All posts tagged: Banana

Crypto mogul eats banana he bought for .2 million and offers to buy 100,000 more from fruit vendor

Crypto mogul eats banana he bought for $6.2 million and offers to buy 100,000 more from fruit vendor

Published by skeptic

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more The crypto entrepreneur who bought a banana duct-taped to a wall for $6.2 million last week has eaten it. Justin Sun knew he wasn’t meant to eat the banana when he originally purchased it. Yet, in a room filled with media personnel at a hotel in Hong Kong, the 34-year-old TRON cryptocurrency founder swallowed the banana like it was any other. Before taking a bite, Sun sang the praises of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, arguing conceptual art was similar to cryptocurrency as he described the banana as “iconic.” “It’s much better than other bananas,” Sun proclaimed. “It’s really quite good.” Cattelan, 64, debuted the artwork at Art Basel in Miami, Florida, in 2019, titling it “Comedian.” The banana, which was regarded as “the most …

Banana duct-taped to a wall sells for .2m at auction | Offbeat News

Banana duct-taped to a wall sells for $6.2m at auction | Offbeat News

Published by skeptic

A banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for $6.2m (£4.9m) at an auction in New York. The conceptual art piece, called Comedian, became a viral sensation after Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan debuted it at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019. Festivalgoers tried to make out whether the single piece of fruit stuck to a white wall with silver tape was a joke or cheeky commentary on questionable standards among art collectors. The Sotheby’s auction house said it was the announcement of a new original work by the prominent and provocative artist Cattelan that initially captured the world’s attention, but Comedian “quickly erupted into a viral global sensation that drew record crowds, social media inundation, landed the cover of The New York Post, and divided viewers and critics alike”. At one point, someone even took the banana off the wall and ate it. Image: People laugh during auction preview at Sotheby’s in New York. Pic: AP Now Justin Sun, founder of cryptocurrency platform TRON, has paid $6.2m at an auction for a certificate of authenticity …

.24 M. Banana Steals the Show at Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Sale

$6.24 M. Banana Steals the Show at Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Sale

Published by skeptic

Sotheby’s Now and Contemporary evening sale on Wednesday didn’t border on the absurd, it dived headfirst into it as Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s chairman of Europe, sold a banana duct-taped to a wall for $6.24 million. Minutes later, Chinese-born, New York–based cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun announced on X not only that he was the buyer of that work, Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian (2019), but that he would eat its centerpiece, the banana, “honoring its place in both art history and popular culture.” Even Barker struggled to keep a straight face as Sun (jostling on the phone through Jen Hua, the house’s deputy chairman for Asia) went head-to-head with six other bidders vying for the fruit stuck to a wall. “Looks like they’ve trodden on a banana skin,” Barker joked as Sun paused for thought halfway through the nearly 10-minute battle. Bidding started at $800,000 and he refused to accept increments smaller than $200,000. “Don’t let it slip away,” Barker implored in a bid to drive the price north, cueing rye groans from the crowd. Related Articles Scores …

The GQ Guide to Shopping Banana Republic in 2024

The GQ Guide to Shopping Banana Republic in 2024

Published by skeptic

For those that haven’t checked GQ.com recently, Banana Republic is, quite simply, very good again. There are multiple reasons for the brand’s resurgence, but the short version goes like this: a couple of years ago, the big-box retailer started mining its storied archive, embraced the styles that made it a household name in the first place, applied some of the world’s finest fabrics to those exact styles, and proceeded to drop a whole slew of them every season since. These days, the brand shows no sign of easing up. Looking for some Rat Pack-worthy polos in surprisingly luxe blends? Banana Republic has you covered. Voluminous pleated trousers with just the right kind of drape? Ditto. Summer knits that will age infinitely better than the weekend decisions you make while wearing them? A seemingly endless supply, each rendered in more dazzling fabrications than the last. PRODUCT QUICK LINK LIST Luxurious Knits We’ve been consistently impressed with Banana Republic’s knitwear program and it’s undoubtedly among the best things that the brand has to offer. Spring and summer …

What Is a Banana Republic?

What Is a Banana Republic?

Published by skeptic

  The label “banana republic” describes a country whose economy focuses on the export of a single product. Colonial forces assigned this outdated term, which evoked stereotypes of an exploitable, defenseless land with a population they saw as inferior. The plantation system used by foreign corporations has a long history in the Americas. Local populations responded to injustice with resistance. Although the monopolies departed in the 1960s, the impacts of this system continue today.   Where Did the Term “Banana Republic” Come from? Cabbages and Kings by O. Henry, 1910. Source: Library of Congress   A colonialist system used the name “Banana Republic” to refer to the Central American and Caribbean countries it exploited. Thus, it is considered offensive by today’s standards. It was first used by American author O. Henry in 1901 to describe the fantasy nation of Anchuria, much of which he based on his time living in Honduras. Henry published the short story in his 1904 book, Cabbages and Kings.   Anchuria was a tropical country whose economy focused on banana exportation. …

