1. The Uffizi in Florence have more perfect paintings than any other gallery on the planet — not just Tintorettos and Botticellis, but the most arresting works by people like Gentile da Fabriano and Simone Martini. Some Caravaggios, "Bachus" among them, were found in an Uffizi store-room in 1916. 2. The Earl of Cardigan gave his name to one of the garments we wear. A cardigan is a knitted jacket that is fastened up the front with buttons or a zip. 3. — Now, how about some Bellinis to celebrate the holiday? — I've forgotten what a Bellini is. I know Bellini, the composer, of course. I mean, I know it's also champagne but what's in it besides that? — Fresh peach juice. — Now I remember! It's a fabulous drink. 4. — Rumor has it that you're suffering from a terminal Don Juan complex. — It's not such a bad reputation to have, when you think about it. After all no man can be a Don Juan unless women are interested in him. 5. Long ago in prerevolutionary France there lived one Etienne de Silhouette, a controller general for Louis XV. Because of his fanatical zeal for raising taxes and slashing expenses and pensions, he enraged royalty and citizens alike, who ran him out of office within eight months. At about the same time that Silhouette was sacked, the method of making cutouts of profiles by throwing the shadow of the subjects on the screen captured the fancy of the Paris public. Because the process was cheap, the man and the method became associated. Ever since, we have called shadow profiles silhouettes, with a small s.
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