Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Bolivia, Nepal, Russia, Ukraine, and Belorus?
Nothing good.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Just the Sax, Ma'am
Today's Tuesday concert at the Church of the Epiphany was a performance by the Washington Saxophone Quartet. I had never heard them before, although the same four men have been performing for 30 years together. Except for one mistaken piece (a medley of songs from West Side Story, which was very ordinary), the concert was enlightening and uplifting.
Who knew that four saxes, playing a Bach toccata could sound like a powerful pipe organ? Or playing an Argentinian tango, could sound like a dance band? Or playing the Danse Boheme from Carmen, could sound like an entire wind ensemble?
The instruments are soprano, alto, tenor and baritone. Three of the members are present for former U.S. Army Band members. They teach; they concertize.
They also perform the theme song on NPR's All Things Considered, and asked composer Thomas Albert to write a piece for them which is a series of variations on that simple theme. They call it Anonymous Fame.
They have a website, www.wsaxq.com, at which you can download and hear several short excerpts from their two cds, which will give you a taste of what I have heard. You can also see their upcoming schedule.
Who knew that four saxes, playing a Bach toccata could sound like a powerful pipe organ? Or playing an Argentinian tango, could sound like a dance band? Or playing the Danse Boheme from Carmen, could sound like an entire wind ensemble?
The instruments are soprano, alto, tenor and baritone. Three of the members are present for former U.S. Army Band members. They teach; they concertize.
They also perform the theme song on NPR's All Things Considered, and asked composer Thomas Albert to write a piece for them which is a series of variations on that simple theme. They call it Anonymous Fame.
They have a website, www.wsaxq.com, at which you can download and hear several short excerpts from their two cds, which will give you a taste of what I have heard. You can also see their upcoming schedule.
More on Intelligent Design (1 cent)
The science headline this morning is that scientists have not only located the gene that controls ear wax, but is able to look at genetic variations which govern the precise type of ear wax being created.
Is this proof of intelligent design, or do you need more?
Is this proof of intelligent design, or do you need more?
Monday, January 30, 2006
The da Vinci Code (1 cent)
I finally read Dan Brown's absolute blockbuster bestseller on the airplane yesterday, and I was not disappointed. But that is only because I really was not expecting much. As to the premises of the Grail, the Templars, Mary Magdalene and the bloodline of Jesus and all that, nothing was new to me because I have been reading about that stuff for several years now. I certainly can understand how it can interest newcomers to these tales, and that that would account for much of the success of the book. As to the overall plot line, however, I thought it far fetched. As to the writing, I found it adequate, but not much better than that. Like other fads, once it catches on, it catches on.
I thought about the books that I have read or partially read that touch on the subject, and here is my bibliography for all of you to follow, should you choose.
Graham Hancock's "The Sign and the Seal"
Picknett and Prince's "The Templar Revelation"
Knight and Lomas' "The Hiram Key"
Kersten and Gruber's "The Jesus Conspiracy"
Pagels' "The Gnostic Gospels"
Baignet, Leigh and Lincoln's "The Messianic Legacy"
Baignet and Leigh's "The Temple and the Lodge"
Kersten and Gruber's "The Original Jesus"
Picknett and Prince's "Turin Shroud"
Gardner's "Bloodline of the Holy Grail"
Barber's "The Trial of the Templars"
Wagner's "Freemasonry Interpreted"
Baignet, Leigh and Lincoln's "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"
Goodrich's "The Holy Grail"
Ridley's "The Freemasons"
This will give you a start, before you move on to the Velikovsky books, books about the Sphinx and the Pyramids, and the remainder of the Hancock books.
I thought about the books that I have read or partially read that touch on the subject, and here is my bibliography for all of you to follow, should you choose.
Graham Hancock's "The Sign and the Seal"
Picknett and Prince's "The Templar Revelation"
Knight and Lomas' "The Hiram Key"
Kersten and Gruber's "The Jesus Conspiracy"
Pagels' "The Gnostic Gospels"
Baignet, Leigh and Lincoln's "The Messianic Legacy"
Baignet and Leigh's "The Temple and the Lodge"
Kersten and Gruber's "The Original Jesus"
Picknett and Prince's "Turin Shroud"
Gardner's "Bloodline of the Holy Grail"
Barber's "The Trial of the Templars"
Wagner's "Freemasonry Interpreted"
Baignet, Leigh and Lincoln's "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"
Goodrich's "The Holy Grail"
Ridley's "The Freemasons"
This will give you a start, before you move on to the Velikovsky books, books about the Sphinx and the Pyramids, and the remainder of the Hancock books.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Los Angeles (final episode)
Still not Los Angeles, but in fact, the desert.
I am staying at the Renaissance Esmerelda, which is a fairly high end resort hotel, with all of the requisite facilities, but yesterday I had a meeting at the Riviera in Palm Springs, which is a 400+ unit, nine building resort which is not quite as upscale. In fact, it seems to serve primarily union meetings and members. There is certainly nothing wrong with it, but it seems more functional than luxurious.
One thing about it is fascinating, however. On one of its long hallways, there are blown up photographs from this area in the late nineteenth century. The current Highway 111 (the main drag) as a dirt trail in the wilderness, photos of Coachilla Indians, early settlers, and the first buildings built by white men. Shows you what 125 years can do to a place.
I had dinner last night with about 25 of my closest friends at a restaurant in Palm Springs called Coply's. It was very good. I had sea bass, which was excellent and in fat much better than sea bass I usually am served (which I don't like that much). The person on my right had a N.Y. strip steak and we did a little trading. The steak was good, but I would go for the sea bass any day.
Today, I spent most of the day at Joshua Tree National Monument with a friend. Almost 600,000 acres, about an hour or so from here. To get from one entrance to the other takes about 1 1/2 hours, and runs about 45 miles or so. High desert, cacti, interesting plant life generally, and a tremendous variety of rock formations -- large rocks piled on one another, small rocks piled on one another to form hills or mini-mounts, large one rock hills, horizontal formations, vertical formations. Oh, to understand them.
I also learned that, at age 62, you can get (for ten dollars) a lifetime free pass to all national parks and monuments. So, I got me one.
Lunch at the Country Kitchen, a tiny restaurant, which made extraordinary omelets, located in the small, impoverished town of Joshua Tree, and a ride back to the city. The entire venture took just under five hours.
Dinner in Palm Desert at a restaurant (picked off the street) where we were lucky enough to get bar table seats. Like most good restaurants here, it gets fully reserved pretty fast. I had a baby green salad, with a honey mustard dressing that was perhaps a tad too strong, followed by probably the best lamb chops I have ever had. Apparently, they were marinated in tangerine juice if I understood the owner/chef correctly as we left.
Tomorrow morning, it's off to the airport, a short hop to Phoenix, and then home again, home again jiggedy jig.
I am staying at the Renaissance Esmerelda, which is a fairly high end resort hotel, with all of the requisite facilities, but yesterday I had a meeting at the Riviera in Palm Springs, which is a 400+ unit, nine building resort which is not quite as upscale. In fact, it seems to serve primarily union meetings and members. There is certainly nothing wrong with it, but it seems more functional than luxurious.
One thing about it is fascinating, however. On one of its long hallways, there are blown up photographs from this area in the late nineteenth century. The current Highway 111 (the main drag) as a dirt trail in the wilderness, photos of Coachilla Indians, early settlers, and the first buildings built by white men. Shows you what 125 years can do to a place.
I had dinner last night with about 25 of my closest friends at a restaurant in Palm Springs called Coply's. It was very good. I had sea bass, which was excellent and in fat much better than sea bass I usually am served (which I don't like that much). The person on my right had a N.Y. strip steak and we did a little trading. The steak was good, but I would go for the sea bass any day.
Today, I spent most of the day at Joshua Tree National Monument with a friend. Almost 600,000 acres, about an hour or so from here. To get from one entrance to the other takes about 1 1/2 hours, and runs about 45 miles or so. High desert, cacti, interesting plant life generally, and a tremendous variety of rock formations -- large rocks piled on one another, small rocks piled on one another to form hills or mini-mounts, large one rock hills, horizontal formations, vertical formations. Oh, to understand them.
I also learned that, at age 62, you can get (for ten dollars) a lifetime free pass to all national parks and monuments. So, I got me one.
Lunch at the Country Kitchen, a tiny restaurant, which made extraordinary omelets, located in the small, impoverished town of Joshua Tree, and a ride back to the city. The entire venture took just under five hours.
Dinner in Palm Desert at a restaurant (picked off the street) where we were lucky enough to get bar table seats. Like most good restaurants here, it gets fully reserved pretty fast. I had a baby green salad, with a honey mustard dressing that was perhaps a tad too strong, followed by probably the best lamb chops I have ever had. Apparently, they were marinated in tangerine juice if I understood the owner/chef correctly as we left.
