December 6, 2010
The Birkin bag is a handmade purse by Hermès and named after actress and singer Jane Birkin. Its prices range from $9,000 to $150,000. Costs escalate according to the type of materials. The bags are distributed to Hermès boutiques on unpredictable schedules and in limited quantities, creating artificial scarcity. Although the Birkin bag is free of logos, it is one of the most recognized bags in the fashion industry and by the public. In 1981, Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was seated next to Jane Birkin on a flight from Paris to London. She had just placed her straw bag in the overhead compartment of her seat, but the contents fell to the ground, leaving her to scramble to replace the contents.
Birkin explained to Monsieur Dumas that it had been difficult to find a leather weekend bag she liked. In 1984 he created a black supple leather bag for her based on an 1892 design. The bags are handmade in France by expert artisans. The company’s signature saddle stitching, developed in the 1800s, is a distinctive feature. An average bag is created in 48 hours. Leathers are obtained from different tanners in France, resulting in varying smells and textures. Because of the individual craftsmanship, other details of the bags may not all match.
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December 6, 2010
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly associated with musician Lonnie Donegan and played a major part in beginning the careers of later eminent jazz, pop, blues, folk and rock musicians.
Improvised jug bands playing blues and jazz were common across the American South in the early decades of the twentieth century. They used instruments such as the washboard, jugs, tea chest bass, cigar-box fiddle, musical saw, and comb-and-paper kazoos, as well as more conventional instruments such as acoustic guitar and banjo.The term skiffle was originally one of many slang phrases for a rent party, a social event with a small charge designed to pay rent on a house.
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December 6, 2010
Rick Rubin (b. 1963) is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin was the original DJ of the Beastie Boys, and co-founder of Def Jam Records with Russell Simmons. He helped popularize a fusion of hip hop and heavy metal music, and he has worked extensively with hard rock groups, notably Linkin Park, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Slipknot, System of a Down, and Rage Against the Machine, but has produced for artists of all different genres including Shakira, Run-D.M.C., The Dixie Chicks, U2, and Green Day.
Rubin’s biggest trademark as a producer has been a ‘stripped-down’ sound, which involves eliminating production elements such as string sections, backup vocals, and reverb, and instead having naked vocals and bare instrumentation.
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December 6, 2010
The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes on the Greek island of Rhodes by Greek sculptor Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes’ victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC. Before its destruction, it stood over 30 meters (107 ft) high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world.
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December 6, 2010
Brown adipose tissue (BAT) or brown fat is one of two types of fat or adipose tissue (the other being white adipose tissue) found in mammals. It is especially abundant in newborns and in hibernating mammals. Its primary function is to generate body heat without requiring the body to shiver. In contrast to white adipocytes (fat cells), which contain a single lipid droplet, brown adipocytes contain numerous smaller droplets and a much higher number of mitochondria, which contain iron and make it brown. Brown fat also contains more capillaries than white fat, since it has a greater need for oxygen than most tissues.
Typically, mammals generate heat by shivering. Low temperatures signal muscle groups around vital organs begin to shake in small movements in an attempt to create warmth by expending energy. It produces heat because the conversion of the chemical energy (food) into kinetic energy (motion) is not 100% efficient, causing some of the energy to show up as heat. Brown fat cells use their mitochondria to convert chemical energy directly into heat by altering the movement of protons that pass through them. It was discovered recently that some adults retain a portion of their juvenile brown fat deposits.
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