Do you know someone who loves Hello Kitty but deserves more than the usual cheap, plastic Hello Kitty geegaws? Well, don’t despair. There is plenty of real diamond Hello Kitty jewelry available at Neiman Marcus and Zales. If you really want to show you care, you can shell out $4,500 for a pave diamond, sapphire pendant necklace. Though nothing will top the $27,300 platinum Hello Kitty tiara (photo) that Sanrio made for the 30th anniversary in 2004. Remember, Hello Kitty has no mouth, so you have to scream for her.
“In 2009, AMC will present The Prisoner miniseries starring Ian McKellen as Two and Jim Caviezel as Six.” Yup, they’re really (re)doing it this time. And there’s a production weblog. It can’t suck with Ian McKellen, right?
If you haven’t visited Astronomy Picture of the Day recently, go see the Moon+Venus+Jupiter smiley face. And search for more on flickr.
Two things I’ve learned as a result of having an offspring with Chinese + Caucasian genes: 1) Caucasians typically have wet ear wax, which is, alas, dominant (I first thought the weird gunk in my son’s ears meant he was sick). 2) Caucasians don’t have “shovel-shaped” teeth like most Chinese people do (I don’t have a great web link for this one). My genes appear to have won in the teeth department, but I’m not aware of any benefits there.
Art class may not seem relevant to a medical school curriculum at first glance, but take a deeper, analytical look, and you’ll find why Visual Thinking Strategies has found a place at University of Washington and Swedish Medical Center. It’s not art history, but observational skills that this training seeks to sharpen. The medical students and doctors look at photos and paintings and are taught to observe “objectively and critically, filtering out bias and assumptions that can cloud their perception.” There’s no proof that the class has long term impact for better diagnoses, but art is often beneficial for balancing out a scientific education.
It’s the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day and in Seattle the non-profit Rise n’ Shine is in its 20th year of providing support programs for children affected by HIV and AIDS. They run a summer camp, match kids up with mentors, and provide support groups. The stigma of AIDS is still with us, and unfortunately strong, even after all this time.
Bees Without Borders teaches beekeeping “to groups of people in economically depressed areas of the globe as a means of poverty alleviation.” Its founder Andrew Coté of Norwalk, Connecticut (his dad tended Martha Stewart’s Westport bees) travels to other countries spreading his knowledge of how to maintain happy pollinators. He’s even been to Iraq, returning with the statistic that 500,000 hives have been reduced to 20,000 since the Gulf War in 1991. He’ll be in Uganda in January. Back at home, Coté tends hives in Connecticut and New York (he’s looking for a good spot in Brooklyn if you’ve got one) and sells honey at farmer’s markets.
Acknowledgements
I’m taking a break from posting while I become all domestic for Thanksgiving. But first, I want to note that this weblog turned nine last week. Nine years! There are a few people I want to thank whose popular sites I don’t cite here very often: Jason Kottke, Matt Haughey, Andy Baio, thank you for the readership, inspiration, and links. As always, I owe much of this output to my husband and son (who has no idea what mommy stays up doing long after he goes to sleep). Thank you to Seth and Halflab for being marvelous hosts. Thank you secret cabal who shall remain nameless. And a huge thank you to my readers!
At Wellesley College, the carillon housed in Galen Stone Tower was a lovely addition to my day whenever the bells sounded with the alma mater or, even better, a rendition of a contemporary tune (the Sesame Street theme is one favorite). A student organization plays and maintains the 32-bell carillon and they held an open house this past Halloween (featuring the theme song from the Addams Family). The bells for Wellesley’s carillon were made by Cyril Frederick Johnston, an English bell founder. His daughter Jill Johnston has written a biography of his life called “England’s Child, The Carillon and the Casting of Big Bells.” (Bonus link: play the virtual Yale Carillon in your web browser; Yale also has a student guild of carillonneurs)
Last week’s New Yorker Food issue has a profile (reg req’d) of Bob Kramer, Master Bladesmith. I recalled Greg Atkinson had written about Kramer’s knives for the local paper’s Sunday magazine a few years ago. While looking that up I discovered that, perhaps spurred on by the New Yorker publicity, the Seattle Times had just run a short write-up and slideshow of him working at his Olympia shop. Kramer used to be a cook, then turned to knife sales and sharpening, and then to knife making. There’s a long wait for his pricey chef’s knives which are composed of 1,800 layers of metal.