To commemorate this Memorial Day, I decided to actually do something I have been thinking about for a long time, and that was to contact the the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and to purchase a memorial brick in their Walk of Valor. I hope to visit the museum one day, and find my great-great-great grandfather's brick.
Second Lieutenant John Hawthorne Anderson, who served in the 100th Pennsylvania "Roundheads" Company B, was killed by a glancing bullet from a sniper at the Battle of Petersburg, Virginia on July 9, 1864. He was 41 years old.
I would also like to make a trip to New Castle, Pennsylvania, where, apparently, his name is engraved on the east side of the Civil War Memorial in the town square. I think it would be cool to have a photo of that...
Monday, May 29, 2006
Saturday, May 27, 2006
From 80% to 115%
So, I got to work today feeling much better, being able to function at about 80% of my full capacity.
And the strangest thing was, as the day wore on, I got to feeling REALLY good - like even better than 100%!
My cynical side thinks that means I will have a tremendous relapse tonight...
And the strangest thing was, as the day wore on, I got to feeling REALLY good - like even better than 100%!
My cynical side thinks that means I will have a tremendous relapse tonight...
They’re Getting Closer
The publicity battle continues. To gain more press, the sneaky snakes are leaving the currently alligator-happy state of Florida and are heading to Kentucky.
Ok, it's just a two foot ball python, but still... it was inside a guy's rental car!
And what do you do when you see a two foot snake draped across your car's console?
The renter thought it was a rubber snake someone put there as a joke (Who? Carrottop?) .
He then "gave the snake a pat and put the car into drive." But as he drove toward the exit, the snake lifted its head, causing quite the commotion.
You can't act tough when you are sitting a foot and a half away from a snake said his colleague.
Unless you are Austin Stevens. Or Steve Irwin. Or some guy from India.
(You know, it is officially summer, and that means it will be time for more shark news, which will be a pleasant change from snakes and alligators. I am sure you will all be happy about that...)
Ok, it's just a two foot ball python, but still... it was inside a guy's rental car!
And what do you do when you see a two foot snake draped across your car's console?
The renter thought it was a rubber snake someone put there as a joke (Who? Carrottop?) .
He then "gave the snake a pat and put the car into drive." But as he drove toward the exit, the snake lifted its head, causing quite the commotion.
You can't act tough when you are sitting a foot and a half away from a snake said his colleague.
Unless you are Austin Stevens. Or Steve Irwin. Or some guy from India.
(You know, it is officially summer, and that means it will be time for more shark news, which will be a pleasant change from snakes and alligators. I am sure you will all be happy about that...)
The Ethics Of Conquest
You've saved up for awhile to travel to a distant land, in the hopes of standing on the top of the world. And you are not going to let anything stand in your way.
Especially something as inconvenient as the body of a solo climber, one David Sharp, 34, who was left to die on Mount Everest as some 40 (that's FORTY) other climbers passed him on their own attempts to reach the 29,035-foot peak.
This has revived a debate over the ethics of high altitude climbing, particularly in what is called the death zone, where conditions, temperatures and the lack of oxygen combine to mean that rescuers may forfeit their own lives in trying to save a sick or incapacitated climber.
Mark Inglis, who earlier this month became the first double amputee to reach the summit, was one of the climbers who passed the dying Sharp. Mr. Inglis said he radioed for help but a fellow mountaineer told him
Look, mate, you can't do anything. You know, he's been there X number of hours, been there without oxygen, you know, he's effectively dead.
This attitude provoked a response from none other than Sir Edmund Hillary, who, with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, made the first conquest of Everest in 1953.
Sir Edmund said:
People have completely lost sight of what is important. In our expedition, there was never any likelihood whatsoever if one member of the party was incapacitated that we would just leave him to die.
I think the whole attitude towards climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top; it was wrong if there was a man suffering altitude problems and was huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say good morning and pass on by.
He also told the New Zealand Herald that he was horrified by the callous attitude of today's climbers.
They don't give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress and it doesn't impress me at all that they leave someone lying under a rock to die.
By the way, I read about this tragedy in the New York Times, under the headline:
'Dead' Climber's Survival Impugns Mount Everest Ethics
So, Faithful Readers, you have your vocabulary word for the month: impugn - I am not sure if I have ever seen that word used before ...
Especially something as inconvenient as the body of a solo climber, one David Sharp, 34, who was left to die on Mount Everest as some 40 (that's FORTY) other climbers passed him on their own attempts to reach the 29,035-foot peak.
This has revived a debate over the ethics of high altitude climbing, particularly in what is called the death zone, where conditions, temperatures and the lack of oxygen combine to mean that rescuers may forfeit their own lives in trying to save a sick or incapacitated climber.
Mark Inglis, who earlier this month became the first double amputee to reach the summit, was one of the climbers who passed the dying Sharp. Mr. Inglis said he radioed for help but a fellow mountaineer told him
Look, mate, you can't do anything. You know, he's been there X number of hours, been there without oxygen, you know, he's effectively dead.
This attitude provoked a response from none other than Sir Edmund Hillary, who, with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, made the first conquest of Everest in 1953.
Sir Edmund said:
People have completely lost sight of what is important. In our expedition, there was never any likelihood whatsoever if one member of the party was incapacitated that we would just leave him to die.
I think the whole attitude towards climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top; it was wrong if there was a man suffering altitude problems and was huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say good morning and pass on by.
He also told the New Zealand Herald that he was horrified by the callous attitude of today's climbers.
They don't give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress and it doesn't impress me at all that they leave someone lying under a rock to die.
By the way, I read about this tragedy in the New York Times, under the headline:
'Dead' Climber's Survival Impugns Mount Everest Ethics
So, Faithful Readers, you have your vocabulary word for the month: impugn - I am not sure if I have ever seen that word used before ...
Friday, May 26, 2006
The Plague That Wouldn't Die
I was supposed to work from 2 pm to midnight today, but AGAIN, I had to leave early (about 9 pm), thanks to a completely new and different complaint.
And, to MyFriendJason...you have totally taken the hits for me this week. I owe you several. And I have NO doubt you will collect. Thanks for being so great! You rock. Whatever.
And, to MyFriendJason...you have totally taken the hits for me this week. I owe you several. And I have NO doubt you will collect. Thanks for being so great! You rock. Whatever.
Wasn't That van HELSING?
More than 60 years after it was seized by communists, the Romanian government is returning ownership of the country's most popular tourist site, the Dracula Castle, to New York architect Dominic van Hapsburg.
The castle, worth an estimated $25 million, was owned by the late Queen Marie and bequeathed to her daughter Princess Ileana in 1938. It was confiscated by communists in 1948 and fell into disrepair. It will be transferred this afternoon to Mr. Hapsburg, who inherited the castle from Princess Ileana decades after the communists seized it.
While known and marketed as Dracula's Castle, (the proper name is Castle Bran) it never belonged to Prince Vlad the Impaler, but he MAY have visited the medieval fortress once or twice, which has been since been featured in numerous Dracula movies.
The hand-over ceremony will take place today at noon in the 14th century castle's museum deep within the fortress in Transylvania.
Under the agreement, Mr. van Hapsburg will not be allowed to make any changes to the castle for the next three years.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Dead - Wrapped in ....well, Bedsheets
It is my Day Off.
I am still sick. While that in itself is stupid and wrong, it also means that I cannot go to see Christo and Jean-Claude lecture at Severance Hall about their new project.
I have been looking forward to tonight for months.
I am pretty sure I have never seen a real, live, famous artist before.
And, I was hoping he would do an audience participation thing - wrapping some objects from the audience (purses, Blackberries, umbrellas), kinda like making balloon animals. I mean, it's Christo! How cool would that have been?
If any of you went, let me know if I missed out on getting my cellphone wrapped in saffron silk by Christo!
I am still sick. While that in itself is stupid and wrong, it also means that I cannot go to see Christo and Jean-Claude lecture at Severance Hall about their new project.
I have been looking forward to tonight for months.
I am pretty sure I have never seen a real, live, famous artist before.
And, I was hoping he would do an audience participation thing - wrapping some objects from the audience (purses, Blackberries, umbrellas), kinda like making balloon animals. I mean, it's Christo! How cool would that have been?
If any of you went, let me know if I missed out on getting my cellphone wrapped in saffron silk by Christo!
Huh - I Wonder Why...
The 2006 alligator hunting season has been extended by six weeks (August 15 thru November 1) according to the The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The hunt provides a thrilling, hands-on hunting adventure unlike any other hunting experience imaginable. Especially when you come across that 700 pound critter...
4,300 permits are available to both residents and non-residents and allow for two alligator kills per permit.
Last year, the commission sold just 2,770 of the 4,300 available permits.
Sales begin at 10 a.m. on June 15 -mark your calendars! The cost is $272 for Florida residents and a whopping $1,022 for non-residents.
Applicants may apply at any county tax collector's office, retail outlets that sell hunting and fishing licenses, online or by calling the commission at (888) 486-8356.
4,300 permits are available to both residents and non-residents and allow for two alligator kills per permit.
Last year, the commission sold just 2,770 of the 4,300 available permits.
Sales begin at 10 a.m. on June 15 -mark your calendars! The cost is $272 for Florida residents and a whopping $1,022 for non-residents.
Applicants may apply at any county tax collector's office, retail outlets that sell hunting and fishing licenses, online or by calling the commission at (888) 486-8356.
Terence Malick's New World
I tried to watch a movie today, thinking a change of atmosphere from my bedroom to the living room might be fun. And, from what I knew, this movie was supposed to be cinematically gorgeous.
I could look at pretty scenery for three hours. I am particularly interested in that period of history.
I could do this. I was up for it.
I thought.
I hated this movie. I hated it so much that I can't even talk about it.
In lieu of my own ranting, here are some choice comments from others:
Terence Malick’s The New World is a sloppy, messy film that is dragged down by its own sense of profundity. It’s a film about Pocahontas where that name is never uttered. It’s a film that seeks to undermine every bit of plot advancement with meandering and pointless shots of nothing in particular.
and
It's by no means the longest movie ever made, but it's one of the longest movies ever made in which next to nothing ever happens and barely a word is spoken.
then there is -
This is a movie that at any given moment could end in five seconds or five hours and make as much sense as it's ever going to.
and finally -
There's a problem when the movie about the European conquest of America seems longer than the actual conquest itself.
I could look at pretty scenery for three hours. I am particularly interested in that period of history.
I could do this. I was up for it.
I thought.
I hated this movie. I hated it so much that I can't even talk about it.
In lieu of my own ranting, here are some choice comments from others:
Terence Malick’s The New World is a sloppy, messy film that is dragged down by its own sense of profundity. It’s a film about Pocahontas where that name is never uttered. It’s a film that seeks to undermine every bit of plot advancement with meandering and pointless shots of nothing in particular.
and
It's by no means the longest movie ever made, but it's one of the longest movies ever made in which next to nothing ever happens and barely a word is spoken.
then there is -
This is a movie that at any given moment could end in five seconds or five hours and make as much sense as it's ever going to.
and finally -
There's a problem when the movie about the European conquest of America seems longer than the actual conquest itself.
Monday, May 22, 2006
That Was Fun - Let's Do It Again
I went to bed at, oh 11 am yesterday and awoke - markedly UNrefreshed at 2 in the morning, because I had to go to work again.
This time, however, I threw in the towel at 8:30.
But you should know this about me - I am really into the classics. I like things like plague, scurvy, swooning.
No fads for me. Keep your trendy bird flu.
Although Ebola might squeak by...
This time, however, I threw in the towel at 8:30.
But you should know this about me - I am really into the classics. I like things like plague, scurvy, swooning.
No fads for me. Keep your trendy bird flu.
Although Ebola might squeak by...
Sunday, May 21, 2006
That Didn't Last Long
I got to work at the oh so pleasant hour of 4 am, and I managed to keep it all together until 9 am, when the fever, and other plague symptoms got the best of me.
There are times when vertical is just plain wrong.
I made it home, stopped at the local Boston Market for a chicken dinner (who knew they had cooked chickens, mashed potatoes and cornbread ready to go at 10 am?), ate and now I am taking to my bed.
There are times when vertical is just plain wrong.
I made it home, stopped at the local Boston Market for a chicken dinner (who knew they had cooked chickens, mashed potatoes and cornbread ready to go at 10 am?), ate and now I am taking to my bed.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
A Broken Promise
So there we were, Beauregard van Horne and me, sitting in our usual restaurant as I was getting my quarterly wage review (or in layman’s terms : a raise).
It was hard to really pay attention, because as Faithful Readers may recall, I love horse racing season, and we were sitting there just in time as the restaurant was showing the running of the Preakness, which Barbaro, who I am very smitten with, was destined to win as he was going to become the next hallowed Triple Crown winner.
And then, the tragedy.
Barbaro fractured his hind leg coming out of the gate.
What a blow. I hope for his full recovery.
Damn.
It was hard to really pay attention, because as Faithful Readers may recall, I love horse racing season, and we were sitting there just in time as the restaurant was showing the running of the Preakness, which Barbaro, who I am very smitten with, was destined to win as he was going to become the next hallowed Triple Crown winner.
And then, the tragedy.
Barbaro fractured his hind leg coming out of the gate.
What a blow. I hope for his full recovery.
