Book: Everything Bad is Good for You, by Steven Johnson

Title: Everything Bad is Good for You
Author:
Steven Johnson
Source: Veddma library
ISBN:
1-57322-307-7
Available online

Notes: This book undermines the “well-known fact” that pop culture is getting dumber with time. It does not address the content, but rather the work a human mind has to perform to follow a modern videogame, film, or TV series. And the claim is that the pop …

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Puzzle: Belvedere Castle


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 68cm x 48.1cm
ProducerMega Brands, Click series
Notes:
Belvedere Castle is a building in Central Park in New York, New York, that contains exhibit rooms and an observation deck.

Built as a Victorian folly in 1869, the castle caps Vista Rock, the park’s second-highest natural elevation Constructed of Manhattan schist quarried in the park and dressed with gray granite, it tops the natural-looking woodlands of The Ramble, as …

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Puzzle: Boats on water by Paul Rezendes


Size
: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 40.64cm x 40.64cm
Producer:  Hasbro, MB Puzzle, Big Ben series
Artist:
Paul Rezendes
“In order to capture the essence and beauty of nature, there must be an intimacy with it, not as an object, but as a process that is forever changing. The more you learn to see nature, to observe it with the quality of attention that is crucial to seeing, the more one is …

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Puzzle: Birds of the Season, 4 of 4, by Greg Giordano


Size
: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 40.64cm x 50.8cm
Producer
: Karmin International, Birds of the Season series
Artist: Greg Giordano

Puzzle: One of the 4 puzzles in the box (first, second, third, fourth).

Notes: Birds (class Aves) are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic …

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Puzzle: Champagne Illusions


Size
: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48cm x 36cm
Notes: I do not have a record of the producer of the puzzle as I do not have the box anymore. A clarification is welcome – if you have any clue as to the details regarding this puzzle, I would much appreciate that information.

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of the wine to effect carbonation. It is produced exclusively within the Champagne …

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Puzzle: Palm Desert, California, U.S.A


Size
: 500 pieces, 1 missing
Dimensions: 46cm x 36cm
Producer: GPC Puzzles
Location: Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately 18 km east of Palm Springs.

The area was first known as the Old MacDonald Ranch, but the name changed to Palm Village in the 1920s when date palms were planted. Local historians said the main residents of pre-1950 Palm Desert were Cahuilla Indian farmers of …

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Puzzle: Loire Valley, France


Size
: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 35cm x 48cm
Producer: Canada Games, Windsor
Location: The Loire Valley (French: Vallée de la Loire), spanning 280 kilometres, is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France. It comprises an area of approximately 800 square kilometres. It is referred to as the Cradle of the French Language, and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, artichoke, asparagus and cherry fields which …

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Puzzle: Sacré-Coeur Basilica, Paris, France


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer
: Big Ben, MB Puzzles
Notes: Once again the puzzle producer failed to be informative regarding the building depicted on the puzzle, titling it only as “Paris, France”. Thanks to my Parisian friend, the building was identified as the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Monmartre.

Sacré-Cœur Basilica is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Paris, France. A …

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Puzzle: Hidden Arbor by Thomas Kinkade


Size
: 300 pieces (oversized)
Dimensions: 46cm x 61cm
ProducerCeaco
Artist: Thomas Kinkade
Painting: “I often seek out a quiet place to meditate and pray; a special retreat like Hidden Arbor. This marvelous waterfall, with its myriad rivulets and streams; the climbing flowers on a romantic arbor is a little touch of heaven.” [Thomas Kinkade site]

A pergola, arbor or arbour is a garden feature  forming a shaded …

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Puzzle: Portland Head Lighthouse


Size
: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.26 cm x 35.56 cm
Producer: The Canadian Group, Sure-Lox, Images, #43270-10
Notes: Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine that sits at the entrance of the shipping channel into Casco Bay. The headlight was the first built by the United States government, and is now a part of Fort Williams Park.

Construction began in 1787 at the directive of George Washington, and was completed …

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Puzzle: Traditional Village, The Czech Republic


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 73.5cm x 49cm
Producer: Wonderful World
Location: The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest.

The Czech state, known as Bohemia and later as the Bohemian Crown, was formed in the late 9th century. The country reached its greatest territorial extent during the 13th and …

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Puzzle: Kota Bharu Market


Size
: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.4cm x 35.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, Wonderful World series, #42210-38
Notes:
Kota Bharu is a city in Malaysia, is the state capital and Royal City of Kelantan. It is also the name of the territory (jajahan) in which Kota Bharu City is situated. The name means ‘new city’ or ‘new castle/fort’ in Malay. Kota Bharu is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia, and lies near the mouth of the Kelantan …

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Puzzle: Zinalrothorn, Wallis, Switzerland


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 68 cm x 47 cm
Producer: Castorland Puzzle
Notes: The Zinalrothorn (4,221 m) is a mountain in the Pennine Alps in Switzerland. Its name comes from the village of Zinal lying on the north side and from the German word Rothorn which means Red Peak. When it was first climbed in 1864 the mountain was known locally as Moming. [Wiki]

The Valais (German: Wallis) is one of the 26 …

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Puzzle: Cortona Tuscany, Italy


Size
: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 48.4cm x 35.5cm
Producer: Sure-Lox, Wonderful World series
Notes:
Cortona is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic center of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo.

Originally an Umbrian city, it was conquered and enlarged by the Etruscans, who called it Curtun. Cortona eventually became a Roman colony under the name Corito. During the barbarian invasions of the 553, …

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