Tomorrow is the Preakness Stakes, the anniversary of the Simplon Tunnel (from Switzerland to Italy, started in 1898 and completed in 1906), Malcolm X birth anniversary (1925) and Ho Chi Minh’s birth anniversary (1890), it is the 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe serenading JFK’s birthday at Madison Square Garden and it is the anniversary of the near total darkness that fell on New England at midday in 1780, and no explanation has ever been figured out.
To qualify as a “non profit”, hospitals only have to provide 2% of their care as charitable. The other 98% can be profits. I guess that’s why AGH’s recently canned Olivia walked with a $7.4M after a two year stint (?) . He was to turn the hospital around, but from what I’ve heard, he just brought a bunch of his buddies in at high paying jobs while slashing hourly staff. He even did better than UPMC’s Romoff who hauled in $6M, doubling his income from last year.
Heinz Galleries, at the Carnegie Museums in Oakland, are having an Impressionist theme through August 26. When Impressionism first appeared in France in the mid to late 1800’s, they were not allowed in official Paris Salon, but were sent to the first Salon des Refuses. There are three galleries that this exhibit will take you through various aspects of Impressionism. Beside the works of Manet, Cezanne, Pissarro and Monet, there is also pictures by American Impressionist photographer Alfred Stieglitz. At the end of the exhibit is the Carnegie’s own copy of Water Lilies (1915-1926). Hours are 10 1m to 5 pm Tuesdays through Saturdays, with late showings on Thursdays until 8 pm. Sunday hours are from noon until five. More info at their web site or by calling 412.622.3131.
The 2012 BMW M5 has a 560 horsepower engine with sound dampers. To please their most demanding drivers might miss the sound of the engine revving, so they installed pre-recorded engine noises that will play in the cabin through the stereo system. 🙂
With only 30,000 hotel rooms in Rio de Janeiro and 50,000 expected for UN conference on Sustainable Development, local officials persuaded owners of many “short-time” lodging establishments to change their modeus operandi. They will be removing some furniture like exotic chairs, I hear the large round beds will stay. 🙂
In Kuwait, at the 10th Arab Shooting Championship, Maria Dmitrienko of Kazakhstan sang the “national anthem”, but actually she sang the perody from the movie Borat with lyrics like “greatest country in the world, all other countries are run by little girls” and filtration system a marvel to hehold, it removes 80% of human waste.” 🙂
They’re having the 55th Annual Pittsburgh Folk Festival this weekend at the Monroeville Convention Center, at the Mall. There will be ethnic dances, concerts, food booths, an artisan market, cooking demonstrations and ethnic booths showcases the many different folks that make up Pittsburgh. Some of the 35 cultures participating this year are Scotland, Ukraine, India, Germany, Bulgaria, Philippines, Greece, Iran, Croatia, Hungary, Hawaii (I thought that was American) :), England, Wales and Brazil. More info at their web site. Hours are today 4 – 10 pm, Saturday 11 am – 10 pm and Sunday from 11 am – 6 pm. Admission is $12 per day, free admittance for military service persons (Nice touch).
This is the end of Venture Outdoors Festival at Point State Park. This has been happening around Western PA since May 10. Saturday hours will be from 11 am until 6 pm and info at their web site. These are the cool people that rent kayaks and bicycles under the 6th Street Bridge, out at North Park and several other locations, I believe. Info on activities outside the Point can be found at Walls are Bad.
Finally, Gallerie Chiz will be having an exhibit Human Behavior featuring artists Brian Fencl, Daria Pigg and Valetta through May 26. This show is a bit off center, Fencl’s oil paintings and drawings explore a breakdown in Western society and culture clashes between the old and new. In one, he features sort of a brawl between “high” culture and “low” culture taking place in the Carnegie Hall of Architecture. In another he presents a creature carrying the head of Charlie Sheen (one of the most notable persons of 2011) past the Roman god Bacchus (god of wine, naturally). Pigg‘s work is based on composition, she writes a story first and then interprets it in her art work, sometime incorporating some of her written words. Then there’s Valetta, pastel paintings with a figurative bent, “my pieces are all based on a stream of consciousness method.”
Well, I have my first wedding of the season tomorrow. Five more to go. 🙂
ed
