The first thing Rosamond Purcell photographed at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology back in the 1980s was a pangolin, or scaly anteater, with “armor-like overlapping limpet shells and rapier claws.” The animal caught her eye because of its resemblance to a pinecone, so she placed a pinecone in the frame.A seed was planted, and Purcell has since shot hundreds of photos at the MCZ alone — thousands more in her wide-ranging career. Purcell is speaking Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Harvard Museum of Natural History about the MCZ’s role in her evolution as an artistMost of Purcell’s first photographs in the mid-70s were portraits of friends. Looking for a challenge, she wondered what would happen if she took photos of subjects she disliked or feared. Enter the MCZ. “I thought if I focused my lens on something that really gives me the creeps, I’d be getting somewhere.”,Her eye for the surreal poetry of decay and startling visual analogies has earned her acclaim. Her work has been displayed in science and art museums all over the world and recently she was the subject of a documentary, “An Art That Nature Makes.” She has written or illustrated some 20 books, three of which grew out of her 17-year collaboration with the late Harvard evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould.“He gave a scientific legitimacy to things I was looking at as evocative images,” Purcell said, noting Gould often described their collaboration as “backwards.” Usually a scientist commissions an artist — “draw this or take a photo of that” — but Gould wrote text explaining the scientific principles underlying Purcell’s photographs.What follows is a small sample of Purcell’s photographs, many captured at the MCZ. Most are taken from her first book with Gould, “Illuminations: A Bestiary.” With one exception, the quotes that describe them are Purcell’s. “The crocodile [below] does not stop growing until it dies of old age. In this photograph, the skull has been placed in the sun so that the shadow of its teeth lend an extended dimension to this portrait.”,“I originally went to the MCZ as a photographer in search of subject matter not easy to contemplate. This collection of monkeys [below] from the Mammal Department evoked a village under attack. From war, perhaps, or a meteorite.”,“The original termite-damaged book [below], found in a basement at Harvard, was on display when I visited the MCZ in the early 1980s. … I added the fish bones and a page from the Old Testament to evoke the idea of Genesis.”,“This ‘true toad’ [below], imported to eradicate pests in Australia, has no natural predator and became a pest itself. The swollen girth of this toad is magnified by the curvature of the jar of alcohol.”,“As Stephen Gould wrote of this image [below] ‘the soft baby, not yet ready for the rigors of life as a flying machine in a dense medium, retains a more “organic” look.’”,“This translucent, alizarin-stained chameleon [below] is no longer capable of camouflage. But the bone structure within its skin is now available for the scientist to analyze.”,“The skin of this well-preserved fossil [below] seemed like a flatfish caught yesterday, with the light glinting off its stone scales.”,“Here, arrayed like cartoon early worms poking their heads above the ground, we see dark spots at the wing-tips of Samia moths [below] facing each other in two rows.” — Stephen Jay Gould, “Illuminations: A Bestiary”,“This is a second example of a cleared and stained mammal [below]. Now submerged in glycerin, the bat seems to swim through a liquid ‘sky.’”
Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York TENTH OF DECEMBERBy George SaundersGeorge Saunders, who teaches creative writing at Syracuse University, won a prestigious MacArthur “genius grant” fellowship in 2006.He is wearing the mantle well. This new collection of short stories comes with heavy-hitters on his dust jacket piling on the praise: David Foster Wallace, Zadie Smith, Thomas Pynchon, Tobias Wolff, Dave Eggers, Jennifer Egan and Jonathan Franzen.Maybe Saunders is not a household name—but he deserves to be. His piercingly prescient post-modern sensibility should take America by storm. But in this digital age literary giants are in short supply. So be it.“An amiable perfectionist,” as a reviewer noted, Saunders takes years to finish one story, polishing it to sublime precision for maximum impact. A narrative line from “Home” starts innocently enough and then veers into darkness, as the protagonist reminiscences about his younger sister: “I looked at her and for a minute she was eight and I was ten and we were hiding in the doghouse while Ma and Dad and Aunt Toni, on mushrooms, trashed the patio.”The collection’s title piece, “Tenth of December,” brings together two very different characters one very cold afternoon: a suicidal middle-age cancer patient and a nerdy adolescent misfit living in a fantasy world.The prose packs portents of Beckett, Steinbeck, even Hemingway in its staccato rhythm, and then comes a long, sinuous sentence with lyrical echoes worthy of Fitzgerald. Saunders seizes our time by the jugular.His 10 stories herein cover class envy, subversive politics and suburban satire. He makes us see what we don’t want to see, and laugh when we didn’t think it was possible. Each piece is like an uncomfortable, but irresistible song that immediately grabs a hold so compelling that to break off would cause serious bodily harm.I didn’t think a short story could have that much power.I was wrong.