Damn.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Harbinger
I was on my way to work this afternooon, and I was sticken with swollen glands, sinusy complaints, headaches and a brewing fever. It came at me out of the blue. I was fine. Then I was sick.
I left work after a measly two hours, which was long enough to fulfill my commitment to MyAdoringPublic. That was all I had in me.
That hour drive home sucks.
I left work after a measly two hours, which was long enough to fulfill my commitment to MyAdoringPublic. That was all I had in me.
That hour drive home sucks.
Happy Anniversary to Patent # 4666425
Patent # 4666425 - Issued:May 19, 1987 - Device for Perfusing an Animal Head
Huh? Let's read the abstract, shall we?
This invention involves a device, referred to herein as a "cabinet," which provides physical and biochemical support for an animal's head which has been "discorporated" (i.e., severed from its body). This device can be used to supply a discorped head with oxygenated blood and nutrients by means of tubes connected to arteries which pass through the neck. After circulating through the head, the deoxygenated blood returns to the cabinet by means of cannulae which are connected to veins that emerge from the neck. A series of processing components removes carbon dioxide and add oxygen to the blood. If desired, waste products and other metabolites may be removed from the blood, and nutrients, therapeutic or experimental drugs, anti-coagulants, and other substances may be added to the blood. The replenished blood is returned to the discorped head via cannulae attached to arteries. The cabinet provides physical support for the head, by means of a collar around the neck, pins attached to one or more vertebrae, or similar mechanical means.
When one wishes to keep severed heads alive, it should be noted that:
If desired, the surgical cuts may be made in such a manner that the larynx (which contains the vocal cords) remains attached to the head. The severed end of the trachea (wind pipe) may be sutured to a tube carrying slightly compressed, humidified air, so that the primate or human head may use its vocal cords if it is conscious.
And finally - Coincidence? Patent # 4666425 ?
Huh? Let's read the abstract, shall we?
This invention involves a device, referred to herein as a "cabinet," which provides physical and biochemical support for an animal's head which has been "discorporated" (i.e., severed from its body). This device can be used to supply a discorped head with oxygenated blood and nutrients by means of tubes connected to arteries which pass through the neck. After circulating through the head, the deoxygenated blood returns to the cabinet by means of cannulae which are connected to veins that emerge from the neck. A series of processing components removes carbon dioxide and add oxygen to the blood. If desired, waste products and other metabolites may be removed from the blood, and nutrients, therapeutic or experimental drugs, anti-coagulants, and other substances may be added to the blood. The replenished blood is returned to the discorped head via cannulae attached to arteries. The cabinet provides physical support for the head, by means of a collar around the neck, pins attached to one or more vertebrae, or similar mechanical means.
When one wishes to keep severed heads alive, it should be noted that:
If desired, the surgical cuts may be made in such a manner that the larynx (which contains the vocal cords) remains attached to the head. The severed end of the trachea (wind pipe) may be sutured to a tube carrying slightly compressed, humidified air, so that the primate or human head may use its vocal cords if it is conscious.
And finally - Coincidence? Patent # 4666425 ?
Reminiscent? How About "Do-Over"?
Iran's parliament passed a new law this week that would force Jews, Christians and other religious minorities to wear color-coded ID badges.
The 25,000 Jews living in the Islamic Republic would have to attach a yellow strip of cloth to their clothing. Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would wear blue ones.
This is reminiscent of the Holocaust, said Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the Simon Weisenthal Center in Los Angeles. Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis.
The 25,000 Jews living in the Islamic Republic would have to attach a yellow strip of cloth to their clothing. Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would wear blue ones.
This is reminiscent of the Holocaust, said Rabbi Marvin Hier, head of the Simon Weisenthal Center in Los Angeles. Iran is moving closer and closer to the ideology of the Nazis.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
700 Pounds But It Tastes Like Chicken
God - it just keeps getting better.
Today they got the biggest alligator ever caught in Miami-Dade County: a twelve foot long, 700 pounder from a canal in Doral, Florida.
Are we surprised?
If you check out the photos, you will see that the duct tape people are missing out on a world of advertising opportunities.
Duct tape. What CAN'T it do???
Today they got the biggest alligator ever caught in Miami-Dade County: a twelve foot long, 700 pounder from a canal in Doral, Florida.
Are we surprised?
If you check out the photos, you will see that the duct tape people are missing out on a world of advertising opportunities.
Duct tape. What CAN'T it do???
We Need A Better Punchline
So the FBI has descended upon the town of Milford, Michigan in the hopes of turning up Jimmy Hoffa.
They are out there digging up fields of the perfectly named Hidden Dreams Farm and its driveways and horse barns all based on a tip by an octogenarian drug dealer currently residing in the slammer.
The best thing I've seen on this story are the Milford cupcakes, which feature chocolate icing, chocolate "dirt" sprinkles and a green plastic hand rising from the grave. Love that anyway!
But really, it would suck if they actually found him. A farm in Michigan? Where's the romance, people?
Let's consider the other, much more inventive, and may I dare say, more popular theories:
+ Buried under the end zone in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey
+ Dumped near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City
+ Buried in a gravel pit in Highland, Michigan
+ Encased in the foundation of a garage in Cadillac, Michigan
+ Cremated in an incinerator or maybe crushed in a compactor in Hamtramck, Michigan
+ Sealed in a drum in a New Jersey junkyard, set on fire, then placed in the trunk of a car sold for scrap metal
+ Still alive after running off to Brazil with a go-go dancer
+ Buried in Grant's Tomb
Cast your votes now! Time is limited - the FBI has a lot of shovels!
They are out there digging up fields of the perfectly named Hidden Dreams Farm and its driveways and horse barns all based on a tip by an octogenarian drug dealer currently residing in the slammer.
The best thing I've seen on this story are the Milford cupcakes, which feature chocolate icing, chocolate "dirt" sprinkles and a green plastic hand rising from the grave. Love that anyway!
But really, it would suck if they actually found him. A farm in Michigan? Where's the romance, people?
Let's consider the other, much more inventive, and may I dare say, more popular theories:
+ Buried under the end zone in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey
+ Dumped near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York City
+ Buried in a gravel pit in Highland, Michigan
+ Encased in the foundation of a garage in Cadillac, Michigan
+ Cremated in an incinerator or maybe crushed in a compactor in Hamtramck, Michigan
+ Sealed in a drum in a New Jersey junkyard, set on fire, then placed in the trunk of a car sold for scrap metal
+ Still alive after running off to Brazil with a go-go dancer
+ Buried in Grant's Tomb
Cast your votes now! Time is limited - the FBI has a lot of shovels!
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Fiddle-dee-dee
It is now noon and all I have accomplished is to have had my Starbucks and filled my gas tank and read the NYT.
I am feeling a wee bit congested and, I think, a bit under the weather - odd since it is definitely "Seattle-esque" outside - gray, gloomy and sprinkly, which should actually make me feel at home and happy!
I am feeling a wee bit congested and, I think, a bit under the weather - odd since it is definitely "Seattle-esque" outside - gray, gloomy and sprinkly, which should actually make me feel at home and happy!
For The Love Of Chrissy
Two caregivers have been accused of taking the debit card of a double amputee and going on a $70,000 spending spree.
Captain George Bonnett, a spokesman for the St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana sheriff had this to say about the duo:
They even bought a DVD of the first season of Three’s Company. That suggests they were just grabbing things indiscriminately from the shelves.
Indiscriminately?
Oh, how wrong, Captain George. They didn’t take the SECOND season, did they?
Anyone knows , especially with an intricately plotted show like Three’s Company, YOU MUST WATCH IT FROM THE BEGINNING!
Captain George Bonnett, a spokesman for the St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana sheriff had this to say about the duo:
They even bought a DVD of the first season of Three’s Company. That suggests they were just grabbing things indiscriminately from the shelves.
Indiscriminately?
Oh, how wrong, Captain George. They didn’t take the SECOND season, did they?
Anyone knows , especially with an intricately plotted show like Three’s Company, YOU MUST WATCH IT FROM THE BEGINNING!
Gator vs. Golden Retriever vs. Smith & Wesson
I know - I need to change the description of the blog this year to "Musings on art, film, literature, music, PYTHONS and GATORS..." I can't explain it...Florida just amuses me...this just in...
Recapping - a Burmese python can take alligator and a cat, and even a dog even when a golf club is involved.
Not to be outdone, an enterprising gator (a featherweight at only three feet in length!) entered a Bradenton, Florida home and went for the family dog, a golden retriever.
We'll never know the outcome because the homeowner got a gun and shot the yard-long gator four times - which apparently was enough to make it change its mind about its meal, but certainly wasn't enough to kill it. Wildlife officers returned the juvenile delinquent to a nearby lake.
And the pistol-happy homeowner received a warning citation for hunting without a license.
Classic!
Recapping - a Burmese python can take alligator and a cat, and even a dog even when a golf club is involved.
Not to be outdone, an enterprising gator (a featherweight at only three feet in length!) entered a Bradenton, Florida home and went for the family dog, a golden retriever.
We'll never know the outcome because the homeowner got a gun and shot the yard-long gator four times - which apparently was enough to make it change its mind about its meal, but certainly wasn't enough to kill it. Wildlife officers returned the juvenile delinquent to a nearby lake.
And the pistol-happy homeowner received a warning citation for hunting without a license.
Classic!
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Making Up For Lost Time?
Well, it seems it is all about the alligators now. They have risen to the occasion and wiped the Burmese python off the charts...
Do you know how many fatal alligator attacks have been recorded in Florida? No? I'll tell you.
There have been seventeen fatal attacks reported since 1948 — oh, plus the three women killed by alligators THIS PAST WEEK.
1. On Sunday afternoon, friends found their companion inside the mouth of an alligator during a snorkeling trip near Ocala National Forest.
2. Also on Sunday, a body was found in a canal in Pinellas County, about 120 miles southwest of Ocala. The upper body had bite marks consistent with those made by an alligator.
3. A woman jogging near a canal in the South Florida city of Sunrise, died when an alligator dragged her into the canal, severed both of her arms and bit her on the legs and back according to the medical examiner who performed the autopsy.
Three! In one week! All Women! Gators Gone Mad! What Does It Mean?
If you are vacationing in Florida, please remember the words of the spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, a gentleman aptly named Mr. Puz :
Any freshwater body in Florida can be home to alligators.
Do you know how many fatal alligator attacks have been recorded in Florida? No? I'll tell you.
There have been seventeen fatal attacks reported since 1948 — oh, plus the three women killed by alligators THIS PAST WEEK.
1. On Sunday afternoon, friends found their companion inside the mouth of an alligator during a snorkeling trip near Ocala National Forest.
2. Also on Sunday, a body was found in a canal in Pinellas County, about 120 miles southwest of Ocala. The upper body had bite marks consistent with those made by an alligator.
3. A woman jogging near a canal in the South Florida city of Sunrise, died when an alligator dragged her into the canal, severed both of her arms and bit her on the legs and back according to the medical examiner who performed the autopsy.
Three! In one week! All Women! Gators Gone Mad! What Does It Mean?
If you are vacationing in Florida, please remember the words of the spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, a gentleman aptly named Mr. Puz :
Any freshwater body in Florida can be home to alligators.
But if you are relocating to Florida, heed the inspirational words of Frank Mazzotti, a wildlife ecologist at the University of Florida:
If someone doesn't want to face the risk of an alligator attack, they should live in a state with no alligators.
The Mayan Xena
The mummy of woman who died 1,600 years ago, well before the rise of the Incas, was discovered today.
Her tomb suggests someone of high status. The body is covered with red pigment and bears tattoos of patterns and mythological figures.
Archaeologists in Peru said that the surprising element of the tomb is not the offerings of gold and semiprecious stones or the elaborate wrapping of the body in fine textiles, not the fact that they believe that the tomb had been undisturbed since approximately 450 AD...but it is the other grave items...
She was surrounded by weaving materials and needles, befitting a woman, AND...two ceremonial war clubs and 28 spear throwers (sticks that propel spears with far greater force ). These items have never been found before in the burial of a woman of the Moche.
Was she a warrior princess?
Lying near her was the skeleton of another young woman who was apparently sacrificed by strangulation with a hemp rope, which was still around her neck. (read- Gabrielle)
It will remain a mystery until they discover the Moche chakram.
Her tomb suggests someone of high status. The body is covered with red pigment and bears tattoos of patterns and mythological figures.
Archaeologists in Peru said that the surprising element of the tomb is not the offerings of gold and semiprecious stones or the elaborate wrapping of the body in fine textiles, not the fact that they believe that the tomb had been undisturbed since approximately 450 AD...but it is the other grave items...
She was surrounded by weaving materials and needles, befitting a woman, AND...two ceremonial war clubs and 28 spear throwers (sticks that propel spears with far greater force ). These items have never been found before in the burial of a woman of the Moche.
Was she a warrior princess?
Lying near her was the skeleton of another young woman who was apparently sacrificed by strangulation with a hemp rope, which was still around her neck. (read- Gabrielle)
It will remain a mystery until they discover the Moche chakram.
Monday, May 15, 2006
My Hero
I came home and watched a magnificent documentary today the 2002 Academy Award Nominated Best Documentary Feature - War Photographer.
The film follows one of the world's greatest war photographers, (winner of the Robert Capa Gold Medal five times, the World Press Photo Award twice, Magazine Photographer of the Year seven times, the International Center of Photography Infinity Award three times, the Leica Award twice, and the Bayeux Award for War Correspondents twice to name a few) the incredible James Nachtway, as he works.
