Archive for May 2009
Clock arithmetic…
Celebrity Tara Reid at beach wearing yet-to-be-stolen Rolex
From the (London) TimesOnline Money Central Blog:
According to one long-serving insurance underwriter, there have been more Rolex Oyster watches, worth upwards of £1,000, recorded as lost in the Costa Del Sol in the Spain than have ever been manufactured.
For other creative ways to cover the cost of a holiday, see: “25 Most Bizarre Travel Insurance Claims Ever.”
As we plot our journeys and pay our premiums up to date, we might recall that on this date in 1927 Charles “Lucky Lindy” Lindbergh landed his plane, “The Spirit of St. Louis,” in Paris, after the first solo air crossing of Atlantic.
Heteropaternal superfecundation…
Fair and balanced? Well, not so much… But interesting? You bet!
A Texas mother of twins got the shock of her life when doctors revealed that her 11-month-old boys do not have the same father.
Mia Washington decided to get some expert advice when she and her partner noticed that twins Justin and Jordan had different facial features.
Paternity tests then revealed what had happened — two eggs had been fertilized by two different sperm and there was a 99.99% chance the twins had different dads.
Doctors at the DNA lab in Dallas, Texas had never seen such a result.
Washington later admitted she had had an affair and got pregnant by two different men at the same time.
The phenomenon is indeed rare– but sufficiently common to have an official medical name… yes, “heteropaternal superfecundation.”
As we marvel at the miracle that is human life, we might note that on this date in 1899 the first speeding ticket issued in the United States was bestowed on NYC taxi driver Jacob German, who was stopped for travelling down Lexington Avenue in his electric cab at the “breakneck” speed of 12 mph. While German was booked and held briefly in jail, he was not required to hand over his license and registration– as licensing and registration weren’t started in New York State until two years later.
A mouse that roars…
Long-time (pre-blog) readers will recall Brian Burton– aka Danger Mouse– and his Grey Album, a mash-up of the Beatles (White Album) and JayZ that landed Mr. Mouse in trouble with the Beatles’ distributor, EMI… trouble that lingers.
So readers may be delighted-but-not-altogether-surprised at the release strategy for the new Danger Mouse album: It’s collaboration with David Lynch and Sparklehorse, featuring , among others, Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), Black Francis (The Pixies), Vic Chesnutt, The Flaming Lips, James Mercer (The Shins), Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Nina Person (The Cardigans), and Iggy Pop (Stooges, Bowie, et al.)… pretty much a must-hear!
Rather than release this latest work in the traditional way, and face legal issues with EMI, Danger Mouse will be selling a blank CD-R along with lots of artwork. Buyers will be responsible for finding the music themselves (indeed, it’s findable on the internet, e.g., here) and burning the CD.
One tips one’s ears to you, Mr. Mouse!
As we limber our surfing fingers and contemplate changes in retail-as-we-know-it, we might recall that it was on this date 161 years ago, in 1848, that the first real department store, Alexander Turney Stewart’s Marble Palace, at Broadway and Chambers Street in New York City, opened…
The Marble Palace
(later the home of the New York Sun; now a City office building)
Looking directly at the sun…
With thanks to photographer Thierry Legault, the only image ever taken of a transit of a space shuttle (Atlantis) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in front of the Sun– during the last repair mission of Hubble. Legault took the photo in Florida (100 km south of the Kennedy Space Center) on May 13th (at 12:17 local time), several minutes before grapple of Hubble by Atlantis.
See the full image here… and see other examples of Legault’s extraordinary “astrophotography” work here.
As we rub our eyes, we might recall that it was on this date in 1804 that Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of France– at least in part an unintended consequence of Britain’s declaration of war against France (again), exactly one year before, in response to Napoleon’s “activities” in Italy and Switzerland… (Napoleon formally crowned himself “Emperor Napoleon I” on December 2, 1804 at Notre Dame de Paris.)
The spirit of inquiry is alive…
… at My Science Project, where curious– and systematic– researchers answer questions and solve problems like:
Along with other such stumpers as: How to keep beer cold and “the Dick Cheney Memorial Question,” What’s it like to be shot with a 28 gauge shotgun?
As we dust off our chemistry sets, we might recall that on this date in 1846 Belgian-born Antoine Joseph Sax filed the patent his eponymous musical instrument, the “saxophone,” in Paris. (Sax received the patent over a month later, on June 28, 1846)…
(Alto) Saxophone
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