RenoVous

It's been a morning at work, and I'm not too inspired by any of the day's topics, but summer starts on Sunday and you know we've already been enjoying the outdoors. Hot days and long nights. So this can be whatever you want today - history, music, summer vibes, whatever. 😊

  One of my favorite shots from the Statue of Liberty, which arrived in New York Harbor on this day, 1885. Designed by sculptor, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, with assistance from Gustave Eiffel, the project began in 1870.  Construction started in 1875 and was completed in the summer of 1884.  It had to be shipped in pieces, in more than 200 cases. It was named, "Liberty Enlightening the World." The corner stone of the pedestal was laid August 5, 1884. The completed dedication ceremony took place October 28, 1886. Ellis Island opened in 1892, serving as America's chief immigration station, where many saw Lady Liberty as a symbol of a new beginning. The famous poem by Emma Lazarus was added in 1903. This is part of the old Fort Wood (on which the pedestal was built), a star shaped fortress built in 1808 to protect the harbor during the War of 1812.  It remained an active military post until 1937.

  Released fully 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. Ulysses 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 d...

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

  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....

 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. 🤘