She made a flurry of allegations of election corruption, although no evidence of systemic fraud that might have influenced the result has emerged. media caption“My message to Republican friends” “This election is not over,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told a news conference. “Far from it.” Top Republicans have largely refused to pressure Mr Trump to concede the election. What is the Trump campaign alleging? – Advertisement – – Advertisement – Ms McEnany told reporters: “We have only begun the process of obtaining an accurate, honest vote count.” Senate leader Mitch McConnell lashed Democrats on Monday over the matter. The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit on Monday in a Pennsylvania federal court, seeking an emergency injunction to stop state officials from certifying Mr Biden’s victory in the state. The state’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro called the lawsuit “meritless”. US President Donald Trump’s allies have vowed the legal battle to contest Joe Biden’s projected presidential election victory is only just beginning. He added: “The president has every right to look into allegations and to request recounts under the law and notably the Constitution gives no role in this process to wealthy media corporations.” According to the Inquirer, some Pennsylvania counties allowed voters to correct mistakes on incorrectly submitted votes, while others did not. Biden tells Americans: I implore you, wear a maskElection results in maps and charts The General Services Administration, which manages federal agencies, has held off on allowing Biden aides to formally begin the transition, saying no “ascertainment” on an election winner had yet been made. On Monday, the US Department of Justice reportedly authorised state prosecutors to investigate alleged voting irregularities in the presidential election. Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said they had collected 131 affidavits, or signed legal statements under oath, in Michigan as part of their investigation into alleged election irregularities. “If the shoe were on the other foot,” she said, “if it were this close the other way, if President Trump was in the lead in all these states, and the media would be screaming, ‘This isn’t over’.” US election 2020
Hunting Buys Enpro Subsea i-Tech and Shell Team Up on Subsea Digitalisation JFMS Names Simon R. James Head of Subsea Operations DOF Subsea in New Contract Awards in Africa Subsea World News has put together a recap of the most interesting articles from the previous week (February 17 – February 23). SGS Acquires Diving Division of TTSA
Milan, In. — The Milan Park Board (Daren Baker Memorial) plans to dedicate the Chester & Ruth Memorial Playground Sunday, July 8 at 2 p.m.Chester and Ruth Baylor lived in Milan for 97 years and passionately supported the Community Christmas Fund, Milan American Legion post 235 and founded the Milan Flag Purchasing Fund.
The 34-year-old Israel international, who has also played for West Ham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal during his time in England, has signed a two-year deal. He joined QPR in December last year and went on to make 16 Championship appearances, during which time he scored three goals as Harry Redknapp’s side secured a return to the Premier League via the play-offs. Press Association QPR midfielder Yossi Benayoun has signed for Maccabi Haifa.
Dubai: Indian para-athlete Sandeep Chaudhary says he will target a medal in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics after he won a gold in javelin F64 with a world record in the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai. Sandeep hurled the javelin to a distance of 66.18m on Friday to better his own world record of 65.80m in F44 category, while Sumit Antil sent the spear to a distance of 62.88m to clinch the silver and better his own F64 world record of 60.45m. With the gold and silver winning performances, both Sandeep and Sumit also qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Under International Paralympic Committee rules, the top four ranked athletes at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in each of the individual medal events on the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Programme (excluding Marathon) will each obtain one qualification slot for their respective country. The F44 and F64 categories were clubbed into one combined event (of F64) in this World Championships. The world records are, however, counted according to the respective classifications of the athletes. The F44 category athletes have leg amputations or reduced function in one or both legs, and they compete without a prothesis. The F64 category athletes have limb deficiency and leg length difference, and they compete with prosthesis. “Winning a medal at Tokyo 2020 is the target,” the 23-year-old Sandeep said. Asked about his plans for 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Sandeep said, “We will try to continue the rhythm. This season I have participated in four events and I finished with gold while Sumit also has some good results. The medal here is certainly a big motivation to continuing the process and keep doing the things we are doing now.”Also Read | Deepa Malik, Paralympics Silver Medalist Awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna On National Sports DayOn his performance in this championships, he said, “I’m very satisfied with my performance as it was also my personal best. I came here with a promise to improve my distance. It was also a new world record in my category so I am really happy about it. Sumit is my junior and is training with me. He is also doing a good job and has worked hard. The new world record will motivate him to do even better. I’m really happy that we made our country proud,” said Sandeep, an Asian Para Games champion. For all the Latest Sports News News, Other Sports News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
