Roundup: Pop Culture & the Arts ... Movies, Documentaries and Museum Exhibits

A History Of The World In 100 Objects: priceless treasures from the British Museum

Below are some of the items which will feature in A History Of The World In 100 Objects, which has been written and presented by the museum's director, Neil MacGregor. Handaxe found in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, around 1.2 million years old. Fashioned from fine-grained, green volcanic lava called phonolite, this is one of the best surviving examples of the hand-held cutting tools which were first made in Olduvai Gorge about 1.5 million years ago. They were still in use t

Toy marble museum finds America's oldest Santa at toy factory site: Discovery identifies the original North Pole

Santa's coming to town! You'll see him in parades, at the local malls, dressed in his fancy red and white suit, the traditional Santa suit we all know and love. But that's not Santa's original suit or colors. At one time, a long long time ago, Santa wore a different suit. Archeologists working in the heart of downtown Akron, Ohio found the oldest known figurine of a Santa discovery and he's dressed in blue. They found him among thousands of old marbles and penny toys found at

Novice, die-hard Beatles fans will love new History documentary 'On Record'

History's new documentary on the recording career of rock 'n' roll's most important band feels a bit like "Beatles for Dummies." That's a good thing, by the way - because no matter how much we 1960s refugees assume the Fab Four are a permanent centerpiece of popular culture, the truth is that many fine, upstanding young music fans today still need to meet the Beatles. "On Record" tracks the group's music from the Cavern Club in 1962 to the rooftop sh

A History of 20th-Century Russia, Warts and All

A new two-volume history of Russia’s turbulent 20th century is being hailed inside and outside the country as a landmark contribution to the swirling debate over Russia’s past and national identity. Written by 45 historians led by Andrei Zubov, a professor at the institute that serves as university to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the weighty history — almost 1,000 pages per volume — was published this year by AST Publishers and is already in its second printing of 10,000 copies.

Charlie Chaplin's Last Home in Geneva to Become a Museum

Charlie Chaplin's last home in Switzerland will be turned into a permanent place of pilgrimage for fans of the actor who immortalized the "Little Tramp," one of his sons said Monday. The mansion at Corsier-sur-Vevey by the shores of Lake Geneva was chosen over Los Angeles and London as the site of the first museum dedicated to the screen legend, said Michael Chaplin. The museum has been a decade in the planning and will be finished within two years, he said.

Google Chief Eric Schmidt Announces Documentation of Iraqi Museum Treasures

Google is documenting Iraq's national museum and will post photographs of its ancient treasures on the Internet early next year, Google chief Eric Schmidt announced Tuesday. The museum was ransacked in the chaotic aftermath of Saddam Hussein's ouster in April 2003, and only reopened to visitors early this year. Schmidt, who toured the museum with U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill on Tuesday, said it was important for the world to see Iraq's rich heritage and contribution to world cu

The Real Alice in Wonderland's Book up for Auction

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A copy of the book "Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There" that belonged to the British girl who inspired author Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" will be sold at an auction next month, the company behind the sale said on Monday. At its December 16 auction, Profiles in History also will sell a copy of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" that belonged to its author, Beatrix Potter. The items come from the collection of

Progress lagging on President's House project (Philly)

More than seven years after Congress directed the National Park Service "to appropriately commemorate" the presidential home in Philadelphia - where at least nine of George Washington's slaves toiled - no workable interpretive program explaining the site and its significance is ready for public discussion, project managers say. Mayor Nutter has seen no text, images, or panels, and the design team developing the descriptive historical material has been told to rework it at

Film examines history of Kalamazoo River pollution

KALAMAZOO, Mich. - A new film blends song and comedy to examine more than a century of pollution in the Kalamazoo River. The movie titled "Kalamazoo, River: US" made its premiere last month. Other screenings are planned and DVDs are being sold. The movie is a mix of musical dramatization, comedic recreation and documentary-style filmmaking. It looks at the relationship between the waterway and the city of Kalamazoo, as well a the relationship between industry

Michael Jackson's gleaming glove sells for $350K, plus tax, at NYC auction

NEW YORK (AP) — The shimmering, white glove Michael Jackson wore when he premiered his trademark moonwalk dance in 1983 was auctioned off for $350,000 — plus tax — on Saturday. Winning bidder Hoffman Ma of Hong Kong will pay $420,000, including taxes and fees, for the rhinestone-studded, modified golf glove Jackson wore on his left hand for his moonwalk on Motown's 25th anniversary TV special. The glove was the top item in a collection of Jackson memorabilia on the bloc

BBC/HBO production “Into the Storm” on UK TV

Into the Storm starring Brendan Gleeson follows on from The Gathering Storm (2002). Screenwriter Hugh Whitemore’s first outing portrayed Winston S. Churchill’s “wilderness years” through the 1930s and ended in 1939 when he was summoned to the Admiralty. Although Into the Storm opens in 1945, this sequel of sorts takes up the story and charts his “finest hour.” It is told in retrospect, as Churchill holidaying in France awaits the result of the general election called after victory in Europe.

