I join the Smithsonian Institution in celebrating the Fourth of July by sharing these historical stamps from the National Postal Museum‘s collection. The Smithsonian has been preserving America’s history and sharing the stories, ideals and indomitable, innovative spirit that unite all Americans for more than 170 years.
McDonald’s classic double burger is celebrating its 50th birthday with an outdoor and digital ad campaign in Switzerland. The campaign, based on the iconic shape of the signature burger, highlights the differences over the 50 years spanning 1968 and 2018, underscoring Big Mac’s consistency. For example, talk is now chat, airmail is now e-mail, VHS is now mp4, etc., but the Big Mac hasn’t changed.
Total Eclipse of the Sun stamp; Art Director/Designer: Antonio Alcalá. The Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamp uses a photograph of a total solar eclipse captured in Jalu, Libya, on March 29, 2006, by Fred Espenak, a retired NASA astrophysicist at the Goddard Space Flight Center and an eclipse expert.
Awesome. That describes today’s total solar eclipse, the first to sweep across the United States from coast-to-coast in 99 years. Whether you were in the “path of totality”, where you got to experience daytime darkness, or north or south, where you got a glimpse of the “partial eclipse” with those hard-to-find solar eclipse glasses, it was an event that brought millions of people together.
The Total Eclipse of the Sun stamp (above), issued by the United States Postal Service on June 20, 2017, is the first U.S. stamp to use thermochromic ink, which reacts to the heat of your touch. Placing your finger over the black disc on the stamp causes the ink to change from black to clear to reveal an underlying image of the moon (below). The image reverts back to the black disc once it cools. Pretty cool!
My first memory of Eero Saarinen‘s work was going to the top of St. Louis’ Gateway Arch in June 1970, when I was 10 years old. Having grown up in suburban Detroit, I later remember gazing at the futuristic looking Design Dome and Watertower at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan.
Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw The Future, the Season 30 finale of THIRTEEN’s American Masters series, premieres nationwide on Tuesday, December 27 at 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). The film follows Eric Saarinen — Eero’s son, who also served as the director of photography and co-producer — as he visits the sites of his father’s work, including Dulles International Airport; the Gateway Arch, St. Louis; and the TWA Flight Center, John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York. Shot with the latest in drone technology, the film showcases the architect’s body of timeless work in stunning 6K for the first time. (TAP TO WATCH PREVIEW)
More photos of Saarinen’s work:
The Design Dome at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan opened in 1955.
The reflecting pool and UFO-like 14-story stainless-steel water tower at the General Motors Technical Center
The TWA Flight Center opened in 1962 as the original terminal designed by Eero Saarinen for Trans World Airlines at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
On my way to work this morning in Washington, D.C., I grabbed a copy of Express, the daily newspaper published by The Washington Post. The front cover had a photograph of President-elect Donald Trump and President Barack Obama from yesterday’s historic Oval Office meeting. The headline: “AWKWARD.”
On my lunch hour, I happened to walk by the Newseum’s outdoor display of today’s front pages from around the U.S.A. and the world. I couldn’t help but notice that some of the covers had the exact same photo, but with a different headline. Some papers chose to use another photo from the same meeting. The differences were sometimes VERY subtle. It was fascinating.
Objectivity in journalism? Media bias? Optimistic or negative? You be the judge. The newspaper covers below, and more, can be viewed on the Newseum’s web site.
Express, published by The Washington Post, Nov. 11, 2016
Girls over 50 still just want to have fun! Play the cover video below and hear a clip of Cyndi’s version of “Funnel of Love” from her new CD of country classics, Detour. Take the Cyndi Lauper Quiz
— AARP The Magazine for iPad, August-September 2016
As an unhappy child, chef Eric Ripert tasted love in his mom’s cooking. Eric, 51, is the chef at Le Bernardin in New York. His new memoir is 32 Yolks: From My Mother’s Table to Working the Line. (READ MORE + RECIPES)
— AARP The Magazine for iPad, August-September 2016
A new large-format art book, Airline Visual Identity 1945 – 1975, out now from Callisto Publishing, chronicles the so-called “Golden Age of Travel,” with gorgeous, full-page advertisements from giants in the sky like TWA, Air France, and yes, even the real American Airlines.
These vintage posters, many of which illustrate the awe and optimism that shaped the design of the Jet Age, showcase an era when flying was one of the most glamorous things you could do, when passengers dressed to impress and legroom, well, actually existed. (READ MORE)
Joshua Tree National Park in California (Photo from Joshua Tree National Park)
Yellowstone National Park was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, as the nation’s first National Park. (Photo from Yellowstone National Park)
Yosemite National Park in California, established in 1890 (Photo from Yosemite National Park)
The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was my first visit to a National Park. (Photo from Jefferson National Expansion Memorial)
The National Park Service, created by an Act signed by President Woodrow Wilson on August 25, 1916, is celebrating its 100th birthday this summer.
The National Parks is “America’s Best Idea”, according to film producer Ken Burns. Burns’ six-part film series is finishing a repeat airing on PBS this evening. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is the story of “an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.”
I first experienced the beauty and majesty of the National Parks during a four-week, cross-country road trip with my dad, mom, brothers and sister. The six of us pulled out of our driveway in Dearborn, Michigan in a 1970 Ford LTD, hauling a pop-up camper. Our first stop was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. I’ll never forget that trip. Now I live in Washington, DC, with the National Mall and Memorial Parks in my own backyard.
The National Park Foundation and the National Park Service invites everyone to Find Your Park. I hope this post inspires YOU to connect with, enjoy, and support our National Parks!
Arches National Park in Utah (Photo from Arches National Park)
Badlands National Park in South Dakota (Photo from Badlands National Park)
The United States Capitol is at the east end of the National Mall and Memorial Parks. (Creative Commons Photo courtesy of Tyrol5)
Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota (Photo from Mount Rushmore National Memorial)
The Met’s new logo, designed by the London-based global-branding firm Wolff Olins
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a new logo. The Met is now THE MET, the two short words printed in scarlet letters, stacked and squashed together. The Met will also get a new map and fresh signage. In a statement, the museum said that the logo is part of a new graphic language, all rolling out March 1, that’s intended to make the Met “feel more available and accessible to first-time as well as frequent visitors.” (READ MORE)