To do this, the filmmaker, Christian Frei, has mounted a special micro-camera atop James' 35mm camera, which enables the viewer to almost BE Mr. Nachtway....it is an amazing sensation to really see what he sees, to experience these moments - how close he is to bottomless grief and pain and danger. To see him move, respectfully, silently, but so present amongst people in their deepest throes of mourning. A film crew follows James, which allows you to see him calmly, like a monk, walk about composing his frames as bullets, grenades and bombs are in the air all around him.
Besides this immersing technical innovation, the film really captures the personal beauty of Mr. Nachtway. Although he takes amazing photographs, at no point is a viewer ever likely to comment "Look at his composition, look at the lovely contrast of the deep blacks in the shadows contrasted with the silvery highlights...". No, Mr. Nachtway does not see himself as an artist. He is documenting and giving voice to people who are suffering. In some amazing way, he channels all of his own grief, anger, and horror through his lens, and that is what you see.
His work captures atrocities, certainly, but it captures emotion more beautifully than any other photographer I am familiar with. Allow me to reprint here some of Mr. Nachtway's philosophy:
Is it possible to put an end to a form of human behavior (war) which has existed throughout history by means of photography? The proportions of that notion seem ridiculously out of balance. Yet, that very idea has motivated me.
For me, the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke a sense of humanity. If war is an attempt to negate humanity, then photography can be perceived as the opposite of war and if it is used well it can be a powerful ingredient in the antidote to war. In a way, if an individual assumes the risk of placing himself in the middle of a war in order to communicate to the rest of the world what is happening, he is trying to negotiate for peace. Perhaps that is the reason why those in charge of perpetuating a war do not like to have photographers around.
It has occurred to me that if everyone could be there just once to see for themselves what white phosphorous does to the face of a child or what unspeakable pain is caused by the impact of a single bullet or how a jagged piece of shrapnel can rip someone's leg off - if everyone could be there to see for themselves the fear and the grief, just one time, then they would understand that nothing is worth letting things get to the point where that happens to even one person, let alone thousands.
But everyone cannot be there, and that is why photographers go there - to show them, to reach out and grab them and make them stop what they are doing and pay attention to what is going on - to create pictures powerful enough to overcome the diluting effects of the mass media and shake people out of their indifference - to protest and by the strength of that protest to make others protest.
The worst thing is to feel that as a photographer I am benefiting from someone else's tragedy. This idea haunts me. It is something I have to reckon with every day because I know that if I ever allow genuine compassion to be overtaken by personal ambition I will have sold my soul. The stakes are simply too high for me to believe otherwise.
Mr. Nachtway is an extraordinary man. A man of honor, soul and dedication.
The film follows one of the world's greatest war photographers, (winner of the Robert Capa Gold Medal five times, the World Press Photo Award twice, Magazine Photographer of the Year seven times, the International Center of Photography Infinity Award three times, the Leica Award twice, and the Bayeux Award for War Correspondents twice to name a few) the incredible James Nachtway, as he works.
To do this, the filmmaker, Christian Frei, has mounted a special micro-camera atop James' 35mm camera, which enables the viewer to almost BE Mr. Nachtway....it is an amazing sensation to really see what he sees, to experience these moments - how close he is to bottomless grief and pain and danger. To see him move, respectfully, silently, but so present amongst people in their deepest throes of mourning. A film crew follows James, which allows you to see him calmly, like a monk, walk about composing his frames as bullets, grenades and bombs are in the air all around him.
Besides this immersing technical innovation, the film really captures the personal beauty of Mr. Nachtway. Although he takes amazing photographs, at no point is a viewer ever likely to comment "Look at his composition, look at the lovely contrast of the deep blacks in the shadows contrasted with the silvery highlights...". No, Mr. Nachtway does not see himself as an artist. He is documenting and giving voice to people who are suffering. In some amazing way, he channels all of his own grief, anger, and horror through his lens, and that is what you see.
His work captures atrocities, certainly, but it captures emotion more beautifully than any other photographer I am familiar with. Allow me to reprint here some of Mr. Nachtway's philosophy:
Is it possible to put an end to a form of human behavior (war) which has existed throughout history by means of photography? The proportions of that notion seem ridiculously out of balance. Yet, that very idea has motivated me.
For me, the strength of photography lies in its ability to evoke a sense of humanity. If war is an attempt to negate humanity, then photography can be perceived as the opposite of war and if it is used well it can be a powerful ingredient in the antidote to war. In a way, if an individual assumes the risk of placing himself in the middle of a war in order to communicate to the rest of the world what is happening, he is trying to negotiate for peace. Perhaps that is the reason why those in charge of perpetuating a war do not like to have photographers around.
It has occurred to me that if everyone could be there just once to see for themselves what white phosphorous does to the face of a child or what unspeakable pain is caused by the impact of a single bullet or how a jagged piece of shrapnel can rip someone's leg off - if everyone could be there to see for themselves the fear and the grief, just one time, then they would understand that nothing is worth letting things get to the point where that happens to even one person, let alone thousands.
But everyone cannot be there, and that is why photographers go there - to show them, to reach out and grab them and make them stop what they are doing and pay attention to what is going on - to create pictures powerful enough to overcome the diluting effects of the mass media and shake people out of their indifference - to protest and by the strength of that protest to make others protest.
The worst thing is to feel that as a photographer I am benefiting from someone else's tragedy. This idea haunts me. It is something I have to reckon with every day because I know that if I ever allow genuine compassion to be overtaken by personal ambition I will have sold my soul. The stakes are simply too high for me to believe otherwise.
Mr. Nachtway is an extraordinary man. A man of honor, soul and dedication.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
The Last Witness
Lillian Gertrud Asplund,the last survivor of the Titanic who remembered its sinking has passed on at the grand age of 99. At least two other survivors are living, but they were too young to remember what happened. Barbara Joyce West Dainton of Truro, England, was 10 months old and Elizabeth Gladys Millvina Dean of Southampton, England, was 2 months old.
Lillian was just 5 years old when she and her family boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England. She lost her father and three brothers — including a fraternal twin.
Asplund's mother described the sinking in an interview with a Worcester newspaper shortly after the accident.
I could see the icebergs for a great distance around ... It was cold and the little ones were cuddling close to one another and trying to keep from under the feet of the many excited people ... My little girl, Lillie, accompanied me, and my husband said 'Go ahead, we will get into one of the other boats.' He smiled as he said it.
But Lillian Asplund refused to sit for most interviews even when offered money for doing so, saying, Why do I want money from the Titanic? Look what I lost. A father and three brothers.
Coincidentally, there was no winning bid in a recent auction for a worn beech wood recliner taken from the Titanic as a souvenir by Mr. Thomas Barker, a senior photographer on The Cork Examiner newspaper before the ship left. Bonhams & Butterfields says the deck chair is one of only six left in world.
The estimated value was set at between $75,000 and $100,000 - yet the bidding topped out at $62,000.
Lillian was just 5 years old when she and her family boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England. She lost her father and three brothers — including a fraternal twin.
Asplund's mother described the sinking in an interview with a Worcester newspaper shortly after the accident.
I could see the icebergs for a great distance around ... It was cold and the little ones were cuddling close to one another and trying to keep from under the feet of the many excited people ... My little girl, Lillie, accompanied me, and my husband said 'Go ahead, we will get into one of the other boats.' He smiled as he said it.
But Lillian Asplund refused to sit for most interviews even when offered money for doing so, saying, Why do I want money from the Titanic? Look what I lost. A father and three brothers.
Coincidentally, there was no winning bid in a recent auction for a worn beech wood recliner taken from the Titanic as a souvenir by Mr. Thomas Barker, a senior photographer on The Cork Examiner newspaper before the ship left. Bonhams & Butterfields says the deck chair is one of only six left in world.
The estimated value was set at between $75,000 and $100,000 - yet the bidding topped out at $62,000.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Skull and Bones - Of Geronimo
I read an intriguing story this morning about Yale 's ultra-secret Skull and Bones society - it seems that they stole the skull of American Indian leader Geronimo:
The skull of the worthy Geronimo the Terrible, exhumed from its tomb at Fort Sill by your club... is now safe inside the (Tomb) together with his well worn femurs, bit & saddle horn according to the letter, written by Winter Mead.
In 1986, Ned Anderson, chair of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona, was campaigning to have Geronimo's remains moved from Fort Sill where he died a prisoner of war in 1909 to Apache land in Arizona. Anderson received an anonymous letter from someone who claimed to be a member of Skull and Bones, alleging that the society had Geronimo's skull. The writer included a photograph of a skull in a display case and a copy of a centennial history of Skull and Bones, written by the literary critic F. O. Matthiessen, a Skull and Bones member. In Matthiessen's account, which quotes a Skull and Bones log book from 1919, the skull had been unearthed by six Bonesmen identified by their Bones nicknames, and mentions the real names of three of the robbers, all of whom were at Fort Sill in early 1918: Ellery James, Henry Neil Mallon, and Prescott Bush, the father and grandfather of the U.S. presidents.
Harlyn Geronimo, the great grandson of Geronimo, said he has been looking for a lawyer to sue the U.S. Army and that the discovery of the letter could help.
The skull of the worthy Geronimo the Terrible, exhumed from its tomb at Fort Sill by your club... is now safe inside the (Tomb) together with his well worn femurs, bit & saddle horn according to the letter, written by Winter Mead.
In 1986, Ned Anderson, chair of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona, was campaigning to have Geronimo's remains moved from Fort Sill where he died a prisoner of war in 1909 to Apache land in Arizona. Anderson received an anonymous letter from someone who claimed to be a member of Skull and Bones, alleging that the society had Geronimo's skull. The writer included a photograph of a skull in a display case and a copy of a centennial history of Skull and Bones, written by the literary critic F. O. Matthiessen, a Skull and Bones member. In Matthiessen's account, which quotes a Skull and Bones log book from 1919, the skull had been unearthed by six Bonesmen identified by their Bones nicknames, and mentions the real names of three of the robbers, all of whom were at Fort Sill in early 1918: Ellery James, Henry Neil Mallon, and Prescott Bush, the father and grandfather of the U.S. presidents.
Harlyn Geronimo, the great grandson of Geronimo, said he has been looking for a lawyer to sue the U.S. Army and that the discovery of the letter could help.
Friday, May 12, 2006
29%
The BushLimbo (How Low Can He Go?) has stopped being amusing.
The real question is, how long are we going to let him hang around?
The good news is that we no longer need to take polls - All we need to do is call up our friends, and W can find out everything he needs to know.
And, I am glad to have been a customer of Qwest. If I am ever in the happy position to live on the West Coast again, I will be sure to do business with them.
The real question is, how long are we going to let him hang around?
The good news is that we no longer need to take polls - All we need to do is call up our friends, and W can find out everything he needs to know.
And, I am glad to have been a customer of Qwest. If I am ever in the happy position to live on the West Coast again, I will be sure to do business with them.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Another Reason To Arrive Late To The Theatre
Theatregoers in Dublin will be "treated" to the world's first live commercial, performed onstage by Pauline McLynn, who starred as the housekeeper, Mrs. Doyle, in the BBC comedy series Father Ted.
She and five other people will use dialogue to reproduce the sights and sounds of London, including its theaters and restaurants.
The commercial will be performed later in Hamburg, Germany, and in New York and Pittsburgh - the well-known epicenters of theatrical performance.
I don't know why nobody has thought of it before, to have a live ad on stage for theater said McLynn.
I'll tell you why - it is a completely terrible idea. What's next? Previews? Actors from upcoming productions dropping by to do a monologue as preshow entertainment?
She and five other people will use dialogue to reproduce the sights and sounds of London, including its theaters and restaurants.
The commercial will be performed later in Hamburg, Germany, and in New York and Pittsburgh - the well-known epicenters of theatrical performance.
I don't know why nobody has thought of it before, to have a live ad on stage for theater said McLynn.
I'll tell you why - it is a completely terrible idea. What's next? Previews? Actors from upcoming productions dropping by to do a monologue as preshow entertainment?
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Giggles
One of my mom's favorite things to do was to wake me up and then to ask me what I would like for breakfast. Like, "Would you like eggs or pancakes this morning?" And I would contemplate that, and say "Eggs," or whatever. She would then smile and say, "That's nice. We're having French toast." I fell for for it every time.
I would ask her why she even bothered posing the question, and her reply was "Just curious."
That's my mom. But this is the quintessential story:
Growing up I had a fixation with being strong and mighty. (Some might say I still do...) To that end, my mom would serve me spinach so I would be "strong, just like Popeye." (Permit another diversion - I also liked to go to the pharmacy behind my grandmother's house to purchase these bright pink mints that we referred to as "Superman pills", as they were guaranteed to make you run and jump even faster than a pair of new sneaks...it was the 60's people, c'mon!)
So, many years pass and I end up going off to college. Whereupon I get invited to the Penpal's parent's house for dinner. Penpal's mom asks me what vegetables I like. I confidently reply, "Spinach!"
Fast forward to dinner. There is a pile of dark green stuff sitting on my plate. I stage whisper to the PenPal "What IS this?" She, rightfully, is bewildered. "It's spinach (you jackass - not verbalized but I still heard it.)"
