Medieval Music Locked in Stone

Something was always a bit odd about the architecture of the Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian, Scotland. Yes, it appears to be just another medieval church from the outside. Look how it innocently hosts medieval fairs and performs the sacraments of marriage. But, according to Thomas J. Mitchell, its arches contain carvings of cubes, arranged in a musically sequential way, each with specific markings that match Cymatics or Chladni patterns. After 27 years of studying these carvings, he and his son uncovered the secret to the music hidden in the chapel ceiling. You can listen to some of the composition on their website: http://www.tjmitchell.com/stuart/rosslyn.html.

Chladni patterns are produced when sound waves, at certain pitches or frequencies interact with a sheet of metal covered in sand or powder. You've got to see it in action to understand so check out this video of this phenomenon posted on Roger Bourland's blog.

These patterns were officially discovered by Ernst Chladni in the 18th century so an architect living in the 15th century architect shouldn't have known about these patterns. Was this secret maintained within a specific religious group for hundreds of years? What else does this chapel hide? No doubt the theories will spiral out of control. The secret of the location of the Holy Grail? The hiding place of all lost socks in the galaxy? Okay, let's not get too crazy.

Read more about it in Scotsman.com.

Lose your appetite while you are cooking

Described as a whimsical egg separator, this little piece of equipment can take care of the appetite of any cook. Just watch how the egg white oozes out of the cartoon-sized nostrils. You'll never want to test your uncooked cookies or lick that extra batter off the spatula ever again.

Still, I know you want one.
You can find it on this website.

Happy May Day, one and all!

I had no idea that May Day was anything other than a distress call for pilots in war movies. But with some time on my hands, I found out that the May Day celebration includes dancing around the Maypole and general merry making in honor of Spring. Another excellent excuse for a party!

Fun facts:

• Its origins go back to the ancient Greeks and Romans

• It is the another tree decorating holiday that former pagan cultures cherish so much

1914, when pole dancing was innocent.
(Original photo credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-54028]

• In 1889, bored with synchronized dancing and aimless carousing, the labor union movement and Socialists of the world decided have their kind of fun on May 1st, proclaiming that day the International Workers' Day. The demonstrations and parades also required synchronized behavior but this was the era of the popular marching songs judging by my great-grandfather's collection of 45s, so it still might have had some element of fun.
  

An early May Day Parade, when tough guys wore bowler hats.
(Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-B2- 2010-12[P&P]

• We can thank those socialists for giving us the manageable 8-hour work day in the United States. (But the fight continues, if you are paying any attention to the plight of undocumented workers or labor leaders elsewhere in the world.)

Enjoy the sunshine, revel in Spring, and make sure that your boss isn't committing any H.R. violations.

Don't Peeve Me

Lately, a lot of my peeves tend to revolve around cellphones. For instance, I have to complain about those homicidal taxi drivers who carry on angry conversations while weaving in and out of traffic as customers bounce around in the back seat. There should be a rant-only blog somewhere devoted to taxi drivers and their "Death Proof " ways.

A major peeve of mine is the random cell phone user in public spaces for instance, trains or quiet little cafes. Some of this conversations are so tedious that I want to jump out of the window, hopefully into the path of a train moving in the opposite direction.

A typical cellphone conversation on the train to New Jersey:

"Hey. What's up, loser? [pause for answer] I'm just on the train. Ugh. I'm bored. [pause] Did you really? No, I said I'm on the train. I'm so bored. [pause] So we drinking tonight? [pause]..."

This can go on for two hours or until everyone's head explodes. Now that I think about it, this could be an enemy weapon used on commuters...

Other conversations are hilariously appalling like the one that I overheard in a cafe a few days ago. Just imagine it, a 20 something, hot pants wearing female, let's call her GIRL #1 , is drinking expensive wine with all of her "best friends." They abruptly leave her to do some shopping. After pouting for a few minutes, she whips out the cellphone. Mind you, I'm trying to read an FT article on global warming so some people might hate my type too.

Girl #1
Thanks for the necklace, mom. And the bracelet. It is sooo cute.
I love it. Did you mean to give me both? Anyway, I love it, it is so cute.

Okay, so that isn't so bad. It is always nice to hear someone say thank you.

By now Girl #2 sits down with her and although it is obvious that they are friends, she too gets onto a call. The rest of us quiet readers roll our eyes. A few minutes pass before I pay any attention and Girl #1 is on the line with her father.

Girl #1
You need to take out another loan for me. Just do it. Just do it! I can't believe you. [said in between sips of wine] Mom sold a car and gave me the money. She was just fine with that!

By the time she gets off the phone, she and her friend spend the next fifteen minutes ranting about her cheap father. Then they decide to go shopping, because it is still such a lovely day.

Doll Face

(Courtesy of Andy Huang http://www.rootfilm.com/)

Beautiful and haunting, this video says more with its incredible animation than most of us can capture with words. We are dying to be perfect and to emulate the airbrushed images that we see and know to be beautiful. But we fail to recognize their artificiality.

Of course, I'm not above these things and just spent a half an hour asking my husband, "Are my eyes puffy? Do they look worse this year than they did last year?" It's a week before my 29th birthday and I'm coming to terms with the fact that I no longer look 21. Not to worry though, much like hormonal fluctuations, that preoccupation will soon pass.