From Hell (2001) Dear Boss, It has been quite a while since you heard from me. Guess maybe you thought I was gone. No such luck for you. Ha ha. Today is the anniversary of the first of my little games, I thought I should say hello. It's been almost 120 years since my last job and no one still has any idea who I am or why I done what I done. There are plenty of possibilities. Maybe I'm a surgeon. I sure know how to handle a knife, don't I? Maybe I'm a royal. Maybe I'm not even a man, but a lady instead. Ha ha. That would be a good joke on you. One thing's for sure. Plenty of geezers have tried to imitate me but no one is more famous. Time to go. "My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance." Yours truly, Jack the Ripper Suggested Sites... Casebook: Jack the Ripper - repository of Ripper-related articles, documents, speculations, and experts. Salon.com: From Hell - review of the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. Jack the Ripper's Modern London - current photos of the locations of the Ripper murders. Wikipedia: Jack the Ripper - information about the murderer and his (or her) victims. Jack the Ripper As the Threat of Outcast London - examines the social conditions that led to the creation of Jack the Ripper.

Directory categories: Jack the Ripper, Serial Killers, From Hell, Jack the Ripper Walking Tours, History of London

Archived under: Crime, In Character, Jack the Ripper, London, Murderers, Regional

Post a comment (4) | Email this posting

Ceiling of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain (Photo by Simon Cast) In the tourist-stuffed halls of the Louvre, we stroll curiously through the department of Islamic art, the museum's newest yet lesser-known branch. While admiring the ornate vessels, ivory carvings, and rare calligraphy, we fail to find portrayals of prophets. Hoping to resolve our fruitless search, we dig up the roots of Muslim artistry and discover the artwork shares a common goal: expressing the unity of Allah. Creating complex geometric patterns or detailed scriptures, Muslim artists symbolize divinity through the beauty of mathematics. They typically avoid depicting people, let alone prophets, because they believe no one should rival Allah's creative powers. But, why did we come across representations of lovers and royal figures at the Metropolitan Museum? Islamic art also includes work free from religious involvement (allowing the occasional figural illustration); yet we don't expect to unearth a portrait of Muhammad by a Muslim artist anytime soon. Suggested Sites... Metropolitan Museum: Islamic Art - kashans, incense burners, and jewelry from various Islamic dynasties. Los Angeles County Museum of Art: Islamic Art - the progression of Islamic art presented in periods and artwork examples. Detroit Institute of Art: Islamic Art - check out regional relics by Central Asiatic tribesmen, the Malmuks and Seljuks.

Directory categories: Islamic Art, Islamic Beliefs and Practices, Religious Art, The Louvre

Archived under: Arts, Museums, Regional, Religion

Post a comment (1) | Email this posting

Monkey brains, West Africa (Photo by Jason Hall) Faux ethnic cuisine, like chop suey and taco salad, has inspired us to create our own adventure cooking show. With certain staples like Chex party mix, tuna noodle casserole, bologna, and Jell-O, it didn't take long before we gave up our search for distinctly American foods. The everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach gets old for folks with curious taste buds. Now we're trotting the globe to concoct a delectable menu. For appetizers, we wince before sinking our teeth into cow eyeballs and breaded tarantulas. We slurp a bowl of raw blood soup in Vietnam. And for a light main dish, we can't resist balut, the duck fetus delicacy from the Philippines. We chase this meal down with Thai snake whiskey, which helps us withstand the stench of our durian dessert. One fellow traveler described eating the spiky fruit as just like "sitting on the toilet eating your favorite ice cream." Stay tuned for our breakfast menu, straight from the British Isles. Suggested Sites... Weird Foods From Around the World - from jellied cows feet and haggis to scorpions and witchedy grubs. Weird Meat - and you thought Jell-O was strange. Museum of Food Anomalies - before you slice into that deformed lemon, take a picture and send it to this museum of bizarre food artifacts. Iowa State University's Tasty Insect Recipes - mealworm fried rice for supper and chocolate-covered grasshoppers for dessert. Peter Menzel Photography: Man Eating Bugs Gallery - colorful closeups of sauteed grubs, scorpions being chosen for dinner, and toasted stink bugs about to be chewed.

Directory categories: Entomophagy (Insect Eating), Insect Recipes, Ethnic and Regional Recipes , Food and Drink Blogs

Archived under: Food and Drink, Insects, Recipes, Smells, Weird Stuff

Post a comment (3) | Email this posting

(Photo by Judy Baxter) When we were kids, time slowed to a hungry crawl just before the lunch bell rang. Our stomachs would growl as we rushed to the cafeteria food line. The formidable Ms. Biddle would yell "next!" and it would be our turn for breaded fried chicken patty on a stale bun, petrified tater tots, and mushy corn. Starch, fat, starch, and more starch. For dessert, we'd hit the vending machines: candy, chips, soda. It was bleak. It's no wonder childhood obesity has been gaining national attention. Fortunately, school boards are taking their own report cards seriously, and many schools now offer healthier choices like whole grains, low-fat entrees, and salad bars. Vending machines dispense trail mix, cereal bars, and water. Or they've been pulled out altogether. But if your kids still face the same old mystery mush of yesteryear, we recommend packing your own grub. Who knows, that lunchbox might become a collector's item someday! Suggested Sites... Back to School Lunch Lessons - tired of PB&J? Try some of these healthy treats from Epicurious. Eat Smart. Play Hard. Healthy Lifestyle - menu planning table, calorie burner chart, and other tools to help you make smart choices. Taking America to Lunch - Smithsonian exhibition featuring lunch containers from the 1890s through the 1980s. The Food Timeline - American public school lunch history including a week's menu sample from the early 1900s. The School-Lunch Test - article from the New York Times Magazine questions whether subsidized healthy lunch programs will help reduce obesity in children.

Directory categories: Nutrition, Childhood Obesity, Low-Fat Recipes

Archived under: Diets, Education, Food and Drink, Health

Post a comment (3) | Email this posting

(Photo by Brian Milo) Back to school already? Where did all the months go? While our New Year-resolution gym card collects dust in the junk drawer, we can at least take pride in the kick-ass workout we got at this summer's Ozzfest. Merry mayhem, stress relief, and sweating bullets under the hot August sun. 840 minutes of aerobic headbanging and moshing -- Jazzercise for the metal generation. Don't panic. Think of the pit as an extreme fitness class: Run, bounce, pivot, jump, break out for a breather, and jump back in. It's similar to the jab jab, hook, shuffle, squat, uppercut, block, and sidekicks of the kickboxing classes we've been missing. And Tool is coming to town. We could buy concert tickets with our gym fees! But if being caught in a mosh isn't your style, Barbra Streisand tickets are still up for grabs in a city near you -- though you probably won't break a sweat. Suggested Sites... Zen and the Art of the Mosh Pit - learn the art of the mosh. Mosh: The Headbanging Game - click, click, click to keep the goth chick steady with the beat. Are the Kids Alright? - article about moshing accidents. Silly Mosh Girl Images - she's back!

Directory categories: Heavy Metal, Ozzy Osbourne, Tool, Exercises

Archived under: Concerts, Entertainment, Fitness, Music, Rock and Roll

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting