Jack Gilbert’s debut was a phenomenon. When he first appeared on the literary scene — winning the prestigious Yale Younger Poets prize in 1962 for “Views of Jeopardy” — he was accorded a measure of celebrity that even today’s media-savvy luminaries would envy. (How many other poets find their photos featured in Esquire, Vogue and Glamour?) He was hailed for his unique voice and sensibility and, rising from the gritty landscape of industrial Pittsburgh, for taking a bold stance counter to the prevailing fashions. Read full article > >

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Book World: In Jack Gilbert’s ‘Collected Poems,’ a pen that cuts deep

The way researchers assess urban ecology needs to change in order to take into account the unique way modern cities are expanding, a study suggests.

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Urban ecology ‘needs to change’

Today is the eleventh day. Of the eleventh month. Of the eleventh year. 11/11/11. You could read this piece at 11:11 — a.m. or p.m. — and your mind could be sandblasted with the amazingness of it all, with the unique, symmetrical way that the universe seems to have fallen in line. It’s probably time to find lots of meaning in randomness, to call up the experts and ask what it all signi— Read full article > >

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11/11/11 is a divine date for many interested in numbers

As protesters outside St Paul’s Cathedral put the Corporation of London in the spotlight, Marc Ashdown examines the unique institution that has governed the square mile for two centuries.

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VIDEO: The City: A state within a state

A Filipino traffic cop has become a street sensation after delighting drivers and pedestrians with his unique dance moves when directing traffic in the capital Manila.

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VIDEO: Dancing cop stops traffic

Handmade, super-cute knit products from a renaissance woman It’s a rare thing these days to find a fashion label that truly stands out for originality and design. It’s even less common to find one that is not only made locally but also made by hand by the name behind the brand. ALL Knitwear is lovingly made by Annie Larson, a blogger and knit enthusiast, in her Minneapolis shop. We caught up with Larson for a chat about knitwear, color and tangible inspiration. Who is behind the label? ALL knitwear is a one-woman operation. I launched the label and online shop in April 2010 and have updated the selection seasonally since then. All of the pieces are made-to-order by me within two weeks of the order being placed. In addition to producing each piece, I manage all of the photography and website administration. I write every email personally to each customer—it’s always me on the other end! What’s with the name, ALL? A.L.L. are my initials, standing for Annie Lee Larson. It also doubles as a description for what you can expect from the label, it’s all knitwear! Where do you source design inspiration? I visit many corners of the Internet for daily doses in fashion and culture. I am often inspired by people and personalities and places. I have suddenly become interested in magazines again, craving more tactile inspiration. Where do you produce the knitwear? In my storefront studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. I have a Brother 910 Electroknit knitting machine, which uses mylar sheets and a special pencil to graph the patterns I use in my designs. Every morning, I wake up at 7:30am, drink coffee, eat oatmeal, write emails, and then knit for the rest of the day. I like to link the pieces together in the evening because it’s a quiet activity and it feels right then. Where are you stocked and what’s next for you? Currently I am stocked by Dagmar Rousset in Melbourne, Australia, as well as my online store. In the coming months I will also have stock available at the General Store in San Francisco and Douglas + Bec in New Zealand. I have some travel plans coming up in May, and have been starting the process of a potential move to New York City next fall. In between all of that, I will just keep knitting every day.

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ALL Knitwear

An exhibition at the National Army Museum looks at the unique challenges war places on a relationship.

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VIDEO: Love letters from British soldiers