So after a long and painful conversation, we deduced that in fact, FRENCH STYLE GREEN BEANS are not SPINACH.
Which also brings up the visit to the Penpal's Grandparent's house where I was forced to eat broccoli for the first time - but that is another tale...
Here's to you, Giggles. I miss you.
I would ask her why she even bothered posing the question, and her reply was "Just curious."
That's my mom. But this is the quintessential story:
Growing up I had a fixation with being strong and mighty. (Some might say I still do...) To that end, my mom would serve me spinach so I would be "strong, just like Popeye." (Permit another diversion - I also liked to go to the pharmacy behind my grandmother's house to purchase these bright pink mints that we referred to as "Superman pills", as they were guaranteed to make you run and jump even faster than a pair of new sneaks...it was the 60's people, c'mon!)
So, many years pass and I end up going off to college. Whereupon I get invited to the Penpal's parent's house for dinner. Penpal's mom asks me what vegetables I like. I confidently reply, "Spinach!"
Fast forward to dinner. There is a pile of dark green stuff sitting on my plate. I stage whisper to the PenPal "What IS this?" She, rightfully, is bewildered. "It's spinach (you jackass - not verbalized but I still heard it.)"
So after a long and painful conversation, we deduced that in fact, FRENCH STYLE GREEN BEANS are not SPINACH.
Which also brings up the visit to the Penpal's Grandparent's house where I was forced to eat broccoli for the first time - but that is another tale...
Here's to you, Giggles. I miss you.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
The Alliterative Case of The Pet Python and The Pampered Pooch
Ah, I can always count on Florida to cheer me up.
Today's headline is the case of an 11 foot Burmese Python, Diamond, vs. a rat terrier (Max). No contest, friends.
However, there were two decidely odd things about the story...
1. The dog owner unleashed the terrier outside, where the dog was grabbed by the snake. The owner went to his car and got a golf club and beat the snake. The snake released the dog. The dog died the next day.
Everyone is all mad at the snake...well, what about beating a snake with a golf club? What's with that? And what about keeping your dog leashed until it's inside? And was an autopsy done to establish the true cause of death anyway? I mean, maybe it was just Max's time...
2. Here's a quote from the story...
I keep a picture of him (the dog) in my wallet. We don't have kids. That was our child. We celebrated birthdays and holidays.
The owners also said that they would set a place for Max at the Thanksgiving dinner table, and the dog was to be the ring bearer at the owner's wedding next year.
So it is up to you to decide ... violent attack, or public service?
Today's headline is the case of an 11 foot Burmese Python, Diamond, vs. a rat terrier (Max). No contest, friends.
However, there were two decidely odd things about the story...
1. The dog owner unleashed the terrier outside, where the dog was grabbed by the snake. The owner went to his car and got a golf club and beat the snake. The snake released the dog. The dog died the next day.
Everyone is all mad at the snake...well, what about beating a snake with a golf club? What's with that? And what about keeping your dog leashed until it's inside? And was an autopsy done to establish the true cause of death anyway? I mean, maybe it was just Max's time...
2. Here's a quote from the story...
I keep a picture of him (the dog) in my wallet. We don't have kids. That was our child. We celebrated birthdays and holidays.
The owners also said that they would set a place for Max at the Thanksgiving dinner table, and the dog was to be the ring bearer at the owner's wedding next year.
So it is up to you to decide ... violent attack, or public service?
Monday, May 08, 2006
Take A Deep Breath
I made it home in time to catch the live broadcast of David Blaine's Drowned Alive. The media is making a big deal over the fact that he failed to break the world record for holding your breath underwater. The technical name for this feat is static apnea, (don't say I failed to be educational, Faithful Readers...) The record was set by Tom Sietas in 2004, who held his breath for eight minutes and 58 seconds.
It seems to me that David kinda SET a world record for staying underwater for 177 hours, longer than any human ever, then holding his breath a VERY respectable SEVEN MINUTES AND EIGHT SECONDS - WHILE ESCAPING FROM 150 POUNDS OF CHAINS.
Granted, perhaps he went a wee bit over the top by adding a few too many obstacles, but I truly do not think that the object of his performance was merely to break a record.
Blaine's recent work is an awe-inspiring look at what a human is able to endure.
He IS a magic man.
It seems to me that David kinda SET a world record for staying underwater for 177 hours, longer than any human ever, then holding his breath a VERY respectable SEVEN MINUTES AND EIGHT SECONDS - WHILE ESCAPING FROM 150 POUNDS OF CHAINS.
Granted, perhaps he went a wee bit over the top by adding a few too many obstacles, but I truly do not think that the object of his performance was merely to break a record.
Blaine's recent work is an awe-inspiring look at what a human is able to endure.
He IS a magic man.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Up In The Sky ! It's A...It's A...
One of the benefits of working a job where you get out of work at 2 in the morning is that it gives you an easy opportunity to take advantage of stargazing events. In theory.
So today I left for work with my cherished Celestron Regal 10x42 roof prism binoculars, all prepared to catch a glimpse of the dying Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann.
ScubaSteve and YoAdrian joined me outside scanning the heavens and we saw...something odd and colorful. Satellite? Space Station? Comet? Weird planetoid? We had no idea. And we were actually out too early, because the spotlight-bright moon was ruining everything. Seems the right time was closer to 5 am. Figures.
But, in case you wanna see what we all missed, here is an incredible photo of the brave little comet, making a diagonal line with the spiral galaxy IC 1296 (a brisk 200 MILLION light years away) and the Ring Nebula. The picture was taken with a 36 inch telescope.
In astronomy, size DOES matter.
So today I left for work with my cherished Celestron Regal 10x42 roof prism binoculars, all prepared to catch a glimpse of the dying Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann.
ScubaSteve and YoAdrian joined me outside scanning the heavens and we saw...something odd and colorful. Satellite? Space Station? Comet? Weird planetoid? We had no idea. And we were actually out too early, because the spotlight-bright moon was ruining everything. Seems the right time was closer to 5 am. Figures.
But, in case you wanna see what we all missed, here is an incredible photo of the brave little comet, making a diagonal line with the spiral galaxy IC 1296 (a brisk 200 MILLION light years away) and the Ring Nebula. The picture was taken with a 36 inch telescope.
In astronomy, size DOES matter.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Over Achievement Takes On A Whole New Meaning
I started a new book today, and I felt compelled to share this startling paragraph with you:
In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated merchants or wealthy planters, had been founded by one of its illiterate slaves, who, by sheer force of personality, charisma, and determination, liberated America from foreign rule, united the people, created an alphabet, wrote the constitution, established universal religious freedom, invented a new system of warfare, marched an army from Canada to Brazil, and opened roads of commerce in a free-trade zone that stretched across the continents. On every level and from any perspective, the scale and scope of Genghis Khan's accomplishments challenge the limits of imagination and tax the resources of scholarly explanation.
Reading that sure made me feel good spending the afternoon laying on the couch, reading and waiting for the pizza delivery guy.
In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated merchants or wealthy planters, had been founded by one of its illiterate slaves, who, by sheer force of personality, charisma, and determination, liberated America from foreign rule, united the people, created an alphabet, wrote the constitution, established universal religious freedom, invented a new system of warfare, marched an army from Canada to Brazil, and opened roads of commerce in a free-trade zone that stretched across the continents. On every level and from any perspective, the scale and scope of Genghis Khan's accomplishments challenge the limits of imagination and tax the resources of scholarly explanation.
Reading that sure made me feel good spending the afternoon laying on the couch, reading and waiting for the pizza delivery guy.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Two Definitions of Patience
The Month of May.
Taurus.
One of the well known Taurean traits is patience.
I present two definitions: The John Cage composition entitled As Slow as Possible is being performed
in the St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany.
The actual performance commenced on September 5, 2001 beginning with a pause that lasted until February 5, 2003 (that's 20 months of silence, folks). The first chord was played from then until July 5, 2005.
Currently the organ is playing a three-note chord, (A below middle C above middle C (A3-C4-Fis4) and F-sharp), which began on January 5, 2006 and concluded today, May 5! That's right! Today is chord change day! Huzzah!
There are eight movements to the piece, and Cage specified that at least one be repeated. Each movement lasts roughly 71 years, just four years shy of the life expectancy of the average German male.
The performance is planned to continue until September 4, 2640. The only limitations on the length of the performance are the durability of the organ and the will of future generations.
Heinz-Klaus Metzger, a musicologist whose chance comments at an organ conference nine years ago sparked the project said : In these times, acceleration spoils everything. To begin a performance with the perspective of more than a half-millennium — it's just a kind of negation of the lifestyle of today.
That got me thinking about last month's 16 hour non-stop performance of Richard Wagner's Ring aired by Britain's Radio3 . Sixteen hours is a LONG time to sit through a performance...something along the lines of a David Blaine stunt.
And, since it took the man 26 years (1848-1874) to write it, it seems wrong to cram it all into one day.
I am reminded of PrettyAlice's tale of being in Les Misérables, and some performers would get to the theatre, put on their make-up and costume, do their scenes, THEN shower and change and go out for a full-course meal, to return to the theatre and get made up AGAIN, with time to spare for their next entrance.
Patience. Virtue or crazy publicity device?
Taurus.
One of the well known Taurean traits is patience.
I present two definitions: The John Cage composition entitled As Slow as Possible is being performed
in the St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany.
The actual performance commenced on September 5, 2001 beginning with a pause that lasted until February 5, 2003 (that's 20 months of silence, folks). The first chord was played from then until July 5, 2005.
Currently the organ is playing a three-note chord, (A below middle C above middle C (A3-C4-Fis4) and F-sharp), which began on January 5, 2006 and concluded today, May 5! That's right! Today is chord change day! Huzzah!
There are eight movements to the piece, and Cage specified that at least one be repeated. Each movement lasts roughly 71 years, just four years shy of the life expectancy of the average German male.
The performance is planned to continue until September 4, 2640. The only limitations on the length of the performance are the durability of the organ and the will of future generations.
Heinz-Klaus Metzger, a musicologist whose chance comments at an organ conference nine years ago sparked the project said : In these times, acceleration spoils everything. To begin a performance with the perspective of more than a half-millennium — it's just a kind of negation of the lifestyle of today.
That got me thinking about last month's 16 hour non-stop performance of Richard Wagner's Ring aired by Britain's Radio3 . Sixteen hours is a LONG time to sit through a performance...something along the lines of a David Blaine stunt.
And, since it took the man 26 years (1848-1874) to write it, it seems wrong to cram it all into one day.
I am reminded of PrettyAlice's tale of being in Les Misérables, and some performers would get to the theatre, put on their make-up and costume, do their scenes, THEN shower and change and go out for a full-course meal, to return to the theatre and get made up AGAIN, with time to spare for their next entrance.
Patience. Virtue or crazy publicity device?
Thursday, May 04, 2006
All Thanks To MyAdoringPublic
So - I tried to be a reasonable member of society yesterday, and attempted to renew my car registration. But no. They informed me I had to go get an E-Check. Well, that was just not in my schedule of events.
MyAdoringPublic was gracious enough to switch shifts with me, which I meant I had until 4 in the afternoon to get my tedious errands accomplished. Which I did, all by 9:30 am, including two stops at two different Starbuck's. (Everyday, once a day, give yourself a present - Agent Dale Cooper.)
The gal at the E-Check was very impressed that the geriatric Toyota passed with flying colors, and she suggested that the Toyota company would WANT MY CAR and would replace it with a new one. Yeah. Right.
Then I came home, bought my tickets for my upcoming trip to Chicago - including tickets to see Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit at the Field museum - yippee!
And I read a book, The Highest Tide, about a 13 year old precocious boy named Miles that discovers (amongst other things) a giant squid on the flats of Puget Sound. Who loves giant squid and Seattle more than the Captain? No one. I really loved this story. It would make a great film. If only there was a Burmese python in it...
After that kind of day, one really shouldn't have to then go into work, should they?
Talk amongst yourselves.
MyAdoringPublic was gracious enough to switch shifts with me, which I meant I had until 4 in the afternoon to get my tedious errands accomplished. Which I did, all by 9:30 am, including two stops at two different Starbuck's. (Everyday, once a day, give yourself a present - Agent Dale Cooper.)
The gal at the E-Check was very impressed that the geriatric Toyota passed with flying colors, and she suggested that the Toyota company would WANT MY CAR and would replace it with a new one. Yeah. Right.
Then I came home, bought my tickets for my upcoming trip to Chicago - including tickets to see Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit at the Field museum - yippee!
And I read a book, The Highest Tide, about a 13 year old precocious boy named Miles that discovers (amongst other things) a giant squid on the flats of Puget Sound. Who loves giant squid and Seattle more than the Captain? No one. I really loved this story. It would make a great film. If only there was a Burmese python in it...
After that kind of day, one really shouldn't have to then go into work, should they?
Talk amongst yourselves.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Thanks Y'All
Thanks to my 677 Peeps and ZekeNewBuffalo who took the time to make a big deal of the day today.
The Penpal checked in just under the wire, but she is a good woman for playing Taxi Driver.
The biggest surprise of all was to hear the voice of the Femmebot, perhaps conjured up by yesterday's Munch news...anyway, thank you for keeping me in your heart and thoughts.
I love you guys.
The Penpal checked in just under the wire, but she is a good woman for playing Taxi Driver.
