Tug of War, once a part of Ancient Olympics, was also once a part of the modern Olympics

Tug of war was contested as a team event in the Summer Olympics at every Olympiad from 1900 to 1920. Originally the competition was entered by clubs, which meant that one country could win several medals. This happened in 1904, when the United States won all three medals, and in 1908 when the podium was occupied by three British teams. Sweden was also among the top …

The hilarious South Korean hip hop video, Gangnam Style – best music video of the year?

  Park Jae Sang, better known in his homeland as PSY, is a South Korean hip hop artist who is “popular underground due to his sense of humor and unique concerts,” according to Wikipedia. The Berklee College of Music graduate recently released “Gangnam Style” — his first single in two years — and the music video that accompanies …

A century of Olympic posters

    Images from the book “A Century of Olympic Posters” by Margaret Timmers: As snapshots through time, Olympic posters provide a fascinating record of our world, a lens through which we can explore links between sports and art, politics and place, commerce and culture. A Century of Olympic Posters offers an intensely visual representation of the modern …

The ousted authoritarian government of Mexico – PRI – may be back

When Mexico’s long-ruling party was ousted by voters 12 years ago, giddy celebrants hailed the event as something like the fall of the Berlin Wall. For seven decades, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, had governed virtually unchallenged, aided by election trickery, a well-honed ability to buy off potential troublemakers and, when that didn’t work, …

Big Wednesdays – a summer surf movie series – with 5 films

The California Surf Museum and California Surf Festival are bringing together a 5-piece film festival, spread out over the summer. Every few Wednesdays they will show a modern or classic surf film. Tickets are $10, shows start at 7pm, and located in Oceanside, California. See the poster at bottom for the full details.   June …

Google brings 130 World Wonders online – explore with photos, videos, and street view

The Google World Wonders Project is a platform which brings world heritage sites of the modern and ancient world online. Journey to more than 130 world heritage sites across the globe—like Stonehenge, the Palace and Garden of Versailles, temples of ancient Kyoto or The White City of Tel-Aviv. With videos, photos and in-depth information, you …

Covered in brilliant spots – The Obliteration Room

Yayoi Kusama’s interactive Obliteration Room begins as an entirely white space, furnished as a monochrome living room, which people are then invited to ‘obliterate’ with multi-coloured stickers. After a few weeks the room is transformed from a blank canvas into an explosion of colour, with thousands of spots stuck over every available surface. TateShots have …