Knitted brows
Latest in the annals of art censorship, sewing division: Ming-Yi Sung crochets sculptures, and four of them were minding their own business in the nude at a Washington, D.C., art gallery last week.
Stacy Innerst, Post-Gazette
But they ran into trouble because the gallery is in the lobby of an office tower leased by a law firm. The firm, presumably not weighed down with any First Amendment lawyers, objected to Sung's work "because of the exposed genitalia and the exaggeration of the female form." It wanted the exhibit removed, even if the genitalia were crocheted. Sung told the Washington Post she was initially angry but decided the exposure -- the publicity not nudity --was worth censoring her work. So she crocheted fig leaves and a codpiece that looks like a cod. Apparently, Michelangelo got off easy.
The Worldly Wales
The Morning File wishes William Wales godspeed as he sets sail from the University of St. Andrews into the big, wide world with a master of arts in geography. "Not just essays now," Prince William of Wales reportedly told someone at the graduation ceremony. Essays are a lot easier than cartography, though. Roughly 237 years ago, another William Wales sailed from Greenwich, England, for the Hudson Bay to observe the Transit of Venus. According to the Captain Cook Society, observation of this astronomical event "was vital to the future of navigation at that time." Cook himself was assigned to watch the Transit from Tahiti. Perhaps our young William, just turned 23, can take a lesson from the achievements of the astronomer Wales, whose parents were "of humble circumstances." So says a man who has the name of the day, John Cawte Beaglehole, Cook's biographer.
Whales of a different stripe
Critics of commercial whaling have a whopper on their growing menu of grievances. In a case of bad timing, a fast food chain in northern Japan began offering a whale burger just as anti-whaling efforts resumed last week. The chain Lucky Pierrot sells deep-fried ground minke whale meat on a bun for 380 yen, or about $3.50. Critics say Japan's practice of killing whales to study them, then selling the meat, is commercial hunting in disguise, Reuters reports. Miku Oh, a Lucky Pierrot official, said the meat was available anyway and, besides, eating whale meat is part of the Japanese culture. But the burning questions is: Does it taste like chicken? "It tastes like beef and tuna," said Oh, "and since it is deep fried, it has no odor."
Left hanging
A leg bone recently discovered off Hartlepool, England, gave rise to great hope among archaeologists that the infamous Hartlepool monkey might finally have surfaced. According to legend, a lively monkey was found by fishermen after a French ship capsized off Hartlepool during the Napoleonic Wars. Fearing the monkey was a spy (yes, the English have always had strange notions about the French), the fishermen lynched the little guy in a nearby tree. But the case of the missing monkey is not closed. Tests at the University of Durham and Tees indicate the bone is that of a prehistoric deer, according to the BBC. Peter Rowe, of Tees Archaeology, said, "We could tell straight away that the bone was ancient. It has a tell-tale black surface which suggests that it has come from a prehistoric peat bed."
Alien greens deported
The Korea Baseball Organization has prohibited the wearing of cabbage leaves inside a baseball cap. The decision came after Doosan Bears pitcher Park Myung-hwan's cap fell off twice in a game, revealing frozen cabbage leaves inside. No measures against this natural air-conditioning method were taken at the time, but, upon reflection, the league called cabbage an "alien material" and feared its potential for distraction, according to the Associated Press. League rules chair Heo Koo-youn asked, "What will we do if another team argues that because the cabbage leaf fell just as the pitcher was pitching, the batter got confused?" As any Pirates fan knows, it takes a lot less than cabbage to confuse a batter.
Toothpick holders unite
Kimchi is made from cabbage and it's one of Korea's prized dishes, a spicy concoction that makes indigestion worth the trouble. But it's hell to pick out of the teeth. Just ask the National Toothpick Holder Collectors Society when its members convene for the 30th straight year this August in Kansas City. Convention events will include educational seminars, an all-toothpicks auction, local attractions and much more, as you can well imagine. For information, check www.nthcs.org.
More teeth news
Women are 2.5 times more likely than men to admit they're afraid of a trip to the dentist, according to a University of Toronto study in this month's issue of Anesthesia Progress. The researchers say the level of fear among men is probably underreported. Women are more likely to be honest about their feelings, the study said, while young, healthy males are more likely to faint in the dental office. Overall, 5.5 per cent of the 1,100 Canadians surveyed were very afraid of seeing a dentist, and about half of those had canceled or avoided an appointment as a result. The data suggest that more than 400,000 people may have avoided the dentist last year due to fear, and more than 1.5 million skipped an appointment at some time in their lives.
First Published: June 27, 2005, 4:00 a.m.
