Spotlight Europe: Invention of the Stethoscope

The stethoscope, the instrument used by physicians to listen to body sounds, was invented out of a physician's need for modesty.

Monaural stethoscope circa 1817. Photo credit Antiquemed.com

In 1816, French physician Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec was embarrassed to use standard immediate auscultation (ear to body) on a young female patient. He rolled up sheets of paper to listen to the patient's chest and discovered not only could he hear the sounds, they were amplified.

The next year, Laennec invented what he eventually called the stethoscope ( from the Greek "the chest" and "I see"). It was a long piece of hollowed-out wood to be used one ear at a time, a monaural stethoscope.

Binaural stethoscope 1852. Photo credit Antiquemed.com

As inventions go, once someone comes up with a good idea, others begin to fiddle with it. From this we get  the medical instrument that most people think of when they hear the word "stethoscope" -the binaural stethoscope.

The binaural stethoscope is used in both ears simultaneously and is hooked inside the ear to allow for ease of movement and comfort while dealing with the patient. Its materials have remained basically the same throughout the decades - metal earpieces, metal chestpiece and rubber tubing.

The first recorded idea of a binaural  stethoscope came from inventor Nicholas Comins in 1829, but he only went as far as sketching it. The 1850s produced a rash of binaural models from all over the world. Arthur Leared presented a double stethoscope at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. In that same year, Nathan Marsh from Cincinnati was the first to market binaural stethoscopes to the public.  Dr. George Cammann of New York produced the first usable binaural stethoscope in 1852.

The stethoscope remains a useful tool and doesn't show any signs of being discarded in the near future. This simple service to mankind began with a physician who had a penchant for modesty.

Spotlight North America: La Raspa vs Mexican Hat Dance

La Raspa  is the name of a simple folk dance and its music which are originally associated with the Mexican state of Veracruz. This dance is often incorrectly called the Mexican Hat Dance (aka Jarabe Tapatio). Both of the latter titles actually belong to a dance from Guadalajara in Jalisco.

La Raspa

The music for La Raspa is famous worldwide and is instantly recognizable. The “hat dance” ringtone on your cell phone is actually La Raspa. The tune that Ricky and Lucy use to break their lease in an "I Love Lucy"episode is La Raspa. A quick web search of “Mexican Hat Dance” instead brings up La Raspa. The tune is more famous than the name.

“La Raspa” possibly comes from the verb “Raspere,”  an Old Germanic word meaning “to grate upon.”  The term could refer to the Guiro -an instrument  which produces a rhythmic scratching sound when a scraper is rubbed over its indentations- or it could refer to the chicken- like scratching movement the dancer uses.

The steps are very easy, may be danced alone or in couples, and are often taught to young school children for physical exercise and history lessons.  On the first set you jump up and down in one place while alternating extending one foot for one count and then another for the next count, etc. The second set involves running in a circle with elbows linked with your partner’s.

Mexican Hat Dance aka Jarabe Tapatio

In contrast to La Raspa, the Mexican Hat Dance aka Jarabe Tapatio (rough translation: “sweet syrup”) includes complicated and flirtatious movements that are to be performed by only two people.  It is a terpsichorean love story.

“The hero, known as jalisco charro, woos the woman he loves. The male and female dancers play out a complex courtship ritual, teasing one another, coming together and then breaking apart , as the charro pursues his beloved. They dance in circles-at first the charro pursues the woman, but as they go round and round it may become less clear who is chasing whom.”-- Lee Stacy

According to Puro Mariachi,

[Jarabe Tapatio] is highly stylized, with prescribed movements and costumes. The male wears the classic outfit, the Jalisco horsemen or charro, while the female the China, wears a hand-woven shawl and a bright … skirt.

Cyd Charisse and Ricardo Montalban seem to be performing some version of a jarabe here:

The Mexican Hat Dance and La Raspa are two entirely different dances, with separate purposes, originating from different states in Mexico.  However, the name of the former and music from the  latter remain inextricably linked.

