Mix copper with zinc and we get brass. Blend it with tin and voilà, we have bronze. Blast it with oxygen and copper morphs into a cool, sea-green.
Copper Fever
Hiding in Plain Sight
We’re back at my home base, the Michigan State University Museum, and today we’re taking a closer look at cryptic coloration, better known as camouflage. Whether furry or feathered, scaly or shelled, herd dweller or loner, a wide range of animals use camouflage to grab or avoid becoming dinner. Following is a brief description of the various... Continue Reading →
Bro, Where’s the Castle?!
The highlander, who just happened to be serving as a doorman to "the" Inveraray Castle, went off like a bagpipe.
Castle Run
[Doune Castle] was most famously featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Remember King Arthur’s run-in with the French that included hamster insults, catapulting cows, and a Trojan rabbit?
Museum Bites
In the year ahead, I’ll be hitting the road and exploring new museums and historical sites. Together we’ll discover more quirky and little-known bits (bites!) about famous and not so famous people, places, artifacts and events.
A Festive Leg to Stand On
[This ancient leg] was crafted from a mold, so you can bet there was more than one of these sandal wearing limbs walking around. Who knows, maybe it was the official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle of its time.
Hello Dolly
Sporting a thick, sturdy ponytail, good old Velvet was made to withstand my exuberant hairstyling. No more creepy bald dolls. It was the perfect gift.
Sinterklaas
All this excitement culminates on the eve of December 5th when children young and old await Sinterklaas’s loud banging on the front door. Is that a switch he’s using to beat on the door? Are the Zwarte Pieten preparing to drag a bratty little brother off to Spain?
Geeking out on Gutenberg
Gutenberg and his amazing machine put an end to this carpal-tunnel-syndrome prone profession.
Renaissance Man
Nicolaus Copernicus debunked the belief that the earth was at the center of the universe. Christopher Columbus, Ponce de Leon, and Sir Francis Drake set sail across the globe, and quintessential Renaissance man, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (1452-1519) made his debut.
Museum Bites 