Monthly Archives: April 2013

Tripologist: island beaches full of south-eastern promise

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Batu Ferringhi beach in Malaysia. Photo: Alamy

We are flying to Germany and want a stopover for five to eight days, preferably in south-east Asia, ideally not far from a beach and beautiful nature. We have three children (ages five, nine and 10). We'd prefer no additional flights and definitely no car hire. If possible, no big resorts either. - T. Allen, Footscray, Vic.

Nowhere dovetails perfectly with your requirements, but a couple of places come close. Penang is a one-stop flight from Melbourne via Kuala Lumpur, and you can stay out at the beach at Batu Ferringhi. There's a national park with walking trails just a little further up the coast, and you can get to some of the more remote parts of the park by boat.

There are lots of food stalls along the beach, so if you like Malaysian food, and especially the nonya cooking that is a hybrid of Malay and Chinese, you have plenty of opportunity. On the downside, most of the places to stay are large resorts. I stayed a couple of years ago at Lone Pine hotel (lonepinehotel.com). The price is reasonable and this might suit you well.

The other candidate is Phuket. This is also a one-stop flight from Melbourne, this time via Bangkok. There's not too much in the way of unmolested nature in close proximity, and all the resorts are big. If this sounds possible, the place to look for accommodation might be around Rawai or Kata beaches rather than Patong. Of the two, Penang would be my choice.

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Tripologist: island beaches full of south-eastern promise

Can You Buy Exoplanet Naming Rights? No, Astronomy Group Says

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There may not be an alien planet named Heinlein any time soon if the International Astronomical Union (IAU) gets its way. The astronomy group issued a reminder Friday (April 12) that it is the only body authorized to give exoplanets their official names, despite recent naming initiatives by companies like Uwingu.

In the statement, IAUofficials said that planet-naming schemes have "no bearing on the official naming process," and stressed the importance of having a unified procedure, even though its members welcome the public's interest. The IAU did not mention the space science funding company Uwingu (whose name means "sky" in Swahili)by name, referring only to a "recent name-selling campaign." But the young Uwingu did launch an initiative last month calling on the public to name the nearest Alpha Centauri Bb anexoplanet4.3 light-years from Earth as part of a fundraising campaign.

Projects like Uwingu'sBaby Planet Name Bookseek to at least informally replace official planet names like HD 85512b or Gliese 667Cc with more playful nicknames. The initiative by Uwingu a company that aims to raise money for space research, exploration and education lets you add a nomination to the planet name registry for 99 cents. [Strangest Alien Planets (Photos)]

And for another 99 cents, you can vote for your favorite name on the list. In March, Uwingu started an offshoot contest, which runs through April 15, toname Alpha Centauri Bb, the newfound Earth-sized planet in the star system closest to our own.The company will use the money raised by the project to support research efforts like SETI's (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Allen Telescope Array in California, as well as space launches and science outreach.

Uwingu CEO Alan Stern, a planetary scientist who also leads NASA's New Horizons spacecraft's mission to Pluto, said the IAU's claim to naming rights in space is a self-proclaimed one, and likened Uwingu's effort to a People's Choice endeavour.

"The IAU can't prohibit what it does not control. People's Choice naming contests and the colloquial naming of objects in space are unrelated to the IAU's purview of specifying nomenclature for astronomers," Stern told SPACE.com in an email. "The IAU no more owns the right to control the naming of objects in space for popular purposes than does a county that controls street naming have the right to deny people in the county who the right to adopt a mile of highway in someone's honor."

In the Uwingu campaign, the names Ron Paul, Heinlein, Sagan, Asimov and Pele are currently among some of the more popular monikers that have been proposed so far. Official exoplanet names, often made up of a string of letters and numbers, may look dull and unmemorable in comparison, but IAU officials defended their process.

"Whileexoplanetnames such as 16 Cygni Bb or HD 41004 Ab may seem boring when considering the names of planets in our own solar system, the vast number of objects in our universe galaxies, stars, and planets to name just a few means that a clear and systematic system for naming these objects is vital," IAU officials explained. "Any naming system is a scientific issue that must also work across different languages and cultures in order to support collaborative worldwide research and avoid confusion."

To be clear, Uwingu has said the nominations in its Baby Planet Name Book won't be official. But the organization had hoped astronomers might come around and consider using the names on the list to refer to new planets informally.

"At Uwingu, we're for opening up the naming of celestial bodies to as wide a spectrum of the public as possible, the IAU seems to want to go the opposite way," Stern said. "We think open-source naming it the future, and we're excited that so many in the public agree."

