Los Angeles County Museum Of Art Inaugurates African Gallery

by Sean McLachlan on

The Los Angeles County Museum Of Art is inaugurating its new Africa gallery with an exhibition of art from the Luba Kingdom.

“Shaping Power: Luba Masterworks from the Royal Museum for Central Africa” examines the royal art of the powerful Luba Kingdom, which from 1585-1889 dominated central Africa. Its royal lineage was highly regarded and developed an elaborate artwork to reflect its prestige.
The exhibition includes many objects loaned by the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium, like this mask of a legendary hero. Many of the items depict women. While they didn’t rule, they were considered the spiritual guardians of the kingship and the creators of life. A Luba proverb says, “Men are chiefs in the daytime, but women are chiefs at night.” Among the works of art are masks, headrests, sceptres, thrones and cups.

The new Africa gallery is located next to the Egyptian gallery to highlight the influences the two regions had on one another. In addition to special exhibitions, the gallery will also host the museum’s permanent collection.

“Shaping Power: Luba Masterworks from the Royal Museum for Central Africa” runs until January 5, 2014.

Flight Attendant Accused Of Smuggling Rat In Her Underwear

by Libby Zay on

What the what? You read that headline correctly. Coworkers have accused American Airlines flight attendant Louann Giambattista of smuggling a rats aboard a flight. In her underwear. A pilot tells the NY Post he “saw a bulge in [her] pocket” and believes it was a live pet, and a fellow flight attendant is saying she believes Giambattista “fed her pet rats” from a cup on the subsequent flight from St. Martin to Miami.

The story doesn’t end there. Giambattista claims the “absurd” charges have caused her “debilitating anxiety” and blacklisting, and she’s suing the airline for unspecified damages. Giambattista says she’s “an admitted animal lover,” but denies bringing her furry friends along for a ride. We want to believe her, but can’t shake the nightmare of rats on a plane.

[via nymag.com]

Ancient Native American Mound To Be Destroyed To Build Sam’s Club

by Sean McLachlan on

It’s been a tough year for ancient monuments, what with subway workers in China accidentally demolishing 3000-year-old tombs, a limestone quarry destroying part of the Nazca Lines, and pyramids in Peru and Belize being bulldozed by “developers.”

Now Alabama is getting in on the game. The city of Oxford, Alabama, has approved the destruction of a mound of stones and the hill on which it stands in order to use the dirt as fill for a Sam’s Club site. City mayor Leon Smith says it’s a natural formation and was only used to send smoke signals, but the State Historical Commission disagrees and says it’s about 1,500 years old and eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Artificial earthen and stone mounds were common features of prehistoric Native American civilizations and are found in many parts of North America. Some were used for burials while others appear to have been ritual sites. There have already been protests against the destruction.

For more on this issue, check out this article by The Institute for Southern Studies, which includes many links to local newspaper articles and official reports.

Solar Airplane Completes Cross-Country Flight

by Chris Owen on

If you have been following along on the journey of Solar Impulse, the solar airplane that was set to fly across the United States, we have good news: the journey is over after a successful flight from Washington to New York on Saturday.

The two-month, ground-breaking flight started in California and took 14,000 viewers along for the ride in streaming video. The “Clean Generation” initiative flight of Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg successfully landed at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport at 11:09 p.m. EDT. Flying across the United States, Solar Impulse was powered only by energy that came from 12,000 solar cells installed on its wings and horizontal stabilizer.Making aviation history, the team of Solar Impulse has come a long way but has even further to go. In 2015, they plan on flying around the world, totally on solar power of course.

The Solar Impulse team will be available to the public at JFK International Airport on Saturday July 13 from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday July 14 from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Video: Man Rappelled Down Brooklyn Bridge

by Elizabeth Seward on


A man rappelled down the Brooklyn Bridge on the morning of July 4, without any safety equipment and not only lived, but had his feat captured on camera. To quote the PIX11 news anchor who covered this story, “They’re not looking at this guy like he’s a superhero; it’s more like he’s super-crazy.” The anonymous man managed to pull off his adventurous morning with only a handful of people noticing. But this story has a funny twist: the man landed on an NYPD building. Of course, with this having happened on the morning of an official and patriotic holiday in New York City, police were initially concerned that the man might have been up to suspicious behavior on the bridge, but now that a few days have passed without any Brooklyn Bridge drama, it appears as though this guy was just a thrill-seeker, squeezing iconic New York City architecture for all it’s worth.

[Thanks, ANIMAL]