29.5.15

East Egg vs West Egg


In The Great Gatsby, there are two cities, East Egg and West Egg, which are separated by the Valley of Ashes. East Egg represents the established aristocracy, West Egg the self-made rich.

Long Island : East Egg to Manhattan

[...] « One of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted millionaires of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy of the country’s richest families. In the novel, West Egg and its denizens represent the newly rich, while East Egg and its denizens, especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. Fitzgerald portrays the newly rich as being vulgar, gaudy, ostentatious, and lacking in social graces and taste. Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrously ornate mansion, wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce, and does not pick up on subtle social signals, such as the insincerity of the Sloanes’ invitation to lunch. In contrast, the old aristocracy possesses grace, taste, subtlety, and elegance, epitomized by the Buchanans’ tasteful home and the flowing white dresses of Daisy and Jordan Baker. » [...]
More and analysis

The Great Gatsby
Novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
Adaptations in movie : 1926, 1949, 1974, 2013


27.5.15

Egg Shell

Egg Cowry shell
(Ovula ovum)
Photo: Michael Kürschner


The animal of an adult specimen is jet black scattered with small white spots. Usually, the mantle is fully extended, completely hiding the white shell. Very young and thin specimens have a black mantle ornamented with orange-tipped white bumps.
Kwajalein Underwater


Other Ovulidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) are very stange and beautiful. The one I prefer is Calpurnus verrucosus found exclusively on the soft coral Sarcophyton.



Shells of certain cowry species have historically been used as currency in several parts of the world, as well as being used, in the past and present, very extensively in jewellery, and for other decorative and ceremonial purposes. Wiki


Cowry shells being used as money by an Arab trader.
Print from 1845.


25.5.15

Les Œufs de l'Autruche

Théâtre des Salinières, 2015, Bordeaux
Théâtre de boulevard
André Roussin
Théâtre de la Michodière, 1948

Editions du Rocher, 1955

Mr Barjus est un homme qui pense avoir assuré le bonheur de sa famille, mais il apprend que l’un de ces fils est homosexuel et que l’autre est entretenu par une "couguar". Il va devoir laisser tomber ses préjugés et cesser de pratiquer la politique de l’autruche.



22.5.15

Egg-Shaped Treetop Walkway

Arch. Josef Stöger
Height : 44 m (25 m above tee tops)
Wood path walkway : 1300 m

The Bavarian Forest National Park (Neuschönau, Germany) bills the massive tree top walkway as “riskless adventure” since users are protected by a wooden fence and transparent nets. But for those who like a little adrenalin in their lives, a series of wooden and rope bridges along with other fun challenges are available at three different stations along the way to the top.

Once visitors reach the summit of the egg-shaped structure, which has a grade of no more than 6% and is topped with a flat platform, they are treated to immense views of the mountains of Lusen and Rachel along with the Bavarian and Bohemian forests. And on a really clear day, it is even possible to catch a peek at the northern Alps.



11.5.15

Misleading Bacon & Egg


The egg is ice cream, the bacon is actually white chocolate and the sauce is strawberry coulis.
Link

8.5.15

Easter Egg - May 8, 1945


EASTER EGG, 1945, March 31
The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954), p. 2.
Retrieved October 4, 2014
from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48943288


4.5.15

Ostrich Eggs in Mycenae

Ostrich egg rhyton from grave V
16th Century BC
National Archaeological Museum of Athens
http://www.namuseum.gr/wellcome-en.html
(NAMA 828)
Photo : Schuppi

Ostrich egg rhyton from Mycenae in Greece, with spout and applique dolphins of faience. The slightly curved underpiece attached to the base is made of gold foil over a wooden core. From Shaft Grade V (Grave Circle A, Mycenae), except the spout which was found in Shaft Grave IV.
From G. Karo Die Schachtgräber von Mykenai Verlag F. Bruckmann (Ag. 1930 : pl. 141)
Penn Museum

Ostrich-egg rhyton with silver aperture and decorative gold and copper bands around the body. Midea (Argolid), tholos tomb, 15th – 14th cent.
Ostrich egg is included in the imported materials, such as amber (resin from the petrified Baltic pine-forests), semi-precious stones (carnelian, amethyst, rock crystal), ivory and synthetic materials from Egypt or the Syro-palestinian coast (glass paste and faience, the latter made by coating a material of powdered quartz with a vitreous alkaline glaze).