The biggest surprise of all was to hear the voice of the Femmebot, perhaps conjured up by yesterday's Munch news...anyway, thank you for keeping me in your heart and thoughts.
I love you guys.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Don't Mess With The Norwegian Mob
Three men are going to do some time for being involved in one way or another with the theft of the two great Munch paintings last year.
Two of the convicted men were also ordered to repay the city of Oslo $121 million, the combined insured value of the paintings, which remain missing. I am hoping the city isn't counting on seeing that money anytime soon...
Saddened as I am by the still missing works I still LOVE this quote from the report..
Meticulous police work included forensic scrutiny of the Audi, which the fleeing men abandoned about a mile from the robbery, as well as tapping 60,000 telephone calls and live surveillance of Norwegian underworld figures for several months.
Ok. #1 - Meticulous?
On September 24, 2004, the paintings were transfered in a garbage bag from a parked bus to the trunk of a car, which promptly sped off. One of the convicted men testified that he had been hired to make the switch but that he did not know by whom and was never paid. Undercover investigators tailing the man witnessed the transfer, a few miles west of Oslo, but did not intervene in time to rescue the paintings.
and...#2 -
Norwegian underworld figures ?
Two of the convicted men were also ordered to repay the city of Oslo $121 million, the combined insured value of the paintings, which remain missing. I am hoping the city isn't counting on seeing that money anytime soon...
Saddened as I am by the still missing works I still LOVE this quote from the report..
Meticulous police work included forensic scrutiny of the Audi, which the fleeing men abandoned about a mile from the robbery, as well as tapping 60,000 telephone calls and live surveillance of Norwegian underworld figures for several months.
Ok. #1 - Meticulous?
On September 24, 2004, the paintings were transfered in a garbage bag from a parked bus to the trunk of a car, which promptly sped off. One of the convicted men testified that he had been hired to make the switch but that he did not know by whom and was never paid. Undercover investigators tailing the man witnessed the transfer, a few miles west of Oslo, but did not intervene in time to rescue the paintings.
and...#2 -
Norwegian underworld figures ?
Monday, May 01, 2006
Three Dollars For Gas Is One Thing…
…but when I am asked to pay $400 for a square of toilet paper, things are really out of control…
According to the New York Times, a roll of toilet paper in Zimbabwe costs $145,750.
At that price, it makes more sense to re-purpose the Zimbabwean $500 bill, if you know what I mean.
According to the New York Times, a roll of toilet paper in Zimbabwe costs $145,750.
At that price, it makes more sense to re-purpose the Zimbabwean $500 bill, if you know what I mean.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Holy Toledo!
I was off on a road trip this morning. And just if you are wondering, the distance from my house (after stopping by and getting a Starbuck's for the road) to Toledo is exactly the distance it takes to listen to the complete Monster In A Box performed by Spalding Gray.
What is it about stained glass that when standing in front of the most secular image you can imagine, everyone is hushed and in awe and acting with reverence, as if it was a religious experience?
The Toledo Museum of Art was hosting an exhibition entitled Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist For The Ages. What was great about this show, was it incorporated so many aspects of his creative life. It included some rather severe, yet elegant and practical, furniture he designed from his own home, paintings, watercolors, jewelry, decor items like vanity sets, one of only two known etching plates he made, and of course, lots of glass - vases, lamps, windows. The exhibit gives lots of space to the many periods, or influences, Tiffany had such as his fascinations with the sea, Persia, Egypt, China, and nature.
In the Chinese section, there was a fireplace screen he had designed using small squares of creamy glass connected with very small metal rings, duplicating early Chinese armor. Truly extraordinary.
I doubt if anyone could ever be fooled by a "fake" Tiffany lamp. There is a tangible rightness to his functional, elegant designs that no copy can ever duplicate. His lamps have life.
I learned that favrile (as in Tiffany's favrile glass) was a term he coined, using the Saxon word for handmade. Cool.
I also was very enamored by his agate glass, where he would take lots of colored glass, and make a very think vase or something. Then he would have it carved to reveal the striations in the glass. The finished vases look like pottery. I loved them.
But to me, the very best item was a favrile glass vase, which in itself was lovely, but I can only get so excited about glass. But this one was displayed in its original box from Siegfried Bing's Paris store, L'Art Nouveau. The detail of the box, hinged on the top, and with two front panels that swung back around from each side was unbelievable. It was lined in luxurious satin, and the base of the vase was held securely in a velvet pedestal. There was no doubt that even in the day, these glass items were treated was rare art objects.
Beats the heck out of Styrofoam and a cardboard box.
Next was a small exhibit of Rembrandt van Rijn etchings and I really wanted to see this solely because of the title:
Rembrandt: What Was He Thinking?
Anyone familiar with the great Christine Lavin will get the joke that her song really has become the new catch-phrase she was hoping for! And as an aside, Chris has put up a free mp3 download of a live performance of What Was I Thinking with new verses, including a great verse about Dick Cheney. Highly recommended listening!
But back to RembrandtRembrant. There is absolutely no doubt that his etchings are beautiful. But what I remember most of this show was a small book that was showing one of his very few book illustrations. The book was Elias Herckman's In Praise of Sailing (Der Zee-Vaert Lof) from 1634. According to the information, the book details the history of sailing - starting with the father of sailing, Noah. Cracked me up.
I still don't know what Rembrandt was thinking. Maybe Chris can write a verse about it.
The museum includes some rooms from old European houses that were incredible ( a room from a Lake Zurich house in Switzerland, 1630, and a room from the Chateau de Chenailles, France from 1650) as well as an area called The Cloisters - very medieval and wonderful. There was a wool and silk tapestry hanging there that I loved. It was from 1400, designed by Jean Fierret entitled Entombment.
Highlights of the permanent collection:
The Egyptian Book Of the Dead: Funerary Book of Tamesia, ink on papyrus - it makes your head hurt to see something that lovely, that old, and that mysterious.
A magnificent Roman mosaic floor
Pieter Brueghel the Younger's Winter with Bird Trap (1600), which I could study for hours. Isaak van Oosten's highly detailed and gorgeous Garden of Eden.
Benjamin West's St. George and the Dragon (1797) which shocked me because it looks like it came from the pages of a comic book - great violence and energy in vibrant colors of pink and yellow. Exceedingly modern!
James Tissot's surprisingly large and completely beautiful, London Visitors (1874)
A big surprise was the gorgeous Salutation of Beatrice (1880) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. I am thinking I have never actually seen a Rossetti in person before. A breathtaking work.
The wonderfully Halloween-y Death of A Pilgrim (1887) by Felix Joseph Barrias.
One of the most beautiful women I've ever seen portrayed in a painting, Shepherd's Star (1887) by Jules Breton - the jpeg does not do it justice.
Pablo Picasso: Woman with Crow (1904) - the most magnificent use of blue until Yves Klein.
Louis Sullivan - Bank Teller's Wicket, an unbelieveably gorgeous use of decorative wrought iron, but more fascinating because it was from the National Farmer's Bank in Owatonna, Minnesota! It looks like something that should have been for the main branch of a major bank in New York City.
Edward Hopper's evocative Two On The Aisle (1927), which was bigger than I imagined, but I fell in love with it as expected.
A Georgia O'Keeffe I was not familiar with, Brown Sail, Wing on Wing, Nassau (1940).
I think my favorite piece in the museum might have been Jim Dine's Sickle (1962).
Marisol Escobar : The Cocktail Party (1965) No picture can ever do this installation justice.
A great surprise was a small, perfect sculpture (Cherie, 1980) by Robert Graham. I had never seen anything of his in person. The body is absolutely perfect, but the face has an almost android-like blankness to it that is unsettling. I really enjoyed the simultaneous feelings of repulsion and adoration.
Juan Munoz 's Broken Nose IV (1999) was a fascinating sculpture based on the sculpted head of an Egpytian priest known as the Berlin Green Head. The sculpture's nose has not survived. Munoz has sculpted two small figures, clothed in metal workers garb, facing each other. One holds a measuring stick up against the other. They have the arms and hands of mummies, and each has the same head, the Berlin Green Head. Both even display the post that museums use to mount disconnected heads. Since the bodies are in different attitudes, and facing each other, the faces do, at first, look different.
Outside, they have a small sculpture garden and I got to see works by two sculptors I admire: Deborah Butterfield's Second Daughter, a sculpture of a horse which looks like it is made of driftwood, but is actually bronze and Magdalena Abakanowicz's terrific Figure on Trunk with Wheels-Big (2000).
But what I was dying to see was Hector Guimard's Paris Metro Entrance. What a beautiful, practical, functional addition to the city. I think all transit stops should look like this.
Well, that was my day. I have to make a return trip, as after four hours I couldn't look at anything else. And I still didn't make it to five rooms! A wonderful, manageable museum with lots of treasures and surprises.
What is it about stained glass that when standing in front of the most secular image you can imagine, everyone is hushed and in awe and acting with reverence, as if it was a religious experience?
The Toledo Museum of Art was hosting an exhibition entitled Louis Comfort Tiffany: Artist For The Ages. What was great about this show, was it incorporated so many aspects of his creative life. It included some rather severe, yet elegant and practical, furniture he designed from his own home, paintings, watercolors, jewelry, decor items like vanity sets, one of only two known etching plates he made, and of course, lots of glass - vases, lamps, windows. The exhibit gives lots of space to the many periods, or influences, Tiffany had such as his fascinations with the sea, Persia, Egypt, China, and nature.
In the Chinese section, there was a fireplace screen he had designed using small squares of creamy glass connected with very small metal rings, duplicating early Chinese armor. Truly extraordinary.
I doubt if anyone could ever be fooled by a "fake" Tiffany lamp. There is a tangible rightness to his functional, elegant designs that no copy can ever duplicate. His lamps have life.
I learned that favrile (as in Tiffany's favrile glass) was a term he coined, using the Saxon word for handmade. Cool.
I also was very enamored by his agate glass, where he would take lots of colored glass, and make a very think vase or something. Then he would have it carved to reveal the striations in the glass. The finished vases look like pottery. I loved them.
But to me, the very best item was a favrile glass vase, which in itself was lovely, but I can only get so excited about glass. But this one was displayed in its original box from Siegfried Bing's Paris store, L'Art Nouveau. The detail of the box, hinged on the top, and with two front panels that swung back around from each side was unbelievable. It was lined in luxurious satin, and the base of the vase was held securely in a velvet pedestal. There was no doubt that even in the day, these glass items were treated was rare art objects.
Beats the heck out of Styrofoam and a cardboard box.
Next was a small exhibit of Rembrandt van Rijn etchings and I really wanted to see this solely because of the title:
Rembrandt: What Was He Thinking?
Anyone familiar with the great Christine Lavin will get the joke that her song really has become the new catch-phrase she was hoping for! And as an aside, Chris has put up a free mp3 download of a live performance of What Was I Thinking with new verses, including a great verse about Dick Cheney. Highly recommended listening!
But back to RembrandtRembrant. There is absolutely no doubt that his etchings are beautiful. But what I remember most of this show was a small book that was showing one of his very few book illustrations. The book was Elias Herckman's In Praise of Sailing (Der Zee-Vaert Lof) from 1634. According to the information, the book details the history of sailing - starting with the father of sailing, Noah. Cracked me up.
I still don't know what Rembrandt was thinking. Maybe Chris can write a verse about it.
The museum includes some rooms from old European houses that were incredible ( a room from a Lake Zurich house in Switzerland, 1630, and a room from the Chateau de Chenailles, France from 1650) as well as an area called The Cloisters - very medieval and wonderful. There was a wool and silk tapestry hanging there that I loved. It was from 1400, designed by Jean Fierret entitled Entombment.
Highlights of the permanent collection:
The Egyptian Book Of the Dead: Funerary Book of Tamesia, ink on papyrus - it makes your head hurt to see something that lovely, that old, and that mysterious.
A magnificent Roman mosaic floor
Pieter Brueghel the Younger's Winter with Bird Trap (1600), which I could study for hours. Isaak van Oosten's highly detailed and gorgeous Garden of Eden.
Benjamin West's St. George and the Dragon (1797) which shocked me because it looks like it came from the pages of a comic book - great violence and energy in vibrant colors of pink and yellow. Exceedingly modern!
James Tissot's surprisingly large and completely beautiful, London Visitors (1874)
A big surprise was the gorgeous Salutation of Beatrice (1880) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. I am thinking I have never actually seen a Rossetti in person before. A breathtaking work.
The wonderfully Halloween-y Death of A Pilgrim (1887) by Felix Joseph Barrias.
One of the most beautiful women I've ever seen portrayed in a painting, Shepherd's Star (1887) by Jules Breton - the jpeg does not do it justice.
Pablo Picasso: Woman with Crow (1904) - the most magnificent use of blue until Yves Klein.
Louis Sullivan - Bank Teller's Wicket, an unbelieveably gorgeous use of decorative wrought iron, but more fascinating because it was from the National Farmer's Bank in Owatonna, Minnesota! It looks like something that should have been for the main branch of a major bank in New York City.
Edward Hopper's evocative Two On The Aisle (1927), which was bigger than I imagined, but I fell in love with it as expected.
A Georgia O'Keeffe I was not familiar with, Brown Sail, Wing on Wing, Nassau (1940).
I think my favorite piece in the museum might have been Jim Dine's Sickle (1962).
