MetaFilter posts tagged with stone

Petoskey Stones or "Crown Jewels"

Deathalicious — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:03:16 -0800

Petoskey Stones are stones of fossilized coral (Hexagonaria percarinata ) that can be found along the shore of Lake Michigan near the town of Petoskey (Population 6,000). Once polished, they can be beautiful, and are often made into jewelry. It is the state stone of Michigan and is celebrated in an annual festival. The origin of the name of the stone, however, is under contention. According to a common story (the one in the Wikipedia article as well as the official booklet provided by the Geological Survey Division of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality), the stones and the town are named after Petosegay, the son of Antoine Carre, a French trader who married an "Indian princess" and later became an honorary chief. His son was born at sunrise, and he held the boy up and gave him the name (Petosegay is traditionally translated as meaning "morning rays"). Later, Petoskey bestowed his name on the (white settler populated) town.^* This story and other legends about the stones have been retold in two childrens' books, The Legend of the Petosky Stone and Tears of Mother Bear which have been strongly criticized by Native critics (both critiques are worth a read). Among the arguments is that "chiefs" and royalty did not exist in that culture, and thus neither the "honorary chief" nor "Indian princess" labels made any sense. There is also the issue that the authors are not Indian and are appropriating or misrepresenting Indian culture. This is more than just quibbling:

Some of us find ourselves so deeply appalled by these books that we actually wash our hands after handling them, trying to perpetually cleanse ourselves.

These stones, are called "crown jewels" and considered sacred by the Anishinaabek people. * Petoskey is coincidentally also a surname given to many of the Indian people in that area by white settlers.

A glistening chunk of pork!

mrducts — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:24:08 -0800

A glistening chunk of pork! In the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan, two of the most famous works on display are the "Meat-shaped Stone" and "Jadeite Cabbage". Made during the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644–1911) these two sculptures are often exhibited together for the appreciation of visitors. At first glance, this meat-shaped piece of stone looks like a luscious, mouth-watering piece of "Tung-p'o meat". Made from banded jasper, it is a naturally occurring stone that accumulates in layers over many years. Via

Sick and Wrong

sensate — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:20:04 -0800

Matt Taibbi takes a look at the health care reform circus in Congress. It doesn't come off looking much better than Goldman Sachs. (more inside) Another favor to industry buried in the bills involves the issue of choice. From the outset, Democrats have been careful to make sure that a revamped system would not in any way force citizens to give up their existing health care plans. As Obama told the American Medical Association in June, "If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what." That sounds great, particularly in conjunction with the new set of standards for employer-provided insurance outlined in the House version of reform. Under the bill — known as HR 3200 — employers must provide "essential benefits" to workers or face a stiff penalty. "Essential benefits" includes elements often missing in the fly-by-night plans offered by big employers: drug benefits, outpatient care, hospitalization, mental health, the works. If your employer does not offer acceptable coverage, you then have the right to go into one of the state-run insurance "exchanges," where you can select from a number of insurance plans, including the public option. There's a flip side, though: If your employer offers you acceptable care and you reject it, you are barred from buying insurance in the insurance "exchange." In other words, you must take the insurance offered to you at work. And that might have made sense if, as decreed in the House version, employers actually had to offer good care. But in the Senate version passed by the HELP committee, there is no real requirement for employers to provide any kind of minimal level of care. On the contrary, employers who currently offer sub-par coverage will have their shitty plans protected by a grandfather clause. Which means … "If you have coverage you like, you can keep it," says Sen. Sanders. "But if you have coverage you don't like, you gotta keep it."

Living legend

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:27:59 -0800

Let's slide over to KCRW for an interview with Sly Stone, who, happily, is continuing his gradual reemergence into the public eye. Then howsabout we rewind to 1974, just a few months after the incredible Fresh was released, for another (albeit odd and somewhat awkward) interview on the Mike Douglas Show. And yeah, Sly Stone, we definitely want you to stay. Interspersed throughout the KCRW interview you'll hear musical selections "Hot Fun in the Summertime", a very young and very soulful Sylvester Stewart, along with his family gospel group The Stewart Four, performing "Walking in Jesus' Name" (at 7:04), "Everyday People", "Family Affair", the hilarious "Space Cowboy" (Sly YODELS!), the utterly charming "Running Away", winner of the most-unlikely-cover-ever award "Que Sera Sera", and "If You Want Me To Stay". The interview closes with Sly's brilliantly funky syncopated masterpiece "In Time". What a treat. The CNN article mentioned Stone's daughter, Novena, and her project, Babystone. Not a whole lot out there on the nets yet, but here's a CD Baby page for her release, where you can hear some audio snippets, and a live clip on YouTube. Hmm...