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has a large collection of automobiles — 73 — in its collection. But with the mission of collecting and preserving the entire heritage of the United States inside of one building on the National Mall, the museum’s curators don’t have the room required to display all of these machines. A new project allows you to vote for the two items you want to see rolled out of storage and showcased. Even if you don’t vote or live near the museum, this unique week-long series of eight iconic artifacts will provide you with a quick history of the American automobile. — This post was originally published on the National Museum of American History’s  “O Say Can You See?” blog . It is republished here with permission. It was written by Art Molella, the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson director of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. See more posts about the Smithsonian . This is Futurama! In  my last blog post , I took you on a brief tour of the Eco-City scene in China, in the northern area around Beijing. I wish, though, that I had been able to travel south to Shanghai to visit World Expo 2010, which closed at the end of October. Its theme of “Better City, Better Life” featured the Eco-City among technology-driven urban futures, not only in China but globally. World’s fairs, at least for the past century or so, have been all about material progress and imagining technological futures, and the one in Shanghai was no exception. This idea of “inventing the future” was loudly voiced in the early 1900s by the emerging Modernist movement. Two of the cruelest realities of early Modernism were the First World War and ensuing Great Depression. Clearly, the future seemed a better place (if you didn’t foresee the coming of the next world war just down the road). The future itself became a place of invention, in large part because it freed one from the shackles of present reality. A virtual tour through the  World Expo 2010 website  offers evidence of this continuing theme of inventing the future. I was most fascinated by Zone E, containing the ” Pavilion of the Future ,” where visitors were invited “to imagine what cities will be like in the future.” Prospective scenarios were represented in five “dreamlike street settings” — Ecological City, City of Wisdom, City of Water, Space City, and City of Energy. Among the possibilities presented were Low-Carbon City and Harmonious Environment, the latter a testament to the Chinese recognition of the “spiritual elements that have always driven human progress.” Similarly, the SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) – General Motors pavilion  looked at how vehicles will change cities in 2030, predicting a new role for the car, scientifically redesigned to meet future energy, environmental, and communications needs. The car is seen as bringing people face to face, not virtually, but physically, thus becoming an “emissary for love.” I liked this chaste view of the car’s romantic possibilities. Shanghai’s World Expo 2010 was clearly in the grand tradition of the 1939 New York World’s Fair theme of “World of Tomorrow.” There, too, the automobile took center stage with the famous theme ride created for the General Motors Corporation by industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes. “Futurama” gave visitors a picture of the car-dominated–but traffic-free–world of 1960 as they glided in speaker-equipped armchairs over an enormous model of rural land- and cityscapes dotted with Modernist skyscrapers, interlaced by multilane highways coursing through country and city alike that cleared away slums and derelict industrial sites in their paths. Showing some prescience, cars were equipped with radio transponders to maintain safe distance between each other, while special flyways put them above and out of the way of pedestrians and buildings. Though self-driving cars are now appearing in an experimental way (notably, the driverless  Google Car ), it is amazing how much of Futurama’s scenario actually came true. So successful was this exhibit with visitors that Futurama II was created for the 1964 New York World’s Fair (built on the same site in Queens as the 1939 fair). In this space-age exhibition about “man’s achievement on a shrinking globe in an expanding universe,” “tomorrow” is sixty years into the future in 2024. Now the ride offered visions of life deep beneath the sea, in the Antarctic, in outer space, and even on the moon. Hovering satellites looked down at earth and “lunar rovers” roamed, looking amazingly like what eventually came to pass. Films shown at the fair foretold endless material progress through mineral discoveries and agricultural innovations in these new frontiers on and beyond earth. This fair also had the benefit of the imagination — and animatronics — of Walt Disney, no mean inventor in his own right. Carrying forward this tradition, Matt Groening (the mad genius behind  The Simpsons ) named his acclaimed animated series  Futurama  after the original world’s fair attraction. It is set in  New  New York at the turn of the 31st century, where robots live among us humans, albeit sometimes uneasily. But, important to note, the four-wheeled car, so important to past Futuramas, has mostly disappeared, replaced by jet-powered personal vehicles, hovercraft, and a network of tubes that transport people instantly from place to place. Yes, rest assured that a thousand years from now the future will still be a place of invention. Art Molella is Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Director of the  Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation  at the National Museum of American History. Images: 1. “Pavilion of the Future” at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Wikimedia Commons; 2. One of the official guidebooks to the 1939 New York World’s Fair, on display in the Science in American Life exhibition at the Museum, courtesy of Division of Medicine and Science, National Museum of American History; 3. Visitors on the Futurama II ride at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, still from a film, courtesy of captainlarrydart and YouTube. More from the “Oh Say Can You See?” Blog : Smithsonian Celebrates COBOL’s 50th Anniversary With New Site Taking Care of Your Personal Archives How Does the Smithsonian Collect Artifacts?