Spotlight Africa: Pachypodium Plants in Madagascar

According to the Madagascar Embassy in D.C., 80 % of the flora on this island is not found anywhere else in nature. Neat.

This includes plants in the genus Pachypodium (Elephant Foot).

"One of these, the endangered Pachypodium decaryi, is native to the "tsingy" limestone crags of the Northwest. Its smooth, silvery trunk resembles a large inverted turnip, fat at the base and tapering upward, topped by a messy mop of thin, straggly branches." - Madagascar Embassy

It also looks like an elephant's foot, but I guess that's too obvious a description. The website goes on:

Other Pachypodiums have equally bizarre shapes, including the bulbous Pachypodium rosulatum, which resembles a huge gourd [or the foot of an elephant] sprouting long, thin shafts from which its bright yellow flower blooms.

These plants are in dry areas and are highly susceptible to fires. Also people keep taking samples of this strange plant, so extinction is pretty close for some of them. I'd like to see these before they're all gone.

Spotlight South America: Yerba Mate Tea

Spotlight is an occasional world trivia series which highlights one continent per post.

Yerba Mate Tea, or just Mate, is " . . . a highly caffeinated infusion prepared by steeping dried leaves of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) in hot water." -- Yerba Mate Association

The yerba mate plant is a shrub of the holly species (family Aquifoliaceae) indigenous to subtropical South America. There seems to be a 9 step process involved in turning the shrub into a proper mate beverage.

The tea is the national drink in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay and is also commonly consumed in other parts of the continent. "Drinking mate with friends from a shared hollow calabash gourd (also called a mate...) with a metal (traditionally silver) straw (a bombilla, in Spanish...) is an extremely common social practice. Even if the water comes in a very modern thermos, the infusion is traditionally drunk from [a] mate or cuia." -- YMA

The bombilla is a straw and a sieve. The bottom end has small perforations which allow the liquid to pass through to the exclusion of the leaves or leaf parts.

Spotlight North America: Makawao, Hawaii

Spotlight is an occasional world trivia series which highlights one continent per post.

"Makawao is a town with the rustic charm of the old western days..." - Makawao Official Website

Located in lush upcountry Maui, Makawao ("Eye of the Forest") is one of Hawaii's last Paniolo towns. Paniolo, meaning "cowboy," may be a variation on the word "español," given the Spanish-Mexican influence on the cowboy culture in the 50th state.

Photo: gohawaii.about.com

In 1793, Capt. George Vancouver sent cattle from California to Pai`ea Kamehameha, monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom. In 1803, Richard Cleveland sent horses to the Hawaiian king. In the 1830s, at the request of Kamehameha III, Spanish-Mexican vaqueros came to teach Hawaiians how to manage the wild herds of cattle.

Photo: Makawaotowncenter.com

The cowboy culture has remained in Hawaii ever since. The ranch lands of Makawao continue the tradition. Even today you can find hitching posts scattered around the town. There is a very popular 3-day celebration for U.S. Independence Day in Makawao which includes The Makawao Rodeo (Hawaii's largest paniolo competition) and patriotic parades.

Totally awesome. I've got to go there.

• Makawao's official website
  
• More on Paniolo Culture
  

Spotlight Asia: Chocolate Hills of Bohol

Spotlight is an occasional series that highlights world trivia one continent per post.

Chocolate Hills is the name given to a series of hills in various municipalities in Bohol, Philippines.

There are over 1200 of these grass-covered limestone mounds. During the dry season, the conical and almost symmetrical hills turn brown and resemble Hershey's Kisses. Sweet!

On June 18, 1988 this group of formations was declared the country's 3^rd National Geological Monument in recognition of its scientific value and geomorphic uniqueness. -- UNESCO

Spotlight South America: Bela Época, Brazil's early cinema

Spotlight is an occasional world trivia series that highlights one continent per post.
This week's theme: Movies

Bela Época (Beautiful Era) is the name given to the earliest period of Brazilian films.

