July 27, 2007
Kurt spends the day at Coney Island with John Linnell and John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants. The band got its start in 1982 singing for food in Central Park. Today it has sold more than 3 million records and performed more than a thousand shows around the world. Flansburgh and Linnell have also recorded songs for television and film (including the theme for “Malcolm in the Middle”). Their new album is called The Else.
Sand sculptor Kirk Rademaker makes architecture out of sand -- fantastical structures as high as ten feet, with arches and balconies, and sloping curves that stretch all over the beach. He showed off his skills at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Produced by Jonathan Mitchell.
Surrealist painter Paul Delvaux painted his own beach fantasy in 1942 -- “The Village of the Mermaids.” The foreground tells one story, and in the distance there’s a surprise. Judith Kampfner went into the vaults of the Art Institute of Chicago to see Delvaux’s painting with curator Stephanie D’Alessandro.
Graphic designer Steven Heller tells the story of a seaside landmark known as the "Eiffel Tower of Coney Island."
In the Philippines, seashells are more than souvenirs -– they’re an art form. Jocelyn Gonzales explains the history and craft of capiz, a traditional method of transforming clamshells into something much more.
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