Tuesday covid update: no real change at the national level. Delta second wave continues. Serious cases now at 0.1% up from 0.09% last week. Illinois, Penn, NY, continue lead in cases.
Interesting things at state level. Florida still flat, though may be an indication of a slight uptick in cases, but could just be small statistical fluctuation. Georgia site has been not loading for last 6 days. NH now at 60% higher than previous level during alpha wave, but deaths at less than a third of peak. CT cases now at 2/3 of peak high during alpha, but deaths at 1/5 of peak. CT is testing like crazy. Over the past 3 days administered 197,000 tests which is equivalent to 6% of the population. Small wonder they are seeing so many cases. Colorado still showing decline in cases, and deaths plateaued.
Omicron has finally started appearing on the CDC’s variant monitoring. As of the end of last week Omicron is at 2.9%, Delta is at 96.7%, and “Other” is .3%.
The banner photo for this blog shows a pointe shoe. Pretty though it may be, having seen what damage they do to ballerinas’ feet ( especially their toes) I would call pointe shoes an instrument of torture.
Lovely Italian lady in charming 16th century clothes ! I would love to dress like this 😉 Thank you very much for sharing, dear Neo!
tcrosse:
Yes, voluntary torture.
Nonapod, thanks for that link.
Great starting view of a pomegranate, like the 3/4 of one I just ate (left 1/4 for my teen son.)
There’s a Dickens Christmas Faire, where women can dress in Victorian garb, as well as many Renaissance Fairs (or there were some years ago). But I know from Sailer that woke folk are unhappy:
“‘Not a safe space’: Black cast members boycott Dickens Christmas Fair over failure to prevent racist, sexist behavior”
Very nice review of clothes, consistent with the fine series of The Medicis (tho Dustin Hoffman??), which wife and I both enjoyed.
The gentlemen surely appreciated the ladies’ preservation of feminine gender and virtue.
Re: Pointe shoes — effect on feet
Of course, the Chinese set the standard in this area with their foot binding:
_____________________________
To enable the size of the feet to be reduced, the toes on each foot were curled under, then pressed with great force downwards and squeezed into the sole of the foot until the toes broke.
The broken toes were held tightly against the sole of the foot while the foot was then drawn down straight with the leg and the arch of the foot was forcibly broken. The bandages were repeatedly wound in a figure-eight movement, starting at the inside of the foot at the instep, then carried over the toes, under the foot, and around the heel, the freshly broken toes being pressed tightly into the sole of the foot. At each pass around the foot, the binding cloth was tightened, pulling the ball of the foot and the heel together, causing the broken foot to fold at the arch, and pressing the toes underneath the sole. The binding was pulled so tightly that the girl could not move her toes at all and the ends of the binding cloth were then sewn so that the girl could not loosen it…
Immediately after this procedure, the girl’s broken toes were folded back under and the feet were rebound. The bindings were pulled even tighter each time the girl’s feet were rebound. This unbinding and rebinding ritual was repeated as often as possible (for the rich at least once daily, for poor peasants two or three times a week), with fresh bindings.
I read tht several copies were made and the family did receive a portrait. He did keep the original. The great man had reached the pinnacle of his trade with a portrait of a modest lady.
Don’t know if this link will work, but if it doesn’t, just go to YouTube and ask for “Studio C Mona Lisa”. I think it’s one of their funniest sketches.
More fun from a Democratic voter in greater Minneapolis.
“Hey, I’d rather see this video in reverse.”
I wish she’d blown a big raspberry at the end.
@ Zaphod > “I wish she’d blown a big raspberry at the end.”
I expected the video to fade into a shot of the actual painting.
Oh well.
No Orson Welles in that production!
Our Denver museum had a traveling exhibit on Da Vinci a couple of years ago. Lots of reproductions of his inventions, some of which were never constructed at the time; replicas of the paintings, explained by actors costumed to match; and a fascinating look at what’s underneath the Mona’s pigment – allegedly, he overpainted it several times.
Wikipedia cleared up some details I had wondered about – the name of the painting.
“Monna in Italian is a polite form of address originating as ma donna – similar to Ma’am, Madam, or my lady in English. This became madonna, and its contraction monna. The title of the painting, though traditionally spelled Mona in English, is spelled in Italian as Monna Lisa (mona being a vulgarity in Italian), but this is rare in English.[17][18]
…
Mona Lisa has no clearly visible eyebrows or eyelashes, although Vasari describes the eyebrows in detail.[39][a] In 2007, French engineer Pascal Cotte announced that his ultra-high resolution scans of the painting provide evidence that Mona Lisa was originally painted with eyelashes and eyebrows, but that these had gradually disappeared over time, perhaps as a result of overcleaning.[42] Cotte discovered the painting had been reworked several times, with changes made to the size of the Mona Lisa’s face and the direction of her gaze. He also found that in one layer the subject was depicted wearing numerous hairpins and a headdress adorned with pearls which was later scrubbed out and overpainted.[43]”
@ PMB > “Don’t know if this link will work, but if it doesn’t, just go to YouTube and ask for “Studio C Mona Lisa”. I think it’s one of their funniest sketches.”
Thanks!
And a much-needed “good news of the day” post….
“…something that will rekindle your hope for humanity (…mom who figures out a way for her son with cerebral palsy to skateboard for the first time)” https://twitter.com/bostonwriter/status/1470725875633205254
H/T J.E. Dyer twitter feed.
+ The need to keep the tornado victims in hopes and prayers…
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Tuesday covid update: no real change at the national level. Delta second wave continues. Serious cases now at 0.1% up from 0.09% last week. Illinois, Penn, NY, continue lead in cases.
