Page 64 - Other Facts

The most expensive photo ever sold was photoshopped.

It’s called Rhein II, and was made by German visual artist Andreas Gursky in 1999. Last year, one of the prints was sold for $4.3 million, making the most expensive photograph ever sold. It is the second of a set of six photos of the River Rhine.

Gursky took the photo and removed details like buildings and people walking dogs. While that might make the price seem silly, or the photo not authentic, it seems to work for the betterment of the photo.

Gurksy justified it himself, saying "Paradoxically, this view of the Rhine cannot be obtained in situ, a fictitious construction was required to provide an accurate image of a modern river."

The image, which you can see on the right, has been described by arts writer Florence Waters as a "vibrant, beautiful and memorable – I should say unforgettable – contemporary twist on the romantic landscape.” Does it resonate with you at all?

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The large, furry hats worn by the British Royal Guards are made from real BEAR skin!

Each of the hats worn by the British Royal Guard requires an entire bear skin to make! Not surprisingly, the official name of the headgear is “bearskin.” The bearskin should not be mistaken for the “busby,” which is a much smaller fur cap worm by the Royal Horse Artillery. Nor, should it be confused with the similar but smaller “Sealskin” cap, made of raccoon skin, and worn by the Royal Fusiliers.

The standard bearskin for the British Foot Guard is 18 inches tall, and weighs 3kgs. They are actually made from the fur of CANADIAN black bears. An officer’s bearskin is made from the fur of the Canadian brown bear- as brown bear has thicker, fuller, fur- which is dyed black.

British hatmakers purchase between 50-100 black bear skins each year, and a cost of about £650 each. The caps often last for decades (much longer than the bear lasted); reportedly, some have been in use for more than 100 years.

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There’s another type of underwater breathing system besides SCUBA called CCUBA and it doesn’t create bubbles!

CCUBA stands for closed circuit underwater breathing apparatus. It is also referred to as a rebreather. It absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user’s exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing or recycling of the unused oxygen content of breath. Some fresh oxygen is added to replenish the amount metabolized by the user.

Therefore there are no bubbles to escape the apparatus as there is with SCUBA gear, which is an open circuit type of breathing apparatus. The rebreather is used in many different formats. It is used underwater, of course. It is also used in mine rescues, crewed spacecrafts and space units, hospital anesthesia breathing systems, submarines, and other underwater habitats.

One of the great things about the rebreather, is that it needs only carry a fraction of the oxygen needed by other gear, because it recycles it. This makes it lighter and easier to manage. It also allows for longer usage.

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The last name of the family in Malcolm in the Middle is Wilkerson.

In the 7 seasons that Malcolm in the Middle ran, it gained immense popularity. It won a Peabody Award, seven Emmys, one Grammy award, and was nominated for seven Gold Globes. In the 7 seasons that it ran, we learned about each character in the dysfunction family with depth and hilarity.

And yet, in the 7 seasons that the show ran, the family’s last name was never explicitly stated. However, there have been some hints. In the pilot episode, Francis wears the name tag “Wilkerson” on his school uniform.

The name also appears in the unaired pilot script; Malcolm is walking to school when a neighborhood boy runs up to him, and shouts “Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm. I was talking to my parents last night-I was listening to them talk, and what’s your last name?”

Malcolm replies, “Wilkerson. Why?” The boy then says “Oh. Who are the Pariahs?” The joke was eventually cut (and for good reason too).

The last name is also spoken in the series finale, when Malcolm is being introduced for his graduations speech, but is not heard due to feedback from the microphone. Also, a trailer on the UK channel Sky One in early 2006 invited their viewers to “spend time with The Simpsons and The Wilkersons.”

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It would cost around $43 000 a year to attend Hogwarts!

Although I’m pretty sure you’ll have to get that converted into pounds, and then into galleons! In honor the release of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, some Lehigh University Students did a study and calculated the various costs of attending Hogwarts. Using Harry’s acceptance letter and Amazon.co.uk, they concluded:

 Three sets of plain robes= $484

 One plain pointed hat= $32

 One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)= $122 (assuming that GORE-TEX waterproofing technology gloves qualify as “Similar”

•  1 Winter Cloak=$40
•  1 Wand=$161 (I don’t even know how they found this on Amazon)
•  1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size)= $37
•  1 Set Glass or Crystal Phials=$12
•  1 Telescope= $174
•  1 Set Brass Scales=$12
•  7 Textbooks=$519
•  1 year tuition= $41,633 (the average price for a prestigious boarding school in England) This totals to around $43 000.

Hogwarts may be a fantastical, magical place; but that doesn’t mean that it’s free of charge! I’ll just stick to my publicly funded muggle school!

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