miles davis quartet, newport jazz festival, 1955
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in honor of international jazz day
never stop taking those risks
and play on.
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“risk is at the heart of jazz. every note we play is a risk.”
-steve lacy
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image credit: vintage industrial jazz
Spread across two floors of a regal old 1920s bank building in Astoria, Oregon, this collection is packed with unexpected finds at every turn. It’s a smorgasbord of quirky curiosities, so you never know what treasures or trinkets you’ll come across.
There’s little rhyme or reason to the assortment of oddities. The oldest item, a Native American chair seat made from colored porcupine quills, dates from the 1850s. But the rest of the whimsical wonders are a medley of old and new artifacts from around the world.
You can climb inside a full-sized replica of a British canal narrowboat parked unceremoniously within the old bank building, scan the exhibits for intricate wax boxes, or simply wander the room until you stumble across a piece of vintage clothing or jewelry that sparks your interest.
There are so many things to see, it’s difficult to decide where to start. A striking collection of Folies Bergère dresses and hats immediately catches your eye as you enter—some of the hats even have the name of the dancer who once wore them scrawled inside. Dolls, both daintily beautiful and disturbingly lifelike, are scattered throughout like well-stationed guards. Taxidermy creatures, including a charmingly cute miniature horse, lurk in unexpected places and antique curios hide among newly commissioned works.
The museum is the work of Trish Bright, a retired stockbroker who bought the former bank with her husband in 2005. The curated odds and ends that fill the space are her ever-growing passion project.
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“museums are custodians of epiphanies,
and these epiphanies
enter the central nervous system and deep recesses of the mind.”
-george lois
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credits: museum of whimsy, trish bright, atlas obscura
-robert hass, field guide

A Japanese rail company has apologised after a train left a station 25 seconds early, the second such case in months.The operator said the “great inconvenience we placed upon our customers was truly inexcusable”.
If the details are anything to go by, customers are faced with slipping standards: a train last November left 20 seconds early while this time it was a full 25 seconds premature.
Japanese trains have a reputation for extreme punctuality, and it turned out that there were indeed still people hoping to get onboard. Left on the platform, they complained to the rail operator and an official apology was issued shortly afterwards.
In the case last November, management on the Tsukuba Express line between Tokyo and the city of Tsukuba said they “sincerely apologise for the inconvenience” caused. Back then the mishap was also caused by the conductor mixing up departure times – though no passenger was left behind.
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“it’s too early to go, but it’s never too late to leave.”

happy national pack rat day – may 17th
There’s a fine line between holding on to nostalgia, and being a serious contendor for an episode of Hoarders. But just for a day, you are permitted to openly cherish the growing stack of Signals catalogs piling up in your basement sans any judgment of concerned family and friends. Who knows? Maybe your Beanie Babies will become collectibles again, and the joke will be on us.
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and 2 very different philosophies from 2 very creative geniuses on this subject:
“i want to lead the victorian life, surrounded by exquisite clutter.”
-freddie mercury
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“out of clutter, find simplicity.”
-albert einstein
team freddie or team albert?
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credits: stanford university (image), mental floss