See the rest here:

Can You Buy Exoplanet Naming Rights? No, Astronomy Group Says

Glee Spoilers: Who is Recurring? Who is Proposing?

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Having tackled one controversial subject this week, a school shooting, Glee will focus on another later this spring.

E! News confirms that veteran actresses Patty Duke and Meredith Baxter will guest star as a lesbian couple that has been together for 25 years, first appearing on the Glee Season 4 finale and then recurring on Glee Season 5… assuming there IS a Glee Season 5.

Klaine Photo

How do they figure into story lines? Sources say that - SPOILER ALERT!!! - Blaine will propose to Kurt to close the season, going to a jewelry store to purchase a ring and meeting Duke's character as the salesperson.

She and Baxter's character will then serve as Klaine's mentors as the relationship progresses.

And, yes, insiders acknowledge this plot was inspired by the ongoing Supreme Court debate in California over same-sex marriage.

So sound off now Gleeks: Are you excited for another topical storyline? And how do you feel about a Klaine engagement?!?

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/04/glee-spoilers-who-is-guest-starring-who-is-proposing/

Amazing Auction Alert #583: "The Rouchomovsky Skeleton’: A Russian Gold Fully Articulated Skeleton In Silver-Gilt Sarcophagus," 1901

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The fully articulated human skeleton in a velvet-lined coffin chased around on each side with three panels showing the course of life, one end with attributes of the arts, the other with attributes of war,  the removable cover with the journey in the footsteps of the Angel of Death, surrounded by the faces of infants alternately laughing and crying...

This fantastic piece is up for sale as Lot 291 in Sotheby's "A Treasured Legacy: The Michael and Judy Steinhardt Judaica Collection"auction coming up on April 29, 2013. Who would like to purchase it for The Morbid Anatomy Library?

The Rouchomovsky Skeleton’:  A Russian Gold Articulated Skeleton In Silver-Gilt SarcophagusEstimate: 150,000 - 250,000 USD

The fully articulated human skeleton in a velvet-lined coffin chased around on each side with three panels showing the course of life, one end with attributes of the arts, the other with attributes of war,  the removable cover with the journey in the footsteps of the Angel of Death, surrounded by the faces of infants alternately laughing and crying.
Skeleton signed in Cyrillic, on the right splint-bone: Mozyr [18]92 Odessa [18]96 and on the left splint-bone Rouchomovsky.

Sarcophagus signed on lid: Israel Rouchomovsky and in Cyrillic on base Israel Rouchomovsky Odessa 1901.
length of skeleton 3 1/2 in., length of coffin 4 3/8 in.
9 cm; 11.2 cm
the skeleton 1892-1896, the sarcophagus 1896-1906
Israel Rouchomovsky, Mozyr and Odessa

Catalogue Note

The Skeleton
Israel Rouchomovsky (1860-1934) came from a poor family in Mozyr, Belarus. Almost three-quarters of the population of the town was Jewish, and according to some accounts his parents wanted him to become a rabbi.[i] His memoirs describe how he was drawn to silversmithing, and the efforts required to get a work permit and move with his family to Odessa, where he arrived in 1892. They also recount how he helped a colleague make a first gold skeleton, now held in the Museum of Historical Treasures of the Ukraine.[ii]  He had thought this first skeleton would require a month of work, when in fact it took four, and he thought he could do even better; only certain sections of the first skeleton could move. The inscription on the leg shows that the fully articulated skeleton – supposedly with 167 different parts[iii] – required five years of work.

In his own words:"In the second piece, with the help of minute ball-bearings, all body members can move in all directions, and even the lower jaw can be opened and closed. This time I was entirely satisfied and I could say without any humbleness that I succeeded, I really succeeded, and it was at that point that I realized that this "deceased" deserved a beautiful sarcophagus."[iv]

It would be another five years to make the case, finished in Odessa in 1901. Again in Rouchomovsky's own words: "The sarcophagus is cut in massive silver and is covered entirely with ornaments and miniature figures [which he describes in minute detail]." Of the whole project, almost a decade of careful craftsmanship, the artist wrote, "although the work has taken very long, I can say that it is one of my best works, and I have always remained more than content with it, not only with its execution, but also with its underlying conception."...

You can find out more--and put a bid!--by clicking here.

Thanks so much to friend and excellent artist Martin Bland for bringing this wonderful piece to my attention! Click on image to see larger, more detailed images.

Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-rouchomovsky-skeleton-russian-gold.html