Tomorrow morning, it's off to the airport, a short hop to Phoenix, and then home again, home again jiggedy jig.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Los Angeles (Episode 3) (2 cents)
I am not really in Los Angeles; I am about 150 miles east in the desert, in Indian Wells. The strip of desert communities starts at Palm Springs, about twenty miles north of here, and runs to Indio, about ten miles south. The setting, with mountains on all sides, is beautiful. The urbanization is fairly glitzy, with an overabundance of golf courses, resort hotels, and restaurants, and a shortage of bookstores.
For those of you wondering whether two nights ago, I had dinner at Cicada or the Water Grill (you may remember I left you hanging), it was Cicada, an upscale restaurant recently opened on the cusp of fancy and dilapidated downtown L.A., in what was an old men's clothing shop. The cavernous insides have been restored very nicely, still showing the art deco work of the original, with gold leaf ceilings, herring bone wood patterns, and so forth. The food was very good.
The next morning, I drove to the desert, leaving about ten and getting here about two, with an intermediate stop in Riverside, where I walked around the church and Mission Inn (historic, historic, historic) and was surprised to see in this very populated area that the downtown area, with its colonial Spanish feel, is much as it was fifty years ago, with most of the buildings now populated by antique stores and the like. A surprisingly interesting area to walk around in, although I did not have enough time to do it justice. The local historical society has done a good job of putting up bronze placques commemorating this or that, including one on the old Fox Theater (now unused), which it says was actually the first place Gone With the Wind was shown to the public, and that it was, in those days, used often as a preview house.
The weather here has been on the cool side. I ate at another fancy restaurant last night, called something like Wally the Desert Turtle. I had Lake Superior whitefish, of all things, which tasted like it just came from the lake. Excellent.
I also went to a 'party' or 'reception' or 'function' yesterday evening at the house of a developer from Minnesota. It is in Rancho Mirage, and everyone but me thought it was the cat's meow. I hated it. It is desert stone, you enter into an open courtyard, with the house in front of you, a guest cabin to your left, and a swimming pool in an intricate design without any room to swim in in front of the guest house. You then enter a room which appears to be the kitchen, bar, living room (with a million inch flat screen tv) and dining room all in one. The walls are glass to the courtyard, and the stone is carried through to the walls and floor. The back wall is also glass and it opens up completely (like a pocket door) to open the house to the patio/deck, which also has living room furniture on it, since it doesn't rain here. That overlooks an artificial lake with other fancy houses. There is a master bedroom suite off the living room, with several bathrooms (each large enough to be a bedroom) a large walk in closet, a medium size bedroom and a sitting area. There are two other bedrooms.
There is also a lot of fire. There were three fire places, plus what looked to be a gas barbecue grill which is only for design (it is round and low, and there were chairs around it) and, weirdest of all, an elevated pool (like a twenty foot fish tank), which 3 gas jets in it, so you light the gas jets and the flames jump out of the water). I thought I was on Survivor.
Speaking of libraries, Rancho Mirage has opened a new one this month and, like so many I see, it is a spectacular building. Again, why can't Washington do it?
That's it for now. Stay tuned.
For those of you wondering whether two nights ago, I had dinner at Cicada or the Water Grill (you may remember I left you hanging), it was Cicada, an upscale restaurant recently opened on the cusp of fancy and dilapidated downtown L.A., in what was an old men's clothing shop. The cavernous insides have been restored very nicely, still showing the art deco work of the original, with gold leaf ceilings, herring bone wood patterns, and so forth. The food was very good.
The next morning, I drove to the desert, leaving about ten and getting here about two, with an intermediate stop in Riverside, where I walked around the church and Mission Inn (historic, historic, historic) and was surprised to see in this very populated area that the downtown area, with its colonial Spanish feel, is much as it was fifty years ago, with most of the buildings now populated by antique stores and the like. A surprisingly interesting area to walk around in, although I did not have enough time to do it justice. The local historical society has done a good job of putting up bronze placques commemorating this or that, including one on the old Fox Theater (now unused), which it says was actually the first place Gone With the Wind was shown to the public, and that it was, in those days, used often as a preview house.
The weather here has been on the cool side. I ate at another fancy restaurant last night, called something like Wally the Desert Turtle. I had Lake Superior whitefish, of all things, which tasted like it just came from the lake. Excellent.
I also went to a 'party' or 'reception' or 'function' yesterday evening at the house of a developer from Minnesota. It is in Rancho Mirage, and everyone but me thought it was the cat's meow. I hated it. It is desert stone, you enter into an open courtyard, with the house in front of you, a guest cabin to your left, and a swimming pool in an intricate design without any room to swim in in front of the guest house. You then enter a room which appears to be the kitchen, bar, living room (with a million inch flat screen tv) and dining room all in one. The walls are glass to the courtyard, and the stone is carried through to the walls and floor. The back wall is also glass and it opens up completely (like a pocket door) to open the house to the patio/deck, which also has living room furniture on it, since it doesn't rain here. That overlooks an artificial lake with other fancy houses. There is a master bedroom suite off the living room, with several bathrooms (each large enough to be a bedroom) a large walk in closet, a medium size bedroom and a sitting area. There are two other bedrooms.
There is also a lot of fire. There were three fire places, plus what looked to be a gas barbecue grill which is only for design (it is round and low, and there were chairs around it) and, weirdest of all, an elevated pool (like a twenty foot fish tank), which 3 gas jets in it, so you light the gas jets and the flames jump out of the water). I thought I was on Survivor.
Speaking of libraries, Rancho Mirage has opened a new one this month and, like so many I see, it is a spectacular building. Again, why can't Washington do it?
That's it for now. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Los Angeles (Episode 2) (4 cents)
5:30 p.m. in Los Angeles.
Downtown L.A. is a real mix. Part of it is brand spanking new, with fifty story office towers, condominiums and shops. The other part has been falling apart for half a century and is populated largely by people who probably sleep outside of, rather than inside of, the crumbling buildings. With a little money, older downtown L.A. could be pretty spiffy, and the money is, not surprisingly coming in now, and you can expect to see a lot of restoration and infill construction over the next decade. The financial issue is in part earthquake retrofitting, which is very expensive, code required, and in demand by those can afford higher rents and sale prices. But where will the homeless (an eclectic mix of Latinos, Anglos, and African Americans, all of whom look like that had expected better days) go? No one has that answer, of course.
Not that there is nothing in the old buildings. There is still a very extensive jewelry district and a lot of places you would not want to be caught dead eating in. I must admit that I did not see one appealing shop, outside of the several blocks of jewelry stores. And, although the stores weren't open at about 8 this morning, I didn't see any hasidim walking the streets.
The Los Angeles library (old and new buildings joined together) is a treat. It is clean and inviting, with a cafe and open stacks and escalators and glass views in all directions. Once again, it absolutely shames Washington DC, which has no excuse (none!) for what it calls a library. There are two small exhibit places in the library. One has an exhibit of old travel posters (you know, from the 20s and 30s) from all over the world (including ship lines and railways). I think that should be my next collection.
The other exhibit is a small exhibit of the library's permanent collections, which include 2.5 million photos, 38,000 pieces of sheet music,80,000 maps, 2000 atlases, as well as innumerable theatrical and musical programs, fan magazines, post cards, movie stills and lobby cards.
There is also an inviting looking Museum of Contemporary Arts downtown. The main exhibit is on American comic art. I did not get a chance to go on, but did look at the museum store. The new Disney (Roy, not Walt) music building, designed by Frank Ghery, which I thought I would not like, is a treat and a half. It sits high and is surrounded by a small garden and park, so there is no real clash with adjoining buildings. It is very exciting.
And I got to watch a commercial being shot there (this is Hollywood, almost, after all). I will try to remember the two young women whom I saw promenading hand in hand twenty times down the path, talking about deoderants, or tampons, or clothes you can both work and play in.
That's about it for now. Only question is: will tonight's dinner with friends be at Cicada or at the Water Grill? Tune in tomorrow for the answer.
Downtown L.A. is a real mix. Part of it is brand spanking new, with fifty story office towers, condominiums and shops. The other part has been falling apart for half a century and is populated largely by people who probably sleep outside of, rather than inside of, the crumbling buildings. With a little money, older downtown L.A. could be pretty spiffy, and the money is, not surprisingly coming in now, and you can expect to see a lot of restoration and infill construction over the next decade. The financial issue is in part earthquake retrofitting, which is very expensive, code required, and in demand by those can afford higher rents and sale prices. But where will the homeless (an eclectic mix of Latinos, Anglos, and African Americans, all of whom look like that had expected better days) go? No one has that answer, of course.
Not that there is nothing in the old buildings. There is still a very extensive jewelry district and a lot of places you would not want to be caught dead eating in. I must admit that I did not see one appealing shop, outside of the several blocks of jewelry stores. And, although the stores weren't open at about 8 this morning, I didn't see any hasidim walking the streets.
The Los Angeles library (old and new buildings joined together) is a treat. It is clean and inviting, with a cafe and open stacks and escalators and glass views in all directions. Once again, it absolutely shames Washington DC, which has no excuse (none!) for what it calls a library. There are two small exhibit places in the library. One has an exhibit of old travel posters (you know, from the 20s and 30s) from all over the world (including ship lines and railways). I think that should be my next collection.
