“Beatrice Harrison (above) played the cello in her garden in Foyle Riding, Surrey, regularly accompanied by nightingales. The BBC transmitted the music of Beatrice and the birds live on May 19th, 1924 – the first ever live outdoor broadcast. Each May 19th, the BBC returned to the garden to broadcast the nightingales, even after Beatrice moved house in 1936. On May 19th, 1942, as BBC engineers were recording the bird-song prior to transmission, a faint hum gradually became audible, slowly increasing in volume, as 197 bombers flew overhead on their way to raids in Mannheim. Realising the security risk, the broadcast was halted. But not the recording…”
Ephemera
“Geomantic instrument, Egypt or Syria, 1241–42 CE, by Muhammad ibn Khutlukh al Mawsuli. When turning the dials, random designs of dots would appear, which were then interpreted. British Museum.”
“A Tibetan “Mystic Tablet” containing the Eight Trigrams on top of a large tortoise (presumably, alluding to the animal that presented them to Fu Xi), along with the 12 signs of Chinese Zodiac, and a smaller tortoise carrying the Lo Shu Square on its shell”
Nankin Tamasudare (南京玉簾 or 南京玉すだれ Nankin-tamasudare?, lit. “Nanjing Lily”) is a kind of traditional Japanese street performance. The name “Nankin Tamasudare” is a play on words, as it can mean a kind of flower, as well as mean something like “a wonderous woven screen.” (Sudare is a kind of screen made by weaving straw with twine.)
The performance consists of a person skilled in manipulating special screens made of loosely woven sticks, as well as chanting an accompanying a kind of poetry. The performer chants a rhythmic poem as s/he uses the screen to portray the objects in the poetry without stopping. The screen is twisted, folded, extended, etc. in many different ways to portray an object, and then brought back quickly to its original screen shape.
Instrumento Informal: Órgano de campaña (by leanderthal)
More brilliance from Les Luthiers - skip to :30 if your Spanish is as bad as mine.
Instrumento Informal: Calephone (by leanderthal)
Just stumbled upon a number of great YouTube videos featuring Les Luthiers, a fantastic group of Argentinian musical comedians who play on an orchestra of absurdist, homemade instruments.
![Jamu (formerly Djamu) is traditional medicine in Indonesia. It is predominantly herbal medicine made from natural materials, such as parts of plants such as roots, leaves and bark, and fruit. There is also material from the bodies of animals, such as bile of goat or alligator used.
[…] There are a few non-health related uses for jamu, which give it a bad reputation, among others, those which are used to enhance sexual pleasure rather than specifically cure illness. There are kinds of Jamu to increase stamina for men, tighten the vagina for women (with names like Sari Rapat (“Essence of Tightness”), Rapat Wangi (“Tight and Fragrant”), and even Empot Ayam (“Tight as a Chicken’s Anus”).[10] Of course in a Muslim country these products are considered by some to be sinful, though many women consume it for such reasons to ward off promiscuity.[10]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Vrouwen_tijdens_de_bereiding_van_jamu_een_traditioneel_geneesmiddel_op_de_markt_te_Jogjakarta_TMnr_60027047.jpg)
Jamu (formerly Djamu) is traditional medicine in Indonesia. It is predominantly herbal medicine made from natural materials, such as parts of plants such as roots, leaves and bark, and fruit. There is also material from the bodies of animals, such as bile of goat or alligator used.
[…] There are a few non-health related uses for jamu, which give it a bad reputation, among others, those which are used to enhance sexual pleasure rather than specifically cure illness. There are kinds of Jamu to increase stamina for men, tighten the vagina for women (with names like Sari Rapat (“Essence of Tightness”), Rapat Wangi (“Tight and Fragrant”), and even Empot Ayam (“Tight as a Chicken’s Anus”).[10] Of course in a Muslim country these products are considered by some to be sinful, though many women consume it for such reasons to ward off promiscuity.[10]