Marisol Escobar : The Cocktail Party (1965) No picture can ever do this installation justice.
A great surprise was a small, perfect sculpture (Cherie, 1980) by Robert Graham. I had never seen anything of his in person. The body is absolutely perfect, but the face has an almost android-like blankness to it that is unsettling. I really enjoyed the simultaneous feelings of repulsion and adoration.
Juan Munoz 's Broken Nose IV (1999) was a fascinating sculpture based on the sculpted head of an Egpytian priest known as the Berlin Green Head. The sculpture's nose has not survived. Munoz has sculpted two small figures, clothed in metal workers garb, facing each other. One holds a measuring stick up against the other. They have the arms and hands of mummies, and each has the same head, the Berlin Green Head. Both even display the post that museums use to mount disconnected heads. Since the bodies are in different attitudes, and facing each other, the faces do, at first, look different.
Outside, they have a small sculpture garden and I got to see works by two sculptors I admire: Deborah Butterfield's Second Daughter, a sculpture of a horse which looks like it is made of driftwood, but is actually bronze and Magdalena Abakanowicz's terrific Figure on Trunk with Wheels-Big (2000).
But what I was dying to see was Hector Guimard's Paris Metro Entrance. What a beautiful, practical, functional addition to the city. I think all transit stops should look like this.
Well, that was my day. I have to make a return trip, as after four hours I couldn't look at anything else. And I still didn't make it to five rooms! A wonderful, manageable museum with lots of treasures and surprises.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Last Minute Easter Gifts
You have until April 21 to get your bid in on Ebay for a divine, if belated, Easter gift for your loved one... an Easter Egg with the face of Jesus! You could always try the "I hid your big present along with the other eggs in the egg hunt...you just didn't find it!" routine...But I cannot tell the tale of the appearance of Jesus any better than the woman who was chosen to deliver this miracle to the world...
Unbelievable!!!! 8 years ago I was dying easter eggs with my children, we were going to be late for church and the children were telling me to hurry up. I had a dyed egg in my hand and it was dripping, so I blew on it. Miraculously, an image of Jesus appeared on the egg! I placed the egg in a curio cabinet and it has remained in perfect condition for eight years. It is beautiful and time to give up so it can grace someone elses home.
The highest (and only) bidder for this fragile icon goes by wendyannlovesgod and has never won an Ebay auction before. The going price is now $5000 ... are you feeling avarice, friends?
Unbelievable!!!! 8 years ago I was dying easter eggs with my children, we were going to be late for church and the children were telling me to hurry up. I had a dyed egg in my hand and it was dripping, so I blew on it. Miraculously, an image of Jesus appeared on the egg! I placed the egg in a curio cabinet and it has remained in perfect condition for eight years. It is beautiful and time to give up so it can grace someone elses home.
I wonder if she was running late for a doctor's appointment rather than church and blew on that egg if an image of Hippocrates would have appeared. And if it did, would she have recognized him?
Last Minute Easter Gifts - For the More Modest Budget
Matinee Movie Ticket - $6.50
Concession Stand bag of M&M's - $4
The one brown M&M with the face of Jesus Christ - Priceless
Well, maybe not priceless - you could try to get $100 bucks for it on EBay, like this optimistic person. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I bet a could ship a CARTON of M&M's to Scout for the $8 this person is charging to ship the Miracle M&M.
It makes me wonder how many miraculous wonders I myself have consumed with my terrible habit of just popping snacks into my mouth without thoroughly examining each and every one.
Learn from this Faithful Readers - slow down! Each second of the day might just bring a miracle your way - and then you can profit from it!
Concession Stand bag of M&M's - $4
The one brown M&M with the face of Jesus Christ - Priceless
Well, maybe not priceless - you could try to get $100 bucks for it on EBay, like this optimistic person. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I bet a could ship a CARTON of M&M's to Scout for the $8 this person is charging to ship the Miracle M&M.
It makes me wonder how many miraculous wonders I myself have consumed with my terrible habit of just popping snacks into my mouth without thoroughly examining each and every one.
Learn from this Faithful Readers - slow down! Each second of the day might just bring a miracle your way - and then you can profit from it!
Thursday, April 13, 2006
The Boy In The Plastic (Water-Filled) Bubble
It has been awhile, but my favorite Magic Man, David Blaine is at it again.
The 33-year-old magician will perform his newest stunt in front of New York's Lincoln Center living underwater for seven days and nights in a "human aquarium", a specially built 8-foot acrylic sphere. He will receive liquid nutrition through a tube and the water will be kept at a balanced temperature to help keep his core temperature close to 98.6 degrees.
To prepare for the challenge, Blaine has been training with US Navy Seals and a world class free-diving team.
Passersby will be able to touch the aquarium, take pictures with Blaine and communicate with him. He enters the sphere on May 1.
He will conclude this week-long submersion on May 8 by attempting to hold his breath underwater longer than the current record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds.
In 1999's Premature Burial, Blaine spent seven days buried inside a glass coffin at the bottom of an open pit in front of an office building owned by Donald Trump in New York City where passersby could view him 24 hours a day.
In 2000, Blaine performed Frozen in Time, in which he was encased in ice for 61 hours, 40 minutes, and 15 seconds in Times Square, New York before being removed. He was taken to the hospital immediately after being removed because doctors feared he was going into shock. He says he still could not walk normally a month after the stunt.
Vertigo was performed in 2002. Blaine was lifted by crane onto a 100-foot high pillar in Bryant Park, New York. He stood on the 22-inch wide pillar for nearly 35 hours without food, water or anything to lean on.
In 2003, Blaine performed Above The Below, a 44-day endurance stunt which found him sealed inside a transparent case measuring 7 feet by 7 feet by 3 feet suspended 30 feet in the air over Potters Fields Park on the south bank of the River Thames in London. During this period Blaine reportedly received no food and only water.
The 33-year-old magician will perform his newest stunt in front of New York's Lincoln Center living underwater for seven days and nights in a "human aquarium", a specially built 8-foot acrylic sphere. He will receive liquid nutrition through a tube and the water will be kept at a balanced temperature to help keep his core temperature close to 98.6 degrees.
To prepare for the challenge, Blaine has been training with US Navy Seals and a world class free-diving team.
Passersby will be able to touch the aquarium, take pictures with Blaine and communicate with him. He enters the sphere on May 1.
He will conclude this week-long submersion on May 8 by attempting to hold his breath underwater longer than the current record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds.
In 1999's Premature Burial, Blaine spent seven days buried inside a glass coffin at the bottom of an open pit in front of an office building owned by Donald Trump in New York City where passersby could view him 24 hours a day.
In 2000, Blaine performed Frozen in Time, in which he was encased in ice for 61 hours, 40 minutes, and 15 seconds in Times Square, New York before being removed. He was taken to the hospital immediately after being removed because doctors feared he was going into shock. He says he still could not walk normally a month after the stunt.
Vertigo was performed in 2002. Blaine was lifted by crane onto a 100-foot high pillar in Bryant Park, New York. He stood on the 22-inch wide pillar for nearly 35 hours without food, water or anything to lean on.
In 2003, Blaine performed Above The Below, a 44-day endurance stunt which found him sealed inside a transparent case measuring 7 feet by 7 feet by 3 feet suspended 30 feet in the air over Potters Fields Park on the south bank of the River Thames in London. During this period Blaine reportedly received no food and only water.
Call Out To MyAdoringPublic
Hey - it's your birthday!
Drink up! There's a King Shag coming your way - and doesn't THAT sound naughty!
Drink up! There's a King Shag coming your way - and doesn't THAT sound naughty!
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
A Number I Don't Want To Know
At last! Burmese Pythons in the Everglades are in the headlines!
Skip Snow, a wildlife biologist with the US National Park Service, is the man leading efforts to eradicate giant Burmese python snakes from Everglades National Park and he does not sound optimistic when he talks about the chances of winning the battle against the invasive beasts.
That is partly because he doesn't know how many of these monsters are in the swampy Florida park.
It could be literally thousands, It could be a number I don't want to know. It could be scary.
Since 1995 a total of 212 Burmese pythons have been killed or removed from the park or adjacent lands, including 95 last year.
Compounding his eradication problems is the fact that the big, alligator and Siamese cat eating snakes are also happily breeding in the wild.
Florida will also hold its first Snake Amnesty Day on May 6, for anyone who might want to dispose of their Burmese pythons or other members of the Boa family legally.
Skip Snow says, All of the Burmese pythons that we see in the park are a product of the international pet trade.
Skip Snow, a wildlife biologist with the US National Park Service, is the man leading efforts to eradicate giant Burmese python snakes from Everglades National Park and he does not sound optimistic when he talks about the chances of winning the battle against the invasive beasts.
That is partly because he doesn't know how many of these monsters are in the swampy Florida park.
It could be literally thousands, It could be a number I don't want to know. It could be scary.
Since 1995 a total of 212 Burmese pythons have been killed or removed from the park or adjacent lands, including 95 last year.
Compounding his eradication problems is the fact that the big, alligator and Siamese cat eating snakes are also happily breeding in the wild.
Florida will also hold its first Snake Amnesty Day on May 6, for anyone who might want to dispose of their Burmese pythons or other members of the Boa family legally.
Skip Snow says, All of the Burmese pythons that we see in the park are a product of the international pet trade.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie…
Nothing too terrible happens, at least according to Laura Joffe Numeroff's book, a lesson in cause and effect.
Just don’t try it with elephants.
At dawn Tuesday, monks found Raja, Sri Lanka's most celebrated elephant, writhing in pain with tears in his eyes.
The elephant has fallen ill after eating many homemade cookies deep fried in coconut oil, chocolates, rice cooked in thick milk and fermented slices of sweet pineapple offered to him as part of Buddhist new year celebrations.
Elephants mostly eat vegetation, and their digestive system can not easily cope with rich or processed foods.
The monks, rather belatedly, hung a handwritten notice by Raja's enclosure that reads: Do not feed the elephant.
Just don’t try it with elephants.
At dawn Tuesday, monks found Raja, Sri Lanka's most celebrated elephant, writhing in pain with tears in his eyes.
The elephant has fallen ill after eating many homemade cookies deep fried in coconut oil, chocolates, rice cooked in thick milk and fermented slices of sweet pineapple offered to him as part of Buddhist new year celebrations.
Elephants mostly eat vegetation, and their digestive system can not easily cope with rich or processed foods.
The monks, rather belatedly, hung a handwritten notice by Raja's enclosure that reads: Do not feed the elephant.
New Music Tuesday : A Thousand Beautiful Things - Not So Much
I was waiting with anticipation for the arrival of Janis Siegel’s new CD, A Thousand Beautiful Things.
Janis has long been one of my very favorite vocalists, and this CD promised versions of three of my favorite new tunes, the title track by Annie Lennox, Suzanne Vega’s Caramel ( I am especially fond of Chiara Civello's version) and Did You See The Moon Tonight? by A Girl Called Eddy.
Well, it has arrived, and in keeping the good advice of my grandmother, who told me not to say anything if you have nothing nice to say, here is a flattering opinion of the disc.
Janis has long been one of my very favorite vocalists, and this CD promised versions of three of my favorite new tunes, the title track by Annie Lennox, Suzanne Vega’s Caramel ( I am especially fond of Chiara Civello's version) and Did You See The Moon Tonight? by A Girl Called Eddy.
Well, it has arrived, and in keeping the good advice of my grandmother, who told me not to say anything if you have nothing nice to say, here is a flattering opinion of the disc.
Monday, April 10, 2006
The McDonald Sandwich - Definitely NOT On The Value Menu
So, if it approaches lunch time, and you are in London, you can curb your hunger with the world's most expensive sandwich. The McDonald (no chance of confusing it with a McDonald's Big Mac, friends) Sandwich is the creation of chef Scott McDonald and the ingredients are:
Wagyu beef, fresh lobe foie gras , black truffle mayonnaise, brie de meaux, rocket, red pepper and mustard confit, and English plum tomatoes, all packed into 24-hour fermented sour dough bread, all in all containing about 2,000 calories.
Yours for $148.33. And fries do NOT come with.
Wagyu beef, fresh lobe foie gras , black truffle mayonnaise, brie de meaux, rocket, red pepper and mustard confit, and English plum tomatoes, all packed into 24-hour fermented sour dough bread, all in all containing about 2,000 calories.
Yours for $148.33. And fries do NOT come with.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
But Can We Handle The Truth?
Senator Arlen Specter has said that the President of the United States owes a specific explanation to the American people. Not that I am holding my breath for that to happen.
But if Jack Nicholson came on the TV from the Oval Office and looked at the camera and simply said, My Fellow Americans, you can't HANDLE the truth! Well, I'd probably be satisfied and go on my way...
If 43 does try to offer some explanation, it will be, without a doubt, spineless and loopy and without gravity, but with lots of allusions and attempts at misdirection.
But if Jack Nicholson came on the TV from the Oval Office and looked at the camera and simply said, My Fellow Americans, you can't HANDLE the truth! Well, I'd probably be satisfied and go on my way...
If 43 does try to offer some explanation, it will be, without a doubt, spineless and loopy and without gravity, but with lots of allusions and attempts at misdirection.
Hitlers Walk Amongst Us
I was absorbed this morning by the review of a new play entitled Little Willy by Mark Kassen.
