food, trends: Flights of pie, oh my!
Pie is turning up all over the US, having reinvented itself from a dowdy church supper ware to a stylish dessert served in ‘flights’ in some places. Each region has a specialty based on local ingredients and culture. If you filled your plate motoring across the country – made an American pie flight, so to speak – it’d look like this…
Nutty South & Tart West
Down south, everyone’s gramma has her own recipe for pecan pie, where secret ingredients swirl in the bowl with the nuts and corn syrup. Royer’s Round Top Cafe (105 Main St, Round Top), in middle of nowhere Texas, has earned a swooning crowd for its version. It’s so traditional you’re charged 50 cents extra for not getting the ice cream on top. The chef also whips up southern-style buttermilk and coconut chess pies. Can’t decide? They offer a pie flight!
via American pie: slicing across the country – travel tips and articles – Lonely Planet.
FaceBook, social networking, culture: More social, hummm?
Were you creeped out by the ominous trailer for “The Social Network” (“I want you to notice, when I’m not around …”) and what it may say about you? Does logging on to Facebook for the fourth time today make you feel like a soulless shut-in?
If so, fear not: According to a cheery report out of the University of Texas, Austin, Facebook actually makes us more sociable. Surveying 900 current and recent college graduates nationwide, Craig Watkins and Erin Lee of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas examined the impact of Facebook on users’ social lives, concluding that “social media afford opportunities for new expressions of friendship, intimacy and community.”
via Studied – Does Facebook Make You More Social Offline? – NYTimes.com.
art, pop art, Roy Lichtenstein: Loved this … “So shocking that in 1964 Life Magazine wondered if the artist who created them, Roy Lichtenstein, was quite possibly the worst artist in the U.S.”
Whimsical paintings based on cartoons … witty sculptures … prints that remind us of famous paintings, with a commercial twist.
Images so familiar to us today it’s nearly impossible to believe that they were once considered quite shocking.
So shocking that in 1964 Life Magazine wondered if the artist who created them, Roy Lichtenstein, was quite possibly the worst artist in the U.S.
That’s not a question anymore.
When the dust settled at Christies’ auction house last November, one of Lichtenstein’s pieces named “Ohhh…Alright…”did more than “all right”: It sold for nearly $43 million.
A record, beating out even Warhol’s Campbell’s soup can.
Lichtenstein himself would find that shocking.
“He used to say that he was amazed that people would actually pay for what he called ‘used canvases,'” said Mitchell Lichtenstein, Roy’s youngest son.
But, in fact, Roy Lichtenstein may be more popular today than ever, says his youngest son, Mitchell, who walked us through the sculpture garden on the roof of his father’s old N.Y. studio, pointing to one piece Mitchell’s mother had called “her giant Chia Pet.”
“I think people appreciate his humor,” Mitchell said, “and I think they see more in it as time goes by.”
via Roy Lichtenstein: Pop Art’s Most Popular – CBS Sunday Morning – CBS News.
travel, historical journeys, bucket lists: So where would you go … I would like to follow Lewis & Clark or Paul.
Part one: Go around the world in 80 days with Jules Verne, rampage across Mongolia with Genghis Khan and trek the Muslim world with Ibn Battutah.
Part two: Take the ‘Voyage of the Beagle’ with Charles Darwin, decide whether Alexander the Great should be Alexander the Grotesque and see if you think Marco Polo was a fibber.
Part three: Get satirical with Evelyn Waugh, explore the Wild West with Lewis & Clark, and trek across the Australia with Burke and Wills.
via Greatest historical journeys – travel tips and articles – Lonely Planet.
health, globalization: Go for it! I did not know that only one disease has been eradicated.
ONLY one disease has ever been eradicated—smallpox—but Davos Man thinks a second is possible. In a packed congress hall today full of world leaders and celebrities, David Cameron and Bill Gates announced a bold campaigh to wipe out polio over the next few years.
Baby Boomers, health, healthcare: I think we are going to be a pain in the ass!
The MIT Enterprise Forum Northwest held Boomers, Technology & Health: Consumers Taking Charge in Seattle, Washington on January 19, 2011. The event examined the role of baby boomers in future technology innovation with a special focus on health. The organizers did more than an excellent job framing the event with speakers representing health providers, industry, technology developers and venture capital they prepared a research report based upon interviews with 50 industry and thought leaders to understand the barriers as well as opportunities for boomer-driven innovation. The report is one of the best summaries of the evolving role of baby boomers in driving innovation in health and wellness and well worth the read.
The report presents five key findings:
1. Baby Boomers Will Play a Key Role in the Adoption of Personal Connected Health
Why will baby boomers make a difference? Simply put, the baby boomers have more money, greater expectations and personal health as well as caregiving needs that will drive demand for health and wellness innovations.
2. Personal Connected Health is a Component and Enabler of a Paradigm Shift to Patient-centric Approach
The baby boomers are the leading edge and passionately vocal movement of consumers demanding patient-centric care. With 67% of the boomers having one or more chronic diseases they will seek technologies and services to manage and monitor their health – on their terms as consumers with demands, not simply as patients in need.
3. The Imminent Explosion of Personal Health Data Will Create Opportunities for Entrepreneurial Problem-solvers
Consumer demand is only one part of innovation. Technology serves as inspiration and catalyst. The report observes that the ready availability of new wireless, mobile and ubiquitous smart everything present an endless possibility of health devices and services.
