Friday Family Blogging

In the past, and from a distance, I was trying to chronicle Emma's development towards taking her first steps. Well, as noted here a couple of weeks ago, she finally did start walking, and here's some video evidence for any skeptics there may be out there (along with her sister Helen, typically not standing still):



This was shot at the bandshell at Niawanda Park, which might've been Emma's first opportunity to display her ambulatory talents in a wide open space with no obstacles to contend with. Of course that doesn't mean it was a completely error-free performance ;-)

Friday's Quote

I'm going with another historian today, the eminent John Hope Franklin, who just passed away last March. I think he was right on with this statement from his book A Life of Learning:

"When we... learn that this country and the
western world have no monopoly of goodness
and truth or of skills and scholarship, we
begin to appreciate the ingredients that are
indispensable for making a better world.
In a life of learning that is, perhaps, the
greatest lesson of all."

A Favorite Painting 35

William Gropper, The Senate 1935

Some subjects are truly timeless. Is there any reason at all to think that the scene in the Senate chambers today was any different than when Gropper painted this almost 75 years ago? You've got the pontificating blowhard, his disinterested colleagues and a whole bunch of empty seats (abandoned perhaps for meetings with lobbyists in the cloakroom?). I really like when artists engage with larger political or social issues, and feel they often exhibit keener insight in stripping away the illusions promoted by conventional commentators (and of course the politicians and activists themselves). Does that mean they are always right in their critiques? No. But I bet their track record is better than most of the pundits who are paid to offer commentary on such matters in more mainstream venues. And, in an image like Gropper's, the point is made pretty explicit in the most straightforward way, continuing a tradition that went back at least to Thomas Nast of artists calling out our supposed leaders on their hypocrisy.

Adventures in Night Photography, Continued

A few days ago, I set out with my trusty nephew Ben to Niagara Falls to continue my efforts to make some good night-time photos. Here are the six of the best I took (out of more than 100-- you gotta love digital cameras with roomy SD cards!).

Niagara Falls is a great place to experiment with these kinds of shots, since in addition to the grandeur of the setting itself, there's a interesting mix of lights playing on the Falls, along the Rainbow Bridge, and across the Canadian skyline.

I also discovered the Black & White setting on my camera, and it appears that it is more forgiving for night photography, I think because it emphasizes contrasts between light and dark better (though I guess that could be a subjective opinion).

I also liked how I could maximize the silhouette effect by playing around with the zoom in black and white.

This next one is of Ben looking out over the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of Goat Island, which is where we were wandering around. The green light emanating from the cliff is intended to illuminate the Falls which were cascading just a few feet to Ben's left.

As we were crossing the bridge over the rapids back to the mainland, I got this shot of the rapids feeding the American Falls about fifty yards beyond the bridge in the background.

Ben took a bunch of pictures too that night, most of which were better than mine-- I'll have to see if he'll let me share some of them here. Meanwhile we're trying to think of some other spots where we might go to continue our photographic experiments. Anybody have any suggestions?

Unabashed Plug

If you check the "Blogs I Like" section in the left hand margin, you'll note that I've added a link to "The Big Takeover." This is a spin off from one of my two favorite music magazines (the other is Mojo out of Great Britain), edited by a fellow named Jack Rabid whose love of virtually all kinds of exciting rock music past and present comes across on every page (even in the pieces he himself does not write). He's been self-publishing the mag for more than 25 years, and though it started out as a mimeographed fanzine, it is now a fat, professionally laid out treasure trove of interviews, disc and concert reviews, and even some very sharp socio-political commentary. Much of that is evident in their blog, but I fully recommend looking for a print copy. It comes out twice a year, in June and December (just in time to help me compile shopping lists for my trips back east). The above issue actually came out about three years ago, but the current edition, #64, also features the Decembrists on the cover-- so look for it at your favorite news stand.

Thursday Morning Philosophy

C. Vann Woodward (1908-1999) was one of the giants of the historical profession who, although a Southerner himself, rejected the self-serving common wisdom that shaped much of the work that came from that region's scholars to offer a more nuanced and sensitive study of issues related to race and Reconstruction. This quote was a report of a committee he headed in 1975:

"The history of intellectual growth and discovery
clearly demonstrates the need for unfettered
freedom, the right to think the unthinkable,
discuss the unmentionable, and challenge the
unchallengeable. To curtail free expression
strikes twice at intellectual freedom, for
whoever deprives another of the right to
state unpopular views necessarily deprives
others of the right to listen to those views."