The other exhibit is a small exhibit of the library's permanent collections, which include 2.5 million photos, 38,000 pieces of sheet music,80,000 maps, 2000 atlases, as well as innumerable theatrical and musical programs, fan magazines, post cards, movie stills and lobby cards.
There is also an inviting looking Museum of Contemporary Arts downtown. The main exhibit is on American comic art. I did not get a chance to go on, but did look at the museum store. The new Disney (Roy, not Walt) music building, designed by Frank Ghery, which I thought I would not like, is a treat and a half. It sits high and is surrounded by a small garden and park, so there is no real clash with adjoining buildings. It is very exciting.
And I got to watch a commercial being shot there (this is Hollywood, almost, after all). I will try to remember the two young women whom I saw promenading hand in hand twenty times down the path, talking about deoderants, or tampons, or clothes you can both work and play in.
That's about it for now. Only question is: will tonight's dinner with friends be at Cicada or at the Water Grill? Tune in tomorrow for the answer.
Los Angeles (Episode 1)
Yesterday, I flew Frontier Airlines, leaving Washington at about 6 p.m., stopping in Denver, and arriving LAX at about 10:30. Highlights follow:
1. The drive to the airport was very pretty, over Memorial Bridge and down the parkway. I found a parking space not far from the 'moveable sidewalk', so figured everything would be smooth. Until I found that the escalator up to the ticketing was broken. There may be other escalators, and there probably are elevators, but they were not apparent, so I joined a group carrying our heavy baggage up 36 steps. And when you get to the top, although most airlines are alphabetical south to north, Frontier is at Continental, so I walked most of the airport before I found someone who could tell me anything. But there was no line, and they actually put your bag on a conveyor belt, rather than make you go to a CAT scanner.
2. You would think that on a four hour flight that starts at 6 in the evening, food would be served. Wrong. So, not being hungry, but knowing that I had to eat I wound up at the Federal Tavern (it was that or Wall Street Deli or something called Maui Taco) at the gates in the Delta/Frontier side of Terminal B, where I had my second chicken caesar salad of the day, and ate half of it. It was like it came from the greater Washington DC caesar salad central kitchen, as did my lunch salad at the Fourth Estate. On the plane, I got my choice of 'potato skins' or a Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookie. Four hours.
3. But Frontier does have individual TV screens. Normally, to access the 24 channels you need to pay $5, but because we were 15 minutes late in taking off, we got it free, which gave me a chance to watch the Duke women's basketball team (18-0) beat Tennessee (18-0) on Big Monday. Duke ended Tennessee's 40 game streak with a victory of thirty points or so, and I have to say they were extraordinary. Tennessee's Pat Summit took it very well.
4. I also read, Nicole Krause's first book, whose name is something like "A Man Walked in the Door" (after all, it's since yesterday), which was very good, although not extraordinary like her "History of Love". But very good. Written about 3 years ago, it is a study of memory and its relationship to both self-identity, and the identity of the memory challenged individual in the eyes of others. The hero (of sorts) is a young (36, although Krause seems to think that elderly) English professor who has a benign brain tumor that causes him to lose the last 24 years memory.
5. During my 30 minutes at the Denver airport, I realized it was time for another bad dinner, and got a low-carb tuna flatbread sandwich at Quizmo's. It was next to my gate. I had been to one other Quizmo's. If there was any such thing as food police, Quizmo's would be in jail. From Denver to LA, no potato skins or cookies. The choice was dorritos or sun chips, and tv was not free.
6. Arrived 15 minutes early in L.A. Baggage was there. Cab ride was quick. Hotel was right where it should be.
1. The drive to the airport was very pretty, over Memorial Bridge and down the parkway. I found a parking space not far from the 'moveable sidewalk', so figured everything would be smooth. Until I found that the escalator up to the ticketing was broken. There may be other escalators, and there probably are elevators, but they were not apparent, so I joined a group carrying our heavy baggage up 36 steps. And when you get to the top, although most airlines are alphabetical south to north, Frontier is at Continental, so I walked most of the airport before I found someone who could tell me anything. But there was no line, and they actually put your bag on a conveyor belt, rather than make you go to a CAT scanner.
2. You would think that on a four hour flight that starts at 6 in the evening, food would be served. Wrong. So, not being hungry, but knowing that I had to eat I wound up at the Federal Tavern (it was that or Wall Street Deli or something called Maui Taco) at the gates in the Delta/Frontier side of Terminal B, where I had my second chicken caesar salad of the day, and ate half of it. It was like it came from the greater Washington DC caesar salad central kitchen, as did my lunch salad at the Fourth Estate. On the plane, I got my choice of 'potato skins' or a Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookie. Four hours.
3. But Frontier does have individual TV screens. Normally, to access the 24 channels you need to pay $5, but because we were 15 minutes late in taking off, we got it free, which gave me a chance to watch the Duke women's basketball team (18-0) beat Tennessee (18-0) on Big Monday. Duke ended Tennessee's 40 game streak with a victory of thirty points or so, and I have to say they were extraordinary. Tennessee's Pat Summit took it very well.
4. I also read, Nicole Krause's first book, whose name is something like "A Man Walked in the Door" (after all, it's since yesterday), which was very good, although not extraordinary like her "History of Love". But very good. Written about 3 years ago, it is a study of memory and its relationship to both self-identity, and the identity of the memory challenged individual in the eyes of others. The hero (of sorts) is a young (36, although Krause seems to think that elderly) English professor who has a benign brain tumor that causes him to lose the last 24 years memory.
5. During my 30 minutes at the Denver airport, I realized it was time for another bad dinner, and got a low-carb tuna flatbread sandwich at Quizmo's. It was next to my gate. I had been to one other Quizmo's. If there was any such thing as food police, Quizmo's would be in jail. From Denver to LA, no potato skins or cookies. The choice was dorritos or sun chips, and tv was not free.
6. Arrived 15 minutes early in L.A. Baggage was there. Cab ride was quick. Hotel was right where it should be.
Monday, January 23, 2006
God strikes Ford Motor Company: or just bad Karma(king)?
The decision of the Ford Motor Company to fire or lay off 25,000 to 30,000 employees and close three to five plants is not as innocent as it sounds. It is God punishing Henry Ford for his life time of anti-semitism by striking down his legacy!!!
(Did I get that right, Reverend Robertson? Rabbi OJ?)
(Did I get that right, Reverend Robertson? Rabbi OJ?)
Saturday, January 21, 2006
"Isabella Greenway" (31 cents)
Isabella Greenway was the first female member of Congress from Arizona and the subject of a well written biography by Washington writer Kristie Miller. I had never heard of Ms. Greenway, who was a close friend of Eleanor Roosevelt. She knew the Roosevelt family by happenstance. Her parents had moved to North Dakota, and had met Roosevelt when he was a young man exploring the North Dakota badlands, near Mandan (now a national park where TR is idolized). Isabella's mother and TR became (platonic) friends and the relationship stayed. This friendship brought the family to Washington when TR was in the White House, led to a close relationship between Isabella and Eleanor and an invitation to her wedding to cousin Franklin, and so forth. Isabella married twice; both husbands' had their hearts and interest in the west. Isabella experienced poverty, isolation, financial success and activism. She became heavily involved in copper mining interests in the west, Democratic party politics, Depression relief work, and the establishment of the well known Arizona Inn in Tucson. She served in Congress two terms. I am not giving her justice in this short paragraph; she was a very accomplished person who led a very interesting life. The book is worth reading.
Joan Didion's Allusions
I had mentioned that I thought that Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking" contained too many quotations that made it appear that she wrote the book, with a stock of quotation references on her desk. It has been suggested that perhaps I was exaggerating, so I took another look.
In the small page, large print 225 page book, I see references/quotations as follows:
David Fromkin's "Europe's Last Summer", the book her husband was reading when he died.
Bob Herbert's column in the NY Times, 11-12-04.
The Merck Manual
"Up Close & Personal" , her husband's book.
"The Intern's Dilemma" an article in "Psychiatry in Medicine" 1972.
Temko, BBC TV series
Mrs. Miniver
Philip Aribes, "The Hour of Our Death"
"Chanson de Roland"
Eric Lindemann's study of those killed in the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire.
Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins
Freud's 1917 "Mourning and Melancholia"
Melanie Klein's 1940 study "Mourning and its Relation to Manic-Depressive States"
Teresa Heinz Kerry's comments on her first husband's death
Poetry of e.e. cummings
"East Coker", perhaps poetry by Susanna Moore
Catullus, "On His Brother's Death"
C.S. Lewis, "A Grief Observed"
Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain"
Matthew Arnold's "The Forsaken Moment"
W. H. Auden's "Funeral Blues"
National Academy of Sciences "Bereavement: Reactions, Consequences and Care"
J. William Worden's report of the Harvard Bereavement Study
Study of widowers by Benjamin Young in "The Lancet" in 1963
Study of bereaved relatives by Rees and Lutkins, in the "British Medical Journal" 1967.