A Moment in Time

nola — Mon, 11 May 2009 17:53:18 -0800

AronRa has done some really nice YouTube vids on science (previously). In this latest vlog An Archaeological Moment in Time, he take(s) a look at how different societies are advancing at different rates on the same date in the distant past.

Art is everywhere

tellurian — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:54:06 -0800

Mingei is a transcultural word which combines the Japanese words for all people (Min) and art (Gei). The site has a flash interface and features over 5,000 high resolution, zoomable objects. More information on the Mingei Movement.

Please enjoy the stone sculptures of Hirotoshi Itoh

boo_radley — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 09:27:05 -0800

Please enjoy the stone sculptures of Hirotoshi Itoh

It's a bird, it's a plane... its su... wait, nope not him.

flipyourwig — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:57:52 -0800

Here's Razorhawk a superhero who also wrestles and makes suits for other superheroes. This is Master Legend who recently had an article published in Rolling Stone about him. Meet Superhero who patrols the streets of Clearwater, Florida in his custom Corvette. They call themselves real-life superheroes. A documentary film featuring them has the first 10 minutes free online at google video. More clips of real-life superheroes here. Happy New Years everyone and stay safe.

We feed babies our insanity

Alex404 — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:44:40 -0800

The Stone of Folly is a wonderful stop motion animation released in 2002. Luckily, for those of us who don't own a copy, it was shown on the Canadian short film show Bravo!Fact Presents. Their website contains a treasure trove of Canadian short film (check the linked video).

A Break From The Insanity

SeizeTheDay — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:54:00 -0800

Here's an article and slideshow to help escape the worries of the world. A great article and slideshow about the Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu (Southeastern India). (NYTimes)

L’shloshet yamin: “In three days you will know that evil will be defeated by justice”

orthogonality — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:27:44 -0800

Gabriel’s Revelation: “This should shake our basic view of Christianity... His mission is that he has to be put to death by the Romans to suffer so his blood will be the sign for redemption to come... This is the conscious view of Jesus himself. This gives the Last Supper an absolutely different meaning.”

"It took 1.1 milliseconds!" Yao exclaims. "Yeah, that's me!"

The Card Cheat — Fri, 16 May 2008 08:18:04 -0800

China's All-Seeing Eye. Naomi Klein's piece in the May 29th edition of Rolling Stone details how China is building the prototype for a high-tech police state with the help of U.S. defense contractors. And it's a growth market!

The Stone Roses - Blood on the Turntables

Item — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 15:21:48 -0800

"November the 23rd, 1989, and possibly the most influential British guitar band of the last twenty years were making their debut on Top of the Pops. The group were Manchester's the Stone Roses. Having just released one of the most acclaimed debut albums of all time, they had the world at their feet. But then it all went horribly wrong. Within a few short years, the Stone Roses had split."

Sensational Stone Roses BBC documentary Blood on the Turntables in one two three four five six parts.

scholar's rocks

nickyskye — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:09:52 -0800

Known as scholar's rocks or gongshi, viewing stones are rocks of complex shapes that suggest worlds within worlds, microcosms in stone. In Japan they are called Suiseki, from the Japanese characters for water "sui" and stone "seki", placed on a daiza, a carved wood base. They are at once a miniature landscape and a point of imaginative departure…

The boundary stones of Washington DC.

Wolfdog — Wed, 09 May 2007 10:48:58 -0800

The boundary stones of Washington DC.

Have a wine cooler on us!

zardoz — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 02:20:19 -0800

Your Studio and You. (google video, 14 mins). A short parody of Universal Studios by Matt Parker and Trey Stone in deadpan (and spot-on) 1950s-educational-film style. Very funny cameos by Steven Spielberg, Demi Moore, Tracy Lords, James Cameron, Michael J. Fox, and Sylvester Stallone, among others.

Secret James Bond Rock cost Millions

jfrancis — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 17:04:55 -0800

A fake stone packed with sophisticated British spy devices sparks a UK / Russian controversy. More articles via Google News

Shatner's Kidney Stone

XQUZYPHYR — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 09:55:53 -0800

Shame: the Final Frontier. Following his successful kidney stone removal, William Shatner now wants to sell it on eBay for charity. Technically, selling human body parts is against site policies, but Shatner hopes an exception will be made for charity's sake, as well as the millions of Trekkies he believes will want to bid on "the ultimate piece of Star Trek memorabilia."

Toad in a Tomb

agregoli — Tue, 17 Dec 2002 11:00:50 -0800

Animals trapped in stone have been reported many times, but do you believe it? Why has there been so little investigation of these claims? It could be the key to re-animation...