Another Quiz Candidate

Remember I'm collecting votes on which rock star in shades Nik most resembles in the top photo at this post. There's another nominee from Natalie, namely this guy:

He's Joel Maddon out of the band Good Charlotte. So if you think Nik looks like him, cast your vote accordingly, or cast a vote for any of the other candidates listed in the earlier post. But whatever you do, please vote for someone!

On a Lighter Note...

This song, which was a hit in the days before videos (1966), always deserved a visual representation, and these folks seem to have nailed it:



P.S. The flip side to the original 45 of this song was "Aaah-ah, Yawa Em Ekat ot Gnimoc Er'yeht."

The Last Book I Read

Howard Zinn takes a lot of heat from folks who don't bother to read his books (or, if they do, they willfully ignore all but the most incendiary parts). Zinn is to my mind a great American patriot, in the same way that folks like Dorothy Day, Phil Ochs, Mort Sahl, Jane Addams, George Seldes (and so many others) are or were great American patriots: they identify those areas where we might collectively do a better job of living up to our core values and ideals. This "graphic adaptation" is a spinoff of Zinn's hugely influential A People's History of the United States, and like that earlier work it would be easy but erroneous to label it a hit job on the nation's past. Looking more closely, what emerges is only partly an indictment, but more significantly, a call to action. The main point is less that mistakes were made in the past, than that we ought to learn from those errors to make sure they are not repeated. This survey of American foreign policy from the latter half of the 19th century to the present is neatly interwoven with Zinn's autobiography, demonstrating how at least one individual came to see how our foreign policy and its architects tended to drift away from any connection to the values evident in the daily lives of the citizens they claimed to serve. It's in that breach where Zinn sees some fertile ground for breeding the kind of collective aversion necessary to stop such ugly adventures as those experienced in places like the Phillipines, Viet Nam and the Middle East over the past hundred-plus years. I think it's an effective argument, and consistent with what Zinn has been advocating for at least the past fifty years. Since this is a graphic novel, I want to also mention the excellent artwork throughout by Mike Konapacki-- it helps make the work more accessible and compelling; the effort is a true collaboration between words and images.

Philosophy for a Wednesday Morning

Let's go back to one of the true giants of Western thought, Aristotle (384-322 BC) for today's quotation. It kind of goes along with the recent review I posted of Charles Pierce's book Idiot America:

"...the states of virtue by which the soul possesses
truth by way of affirmation or denial are five in
number, i.e., art, scientific knowledge, practical
wisdom, philosophical wisdom, intuitive reason;
we do not include judgment and opinion
because in these we may be mistaken."

New Bike

You might recall that last week my beloved Cannondale bicycle was stolen while locked up in a rack at the University of Buffalo. I had that bike for over twelve years, and had hoped to ride it at least another twelve. But with its disappearance, I needed a replacement, and after spending a couple days test riding about ten other bikes, I bought one much like that pictured above-- a Gary Fisher Wahoo mountain bike. I haven't had a chance to ride it much since making the decision yesterday evening, but I feel like I made a good choice (I should be heading out for another ride as soon as I finish this post). I also purchased a Kryponite Lock that is several degrees of magnitude more secure (according to the salesman) than the one that must've been clipped to get at the Cannondale. So, some degree of order is restored to my universe as I once again have a two wheeler to enjoy on these lovely summer days.

The Last Movie I Saw

As a film buff, I always used to look forward to the summer season. partly this was because the studios all brought out the big blockbusters, and partly it was because I'd have the time to catch up with second run features I'd missed in the preceding months when I was bogged down with work. But the last couple of summers have mostly been disappointing, with even movies I was looking forward to failing to ring my bell. The premise for The Hangover, directed by Todd Phillips, looked promising if not particularly deep-- you could go into this flick only expecting to laugh. Unfortunately, all it mustered from me were a few mild chuckles. I didn't find it offensive or boring, just incredibly mild and silly with virtually no inspiration beyond the premise (you can find a plot syopsis elsewhere if the title doesn't pretty much give it away). I found none of the stars (or the characters they played) in any way charismatic-- it was a convention of sidekicks, any one of whom might've added something to a more more top-heavy cast. But this collection of second bananas (and an underused Heather Graham) lacked any kind of spark to really set the proceedings on fire. It was like a mediocre episode of Family Guy-- let's create some absurd circumstances and just riff off the non-sequitors. Sometimes it works, but just as often you just want them to get on with it. I don't feel that I quite wasted the 90 minutes (there were those few chuckles, and Heather Graham), but I doubt I'll rememebr much of where they went a week from now.

