The most famous shot in "A Trip to the Moon." Special effects have gotten slightly better in the century since. Welcome once more to The Spark, your weekly digest of events and happenings and information in the Yahoo! Directory to help you appreciate them more. As we begin this last Spark before the Labor Day holiday, we have to ask just where in the heck the summer went. Seems like it was Memorial Day about five minutes ago, and now kids are back in school and Fall is lurking around the corner. Anyway, let's look at the week ahead. Monday: It's a day for monsters and creators. In the former category, we have Benedict Arnold, who on this day in 1780, secretly promised to surrender the Continental Army's fort at West Point, NY, to the British. Arnold was an egomaniac, who was frustrated with the lack of attention he had received, and what better way to get attention than to commit treason? Speaking of outsized egos, we note that today would have been the 127th birthday of Huey Long, the "Kingfish" who ran Louisiana like a private fiefdom until he was gunned down in 1935. Long ruled the state as both governor and senator, and his campaign slogan of "Every Man a King" mixed populism and fascism in equal measure. But let us not mention only those who destroy, let's celebrate those who create. When thinking of monsters, one almost automatically turns to thoughts of Dr. Frankenstein and his creation, for which we owe thanks to Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, born in 1793, she wrote her novel, "Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus," at the tender age of 18. And where would kids (and parents) be today without Babar? Laurent de Brunhoff (born in 1925), is son of Jean de Brunhoff, who created the elephant king, and who continued his adventures when his father died. Of course, those kids grow up to be teenagers and young adults, and where would they be without Robert Crumb, who turns 73 today? Crumb was in the vanguard of the underground comix movement of the 1960s, and he’s still active and creative, and his influence on modern pop culture is incalculable. And what would pop culture be without the Beatles? One hesitates to guess, but you can try to get a handle on it this week at the International Beatle Week in Liverpool, England. Of course, the Beatles played in the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York when they made their American debut in 1964, and that theatre is today home to the Late Show with David Letterman, which made its own debut in "the Ed" in 1993. A nice contrast to end the day. Gazillionaire Warren Buffett hits the big 8-0 today, and out in the Nevada desert, Burning Man begins. The best thing we can say about Burning Man is that it gets all those people who want to go to Burning Man in one spot away from the rest of us. Tuesday: More monsters. In 12, Gaius Caligula was born. Though the surviving sources are incomplete, Caligula was one of the most notorious Roman emperors of them all, known for the stories of his cruelty, instability, and sexual perversion. (We won’t deal with them here, but you can find the stories easily enough.) But Caligula isn't the only monster we note. On this date in 1888, Mary Ann Nichols was murdered and became the first of known victim of Jack the Ripper. And, of course, in 1928, Berlin saw the premiere of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s "Die Dreigoschenoper" (known in English as "The Threepenny Opera"), with its main character, the vicious murderer Captain Macheath, better known as "Mack the Knife." In 1959, Bobby Darin had a huge hit with that song (which is really odd, when one considers it's about a mass murderer killing people), and Friday will see the 51st anniversary of that song being banned by WCBS radio in New York City. At the time, there had been a series of teenage stabbings in the city, and the station didn't want to those crazy teens any ideas. And while marijuana possession is small potatoes compared to all of the above, we see that, in 1948, actor Robert Mitchum was arrested in a Hollywood drug bust, and was eventually sentenced to 60 days in prison, a scandal which in those days threatened to kill his career, but nowadays would rate only a passing mention on "Entertainment Tonight." All this talk of criminals and murderers makes us long for a hero, and fortunately, in 1942, "The Adventures of Superman" radio series began airing on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Wednesday: All we have for today is that in 1902, George Melies’s "A Trip to the Moon," was released in France and became the world’s first science fiction film. Thursday: So, in 490 BCE, the Athenian army was at Marathon, battling with Persia. The herald Pheidippides was sent to Sparta for help. He ran the 150 miles in two days, but because of religious laws, the Spartans couldn't send any help, so he ran back. In spite of not having the extra troops, Athens won the battle. And poor Phidippides took off again, this time running the 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens to carry the news of the victory. He gasped out his last words, "We have won," and dropped dead of exhaustion. The lesson: do not underestimate the usefulness of warm-ups and warm-downs. In 1666, the Great Fire of London began in the wooden house of King Charles II's baker. By the time it ended three days later, more than 13,000 houses, including St Paul's Cathedral, had burned to the ground -- but amazingly, only six people had died. If you were living in England in 1752, tomorrow would have been September 14th. While most of the rest of the world had switched from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar in 1582, the stubborn Brits had stuck to their guns. But, after nearly 200 years, there was an eleven-day discrepancy between the two calendars, and the English had no choice but to convert. There were actual riots, as people cried, "Give us back our eleven days!" But it was to no avail. Great Britain and her colonies were dragged kicking and screaming into the 18th century. Speaking of fighting against reality, in 1934, singer Russ Columbo accidentally shot himself to death. Columbo was a wildly popular singer and actor, and when he killed himself (with an antique gun that was supposedly unloaded), his friends thought the news would prove fatal to his mother, so for the last years of her life, those friends created an elaborate ruse, sending postcards and letters from far-off locations, and using his records to simulate a radio show. In 1944, Mrs. Columbo died, never suspected that her son had died a decade before. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: Let's talk about pioneers this weekend. First, there's Louis Sullivan, born in 1856. Sullivan is, for all intents and purposes, the man who invented the skyscraper. Since Chicago had had its own giant fire in 1871, Sullivan had the opportunity and the laboratory to erest steel-framed buildings that towered over anything built before. In 1833, 10-year-old Barney Flaherty answered an ad in "The New York Sun" and became the first world's first newsboy, which is why we celebrate Newspaper Carrier Day today -- at least for those relatively few Americans who still have newspapers carried to them. Sunday would have been the 163rd birthday of Jesse James. Jesse was not the first Western outlaw, but he was the first to become world famous while plying his dubious trade. 1885 saw the opening of the Exchange Buffet in New York City. It was the first self-service restaurant (read, "cafeteria") in the United States. We don't know if they served chocolate (we'd guess yes), but whether they did or not, it's World Chocolate Day Friday, so you can serve yourself and indulge. In 1888, George Eastman registered the trademark "Kodak" (for the clicking sound a camera's shutter makes) and received a patent for his camera that used rolled film. Eastman's "Brownie" camera came from the factory loaded with enough film for 100 photos. When the roll was complete, the customer would mail the whole camera back to the factory in Rochester, NY, where the pictures would be developed and sent back along with a new camera. Sunday is the 81st birthday of comedian Bob Newhart. Newhart is a two-time pioneer, having been in the forefront of the stand-up comedy revolution of the 1950s, when he transformed himself from "button-down accountant" to a comedian with the top-selling album in America. Then, in the '70s, his sitcom, "The Bob Newhart Show," set new standards for writing, ensemble acting, and just plain goofiness. The weekend before Labor Day always marks the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. While it's easy to criticize the telethon for its corniness and out-of-date show business aesthetic, it's impossible to deny Lewis's commitment and ability to raise money -- nearly a billion-and-a-half dollars since 1966. Lastly, we'll note the 98th birthday of the late avant-garde composer John Cage with 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence. Suggested Sites... United States Military Academy at West Point - for sale, cheap. Contact Gen. Arnold. Official R. Crumb Site - keep on truckin'. The Beatles - the core of the apple. Dangerous Minds: Early Technicolor - the good folks at Kodak bring you color movies from 1922. Jerry Lewis Telethon - mock him if you will, but he does good work.

