| Harvard Has Sea of Glass Creatures to Go with Famous Flowers
An aquarium of a different sort is on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Sure there are small sea slugs, prickly sea cucumbers, a floating jellyfish and an octopus -- tentacles curled around his red and yellow body. But these creatures aren't just behind glass -- they are glass. The creatures were created more than a century ago by a father and son who made incredibly accurate models in a time before scientists had the Internet, video or even color photography to aid their research. "It's incredible," said Chris Roberts, a graduate engineering student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as he walked through the displays. "I don't know how they could have had that control with melted glass." The "Sea Creatures in Glass" exhibit is the first time the museum has displayed part of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology's collection of more than 400 animals made in the mid-1800s by German artists Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka.
SAN FRANCISCO / Art Institute halts exhibition showing killing of animals / Workers threatened; video unclear about ...
Citing threats of violence by animal rights activists, the San Francisco Art Institute said Saturday that it is canceling a controversial exhibition that included video clips of animals being bludgeoned to death, as well as a public forum it had scheduled to address the controversy. "We've gotten dozens of threatening phone calls that targeted specific staff people with death threats, threats of violence and threats of sexual assaults," said Art Institute President Chris Bratton. "We remain committed to freedom of speech as fundamental to this institution, but we have to take people's safety very seriously." The exhibit that sparked the controversy was a one-person show by Paris artist Adel Abdessemed called "Don't Trust Me," which opened March 19. Along with a variety of other elements, the show included a series of video loops of animals being bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer in front of a brick wall.
NYC Restaurant Started by 9/11 Survivors Struggling
Two years ago, a group of Windows on the World employees opened a stylish new restaurant not far from ground zero, a symbol of their survival after the terror attacks that decimated the 107th-floor dining room atop the World Trade Center. But New York's dog-eat-dog restaurant industry is itself about survival, and by last fall, their business venture Colors was faltering. In a turnaround this spring, the restaurant launched by terror attack survivors and named for the ethnic dishes the workers brought to the menu from their homelands appears to be coming back to life. "I walked in and I was asked to pick up the pieces," said Christopher Faulkner, who took over as Colors' chef in November. "I walked into a disaster." The previous chef had left months earlier along with almost half the original staff of 58.
First Gala Night at Chicago's Legendary Blackstone Hotel April 4, 2008
Following a lavish $128 million dollar renovation, Chicago's legendary Blackstone Hotel, newly restored to its original glory, is being celebrated with a roaring gala honoring philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus on Friday evening, April 4, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails, dinner, music, dancing, a display of antique cars and more. Only 200 tickets will be available.At this long-anticipated opening, Driehaus will receive the first annual prize awarded by the Benjamin Marshall Society to recognize individuals exemplifying the ideals of the renowned architect, Benjamin Marshall (1874-1944), architect of the Blackstone Hotel, located on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Balbo.The ticket price for this lavish event will include a welcome in the Grand Lobby to the sound of the Columbia College Jazz Band, a champagne reception in the historic Art Gallery, a Gala Dinner in the Grand Ballroom with the Joe Vito Orchestra performing hits from the 20's, and a chance to bid on two luxury prize packages including a stay for a party of eight in the Blackstone Presidential Suite, and, a brunch for twenty-five at the Lake Geneva Estate of Richard H.
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