Her husband's "Dutch Shea, Jr."
Hitchcock's "Vertigo"
Walter Savage Aylmer's "Rose Alymer" of 1806
Vamik Volkan's article on "regrief therapy"
Bibring's "Psychoanalysis and the Dynamic Psychotherapies" in "Journal of the American Psychiatric Association" of 1954
Emily Post's book of etiquette on funerals, 1922
Phillippe Aries, "Western Attitudes Towards Death: From the Middle Ages to the Present"
Geoffrey Gorer's "Death, Grief and Mourning", 1965
This will take you through Chapter 4, ending on about page 65.
Looking at these references in this way, it shows the intellectual approach she took to understanding what her situation was after the death of her husband, and perhaps a list of books, articles, etc. like this could be of help to others. My point was that it did not add to my interest in reading the book.
In the small page, large print 225 page book, I see references/quotations as follows:
David Fromkin's "Europe's Last Summer", the book her husband was reading when he died.
Bob Herbert's column in the NY Times, 11-12-04.
The Merck Manual
"Up Close & Personal" , her husband's book.
"The Intern's Dilemma" an article in "Psychiatry in Medicine" 1972.
Temko, BBC TV series
Mrs. Miniver
Philip Aribes, "The Hour of Our Death"
"Chanson de Roland"
Eric Lindemann's study of those killed in the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire.
Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins
Freud's 1917 "Mourning and Melancholia"
Melanie Klein's 1940 study "Mourning and its Relation to Manic-Depressive States"
Teresa Heinz Kerry's comments on her first husband's death
Poetry of e.e. cummings
"East Coker", perhaps poetry by Susanna Moore
Catullus, "On His Brother's Death"
C.S. Lewis, "A Grief Observed"
Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain"
Matthew Arnold's "The Forsaken Moment"
W. H. Auden's "Funeral Blues"
National Academy of Sciences "Bereavement: Reactions, Consequences and Care"
J. William Worden's report of the Harvard Bereavement Study
Study of widowers by Benjamin Young in "The Lancet" in 1963
Study of bereaved relatives by Rees and Lutkins, in the "British Medical Journal" 1967.
Her husband's "Dutch Shea, Jr."
Hitchcock's "Vertigo"
Walter Savage Aylmer's "Rose Alymer" of 1806
Vamik Volkan's article on "regrief therapy"
Bibring's "Psychoanalysis and the Dynamic Psychotherapies" in "Journal of the American Psychiatric Association" of 1954
Emily Post's book of etiquette on funerals, 1922
Phillippe Aries, "Western Attitudes Towards Death: From the Middle Ages to the Present"
Geoffrey Gorer's "Death, Grief and Mourning", 1965
This will take you through Chapter 4, ending on about page 65.
Looking at these references in this way, it shows the intellectual approach she took to understanding what her situation was after the death of her husband, and perhaps a list of books, articles, etc. like this could be of help to others. My point was that it did not add to my interest in reading the book.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Follow Up on Most Recent Posting
Commenter Jo asked: what happened when I pulled the string?
Jo is usually pretty sharp. She should have figured it out herself.......
I was sent to the library.
Jo is usually pretty sharp. She should have figured it out herself.......
I was sent to the library.
High School Teachers (Part 2)
Let's talk about the good teachers.
Probably the best I had with Helen Weiss ("Frau Weiss") my German teacher. She was probably in her fifties or early sixties, and was very animated and able to connect with her students, calling them each by the name of an animal (as I recall) in German. I don't remember who I was, believe it or not. Her husband had worked at one of the St. Louis breweries, and she used to go to Havana to gamble (and gambol?) on vacations (that was in the Meyer Lansky, pre-Castro days, of course), which I thought very, very exotic. Each spring we would have a German party in the rathskellar of Schober's restaurant in south St. Louis County, a place where otherwise no one from my school would have ever seen.
I also had a good Latin teacher, Eugene Schmidt. He was thought to have been very bright (he probably was) and to be fluent in six languages, including Icelandic. That was as cool as vacationing in Havana. Apparently, he was stationed in Iceland during WWII, which is where he (claimed to have) picked up the language.
I only had Mr. Schmidt for one year; then I was put in Octavia Hale's class. This was tragic both for Miss Hale and me. Octavia Hale was a rather heavy-set, middle aged woman, who was clearly very nice, but who could control a class about as well as I could control a bucking bronco. I had a hard time taking anything in Latin II seriously, unfortunately, and was quite trouble maker. One day, she asked me to stop talking in class, and I told her that I did not think that I would be able to because I was bored, and that I thought I should be able to go to the library instead of sitting through an hour of boring Latin II. She said that would not at all be acceptable. I told her that, then, I was probably going to be disruptive, because that day I just could not control myself. She told me that if I continued the rest of the class as I had started it, I would be punished. What will happen, I asked, as much out of curiousity as concern. She said (believe it or not): "I will have no choice but to send you to the library."
Extra sensory perception was the rage in those days. I recall that Professor Rhyne from Duke University had been making waves talking about things like ESP and poltergeists, and had been on TV quite a bit. Miss Hale's class was the first afternoon period, right after lunch, so we often got to the room before she did (I am sure she did not want to spend more time with us than necessary). One day, my friends and I decided that it would be nice if the class were visited by a poltergeist, so we rigged up all sort of things that would fall, rattle, or clang, in series, after one string was pulled. It was all set up before class started, and I had the honor of having the string under my desk. At the pre-arranged time, I pulled the string to set off the poltergeist. It did not work out as planned.
Probably the best I had with Helen Weiss ("Frau Weiss") my German teacher. She was probably in her fifties or early sixties, and was very animated and able to connect with her students, calling them each by the name of an animal (as I recall) in German. I don't remember who I was, believe it or not. Her husband had worked at one of the St. Louis breweries, and she used to go to Havana to gamble (and gambol?) on vacations (that was in the Meyer Lansky, pre-Castro days, of course), which I thought very, very exotic. Each spring we would have a German party in the rathskellar of Schober's restaurant in south St. Louis County, a place where otherwise no one from my school would have ever seen.
I also had a good Latin teacher, Eugene Schmidt. He was thought to have been very bright (he probably was) and to be fluent in six languages, including Icelandic. That was as cool as vacationing in Havana. Apparently, he was stationed in Iceland during WWII, which is where he (claimed to have) picked up the language.
I only had Mr. Schmidt for one year; then I was put in Octavia Hale's class. This was tragic both for Miss Hale and me. Octavia Hale was a rather heavy-set, middle aged woman, who was clearly very nice, but who could control a class about as well as I could control a bucking bronco. I had a hard time taking anything in Latin II seriously, unfortunately, and was quite trouble maker. One day, she asked me to stop talking in class, and I told her that I did not think that I would be able to because I was bored, and that I thought I should be able to go to the library instead of sitting through an hour of boring Latin II. She said that would not at all be acceptable. I told her that, then, I was probably going to be disruptive, because that day I just could not control myself. She told me that if I continued the rest of the class as I had started it, I would be punished. What will happen, I asked, as much out of curiousity as concern. She said (believe it or not): "I will have no choice but to send you to the library."
Extra sensory perception was the rage in those days. I recall that Professor Rhyne from Duke University had been making waves talking about things like ESP and poltergeists, and had been on TV quite a bit. Miss Hale's class was the first afternoon period, right after lunch, so we often got to the room before she did (I am sure she did not want to spend more time with us than necessary). One day, my friends and I decided that it would be nice if the class were visited by a poltergeist, so we rigged up all sort of things that would fall, rattle, or clang, in series, after one string was pulled. It was all set up before class started, and I had the honor of having the string under my desk. At the pre-arranged time, I pulled the string to set off the poltergeist. It did not work out as planned.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
High School Teachers (Part 1)
I have been thinking about my high school teachers, good and bad, and thought I should share my thoughts. I went to the same school for six years. When I started, there were about 600 kids in grades 7-12. The district expanded rapidly, junior high schools were built, and when I graduated, there were about 800 kids in grades 10-12.
When I think back about my teachers, my mind always turns first to Sarah Leonard. I never took a class from Mrs. Leonard, but knew her as she was a sponsor of activities I was involved with. Sarah Leonard was a hippie. In fact, she was the country's first hippie. She was one before the word was even invented. She was of average height, and quite thin. Her straight brown hair reached down to her waist. She wore long skirts, and vests, and Indian jewelry. She was not, to me, particularly attractive. (I can say these things, because these people are probably no longer around.) She tended to wear very big earings. (I remember one event, when her earings hung down to her shoulders. "Sit down, Mrs. Leonard", the adolescent Arthur said, "and give your ears a rest.")
There was no Mr. Leonard. I don't know what happened to him, or when. I assume he existed. She was an English teacher ("language arts", they called it). She had a daughter a few years younger than me who attended the school. And, miracle that it was, her daughter seemed to be perfectly normal.
