Still Life Exhibit

Althoug it has already closed, the recent exhibit of "new still life" at the University of Texas at San Antonio deserves attention. The following link takes you to a brief note on the exhibit. http://www.utsa.edu/today/2007/08/stilllife.cfm

Curious learning

"Curious learning," writes Bertrand Russell in his article 'Useless Knowledge', from his book In Praise of Idleness, "not only makes unpleasant things less unpleasant, but also makes pleasant things more pleasant. I have enjoyed peaches and apricots more since I have known that they were first cultivated in China in the early days of the Han dynasty; that Chinese hostages held by the great King Kaniska introduced them into India, whence they spread to Persia, reaching the Roman Empire in the first century of our era; that the word 'apricot' is derived from the same Latin source as the word 'precocious,' because the apricot ripens aerly; and that the A at the beginning was added by mistake, owing to a false etymology. All this makes the fruit taste much sweeter."

Call for Papers

The deadline for sending proposals for papers and sessions for the 5th Conference on Food Representation in Literature, Film and the Arts is coming soon. The response to the call has been encouraging and judging by the quality of the materials submitted we can expect to have a varied and stimulating conference next Spring. In a few days we will be posting here a tentative program for the conference.