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Inventing the Future: Shanghai’s World Expo 2010

A friend of mine sent me the video below as an expansion on our conversation around cable news. It’s a discussion from the 1980s about why Noam Chomsky had never been on Nightline. I dislike many of the sweeping generalizations which Chomsky makes at the end. Still, there’s an interesting debate here about “intellectuals who can talk on TV.” Talking on TV means concision, making your point directly, and pointedly, in a short amount of time. But Chomsky points out that “concision” actually favors the spouting of conventional thinking.  So for instance, making this specific to me, let’s say I go on television and say “We can salute the bravery of the Confederate Army, while deploring their aims.” This is a fairly conventional point which relies on relatively established mores. They are, in this case, 1.) Slavery was bad 2.) The men who died at Gettysburg, Antietam, and Vicksburg on both sides, were brave. Or some such. Moreover it makes me sound fair-minded in my willingness to allow for a kind of moral out for all sides, regardless of their sympathies.  But let’s say I go on television and say, “Confederate bravery is neither unique, nor in and of itself, praise-worthy. Mohammad Atta was brave. The kamikazes were brave. But bravery in service of evil should never be commemorated.” This is a problem. Even in writing it, I’ve had to take up more space then the previous assertion. Likely, I could edit it down to a sentence or two. But I leave it this way to show how much space and time it takes me to make the more contentious point, one that challenges our accepted thinking, (the 9/11 bombers were brave) and leaves no room for an honorable retreat. Pushing the point further, I could, as was done the other night, simply call the firing on Fort Sumter a terrorist attack. This is almost certainly untrue, but it incites our visceral disgust for terrorism and thus leaves the point of commemorating implicit.  To be, all at once, accurate, concise and emotive strikes me as a difficult task, and I agree with Chomsky that it’s especially difficult when you’re going against the grain. That said, I’m not convinced that it’s a challenge which academics and intellectuals should avoid, or even have the luxury of avoiding. Surely concision, favors the simple and conventional, but this is as true in writing as it is talking on cable news. The problem is that intellectuals are (hopefully) trained to write. They aren’t trained to talk. Going into the next few years, we need historians debating the Civil War’s causes not “liberal columnists” who could just as easily be debating health care or TARP. I’m a liberal, but I don’t really see how pointing out that the South seceded to preserve and expand slavery necessarily leads to an argument for single-payer health care. I mean, I hope it does. But there’s no real reason why it has to.

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Concision and the Public Intellectual

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has a large collection of automobiles — 73 — in its collection. But with the mission of collecting and preserving the entire heritage of the United States inside of one building on the National Mall, the museum’s curators don’t have the room required to display all of these machines. A new project allows you to vote for the two items you want to see rolled out of storage and showcased. Even if you don’t vote or live near the museum, this unique week-long series of eight iconic artifacts will provide you with a quick history of the American automobile. This post was originally published on the National Museum of American History’s  “O Say Can You See?” blog . It is republished here with permission. It was written by Roger White, the museum’s associate curator in the division of work and industry. See more posts about the Smithsonian .   Race to the Museum: GM Sunraycer Solar Car, 1987 Does alternative energy have a future in personal transportation? Decades of proposals and experiments have made many people wonder whether we will ever drive to the office, shopping center, or Disney World without filling up at the pump. Whether we notice it or not, designers of alternative energy vehicles are constantly rolling out new types of experimental vehicles that push the envelope a bit further. Take the Sunraycer, for example. In 1987, General Motors accepted the challenge of entering a 1,864-mile solar car race across Australia. GM partner AeroVironment, founded by human- and solar-powered aircraft innovator Paul MacCready, designed and assembled an amazingly lightweight, aerodynamic solar-electric vehicle with a body made of Kevlar and Nomex, satellite-type solar cells, silver-zinc Hughes batteries, and a GM Magnequench motor. The tubular aluminum body frame weighs an incredible 14 pounds, and total weight is just 390 pounds. Sunraycer could achieve speeds up to 70 miles per hour and won the race hands-down. Will motorists ever drive cars like the Sunraycer? Maybe. But more importantly, Sunraycer’s power control technologies paved the way for other types of electric vehicles that are closer to becoming everyday transportation. Roger White is Associate Curator in the Division of Work and Industry at the National Museum of American History. More Race to the Museum posts : Race to the Museum: Glasspar Sports Car, 1953 Race to the Museum: Tucker Sedan, 1948 Race to the Museum: Miller Race Car, 1929 Race to the Museum: Oldsmobile Curved-Dash Runabout, 1903 Race to the Museum: Balzer Automobile, 1894 Race to the Museum: Long Steam Tricycle, About 1880 Race to the Museum: Voting Opens Dec. 21