Little Willy is William Patrick Hitler, famous pretty much for just being famous, who was the Irish bastard child of Adolph's brother, Alois. After being shunned by his Uncle Adolph in 1939, Willy bribed him, took the money and moved to America. After writing an article for Look magazine entitled "Why I Hate My Uncle! " he was represented by the William Morris Agency. Willy performed lecture tours throughout the US, partied, endorsed every product he could find and effectively became a pop-cultural icon. And then he settled in New York and raised a family. Did Willy's three sons, as Mr. Kassen states in his play, really make a pact not to marry or have children, so the bloodline would end? That is just one of he many questions raised by the play.
The play is a meditation on the difference between who we really are as opposed to what we purport to be, as individuals and as a society. It's about the advertising of panache without substance. We all trade what we have for what we want and sometimes what we have isn't very nice, Mr. Kassen said.
These are very timely, modern concepts for a play that takes place in the era of World War II.
But just knowing that somewhere, three great-nephews of Hitler are driving to work, grocery shopping, or mowing their lawn is unsettling...
Little Willy is William Patrick Hitler, famous pretty much for just being famous, who was the Irish bastard child of Adolph's brother, Alois. After being shunned by his Uncle Adolph in 1939, Willy bribed him, took the money and moved to America. After writing an article for Look magazine entitled "Why I Hate My Uncle! " he was represented by the William Morris Agency. Willy performed lecture tours throughout the US, partied, endorsed every product he could find and effectively became a pop-cultural icon. And then he settled in New York and raised a family. Did Willy's three sons, as Mr. Kassen states in his play, really make a pact not to marry or have children, so the bloodline would end? That is just one of he many questions raised by the play.
The play is a meditation on the difference between who we really are as opposed to what we purport to be, as individuals and as a society. It's about the advertising of panache without substance. We all trade what we have for what we want and sometimes what we have isn't very nice, Mr. Kassen said.
These are very timely, modern concepts for a play that takes place in the era of World War II.
But just knowing that somewhere, three great-nephews of Hitler are driving to work, grocery shopping, or mowing their lawn is unsettling...
Saturday, April 08, 2006
I Have Always Loved Vermont
Democratic Party leaders in Vermont have passed a motion asking Congress to immediately begin impeachment proceedings against President Bush for misleading the nation on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and engaging in illegal wiretapping, among other charges.
This is just the latest effort. On March 7, five towns in Vermont drew up this document, which I will copy here in its entirety:
ARTICLE 29
We the voters of Newfane would like Town Meeting, March 2006, to consider the following resolution:
Whereas George W. Bush has:
1. Misled the nation about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction;
2. Misled the nation about ties between Iraq and Al Quaeda;
3. Used these falsehoods to lead our nation into war unsupported by international law;
4. Not told the truth about American policy with respect to the use of torture; and
5. Has directed the government to engage in domestic spying, in direct contravention of U.S. law.
Therefore, the voters of the town of Newfane ask that our representative to the U.S. House of Representatives file articles of impeachment to remove him from office.
I think they asked nicely. They should get their way.
This is just the latest effort. On March 7, five towns in Vermont drew up this document, which I will copy here in its entirety:
ARTICLE 29
We the voters of Newfane would like Town Meeting, March 2006, to consider the following resolution:
Whereas George W. Bush has:
1. Misled the nation about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction;
2. Misled the nation about ties between Iraq and Al Quaeda;
3. Used these falsehoods to lead our nation into war unsupported by international law;
4. Not told the truth about American policy with respect to the use of torture; and
5. Has directed the government to engage in domestic spying, in direct contravention of U.S. law.
Therefore, the voters of the town of Newfane ask that our representative to the U.S. House of Representatives file articles of impeachment to remove him from office.
I think they asked nicely. They should get their way.
A Surprise Visit
I had the very unexpected pleasure of spending the morning with my PenPal.
I picked her up at the "Toy Airport", and we got to spend some quality private time together waiting for her luggage. We were then going to meet up with her sister, nephew and grandmother for breakfast, and that meant, The House Of Bob. When Scout heard that we were breakfasting she suggested that we go Cracker Barrel, as their biscuits rule in her opinion, but I knew it was not going to happen. First, because the PenPal ALWAYS goes to House of Bob and second, it is well-known that I boycott Cracker Barrel for political reasons. When the PenPal told me that we meeting up with her family at the CB, I just knew she and Scout were in cahoots.
We had a very leisurely brunch, trying just about everything between the five of us, and I must admit, they DO make the better breakfast, politics be damned.
And PeeWee is growing up to be a very polite, brilliant, sweet young man.
The Little Goober informed me that Lady Diana's wedding gown is on display in Dayton. I had no idea. Never having been to Dayton, I am thinking a road trip just may be in order.
It sure is nice having your best friend around.
I picked her up at the "Toy Airport", and we got to spend some quality private time together waiting for her luggage. We were then going to meet up with her sister, nephew and grandmother for breakfast, and that meant, The House Of Bob. When Scout heard that we were breakfasting she suggested that we go Cracker Barrel, as their biscuits rule in her opinion, but I knew it was not going to happen. First, because the PenPal ALWAYS goes to House of Bob and second, it is well-known that I boycott Cracker Barrel for political reasons. When the PenPal told me that we meeting up with her family at the CB, I just knew she and Scout were in cahoots.
We had a very leisurely brunch, trying just about everything between the five of us, and I must admit, they DO make the better breakfast, politics be damned.
And PeeWee is growing up to be a very polite, brilliant, sweet young man.
The Little Goober informed me that Lady Diana's wedding gown is on display in Dayton. I had no idea. Never having been to Dayton, I am thinking a road trip just may be in order.
It sure is nice having your best friend around.
Friday, April 07, 2006
The Lesson From Gerry
I thought I would run out to Starbuck's this afternoon, for a quick latte, in the hopes that an espresso infusion would inspire me to get some blogging as well as my laundry done.
Well, I got to the top of my driveway, and a car was stopped there, waiting for the streetlight to change. The passenger door opens, and I see it is my old and dear Actress friend. She proceeds to tell me, across the driveway, that her husband passed away.
I had no idea.
So, I followed her home, and she told about his illness, which escalated quickly to the point of entering the Cleveland Clinic in hopes that a liver transplant would save his life. Sadly, his condition continued to decline, and my friend had to make the heartbreaking decision to let him go.
A few hours later, my friend's first granddaughter was born in Pittsburgh. My friend believes that her granddaughter, two weeks late, was holding on so that she would meet her grandfather as their spirits passed to and from this world. It is a beautiful thought.
While her husband was in the hospital but still conscious, my friend was a bit late getting to the hospital which meant that her husband filled out his own menu card. For breakfast he ordered fruit juice and lemon meringue pie, pretty much the worst thing for a diabetic. But it was a funny story - he was his own man to the very end, and he loved food. I am glad to think that he was taking some enjoyment, even from his hispital bed.
Which made me think of my mom, and how she would call me and tell me about the meals she was planning or looking forward to, or what she had at a restaurant. It was always the absolute worst choices she could have possibly made, but meals were really one of her few joys in life. And after a while, it occurred to me that it really was her life, and if she was content and happy in those moments, did it really matter that she was shortening her time here? Would it really have been better to deny herself these things for a few more months of life?
I think, in the end, foolish or not, the manner in which people treat their life has to be respected. We can't say what is right for anyone, expect for ourselves.
Well, I got to the top of my driveway, and a car was stopped there, waiting for the streetlight to change. The passenger door opens, and I see it is my old and dear Actress friend. She proceeds to tell me, across the driveway, that her husband passed away.
I had no idea.
So, I followed her home, and she told about his illness, which escalated quickly to the point of entering the Cleveland Clinic in hopes that a liver transplant would save his life. Sadly, his condition continued to decline, and my friend had to make the heartbreaking decision to let him go.
A few hours later, my friend's first granddaughter was born in Pittsburgh. My friend believes that her granddaughter, two weeks late, was holding on so that she would meet her grandfather as their spirits passed to and from this world. It is a beautiful thought.
While her husband was in the hospital but still conscious, my friend was a bit late getting to the hospital which meant that her husband filled out his own menu card. For breakfast he ordered fruit juice and lemon meringue pie, pretty much the worst thing for a diabetic. But it was a funny story - he was his own man to the very end, and he loved food. I am glad to think that he was taking some enjoyment, even from his hispital bed.
Which made me think of my mom, and how she would call me and tell me about the meals she was planning or looking forward to, or what she had at a restaurant. It was always the absolute worst choices she could have possibly made, but meals were really one of her few joys in life. And after a while, it occurred to me that it really was her life, and if she was content and happy in those moments, did it really matter that she was shortening her time here? Would it really have been better to deny herself these things for a few more months of life?
I think, in the end, foolish or not, the manner in which people treat their life has to be respected. We can't say what is right for anyone, expect for ourselves.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Weather Report
After last year's tumultuous winter, Scout got me all prepared with professional grade, mountaineering accessories - gloves, boots, underwear, hand warmers, etc.
And did I get to EVER use any of my new toys? NO.
Nope, we had a mild and dry season.
So, this morning, as I blearily stumble into the kitchen in search of coffee, I notice in my peripheral vision something is amiss. I give my eyes a few moments to focus, and a few more moments for the brain to process this input.
There is freakin' snow covering the roofs and trees.
Thank YOU, April!
And did I get to EVER use any of my new toys? NO.
Nope, we had a mild and dry season.
So, this morning, as I blearily stumble into the kitchen in search of coffee, I notice in my peripheral vision something is amiss. I give my eyes a few moments to focus, and a few more moments for the brain to process this input.
There is freakin' snow covering the roofs and trees.
Thank YOU, April!
Taking A Hit For The Team
Is Judas Iscariot really the reviled betrayer or is he the facilitator of salvation, the one who makes the crucifixion possible?
That is the question raised by National Geographic, in their announcement that they have restored the 1,700 year old Gospel of Judas.
In this manuscript, Jesus is basically asking Judas to "take one for the team", to be the one to make the sacrifice that allows Jesus to fulfill his destiny. And what does Judas get out of it? Years of scorn.
A passage from the document reads that Jesus refers to the other disciples, telling Judas you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me. By that Jesus meant that by helping him get rid of his physical flesh, Judas will act to liberate the true spiritual self or divine being within Jesus, scholars familiar with Gnostic thinking said.
Father Senior, president of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, which advises the pope, shows a surprising sense of humor on the subject of the discovered manuscript:
I'm just glad it wasn't found in a bank vault in the Vatican.
But it WAS in a bank vault for the last sixteen years, in the absolutely achingly perfectly named, Hicksville, New York ("The Community With Time For You"). If I had something of value, that is EXACTLY where I would store it.
My question is this: The document is genuine - not one scholar refutes that at this time. But they are wondering if it is true. Well, when did fiction get invented? I am perplexed my the huge belief that just because a thing is in writing, we must assume that it is the truth. Fable, allegory, legend, myth, fiction. Call it what you will.
Why spend all of this time and effort to determine if something written is The Truth. But then again, I believe that the Bible itself is a great, masterful work of fiction as well, not an accurate , truthful account of history in any way.
That is the question raised by National Geographic, in their announcement that they have restored the 1,700 year old Gospel of Judas.
In this manuscript, Jesus is basically asking Judas to "take one for the team", to be the one to make the sacrifice that allows Jesus to fulfill his destiny. And what does Judas get out of it? Years of scorn.
A passage from the document reads that Jesus refers to the other disciples, telling Judas you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me. By that Jesus meant that by helping him get rid of his physical flesh, Judas will act to liberate the true spiritual self or divine being within Jesus, scholars familiar with Gnostic thinking said.
Father Senior, president of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, which advises the pope, shows a surprising sense of humor on the subject of the discovered manuscript:
I'm just glad it wasn't found in a bank vault in the Vatican.
But it WAS in a bank vault for the last sixteen years, in the absolutely achingly perfectly named, Hicksville, New York ("The Community With Time For You"). If I had something of value, that is EXACTLY where I would store it.
My question is this: The document is genuine - not one scholar refutes that at this time. But they are wondering if it is true. Well, when did fiction get invented? I am perplexed my the huge belief that just because a thing is in writing, we must assume that it is the truth. Fable, allegory, legend, myth, fiction. Call it what you will.
Why spend all of this time and effort to determine if something written is The Truth. But then again, I believe that the Bible itself is a great, masterful work of fiction as well, not an accurate , truthful account of history in any way.
Do As I Say, Not As I Do
The New York Times headline this morning sure did make me smile...
Seems that President Bush authorized Vice President Dick Cheney in July 2003 to permit Mr. Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., to leak key portions of a classified prewar intelligence estimate on Iraq. Imagine.
The testimony provides the first indication that Mr. Bush, who has long assailed leaks of classified information as a national security threat, played a direct role in the disclosure of the intelligence report on Iraq at a moment that the White House was trying to defend itself against charges that it had inflated the case against Saddam Hussein.
Seems that President Bush authorized Vice President Dick Cheney in July 2003 to permit Mr. Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby Jr., to leak key portions of a classified prewar intelligence estimate on Iraq. Imagine.
