Tag: Bright

Southern Italy and Sicily: An Unexpected Tropical Paradise With a Side of History

By Jess Fleming From Pioneer Press St. Paul—During the long, cold Minnesota winter, more than three dozen readers and I had the chance to escape to an unexpected tropical paradise—Sicily and Southern Italy. I had been to Tuscany before, but the beaches, abundant citrus trees, palm trees and agave and prickly pear plants in the…


Exploring the Rich History of Indian Block Printing

By Katie Laughridge From Tribune News Service In a day and age where most everything we purchase is mass-produced, there’s something magical about the beauty found in the slowness of handmade goods. Block printed textiles are lovely in part because of homespun nature of the craft. I fell in love with the art of block…


Caravaggio’s ‘Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy’

Artists throughout the centuries have been inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, including Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. One of the artist’s early masterpieces is “Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy,” held in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Connecticut. This is the artist’s first known religious canvas and one of the…


Best Personal Finance Advice for Millionaires From 3 Billionaires

Hitting the million mark, especially if you did it all by yourself, is a huge achievement—both financially and personally. While some people make peace with the millionaire tag, most head towards the next big milestone—becoming a billionaire. However, a lot of people fail to realize that although the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire…


Destination: Cambria

Cambria, on California’s Central Coast, is one of those special destinations. It offers a spectacular coastline with an abundance of cliff-side trails, verdant hills and valleys ideal for cattle ranching, vineyards and open-air landscape painting. Architecturally Cambria features a remarkable collection of original 19th-century salt-box homes and an early 20th-century downtown district known as East…


These Ancient Windmills Were Built Over 1,000 Years Ago From Mud, Clay, Straw—And Still Work Today

When we think of wind power as a source of energy, we might think of huge, ugly turbines blighting the landscape. But one village in Iran reveals how our ancestors built turbines using wood and clay, not steel and concrete; with such smarts, they are still being used today—some thousand years on. The name of…


America’s Most Beautiful Landscapes: Grandson and Grandma, 93, Visit All 63 US National Parks in a 7-Year Epic Journey

A grandson and his 93-year-old grandmother, who spent nearly a decade estranged, have come together to complete an epic quest: the pair has visited all 63 national parks in the United States in just over seven years. In doing so, the grandma made history. On May 16, “Grandma Joy” Ryan became the oldest living person…


Film Review: ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’

PG | 2h 20m | Animated, Superhero, Action | June 2, 2023 For Spider-Man Experts Only Warning: this review of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” may suffer from Generation Gap-itis. At the press screening, I sat next to a trio of what looked to be Generation-Z critics who were on the edge of their seats for the duration of…


Closing Prices for Crude Oil, Gold, and Other Commodities (June 2)

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for July delivery rose $1.64 to $71.74 a barrel Friday. Brent crude for August delivery rose $1.85 to $76.13 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for July delivery rose 6 cents $2.50 a gallon. July heating oil rose 5 cents to $2.36 a gallon. July natural gas rose 1 cent to $2.17 per…


How Major US Stock Indexes Fared June 2

Stocks rushed higher after a strong report on the U.S. job market eased Wall Street’s worries about a possible recession. The S&P 500 jumped 1.5 percent Friday, while the Dow soared 701 points. The rally brought the S&P 500 nearly 20 percent above a low hit in October. It’s on the edge of entering a…