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Race to the Museum: GM Sunraycer Solar Car, 1987

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has a large collection of automobiles — 73 — in its collection. But with the mission of collecting and preserving the entire heritage of the United States inside of one building on the National Mall, the museum’s curators don’t have the room required to display all of these machines. A new project allows you to vote for the two items you want to see rolled out of storage and showcased. Even if you don’t vote or live near the museum, this unique week-long series of eight iconic artifacts will provide you with a quick history of the American automobile. This post was originally published on the National Museum of American History’s  “O Say Can You See?” blog . It is republished here with permission. It was written by Roger White, the museum’s associate curator in the division of work and industry. See more posts about the Smithsonian .   Race to the Museum: Glasspar Sports Car, 1953 Curves, fun, and low cost — that was the appeal of a Glasspar sports car. Bill Tritt, a California boat builder, began producing American versions of European sports cars as an extension of his fiberglass boatbuilding business. Fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) craft methods made it relatively easy for Tritt to enter the new car market, avoiding a huge investment in dies and presses. The result was spectacular: a sculpted, Jaguar-like creation that appealed to car enthusiasts because of its sporty looks and affordability. Tritt’s innovation introduced the concept of the personal car and proved that fiberglass — tough, rustproof, and easy to repair — made good car bodies. Tritt advised General Motors on the 1953 Corvette fiberglass-body sports car, an even bigger commercial success. Today a dedicated corps of enthusiasts document the histories and whereabouts of hundreds of Glasspar sports cars built in the early 1950s. One enthusiast, Dale Dutton, generously donated his Glasspar to the National Museum of American History in 1996. I attended a memorable luncheon with Dale and Bill in the museum soon after the car went on display. It’s a rare experience to meet the person who originated any vehicle, especially one that started a revolution. Roger White is Associate Curator in the Division of Work and Industry at the National Museum of American History. More Race to the Museum posts : Race to the Museum: Tucker Sedan, 1948 Race to the Museum: Miller Race Car, 1929 Race to the Museum: Oldsmobile Curved-Dash Runabout, 1903 Race to the Museum: Balzer Automobile, 1894 Race to the Museum: Long Steam Tricycle, About 1880 Race to the Museum: Voting Opens Dec. 21

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Race to the Museum: Glasspar Sports Car, 1953