"Cinema reached Brazil within six months after Lumière revealed his cinématographe in Paris in late 1895. The first screening of what was called the "omnigraph" was held in Rio de Janeiro on July 8, 1896.

Italo-Brazilian Affonso Segreto introduced the first filmmaking equipment in 1898. During the next few years, he filmed public ceremonies, festivals, Presidential outings, and other local scenes and events. Although initially greeted with fascinated amazement, cinematic spectacle did not become a widespread and stable form of entertainment until several years later. . . . When energy was industrialized in Rio de Janeiro in 1901, exhibition halls proliferated like mushrooms. Brazilian exhibitors resolved to make their own films on national topics to supply these halls." -- Ejumpcut

From 1900 to 1912, the Brazilian film industry began to develop.

"In this period . . . Brazilian films dominated the domestic market, and documentaries and newsreels constituted the most important filmic productions. Fiction films were realized according to the established genres of comedy, melodrama, and historical drama, generally adaptations of literary classics, as well as carnival and satirical musicals, which followed the popular traditions of the circus and the vaudeville of the nineteenth century." - Film Reference

The first Brazilian feature film was Antônio Leal's Os estranguladores (The Stranglers, 1908). The first Brazilian comedy was Júlio Ferrez's Nhô Anastácio chegou de viagem (Mr. Anastácio Has Arrived from His Travels, 1908).

Spotlight North America: Java's 10 Favorite Classic Movie Stars

Spotlight is an occasional world trivia series that highlights one continent per post.
This week's theme: Movies

These are Classic Movie Stars who made it big in Hollywood's Classic Era (1930s - mid1960s) and big on Java's list of 10 stars (among many) to watch.
[A nod to the Hollywood Dreamland blog for the idea].

In no particular order they are these:

10) Bob Hope

First Movie That I Saw Him In: Road To Morocco (1942)
Two Favorite Movies: Fancy Pants (1950), Give Me a Sailor (1938)

One Reason Why I Enjoy His Work: This comedian seems rarely to rest on his jokes. He'll snap out a one-liner and then will proceed straight for the next before you've finished laughing. This means you end up rewatching the film to see what you've missed and fall in love with Hope all over again.

9) Thelma Ritter

First Movie That I Saw Her In: Pillow Talk (1959)
Two Favorite Movies: Father Was A Fullback (1949), A Letter To Three Wives (1949)

One Reason Why I Enjoy Her Work: This character actress can make any dialogue interesting, funny and relatable. She brings humanity and common sense to scenes that may otherwise seem false or overblown.

8)Bette Davis

First Movie That I Saw Her In: The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)
Two Favorite Movies: All About Eve (1950), The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941)

One Reason Why I Enjoy Her Work: Time and again, people write about the indomitable spirit of this actress. It is that presence that brings me back to her films. She can chew scenery and spit out dialogue like no one else.

7) Sidney Poitier


First Movie That I Saw Him In: To Sir, With Love (1967)
Two Favorite Movies: No Way Out (1950), In The Heat Of The Night (1967)

One Reason Why I Enjoy His Work: "Dignity. Always dignity," as Don Lockwood says. Poitier's presence on screen is arresting. I'm forever watching his eyes wondering what he would really say if his character were allowed to say it. He retains his cool when, given the circumstances that his characters are often in, he must be burning up inside. Fascinating actor.

6) Jean Arthur

First Movie That I Saw Her In: Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)
Two Favorite Movies: The More The Merrier (1943), You Can't Take It With You (1938)

One Reason Why I Enjoy Her Work: She is very generous with her costars, never seems worried about outshining anyone, she's just naturally the person you follow on the screen. Plus her voice is so unique that you can't help but pay attention to whatever she's saying.

5)Martha Raye

First Movie That I Saw Her In: College Swing (1938)
Two Favorite Movies: Give Me A Sailor (1938), Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962)

One Reason Why I Enjoy Her Work: She can keep up with and surpass any comic business her counterpart(s) dredge up. Infectious personality, that one.

