Category: Culture (page 23 of 27)
Marketers and salesmen will often tell tales about how particular patterns in Aran sweaters were once used to identify the bodies of lost fisherman. However, this is a myth. From wikipedia:
It is sometimes said that each fisherman (or his family) had a jumper with a unique design, so that if he drowned and was found, maybe weeks later, on the beach, his body could be identified. This misconception may have originated with J.M. Synge’s 1904 play Riders to the Sea, in which the body of a dead fisherman is identified by the hand-knitted stitches on one of his garments. However, even in the play, there is no reference to any decorative or Aran-type pattern. The garment referred to is a plain stocking and it is identified by the number of stitches, the quote being “it’s the second one of the third pair I knitted, and I put up three score stitches, and I dropped four of them”. There is no record of any such event ever having taken place, nor is there any evidence to support there being a systematic tradition of family patterns.
Kate Davies, writer and knitter, explores this a bit more in an interesting piece she wrote on needled:
While Gahan encouraged the talented knitters of rural Ireland in their creation of elaborate báinín ganseys, Ó Síocháin invented myths of ancient origin for the sweaters in his publications about the Aran Islands. In his book Aran: Islands of Legend , for example, Ó Síocháin footnotes the misleading idea that “the Aran gansey has always been an unfailing source of identification of Islandmen lost at sea” with a reference to his own company “full particulars regarding the handcraft products of the Islands can be obtained from Galway Bay Products, Ltd.”
Going into Christmas my work days become longer and my time available to do other things, like prepare coffee, disappears. Starbucks developed a great new instant coffee for people like me which they’re calling VIA, and unlike other instant coffees it actually tastes good (I would say that it’s even better than their regular drip coffee that they serve in their stores).
If you’re someplace where good coffee is not easily prepared or are on the go like me, give this stuff a shot. Packets of three are available for $3, and boxes of 12 for $10.
Falconry has always fascinated me – never enough to pursue it as a hobby, but enough to enjoy reading about it. This afternoon while studying how the Kazakhs of Mongolia train their golden eagles which they use to hunt foxes and wolves, I came across some interesting photos from festivals that are held to celebrate the craft. From boston.com:
Could you imagine having one of the largest birds of prey perched on your arm? It could quite easily take something off your face and not think anything of it. In order to build their relationships, both the hunter and bird go through lengthy training together:
Young birds are kept for about a month or two during which they are fed with washed out meat from master hands and become used to the presence of humans.
In late summer they are ‘broken’ by being tied to a wooden block so that they fall when they try to fly away. During this time they are not given food. After few days they become exhausted and ready for training.
They are sat on a pole called a tugir and one of young men pulls a lure made of small animal skins in front of the bird. When she attacks the lure called shirga, they are given some meat as reward. The eagles are trained to hunt marmots, rabbits and small foxes. The hunters eventually train the eagle to hunt down foxes, even wolves.
This type of hunting has been done for supposedly thousands of years, and the practice is passed down through families.
More photos on flickr.
“Honda Design: Motorcyle Part 1 1957-1984” is a great new book that was just published and is a must buy for anyone interested in the history behind motorcycle designs. It documents just about every model that Honda and its teams have produced up until the mid 80’s and a DVD is included with interviews with several noteworthy designers. Best yet, the text is written in both Japanese and English – order it from Rakuten or get it from your local Kinokuniya bookstore.
December is almost here and the Pike Place Market has started to put up the usual Christmas trees and garlands. If you’re out for dinner in the area, it’s a fun time to walk through the market at night during this time of the year to look at all of the lights.
“Looking down onto fish balloon & crowds lining street during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. 1941”
From wikipedia:
The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States, tied with America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than the 6abc IKEA Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia. The three-hour event is held in New York City starting at 9:00 a.m. EST on Thanksgiving Day…
In the 1920s many of Macy’s department store employees were first-generation immigrants. Proud of their new American heritage, they wanted to celebrate the United States holiday of Thanksgiving with the type of festival their parents had loved in Europe.
In 1924, the inaugural parade was staged by the store. Employees and professional entertainers marched from 145th Street in Harlem to Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street dressed in vibrant costumes. There were floats, professional bands and live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. At the end of that first parade, as has been the case with every parade since, Santa Claus was welcomed into Herald Square. At this first parade, however, the Jolly Old Elf was enthroned on the Macy’s balcony at the 34th Street store entrance, where he was then “crowned” “King of the Kiddies.” With an audience of over a quarter of a million people, the parade was such a success that Macy’s declared it would become an annual event.
More reading on the WSJ for this year’s parade: Part 1, Part 2
Happy Thanksgiving!
Perhaps the most famous of all flight jackets?
