The New York Times ran an article concerning the ever-pressing issue of the volume of the music played by ice cream trucks. Citizens of Stafford, New Jersey are beside themselves with anger over the apparently offensive music, stating that "... [it] should be considered as much a nuisance as the roar of a low-flying jet or the screech of a car alarm," not a joyful reminder that life has meaning.
The issue went before the Stafford Town Council and the ordinance was passed by a vote of 4 to 2. The law states that drivers are forbiddento "use a sound device, mechanical bell, mechanical music, mechanical noise, speakers, amplifiers or any other similar type of sound device." After much contention, drivers were at least permitted to use a handheld bell.
Some weeks later after the smoke cleared, an interesting insight into the case was revealed: Mayor Block's lactose intolerant daughter reportedly launched into "hysterical fits" when the chiming music of the approaching truck could be heard.
The Amazing Spider-Man is a comic book series created by Stan Lee and published by Marvel Comics in 1963. It is the debut of Peter Parker: nerdy photographer by day, web-slinging crime fighter by night.
Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, empowering him with arachnid agility, strength, and a sixth sense that forewarns danger, a.k.a. "spider sense." After the murder of his Uncle Ben, Peter vows to use his new-found powers to combat evil. The chief conflict in the series is not just between Spider-Man and supervillians, but between Spider-Man and Peter Parker.
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Spider-Man films
The first film in the Spider-Man franchise was released in 2002. It was directed by Sam Raimi, who also directed The Evil Dead, and starred Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Kirsten Dunst as his love interest, Mary Jane Watson.
The film was a box-office smash, and it received an 89% rating at RottenTomatoes.com. The movie's plot is more closely aligned with the Ultimate Spider-Man comic books, a reboot of Stan Lee's original series, made in 2000. The chief difference is the nature of Spider-Man's web-shooters. In Lee's comics, Peter invented the contraption that allowed him to shoot webs; in the movie and Ultimate Spider-Man series the ability is granted to him when he is bitten by the radioactive spider.
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
The rock musical based on the Spider-Man franchise began production in 2007. It was a risky project that was met with numerous setbacks. The notable ones being the resignation of the director, Julie Taymor, the life-threatening injuries sustained by five cast members, and the ever-increasing budget.
An unreleased film based off the Marvel Comics' hero, Spider-Man. It is a reboot of Sam Raimi's films, and is intended to be more faithful to the original comic series. An article in Entertainment Weekly said the reboot would reinvent the franchise, just as Christopher Nolan did with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The decision to make the film was in response to the production company axing Raimi's "Spider-Man 4." It is rumored that this movie will be a "more gritty, contemporary redo of the series."
It stars Andrew Garfield, who also appeared in The Social Network, as the title character, and Emma Stone of Zombieland and The Help as Gwen Stacy. Set for release on July 3, 2012. Check out this blog for lots of info and behind-the-scenes extras.
Comics
The term "comic" comes from the Greek word komikos, meaning "pertaining to comedy." The comic strip as a medium arose in 1889 and gained popularity in the 20th century when they began to be published in newspapers and magazines. There are short panel comics whose visuals and text are mutually dependent on each other and combine to produce a (usually) humorous situation.
Comic strips were compiled to create comic books (sometimes referred to as "graphic novels") and they divided into sub-genres such as adventure, war, and superheroes. Competing publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics control over 80% of the market.
Odds are that you, at this moment, owe the government almost $50,000 because of their overspending. Check out the constantly accumulating debt clock if you feel like being overcome with despair.
Thomas Jefferson got it right when he said:
"I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared."
The United States attempted to create a central bank twice, but these attempts failed. In 1913, a secret meeting between the nation's top finance magnates took place on Jekyll Island, just off the coast of Georgia. Interesting choice for a location considering that in the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the character Dr. Jekyll represents the dark, deviant side of human nature. But the fact that X-Men: First Class was filmed there redeems the island's reputation a little.
Anyways, this secret meeting was the origin of the Federal Reserve System. The House and Senate voted in favor of this bill on December 23, 1913 and President Woodrow Wilson signed it later that day. The primary duty of the Fed is to manage the nation's money supply and maintain financial stability (source).
