More from Eyjafjallajokull - The Big Picture - Boston.com

More from Eyjafjallajokull - The Big Picture - Boston.com

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Protecting the Wild Beasts in Africa

Link to Moholoholo animal rehabilitation center near Kruger Park in South Africa as referenced in Deon Meyer's book Blood Safari

Blood Safari and Vultures

I love it when I discover a great new (to me) murder mystery writer, especially when their books teach me something new while entertaining me.  Blood Safari by Deon Meyer is one such book.

Did you know different species of vultures in Africa eat different dead animal parts and all are needed to clean up rotting carcasses before they breed flies that spread disease?  In South Africa, for example, there's the hooded vulture, the Cape Griffon vulture and the lappet-faced vulture all specializing in different tasks.  As I discovered to my horror when researching the book Cause of Death, the great creatures of the world are being killed off at a great rate by man - which does not bode well for our future on this planet.  I just never thought of vultures in that light before.

Here's an interesting website with more vulture information and photos and facts about a large number of vultures throughout the world.
Art by Lea (Lucy Ellen Autrey)

Giovanni Rainaldi, Ibiza Jeweler Extraordinaire

Continuing on the theme of fine jewelry, thanks to the worldwide web, great jewelers around the world are now just a touch of the mouse away.  One of the best, Giovanni Rainaldi, works on the remote island of Ibiza, off the coast of Spain, selling his original creations at an outdoor market on weekends.  More information on his work can be found here.

I used to go to Ibiza nearly every summer for several years to visit friends who lived there, or I would take a side trip when I attended the Bologna or Frankfurt bookfairs for work.  Everytime I went, my first stop would be to Giovanni's stall at Las Dahlias or the studio he has at the house he shares with his artist wife.  Now when I wear a piece Giovanni made I remember my vacation, my friends and the nicest and most accomplished jeweler I've yet met.

If you can get to Ibiza it's worth the trip, especially if you go to the weekend markets where, besides fine jewelry, one can find rare articles of clothing and other objects from Kazakhstan to India to Bali.  But if you can't go there, visit "Artesanos de Ibiza" and order on-line.

Marsha Armitage-Bristow Recommends Gail Rigelhaupt Jewelry

Marsha Armitage-Bristow's childhood friend Gail Rigelhaupt, a top notch creative director, is now designing jewelry.  Her beautiful work can be seen here:  http://www.thenakedstone.com/collections/

My Personal Jewelry Moto

• You can never have too much jewelry
• You should always try to buy jewelry from people you know and like since you will think of them every time you put on a piece of their magic.
• Jeweler friends of friends can be considered "people you know and like."
• Exceptions can be made for unique costume and antique jewelry when the original jeweler is no longer around to cultivate a friendship with.

Bulldog Mania on Long Island

The brainchild of long time friend Ira Friedman, Project Bulldog celebrates the mascot of Hewlett-Woodmere school district with a classy, high quality artistic experience which will culminate in a massive bulldog auction June 17th 2010.  More info is available at projectbulldog.net.  I, for one, would love to have one of those dogs! 

I first met Ira in the late 1970s when he was working for Lucasfilm's internal Star Wars fan club publishing the famous Bantha Tracks newsletters.  Like many Lucasfilm alumni, Ira has continued to do great things over the years and this event is certainly one of them.

365 Dogs Page-A-Day Calendar 2011

Scott Guitteau Recommends Tichy

Scott Guitteau, a Skywalker Sound friend, is always up on what's happening in the world that's interesting.

Scott's recommendation for April 2010:  The first ever American museum exhibition devoted to the work of the reclusive and mysterious Czech photographer Miroslav Tichy at the International Center of Photography, 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd St. in New York, through MAY 9, 2010.  

More information on Tichy can be found at Jason Kottke's website kottke.org.

Where to Sample the Star Wars Soundtrack That Wasn't

The Star Wars Soundtrack That Wasn't

Back in the 1990s, when I was still at Lucasfilm Licensing, I wanted to do for Star Wars music what I was doing for Star Wars publishing but The Force wasn't with me on that idea.  One good thing that did come out of my exploration into a possible line of original soundtrack CDs was a compilation album put together by Virgin's A&R guy in London in January of 1996 as an imagined score to the Star Wars Dark Forces computer game (released in 1995).  I still have the demo CD and all of the cuts are now available on iTunes and Amazon.com.  It's a great album!  Here's the breakdown:

Massive Attack (from their 1994 Virgin CD "Protection")
Protection 7:51
Karmacoma 5:16
Weather Storm 5:00

Fluke (from their 2001 Virgin CD "Progressive History X")
Tosh  6:31
Bullet  7:46

Whale (from their 1995 Virgin CD "We Care")
Pay For Me  4:24
That's Where It's At  4:15

Photek (from their 1996 Virgin CD "The Hidden Camera")
KJZ 7:50

The Chemical Brothers (from their 1995 Virgin CD "Exit Planet Dust")
Leave Home  5:32
Chemical Beats  4:50
F**k Up Beats  1:25

I thought of this recently since The Chemical Brothers have a new album due out that's getting lots of attention.  What I didn't know until now was that they were originally called the Dust Brothers and only changed their name to The Chemical Brothers on their "Exit Planet Dust" album.  Since dust can contain a lot of lead, I thought an illustration of Atomic Number 82 - the chemical symbol for Lead - was appropriate here.

If You're Looking for Great Talent Look Here

I'm about to leave Lucasfilm Ltd. after 35 and 1/2 incredible years.  As I reflect on all the talent and adventures I've been fortunate enough to meet and experience during my time there, I thought it would be fun to gather them all in one place as new items of interest come up.  To start, I just found out Jamie Warren, one of my favorite book publishing art directors, has a new website so thought my first post might lead interested parties there.