Message Forum

"Hungry Artist"

a performance artist ripped the banana duct-taped to a wall from its delicately positioned perch, ate the banana, and called it "very delicious".

The gastronomical action was proclaimed "art performance" at Miami's Art Basel.

Gallery spokespeople said, "The art work was not destroyed by the performance artist."

"The banana is the idea."

The banana comes with "instructions" that "the banana should be replaced as necessary."

Scott's link, a click away:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/performance-artist-eats-120-000-banana-duct-taped-wall-calls-n1097696?cid=public-rss_20191208

12/08/19 05:13 PM

#1453

Carnivore: "I only eat meat."

Herbivore: "I only eat plants."

Omnivore: "Food is food."

12/09/19 07:02 AM

#1454

We are all septuagenarians. Some of our classmates will live at least 25 more years.

Some of our classmates have children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren(?)

This site gives us the opportuntity to celebrate our classmates and the memories we share, and to move forward in the company and with the perspective of dear friends and acquaintances, looking to the future.

Paul, as you share, the struggle of young artists is storied... crazy as the banana transactions are, if interest in the banana duct-taped to a wall could be measured in $$$, it seems there would be thousands for paint brushes, canvasses, tubes of paint for young artists and for art education.

12/09/19 12:11 PM

#1455

I just wanted to relate an amazing thing that I was part of this past weekend. I had been invited to an engagement party for my niece, Emily (my brother's daughter) & her fiance Brendan at their bldg. in downtown Chicago, by Navy Pier. The party started at 6PM & around 8PM, Emily's brother, Noah, made an announcement that we know you all think that you're here for an engagement party, but we're not going to wait to announce a wedding date, because we're going to do the wedding tonight. There were probably 80-100 people there & everyone was shocked. I actually thought that I hadn't heard him correctly, but I did. My nephew had been ordained by Universal Life Church, to marry people in a specific state, for the nominal fee of $40. They then read their vows, which I really liked when my niece mentioned, in her vows, how much they laugh together all the time. The reason I really liked that, is that at the pizzeria where I work, with many young kids (late teens to early 20s), I have told quite a few of them, that when they are choosing a mate & deciding to settle down, the most important thing to find in a future partner, is a well-developed sense of humor, because they're going to need that down the road, to deal with the inevitable bad things, that will be coming their way. I don't know if any of them got that, but I'm fairly sure, you all do. Don't know if Noah's authority to marry people in Illinois is legal, or not, but they had gone to City Hall in Chicago the day before, & gotten married there. Needless to say, everyone there were not only shocked & stunned, but had (of course) a great time. Well, not everyone there were shocked & stunned, because my brother & his wife, Emily & Brendan, Brendan's parents & Noah & his wife, were all in on it. There was one other person who knew, my daughter, Lauren, who is pretty close with Emily, & she never said a word. I had picked up my stepmother in Buffalo Grove & my daughter (who moved to Bucktown in early August) on the way to the party. I wound up putting on over 100 miles that day, but I didn't really mind, as it was the best wedding I was ever at. After I got home around 11PM , I sent Emily, my brother & Noah texts, telling them all how much I loved what they did & how great the wedding was. When I wasn't sure if I could get that night off from work, my brother told me that if I couldn't get that time off, they were going to have to tell me about the wedding plans. But, I did get the night off & I'm so glad that I did. I would have hated to miss the occasion & how horrible it would have been if I had to call my daughter on Sunday, to see how the engagement party went, only to find out that I had missed my niece's wedding. I had NEVER been to a wedding like that.

12/11/19 12:11 AM

#1456

Happy🎂Birthday, Fran.

Hope your day and the year ahead are filled with love and happiness and light.

For me you are a beacon,

you lead the way to a season that is a celebration of light.

Thanks always for encouragement and support as you beckon us forward...

Happy Birthday and all good wishes, Fran.

