The Nature of Diamonds - The Milky Way

My Favorite, Truly A Work of Art

I saw a picture of  The Milky Way necklace designed by Toronto artist, Dieter Huebner, before I went to the exhibit and had marveled at its sheer beauty and extraordinary sculptural design.  However, this turned out to be another case of having an unexpectedly magnified impression when seeing something in person. I had imagined myself attempting to pull off wearing something like this at an elegant fundraising event perhaps, but when I saw it, I knew the whole scenario would have to be reconsidered because for one thing, I had the scale all wrong - the dimensions were so much more sumptuous than what I had visualized in my head!

The exhibit portrayed this piece as capturing the look of billowing fabric - a very apt description indeed!  It contains exactly 2000 diamonds on a platinum grid and won the award at the De Beers Diamonds International Awards 2000 Exhibition in Paris for creative commemoration of the new millennium.

Huebner noted the design is a nod to nature and to the stars.

Yum~!

The Nature of Diamonds - The Incomparable

Even though the Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice exhibit was very interesting, The Nature of Diamonds exhibit is the reason I went to Chicago yesterday.  This exhibit will close at the Field Museum on Sunday.  It was fabulous!  The first part was a meticulous and extensive scientific examination of how diamonds are formed, their physical properties such as light dispersion (of which, surprisingly enough, are exceeded by CZs~!) and thermal conductivity, why they are concentrated in certain areas of the world, etc - quite thorough and informative but not really the part I wanted to see.

The second part was an awesome display of jewelry and unmounted stones.  It was SO worth my long, long day!

The exhibit included The Incomparable, graded by the GIA in 1988 as a 407.48 carat internally flawless diamond categorized as having a fancy brownish-yellow color.

The Incomparable, initially named The Golden Giant,
was exhibited with some of its 14 "satellite" stones - all gorgeous.

Here's a picture of it with its special stand:

Mammoths and Mastodons - Lyuba - 37,000 year old baby

The Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age exhibit opened at the Field Museum in Chicago on March 5 and will run through September 6, 2010.  Undeniably, the wholly intact baby woolly mammoth was the star of the exhibit.  She was only approximately one month old when she suffocated from mud inhalation and had remained in permafrost until she was discovered only three years ago in Siberia.  Lyuba, named after the wife of the reindeer herder who discovered her, is so perfectly preserved that scientists were able to find mother's milk in her stomach and collect DNA.

 Lyuba, the baby woolly mammoth

For more information, please visit:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/5262616/Secrets-of-37000-year-old-baby-mammoth-revealed.html
or
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/mammoths/exhibitionhighlights.asp

Life Coming to Life . . . Finally!

It is 12:31 p.m. on Saturday, March 6, 2010, and precisely 43.3 degrees with abundant sunshine.

	43.3 °F Clear

http://www.wunderground.com/ 

I was scheduled to work today but since I don't work Saturdays anymore, I'm FREE. Free to walk around in the sunshine today and shed my heaviest winter coat. Free to have a leisurely browse at the bookstore after breakfast. Free to stroll down to the art center to see what workshops are still open.  Free to meet a new friend to lunch with at Dalat and to visit a new exhibit at the Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti.

Free!   Free!   Free!

Now that I am FREEr than I have been in a long time, I feel obliged not to take this for granted. When I'm able to attend ignite3 on a Thursday evening, I really must relish it and remember that not so long ago, I did NOT have the FREEdom.

Another one of my long-winded points:  I know it's hard to be grateful and upbeat every moment, but really, sometimes to keep things in perspective, we have to imagine what our lives would be like without what seems to be the smallest things.  Would I have ever thought about knees in the same way if after three years I wasn't still struggling with the aftermath of shattering my right one?   Hmmm.

good 'shop/BAD 'Shop (see 05.06.2010)

This is "Bad 'Shop" before and after . . .

Gorgeous Dignified Harvey

Punker Harvey

I'm having a little too much fun learning Photoshop.  Obviously!

Klezmer and Shtetl and Sephardic, OH MY!

Today, out of sheer curiosity, because I'm not Jewish and know nothing about Jewish music and culture, I attended a presentation at the downtown Ann Arbor library branch entitled, "The Silver Age of American Jewish Music is Happening Now!" by Jack Zaientz.  Evidently, he had given a five-minute presentation at Ignite2 on the same topic last year on June 30th which led to an invitation to do a more comprehensive presentation.  He had a very useful handout categorizing different genres of Jewish music with corresponding website addresses.  Who knew that there was hip-hop Jewish music and jazz Jewish music!  It would have been remiss of him not to play a variety of selections, and he did not disappoint.  He was enthusiastic and joyous throughout, and one selection was even a favorite of one of his little girls.

