1. Paris Waiters Race as Storied Contest Returns
On Sunday, for the first time in over a decade, Paris revived a tradition: an annual race of cafe and restaurant waiters. About 200 men and women swerved, jostled and jogged 1.2 miles through the city streets, which were lined with cheering crowds. Contestants rushed through the streets with croissant-laden trays in a moment for the French capital to showcase its cafe culture ahead of the Summer Olympics. The rules were simple: No running, and reach the finish line with laden trays intact with a croissant, a glass of tap water and a small coffee cup.
The race, which was first held in the early 20th century, had been on hiatus since 2012 because of a lack of funding. But Paris officials saw an opportunity for the city to shine before hosting the Summer Olympics, which kick off in July. It was also a moment to illustrate that sipping coffee at a cafe or wine in a bistro was as integral to the capital’s cultural heritage as its most famous landmarks.
Photographs via The New York Times.
2. Life before TV, internet and social media
Antwerp, Belgium, 1949. Photo by Aart Klein. Found on X.
3. A nun with a rather interesting wikipedia page
Benedetta Carlini, the 17th century nun known for being charged by the inquisition for having sex with a fellow nun while “being possesed by a demon”, was also a mystic. She would fall in a trance state, speak in tongues and suffered from stigmata. She also married Jesus in an official ceremony.
Found on Wikipedia.
4. She might have inspired one of Netflix’s biggest shows. She died last month. No one wrote about it.
The onetime chess phenom walked away from the game years ago. She was happier for it.
Article found on Slate.
5. Town’s graves can be reused under new law
A town has become the first outside of London where graves on unconsecrated land can be reused. It gives Bishop’s Stortford Town Council powers to “lift and deepen” graves in the Hertfordshire town’s Old Cemetery and New Cemetery if those plots are at least 75 years old. This involves digging up the remains in an existing grave, digging that grave to a greater depth, and then re-interring the remains, sometimes in a new coffin.
Found on BBC Travel.
6. Scorsese’s secret life as an obsessive VHS archivist
In the basement of the University of Colorado Boulder’s main library, an 85-year-old stone fortress built in the Italian rural style, the archives of the school’s Rare and Distinctive Collections occupy rows of shelves as far as the eye can see. Here, amid yellowed books, historical maps and medieval manuscripts, Martin Scorsese has quietly made public a very private preoccupation. More than 50 storage boxes hold thousands of VHS tapes that contain films and television programs Scorsese recorded directly from broadcast television. The renowned director and film preservationist, it turns out, was also, for decades, a prolific guerrilla archivist.
Read the article on The Guardian.
7. Paul Giamatti’s Criterion Closet Picks
8. “School for Geisha”, Tokyo, Japan, 1951
Found on Thinking Images.
9. Just a resevoir in northern Kyrgyzstan
Found on Senses Atlas.
10. Easter Egg Museum, Ukraine
The museum is not only shaped like an egg (14 m in height and 10 m in diameter), but parts of the exterior and inside of the dome are painted to resemble a pysanka (the Polish/Ukrainian tradition of easter eggs). This is the only museum in the world dedicated to the pysanka, and it has become a calling card of the city.
Found on Wikipedia.
11. Easter Witches
Easter witches is an old Swedish legend about witches flying to Blockula on brooms on the Thursday before Easter or on the night between the Wednesday and Thursday before, and returning on Easter. In modern times children dress up as witches, old ladies or in old men’s clothing and go door to door distributing greetings and often receiving treats in return.
Found on Wikipedia.
12. When you’re feeling Uninspired: a reminder that Grandma Moses started painting at Age 78
Grandma Moses, was an American folk artist. She began painting in earnest at the age of 78 and is a prominent example of a newly successful art career at an advanced age. Her works have been shown and sold worldwide, including in museums, and have been merchandised such as on greeting cards. Sugaring Off was sold for US$1.2 million in 2006.
Found on Wikipedia.