4) Cary Grant

First Movie That I Saw Him In: The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Two Favorite Movies: His Girl Friday (1940), I Was a Male War Bride (1949)

One Reason Why I Enjoy His Work: Sure, he looks good in a tux; he looks even better with a one-liner dangling from his lips. And I'm with Audrey: how does he shave in there?

3)Deanna Durbin

First Movie That I Saw Her In: It Started With Eve (1941)
Two Favorite Movies: It Started With Eve (1941), That Certain Age (1938)

One Reason Why I Enjoy Her Work: Even in her character's more dramatic situations, she will arch that eyebrow (showing that she's completely in control) which makes me smile.

2)Ann Miller

First Movie That I Saw Her In: On The Town (1949)
Two Favorite Movies: Hit The Deck (1955), Easter Parade (1948)

One Reason Why I Enjoy Her Work: Effervescent personality, quick tongue and killer tap dancing skills (Ok, so that's more than one reason.)

1)Tyrone Power

First Movie That I Saw Him In: Jesse James (1939)
Two Favorite Movies: The Mark of Zorro (1940) , Witness For The Prosecution (1957)

One Reason Why I Enjoy His Work: If ever a man buckled a swash, Tyrone would be one. Although he's known for playing hero parts, I'm often drawn to his bad boy exploits on film.

Spotlight Europe: History of Pinewood Studios

Spotlight is an occasional world trivia series that highlights one continent per post.
This week's theme: Movies

Pinewood Studios , located in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, has a marked range of titles under its belt: from the James Bond action series (there is even a famous disaster-prone film stage named after the tuxedo-clad man of intrigue); to the famous My Fair Lady(1964) precursor, the much-studied Pygmalion (1938); to family-friendly flights of fancy like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1967); to the latest moody Batman film, The Dark Knight(2008).

Before it became a film studio for the likes of Jason Bourne, the land had been used as a residential estate for many years. Building tycoon Charles Boot bought the land, and the accompanying Georgian Mansion called Heatherden Hall, during the economic crisis of the 1930s. He "snapped up Heatherden and immediately set about recouping his investment by turning the hall into a country club for the rich and famous. Yet Boot’s main aim . . . [was] to turn the land into a film studio." -- Pinewood

old gate

new gate

The tycoon officially renamed Heatherden Hall, Pinewood, because "…of the number of trees which grow there and because it seemed to suggest something of the American film centre in its second syllable." -- Pinewood

American actor Gregory Peck at the studios in this photo from circa 1959.

Technicians at Pinewood Studios in 1977

Pinewood states that from its inception the studios became a home to large and small productions and to directors and producers from all filming backgrounds. It seems to be continuing in its goals to appeal to any filmmaker out there with its recent announcement to expand and build studio lots that recreate New York, Venice, New Orleans and other places. It should be fun to see who next works with Pinewood Studios.

Glimpse the studio's history in pictures.

Spotlight Australia: Limelight Department, Australia's early cinema

Spotlight is an occasional world trivia series that highlights one continent per post.
This week's theme: Movies

The Limelight Department was located in Melbourne and was one of the world's earliest film studios. The Department, ran by the Salvation Army, began in 1892 with slide projections used as a means to evangelize through storytelling.

"[I]nspiration for the name [came] from the light source used for slide projection and theatre spotlights at the time. Blocks of lime were heated to white incandescence by a gas jet, usually generated by heating chemicals in a retort beside the projector." -- ABC.net

In 1898, with the increasing popularity of "actualities," as movies were first called, the Department added motion pictures to their roster of methods of entertainment and enlightenment.

It has been debated whether Limelight's Soldiers of the Cross (1900) is the world's first feature-length film. There has been little debate that the film is the world's first dramatic movie. "Soldiers of the Cross depicted the lives of the early Christians; it ran for over 2½ hours and comprises fifteen 90-second films and 200 slides, accompanied by oratory and music. It was an illustrated lecture rather than a "true" feature film." -- Salvation Army

Note: The honor of the world's first feature length film goes to another Australian film: The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), produced by Johnson & Gibson.

Limelight produced over 300 films before the studios shut down productions in 1909.