One other thing-- I keep promising to write at length on why National Lampoon's Animal House rises above the general entries in "this kind of movie," and I'll get to that when I have a bit more time. For now, suffice to say this film, like so many of the slob genre, creates a world that exists only in movies (you know, where drunk guys wake up to find tigers in the bathroom), while Animal House was clearly grounded in something real (though granted, exaggerated).

Soup Diary 090623

Today at the library I tried another soup I'd never had before-- Bruised... sorry, make that Braised Oxtail Soup with White Beans. I initially read the menu as "bruised" which didn't make for a very appealing image, though I'm not sure why. The soup was quite good, rich and hearty with a thick, beefy broth. There wasn't anything particularly exciting about it (you know, like African Peanut soup), but it made for a satisfying lunch.

Additional Soup Notes: I've actually had some other soup experiences in recent days that I haven't written about, but in the interests of comprehension thought I would note them here. First was a cup of Lentil soup at Kostas Restaurant in Buffalo. It was good enough, but where lentil soup is concerned I've kind of reached the point where if you've tasted one, you've pretty much tasted them all. Also, at Curry's Restaurant in Kenmore yesterday, my nephew Ben ordered the Banana Pepper Cheddar Soup and graciously let me have a taste. The creamy broth was somewhat similar to a good Broccoli Cheddar, but the banana peppers made for an extra zing. I'll definitely order it should I return to Curry's. Then today, while I had the Oxtail soup, Ben was again with me and had a cup of the Chicken Tortilla, which I'd had before and liked. He again let me sample his, and it was a bit disappointing-- way too tomato-y (which should've been balanced more with the chicken flavor). Anyway, maybe just a taste was unfair for me to draw conclusions, so I'll have to watch for it to return to the menu and give it another shot.

Thought for the Day

There are aspects of William Graham Sumner's philosophy that I would disagree with (especially in relation to his support for the notion of Social Darwinism), but on this point I think he makes a lot of sense:

"If you want war, nourish a doctrine. Doctrines
are the most frightful tyrants to which men
ever are subject, because doctrines get inside
a man's reason and betray him against himself.
Civilized men have done their fiercest fighting
for doctrines."

The Last Book I Read

This past weekend the Buffalo News reported that a local theater group has lost its venue and seen its very existence threatened because they staged a play called "Polish Joke." The play apparently functions that same way that Norman Lear intended Archie Bunker to function: by exposing the ridiculousness of bigotry and prejudice by casting a spotlight on the blatant absurdity of ethnic humor. Unfortunately, certain members of the community decided that the title alone was enough to condemn the work as anti-Polish, and they successfully lobbied the group's landlord (Canisius College-- that's right a supposed institution of higher learning) to kick the group out of their theater. Needless to say, those calling for the shutdown had not seen the play-- they apparently were reacting with their "gut" feeling. Which in turn remins me of the line in the Sephen Frears directed film of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, when played main character played by John Cusack is reviewing his less-than-stellar history of relationships and comes to this conclusion: "Well, I've been listening to my gut since I was 14 years old, and frankly speaking, I've come to the conclusion that my guts have @#$% for brains."