Her room was next to Mr. Cordell's room. Ralph Cordell was a bachelor, and sort of awkward and sheepish. Sarah Leonard used to say hello, as she walked by his room, with a dramatic "Hi, there, Ralphie." Mr. Cordell would blush. Mr. Cordell spent a lot of time talking to the class perched on the edge of his desk, with his legs hanging over the side. Often, his metal waste basket was on the floor, and his legs played around the top of the waste basket as he talked. I remember the day he was sitting there, playing with the waste basket, when Mrs. Leonard gave him a "hello, Ralphie", and he turned beet red, and tried to respond to her and stand up at the same time, winding up with his feet inside the wastebasket, and the rest of him sprawled out on the floor. Even we 15 year olds felt sorry for him that day. But we didn't show it.
At any rate, antics aside, Sarah Leonard was considered a very good teacher.
And then there was George Marshall (not the author of the Marshall Plan), who was our assistant principal. He did not teach. In fact, I have no idea what he did, but I am sure he did it well.
George Marshall was on the tall side, and slender. He was blond. Everything about him was blond. His hair, his complexion, his eyes, his eyeglasses and their frames, his clothes. There was never anything about him darker than a yellow ochre crayola. Not only was he blond, he was bland. His shirts were always white, his ties were always narrow, and you would never catch him without a tie tack to make sure that his narrow tie never strayed. I never saw him smile; I doubt that he had anything approaching a sense of humor.
George Marshall was married and had, I believe, three young children. I never saw his family.
Is the picture becoming clear? Probably not, so I will continue.
One day, we came to school, and there was a big hole where Sarah Leonard was supposed to be standing in her class room. There was another big hole in Mr. Marshall's office. Sarah Leonard, the hippie, and George Marshall, blond and bland, had run off with each other. Rumor had them in Florida and, to my knowledge, they were never heard from again.
This was an event that was extraordinary. It was no more believable than if Eisenhower had defected to the Soviets. The Marshall wife and kids were left in suburban St. Louis, apparently as shocked as we were; I don't know what happened to young Ms. Leonard.
There was a lesson to be learned there. I knew that. But to this day, I have not figured out what it is.
There were two other romantic incidences that I remember. One was the equally surprising engagement and marriage of Miss Lovercamp and Mr. Doyle. They were not young. I would guess that she was about 40 and he about 50 (do you think I have overstated their ages by ten years? maybe). She had not been married before. I don't remember about him; something tells me that he had been. Miss Lovercamp was what I would call an archetypical English teacher. She was serious and to the point, she was presentable and attractive in a formal way. It was not clear why she had not been married before. Mr. Doyle was nothing like Miss Lovercamp. He was all drama. His graying hair was slicked into what I think they called a pompadour. He wore flashy clothes. If I had known what "gay" was in those days, I would have thought he was it (maybe he was?). He was always on stage. This made him a good teacher, but a life with him would have to me seemed as difficult as a life with Mrs. Leonard. And Miss Lovercamp (her name aside) was just an ordinary, typical, standard, all-American type of person.
At any rate, they got married. She became Mrs. Doyle. And life went on.
And then there was the young art and drama teacher, Mr. Striby. I spent a lot of time with him over my last three years in the school (and his first three), as he was the director of all the theatrical productions I was in. I thought I knew all about him. I knew he had come from Florida, I knew he was still in his 20s, I knew where he went to school, and so forth. It never occurred to me that he would have a girl friend or get married or anything like that. His interests really seemed fully focused on his job, and on us.
One day, senior year, I saw him playing ping pong with Miss Grueb. Maxine Grueb was young and fairly attractive. She was a women's phys. ed. teacher, so I had absolutely nothing to do with her. I knew nothing about her.
Now playing ping pong is no big thing, right? But it seemed so out of character for Mr. Striby to be playing ping pong, that I immediately got suspicous. And, lo and behold, one ping pong match led to another, they got engaged and married, and (like the Marshall/Leonard combine) moved to Florida.
Were there other faculty romances at my high school? Who knows? I clearly was not attuned to such things, as these three each caught me totally by surprise.
And, the pairings were so strange. Who would have put Leonard with Marshall? Why would Marshall leave his family for Leonard, and why would Leonard, the hippie, pick the least hip person imaginable? Why would dramatic Doyle go for staid Lovercamp, and why would she want to give up what must have been tranquility for his theatrics? Why would Ms. Grueb, the physical fitness professional, choose Jim Striby, who looked like he might not be able to run around the track? And why would he choose someone who would want more activity than an occasional game of table tennis?
What was it that I did not understand about the world? Would I ever figure it out?
When I think back about my teachers, my mind always turns first to Sarah Leonard. I never took a class from Mrs. Leonard, but knew her as she was a sponsor of activities I was involved with. Sarah Leonard was a hippie. In fact, she was the country's first hippie. She was one before the word was even invented. She was of average height, and quite thin. Her straight brown hair reached down to her waist. She wore long skirts, and vests, and Indian jewelry. She was not, to me, particularly attractive. (I can say these things, because these people are probably no longer around.) She tended to wear very big earings. (I remember one event, when her earings hung down to her shoulders. "Sit down, Mrs. Leonard", the adolescent Arthur said, "and give your ears a rest.")
There was no Mr. Leonard. I don't know what happened to him, or when. I assume he existed. She was an English teacher ("language arts", they called it). She had a daughter a few years younger than me who attended the school. And, miracle that it was, her daughter seemed to be perfectly normal.
Her room was next to Mr. Cordell's room. Ralph Cordell was a bachelor, and sort of awkward and sheepish. Sarah Leonard used to say hello, as she walked by his room, with a dramatic "Hi, there, Ralphie." Mr. Cordell would blush. Mr. Cordell spent a lot of time talking to the class perched on the edge of his desk, with his legs hanging over the side. Often, his metal waste basket was on the floor, and his legs played around the top of the waste basket as he talked. I remember the day he was sitting there, playing with the waste basket, when Mrs. Leonard gave him a "hello, Ralphie", and he turned beet red, and tried to respond to her and stand up at the same time, winding up with his feet inside the wastebasket, and the rest of him sprawled out on the floor. Even we 15 year olds felt sorry for him that day. But we didn't show it.
At any rate, antics aside, Sarah Leonard was considered a very good teacher.
And then there was George Marshall (not the author of the Marshall Plan), who was our assistant principal. He did not teach. In fact, I have no idea what he did, but I am sure he did it well.
George Marshall was on the tall side, and slender. He was blond. Everything about him was blond. His hair, his complexion, his eyes, his eyeglasses and their frames, his clothes. There was never anything about him darker than a yellow ochre crayola. Not only was he blond, he was bland. His shirts were always white, his ties were always narrow, and you would never catch him without a tie tack to make sure that his narrow tie never strayed. I never saw him smile; I doubt that he had anything approaching a sense of humor.
George Marshall was married and had, I believe, three young children. I never saw his family.
Is the picture becoming clear? Probably not, so I will continue.
One day, we came to school, and there was a big hole where Sarah Leonard was supposed to be standing in her class room. There was another big hole in Mr. Marshall's office. Sarah Leonard, the hippie, and George Marshall, blond and bland, had run off with each other. Rumor had them in Florida and, to my knowledge, they were never heard from again.
This was an event that was extraordinary. It was no more believable than if Eisenhower had defected to the Soviets. The Marshall wife and kids were left in suburban St. Louis, apparently as shocked as we were; I don't know what happened to young Ms. Leonard.
There was a lesson to be learned there. I knew that. But to this day, I have not figured out what it is.
There were two other romantic incidences that I remember. One was the equally surprising engagement and marriage of Miss Lovercamp and Mr. Doyle. They were not young. I would guess that she was about 40 and he about 50 (do you think I have overstated their ages by ten years? maybe). She had not been married before. I don't remember about him; something tells me that he had been. Miss Lovercamp was what I would call an archetypical English teacher. She was serious and to the point, she was presentable and attractive in a formal way. It was not clear why she had not been married before. Mr. Doyle was nothing like Miss Lovercamp. He was all drama. His graying hair was slicked into what I think they called a pompadour. He wore flashy clothes. If I had known what "gay" was in those days, I would have thought he was it (maybe he was?). He was always on stage. This made him a good teacher, but a life with him would have to me seemed as difficult as a life with Mrs. Leonard. And Miss Lovercamp (her name aside) was just an ordinary, typical, standard, all-American type of person.
At any rate, they got married. She became Mrs. Doyle. And life went on.
And then there was the young art and drama teacher, Mr. Striby. I spent a lot of time with him over my last three years in the school (and his first three), as he was the director of all the theatrical productions I was in. I thought I knew all about him. I knew he had come from Florida, I knew he was still in his 20s, I knew where he went to school, and so forth. It never occurred to me that he would have a girl friend or get married or anything like that. His interests really seemed fully focused on his job, and on us.
One day, senior year, I saw him playing ping pong with Miss Grueb. Maxine Grueb was young and fairly attractive. She was a women's phys. ed. teacher, so I had absolutely nothing to do with her. I knew nothing about her.
