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| Collared peccary |
Javelinas are mentioned several times in the Spencer Quinn book I'm reading now. The collared peccary is is found in the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts in the southwest (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona). It is the only native pig-like mammal in the country. They have razor-sharp tusks (resembling javelins), poor eyesight, good hearing. They live about ten years in the wild, subsisting on agave and prickly pears. They are omnivores and emit a strong, unpleasant smell. Here's more facts about them:
http://travelexperta.com/2009/09/costa-rica-wildlife-7-facts-on-collared-peccary-smell-fighting-methods-and-reproduction.html
The white-lipped peccary typically weighs 25-40 kilograms, in contrast with the collared peccary's average of 14-27 pounds. The white-lipped is a more social animal, living in larger herds. Also, white-lippeds are less territorial, mainly because their range is greater. However, collared peccaries tend to run away from their threats (pumas, humans), while white-lippeds, because of their size, tend to defend themselves more by attacking; hence, white-lippeds are more susceptible to threats and death. The white-lippeds are found in the rainforests throughout Central and South America. If the two species ever find themselves in the same territory, the collared peccaries will most likely flee because of the greater size of the white-lippeds.
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| White-lipped peccary |
(1813-1894)
Portrait Painter
Time in Paris: 1835-?
Known for: The Boston-born Healy went over to Paris at the age of twenty-one and studied under Jacques-Louis David disciple Antoine Gros, who shortly after committed suicide. He became a close friend of celebrated French painter Thomas Couture. Portraits of the American minister to France, General Lewis Cass, and John James Audobon strengthened his reputation, leading to a portrait of France's King Louis-Phillippe.
It was a sympathetic portrait of the king, who was well-liked and convivial with the Americans in Paris; during his world travels, the king had stayed for four years in the U.S. (reputedly, although this is in dispute, working as waiter in a Boston oyster house!).
Healy too spent much time in the Louvre, studying the Titians and Rembrandts. More portraits followed, including one the King's chief advisor. In 1842, at the king's request, Healy departed for America to make a copy of Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington for the king. Healy came back with it, as well as with own portraits of John Tyler and Daniel Webster. He later went back to the U.S., in 1845, again at the king's request, to get a portrait of the dying Andrew Jackson. He completed it, continuing across the country to get portraits of Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams.
Late in life, he resided in Rome and Paris, occasionally returning to the U.S. and composing portraits. Eventually, his style went oThe ut of fashion, eclipsed by artists such as John Singer Sargent.
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| Daniel Webster, 1853 |
As the days to Oscar night can now also be ticked off on on hand, let's take a look back at the worst films and performances to be nominated for Oscars since 1990.
(Not that these films or performances are bad or terrible, not at all. We can just look back and say, Really? 'Well, I guess that was okay,' or 'yeah, he or she is good, but they were nominated for that?')
Picture: Ghost (1990), Braveheart (1995), Life is Beautiful (1998), Chocolat (2000), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Chicago (2002), The Hours (2002), Finding Neverland (2004), Inception (2010)
Actor: Robert DeNiro, Awakenings (1990); Robin Williams, The Fisher King (1991); Tom Cruise, Jerry Maguire (1996); Roberto Benigni, Life is Beautiful (1998); Sean Penn, I Am Sam (2001); Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland (2004); Terrence Howard, Hustle and Flow (2005)
Actress: Michelle Pfeiffer, Love Field (1992); Sharon Stone, Casino (1995); Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! (2001); Salma Hayek, Frida (2002).
Supporting Actor: Al Pacino, Dick Tracy (1990); Harvey Keitel, Bugsy (1991); Cuba Gooding Jr., Jerry Maguire (1996); Geoffrey Rush, Shakespeare in Love (1998); Ethan Hawke, Training Day (2001) (the same can be said for Denzel); Ed Harris, The Hours (2002); Djimon Hounsou, In America (2003); Jamie Foxx, Collateral (2004); Jonah Hill, Moneyball (2011).
Supporting Actress: Diane Ladd, Wild at Heart (1990); Jennifer Tilly, Bullets Over Broadway (1994); Kathleen Quinlan, Apollo 13 (1995); Mira Sorvino, Mighty Aphrodite (1995); Gloria Stuart, Titanic (1997); Brenda Blethyn, Little Voice (1998); Queen LAtifah, Chicago (2002).
Then, of course, to continue on a similar thread, let's give brief mention to outstanding actors and actresses who have been nominated but only once, and, curiously, sometimes perhaps for performances that are far from their best:
- Greg Kinnear, As Good As It Gets
- Toni Collette, The Sixth Sense
- Laura Dern, Rambling Rose
- Kristin Scott Thomas, The English Patient
- Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in Love
- Naomi Watts, 21 Grams
- ummm, Harvey Keitel, Bugsy
- Harrison Ford, Witness
- Samuel L. Jackson, Pulp Fiction
- James Cromwell, Babe
- William H. Macy, Fargo
- Chris Cooper, Adaptation
- John C. Reilly, Chicago
- Alan Alda, The Aviator
- Clive Owen, Closer
- Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
- Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
- Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction
- Lauren Bacall, The Mirror Has Two Faces
- Barbara Hershey, Portrait of a Lady
- Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago
- Jake and Maggie Gyllenaal, Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Crazy Heart (2009)
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