The sad part about this system is that is flawed and corrupt, and what makes it worse is that everyone knows this and little has been done to change it. There are petitions, such as Audit the Fed, that strive to force the institution to be upfront and accountable for where money is actually going. It is becoming harder and harder to ignore the site's claims:
"Over its nearly 100 year history, the Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar while Congress has kept its hands off and its eyes closed. Since 1913, the dollar has lost over 95% of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy"
The most apt description of the National Debt Crisis comes from Cracked.com:
"A National Debt happens when governments spend more than they actually have, and everyone getting the money agrees that's absolutely fine."
Cave Paintings - Early Graffiti
Most cave paintings were created during the Paleolithic period (40,000 BC - 10,000 BC) and were discovered in the 1860's (source). Since the early humans didn't have freeway underpasses and train cars yet, they unleashed their vandalizing self-expression on caves. Cave paintings often depict hunting scenes, giving us glimpses of a time when woolly mammoths and other prehistoric creatures still roamed.
That's pretty neat.
Cuneiform
Cuneiform is considered the earliest writing system, developed around 3,400 BC. And if the history of writing really interests you, here's lots more info. It evolved from simple record keeping into a full blown writing system capable of transmitting messages. If you could decipher the 1,000+ unique characters, that is. This is a letter from a high priest to a king:
The postage on that thing must have been ridiculous.
This website is a free English to Cuneiform translator. I gave it a try:
Your entered text was : mariah is doing a great job so far In the Babylonian Cuneiform Alphabet this is written as :
Smoke Signals - Old World Instant Messaging
"Now all of China knows you're here." Pretty effective.
Disney's Mulan got it right with this depiction of the Great Wall's security alarm. Smoke signals and signal fires are one of the oldest forms of communication. Polybius, a Greek historian, created a alphabet by holding up different combinations of torches, giving him the ability to convey complex messages. Unfortunately, the system itself was rather complex as well, making it difficult to use. The most recognizable use of smoke signals today is the Catholic conclave. Black smoke tells the expectant crowd that a pope hasn't been chosen yet, while white smoke indicates that they found the right guy.
Greek Epics and the Oral Tradition
The Iliad and The Odyssey are two of the most well-known stories in the world and they mark the beginning of Western literature. The Greek poet, Homer, used to recite these epics from memory and they were written down around 800 BC (source). They have had an enormous cultural impact and The Odyssey has become a story archetype, like in the Coen Brothers' film O Brother, Where Art Thou?
To learn aboutthe awesome origin of fireworks, check out my other blog post.
Rosetta Stone - Code Breaker
The Rosetta Stone is a hunk of black granite that is inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic script, and Ancient Greek. Rediscovered in 1799, it provided the key to understanding Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics (source). Today, Rosetta Stone is also a line of popular language learning software.
Go get 'em, tiger.
Banned Books - Censorship Begins
In the year 496, Pope Gelasius I issued the Decretum Gelasianum, a list of "books to be received and not to be received." His reign could be described as a kind of papal power-trip. Though the Decretum refers to the Scripture, it is still the first known example of writings being purposefully withheld from the public.
No, that isn't the plot
for the next Dan Brown novel. It’s a brief history of fireworks.
Chinese legend credits a
cook’s accidental kitchen fire as the discovery of early fireworks. He spilled
salt peter (KNO3), a flavoring salt, into the cooking fire and noticed it
produced an intriguing flame.
Get your firework fix.
Salt peter was then combined
with sulfur and charcoal and encased in a bamboo tube. The result was an
explosive little firecracker and a crude form of gunpowder. The date of the discovery
is hard to pin down, but it is thought to have occurred around 2000 years ago.
The Chinese were fascinated
by this invention and fireworks became a traditional part of their religious
celebrations. They were exploded at New Year’s celebrations because it was
believed they scared off evil spirits.
Marco Polo, on one of
his many expeditions, brought fireworks to the west. An English scholar named
Roger Bacon (coolest last name ever) was one of the first Europeans to
extensively study gunpowder. He learned the formula that provided maximum
explosive power. He wrote his findings in code because he feared that this
information, in the wrong hands, could prove to be catastrophic. The code was
deciphered centuries later, and those proportions are still in use today.
The Chinese discovered
it, the English feared it, and the Italians perfected it. They developed aerial
shells that exploded in the air, creating fountains of color in the night sky.
In the 19th century, pyro-technicians (yes, that's a real job) developed
the technology to make the designs and colors we see every Fourth of July.
Click here to order some awesome fireworks that are probably illegal in your state.
