Tuesday, September 20, 2011

ivory opera passes

Elizabeth Taylor’s jewels are being auctioned. Among the glitz is a gold necklace whose links hold antique ivory opera tokens. Edith Head bequeathed the necklace to Taylor. Christie’s estimates the necklace will sell for $1,500 to $2,000. This has to be a typo, as the tokens I found pics of online have price tags in the neighborhood of £500. I think it will go for $15,000 to $20,000.

Rich and important people carried these permanent box-seat tickets.


Elizabeth Taylor's gold and ivory necklace featuring ivory opera passes, circa 18th and 19th centuries, a gift from the estate of Edith Head

The Misses Marjoribanks’ Royal Opera House token, 1879

Royal Opera Covent Garden, 1855

Theater Token inscribed with IIII Nikopolis Roman 100-200 CE (from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mharrsch/2580640202/in/photostream)   






Royal Botanic Society of London, 1857





Tuesday, September 13, 2011

how extreme is it?



Extreme breathing? Extreme couponing? Extreme commuting? That’s for pussies! You don’t know extreme until you’ve chugged 25 Big Gulps to wash down three dozen Krispy Kremes capped off with 10 or 12 Slim Jims simultaneously inhaled with 20 or 24 Pixie Stix! How convenient is it? It’s an adrenaline rush just getting a Slurpee! Starbucks? HA! The coffee here has more caffeine per ounce than jet fuel! I mean, it makes NO SENSE! It's so convenient, you'll never need coffee again! You have to scream when you speak to the cashier! He'll be screaming, too! You’ll lose 10 years off your life! Your hair will turn white! Oh, my god, the burritos!!! It’s like dropping 24,000 feet a minute into a toxic swamp full of mutant crocodiles...AND mutant man-eating piranhas...AND mutant anacondas! Also a mutant crocapiraconda from the genetic experiments they've been conducting at the sugar factory up the road! You have to base-jump with a snowboard off the canopy through fire to pump your gas!