Interesting things at state level. Florida still flat, though may be an indication of a slight uptick in cases, but could just be small statistical fluctuation. Georgia site has been not loading for last 6 days. NH now at 60% higher than previous level during alpha wave, but deaths at less than a third of peak. CT cases now at 2/3 of peak high during alpha, but deaths at 1/5 of peak. CT is testing like crazy. Over the past 3 days administered 197,000 tests which is equivalent to 6% of the population. Small wonder they are seeing so many cases. Colorado still showing decline in cases, and deaths plateaued.
Omicron has finally started appearing on the CDC’s variant monitoring. As of the end of last week Omicron is at 2.9%, Delta is at 96.7%, and “Other” is .3%.
The banner photo for this blog shows a pointe shoe. Pretty though it may be, having seen what damage they do to ballerinas’ feet ( especially their toes) I would call pointe shoes an instrument of torture.
Lovely Italian lady in charming 16th century clothes ! I would love to dress like this 😉 Thank you very much for sharing, dear Neo!
tcrosse:
Yes, voluntary torture.
Nonapod, thanks for that link.
Great starting view of a pomegranate, like the 3/4 of one I just ate (left 1/4 for my teen son.)
There’s a Dickens Christmas Faire, where women can dress in Victorian garb, as well as many Renaissance Fairs (or there were some years ago). But I know from Sailer that woke folk are unhappy:
https://www.unz.com/isteve/the-madness-of-our-times/
“‘Not a safe space’: Black cast members boycott Dickens Christmas Fair over failure to prevent racist, sexist behavior”
Very nice review of clothes, consistent with the fine series of The Medicis (tho Dustin Hoffman??), which wife and I both enjoyed.
The gentlemen surely appreciated the ladies’ preservation of feminine gender and virtue.
Re: Pointe shoes — effect on feet
Of course, the Chinese set the standard in this area with their foot binding:
_____________________________
To enable the size of the feet to be reduced, the toes on each foot were curled under, then pressed with great force downwards and squeezed into the sole of the foot until the toes broke.
The broken toes were held tightly against the sole of the foot while the foot was then drawn down straight with the leg and the arch of the foot was forcibly broken. The bandages were repeatedly wound in a figure-eight movement, starting at the inside of the foot at the instep, then carried over the toes, under the foot, and around the heel, the freshly broken toes being pressed tightly into the sole of the foot. At each pass around the foot, the binding cloth was tightened, pulling the ball of the foot and the heel together, causing the broken foot to fold at the arch, and pressing the toes underneath the sole. The binding was pulled so tightly that the girl could not move her toes at all and the ends of the binding cloth were then sewn so that the girl could not loosen it…
Immediately after this procedure, the girl’s broken toes were folded back under and the feet were rebound. The bindings were pulled even tighter each time the girl’s feet were rebound. This unbinding and rebinding ritual was repeated as often as possible (for the rich at least once daily, for poor peasants two or three times a week), with fresh bindings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_binding
_____________________________
A horror.
Hey, I’d rather see this video in reverse.
I read tht several copies were made and the family did receive a portrait. He did keep the original. The great man had reached the pinnacle of his trade with a portrait of a modest lady.
Don’t know if this link will work, but if it doesn’t, just go to YouTube and ask for “Studio C Mona Lisa”. I think it’s one of their funniest sketches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djNvwVxi2mw
Hope you enjoy it too.
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2021/12/14/instacart-driver-runs-over-groceries-blaine-pro-police-sign/
More fun from a Democratic voter in greater Minneapolis.
“Hey, I’d rather see this video in reverse.”
I wish she’d blown a big raspberry at the end.
@ Zaphod > “I wish she’d blown a big raspberry at the end.”
I expected the video to fade into a shot of the actual painting.
Oh well.
No Orson Welles in that production!
Our Denver museum had a traveling exhibit on Da Vinci a couple of years ago. Lots of reproductions of his inventions, some of which were never constructed at the time; replicas of the paintings, explained by actors costumed to match; and a fascinating look at what’s underneath the Mona’s pigment – allegedly, he overpainted it several times.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/french-scientist-says-mona-lisa-hiding-portrait-another-woman-180957485/
Wikipedia cleared up some details I had wondered about – the name of the painting.
“Monna in Italian is a polite form of address originating as ma donna – similar to Ma’am, Madam, or my lady in English. This became madonna, and its contraction monna. The title of the painting, though traditionally spelled Mona in English, is spelled in Italian as Monna Lisa (mona being a vulgarity in Italian), but this is rare in English.[17][18]
…
Mona Lisa has no clearly visible eyebrows or eyelashes, although Vasari describes the eyebrows in detail.[39][a] In 2007, French engineer Pascal Cotte announced that his ultra-high resolution scans of the painting provide evidence that Mona Lisa was originally painted with eyelashes and eyebrows, but that these had gradually disappeared over time, perhaps as a result of overcleaning.[42] Cotte discovered the painting had been reworked several times, with changes made to the size of the Mona Lisa’s face and the direction of her gaze. He also found that in one layer the subject was depicted wearing numerous hairpins and a headdress adorned with pearls which was later scrubbed out and overpainted.[43]”
@ PMB > “Don’t know if this link will work, but if it doesn’t, just go to YouTube and ask for “Studio C Mona Lisa”. I think it’s one of their funniest sketches.”
Thanks!
And a much-needed “good news of the day” post….
“…something that will rekindle your hope for humanity (…mom who figures out a way for her son with cerebral palsy to skateboard for the first time)”
https://twitter.com/bostonwriter/status/1470725875633205254
H/T J.E. Dyer twitter feed.
+ The need to keep the tornado victims in hopes and prayers…