Now playing ping pong is no big thing, right? But it seemed so out of character for Mr. Striby to be playing ping pong, that I immediately got suspicous. And, lo and behold, one ping pong match led to another, they got engaged and married, and (like the Marshall/Leonard combine) moved to Florida.
Were there other faculty romances at my high school? Who knows? I clearly was not attuned to such things, as these three each caught me totally by surprise.
And, the pairings were so strange. Who would have put Leonard with Marshall? Why would Marshall leave his family for Leonard, and why would Leonard, the hippie, pick the least hip person imaginable? Why would dramatic Doyle go for staid Lovercamp, and why would she want to give up what must have been tranquility for his theatrics? Why would Ms. Grueb, the physical fitness professional, choose Jim Striby, who looked like he might not be able to run around the track? And why would he choose someone who would want more activity than an occasional game of table tennis?
What was it that I did not understand about the world? Would I ever figure it out?
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Joan Didion's Year of Magical Thinking
After finishing "A Private Battle", I thought that Joan Didion's notes on the year following the death of her husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, "The Year of Magical Thinking" would be an appropriate book to read next. It had been well reviewed and my wife liked it very much. Dunne, who had a heart condition thought under control had a fatal coronary having dinner with his wife in their New York apartment. They had returned from a hospital visit to their 30-something year old daughter, who was suffering from sepsis (and who herself would die a few months after her father), It was clearly a terrible year.
Unfortunatley, I found the book (even though quite short) tendentious, and repetitive, and filled with literary quotes and illusions which might have been familiar to Didion, but which appeared more likely to have been taken from a book of quotations she might have kept at her writing desk. I just did not enjoy it.
Why the difference between my reaction to the two books? I can't say in an objective way. But the contrast in my mind was great, as was the contrast between Didion's book and another spousal-medical book I had read a year or so ago, Morton Kondracke's "Saving Milly", about his wife to-be-fatal battle with Parkinson's Disease. As a reporter, I am not fond of Kondracke; but this book I thought extraordinary.
Perhaps it goes to perceptions of honesty. The Ryan and the Kondracke books seemed to me to be brutally honest, painting the authors with shortcomings as well as heroic virtues. I did not see the Didion book in the same manner. I saw it as more of a staged piece. I cannot blame her; it could easily have been me.
Unfortunatley, I found the book (even though quite short) tendentious, and repetitive, and filled with literary quotes and illusions which might have been familiar to Didion, but which appeared more likely to have been taken from a book of quotations she might have kept at her writing desk. I just did not enjoy it.
Why the difference between my reaction to the two books? I can't say in an objective way. But the contrast in my mind was great, as was the contrast between Didion's book and another spousal-medical book I had read a year or so ago, Morton Kondracke's "Saving Milly", about his wife to-be-fatal battle with Parkinson's Disease. As a reporter, I am not fond of Kondracke; but this book I thought extraordinary.
Perhaps it goes to perceptions of honesty. The Ryan and the Kondracke books seemed to me to be brutally honest, painting the authors with shortcomings as well as heroic virtues. I did not see the Didion book in the same manner. I saw it as more of a staged piece. I cannot blame her; it could easily have been me.
Cornelius Ryan's Private Battle (5 cents)
World War II historian Cornelius Ryan died at age 54 of metastatic prostate cancer in 1974. He had the disease (metastatic when discovered) for over four years. During that period of time, he kept a detailed journal (mainly on tape), as did his wife, Kathryn Morgan Ryan. Neither apparently knew about the other's journal. The book was published four years after he died.
Ryan had written the first two of his three books on World War II, and was in the process of beginning the third, "A Bridge Too Far" when the disease struck. The journals tell of his struggle to complete the book, the medical progress of the disease including his visits to five different specialists in 1970, each of whom suggested totally different courses of treatment, the relationship between husband and wife, and the struggles that they had with their two teenage children (and the struggles both of their children were having). It also tells a story of their many friendships, of their parents (his mother in Dublin; her father in Iowa) and of his enormous determination to keep up those friendships (through fishing trips, dinner parties, and evenings out) even when in great pain, hiding the truth of his condition from some, sharing it with others. What may be most amazing was the travel, to the Caribbean for r and r, and to Europe for book related events even when his illness was most debilitating.
This, I would not think, is a book I would enjoy. But, to the contrary, I found it mesmerizing. It is a 450 page book that I read in two evening sessions, my eyes glued to the pages. It shows what good writing, and honest writing, can do.
Ryan had written the first two of his three books on World War II, and was in the process of beginning the third, "A Bridge Too Far" when the disease struck. The journals tell of his struggle to complete the book, the medical progress of the disease including his visits to five different specialists in 1970, each of whom suggested totally different courses of treatment, the relationship between husband and wife, and the struggles that they had with their two teenage children (and the struggles both of their children were having). It also tells a story of their many friendships, of their parents (his mother in Dublin; her father in Iowa) and of his enormous determination to keep up those friendships (through fishing trips, dinner parties, and evenings out) even when in great pain, hiding the truth of his condition from some, sharing it with others. What may be most amazing was the travel, to the Caribbean for r and r, and to Europe for book related events even when his illness was most debilitating.
This, I would not think, is a book I would enjoy. But, to the contrary, I found it mesmerizing. It is a 450 page book that I read in two evening sessions, my eyes glued to the pages. It shows what good writing, and honest writing, can do.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Spoke Too Soon
I spoke too soon. At 1 p.m., a program called Dayside airs on Fox News. The anchor is a woman named Linda Vester, but today's anchors were Martha ________, and Steve Dooley. Dooley, a supercilious former weatherman, is one of the hosts of morning Fox and Friends.
Still a news show, the gloves came off, with Dooley making his silly embarrass-the-liberals remarks.
I spoke too soon. Fox News at 1 p.m. is no longer fair and balanced.
Still a news show, the gloves came off, with Dooley making his silly embarrass-the-liberals remarks.
I spoke too soon. Fox News at 1 p.m. is no longer fair and balanced.
Fox News: Fair and Balanced
I turned on Fox News at 9 a.m. and kept it on until noon.
Surprise!! It was fair and balanced. Actually a pretty good grouping of stories, focusing on matters abroad more than domestic. A good mix of straight news, news reports from various locations across the world, and brief discussions with one or more "experts".
So, I now conclude that it may be only after nightfall that the crazies take over the network. And, of course, before 9 a.m., when Fox and Friends is on, the network is under the control of semi-crazies. Wonder what the afternoons are like.
Surprise!! It was fair and balanced. Actually a pretty good grouping of stories, focusing on matters abroad more than domestic. A good mix of straight news, news reports from various locations across the world, and brief discussions with one or more "experts".
So, I now conclude that it may be only after nightfall that the crazies take over the network. And, of course, before 9 a.m., when Fox and Friends is on, the network is under the control of semi-crazies. Wonder what the afternoons are like.
Chevy Chase Library
The Chevy Chase branch of the D.C. Public Library had an off-season used book sale Friday and Saturday. I have attended several of their sales over the years and generally leave empty handed, so I went without expectation.
It was a larger sale than usual, I thought, and I did come up with a few winners. For example, a copy of astronaut Michael Collins' memoirs which he had inscribed to former Secretary of State William P. Rogers; a copy of convicted murderer Jean Harris' book "Stranger in Two Worlds", with a note from her from prison pasted in; a book-club edition copy of Yehudi Menuhin's autobiography "Unfinished Journey" which he had signed and dated; and a copy of "A Private Battle", the story of author Cornelius Ryan's long battle with cancer, written by him (prior to his death) and his wife Kathryn. The book was signed by Kathryn Morgan Ryan.
Not bad for $1 a book.
It was a larger sale than usual, I thought, and I did come up with a few winners. For example, a copy of astronaut Michael Collins' memoirs which he had inscribed to former Secretary of State William P. Rogers; a copy of convicted murderer Jean Harris' book "Stranger in Two Worlds", with a note from her from prison pasted in; a book-club edition copy of Yehudi Menuhin's autobiography "Unfinished Journey" which he had signed and dated; and a copy of "A Private Battle", the story of author Cornelius Ryan's long battle with cancer, written by him (prior to his death) and his wife Kathryn. The book was signed by Kathryn Morgan Ryan.
Not bad for $1 a book.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Johnny Cash and June Carter
I just saw Walk the Line and logged on to rottentomatoes.com and saw that they had 178 reviews of the movie. From the leadlines of the first 30 or so, I saw that most liked the movie, some loved it, and a few thought it just another biopic. Everyone loved Reese Witherspoon's June Carter and almost everyone felt the same about Joaquim Phoenix.
I was a little disappointed, although I enjoyed the movie. I did not see anyone who had quite my take. I thought the story was fairly much a repeat of "Ray"; a number of critics compared the two, something favoring one and some the other. I thought Ray's story was a bit more compelling; I did not feel that Phoenix put much depth into Cash, although he does sing well.
