Frequent contributor to Neatorama, Miss Cellania, brings us the story of the first Star Trek cinematic adaptation that was never extracted from pre-production limbo. The original pitch from Gene Roddenberry himself concerned an encounter with a godlike plenipotentiary that had a beat that spanned all of creation, seeding worlds with religion and worshippers—leaving Spock unimpressed and probably too risky a statement for the studio to stand behind.
Messy Nessy Chic, in anticipation of finer weather, laments how classrooms out of doors have been, in the main, unfortunately relegated to the distant past.
While we still do have Waldschulen (though I’m given to understand now it’s more like a weekly field-trip, weather-permitting, than a regular occurrence), which started the tradition back in 1904 under the auspices of better ventilation and fresh air made young people more hale and hearty, but after the late 1950s, the popularity of al fresco education has waned considerable. The idea once, however, held almost universal esteem in Europe, with the founding in 1922 of the League for Open Air Education at the International Congress in Paris, mandating schools to adopt floorplans that included pavilions and breeze-ways and even retractable roofs. This gallery of classrooms without walls does make one reminisce for the educational experience that we never had, especially whiling away the hours confined to the office, with only a tantalising glimpse outside.
Kottke informs that the variety of mushrooms that certain dishes and culinary presentation calls for—and what we are readily willing to pay a premium for—are the same species of fungus but harvested at different points of maturity. The portobello mushroom is no different than dime-a-dozen button mushrooms, just with a better P-R agent. It makes me think of the great baby-carrot fraud, which are just the whittlings off of club-sized carrots that would not be seemly for the produce-aisle.
Dangerous Minds features a comprehensive and retrospective article on the Mah Nร Mah Nร song by Piero Umiliani, who originally scored the scat number as part of the soundtrack for a Italian exploitation documentary about the racy lifestyle of the Swedes. The tune, since covered by Benny Hill, Red Skelton and Nancy Sinatra before being popularised by the Muppets (the lead beatnik singer was called Bip Bippadotta, voiced by Jim Henson, and the backup singers were called the Snowths—snout plus mouth), accompanied a scene set in a sauna and was first titled “Viva la Sauna Svedese.” Several versions of the performance are expertly curated at the link above.
The British Library, as the Guardian reports, will be digitising the only known surviving script written by William Shakespeare in his own hand. The piece, on the subject of Sir Thomas More, Catholic martyr, who managed to rise to the rank of Lord Chancellor in the court of Henry XIII. Focused on More’s divided allegiance by the king’s schism with the pope in Rome and witness to the persecution of the Huguenots who had sheltered in London—having fled violence of France who considered them heretical, the play was not authored by the Bard himself, but rather re-worked by a committee of playwrights in hopes of bringing this anonymous work finally to the stage.
Though feeling audiences were ready for a less than favourable portrayal of king and country, the play remained unscreened for fear it would incite a riot, much like those limned in the manuscript. The lines that Shakespeare form powerful soliloquy for the protagonist, which speak to current tensions over the refugee crisis:
You’ll put down strangers,
Kill them, cut their throats, possess their houses,
And lead the majesty of law in lyam [by a leash]
To slip him like a hound. Alas, alas!
Say now the King
As he is clement if th’offender mourn,
Should so much come too short of your great trespass
As but to banish you: whither would you go?
What country, by the nature of your error,
Should give you harbor? Go you to France or Flanders,
To any German province, Spain or Portugal,
Nay, anywhere that not adhere to England:
Why, you must needs be strangers.
Thanks to an informative article from Weird Universe, we learn that from 1923 to 1969, the official language of the State of Illinois was designated as “American” before “English” was finally restored. A congressman from Montana originally championed this movement on a national level—citing the defining vernacular that writers like Mark Twain and James Fennimore Cooper crafted to distinguish America’s literary canon from its British roots:
“Let our writers drop their top-coats, spats and swagger-sticks, and assume occasionally their buckskin, moccasins, and tomahawks”—but the measure was voted down, except in Illinois. Though some may argue that Americans don’t speak the Queen’s English, I doubt this point of contention was ever as patriotic or harboured royalist sympathies as it was made out to be. The US constitutional framers intentional failed to specify an official, national language, because if the matter had been put to a vote, German might have won out over English, but later adherence to this policy was to ensure that no language was privileged over another. Illinois quietly retracted this amendment almost five decades later, realizing English was still being taught and spoken either in ignorance or in defiance of this law.
Boing Boing shares a gallery of lobby cards on offer from the brain-trust behind Liartown, USA, Sean Tejaratchi. My favourites are still the falconry-paraphernalia from the Falcon Hive but there’s quite a bit of spindled brilliance besides to uncover.
In anticipation of Saint Patrick’s Day, Kuriositas treats us to a fine whistle-stop tour through Dublin to visit the statues and public monuments that people the capital. As fond and committed city commissioners are for honouring local sons and daughters, residents are just as keen to bestow affectionate monikers on these silent neighbours. Read more about the “Tart with the Cart” or the “Hags with Bags” and other choice nicknames for the street urchins of Dublin and sight-see during your next visit with native knowledge.
