For Mini Cooper Fans: A Mini Umbrella

Well the folks at CarConnection.com think it "is soaked with saccharine, not to mention some British-isms that border on obscene to the uninformed," but for those with a Mini (or pining for one), this umbrella is another fun accessory.

Origin of "Ribs of a Broken Umbrella"

Well, this came across my screen today, and I realize that there is room for a whole separate metaphor: the broken umbrella!

Bell X1 has released a new album and is going on tour starting March 12. According to the lyrics of the opening song--"Ribs of a Broken Umbrella":

"He wondered how close he'd ever been to her in this ebb and flow of the distance between us Maybe she got the same bus He left a trail of string wherever he went, when he was sleeping he tied it to his toe If she crossed it then he'd know But he knew that all was unraveling And he was bare, stripped of his skin Like the ribs of a broken umbrella Sticking out of a bin."

According to the same source, a romantic tale from a Polish-American elder in a New York City bar inspired Bell X1's Paul Noonan to write the song:

Noonan explains, "I met an old man in a bar in New York who had come to America many years before from Poland to seek a better life. He knew that a girl from his hometown had also made the journey west, and they had planned to meet in New York City. Her name was Liza. He had hoped to make her his wife, but he couldn't get in touch with her, and still carried a photograph of her in his wallet. He had lived most of his life in New York, and never married, always holding a candle."

The song is available for a Free Download, or you can buy the whole album.

In Honor of Mardi Gras: The Second Line Umbrella

So Mardi Gras was yesterday. I know I have always seen colorful umbrellas in the parade photos or video, but I never knew the story. There may be more to "second line umbrellas" than I have found out, but one story is told at "Born of Necessity":
The Origins of the Second Line Umbrella....:

In the south the idea of carrying an umbrella for shade, just sort of just caught on! Hey! It was a great idea. The Southern Bells, who would dress in their finery, each Sunday, started to always carry an umbrella to provide instant shade to them when necessary. It made a great accessory, and in the 1840's, the umbrella started showing up in catalogs as accessories to the bells' Sunday dress. In any other place in the United States that would be the end of it, but here in Louisiana, it became a southern idea that would evolve into a Mardi Gras tradition.

Banksy Katrina Painting Part of Urban Art Auction

As part of Bonham's sale of Urban Art, "Nola Pink" by Banksy is being auctioned off. It shows "a girl being rained upon beneath an umbrella. It was painted to commemorate the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina."

Post-Oscars: Stars with Umbrellas

Having picked to go with Rihanna yesterday, I had to save for today Oddly Enough's plea for photos of stars under umbrellas. So, here are four of last night's best actress nominees:

Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep



Angelina Jolie



Anne Hathaway



***

And the winner is:

Thank you Daily Mail:

Its Rihanna's Day: Sing the Umbrella Song for the Umbrella Girl

Oscar Day and the news is full of the "Umbrella Girl" speaking out and thanking her fans after her pre-Grammy troubles, so it seems only appropriate to sing along with Rihanna and "Umbrella":



Umbrella Lyrics

Remember Your Lost Umbrella? Someone Paid $$$ (£££) For It!

Well, at least that is what BBC News has reported about a recent auction:

A rare Faberge umbrella which lay undiscovered for years in a house in Devon has sold for £17,500.

The umbrella was with some old walking canes which were given to the unnamed owner by her mother-in-law when she moved home.

According to Martin McIlroy of the auction house:

The Faberge parasol handle was enamelled, gold, bowenite and rose diamond mounted. The pale green bowenite ball above a collar decorated with translucent pink guilloche enamel with applied gold wreaths of laurel and between rose-diamond set bands. Stamped with workmaster Michail Perchin, St Petersburg marks.

Umbrellas: Last Line of Defense against Australian Sun

So, enough about wildfires and focus on the personal solutions to Australia's sun-baked landscape: Monica Dux writes about becoming the "umbrella woman" and for the sneers she gets in return:

The results were impressive. Umbrellas cover far more surface area than even the broadest-brimmed hat, so they freed me from the marinade of sun-screen that I once basted in. As a bonus you can also use them to mask your identity from passing acquaintances you wish to avoid.

...

Yet my brolly-embracing was not met with the popular enthusiasm I anticipated. Instead, teenagers pointed at me and snickered. On playgrounds, the parents of small children avoided me as if my umbrella were the modern day equivalent of a trench coat. I was even abandoned by an old friend who refused to be seen crossing the road with “an umbrella person”.

Monica does conclude with one great line: "After all, our nation wasn’t just built by lobster-red lifesavers and heat-stroked stockmen but also by pale neurotics who pay far too much attention to the freckles on their décolletage."

It is Snowing: Umbrellas or No?

Washington Post weather blogger asks:

Quick poll: Umbrellas in the snow (just snow, not a wintry mix)? Yea? Nay? Depends on the volume? Just a chick thing?

poll by twiigs.com

Pileus: The Internet Umbrella

An oldy, but goody, just found a link to this one!



Check it out at Pileus.net:

Pileus is an umbrella connected to the Internet to make walking in rainy days fun. Pileus has a large screen on the top surface, a built-in camera, a motion sensor, GPS, and a digital compass, and it provides two main functions; A Social Photo-sharing and A 3D Map Navigation.

The photo function is connected to a major web service "Flickr". A user can take photo with a camera on the umbrella, and pictures are uploaded to Flickr in two minutes with context tags via a wireless Internet connection. User can also enjoy theirselves watching photo-streams downloaded from Flickr with simple operation of wrist snapping.