Our sisters-in-crime, the JUNK GYPSIES, are back on TV, Thursday, June 12, at 9/8cst on Great American Country (GAC). Be sure to watch our Texas friends! They’ll be tweeting during the episode and you’ll have a chance to win prizes.
I tried. I really tried. I soooooooo wanted them to want me. I put out a cardboard box and a brand-new starter hive.
I watched and waited.
And then I watched some more.
I tried to entice them with a fresh batch of sugar water.
I’ve read that when bees swarm they send out designated scouts to look for new digs. Apparently, they weren’t checking ME out.
After two days, they were gone. If anyone out there has a suggestion as to what I can try the next time I find a honeybee swarm in my garden, please tell all!
Remember these?
Photo by Ben Schumin via Wikipedia
Not so long ago, cigarette vending machines were commonly found in restaurants, hotels, and countless other dimly lit corners of civilization. But, as the fad fell from favor (cheer!), the machines quietly slipped out of sight and out of mind, lost in the smoky haze of a bygone era.
Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire by American artist Russell Patterson (1893-1977) via Wikimedia Commons
But, as trends tend to do, these vintage vendors are coming back en vogue, although not in the manner you might expect …
Instead of vending cigarettes, they’re now selling original art!
Photo by Nate Steiner via Flickr
Introducing the Art-o-mat.
This cleaned-up and kitschy-creative concept is the brainchild of North Carolina artist Clark Whittington, who says that the “Pavlovian” inspiration for Art-o-mat came to him while watching a friend unwrap the crinkly cellophane from a snack. The sound triggered an immediate craving—Clark was overcome with the urge to have a snack too!
Fueled by the force of his involuntary reaction, Clark sensed that he could create a similar impulse to “snack” on art.
Gotta have it!
One urge led to another, and he ended up converting an old cigarette machine into the first Art-o-mat, which sold his own black and white photos, mounted on blocks, for $1 each.
As he had predicted, the idea was catching. He and a group of local Winston-Salem artists forged the Artists in Cellophane (AIC) group with the mission “to encourage art consumption by combining the worlds of art and commerce in an innovative form.” AIC states that art should be progressive, yet personal and approachable. “Art-o-mat has created an opportunity to purchase original artwork while providing exposure and promotional support for artists,” says that group.
Photo by Alan Levine via Flickr
“The experience of pulling the knob alone is quite a thrill,” says the AIC, “But you also walk away with an original work of art. What an easy way to become an art collector.”
Art-o-mat Sedona Abstract Painting by Gene Garrison (Photo by Alan Levine via Flickr)
There are now more than 50 Art-o-mat locations across the nation. Check out this map to find one near you, or peruse the online gallery of machines—they’re almost as cute as retro camp trailers!
Photo by Seth Anderson via Flickr
Want to get in on the art?
Art-o-mat welcomes submissions from artists to feed its ongoing supply of small wonders, so if you’re interested in trying your hand at a playing-card-sized masterpiece, learn how to get it into a machine with these guidelines.
Trick question: Who first discovered that the world is round?
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society via Wikimedia Commons
No, contrary to outdated grade-school history books, it wasn’t Columbus. It wasn’t even one of those brainy philosophers of ancient Greece.
Photo by Matt Neale via Wikimedia Commons
In fact, you might say that it wasn’t a “who” at all …
Stumped?
Well, hold onto your honey jars, because the answer might surprise you …
Photo by Björn Appel via Wikimedia Commons
That’s right, honeybees can be credited with the first system of global circumnavigation! And you don’t hear them bragging about it, do you?
Using the sun as a reference point—even when it’s on the other side of the planet—honeybees are able to communicate the location of food to one another through a deceptively simple dance.
“The dance language, which bees use to communicate, is based on the location of the sun,” explain researchers at Ohio State University. “When bees return from a food source, they perform a ‘waggle dance’ on the vertical comb nearest the entrance to the hive. The dancing bee makes a short, straight run while waggling its abdomen, then circles back and repeats the action several times. The bee orients its dance so that the angle between the direction of the straight run and the ray opposite gravity is the same as the angle between the food source and the position of the sun. Given this angle, other bees can orient themselves to the sun and locate the food source.”
Need I mention that bees have a minute fraction of the brain cells we possess?
Photo by Ken Thomas via Wikimedia Commons
Of course, I’m sure the bees’ sense of direction is boosted by the fact that bees are more sensitive to the Earth’s magnetic field than any other creature. Not only do they incorporate this magnetic pull into their solar calculations, they use it to accomplish the perfectly precise hexagonal design of their combs.
Photo by Merdal via Wikimedia Commons
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
