Quote of the Day

I presume anyone reading this has heard of Abraham Lincoln. I thought this was a striking quote from him (in his 1861 Annual Address to Congress), especially in light of the current debate over the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it somewhat easier for workers to choose to join a union (which is generally opposed by employers):

"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital.
Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never
have existed if labor had not first existed.
Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves
much the higher consideration"

Soundtrack of Our Lives

I saw these guys (out of Sweden) open for the Derek Trucks Band about three years ago in, of all places, North Tonawanda. They were one of those opening acts that don't last (as opening acts), because their performance set the bar way to high for the headliners to reach. If you ever wondered in anyone was still making classic-sounding rock and roll, look no further than these guys:

Memories of Italy

When I was posting pictures of my trip to Italy last fall, I prpbably mentioned that I experienced some technical difficulties with my camera just as we arrived at the Vatican Museum. As a result, I have no recent photos of that spectacular set of chapels and galleries. However, I did take some shots during my previous trip in 1999-2000, and have finally got around to digitizing some of them. These are not that great as far as letting you examine the detail of the massive halls we passed through, but it will give you some idea of how ornate the decor was.

Here you can see, first of all, the crowds wandering through the place (which was also true on my subsequent visit), but more to the point, the incredible ceiling. The Sistine Chapel (where no photos were allowed) is the famous place for ceiling art, but it appears throughout the halls and galleries of the Vatican Museum.

Here's a slightly more visible view of one of those ceilings.

And here's even more of a closeup on one corner. This is one of those museums that wears you out, in that there is ultimately more to see than you can properly process without feeling a sense of overload. That's not a criticism, just an implicit suggestion to take your time and not feel that you need to absorb everything if you should visit.

This one has nothing to do with the Vatican. In a comment to a previous post, mention was made of a "Dancing John" picture. This is the one I think was referred to, but maybe not (it wasn't taken in Pompei). If there's another one extant, and anyone reading this has a copy, I hope they'll send it to me (since the original comment sparked several demands to see it).

A Favorite Painting 23

Charles Burchfield, Rainy Night 1929-1930

In the period between the World Wars in the United States, the nation seemed to experience a period of introspection. This played out in artistic circles with the emergence of the regional painters, whose subjects eschewed any kind of universality in favor of focusing on the unique characteristics of the artist's immediate environment, and really promoting a powerful sense of place in their work. Among the major practitioners of this style were Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, and John Steuart Curry, all of whom were associated with the rural midwest. Much more interesting to me, are the urban regionalists, like Reginald Marsh, Edward Hopper, and Charles Burchfield. Burchfield did amazing, semi-abstract landscapes in addition to more realistic work like the painting shown above. But it's his street scenes and neighborhood snapshots that resonate most with me. Part of the reason for this, is that many of them depict my hometown of Buffalo, NY, and there's a powerful nostalgic pull to his depictions of scenes that are buried deep in my own memories of a particular time and place, even though the bulk of his work was produced long before I was born. This is possible, I think, because Buffalo is the kind of place that revels in its history, seeing evidence of past and longed-for future glory in the victorian mansions and gilded age commercial buildings that defined its once prosperous centrality as the Queen City of the Great Lakes. Burchfield was there in its heyday, but in pictures like Rainy Night there's a achingly poignant sense of twilight that almost foreshadows the city's eventual decline. As it happens, the building on the corner of this picture still stands, in fact was recently renovated, and is one of those powerful lingering links to the past. It stands right across the street from the downtown library, and when I visit and walk past, it's always with a strong sense of the urban meloncholy captured by Burchfield in this painting.

Sunday's Philosophical Nugget

Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937) was an Italian thinker and activist who spent his last years in one of Mussolini's jails. His crime was in questioning authority, something a fascist regime cannot abide, no matter how legitimate or necessary those questions may be. Though he spent the last twelve years of his life in prison, he continued to write and left behind a legacy of keen, insightful analysis of contemporary culture and its relationship to political power. Here's a quote from one of his works:

"I give culture this meaning: exercise of
thought, acquisition of general ideas, habit of
connecting causes and effects... I believe that
it means thinking well, whatever one thinks,
and therefore acting well, whatever one does."

Saturday Morning Cartoon

Does anyone remember Tennessee Tuxedo, not to mention his pal Chumley? The animation is pretty rudimentary, but the characterizations are great. Even if he never ended up as Maxwell Smart (Agent 86), Don Adams would have to be remembered for his voice work here. Let me know if you remember this:

Thought for the Day

In a way, the following quote from Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) kind of summarizes the key feature that separates great thinkers/philosophers from the rest of us:

"...the paradox is the source of the thinker's
passion, and the thinker without a paradox is
like a lover without feeling; a paltry mediocrity."