Dona Manis Cake Shop’s co-founder sets up rival banana pie shop next door

Dona Manis Cake Shop’s co-founder sets up rival banana pie shop next door

Published by skeptic

AUNTIE PENG’S SON SAID THEIR PIES TASTE DIFFERENT FROM DONA MANIS’ Ee Hsing clarified that while “it’s possible that Mr Tan gave her the recipe, the fact is that the banana pies taste different”. He explained: “Everybody can have a recipe – just go to YouTube, and it’ll teach you how to make a (copycat) Dona Manis banana pie. The only thing is – can you make it taste the same as ours, which captured so many people’s hearts and taste buds?”  But he laughed it off and said: “It’s an open market, anybody can sell anything. Whose banana pies will capture more people’s taste buds? It used to be my mum’s (at Dona Manis), now there’s one more version to try – isn’t that a good thing also?”  ON SETTING UP SHOP NEXT TO DONA MANIS Both Aunty Peng Banana Pie and Dona Manis sell pretty much the same items, with both shops’ banana pies going for S$33 for a whole pie (10 slices); S$3.30 a slice, and their chocolate tarts similarly costing S$6 for five pieces.  …

7 Facts About Banana Republics & Their Role in History and Politics

7 Facts About Banana Republics & Their Role in History and Politics

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  Colonial exploitation subjected Central American and Caribbean states to centuries of oppression. The banana republic period is defined by multinational corporations extracting a resource from these nations for their own profit. This occurs at the expense of the country’s citizens, who often labor under unfair conditions. Analysis of this era reveals the justifications behind American imperialism and the intersection between big business and the armed forces.   1. The Term “Banana Republic” is Actually Offensive Pictorial Map of the American Continent Following the Pan American Highway, ca. 1930. Source: JSTOR, New York   “Banana Republic” is an outdated term that originated from colonizing forces. It was first used by O. Henry, an American author of short stories, in 1901. This label referred to countries whose economy was reliant on the exportation of a single crop, the production and distribution of which was often controlled by outside corporations. Politically, they were ruled by a corrupt authoritarian government beholden to the interests of international companies and a small circle of wealthy elite. Extreme inequality marred their …

Trader Joe’s has raised its banana prices for the first time in more than 20 years

Trader Joe’s has raised its banana prices for the first time in more than 20 years

Published by skeptic

Trader Joe’s has hiked up the price of one of its most popular products: bananas. The national grocery chain recently increased the price of its banana from 19 cents to 23 cents — a major change in the sense that this is the first time the market has increased the price of the fruit in more than 20 years. “We only change our prices when our costs change, and after holding our price for bananas at 19¢ each for more than two decades, we’ve now reached a point where this change is necessary,” a TJ’s spokesperson told CNN. The 19-cent fruit has been a popular store item for years, with many consumers hailing it as the number one produce product in TJ’s annual Customer Choice Awards. TJ’s bananas — both the non-organic and organic options — have won the same award five times, making it a possible addition in the store’s Hall of Fame.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average price of bananas in the US has remained pretty constant from February …

There are more than 1,000 varieties of banana, and we eat one of them. Here’s why that’s absurd | Dan Saladino

There are more than 1,000 varieties of banana, and we eat one of them. Here’s why that’s absurd | Dan Saladino

Published by skeptic

The meeting of the World Banana Forum last week in Rome didn’t make many headlines. But what was under discussion there has serious implications for everyone. The ubiquitous yellow fruit is the proverbial canary in the mine of our modern food system, showing just how fragile it is. And the current plight of the banana should serve as an invitation to us all to become champions of food diversity. When you peel a banana, you’re on the receiving end of a near-miraculous $10bn supply chain. One that sends seemingly endless quantities of a tropical fruit halfway across the world to be among the cheapest, most readily available products in supermarket aisles (on average, around 12p a banana). But, incredibly, there’s no inbuilt backup plan or safety net if the one variety that most of the global trade depends on starts to fail. The most striking point made at this year’s forum came in a seemingly innocuous comment in the event’s opening speech. The director general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, Dr Qu Dongyu, …

Not-So-FineWoven iPhone Case ‘Browning Like a Rotten Banana’

Not-So-FineWoven iPhone Case ‘Browning Like a Rotten Banana’

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Apple’s $59 FineWoven cases for iPhone 15 took heavy flak when they were released last September for being subpar compared to the leather Apple cases they replaced. Now, The Wall Street Journal columnist Joanna Stern has distilled customers’ ire by sharing her own experience with the case after five months of use. Image credit: Joanna Stern From Stern’s newsletter: There it is, everyone. My iPhone 15 Pro Max’s FineWoven case after five months of use. The edges are peeling, the fabric is scratched up like an old CD and it’s browning like a rotten banana. I’ve been waiting for the CDC to show up at my house to declare it a biomedical concern.Some of you will say: “JOANNA! How gross are you?” Others—those who bought this case for $59 when it came out in September—will likely say: “Yep. Same issues here.” […] Early on, tech news sites like The Verge complained about scratches in the fabric. At online retailers, the people who gave the case one or two stars all point out the same issues—peeling …