When Boston College arrives in the Carrier Dome for a 7 p.m. tip on Wednesday, it will visit Syracuse without being a conference bottom dweller for the first time in a while. BC has upset top-ranked Duke at home and narrowly edged Wake Forest and Florida State, two teams Syracuse failed to close out late in games earlier this season.There’s one aspect of the Eagles (13-7, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) game Syracuse (13-6, 2-4) needs to give extra attention to, SU head coach Jim Boeheim said on Monday’s ACC teleconference.“I don’t think anybody shoots the ball from the 3-point line better than this team,” he said. “They’re extremely good from the 3-point line.”BC ranks tied for eighth in the ACC with a 36.4 percent mark from 3-point land. That weaponizing from beyond the arc, Boeheim said, can mainly be attributed to the development of young players who struggled through tough seasons before. He specifically cited the Eagles’ three players in the backcourt — sophomore Ky Bowman and juniors Jerome Robinson and Jordan Chatman — for their increased production and diversity in skillsets. Each can make plays by putting the ball on the floor or shooting, he said.“They have as good of three offensive players in the backcourt of any team in the league,” Boeheim said.AdvertisementThis is placeholder textHe also praised the team’s “really solid” defense. Under head coach Jim Christian, the Eagles have managed a remarkable turnaround. Last season, BC finished 2-16 in conference play. The season before, 0-18. One player’s best memory of playing on the team was “going out to eat.” Since, Christian has piloted the program upward by taking lightly recruited players — including Bowman, who had a scholarship from Alabama in football — and developing them.In a way, Syracuse’s head coach has handled a level of youth similar to those past BC teams on his own squad this season. The Orange has focused more on parts of the game that veterans would usually already know, Boeheim said, like positioning or the finer points in the team’s offensive and defensive schemes.“This team needs more basic, fundamental teachings of what we’re trying to do,” he said. “That’s to be expected. …. This team is probably the youngest team we’ve ever had. We’re constantly trying to reinforce the fundamental things we need to do to win.”Other notes from Boeheim’s teleconference:Boeheim’s salary could force SU to pay thousands of dollars in additional taxes every year as part of the Republican Party’s tax overhaul plan. Asked for his thoughts on lawmakers’ decision to target college coaches to make up for the plan’s cuts, Boeheim said, “I don’t have much of a feeling on that. I don’t understand exactly what this is all about, really. It’s beyond me.” Read the full story about the tax plan’s implications on SU here.Boeheim was asked about Howard Garfinkel, the high school basketball scout who ran the popular Five-Star Basketball Camp. Garfinkel died on May 7, 2016, and on Saturday, Feb. 3, Madison Square Garden will host the inaugural “The Garf” event in his honor, when St. John’s plays Duke. Here’s what he said about Garfinkel: “(Garfinkel) once called us at the end of recruiting and he said, ‘I’ve got a kid for you down here, nobody’s recruiting him and you should.’ I said, ‘Come on,’ but long story short, we recruited him, kid named Greg Kohls. In his senior year, he averaged 24 points per game for us. One of the best long-range shooters I’ve ever seen. And that was without the 3-point line. You never knew when Howard would call, it would be something or somebody. That was the best call I got from Howard.” Comments Published on January 22, 2018 at 1:33 pm Contact Sam: [email protected] | @Sam4TR Facebook Twitter Google+
The third edition of the annual 4-Inch Heel Race competition has been slated for November 15 at the Yaba College of Technology Sports Centre.According to the organisers, DAK Marketing Services Limited, the 4-Inch Heel Race competition is a special sport event aimed at creating excitement, entertainment and confident among young women in Nigeria. It is the first of its king in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.Young Nigerian women between the ages of 15-35 are entitled to participate in the competition wearing 4-inch high heeled shoe to compete in a 100-meter race. Over the last two years, DAK marketing services limited has successfully hosted the competition, with the last edition held at the main bowl of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.Speaking with journalists at a press conference held at the Lagos State Polytechnic, the Managing Director and CEO, DAK Marketing Services Limited, Elder Dede Kalu, stated that the event is geared towards giving young Nigeria women a platform to showcase their talents and also to support their dreams.“This event is aimed at empowering and enlightening young ladies on how to be smart and confidence on high heels. The rationale behind this event is that we are concerned about the numerous injuries ladies encounter almost on a daily basis when walking on the streets wearing high heels because of lack of confidence to walk smartly,” Kalu said.Share this:FacebookRedditTwitterPrintPinterestEmailWhatsAppSkypeLinkedInTumblrPocketTelegram
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has slammed Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah’s performance in their 1-1 draw with West Ham United in Monday’s Premier League encounter.The 23-year-old midfielder was handed his 18th league outing against the Hammers but failed to make significant impact, and also lost his man Michail Antonio who equalised – from a clever free-kick situation – Sadio Mane’s opener. With the result, Manchester City have now closed the gap on Liverpool at the summit of the log to three points.The Reds will hope to bounce back to winning ways when they play host to Bournemouth on Saturday at Anfield. Salah who has continued to impress this season could not add to his 16 league goals despite playing for the entire duration of the game as the Reds dropped two points.And the 41-year-old feels Keita who cost the Anfield outfit £50 million for his transfer from German Bundesliga side RB Leipzig last summer is not justifying the hefty fee while criticising the performance of the Egypt international in the tie.“Keita, who they paid big money for, in midfield keeps losing the ball. Firmino doesn’t seem himself. Salah, we didn’t see anything from him tonight,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.