The Week in Meep: Mystic Invertebrates and Brooklyn Sumo
That certainly was a week. I'm tired.
Let’s start with the money photo, because I’m not going to make anybody wait:
This came from an event yesterday, called Sumo + Sushi.
Konishiki
Sumo + Sushi is a production of Konishiki, the first non-Japanese ozeki (he’s from Hawaii).
You may know him from the photo of the absolutely ginormous wrestler face-on against a much smaller one. What I didn’t know is the photo was from a special event in the Albert Hall, in which the rikishi were doing a first-ever outside of Japan pro sumo official event.
Konishiki was the heaviest wrestler when he was active, at 633 pounds, and he earned nicknames like Dump Truck and Meat Bomb.
Konishiki is a hilarious guy, as can be seen in the video below. It’s from Sumo Kaboom, my favorite Sumo podcast:
Sumo + Sushi
Konishiki put together Sumo+Sushi to bring sumo culture to U.S. audiences. The event lasts 2 hours, broken into 3 parts so that the audience (and the wrestlers) can take some practical breaks.
There are multiple levels of tickets, and I bought myself the top level, because I bought it as a 50th birthday gift to myself.
So I got to sit in a “sky view” overlooking the peasants below.
I mean, I got a fantastic view of the dohyo.
The show included taiko drumming, Japanese food (I filled up on sushi), drinks (I got plenty of junmai sake and Suntory whisky), and Sumo merch (I got some for me & Stu). And, as you can see, I got pics with the wrestlers, too.
A really fun part, which people paid to do, was when guys got into the ring with the wrestlers. One of the men was really big & tall, and had judo experience… but still lost. I heard a woman did it in a prior show.
By the way, though I do know a lot of sumo stuff, they demonstrated some kimarite that I was not familiar with. I recognized two of the wrestlers, as they had been in paid ranks and retired relatively recently.
There are upcoming shows in DC, Nashville, and Chicago. Check it out!
Invertebrates in Mystic
On Juneteenth, I took my kids to Mystic, CT, to the Seaport Museum and the Aquarium. The Aquarium was great as always, and it has a special Dino Seas exhibit on right now. But I don’t think the Aquarium needs me to promote dinosaurs in oceans. Bah.
This trip was a belated birthday present for my oldest child, and we had held off as the Museum was going to have a submarine exhibit (using the 20K under the sea Nautilus as its example), so we waited til that opened.
But the exhibit that blew me away was on marine invertebrates: SPINELESS: A GLASS MENAGERIE OF BLASCHKA MARINE INVERTEBRATES
For millennia, naturalists, scientists, sailors, and artists have been fascinated by marine invertebrates, an abundant, diverse, and ubiquitous group of sea creatures including sponges, jellyfish, sea anemones, crustaceans, mollusks (such as sea slugs and octopuses), sea squirts, and many more. However, finding a way to document these spineless species was often a challenge. When alive and in their natural habitats, many species, especially those with soft bodies, present in vibrant colors and unusual shapes. When extracted from the sea, the animals may quickly become colorless, shapeless, and sometimes almost unrecognizable.
The major exhibition Spineless, opened on October 21, 2023 at Mystic Seaport Museum, explores some of the inspiring ways that people have tried to record the ocean’s mesmerizing marine invertebrates. The main theme of the exhibition features the intriguing story of father and son glassmakers Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka of Dresden, Germany. In the 1850s, the elder Blaschka became fascinated by invertebrates he observed while at sea. Inspired to produce glass models that would capture their forms, anatomical details, and colors, he and his son went on to create a unique mail-order catalogue business. They successfully sold and distributed these often extraordinarily fragile pieces to museums and universities around the world for teaching and display purposes. Over forty of these exquisite models from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University and other institutions will be displayed.
The exhibition also features sailors’ journals and rare books containing sketches, watercolors, written descriptions, and photographs — giving a glimpse into early documentation and scientific work at sea. Alongside the Blaschka glass models and these rarely-seen archival and library materials will be a selection of “wet specimens” preserved in jars from the Yale Peabody Museum, Deparment of Invertebrate Zoology, and from other collections, which highlight the challenges and successes of preserving invertebrates for scientific study.
While most of the “wet specimens” of marine invertebrates would be colorless and formless, more or less, in sketches from life (or soon after being caught), there would be amazing color and structure:
The glass models made (and the artworks) also have their interest, and for those having difficulty looking at 2d sketches and visualizing the 3d structure, the glass models are helpful.
However, I found the sketches more evocative.
The Spineless exhibit runs through March 2, 2025.
Shopping in Mystic
We also had lunch at our favorite restaurant there: the Jealous Monk, and shopped at the Alice shops.
Well, we didn’t really shop at the tea shop, just tested a gimmick with adjoining the mystery/horror shop (where I bought a bunch of Poe graphic books + a picture book bio of Edward Gorey.)
We also went to ARISU (aka ALICE), the manga/Japanese pop culture shop. Yes, all three shops have the same owner, thus the similar names and themes. I bought Stu the gudetama cookbook, to deal with our overage of duck eggs.
Fun stuff!
Watch This Space
If you follow me on X/twitter, facebook, or even LinkedIn, you may have seen a countdown to Bobby Bonilla Day (July 1)…. I will definitely be doing my annual coverage of one of my favorite days of the year!
Keep Cool(ish)!