It's Barbie in a burkha: World-famous doll gets a makeover to go under the hammer for 50th anniversary

One of the world's most famous children's toys, Barbie, has been given a makeover - wearing a burkha. Wearing the traditional Islamic dress, the iconic doll is going undercover for a charity auction in connection with Sotheby's for Save The Children. More than 500 Barbies went on show yesterday at the Salone dei Cinquecento, in Florence, Italy. Makers Mattel are backing the exhibition which is the work of Italian designer Eliana Lorena. The au

Frank Gannon: Presidential Libraries

[Frank Gannon won a White House Fellowship and served in the Nixon White House 1971-4. He accompanied RN to San Clemente aboard Air Force One on August 9th and organized the researching and writing of the President’s memoirs, RN.] Groundbreaking for the George W. Bush Presidential Center —the latest addition to the National Archives’ system of Presidential Libraries— will begin a year from now. The designs of architect Robert A. M. Stern were unveiled in Dallas on Wednesday. Seve

Smithsonian Pop Quiz: How old was Elvis when he got his first guitar?

Answer: On October 3, 1945, ten-year-old Elvis made his first public performance in at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. Dressed as a cowboy, Presley had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone as he sang Red Foley's "Old Shep." He came in fifth, winning $5 and a free ticket to all the fair's rides. A few months later, on his 11th birthday, Elvis got his first guitar as a present from his mother. When you enter one of our 19 museums, a world of discovery awa

Leonardo da Vinci Exhibit Opens in Times Square

An interactive exhibit featuring life-size models of Leonardo da Vinci's 500-year-old inventions and machines is opening in New York City's Times Square. Although best known for painting the masterpiece "Mona Lisa," da Vinci also designed a fantastical array of futuristic flying machines, robots, weapons and mechanical devices. Highlights of the exhibit opening Friday include the "Great Kite" flying machine, a working prototype of his "Self-Pr

Museum of the History of Science in Florence to Show Fingers, Tooth Said to be Galileo's

A Florence museum says two fingers and a tooth believed to belong to Galileo Galilei have been found and will go on display next spring. Three fingers and a tooth were taken from the astronomer's body in 1737 and placed in a container. Paolo Galluzzi, director of the Museum of the History of Science, said a private collector had bought a container at auction containing two fingers and a tooth. The collector contacted Florence cultural officials and the parts and the c

Pompeii and the Roman Villa Exhibition Arrives in Mexico

Two centuries before our era, the region of Campania became the favorite place of Roman emperors-from Julius Caesar to Nero- and aristocrats to relax, due to the beauty of the Bay of Naples. Pompeii, Herculaneum and nearby villages represented leisure for some and work for others, like artists. A hundred pieces, which reveal the luxury and sophistication that this Mediterranean zone reached before the Vesuvius erupted in 79 of the Common Era, arrive to Mexico as part of the exhibit

Dickens's Original 'A Christmas Carol' on View at the Morgan Library

Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Mr. Fezziwig, Bob Cratchit, the Ghost of Christmas Past—in the age of film and television these characters from Charles Dickens’s 'A Christmas Carol' are universally familiar. The story has been told as a stage musical, a serious dramatic film, and a modern comedy, and this November will be adapted once again in a new Disney movie starring Jim Carrey. But, in the end, it all comes back to a magical book written by Dickens in a six-week flurry of activity

Citizen Welles as Myth in the Making, a Review of , "Me and Orson Welles"

RICHARD LINKLATER is keen to point out that his new film, “Me and Orson Welles,” is not a biopic. For starters, he said in a recent phone interview: “Biopics are the lamest genre. No one should attempt them anymore.” What’s more, when it comes to a figure as protean and elusive as Welles, there are obvious complicating factors. Welles was not only a habitual fabulist — “the most unreliable narrator of his own life,” Mr. Linklater said — but also an outsize subject for the projection

Illuminating Hadrian's Wall--A Line of Light from Coast to Coast

Plans have been unveiled to create a spectacular line of light from coast to coast, along the length of Hadrian’s Wall, next year. This once in a lifetime event will take place on Saturday 13th March 2010 and will follow the route of the 84 mile long Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail. There will be around 500 individual points of light, placed at 250 metre intervals. The first one will be illuminated at Wallsend in the North East, with the line of light then making it