Janis

12/11/19 11:38 AM

#1457

Saw this article at Yahoo News yesterday & then heard this story this AM on the Drive radio. "St. John Properties, a Baltimore-based commercial real estate property management and development company, provided a $10 million bonus for its 198 employees to split at its annual holiday party on Dec. 7." 'The [bonus] distribution was based solely on years of service. It had nothing to do with a person's position in the company,' Larry Maykrantz, president of St. John Properties, told 'Yahoo Finance' in a phone interview." "Individual employee bonuses ranged from $100 to $270,000...on average, each employee received about $50,000." "One employee who has been with the company with 44 years received a $270,000 bonus, while a new employee who started earlier this week received a $100 bonus." 'What occurred that night exceeded my expectations tenfold', Maykrantz said. 'It was one of the most incredible experiences I've had in my 40 years of business experience. It literally brought tears to my eyes to hear of all the great potential impact of what we did had on all 198 people.'" By the way, the cause of the bonus was a company goal, set in 2005, to try to double the size of their portfolio from 10 million sq. ft. to 20 million sq. ft. They anticipated it could take 40 yrs.! to accomplish, but they did it in 14 yrs. Oh, Carol, I have seen the spelling of Hannukah & Chanukah (and I'm pretty sure I've seen Hanukah & Channukah & I've probably seen it spelled w/o the final "h"), so I'm of the impression that it is a hard word to misspell. The hard part in pronouncing "Chanukah" or "Channukah", is the guttural "ch" sound, that gives "Chanukah" its authenticity. It's not a hard "ch", as in "cheap", or a soft "ch", as in "charlatan". So, I guess what I'm saying is, I don't care how you spell it, but it might be hilarious to hear you pronounce it. One more thing, Paul, the standard poodle in the photo - is that Maxwell or Marcie? Just wondering.

12/11/19 11:52 AM

#1458

Yes, Carol. It IS disorienting having Xmas in mid-summer. In the Outback (the Aussie one not the steakhouse)it was 106. Today in Perth it was 100 (A record). It is very weird to hear "Walking In a Winter Wonderland" in grocery stores. Weirder still are "flocked" Xmas trees. Really? Why? But I suppose it's no stranger than having everyone driving on

12/11/19 12:05 PM

#1459

...on the wrong side of the road, having buildings cast shadows on their SOUTH side, flipping the light switch down rather than up, and then there's that weird thing with the toilets flushing the wrong way. So Xmas in "July". Well why not? 😚😊

12/11/19 01:22 PM

#1460

Jack, "toilets flushing the wrong way" ? how do they flush ?

Am I correct to understand that Aussies (and all of the Southern Hemisphere) call their hot season winter, and there cold season summer - that season names are universal ? ? ?

12/11/19 09:13 PM

#1461

Frances Garfield (Brown)

Thanks so much for my birthday card. Have a great holiday and enjoy the new ear!!! Thanks again---Fran Brown

12/12/19 09:12 AM

#1462

Ah yes, the toilet bowl drain thing. North of the equator, drains swirl counter-clockwise as they empty. South of the equator they flow the reverse. If you stand exactly on the equator, it drains straight down. Weird, huh?

12/12/19 09:16 AM

#1463

In Australia they still call the hot season between December and April as "summer". Spring seems a little squishier to tie down time-wise. And there is no "fall" though there is an "autumn". Fall is strictly an American word.

12/12/19 09:22 AM

#1464

Spending a week in the Outback (the Aussie one not the steakhouse) was a real mind wash for me. No phone no internet no nothin'. It was my "Walden Pond" experience. Getting in touch with myself and the basics of life. I believe we read Thoreau at Niles but maybe later? Anyone remember?