The testimony provides the first indication that Mr. Bush, who has long assailed leaks of classified information as a national security threat, played a direct role in the disclosure of the intelligence report on Iraq at a moment that the White House was trying to defend itself against charges that it had inflated the case against Saddam Hussein.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Well, At Least It Is Out Of The Freezer
Faithful Readers have probably been wondering about Cy, the kitten born without a nose, and with only one eye, that was being stored in a refrigerator freezer in Oregon. I know I have been kept up nights thinking about it, hoping that the kids don't inadvertently grab a Cy-sicle as a midnight snack...
The folks at Ripley's Believe It Not offered to buy the kitten, but the owner said, We didn't want Cy becoming a joke or part of a personal collection.
Not wanting that, hypocrisy got the best of her and she sold the frozen body to creationist John Adolfi who is building a new museum in Phoenix, New York. Cy will be featured at the completely frightening The Lost World Museum which displays giant plants and eggs, deformed animal remains and archaeological finds, after he gets back from his embalming at Krueger Funeral Home.
Mr. Adolfi says that the kitten is meant to launch debate about how science and religion intersect.
How about a debate about when respect for the dead and personal financial gain intersect?
The folks at Ripley's Believe It Not offered to buy the kitten, but the owner said, We didn't want Cy becoming a joke or part of a personal collection.
Not wanting that, hypocrisy got the best of her and she sold the frozen body to creationist John Adolfi who is building a new museum in Phoenix, New York. Cy will be featured at the completely frightening The Lost World Museum which displays giant plants and eggs, deformed animal remains and archaeological finds, after he gets back from his embalming at Krueger Funeral Home.
Mr. Adolfi says that the kitten is meant to launch debate about how science and religion intersect.
How about a debate about when respect for the dead and personal financial gain intersect?
That Twenty Shillings Was A Good Investment
I can imagine the wife of English bibliophile wondering if it was really worth it to squander twenty shillings, equivalent to approximately £100 today, for ANOTHER book...
It was, when it was spent to purchase what Sotheby’s claims is the most important book in English literature.
A rare First Folio edition of William Shakespeare’s plays is to be auctioned on July 13th by Sotheby's with an estimated price of 4 to 6 million dollars.
This edition, in its original calf skin binding, is one of just a few surviving from a 1623 printing (just seven years after the Bard's passing) of 750 copies, and includes many annotations in the margins from seventeenth century readers.
Of the 36 plays included in this first folio, eighteen (including Twelfth Night, The Tempest, As You Like It (the play that was the CaptainStL's theatrical debut as a Stage Manager) and that Scottish play, Macbeth) had never been printed before.
This volume has been in the collection of a theological library in London since 1716. They are parting with it now to secure the library's financial future.
It was, when it was spent to purchase what Sotheby’s claims is the most important book in English literature.
A rare First Folio edition of William Shakespeare’s plays is to be auctioned on July 13th by Sotheby's with an estimated price of 4 to 6 million dollars.
This edition, in its original calf skin binding, is one of just a few surviving from a 1623 printing (just seven years after the Bard's passing) of 750 copies, and includes many annotations in the margins from seventeenth century readers.
Of the 36 plays included in this first folio, eighteen (including Twelfth Night, The Tempest, As You Like It (the play that was the CaptainStL's theatrical debut as a Stage Manager) and that Scottish play, Macbeth) had never been printed before.
This volume has been in the collection of a theological library in London since 1716. They are parting with it now to secure the library's financial future.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Join The Party
Good Ol' Beauregard Van Horn forwarded an email to me this evening, and it was one I was so happy to receive, I decided to share it with y'all...
On Monday, Senator Russ Feingold introduced a resolution to censure President Bush for breaking the law by illegally wiretapping American citizens.When the president misleads the public and the Congress and willfully and repeatedly breaks the law, there need to be some consequences --that's how the law works for everybody else.
Censuring the president is a reasonable first step in condemning the president's actions. Now it's up to us to show broad public support for Senator Feingold's resolution.
CLICK HERE: http://political.moveon.org/censure/
As of this writing, they have reached 84% of their goal of 500,000 signers (420,597).
On Monday, Senator Russ Feingold introduced a resolution to censure President Bush for breaking the law by illegally wiretapping American citizens.When the president misleads the public and the Congress and willfully and repeatedly breaks the law, there need to be some consequences --that's how the law works for everybody else.
Censuring the president is a reasonable first step in condemning the president's actions. Now it's up to us to show broad public support for Senator Feingold's resolution.
CLICK HERE: http://political.moveon.org/censure/
As of this writing, they have reached 84% of their goal of 500,000 signers (420,597).
Monday, April 03, 2006
Seeing Is Believing
Back in my old graduate school days, a hot topic for my advisor was the concept of seeing and performing "The Other." In particular, she was fascinated by the portrayal of American Indians in early America, at such events as the World's Colombian Exposition and in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In learning about the Wild West shows, I developed an absurd interest in the production and art of the show poster, which lead to my fascination with the performance of freak shows.
So it was with great delight that I discovered a new book, American Sideshow : An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers by Marc Hartzman, which was chock full of photos and biographies of the stars of the circus freak shows. It is a quick read (I devoured it in one evening before bed), with lots of medical details and uplifting stories of how the human spirit can overcome unbelievable odds. These stories, of course, make up for the tragic tales of unscrupulous people completely taking advantage of others, most poignantly being the biography of Julia Pastrana, a story that never fails to make my blood boil by the depths of cruelty involved. (As a aside, I am thrilled that a theatre group has been making headlines with their brilliant and acclaimed production, The True History of The Tragic Life and Triumphant Death of Julia Pastrana, The Ugliest Woman in the World. If it is near you, GO SEE IT!)
While devoting lots of coverage to the golden age of freak shows, the author also shares a wealth of information on today's sideshow culture, which feature the self-made freak, people who modify their body, or have learned strange talents.
After reading this book, you can have a wonderful debate about the ethics of putting people out on display. For me, the bottom line is that most of these performers were earning a living, and were living in a community that accepted them rather than being locked away in some hospital or a relatives' attic.
Is that a fair trade?
So it was with great delight that I discovered a new book, American Sideshow : An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers by Marc Hartzman, which was chock full of photos and biographies of the stars of the circus freak shows. It is a quick read (I devoured it in one evening before bed), with lots of medical details and uplifting stories of how the human spirit can overcome unbelievable odds. These stories, of course, make up for the tragic tales of unscrupulous people completely taking advantage of others, most poignantly being the biography of Julia Pastrana, a story that never fails to make my blood boil by the depths of cruelty involved. (As a aside, I am thrilled that a theatre group has been making headlines with their brilliant and acclaimed production, The True History of The Tragic Life and Triumphant Death of Julia Pastrana, The Ugliest Woman in the World. If it is near you, GO SEE IT!)
While devoting lots of coverage to the golden age of freak shows, the author also shares a wealth of information on today's sideshow culture, which feature the self-made freak, people who modify their body, or have learned strange talents.
After reading this book, you can have a wonderful debate about the ethics of putting people out on display. For me, the bottom line is that most of these performers were earning a living, and were living in a community that accepted them rather than being locked away in some hospital or a relatives' attic.
Is that a fair trade?
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Saying Goodbye
I learned this evening that an elderly friend of Zeke New Buffalo's had passed away. Zeke said that the wake and memorial were happy affairs, with a lot of laughter and jokes and memories. It is exactly how Zeke's friend would have wanted to be remembered.
While Zeke's friend had been confined to the hospital for some time, the octogenarian still had all of her mental acuity and wits, and asked for movie reviews (most recently, V for Vendetta). The flesh had failed, but the mind was sharp. This last visit was a tremendous gift, as in previous visits, Zeke's friend was sleeping or not able to communicate. To have this one last unexpected conversation and connection was a moment of graciousness that will stay with Zeke forever.
While I was listening to this story, I was reminded of my Aunt Kate, and her final days in a nursing home. Aunt Kate was a strong and independent woman who retained her lively Scottish accent and who lived alone for over twenty years following her adored husband Karl's untimely death. Then one day, she had a stroke and was confined to a nursing home, unable to move, make decisions, and stripped of all independence and privacy.
I visited with her several times, and only once was she able to speak to me. While I was sitting beside her in the room she shared with another patient, who continuously played the television at ear-shattering volume, no doubt to drown out the never-ending yelling and noise coming from the nearby rooms, Aunt Kate grasped my hand and pulled me close to her face, and she whispered this chilling sentence, the last thing she ever said to me:
Never let this happen to you.
While Zeke's friend had been confined to the hospital for some time, the octogenarian still had all of her mental acuity and wits, and asked for movie reviews (most recently, V for Vendetta). The flesh had failed, but the mind was sharp. This last visit was a tremendous gift, as in previous visits, Zeke's friend was sleeping or not able to communicate. To have this one last unexpected conversation and connection was a moment of graciousness that will stay with Zeke forever.
While I was listening to this story, I was reminded of my Aunt Kate, and her final days in a nursing home. Aunt Kate was a strong and independent woman who retained her lively Scottish accent and who lived alone for over twenty years following her adored husband Karl's untimely death. Then one day, she had a stroke and was confined to a nursing home, unable to move, make decisions, and stripped of all independence and privacy.
I visited with her several times, and only once was she able to speak to me. While I was sitting beside her in the room she shared with another patient, who continuously played the television at ear-shattering volume, no doubt to drown out the never-ending yelling and noise coming from the nearby rooms, Aunt Kate grasped my hand and pulled me close to her face, and she whispered this chilling sentence, the last thing she ever said to me:
Never let this happen to you.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo...Britney
The triumvirate of women immortalized in the art world is now complete.
America's own lil' darlin', Britney Jean Spears Federline, is the subject of a new and FABULOUS sculpture by Daniel Edwards entitled: Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston.
The life-size marble sculpture features the pregnant Britney on her elbows and knees, pulling at the ears of a lion-skin rug, as she is giving birth. (I swear this is NOT an April Fool's joke - how could make this up?)
This is a new take on pro-life. Pro-lifers normally promote bloody images of abortion. This is the image of birth, said Edwards.
Um, ok. I will have to ask my very pregnant boss about this, but this is the very first time I have ever heard of the birthing process involving a lion skin rug and being on all fours. However, as an aside, said boss has remarked: It's called LABOR y'know? Not RELAX.
America's own lil' darlin', Britney Jean Spears Federline, is the subject of a new and FABULOUS sculpture by Daniel Edwards entitled: Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston.
The life-size marble sculpture features the pregnant Britney on her elbows and knees, pulling at the ears of a lion-skin rug, as she is giving birth. (I swear this is NOT an April Fool's joke - how could make this up?)
This is a new take on pro-life. Pro-lifers normally promote bloody images of abortion. This is the image of birth, said Edwards.
Um, ok. I will have to ask my very pregnant boss about this, but this is the very first time I have ever heard of the birthing process involving a lion skin rug and being on all fours. However, as an aside, said boss has remarked: It's called LABOR y'know? Not RELAX.
The Whisper Heard Most
Finally got around to watching The Cat's Meow, which came with a high recommendation from the PenPal.
The film dramatizes a version of what went on over a weekend in November of 1924 aboard the Oneida, a yacht belonging to William Randolph Hearst. No one's ever verified exactly what happened on that fateful cruise, but as writer Elinor Glynn says, "the history of Hollywood has always been written in whispers and this is the whisper heard most."
And the whisper was murder. Whether or not a murder took place that weekend, and if Hearst himself was the murderer.
Edward Herrmann is a great Hearst, at once being completely at ease with his power, and completely undone by his lack of power to control his heart, which leads him to acts of insecurity which are honestly painful to watch. His mistress, Marion Davies is played by Kirsten Dunst and she gives a terrific and moving performance, torn between her affections for two strong men.
In this version of the events (as there are no existing records of this voyage), other guests onboard are Charlie Chaplin (disconcertingly played with real emotion and belief by Eddie Izzard), Thomas Ince, a once-famous director and an architect of the studio system, played by the sadly fading Cary Elwes, Louella Parsons, then a struggling New York reporter, and portrayed as extremely grating by Jennifer Tilly, and Elinor Glynn, a British novelist whose sharp observations frame the story, played by one of my favorites, the always magnificent Joanna Lumley.
This was great little diversion, and a capsule of far-gone time that we will never see again. Good flick.
The film dramatizes a version of what went on over a weekend in November of 1924 aboard the Oneida, a yacht belonging to William Randolph Hearst. No one's ever verified exactly what happened on that fateful cruise, but as writer Elinor Glynn says, "the history of Hollywood has always been written in whispers and this is the whisper heard most."
And the whisper was murder. Whether or not a murder took place that weekend, and if Hearst himself was the murderer.
Edward Herrmann is a great Hearst, at once being completely at ease with his power, and completely undone by his lack of power to control his heart, which leads him to acts of insecurity which are honestly painful to watch. His mistress, Marion Davies is played by Kirsten Dunst and she gives a terrific and moving performance, torn between her affections for two strong men.
In this version of the events (as there are no existing records of this voyage), other guests onboard are Charlie Chaplin (disconcertingly played with real emotion and belief by Eddie Izzard), Thomas Ince, a once-famous director and an architect of the studio system, played by the sadly fading Cary Elwes, Louella Parsons, then a struggling New York reporter, and portrayed as extremely grating by Jennifer Tilly, and Elinor Glynn, a British novelist whose sharp observations frame the story, played by one of my favorites, the always magnificent Joanna Lumley.
This was great little diversion, and a capsule of far-gone time that we will never see again. Good flick.
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