Snippets:
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Literature: Hybris (Hubris): Overestimation of one's competence or capabilities. In Greek tragedies, the cause of the demise of a hero, usually based on the Nemesis, i.e. the wrath of the gods that determines the fate.
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Mathematics: Lemniscate of Bernoulli: Sign for infinity, resembles the figure 8 put on the side.
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Art: The Madonna of the Carnation (Die Madonna mit der Nelke) by Leonardo da Vinci. Only painting by Leonardo in a German museum (Alte Pinakothek, Munich). Painted between 1473 und 1478, when Leonardo was only about 20 yrs old.
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Science: Antikythera Mechanism: Antique mechanism found in a shop wreck off of the coast of the Greek islands Antikythera in ca. 1900. Time of construction is estimated ca. 150 - 100 BCE. Presumed to be the first analog computer. Used to calculate calendaric events. The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project studies the object in great detail with modern imaging techniques.
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Art: Google art Project: Browse different museums online, using Google Streetview technology.
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Astronomy: Moon: Formed ca. 4.5 billion years ago, presumably out of the debris generated through the giant impact of the protoplanet Theia on proto-Earth.
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Astronomy: Trojan: Minor planet or natural satellite (moon) that shares an orbit with a larger planet or moon. The Trojan does not collide, because it orbits around one of the two Lagrange points of stability (L4, L5; Trojan points).
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Life: Çatalhöyük Very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in southern Anatolia, Turkey, which existed from approximately 7500 - 5700 BC. Excavated in 1958. Distinctive murals and clay figurines found.
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Music: John Cage: ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible). Current organ performance of the piece at St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany, began in 2001 and is scheduled to have a duration of 639 years, ending in 2640.
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Music: 55Bar, NYC, Feb. 13, 2011: Iris Ornig (bass & composition), Stacy Dillard (Saxaphone), Danny Grissett (fender rhodes), Alvester Garnett (drums): good music, sax slightly weaker; jazz version of Bjorks' Venus as a Boy.
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Art: The Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel, Metropolitan Museum, NYC, Sep 28, 2010–Apr 3, 2011. Believed to belong to a large house owned by a wealthy Roman in about A.D. 300. First discovered in 1996 during construction on the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway in Lod (formerly Lydda), Israel. Uncovered during the summer of 2009, now first full display.
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Art: PS1/MoMA: Laurel Nakadate: Only the Lonely: Jan 23, 2011 - Aug 8, 2011: 10 yr retrospective. Stills, film and video works. Includes Good Morning, Sunshine (2009), in which Nakadate enters the bedrooms of young women, wakes them, and instructs each to strip down to their underwear for the camera. Also includes two feature films, Stay the Same Never Change (2009) and The Wolf Knife (2010), and the photographic series, 365 Days: A Catalogue of Tears.
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Art: MoMA NYC: Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures, Dec 19, 2010–Mar 21, 2011: Between 1964 and 1966 Warhol shot approximately 500 rolls of film with several-minute silent portraits of acquaintances, friends and celebrities. At times, he left his subjects alone with the camera. Exhibitions shows examples on large screens. Warhol recorded the portraits at 24 fps, but specified them to be projected at a 16 fps, creating a slow fluidity of pace.
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Art: MoMA NYC: Abstract Expressionist New York, Oct 3, 2010–Apr 25, 2011: Pollock, Rothko, de Kooning, Newman  etc.
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Music: Feb 19., 2011 NJPAC, Newark: Classic Albums Live: Abbey Road. CAL, Founded in 2003 by Craig Martin, takes classic albums and recreates them live on stage. Good performance, although it naturally cannot compete with the original.
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