12/12/19 10:27 AM

#1465

Scott Mermel

Jack -- I remember reading Walden Pond (or most of it) in Senior English class. Not long after, I found myself in Boston as a freshman, so I rented a car and made a sojourn to the actual pond about 15 miles outside the city. I spent an hour or so there in the wilderness and could appreciate Thoreau's writing in a way not even close to the classroom experience. I even brought back a vial of pond water that I presented to Ms. Zelznick (my English teacher) when I returned to visit Niles West during my first Christmas break!

12/12/19 12:48 PM

#1466

Janis, in explication of Jack's post about the toilets in Australia. I believe he gave you some mildly incorrect information. The toilets in the Northern hemisphere drain in a clockwise direction, not counterclockwise as Jack mentioned, & the toilets in Australia (& the entire southern hemisphere) drain in a counterclockwise direction, at least that's how I've always understood it. He also mentioned that at the Equator, the toilets drain straight down. I have no idea about that; I have never heard that, but I do believe that is probably correct. But, I don't really care how toilets drain in the Northern hemisphere, or the Southern hemisphere, or at the Equator (there are so few countries that lie ON the Equator, so who cares?), & all I really care about is that the toilet I'm using flushes when I pull the little handle. Thought this topic needed a little clarification, but if you want to believe that in the Northern hemisphere, the toilets drain in a counterclockwise direction (& opposite in the Southern hemisphere), I don't think that it will affect your toilet habits.

12/12/19 10:20 PM

#1467

Well, Carol, I wouldn't want you to think that I hadn't given the subject a decent amount of thought. And when I did, those were the thoughts I came up with. But, tell the truth, wouldn't you have been surprised (& a little disappointed) if I hadn't expounded so thoroughly? My real point is, if you got even one laugh out of it, it was worth the thought to me!

12/12/19 10:27 PM

#1468

Boris Johnson is elected prime minister of the U.K.

He may be prime minister for a long time, but he may be the last prime minister of a united kingdom. Scots are nationalists too, so are citizens of Northern Ireland.

12/13/19 06:03 AM

#1469

Whoo-boy, Carole. You caught me on that one. Yes, the toilets swirl down in different directions when they drain, depending on which side of the equator you are on. I didn't mean to imply that they belch up at the user like the recent New Zealand volcanoe. I can see how it could have been interpreted that way though. I would have

12/13/19 06:09 AM

#1470

been dinged on that by Mr. Abrams in Senior year English class had I submitted that in an essay. Now, Stewart's mentioning that I had the hemispheres switched led me to do some empirical testing on my own. Unfortunately (for my test), it appears that all of Australia has switched over to ultra-low flush toilets in the 15 years since I lived

12/13/19 06:18 AM

#1471

here. I have been trying to find old-fashioned swirling toilets all day, to no avail. It's a wonder I wasn't arrested. This old Yank madly flushing toilet bowls wherever he went: stores, restaurants, public parks, even museums. As a last resort I checked Wikipedia. And you know what? Stewart was right! And here all these years I believed

12/13/19 06:26 AM

#1472

something that was true. Makes me shudder what other false "truths" in my mind are out there. I'm starting now to question the tooth fairy. And what about that Santa Claus guy?Just how DOES he get around the world in one night? Must have something to do with time zones. Did you know that when you read this it is already tomorrow in AUS?

12/13/19 06:33 AM

#1473

And that's the truth! (said like Lily Tomlin's character, Edith Ann). When I fly back from Sydney I will arrive at approximately the same time I left. Once I flew back from New Zealand and I arrived BEFORE I left. So there are lots of things out there that don't make sense at first, but are absolutely true.. Now about St Nik...

12/13/19 07:30 AM

#1474

Forum to Jack, Forum to Jack - everything OK? you stopped on the cusp... "Now about St Nik... "

"So there are lots of things out there that don't make sense at first, but are absolutely true." "And that's the truth." We can't lose our sense about what is "right" and "wrong". Doing the right thing can be hard.

12/13/19 08:19 AM

#1475

That was a rhetorical ... (dot dot dot) 😊

12/13/19 08:28 AM

#1476