Bear Your Soul.

Bears have quite a little history with humans. We're both omnivores for one. In the past, they've had the nickname of "four legged humans", "chief's son" , or "old man in fur garment." Some kings even believed their decedents were bears. Other folktale mention humas descending from bears. Even women mating with bears in the mountains.

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The Ainu people of Japan held special places in their hearts for bears. Infact, their own beliefs was based on bears.

"The Ainu practiced an elaborate bear cult into the 1920s which immediately calls to mind the Paleolithic bear cult and the epiphany of the Great Goddess as Bear Mother. The Ainu captured a bear cub, nurtured it for months and then sacrificed it during an elaborate ritual. They are the only people to have retained a full fledged bear cult into the twentieth century and the Paleolithic elements are unmistakable; the Ainu are truly spectacular from a Western anthropologist's viewpoint."

Their bear ritual went like so:
First, a baby bear would be captured and brought to the village. He would be kept and fed for 2-3 years until nice and fat. During mid-winter, at midnight, while the bear had the most fat on him and thickest fur.

They would shoot the bear with ceremonial arrows and then kill it by crushing it with a log.

Women weren't allowed to participate in this festival. The bear is placed on an alter as a sacrafice and there are lots of celebrations with sake and hard liquor.
Organs in the head are removed and replaced with flowers. Afterwards, the bear's skulls are repected by putting them in their huts.

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Animals from the Past

Animals all the way from 1878. I hear birds and a cow, but not much else.. What do you hear?

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Saint Valentine's Day Greetings

This week's podcast is now out!

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In this episode, we mention the first Valentine's Poem. You can read it below, first in it's original writing and then in the English translation.

Charle's d'Orleans - A Farewell to Love

Je suis desja d'amour tanné,
Ma tres doulce Valentinée, Car pour moi fustes trop tart née, Et moy pour vous fus trop tost né. Dieu lui pardoint qui estrené
M'a de vous, pour toute l'année.
Je suis desja, etc.
Ma tres doulce, etc. Bien m'estoye suspeconné, Qu'auroye telle destinée, Ains que passast ceste journée,
Combien qu'Amours l'eust ordonné.
Je suis desja, etc.

I am already sick of love,
My very gentle Valentine,
Since for me you were born too soon,
And I for you was born too late.
God forgives he who has estranged
Me from you for the whole year.
I am already, etc.
My very gentle, etc.
Well might I have suspected,
That such a destiny,
Thus would have happened this day,
How much that Love would have commanded.
I am already, etc.

A Very Early Valentine written in 1848 from a Lady to her Lover.

Valentine's Day at the Post Office. Everyone is sorting the large amount of letters.

An Example of a mock Valentine. This one sent by a lady to an unwanted suitor.

Cherubs are a popular image to see on Valentines Cards.
HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY, LOVELIES!

Look into the Future

Oooh swish! I know this is a little after our time,but this video is still interesting. I don't see anyone going around with lightbulbs attached to their head and telephones attached to their chests.. although, we do have our cellphones. And we do have our cantilever heels ala Marc Jacobs and such.

Episode 2 : Queen Victoria

Episode 2 is now out! you can download it here:

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This week is about Queen Victoria, whom the Victorian time period is named for. I've included this post as a supplement to the podcast including some images of the topics we discussed.

Queen Victoria's Wedding Day. She established the tradition of wearing white.

The Royal Wedding Shoes. They are made by Gundry & Sons and addressed to the queen on the insole's label. Gundry & Sons, located in Soho Square, London, also made shoes for other royalty.
Watercolor of Prince Albert by Queen Victoria herself.
The Royal Family - Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and 5 of her 9 children.

Queen Victoria with one of her pet dogs, Sharp. She loved her dogs dearly and had portraits made of them. Sharp was a Border Collie. The Queen is actually smiling a little in the photo.

Sharp's GraveStereo view of the Queen's funeral. At front is the coffin follower by hundreds upon thousands of mourners. After the podcast was recorded, we realized that we didn't really touch on any of the Queen's accomplishments or influences in today's society. There is so much information about the Queen, it could take a lifetime to study. We wanted to touch on interesting points about her that you didn't know before. If you want to read all about Queen Victoria, I suggest selecting a reading from archive.org about her. If you want to see photos of the family, Victoria's sketches, pictures of the children, please visit Images of Her World. I hope you enjoy this weeks podcast.

Pepsi-Cola

In light of Pepsi's new logo change. I'd thought it'd be interesting to look at Pepsi's first logotype:
Now that is what I call a typeface. Pepsi was originally called Brad's Drink named after the creator, Caleb Bradham. The logotype was designed by one of Bradham's neighbors. Named Pepsi-Cola in 1989, the name comes from the ingredients pepsin and kola nut. Pepsin is actually an enzyme that helps in digestion. Which is reason why it might have helps as a tonic for stomach aches. The Cola Nut comes from the Kola Tree in Africa. The nuts contain caffeine and can also stimulate the digestion of food in the stomach.

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