Portrait: James Lewis Kraft, founder of the world’s third largest food company

25 January 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait Reading Time:  8 minutes

James Lewis Kraft © culturecheesemag.com - Echtner

James Lewis Kraft © culturecheesemag.com – Echtner

James Lewis Kraft was a Canadian-American entrepreneur and inventor. Kraft was the first to patent processed cheese. Kraft was born near Stevensville, Ontario, Canada to parents Minerva Alice née Tripp and George Franklin Krafft, a farmer. He was of German origin. The Kraft family farm (at Bowen Road at Winger Road) still exists as the area has remained agricultural. Kraft was educated in the Stevensville area (S.S. No. 9) and worked nearby at Ferguson’s General store in Fort Erie, Ontario from 1901 to 1902.   read more…

TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles

20 January 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area, Opera Houses, Theaters, Libraries Reading Time:  12 minutes

© sailko/cc-by-sa-3-0

© sailko/cc-by-sa-3-0

TCL Chinese Theatre is a cinema palace on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood in Los Angeles. There are nearly 200 Hollywood celebrity handprints, footprints, and autographs in the concrete of the theatre’s forecourt. Originally known as Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, it was renamed Mann’s Chinese Theatre in 1973; the name lasted until 2001, after which it reverted to its original name. On January 11, 2013, Chinese electronics manufacturer TCL Corporation purchased the naming rights to the facility, making its official name TCL Chinese Theatre. The original Chinese Theatre was commissioned following the success of the nearby Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, which opened in 1922. Built by a partnership headed by Sid Grauman over 18 months starting in January 1926, the theatre opened May 18, 1927, with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille‘s film The King of Kings. It has since been home to many premieres, including the 1977 launch of George LucasStar Wars, as well as birthday parties, corporate junkets, and three Academy Awards ceremonies. Among the theatre’s most distinctive features are the concrete blocks set in the forecourt, which bear the signatures, footprints, and handprints of popular motion picture personalities from the 1920s to the present day. The Chinese Theatre partnered with IMAX Corporation to create the single largest IMAX auditorium in the world. The new theatre seats 932 people, and hosts the third largest commercial movie screen in North America.   read more…

American Football

9 January 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Sport Reading Time:  11 minutes

Sun Life Stadium - Raiders running back Phillip Adams and Miami Dolphins cornerback Jimmy Wilson © flickr.com - June Rivera/cc-by-sa-3.0

Sun Life Stadium, today the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami
Raiders running back Phillip Adams and Miami Dolphins cornerback Jimmy Wilson
© flickr.com – June Rivera/cc-by-sa-3.0

American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton, under rules based on the association football rules of the time. During the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the “Father of American Football”, established the snap, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs; later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone, and specified the size and shape of the football.   read more…

Corona del Mar in Newport Beach

4 January 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Zereshk

© Zereshk

Corona del Mar (Spanish for “Crown of the Sea”) is a neighborhood in the affluent city of Newport Beach. It generally consists of all land on the seaward face of the San Joaquin Hills south of Avocado Avenue to the city limits, as well as the development of Irvine Terrace, just north of Avocado. Corona del Mar is known for its fine beaches, tidepools, cliffside views and quaint village shops. Beaches in the area include Corona del Mar State Beach as well as Crystal Cove State Park south of Corona del Mar, accessible by paths winding down a steep hillside.   read more…

The Cheesecake Factory

2 January 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

North Shore Mall - Peabody © Anthony92931/cc-by-sa-3.0

North Shore Mall – Peabody © Anthony92931/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Cheesecake Factory, Inc. is a restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 185 full-service dining restaurants: 165 under The Cheesecake Factory brand, 13 under the Grand Lux Cafe brand and one under the RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen brand. The Cheesecake Factory also operates two bakery production facilities—in Calabasas, California and Rocky Mount, North Carolina—and licenses two bakery-based menus for other food service operators under The Cheesecake Factory Bakery Cafe marque. Its cheesecakes and other baked goods can also be found in the cafes of many Barnes & Noble stores. A fictionalized version of The Cheesecake Factory was used as a setting in the U.S. sitcom The Big Bang Theory.   read more…

