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Book Club - Bloomsday

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  Released in 1922, James Joyce's Ulysses  takes place in a single day - June 16, 1904. It is considered one of the greatest and most influential books in the English language, and it is especially celebrated in Dublin. I have a cousin Molly Bloom, her mother's a big fan, and a few years ago they were in Ireland for this day.  They attended a reading and had lunch at the Davy Byrnes pub. In the book, Leopold Bloom has a Gorgonzola sandwich and a glass of burgundy there. The book has been on banned lists for being "obscene."  In fact, there was a trial in the United States when a literary magazine, The Little Review, published a chapter in April 1920.  The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice filed charges against the editors under the Comstock Act of 1873, which made it illegal to send obscene materials through the US Mail. The episode did include Leopold masturbating on the beach.  Sexual inner monologues are throughout the book, as well as descrip...
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Best Dressed!

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 World Cup Performance Ejae Taylor Swift Olivia Rodrigo Zendaya Greta Lee Abubakar Salim Kristin Scott Thomas That's the best we're gonna get.
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Science is Fun Fridays!

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  Our counterclockwise bias has been proven yet again. A study back in 2013 looked specifically at mosh pits during heavy metal concerts.  And you can see the circle in motion. Then in 2020, an international team was studying social distancing, and found that we may not be moving as randomly as we think. So they set out to study this directly, and found a significant preference for turning left. This was mapped across a variety of age groups, cultural settings, and spaces. They also tested individual movement.  209 people were asked to walk freely within a hexagonal enclosure, and showed that without influence of a crowd, there is still a significant bias. Researchers aren't sure why we do this, but they did rule out something in the eyes - participants were also patched and blindfolded, and the results did not change. Understanding this can be important for building design and emergency planning.  If people are going to unconsciously want to go left....
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Apocalyptica Plays Metallica

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 A Finnish symphonic metal band, currently composed of three classically trained cellists. Their first album, Apocalyptica Plays Metallica,  was released in 1996.  Just a couple years ago they released Volume 2. I bought one of their albums that includes other band covers (like Pantera) as well as a few originals. But this is the song I wanted. I hadn't looked into the newer covers though, so I was super stoked when they opened with this. From the first volume, this was the first Metallica song they played together. You can hear how much fuller their sound has gotten over the years, as they fully embraced neoclassical metal. It was a full Metallica set, and I had a great time. 🤘
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Hump Day Horror

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 The Salem Witch Trials began in February of 1692, following fits experienced by children in the village, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams.  A doctor concluded they were suffering from the effects of witchcraft, and the girls were pressured to name names. On this day in 1692, Bridget Bishop was found guilty and was the first to be hanged. She was not the first to be charged though.  That was Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba.  As an enslaved woman from Barbados, owned by Samuel Parris, she was the presumed main culprit, with her "Haitian Vodou."  She was allowed to contest at trial, and she helped point fingers at others. Bishop had been accused by more individuals than anyone else.  She didn't dress by Puritan standards, she had been married three times, and she was known to frequent taverns. HEATHEN! Many were found guilty based on the response of the "afflicted" during proceedings.  By October, the special court had been dissolved by the g...
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Day of Celtic Art

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 Sacred Celtic Knot Tree of Life, Yggdrasil. Celtic knots and spirals have been used in art and architecture for centuries.  Interlacing patterns spread out from Roman art, and have been found in Byzantine art, Ethiopian art, and Russian art. The knots are symbolic and carry different meanings.  The Celtic Cross was used long before Christianity came to the Celts, and it represented the four elements and four cardinal directions.  The circle represents the sun, moon, and the infinite cycles of nature.  It was then known as a Sun Cross, or Solar Wheel. The Book of Kells is a 9th century manuscript, containing the four gospels of the New Testament.  Almost all of the folios contain some decorative art, such as within letters. The Dara knot is a modern design based on lore and tradition.  Ancient oaks were considered a symbol of strength, wisdom, and endurance.  It represents the roots. The oldest is the Celtic spiral, also known as triskele, dating ...
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Best Dressed!

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 Sir, yes, Sir! Jeremy Pope Laura Benanti Rose Byrne Amber Ruffin Camila Mendes Colman Domingo Emily Blunt H.E.R. Naomi Watts Jennifer Lopez
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