“To sweeten the breath, medieval Europeans could crush herbs into their tooth scrub or vinegar mouthwash; mint was sometimes used for this purpose, but so were rosemary, parsley, and sage. Other cultures chewed aromatic seeds – fennel seeds, cardamom, star anise – to abrade and sweeten the mouth.” How did mint gain primacy? A confluence of mass production, the US climate, and a biochemical trick.
Tag: 11.12.12
Tod Machover & The Entire City Of Toronto Compose A Symphony Together
“A composer and inventor, Machover is currently writing a symphony about the city of Toronto in collaboration with not just the city’s orchestra, but also its 2.6 million residents. ‘It’s beyond crowd-sourcing,’ he says … ‘I think of it as massive collaboration.”
The Audience – How Successful You Are Depends On The Community That Follows You
“The real value of these networks is in programming. If you can aggregate effectively, you can start to imagine social media a little bit more like traditional media.”
BBC In Turmoil – The Place Needs To Be Reinvented
“Unfortunately there is a culture at the top of the BBC that is vain and out of touch. It’s not doing what it should be doing which is supporting and encouraging muscular investigative journalism of the highest quality.”
Crowdsourcing What Movies To Make
“Movies cost a lot, and [movie executives] would like to have some assurance that people are going to be interested. Sometimes original stories have a more difficult time because they’re more speculative and require more risk. Our system can de-risk those projects, actually put them in front of customers and get a reaction.”
Hey Architects, Take A Look At Zines (And Get Inspired)
“Far from just being nostalgic, zines offer a chance to produce content that doesn’t fit within the mainstream of architectural culture – to make something more spirited, more radical, more exploratory, and more personal. It’s open to anyone and it can be used to do absolutely anything. It’s an opportunity to work outside of an academic or professional framework at any level, and it’s as easily done by a student as by an established architect.”
Shaking Up The Hermitage (Yes, THAT Hermitage)
“Perhaps the greatest challenge facing the institution has been how to tell art’s story in the 20th century and on and yet be ever mindful of the fact that it had neither the desire nor the resources to transform itself into a Russian equivalent of MoMA.”
Resurrection Artist
“John Bellany is resurrection man. Liver failure. Pneumonia. A major heart attack on the way to an exhibition in Glasgow in 2005: he’s seen them all off.”
Alex Ross: How Things Change – Being Gay And The Culture
“One fashionable explanation for the turnabout credits popular culture: out-and-proud celebrities and gay-friendly sitcoms have made straight Americans more comfortable with their other-minded neighbors. Not that long ago, though, Hollywood was regularly portraying gays and lesbians as flouncing sissies, pathetic suicide cases, and serial killers.”