And the voice, in spite of what some say, pales in comparison. In fact, what I liked best about the movie was the music, but I could only compare Phoenix to the real Cash in each song.
As to Witherspoon, she was very appealing. Undoubtedly more appealing than Carter herself would have been. I liked that.
But the story line was tired (even if true) and shown without imagination. There were clearly no good guys (although Carter tried hard) and if Cash did turn into a good guy after his marriage to Carter, that part of his life is not part of the movie.
I don't care for Phoenix. I don't like looking at him for whatever reason. And I guess that is important, again particularly when I have Cash in mind.
There was another small plus. I had forgotten that old Tennessee license plates shaped like the state. It was very good to see them again.
I was a little disappointed, although I enjoyed the movie. I did not see anyone who had quite my take. I thought the story was fairly much a repeat of "Ray"; a number of critics compared the two, something favoring one and some the other. I thought Ray's story was a bit more compelling; I did not feel that Phoenix put much depth into Cash, although he does sing well.
And the voice, in spite of what some say, pales in comparison. In fact, what I liked best about the movie was the music, but I could only compare Phoenix to the real Cash in each song.
As to Witherspoon, she was very appealing. Undoubtedly more appealing than Carter herself would have been. I liked that.
But the story line was tired (even if true) and shown without imagination. There were clearly no good guys (although Carter tried hard) and if Cash did turn into a good guy after his marriage to Carter, that part of his life is not part of the movie.
I don't care for Phoenix. I don't like looking at him for whatever reason. And I guess that is important, again particularly when I have Cash in mind.
There was another small plus. I had forgotten that old Tennessee license plates shaped like the state. It was very good to see them again.
More on Imre Kertesz
I feel like I have been doing a lot of repeating recently, but I finally finished reading "Fatelessness", which I wrote about last month after seeing the movie version in a preview at the DC Jewish film festival. The movie clearly does justice to the book.
But until I read the book, I did not know why it was said that it would be so difficult to film. The reason is that the book (the semi-autobiographical story of a 15 year old Jewish Budapest boy who spent a year in German prison camps at the end of World War II) is as much philosophy as it is narrative or drama. It is an odd book, in that it is written (at some indefinite time) in the first person, as the protagonist looks back at the prison camps and his reactions to being held. What is unclear is his age at writing, because the ruminations are very erudite and mature, yet the writing is about an adolescent and has not hint of what happened after the war. In other words, it does not appear that the narrator is drawing on any later experience. I found this juxtoposition of vantage point unsettling.
I have read nothing else of Nobel winner Kertesz, so should keep quiet for now beyond what I have said. As to the book that I felt reminded of when reading "Fatelessness", it was none of the other Holocaust narratives that I have read, except for Viktor Frankl's classic psychological self-study, "Man's Search for Meaning". A quick internet search does not lead to me to any article comparing that two. Perhaps if I were a little more serious and re-looked at Frankl, I would see why I was the only one making this comparison.
But until I read the book, I did not know why it was said that it would be so difficult to film. The reason is that the book (the semi-autobiographical story of a 15 year old Jewish Budapest boy who spent a year in German prison camps at the end of World War II) is as much philosophy as it is narrative or drama. It is an odd book, in that it is written (at some indefinite time) in the first person, as the protagonist looks back at the prison camps and his reactions to being held. What is unclear is his age at writing, because the ruminations are very erudite and mature, yet the writing is about an adolescent and has not hint of what happened after the war. In other words, it does not appear that the narrator is drawing on any later experience. I found this juxtoposition of vantage point unsettling.
I have read nothing else of Nobel winner Kertesz, so should keep quiet for now beyond what I have said. As to the book that I felt reminded of when reading "Fatelessness", it was none of the other Holocaust narratives that I have read, except for Viktor Frankl's classic psychological self-study, "Man's Search for Meaning". A quick internet search does not lead to me to any article comparing that two. Perhaps if I were a little more serious and re-looked at Frankl, I would see why I was the only one making this comparison.
Back to the Textile Museum
We went back to the Textile Museum to have a docent explain the Japanese Rozome wax-resist painted textiles we had seen several weeks ago, and immediately following to hear a lecutre from a Professor at Catholic University on the cosmology of the Huari people (these are the pre-Incas in Peru and the subject of another exhibit at the museum). A previous posting discusses the exhibits.
The docent tour was very good and to our surprise attracted about 25 people. It was helpful to have seen the exhibit earlier, and made you realize how much you miss when you simply look at an exhibit on your own.
We had read that this particular technique flourished in 8th century Japan and then was "forgotten" until the 20th. This seemed hard to believe, but now we understood it a little better. In the 8th century (a prosperous one for Japan), a statue of the Great Buddha was unveiled with extraordinary pomp and circumstance, including much in the way of textiles for clothing, banners, etc. After the celebration, all of the textiles were packed away and stored, and the boxes were not discovered and opened until the 1920's. There were thousands of preserved textiles found at that time.
She explained how Japan has always gone through periods of isolationism, followed by periods of trade and contact. The 8th century was a great commercial century, but it was followed by considerable isolation. As wax is not indiginous to Japan, this cut off the importation of wax from China, helping to ensure that the wax-resist technique would be lost.
I am not sure exactly how this technique works, but it appears that a hot wax applied to a fabric will keep paint from bleeding, and that the nature of the wax and the intensity of the heat permits controlled fading if that is what is required. Continual layers of wax, and precise painting, gives the desired result to the accomplished artist. The pieces in the exhibit include wall hangings, standing screens and kimonos of various types of color and design.
The upstairs exhibit of the fabrics found in pre-Inca Peru is also very interesting, and we hoped that the lecture would help us understand some of the imagery by giving us an idea of the world-view of the Huari (also spelled Wari) people. The lecturer is a scholar in the field of Huari culture and anthropology, and had an array of Power Point slides, but was disorganized and off-subject most of the time. Partly reading too quickly, and partly going off paper for hard to understand interpretations of what she wished the slides really showed, we learned very little, except that we don't know a lot (and a lot of what we know is colored by our Christian world-view), and the Huari used to keep their dead ancestors in corners of rooms of their houses (perhaps just their skulls, as decapitation seems to be a standard image in their textiles).
This latter practice may sound a bit weird but, as coincidences continue, I was looking through a book called "Ring of Fire", a companion book to a PBS series on primitive Indonesia, yesterday afternoon, and came upon a picture of a "Bugi Warrior" (hence, boogey man) from the Indonesian Aru Islands, off the coast of Borneo. The caption reads: "Even the bravest warriors are subject to psychic attack, so this man sleeps on the skull of his father as a counter-measure." Perhaps the practice is more widespread than one would think.
The docent tour was very good and to our surprise attracted about 25 people. It was helpful to have seen the exhibit earlier, and made you realize how much you miss when you simply look at an exhibit on your own.
We had read that this particular technique flourished in 8th century Japan and then was "forgotten" until the 20th. This seemed hard to believe, but now we understood it a little better. In the 8th century (a prosperous one for Japan), a statue of the Great Buddha was unveiled with extraordinary pomp and circumstance, including much in the way of textiles for clothing, banners, etc. After the celebration, all of the textiles were packed away and stored, and the boxes were not discovered and opened until the 1920's. There were thousands of preserved textiles found at that time.
She explained how Japan has always gone through periods of isolationism, followed by periods of trade and contact. The 8th century was a great commercial century, but it was followed by considerable isolation. As wax is not indiginous to Japan, this cut off the importation of wax from China, helping to ensure that the wax-resist technique would be lost.
I am not sure exactly how this technique works, but it appears that a hot wax applied to a fabric will keep paint from bleeding, and that the nature of the wax and the intensity of the heat permits controlled fading if that is what is required. Continual layers of wax, and precise painting, gives the desired result to the accomplished artist. The pieces in the exhibit include wall hangings, standing screens and kimonos of various types of color and design.
The upstairs exhibit of the fabrics found in pre-Inca Peru is also very interesting, and we hoped that the lecture would help us understand some of the imagery by giving us an idea of the world-view of the Huari (also spelled Wari) people. The lecturer is a scholar in the field of Huari culture and anthropology, and had an array of Power Point slides, but was disorganized and off-subject most of the time. Partly reading too quickly, and partly going off paper for hard to understand interpretations of what she wished the slides really showed, we learned very little, except that we don't know a lot (and a lot of what we know is colored by our Christian world-view), and the Huari used to keep their dead ancestors in corners of rooms of their houses (perhaps just their skulls, as decapitation seems to be a standard image in their textiles).
This latter practice may sound a bit weird but, as coincidences continue, I was looking through a book called "Ring of Fire", a companion book to a PBS series on primitive Indonesia, yesterday afternoon, and came upon a picture of a "Bugi Warrior" (hence, boogey man) from the Indonesian Aru Islands, off the coast of Borneo. The caption reads: "Even the bravest warriors are subject to psychic attack, so this man sleeps on the skull of his father as a counter-measure." Perhaps the practice is more widespread than one would think.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Communist China (12 cents)
That is how they refer to it. "They" being the Chinese, as well as the outside world. But, why is it considered a Communist country today?