All of which is a roundabout way of introducing the key idea contained in Charles P. Pierce's excellent book, Idiot America. In it, he laments that fact that as a nation we have apparently given up on valuing reason and education to give greater, unwarranted credence to ideas that originate in the gut. Pierce argues that today, if an idea or belief is repeated often enough, and enough people buy into it, many of us are perfectly happy to acknowledge it as a truth, and let it take its place as a legitimate perspective in ongoing debates over science, education, politics, or whatever. If someone can make a little money off of this promotion of nonsense, so much the better-- that just gives it an even greater veneer of verisimilitude. Pierce compares the current situation with some historical examples, in which he notes that, as a nation, we've always had a high tolerance for cranks with wild ideas. But what's different today is the degree to which these crackpot notions become embraced and used as governing principles, not for small cults or in a momentary lapse into mass delusion, but driving serious national policy decisions and consuming massive amounts of time and energy that would be better spent on working out truly constructive answers to our problems. In many respects it's a somewhat scary read, and cases like the close-minded censorship of a local play, while a pretty minor story in and of itself, becomes emblematic of a truly disturbing trend. I hope Pierce's work gets a wider audience, but the sad fact is that people who want to think with their gut are really good at avoiding the kind of thoughtful self-examination necessary to recognize themselves in this sort of critique. The real problem is people who know better who curry favor (for political or economic benefit) with the "idiots" without offering any challenges to their way of thinking.

Monday Philosophy

Thomas Paine was in many ways the chief salesman of the American Revolution. His pamphlet "Common Sense" blazed across the colonies and sparked support for independence at a time when the concept was still pretty alien to many Americans. Here's a quote from his later work The Age of Reason that remains all too relevant today:

"When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted
the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his
professional belief to things he does not believe,
he has prepared himself for the commission of
every other crime... Infidelity does not consist
in believing or in disbelieving, it consists in
professing to believe what one does not believe."

A Tribute to My Dad

My dad, Nikolaus Hajduk, passed away almost ten years ago, but I think about him virtually every day.

In many ways he and I were opposites with respect to things like education (he didn't finish grade school) and politics (he was much more conservative than me), but he was my first and most important role model in all the things that really matter like core values and the way I try to deal with other people.

Nobody could ever say a bad word about my dad, because his impulse was always to treat everyone else with respect, generosity and good humor. His family was the most important thing to him, and that was a huge factor in the closeness that still exists among me and my siblings.

Sometimes we fought about ultimately inconsequential things (like political candidates), but I don't remember those disputes ever interfering with the basic relationship we enjoyed and I don't remember any anger lasting longer than the heat of a particular argument.

I wish he were still around so I could spend more time with him, but in a way, he's always with me and I'm gratified that I can still rely on his steady guidance to see me through both the tough times and the good times. No one gets to pick their parents, but I sure lucked out with my dad, and my mom too, and I'm thankful for that every day.

Father's Day Quotes

We're going to double up today, first with a typically philosophical snippet from the German romantic writer Jean Paul (born Johann Paul) Richter (1763-1825):

"The words that a father speaks to his children
in the privacy of home are not heard by the
world, but, as in whispering-galleries, they are
clearly heard at the end and by posterity."

And here's a second, perhaps less lofty but equally pertinent, quote from one of the most feared sluggers in baseball during my younger days, Harmon Killebrew:

"My father used to play with my brother and me
in the yard. Mother would come out and say,
'You're tearing up the grass.'
'We're not raising grass,' Dad would reply.
'We're raising boys.'"

Saturday Morning Cartoon

Felix the Cat cartoons long pre-date my childhood, but I remember watching them as a kid, no doubt recycled for television. There are some color ones available at YouTube, but the ones I recall are like this one-- all black and white (with virtually no gray tones). Were these shown on Captain Kangaroo at some point? I remember Tom Terrific was also pretty rudimentary in its animation. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this:

Last Week's Quiz

In last week's Family Quiz, you were asked to tell me what classic rock star Nik most resembled in this photo:

For each of the guesses I received, I tried to find a picture that sort of matches with what I think the guesser had in mind. They are as follows, starting with Bob Dylan (Sally's guess):

Lizzie thought Nik looked a bit like Ric Ocasek from the Cars (and certainly the two have first names that rhyme):

Theresa thought maybe Bono out of U2:

Catie said cousin Gerik, who isn't a rock star yet, but is definitely already a first-rate musician (on the trumpet). I couldn't find a picture of Gerik in shades, but if you cover the left side of his face in this picture, you kind of get the same effect:

I actually thought that Nik most resembled Lou Reed from his days in the Velvet Underground:

So, rather than me just picking a winner this week subjectively, I thought I would put it up to a vote. Which of the above do YOU think look the most like Nik in the very top picture? Put your votes in the comments section. And if you still have another candidate (especially if you can provide a link to a picture), maybe we'll have another runoff vote with those nominees as well.