Computer Update

Well, I was able to resolve my dilemma, mentioned in a post yesterday. My friend Bill, whose schedule is similar to the one I had when I originally expected delivery, was able to go to my house, and be there when the FedEx guy arrived. So my computer is at home (while I remain at work-- for at least another four hours tonight). Because of all the delays, I also never got around to copying all the files on my old computer, and because I have to attend a symposium tomorrow, won't get to that before Sunday. So the computer is at home, but may not leave the box until the first part of next week. Eventually, though, I will be all up-to-date, and one possible consequence will be more posts to the blog-- but maybe I better not make any promises... At least I won't have to drive to Billings, which was my nightmare scenario.

Friday Family Blogging Quiz

That of course is Natalie, star of last week's quiz as well (but I'm in a hurry and this picture is handy, so that's just the way it is). The question is, what is the name of the restaurant where this picture was taken? Bonus points if you can say where the restaurant is located. Leave your answers in the comments section.

As mentioned, no one knew where the picture of Natalie and her mom was taken in last week's quiz. I think I'll go ahead and leave that open in case anyone still wants to take a guess. Actually, those received were kind of close, but not necessarily geographically (hint). Good luck!

More Friday Family Blogging

Here are a couple of pictures from a visit last summer to Stieglemeier Park (and I have no idea if I spelled that correctly). We fell a little short of spotting much in teh way of wild animals, bit I think a good time was had by all.

This shot of Nick is one of my favorites, even though I'm pretty sure I didn't take it. Does anyone know who the shutterbug was? Oh, and check out Emma's elbow-- that little girl sure has cute elbows ;-)

Here's one of Ben hiding behind a lacy leaf. Not much cover there, fella! And if you look real close, you can see Emma's legs dangling in front of her Mom in the background. Which prompts my obligatory, bi-weekly query-- is Emma walking yet?

Friday Family Blogging

Today it's the Hollywood edition of Friday Family Blogging, at least figuratively speaking. This wasn't actually taken in Hollywood; I think it was taken in East Aurora (and believe me, no one would ever mistake the two), in the parking lot behind Vidler's 5 & 10. I don't think I've posted this before (I never realized I'd be doing this long enough to forget something like that), but even if I did, it's definitely worthy of a second look.

Friday's Quote for the Day

Back around 1936, James Agee and Walker Evans traveled to Alabama to report on the fate of sharecroppers during the Great Depression. What they found there was so striking to Agee that his assigned several thousand word essay evolved into a several hundred page book called Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, illustrated with many of Walker's own moving photographs of the people they met. Here's a quote from the book, which is worth reading in its entirety if you ever get the chance:

"In every child who is born, under no matter what
circumstances, and of no matter what parents, the
potentiality of the human race is born again: and in
him, too, once more, and of each of us, our terrific
responsibility toward human life; toward the utmost
idea of goodness, of the horror of terror, and of God."

The Great John Coltrane

Things are pretty hectic at school the last few days, but I think I can take a little time out to post a video by my favorite jazz artist. I think you'll all recognize this song. Coltrane's playing the soprano & tenor saxes, Elvin Jones is on drums, Eric Dolphy on flute, McCoy Tyner on piano, and Reggie Workman on bass. Fantastic stuff from one of the all-time greats:

Blowing Off a Little Steam

Allow me to vent for a moment...
I think I'm beginning to see a least a part of the reason why the country is currently in such crummy economic shape. About six weeks ago, I ordered a new computer from Dell. At the time of the order, they gave me an expected delivery date when I knew my schedule would allow me to be home to sign for the package; in fact, I waited to place the order until the delivery woulf be in that window of opportunity. Within a few days, the expected delivery date was pushed back, but still within the framework where I could be home to take delivery. A few days after that, it was pushed back further, another week, in fact; but again, still in the time-frame when I could be there to receive it. Then it happened again, then again, and by this point I would be back to the morning schedule at school that meant there'd be no one available to sign for the package. I was a little irritated at the delay, but okay, these things happen. I figured I'd just call Dell and ask them to change the delivery address to the school where I teach, where I could pick it up with the rest of my business mail. The supervisor of the mailroom said that was okay with him, so I thought it was set. But when I called Dell to have the address changed, I was told that, for security reasons they could not do that, and instead, once the order was shipped, I'd have to make the change through the carrier. A little frustration, but no big deal... I'd wait until it was shipped. Well, finally, the message came this past Monday that my new computer was on its way. I was informed that the carrier was Federal Express. I decided to wait a couple days to see if it didn't race across the coutry and arrive when I could collect it at home, but that didn't happen, so today I called Fderal Express to see about changing the delivery address to school. I was told that they couldn't do that, for security reasons-- the only way they could make the change was if it came from the sender (Dell), who already told me I had to make the change with the carrier. I guess this is what passes for customer service with these big operations. So, it looks like my computer will arrive tomorrow sometime in Dillon; I'll be at school, about six blocks away, when they ring the doorbell and get no answer; and my computer will get shipped back to Butte (I hope-- the other prospect is Billings, four hours away). I don't mind going to Butte to get it, except that the FedEx terminal in Butte is not open on Saturday, and closes at 4:00 during the week.... when I'm in school. I'll figure something out, but I gotta say, neither Dell nor Federal Express is ringing up any points with me on this transaction.

