The Phillips Collection

A great review. Hats off to Duncan Phillips! www.phillipscollection.org

Art Market Update

Souren Milikian's opinion piece on Corot to Monet, A Fresh Look at Landscape from the Collection (National Gallery) was brilliant.

Useful link:
www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Edinburgh International Book Festival

An inspiring book festival indeed. Give it a try. www.edbookfest.co.uk

The Red Flags Rule

Effective October 1, 2009, the Red Flags Rule, which has been in effect since January 1, 2008, will require jewelry retail businesses to implement a written Identity Theft Prevention Program. The goal of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) program is to prevent thieves from stealing identity information for fraudulent purposes. http://www2.ftc.gov/redflagsrule

Like A Rolling Stone

It was in 1965 that Bob Dylan wrote Like A Rolling Stone, with its line: 'How does it feel to be on your own, a complete unknown? Like a rolling stone?'. A song which definitely wakes you up. What a great song!

Useful link:
www.bobdylan.com

Le Grotte della Civita

The best advice I can give you is to take a walk, alone, through the area and breathe in the air of the stones. Tonio Acito. So true. I never realized rock churches were so beautiful, some of them dating back to the days when Matera was part of the Byzantine Empire. Artistically impressive, really. Thanks John for sharing the info.

Useful links:
www.sassidimatera.com
www.sassiweb.it

Random Thoughts

Cheese is something people are much more interested in and knowledgeable about than they were 20 years ago. But people are still pretty limited. They know Swiss, cheddar, goat cheese, blue cheese, brie — and that's about it. But they keep learning. It's like what happened with wine. Fifty years ago, Americans didn't drink any wine. Then they discovered European wines. Then people started trying to make wine in California. Now people know American wine and European wine and they're starting to learn about grapes, like the difference between Merlot and pinot grigio. I think that will happen with cheese. I also think we'll see a lot more American-made cheeses from specific producers. That, to me, is the next big wave. We finally discovered wine, but cheese is about 20 years behind.

- Liz Thorpe
www.murrayscheese.com

So true!

Heard On The Street

Everything you need to know about gem markets you can learn at rock concerts. The effect is the same.