RenoVous

Forest Morning. Pyramid Lake Sunset. Lunch Date Downtown. Reno Glow Under the Stars.

 On this day in 1990, two thieves posing as policemen stole 13 works of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.  It is the biggest art heist in history, and remains unsolved. The most valuable missing is Vermeer's The Concert. Three Rembrandt paintings were taken, which included A Lady and a Gentleman in Black. Chez Tortoni by Manet. Landscape with Obelisk  by Govaert Flinck. A French Napoleonic eagle finial.   Additionally, five sketches by Degas were taken. The total haul was estimated to be worth $500 million.

 On this St. Patrick's Day, I thought we'd look at the bigger picture. The Irish American Heritage Center is in Chicago, founded in 1976. Along with New York City and Boston, Chicago was a popular place for immigrants coming in.  Port cities were easier to stick around in, but many traveled West as well, where railroads and mining offered work. The Heritage Center offers a library, museum, art gallery, and archives.  Programming focuses on Irish dance, literature, language, music, and cultural contributions.  There's also a pub. The Fifth Province Pub was built by founding tradesmen - stonemasons, carpenters, woodworkers, tile-masters and pipe-fitters - built from materials from the former Mayfair School. It would be the place to party tonight! Featuring: Sláinte!

  Wunmi Mosaku Chase Infiniti Rose Byrne Ejae Shaboozey Elle Fanning Marsai Martin Demi Moore Kate Hudson Michael B. Jordan

  I came across a book called The Science of Superstition , written by Bruce Hood. A psychologist and philosopher specializing in developmental cognitive neuroscience, he is currently based at the University of Bristol. A major interest has been researching the cognitive processes behind adult magical thinking. In the book, he uses hard science to explain pervasive irrational beliefs and behaviors. Superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th date back to the 19th century, as a pairing, but 13 and Friday have long had ominous connotations. In numerology, 12 is considered complete, while 13 is disruptive.  A 13th guest brings bad luck (Judas in Christianity, Loki in Norse mythology, the devil in ancient Rome). Over 90% of high rises skip the 13th floor due to customer concerns. There's a quote from Swami Vivekananda which says, "If superstition enters, the brain is gone." fMRI has shown that people who engage in superstitious rituals activate the reward centers of the brain, ...

 A cultural icon, born on this day, 1946. Of course, being the daughter of another icon helped pave the way, but "the original nepo baby" still had to work hard to make it on Broadway. In 1965 she made history as the youngest actress to win a Tony, for Flora the Red Menace. She was first on the silver screen in 1949 with her mother, and her first credited role came in 1967, in Charlie Bubbles.   She was nominated for an Oscar for The Sterile Cuckoo  in 1969. She would win it in 1972. And two days ago, she released her memoir, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! You can bet she has stories to tell.  From a childhood steeped in Hollywood and addiction, to her times with Andy Warhol, Halston, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Frank Sinatra, and Michael Jackson - to name a few. "I survived it," she says, while a social media account marks all the things she continues to outlive.