Icicle Farm

 Kind of cool, kind of creepy...just don't walk beneath it.

...And I'm Back.

So! Hope everyone's new years have been progressing nicely...mine has been full of snow...but I've taken a good little January hiatus, and will be resuming here with the occasional post, starting with this quote:

“All truth is one. In this light may science and religion labor here together for the steady evolution of mankind from darkness to light; from prejudice to tolerance; from narrowness to broadmindedness.”
Cuthbert W. Pound

Fin.

Well...ta-da!

365 days (more or less) of blogging.  It was strange, it was scary, it was wonderful...hopefully you found something to interest you.

Anyway, I kind of lost track of what I was doing this whole blog thing for, and increasingly there have been times when it has been more of a chore than a pleasure, but when I told certain individuals over Christmas that I was shutting down RecAnth, those individuals got a little distraught, so I've agreed to post every so often, maybe once a week, or once a month, or whenever I come across an intriguing fact, or just when I'm feeling inspired.

And in the meantime I am going to come up with some arguably more worthwhile resolutions this time around, although I'm not going to say what they are (at the risk of my abandoning them next week).

So yes, feel free to check back whenever you like, or not, and have a very happy 2011!

Obscure 80s Weekly

It's only fitting...this should do to carry you over into the new year.

Thursday: Thompson Twins - Doctor Doctor

Friday: Kim Wilde - Kids in America

Saturday: Talking Heads - This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)

Sunday: Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun

Monday: Men at Work - It's a Mistake

Tuesday: Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper

Wednesday: Midge Ure - If I Was

Girly Music Science

...Okay possibly not the best title, but check out this article published not too long ago; it's called, "'Posh music should equal posh dress': an investigation into the concert dress and physical appearance of female soloists" and it is about how a number of women put on different outfits and played music and what people thought about it.

And if you don't have access to the original, here's a short review.

Idiom Du Jour

Today we have, "to pull the wool over one's eyes" - what does it mean and where does it come from?

Well the meaning implies fooling, tricking, or hoodwinking...

The origin, as always, is rather more complex, as the assumption is that the wool being referred to is a woolen wig, fashionable for men and women in the 16th and 17th centuries, but less popular in 1839, the year the phrase is first found on paper.

Silks

Washed: aka watered silk or moire, fabric with a wavy appearance caused either by the warp and weft of the weave or by a treating process known as calendaring.

Chiffon: lightweight, sheer, somewhat puckered, stretchy and rough.

Taffeta: a smooth, stiff, crisp woven fabric known for its sheen and its drape.

Noil: aka raw silk, this is the leftover short fibers from after the spinning process.

Toile: painted or patterned cloth.

Crepe de chine: fabric with either an all-silk warp and weft or else with a silk warp and hard-spun worsted weft; yeah I don't know either.

Habutai: light and sheer with a plain weave, like taffeta but more Asian.

Twill: supple drape with a medium or heavy weight and a muted luster.

Organza: thin, sheer, plainly woven, with no sheen; very similar to taffeta.

Dupioni: shimmering, iridescent, woven from coarse silk fibers and often quite stiff, with a good drape and an ability to resist wrinkles but also hold a crease.

Charmeuse: lightweight and satiny, with a reflective front and a dull back due to the uneven weaving method.

Jacquard: intricately woven and variegated, usually quite geometric or with regular organic motifs.

Brocade: heavy, woven on a shuttle-loom, patterned and colored.