Research vessel and icebreaker USCGC Healy

1 January 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  7 minutes

Healy at the North Pole © USCG Academy - Petty Officer 2nd Class Cory Mendenhall

Healy at the North Pole © USCG Academy – Petty Officer 2nd Class Cory Mendenhall

USCGC Healy (WAGB-20) is the United States’ largest and most technologically advanced icebreaker. She is classified as a medium icebreaker by the U.S. Coast Guard. She is homeported in Seattle and was commissioned in 1999. Her motto is “Promise and Deliver“. On September 5, 2015, USCGC (United States Coast Guard Cutter) Healy became the first unaccompanied United States surface vessel to reach the North Pole. Healy was built by Avondale Industries in New Orleans. The construction included a technology transfer agreement between Avondale Industries and the Finnish Kværner Masa-Yards Arctic Technology Centre, where the latter provided expertise for hull form development and propulsion line engineering based on the Finnish diesel-electric icebreaker Otso.   read more…

Chrysler Building on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan

1 January 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, House of the Month, New York City Reading Time:  18 minutes

© AngMoKio/cc-by-sa-2.5

© AngMoKio/cc-by-sa-2.5

The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco-style skyscraper located on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in the Turtle Bay neighborhood. At 1,046 feet (319 m), the structure was the world’s tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931. It is the tallest brick building in the world, albeit with a steel frame. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, it was again the second-tallest building in New York City until December 2007, when the spire was raised on the 1,200-foot (365.8 m) Bank of America Tower, pushing the Chrysler Building into third position. In addition, The New York Times Building, which opened in 2007, is exactly level with the Chrysler Building in height. Both buildings were then pushed into fourth position, when the under-construction One World Trade Center surpassed their height, and then to fifth position by 432 Park Avenue which was completed in 2015. The Chrysler Building has been shown in several movies that take place in New York. In the summer of 2005, the Skyscraper Museum in Lower Manhattan asked one hundred architects, builders, critics, engineers, historians, and scholars, among others, to choose their 10 favorites among 25 of the city’s towers. The Chrysler Building came in first place, as 90% of respondents placed the building among their top 10 favorite buildings. The Chrysler Building’s distinctive profile has inspired similar skyscrapers worldwide, including One Liberty Place in Philadelphia. The Chrysler Building is a classic example of Art Deco architecture and considered by many contemporary architects to be one of the finest buildings in New York City. In 2007, it was ranked ninth on the List of America’s Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. It was the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation from 1930 until the mid-1950s. Although the building was built and designed specifically for the car manufacturer, the corporation did not pay for the construction of it and never owned it, as Walter P. Chrysler decided to pay for it himself, so that his children could inherit it.   read more…

California’s Wine Country

30 December 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit Reading Time:  7 minutes

Sonoma Vineyards in Russian River Valley © flickr.com - Simon Davison/cc-by-2.0

Sonoma Vineyards in Russian River Valley © flickr.com – Simon Davison/cc-by-2.0

The Wine Country is an area of Northern California known worldwide as a premium wine-growing region. Viticulture and wine-making have been practiced in the region since the mid-19th century. There are over 400 wineries in the area north of San Francisco, mostly located in the area’s valleys, including Napa Valley in Napa County, and the Sonoma Valley, Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Bennett Valley, and Russian River Valley in Sonoma County. Wine grapes are also grown at higher elevations, such as Atlas Peak and Mount Veeder AVAs. The region is defined not only by its viticulture, but also its ecology, geology, architecture, cuisine, and culture. The majority of the grape harvest, by both area and value, derives from Sonoma County.   read more…

Experience Music Project Museum in Seattle

26 December 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  9 minutes

© EMP|SFM Archive/cc-by-sa-3.0

© EMP|SFM Archive/cc-by-sa-3.0

EMP Museum is a nonprofit museum, dedicated to contemporary popular culture in Seattle. EMP Museum was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000. Since that time EMP has organized dozens of exhibits, 17 of which have toured across the US and internationally. The museum, which used to be known as Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM), has founded many public programs including Sound Off! an annual 21 and under battle-of-the-bands that supports the all-ages scene and Pop Conference an annual gathering of academics, critics, musicians and music buffs. EMP, in collaboration with the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) presents the Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Film Festival, which takes place annually every winter at Seattle Cinerama Theater.   read more…

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