Thursday's Philosophical Nugget

According to history, the expressed views of Francois De Salignac De La Mothe-Fenelon (1651-1715) often got him into trouble with the French authorities and his superiors in the Catholic Church (he was an archbishop himself). I don't know exactly why; based on this little snippet, he strikes me as an eminently reasonable guy:

"All wars are civil wars, because all men are
brothers.... Each one owes more to the human race
than to the particular country in which he was born."

More on Political Humor

In my previous post about Al Franken and other political humorists, I made a passing reference to Pat Paulsen, who waged a comic campaign for President in 1968, largely via his recurring role on the Smothers Brothers variety show. Here's a clip of Paulson doing his thing (pre-campaign, but more-or-less in a similar vein), with a series of editorials:

Quote of the Day

Henry Thomas Buckle (1821-1862) was an English historian. This quote is taken from his History of Civilization in England:

"Every new truth which has ever been propounded has,
for a time caused mischief; it has produced discomfort,
and often unhappiness; sometimes disturbing social and
religious arrangements.... And if the truth is very great
as well as very new, the harm is serious. Men are made
uneasy; they flinch; they cannot bear the sudden light;
a general restlessness supervenes; the face of society is
disturbed, or perhaps convulsed; old interests and old
beliefs have been destroyed before new ones have been
created. These symptoms are the precursor of
revolution; they have preceded all the great
changes through which the world has passed."

Political/Historical Comment

Although there may still be another appeal, it's beginning to look like pressure is building for Norm Coleman to give up his seemingly un-winnable challenge to the election of Al Franken to the Senate. I don't know what kind of statesman Franken will turn out to be, but I have to say I've almost always enjoyed his work as a comedian, going back to when I first saw him on Saturday Night Live in the 70s. Obviously we've had a fair number of politicians emerge from the ranks of show business, especially since Reagan (there was Sonny Bono, Jesse Ventura, Gopher from Love Boat, Arnold, etc. etc.). I don't remember there ever being someone who emerged specifically from the ranks of comics, though, and I find that interesting. One can go back to Will Rogers and more pertinently (which I'll try to explain in a moment) to Mort Sahl, to find individuals who made their living largely from telling jokes about political issues and figures. Sahl was unique in that he truly projected a personal point-of-view in his material, where his predecessors (including Rogers) were more apt to lump all pols and their actions/statements together. In researching Sahl's career, I found that while some suggested he should run for office, he seems to have feel he had greater freedom and potential impact playing the loyal opposition on stage. Dick Gregory became almost as famous an activist as a humorist, but as far as I know, never seriously sought elective office (although I vaguely recall that he may have been tangentially involved in the '68 presidential race, though he probably got less attention than Pat Paulson). More recent politcal comics like Bill Maher and Dennis Miller seem to incite a kind of enmity from one side or the other suggesting a stiffly polarized campaign should they choose to run, but then, many would've said the same about Franken. If one only knows Franken's work from the early part of his career (that is, corresponding to the times he spent as a writer/producer/performer on Saturday Night Live) he may seem an unlikely candidate to make the leap into politics, but of course, he's spent much of the past few years as a radio host on Air America, and apparently sees himself as something of an heir to the late Paul Wellstone. Plus, I get the impression that even when people disagree with Franken, they often still find him at least somewhat likeable, in a way that couldn't be said of a Miller or Maher. I remember one of his bits from around 1980 where he talked about the next ten years being the "decade of Al." He seemed like such a modest, preposessing sort of guy that it was funny to imagine he was really that big a megalomaniac. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what he pulls once he's finally seated. I just hope he doesn't fade into the background, but that would be so contradictory to the arc of his career to this point, I don't see that happening.

Heroes of the Small Screen, 3

I think that, next to Maverick, Bat Masterson was my favorite western as a kid. I was drawn to the more off-beat characters-- Bret Maverick was often greedy and cowardly, while Bat was a dandy (wearing a derby and carrying a cane). I don't know why those things appealed to me unless it was just the fact that they turned all genre expectations on their head, and even as a youngster I was looking for something different in my entertainments. In most other ways Masterson was a typical hero, with a fast draw and coming to the rescue of damsels in distress. I just recently watched Sam Fullers Forty Guns and Gene Barry plays a character in that film who shares some qualities with Bat, which is what put me in mind fo the show. Anyway, here's a clip-- anyone else reading this remember this show?

Thought for the Day

As much as anyone, the work of John Locke (1632-1704) provided the foundation for Thomas Jefferson's famous phrase in the Declaration of Independence regarding the natural rights of man (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness). If you know the evolution of that phrase from source to follower, then you know that Jefferson followed through on this dictum from Locke as well:

"Reading furnishes the mind with
materials for knowledge; it is thinking
that makes what we read ours"