4. Lasting Behavioral Change Requires Incentives and Social Support Mechanisms
As noted in other posts on disruptivedemographics.com, social media is not just for kids any more. The report authors aptly observe that Web 2.0 will be key in developing the social support necessary for healthy and lasting behaviors.
5. The Northwest has the Ingredients for the Creation of Personal Connected Health Business Ecosystem
Egypt Uprising, titles/headlines, Davidson, prayers: Updates for today … have to laugh at the Huffington Post title … “A Complete Guide to the 2011 Uprising.” Davidson has two students in Egypt this semester. One with a Middlebury Program and he is coming home. One in Cairo who has family in Cairo and he is staying Prayers for all in Egypt.
As his people desert him, so do Mr Mubarak’s foreign backers. Shortly after he spoke, so did Barack Obama. He called on the Egyptian president to “give meaning” to his promises to improve the lot of the Egyptian people. For much of the crisis, the American administration has been trying hard to avoid making a choice: Mubarak is our ally but we deplore violence and are on the side of “reform”, goes the line.
Hillary Clinton has called for restraint on all sides and for the restoration of communications. She said America supported the universal rights of the Egyptians, and called for urgent political, economic and social reforms. But sitting on the fence becomes increasingly uncomfortable as events unfold, and the vibes from Washington have become distinctly colder over the past 24 hours. The private talk, increasingly, is no longer about whether Mr Mubarak should go, but who might be able to take his place if he does.
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Having trouble digesting all the news in Egypt? Not sure what’s going on and why it matters? Want to brush up on the key players and latest developments? Or just curious to learn more about Egypt in general?
You’ve come to the right place. The Huffington Post is aggregating our comprehensive coverage into easily-digestible nuggets below to help those who feel overwhelmed. This page is 100% human-curated. It will be fluid and changing as major developments happen, so please keep checking back. And please share it with your friends, family and colleagues.
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What’s happening today?
A.
Today’s biggest event was a battle at the Interior Ministry. The police have sort of made it their last stand. The building is surrounded by several hundred to a thousand police. Some of the protesters were a few blocks away, surrounding some army tanks, having afternoon prayers. The soldiers had been just sitting atop their tanks, being friendly with the crowd.
The prayers were punctuated by the sounds of gunfire. When they heard the gunfire, the protesters were all begging the Army to get involved. The soldiers drove four army vehicles to the Interior Ministry to protect the protesters who were fighting the police. The protesters hid behind the army vehicles as the police fired. It was amazing.
Q.
How is it for you as a resident of Cairo?
A.
I have lived here for 10 years. When I’m covering Baghdad, I expect to hear gunfire at night. I never expected to hear it in Cairo. There was never much news in Cairo and I liked it that way. My favorite thing about Cairo, coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan, was how warm and funny the Egyptian people are.
My neighbors are deeply concerned about what’s going to happen. There are roadblocks on almost every corner, with neighborhood militias — really just six to 10 men with sticks — protecting their homes from looters. People are very nervous about security.
I love Cairo. It’s hard to see the downtown area trashed, but for the first time in 30 years, people are excited. Professionally, there’s the thrill of covering such a big story and watching a revolution. But everyone is worried about what’s going to happen next.
via Cairo Photographer Sees Hope in Turmoil: Scott Nelson Tells What It’s Like – NYTimes.com.
Apps, games: relaxing?
iPad owners in search of a relaxing, story-based puzzler should enjoy the game play packed into Treasure Seekers 2: The Enchanted Canvases HD, the sequel to a game that ranked among the Top 10 highest-grossing games in 43 countries.
Based on a nearly 2-year-old PC game of the same name, Treasure Seekers 2 challenges you to find well-hidden objects in busy environments (think Where’s Waldo?), and use items in your inventory (or in the environment) to solve the task at hand.
via Treasure Seekers 2: Graphics impressive; adventure on the short side – USATODAY.com.
challenge: Show Us Your City: A User-Generated Video Project with a Local Point of View – NYTimes.com.
art, sculpture, exhibits, London: Another reason to go to LOndon. 🙂
England has produced some of the greatest sculptors of the last 100 years, so it is only fitting that one of London’s most prominent galleries, the Royal Academy of Arts (Burlington House, Piccadilly; 44-207-300-8000; http://www.royalacademy.org.uk), should hold one of the first comprehensive exhibition of their work. Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Jacob Epstein and Anthony Caro are just a few of the major artists whose sculptures will be on display through April 7.
via In London, a Century of British Sculpture – NYTimes.com.
fashion: I will continue to let medium ash brown work for me.
From salt-and-pepper locks to a white mane, gray hair isn’t just for men in their 50s and 60s anymore. Film stars, athletes, television personalities, even President Obama, are all rocking gray hair–and some are welcoming it.
“I think it’s the measure of maturing and growing,” said Andy Cohen the host of Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live.” The 42-year-old first noticed his transition from dark black to slate in his late 20s, when a few silver hairs started appearing around his temples. He never had the urge to dye it, and suggests that graying men regardless of their age should wear it with confidence.
random: Click and watch this gorilla walk … kinda creepy.
Meet Ambam, a 485-pound Western lowland gorilla who strolls around the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in England like he owns the place. According to Phil Ridges, the park’s gorilla keeper, Ambam might walk upright to get a height advantage to look over the wall to watch for feeding time. Either that, or he’s just a shrewd self-promoter: Videos of Ambam walking have captured YouTube’s attention, with more than 1 million views.
via Viral Weekend: Watch a Gorilla Walk Like a Human – TIME NewsFeed.
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