good morning class!

Lawmakers Pass Key Lime Pie Bill After Fierce Debate

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — House lawmakers were locked in a tense debate that Wednesday threatened to rock the chamber. Voices rose. Fists went into the air. Brows were furrowed.

The question: what should be Florida’s official pie? . . .

“Ol’ nasty key lime pie,” said Rep. Dwight Stansel, R-Live Oak. “I can’t understand how anyone in the world can present a bill making a state pie from a fruit that’s not even grown in Florida.”

Stansel’s passion aside, the tangy dessert prevailed, 106–14.

“Let’s bring key limes back to Florida—and bring sunshine back to the state,” said Rep. Mitch Needelman, R-Melbourne.

—Local6.com, Central Florida, May 3, 2006. From the Associated Press.

Feel sunshine sparkle pink and blue

“All through the morning rain
I gaze—the sun doesn’t shine—
Rainbows and waterfalls run through my mind

In the garden—I see west
Purple shower, bells and tea
Orange birds and river cousins dressed in green

Pretty music I hear—so happy
And loud—blue flower echo
From a cherry cloud

Feel sunshine sparkle pink and blue
Playgrounds will laugh if you try to ask
Is it cool? Is it cool?”

—Strawberry Letter 23, most famously recorded by The Brothers Johson in 1977. Written by Johnny Otis, Jr. at the age of 17 and recorded by him in 1971. According to someone on the internet: “Otis wrote it for his girlfriend, who liked to send him letters written on strawberry scented paper. The song describes the feelings evoked by “Strawberry Letter 22,” the title indicating the hope of another letter.”

Abstract No. One

“In 1952, Abstract No. One, a cubist still life, was awarded third prize at a San Francisco-area art show. After the competition, it was revealed that the richly colored artwork had been painted from a paint-by-number kit. An exhibition of kit paintings at the Smithsonian in 2001 and the accompanying book by William L. Bird, Jr. cite this competition as the start of the paint-by-number craze.”

—Eric Alberta, from Paint by Number, a 2003 calendar from Workman Publishing, New York.

Oriental Serenade

“Culture, kitsch, or kitsch culture? Oriental Serenade reflects the West’s fascination and centuries-old emulation of the arts of China. The passion of the red brushstrokes is made more vibrant by the serene pastel landscape.”

—Eric Alberta, from Paint by Number, a 2003 calendar from Workman Publishing, New York.

luminously glowing first red, then bright yellow

“Ceramics require a fire that begins gently and then rises to an inferno of red heat, at minimum, and yellow or close to blazing white heat at optimum. If you look inside the fire as it reaches temperature—and potters have done just this for thousands of years—you will see the pots or sculptures luminously glowing first red, then bright yellow in the swirling gaseous flames. It is a blinding, awe-inspiring sight, and it is fraught with dangers for the ware—and sometimes for the person attending the fire.”

—Suzanne Stauback, from Clay: The History and Evolution of Humankind’s Relationship with Earth’s Most Primal Element, 2005.

ci (tz’u) or porcelain

“The Chinese call any high-fired clay body that makes a clear ringing sound when it is struck ci (tz’u) or porcelain. In the West, a body is considered true porcelain if, in addition tot these criteria, it is white and translucent. Porcelain is made of kaolin (white china clay), feldspar, and silica. Kaolin is named for the hill of Gaoling (Kaoling), which lies to the north of Jingdezhen (Ching-te-Chen). Kaolin is 40 percent alumina, 46 percent silica, and 14 percent water. It is highly refractory and pure white. Petuntse (china stone or literally, “small white rocks”) is a naturally occurring white, feldspathic powdery rock that occurs in China. It was added to kaolin to make porcelain. In the fires of a very hot kiln, petuntse melts and surrounds the refractory particles of kaolin, giving the body strength and making it smooth, almost glassy. Porcelain is fired to 2,280–2,370°F.”

—Suzanne Stauback, from Clay: The History and Evolution of Humankind’s Relationship with Earth’s Most Primal Element, 2005.

the legendary opalescent chuns

“Song [dynasty] workshops excelled in firing techniques, methods of forming, carving, design, and glaze making. Glazes were quiet and subdued in appearance, yet, if you held a teacup in your hand or gave a bowl more than a glance, you would notice subtle variations. The longer you looked, the more you saw. . . . There were shimmering celadons, silky whites, iron-rich dark tenmokus (sometimes with the shadow of a single, saturated golden leaf fired into the interior of a bowl), and the legendary opalescent chuns (jun) with tints of blue and purple and red. In chuns, bubbles are suspended inside the fired glaze, thus bending and refracting the light, making the eye see blue, though there are indeed no blue colorants in the glaze. Reds, and purple flashes, came from the copper.”

—Suzanne Stauback, from Clay: The History and Evolution of Humankind’s Relationship with Earth’s Most Primal Element, 2005.

the wonderful calligraphic blue and white porcelain dishes for which the Ming dynasty is best known

“. . . it is the wonderful calligraphic blue and white porcelain dishes for which the Ming dynasty is best known and which were most popular in China and, as they were exported, throughout the Western world. Skilled artists dipped their brushes in cobalt and painted blossoms, birds, acrobats, magnolia trees, lovers, flowering branches, pavilions, and swirling vines and scrolls on porcelain dishes, teapots, bowls, teacups, vases, jars, ewers, and plates. There is something mysterious about the deep rich blue of cobalt together with the arctic white of porcelain that elicits a passionately positive response in all but a very few who behold the combination. Blue and white evoke a sense of serenity, purity, and, perhaps royalty in the user or viewer.”

—Suzanne Stauback, from Clay: The History and Evolution of Humankind‘s Relationship with Earth’s Most Primal Element, 2005.

Plain white hotel china

“Hotels and restaurants rely on simple round white plates, “hotel china.” ‘Round and white has been the industry standard for a number of reasons,’ Julie Gustafson wrote in the online magazine Hotel & Motel. ‘White goes with everything, so there’s no need to change dinnerware with the change of carpet and curtains. And chefs love a plain white background to set off their food.’ . . .

Plain white hotel china has also entered the home. . . . It is dishwasher safe, inexpensive, and unobtrusive.”

—Suzanne Stauback, from Clay: The History and Evolution of Humankind’s Relationship with Earth’s Most Primal Element, 2005.