Perspicere

Angkor World’s Largest Pre-Industial City?

Middle Man — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:39:19 +0000

If you have visted the temple ruins at Angkor, would like to expand your understanding of history, or maybe you are just a Laura Kroft: Tomb Raider fan, you will enjoy the new National Geographic TV Secrets of Angkor. Archaeologist, with the help of aerial and satellite imagery, and braving landmines on foot, are finding a vast new city and waterworks system that surrounds the moated area that travelers typically see. The discoveries are leading them to conclude that:

“Angkor was the world’s largest pre-industrial city, growing to an area of about 390 square miles.”

“Covering an area larger than modern-day New York, ancient Angkor has been estimated to have had a population of 750,000 people at its height in the 12th or 13th century.”

Bayon Temple (Photo Credit © Anna Pflüger/ SPIEGEL TV Media)

Denisa’s Eleventh

Middle Man — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:02:32 +0000

Here is a very creative photo-shot from Photographer David Silverman (Getty Images). A five-day-old baby giraffe stands by its mother, Denisa, in their compound at the Safari Park zoo on July 15, 2009 in Ramat Gan, Israel. The still unnamed female calf is twenty-year-old Denisa’s eleventh offspring, which zoo officials say is a world record for a giraffe in captivity.

Newborn Giraffe

Where to Record Your Next Album?

Middle Man — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:51:05 +0000

Looking for a place to record your next album? Check out the 16,000 s.f. Villa Rockstar, one of the newer Eden Roc Estates at the Eden Roc Hotel in St. Barths, F.W.I. It is entourage and studio ready, with your choice of cars already parked in the garage. According to New York’s Black Book March 2009:

‘Might just be the most extravagant creative enclave in existence”

Levi Johnston On Gov. Sarah Palin

Middle Man — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:27:36 +0000

Levin Johnston, who was once close to becoming Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s son-in-law, told the Today Show he wouldn’t vote for her if she ran for president:

“She speaks her mind. She’s an incredible lady, but um, there are times that she’s not up-front with everybody, but for the most part she is…. She means a lot to me. I do just about anything for her, but I really don’t think I’d vote for her if she ran for President.”

Art? Aston Martin One-77

Middle Man — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 04:12:19 +0000

The Aston Martin One-77 just won the Concorso d’Eleganza Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes. When does something estimated to cost 1.7 million USD, with every element subject to intense design, cross the boundary from an exotic car to a limited edition piece of art?

Aston Martin One-77

The Angel’s Game

Middle Man — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:39:52 +0000

Sometimes you read a passage in a book and you just have to keep returning to it. From the new novel The Angel’s Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, published by Doubleday:

“An intellectual is usually someone who isn’t exactly distinguished by his intellect,” Corelli asserted. “He claims that label to compensate for his inadequacies. It’s as old as that saying: Tell me what you boast of and I’ll tell you what you lack. Our daily bread. The incompetent always present themselves as experts, the cruel as pious, sinners as devout, usurers as benefactors, the smalled-minded as patriots, the arrogant as humble, the vulgar as elegant, and the feeble-minded as intellectual. Once again, it’s all the work of nature. Far from being the sylph to whom poets sing, nature is a cruel, voracious mother who needs to feed on the creatures she gives birth to in order to stay alive.”

If anything can humble you, certainly this passage should. Makes me wonder what label I claim?

True Blood, True Entertainment

Middle Man — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:31:15 +0000

HBO’s True Blood has me hooked! The twists and turns of the plot lines are stunning. The surprises leave me wanting more each week, which of course is the mark of a great serial drama. Alan Ball and team just keep turning out great entertainment and the performances of actors Anna Paquin, Rutina Wesley and Nelson Ellis are worth watching all on their own.

I hope Ann Rice is thinking about another vampire novel as she sees the success of Twilight and True Blood putting complex vampire imagery back into our mainstream pop culture consciousness.

Luberon View

Middle Man — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:34:48 +0000

Homes and good architecture can amaze me for their sense of tranquility and beauty. Here are a couple of pictures of a home in the South of France (Gordes) currently listed by a prominent international real estate firm.

Driveway Entrance

Garden View of the Luberon

Two Chiefs, One Clan

Middle Man — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:14:31 +0000

The Clan system of Scotland is much more complex than you might think. If you have family from Scotland in your genealogy perhaps you have come up against this dilemma of highland versus lowland families with the same name. Here is a great explanation found on the Clan Fraser site:

“There is confusion because the term ‘clan’ can also be used to describe a lowland family, despite them not having any Gaelic history nor living under the clan system. This is explained well by Wikipedia in their The Lowland Families section. Furthermore, not until the 19th century did the Lowland families identify themselves by specific tartans, or wear the kilt or play the Great Highland Pipes.”

“The Clan’s current chief is Simon Fraser, the 18th Lord Lovat, and 25th Chief of the Clan” as cited on Wikipedia. Lady Saltoun’s web site accurately explains this saying “The Frasers of Philorth, Lords Saltoun, being the senior line, are Chiefs of the name of Fraser, although a lowland family. Lord Lovat is Chief of the very numerous Highland Clan Fraser of Lovat, based in Inverness-shire.”