Category: Arts & Entertainment
Even those who do not watch American Idol on purpose cannot help but know what’s going on in that show. We have to admit it, American Idol does have its allure and the publicity that it gets makes it just hard to ignore. So, this season is over, and it seems that the voting didn’t go as many expected.
In what many consider to be an upset, Kris Allen won over Adam Lambert. Lambert has often been described by the American Idol judges in superlatives: a real genius, an artist, on a league of his own, and so on. And yet when the final judgment came, it seems that he was not able to win majority of the voters of the show.
What happened? Theories and explanations abound, depending on who you ask. The people over at New York Times think that the choice “says something about the mood and mores of the country, that viewers are too conformist to anoint a sassy, androgynous individualist. Then again, maybe not: Mr. Allen’s victory may merely reflect the voters’ conventional taste in pop music.”
Personally, I do not think either idea is the cause. I think that people see the immense talent in Adam Lambert and they also see the well of niceness in Kris Allen. They saw the former as a sure win and the latter as an under dog. And I think that America’s heart was captured by the underdog. This is not to say that Kris does not have the talent – he does. But we all know that Adam will also go a long way even if he didn’t win the title. I guess it’s all fair in the end.
Well, not the real St. Innocent – he’s been dead for hundreds of years now. What I am referring to is his statue, which was stolen from a church in Italy in 1990. So where did he turn up?
Almost two decades after the heist, the bust of St. Innocent was recently found in the home of a couple residing in North Caroline. The bust is 350 years old, and is intricately carved. The antique is actually only one of the items that were stolen from the church in November of 1990. The other things that were lifted during the heist include 16 other statues (similar to the one just discovered) and two oil paintings.
Some facts about the stolen statue of St. Innocent:
-it is made of wood and painted with gold
-it was made by Diego da Careri, a 17th century Franciscan artist
-the current bust is not worth much by now since the head is missing, as well as part of the cross that the saint is holding.
So how did the American authorities get wind of the stolen bust? They were informed by certain officials in Rome that an Italian citizen had sold a statue to a dealer in antiques from Greensboro. This dealer then sold the statue to Neal Johnson from Charlotte, who then sold it to the couple.
Needless to say, the bust will be returned to the Italian church where it belongs. What about the money that the couple paid? I have no idea.
Book publishers and TV personality Oprah Winfrey have once again been duped by an author claiming that his story was real. Readers might remember Winfrey’s support for James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces, which was supposed to be his memoir about his struggle with drug addiction. That story broke into a million little pieces when proven to be an exaggerated account of what happened in real life.
This time around, it is the book Angel at a Fence: The True Story of a Love That Survived that is in the limelight. Written by Herman Rosenblat, the book was supposed to be an account of his experience at a concentration camp wherein he first met his future wife – the angel at the fence who threw him apples. According to his story, they met again on a blind date 12 years after the end of the war, this time in Coney Island. They are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year.
If the story were true, it would indeed be one of the greatest love stories of all time. Unfortunately, it is too good to be true. After a lot of media attention – thanks in part to Oprah’s taking them under her wing in her show – it has been revealed that the story is all made up. As such, Berkley Books is cancelling the book and taking back the advance that was given to Mr. Rosenblat. A movie based on the book is also in the works, to be produced by Harris Salomon. Apparently, a good story is a good story – the movie will be still be released but under the label of fiction instead.
Photo courtesy of The New York Times
In a way you could call it eco-friendly as what this artist uses as his canvas, is something people literally spit out and throw away, right on the street – chewing gum!
Artist Ben Wilson is the creator of these clever works of art on the street, transforming what was once unsightly blobs, into whimsical, funny and interesting miniature paintings on a unique canvas. A native of London’s Muswell Hill, Wilson’s work has been featured repeatedly by the British press and two short films have been made.
Ben Wilson at work
Ben was actually a pavement artist (something I’ve always enjoyed looking at ever since I saw that scene in Mary Poppins age 6), and when he realised it was illegal to paint on the pavement, he resourcefully thought to paint directly on the gum, which is obviously ok. He’s caught a lot of attention doing it, and now Ben is a known as a local hero in his suburban neighborhood. How I wish he’s do that to all the gum around!
Professor Gunther von Hagens, or rather, Dr. Death recently opened his BODYWORLDS exhibit at O2 in London. Its deeply macabre stuff, which at first may seem horrifying but then can actually be fascinating, educational and even entertaining.
I rang my sister to tell her about the chilling traveling show, of how Dr.D (who amazingly looks every inch the part) took corpses, flayed and used “plastination“(which he pioneered in the 70’s) to make them come alive by putting them in life-like poses, like the chess match as seen in the photo above, or a man riding a horse, both holding out their brains for us to compare.
I have to admit that while I find the whole spectacle incredibly disturbing (the idea of a pregnant woman and her baby in womb, gutted out for all to see is especially disconcerting), I am not put off to visit the exhibit and plan to go when I am next in London.
Because though one can see it as gruesome, it is the reality of our anatomy – and as a writer for the Times succinctly puts it:
“….the unique view von Hagen’s corpses offer into the reality of our human make-up, means that squirmishness soon gives way to fascinating.
Even more beautiful than the corpses, are the cross-sectional slices. Inspired by 3D MRI scans, von Hagens has cut wafer thin slices through hands, lungs, brains. The plastic gives them a translucent quality, which when they’re easily distinguishable, like the bones of a hand, look like colourful x-rays. When they’re more abstract they bring to mind amber fossils. They also tell some powerful stories. Smokers should pay particular attention to the cross sections of two lungs, one healthy, the other damaged by nicotine. While the brain flabby with Alzheimers is a graphic depiction of the relationship between the functioning of our minds and our physical bodies.”
Here’s an interesting interview with the good doctor on the BBC from 2002.