From Benromach to Yoichi, a definitive guide to whisky by one of the industry’s more illustrious tipplers In his new book ” 101 Whiskies to Try Before you Die ” whisky expert Ian Buxton poses the fun challenge of learning about whisky by drinking a lot of whisky. Having the enviable job of working in the whisky industry for over two decades, as a consultant, Marketing Director of a world-famous single malt, and builder of several distillery visitor centers, he learned the ins and outs of whisky and the people who make it. In this book, he shares his wisdom and some entertaining details along the way. Over a golden dram of Highland Park 50 at its Harrods launch in London earlier this year, we talked scotch with the book’s illustrious author. Buxton’s love of whisky led him to write this book not as “an awards list,” but rather as the definitive “guide to 101 whiskies that enthusiasts should try” to complete their education. He focuses generally on bottles that are neither obscure nor prohibitively expensive. Buxton’s love of whisky jumps off of the page with each story he has to tell about the geography of Scotland, the history of distilleries, the stories behind some of the unique companies that create award-winning blends. Of the whiskies included in the book, 72 are from Scotland while the rest hail from Ireland, England, Japan, Sweden, Canada, India and the U.S. From insider details about distilleries he visited on his honeymoon to honest disclosures about companies he worked for, 101 Whiskies is full of anecdotes that make what could otherwise be a dry who’s-who into a page-turner. From three types of the brown tipple created in small batches by Compass Box to impressions of the impossibly hip Monkey Shoulder site, he covers it all with wit and a balanced perspective. While some brands are accessible like the Macallan 10 and Makers Mark, more exclusive labels make the cut when Buxton feels they’re worth the money, which includes Johnny Walker’s Blue Label George V Edition and the surprisingly delicate Highland Park 40. All of this variety turns the book into a whisky-fueled journey through tasting these 101 whiskies into both a inspiring travel guide and an education in scotch, whisky, whiskey, bourbon, rye and new make spirit (whisky before it’s been aged). Buxton always makes sure to prioritize the actual liquor itself, adding his own DIY suggestions for some of the packaging, such as the posh wooden box for the Dewar’s Signature that could become “a handy coffin for a pet hamster or gerbil.” Though he’s similarly skeptical about Basil Hayden’s copper belt, he likes the contents. Buxton does have a few preferred places for drinking whisky, including Edinburgh’s Bramble Bar, The Pot Still in Gasgow, the Highlander in Craigellachie, NYC’s The Brandy Library and in London, The Athenaeum Hotel or Albannach and Salt. And if there was to be a 102nd bottle? “Probably some moonshine from the hills, but we don’t want everyone to know and the cops to visit the guy.” “101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die” sells online from Amazon and will be available December 2010 from Powells . Sl

In Kentucky, more than 750 horses from over 50 countries are competing at the World Equestrian Games. Joanne Eccles from Scotland is the current European Champion and took us inside her unique sport.

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An inside look at equestrian vaulting

Artists band together in an altruistic exhibition to help close the American education gap The creative and influential group of artists and activists behind Re:Form School have a very specific goal—to transform public schools and help students flourish. Their desire to reinvent the American public education system has inspired countless hours and tireless determination to create a major group art exhibition, as well as a public awareness campaign. From 9-11 October 2010, the Re:Form School show will bring together the work of more than 150 artists including Gary Baseman, Michel Gondry, Simone Legno, Mike Perry, Phil Lumbang III, Ron English, Jermaine Rogers, Joe Ledbetter, Lisa Congdon, Sage Vaughn and Shepard Fairey. A myriad of school-themed pieces fill the exhibition space, a school building in Manhattan. Eric Anderson is busy filling a chalkboard with his images and words. Mixed-media artist Erik Otto decided to build a school bus created from reclaimed materials. With wheels he brought from San Francisco and driver’s seat is fashioned from a wooden school chair, Otto is creating a structure that can be rolled around during the show. Sonja Rasula from Unique LA is turning the principal’s office into a store filled with handmade items and unique crafts. The Re:Form School mission statement offers these words of hope: “We believe every child should be allowed the opportunity to shine and thrive. They should feel safe, challenged and excited to learn. They should be encouraged to bring creativity, imagination and innovation into our future.” Re:Form School is a REDU project aiming to find ways for rethinking, reforming, and rebuilding the education system. They hope this weekend’s art show will galvanize communities and encourage support for Urban Arts Partnership , Teach for America , Donors Choose and Rock the Vote . Ultimately Re:Form School hopes the show this weekend will motivate people to find teaching and mentoring opportunities as well and to donate their time and money and help transform the education system. Re:Form School is open to the public beginning 9 October 2010 through 11 October 2010 between the hours of 10am-6pm.

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Re:Form School

Haroon Zafaryab tells the BBC’s Nicola Pearson his unique wheel clamping experience, “I stayed in the car for about 30hrs and they were looking to charge me £4,000″

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Driver’s 30hr protest over wheel clamp