Directory categories: Revolutionary War, Children's Literature, Rock and Pop Artists, Musicals, Running

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The Fire Arts Festival's amazing Fire Snail Photo by Lilah of UrbanSardines Remember when your parents told you, "Don't play with fire?" It's a good thing some kids didn't listen. The tradition of creating art with fire is timeless and, frankly, a hell of a lot of fun. I was lucky enough to visit The Crucible's Fire Arts Festival this year in Oakland to see for myself -- and in the process burned a few hairs off of my arm. The Fire Arts Festival is a carnival of performance and industrial art fueled by creativity and a lot of flame. I walked through a small dust storm in the parking lot on my way to the festival, where a line of fiery workshops awaited me. The educational experience makes sense, because the event is actually a fundraiser for The Crucible, an organization that offers classes in blacksmithing, ceramics, fire performance, foundry, and other classes where you simply make cool stuff. I watched be-goggled folks blow glass, hammer hot molten metal, and chip away at huge slabs of stone. I even learned how to make a flashlight out of two clothespins, an LED, and a watch battery. But the real draw of the festival is the fire art, and these artists take fire seriously. I watched the "Fire Vortex," where men in silver flameproof suits create a spectacular whirl of flame into the sky. People lined up to fire shots -- literally -- at the Flamethrower Shooting Gallery (but you better sign a waiver form first). Everywhere you looked, high octane flames shot through the air, hot enough to warm your cheeks from many feet away. Many of the acts at the festival -- such as "The Hand of Man" (a giant hydraulic human hand controlled by a glove), and the "Life Size Mouse Trap" (an amusing Rube Goldberg-esque kinetic sculpture) -- have also made appearances at Burning Man and MakerFaire, The Fire Arts Festival runs until this Saturday, but if you aren't lucky enough to make it to Oakland, check out the many categories in the Yahoo! Directory about fire-inspired art Start with blacksmithing, ceramics, metal sculpture, glass art, or explore other pyrotechnic fun. Suggested Sites... The Crucible - "non-profit collaboration of art, industry, and community." The Fire Vortex - watch a video of the amazing Fire Vortex. The Hand of Man Robot - read about the 25-foot arm that can crush a car.

Directory categories: Fire Performance, Burning Man, Pyrotechnics, Fire Protection

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The Burning Man himself (Photo by Aaron Logan) In the desert of Nevada a community is growing. We're not talking about the booming suburbs surrounding Las Vegas, but the temporary Utopian experiment known as Burning Man. It started in 1986 at San Francisco's Baker Beach when a small group of friends burned an eight-foot wooden man in celebration of the summer solstice. Since then, the gathering has morphed into a vast experiment in self expression. This year 45,000 hearty folks are expected to invade the playa for a week of cutting-edge art, communal living, and desert survival. But despite (or maybe because of) the success of the annual event, things aren't as Utopian as they seem. This week an artsy arsonist decided to take matters into his own hands and attempted to burn the man a few days ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, back at the head office (Black Rock City LLC), there is a growing brouhaha over money, with the two founders bickering over cash and copyright. Regardless of all these concerns, this year's Burning Man festival should be a blast for the residents of the ephemeral desert town. Just be prepared for anything, and don't forget the sunscreen and goggles. Suggested Sites... Burning Man - official site of the Burning Man Project. Full of tips for virgins and veterans. Black Rock Arts Foundation - supporting and promoting community-based interactive art. Las Vegas Sun: Burning Man - dispatches from the playa. Flickr: Burning Man 2007 - photos straight from Black Rock City. Kidsville - sure, bring the kids. A little dust and extreme heat couldn't hurt.

Directory categories: Burning Man Project, Survival Guides, Testimonials, Camps and Projects, Larry Harvey

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