effectively erased from history. In 1977 they finally received military status and in 1984 they were given World War II Victory Medals. That wasn’t enough for Maj. Malachowski, and she helped draft the bill that President Obama signed last week which granted the Congressional Gold Medal to her personal heroes.
It’s a morbid topic but a necessary business. People do die and their loved ones buy tombstones. And Colma, California, where a significant portion of the deceased population of the Bay Area is laid to rest, is home also to long-time family stone-carving businesses. Bocci & Sons, founded 113 years ago, closed up shop four years ago only to be purchased recently by Russian immigrants who have taken up the chisels. While not related to the family, they are carrying on a name that has been in business for almost 1,000 years, starting when the Bocci family mined marble in the Italian alps.
Perhaps the children of today will do all their reading on an electronic device when they grow up, but I hope they’ll still keep books to treasure as their very own, especially ones given to them by special people in their lives. The woman who gave me one of my favorite books also gave me a set of bookplates. They weren’t personalized but I added my signature and put them inside only my most precious books. Nowadays you can order lovely personalized (or not) bookplates from crafters selling their art online such as on Etsy (some examples: art nouveau, rose, apples) or even print them yourself. Bonus link: Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie weblog.