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When serial Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio finally broke his Academy Award drought last week he inadvertently triggered a small surge in sales of spinning tops. The reason, explains Will Cutler, a product designer from Burton upon Trent, is somewhat complicated.

Movie buffs will remember that DiCaprio’s character in the 2010 science-fiction film Inception was a thief who infiltrated the subconscious of his victims. In a world where dreams and real life are difficult to distinguish, Dominic Cobb relied on a small top – his totem – to check if he was awake (the spinning top slows and topples) or dreaming (it spins for ever).

So, when DiCaprio picked up his Best Actor Oscar for The Revenant, the internet celebrated with a meme showing the actor using his top to check if he was dreaming or if he had actually got his hands on a gold statue. And that, according to Mr Cutler, the designer of the Vorso MK1 top, was enough to cause “an upturn in business”.
“I’m serious man,” said the 26-year-old designer. “I’m worried we won’t have enough stock.” 

In truth, the curious renaissance of the spinning top was under way before DiCaprio won his first Oscar. A cursory search of crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo – places where the latest tech gadgets tend to dominate – reveals a plethora of tops, a rudimentary toy that has existed since antiquity. 

Today’s tops tend to be small, metal objects with hyperbolic names. They include the TTi-180, the UltraTop XXX, the BilletSpin, the Kraken and the ForeverSpin, a product that reportedly raised $1.5m (£1m) on Kickstarter. Some of the new generation of tops glow in the dark, others can be stacked like building blocks; most promise extravagant spin times. A few boast more metaphysical qualities: the UltraTop, for example, is billed as “a great way to relax, escape from the hustle and bustle and meditate”. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/leonardo-dicaprios-oscar-win-for-the-revenant-triggers-surge-in-sales-for-spinning-tops-a6914271.html

WHO-Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio

     WHEN-last week

     WHAT- DiCaprio picked up his Best Actor Oscar for The Revenant

     WHY the actor using his top to check if he was dreaming or if he had actually got his hands on a gold statue

     WHERE- Oscar ceremony

     HOW-not given

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4.renaissance文藝復興時期

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