He used the term "Ashkenazi" several times which was not on the handout so I had to try several phonetic variations until I was finally informed by Wikipedia which leads me into a mini-rant.  I really don't care what people say about Wikipedia being an unreliable source of information because it has given me at least a starting point innumerous times!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews

Anyway, the presentation was interesting enough that I now have to seek out more information (whenever my life slows down enough to pursue another peripheral interest) and more music!  An audience member added that Anat Cohen will be appearing in Detroit at Cliff's Bell on March 20.  She is a clarinetist and saxophonist cross-genre musician who is most renowned for her jazz work.  Jack was not familiar with her music but promised to give her a mention on his blog.  Actually, after reading the reviews, I really want to hear her as well.

Jack's blog dedicated to this passion is at:

http://teruah-jewishmusic.blogspot.com/

La Chaim!

(I had to look that up, too!  LOL!)

Update on Friday, March 5, 2010:  I attended ignite3 in Ann Arbor last night which was very interesting, and it will get its own post later.  During the closing remarks, Jack Zaientz was acknowledged as the first and only speaker at the ignite1 or ignite2 events in Ann Arbor so far who, as a result, was invited to give an extended presentation.  Another round of congratulations to Jack!

Another Cultural Find - Stargazey Pie

As ET keeps us updated with daily entries in her blog about her travels, first Lebanon and now Syria (and next Iran - yikes!), her description of the culture is often even more intriguing than the places she visits and the things she sees.
http://www.elisabeth-thoburn.com/

I'm on somewhat of a Daniel Brühl  jag right now as I just saw him recently in Inglorious Basterds.  Then last night I watched him in Ladies in Lavender with Maggie Smith and Judi Dench (can't go wrong with those two!).   The story is set in Cornwall, England, an area that apparently has a traditional culinary Cornish dish called stargazey (aka stargazy) pie that appears in the movie.  It is, without a doubt, one of  the most "interesting" if not especially appetizing entrees I've ever seen.  Because the fish heads are pointing skyward, they are therefore, evidently, "star gazing".

A Serendipitous Nugget!

When I watched Inglorious Basterds (see post below) recently, the movie featured an outstanding example of a cultural difference that would have never occurred to me otherwise.  That alone made the movie worth watching.

SPOILER ALERT!
An American impersonating a German military officer was undone because he held up his index, middle and ring finger to order three glasses of scotch.  He had unwittingly given himself away because the German way to indicate "three" is with the thumb, index finger and middle finger!  Who would have thought!  Or as ET would say, "Go figure!"

 German "3"

(actually most Europeans indicate "three" this way)

 American "3"

So, what is my point?  Be open to new experiences.  Inglorious Basterds is not a foreign film, but I was rewarded with a very interesting insight unexpectedly anyway.  If I can discover something like this without even trying, what else might I come across if I just said, "Ok, let's just see what this is all about."  Life should be an adventure and that means there should be treasure hunts!

So, consider experiences that are heretofore (I love the excuse to use that word) unventured (is that a real word?) as one way to enrich your life!

Inglorious Basterds

This past Saturday I watched Inglorious Basterds.  I usually don't get too excited about films by Quentin Tarantino since he is so violence-oriented, even if it is what a male friend of mine calls "light-hearted violence", whatever that might be.  Anyway, I enjoyed the movie very much.  Diane Kruger just gets better and better, and Brad Pitt was in his usual top form.  But it was Christoph Waltz, nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor, who was absolutely amazing to watch and who stole scene after scene.  His character was wickedly exuberant as he delightedly carried out his unspeakable duties of an SS officer.  Oh, the casting gods were watching over this endeavor!

Update: Christoph Waltz won for best supporting actor!

Speaking of Damascus . . .

http://www.elisabeth-thoburn.com/

Why am I posting Caravaggio's depiction

of St. Paul's conversion?

Was Caravaggio from Syria?     No.

Was he ever even in Damascus?     No.

Well, why then?

Conversion of Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus,

Caravaggio, 1601

It's because of Corey's comment made on day 15 of ET's blog   ;o
http://www.elisabeth-thoburn.com/2010/01/30/day-15-damascus/