The article in today's New York Times that stated that 78% of rural Chinese now lack health care (because they cannot afford to pay the required premiums) led me to thinking about this.
Are we sure that China is now not a Fascist country, rather than a Communist one?
Now, I will admit that I have never been too sure what a Fascist country is. I know that Hitler's Germany was Fascist, as well as Mussolini's Italy and (to a large extent) Franco's Spain. I have read many defintions of Fascism, but they never seem to be quite definitive enough. But, if you think of a Fascist country as being one with a one-party, dictatorial government, one where the government controls the majority of the means of production by a combination of state owned enterprises, and close ties with large private industries, where the press and other forms of communications are controlled as well, where leaders are venerated, where family relationships are highly regulated, and where the military keeps order in society, you have both China and the elements that prevail in Fascist countries. On the other hand, a Communist country would control all the means of production and not ally itself with capitalist forces, but provide all basic services to its citizens (certainly including health care).
I know that the Chinese Communist Party is still called Communist, but, truthfully, is it?
The article in today's New York Times that stated that 78% of rural Chinese now lack health care (because they cannot afford to pay the required premiums) led me to thinking about this.
Are we sure that China is now not a Fascist country, rather than a Communist one?
Now, I will admit that I have never been too sure what a Fascist country is. I know that Hitler's Germany was Fascist, as well as Mussolini's Italy and (to a large extent) Franco's Spain. I have read many defintions of Fascism, but they never seem to be quite definitive enough. But, if you think of a Fascist country as being one with a one-party, dictatorial government, one where the government controls the majority of the means of production by a combination of state owned enterprises, and close ties with large private industries, where the press and other forms of communications are controlled as well, where leaders are venerated, where family relationships are highly regulated, and where the military keeps order in society, you have both China and the elements that prevail in Fascist countries. On the other hand, a Communist country would control all the means of production and not ally itself with capitalist forces, but provide all basic services to its citizens (certainly including health care).
I know that the Chinese Communist Party is still called Communist, but, truthfully, is it?
Friday, January 13, 2006
"Everything Jewish"
So we get this catalog in the mail that contains "everything Jewish". Thought I would look to see what was included. Here is my top 5:
1. There is a Garden of Eden Lovers' Candle, with entwined nude wax figures, with flowers painted on them, and flames spurting from each of their heads, which would (I am certain) burn down first, so eventually you would have fiery legs painted with green stems burning to the ground. "sure to be appreciated by any loving couple" $20. By the way, you can also get a robed loving couple holding Shabbat candle holders, an "aluminum lovers menorah" or a "pewter one heart statue" (you can imagine the anatomical convention of that one).
2. You can get the full Shema inscribed into a crystal prism sitting on a glass base (Hebrew only). The carving "stands on a firm foundation". $150.
3. How about a "faberge-style", star of David, "egg pendant"? Yes, "a crystal star rests on an iridescent gold framed blue egg." $100. Or a pendant whicreads "I'll never stop loving you", with the "o" in stop being a star of David?
4. Or (figure this one out), a five volume Chumash written by Rabbi Yisrael Herczeg. (Mystery solved) $103.49. (I am sure that there is something in the gamatra that led to that price.)
5. Finally, Manny the Electric Menorah, which has a feature that lights just the right number of candles and plays Moaz Tzur at the same time. Comes with a special "battery saving" feature. $21.99
1. There is a Garden of Eden Lovers' Candle, with entwined nude wax figures, with flowers painted on them, and flames spurting from each of their heads, which would (I am certain) burn down first, so eventually you would have fiery legs painted with green stems burning to the ground. "sure to be appreciated by any loving couple" $20. By the way, you can also get a robed loving couple holding Shabbat candle holders, an "aluminum lovers menorah" or a "pewter one heart statue" (you can imagine the anatomical convention of that one).
2. You can get the full Shema inscribed into a crystal prism sitting on a glass base (Hebrew only). The carving "stands on a firm foundation". $150.
3. How about a "faberge-style", star of David, "egg pendant"? Yes, "a crystal star rests on an iridescent gold framed blue egg." $100. Or a pendant whicreads "I'll never stop loving you", with the "o" in stop being a star of David?
4. Or (figure this one out), a five volume Chumash written by Rabbi Yisrael Herczeg. (Mystery solved) $103.49. (I am sure that there is something in the gamatra that led to that price.)
5. Finally, Manny the Electric Menorah, which has a feature that lights just the right number of candles and plays Moaz Tzur at the same time. Comes with a special "battery saving" feature. $21.99
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Pat Robertson One More Time
1. So the Washington Examiner, following Robertson's disgusting statement about Ariel Sharon, announced on its editorial page that Robertson made his ludicrous comments only for the publicity, and that therefore the Examiner was to give no more space to his rantings.
Two days later, guess what! A one half page article on fallout from the Robertson outburst. Go figure.
2. The focus of today's article in the Examiner (and elsewhere) is that Israel The Country has announced that it will cease doing business with Robertson The Evangelist. (Like, "The State of Israel has announced that it is calling its ambassador to Pat Robertson home for consultation.") This threatened the proposed Galilee Center for Christian Truth, or whatever Pat's pre-Armageddon museum is to be called. (Like, "The State of Israel has announced the imposition of an economic boycott against Robertson the Evangelist.")
Immediately, Robertson says, more or less, "I apologize to the Israeli people. I really love the Jews. Sharon is a sweetheart; always has been. I goofed when I said what I really believed."
Will this be sufficient to induce the State of Israel to reopen its Robertson consular office?
The shadow knows.
Two days later, guess what! A one half page article on fallout from the Robertson outburst. Go figure.
2. The focus of today's article in the Examiner (and elsewhere) is that Israel The Country has announced that it will cease doing business with Robertson The Evangelist. (Like, "The State of Israel has announced that it is calling its ambassador to Pat Robertson home for consultation.") This threatened the proposed Galilee Center for Christian Truth, or whatever Pat's pre-Armageddon museum is to be called. (Like, "The State of Israel has announced the imposition of an economic boycott against Robertson the Evangelist.")
Immediately, Robertson says, more or less, "I apologize to the Israeli people. I really love the Jews. Sharon is a sweetheart; always has been. I goofed when I said what I really believed."
Will this be sufficient to induce the State of Israel to reopen its Robertson consular office?
The shadow knows.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Art, Drama, Music and Turtles
Four brief reviews where much more is warranted.
Art: The Retratos exhibit of Latin American portraitry (is that a word) at the Smithsonian Ripley International Gallery is gone. You can catch in next, I believe, in San Antonio. One hundred exhibits of Latin portrait art, ranging from 2000 year old Peruvian clay sculptures, to late 20th century modern portraits and self portraits. The big names are represented (Rivera, Tomayo, Botero, Sequeiros,Kahlo and so on) and many you have never heard of. A fascinating sixteenth century painting of ethnic African nobility; religious paintings of saints and priests; portraits of wealthy women and their husbands. All with those rich and lustrous colors that were found in the Peruvian exhibit last year at the National Geographic.
Drama: Nextbook's program last night, featuring four actors reading from literature written by non-Jews but about Jews, was also not to be missed. But most people missed it, as I only counted about 50 or so in the Theater J space. The readings were from The Canterbury Tales (the Prioress' tale), Ivanhoe, Daniel Deronda, The Great Gatsby, House of Mirth, the Sun Also Rises and Ulysses. All four actors were excellent: Laura Ferri, Colin Byrne, David Klein and Shellie Shulkin. They went from character to character, from American to British to Irish dialects, giving great comic and dramatic readings. This was rehearsed; no sight readings here. See it when it plays Chicago next.
Music: My Tuesday lunch time concert today featured three Levine School staff members, vocalist Marilyn Moore-Brown, clarinetist Tiffani Perry and pianist Matthew van Hoose. The music they chose to play left something to be desired. First, there were three songs by Gordon Jacobs (don't know him, do you?) for voice and clarinet. I did not care for them musically, and the words (which I read but could not understand from Moore-Brown, whose beautiful voice masks her diction) were nonsense, I thought. van Hoose then played a Beethoven sonata (E major, Opus 109). I thought I would recognize all the Beethoven sonatas...but not this one. It is characterized by a superabundance of notes. Not always the best thing. but it does give a chance for the painist to show off his talents. They ended with Schubert's "The Shepherd on the Rock", a lied with piano and clarinet accompaniment, with lyrics by Wilhelm Mu[with an umlaut]ller. I could listen to most Schubert 24/7 and this song is no exception.
Turtles: Yesterday, I went to the National Acquarium at the Commerce Department on 14th Street, just south of Pennsylvania Avenue. I had not been there in about 30 years. It has not changed a bit. The water in the tanks looked clean, so I assume the fish are well cared for, but the basement acquarium remains dreary, dreary, dreary. And you have to feel sorry for the residents. They don't know how good their Balitmore cousins have it. But then, there is the sea turtle. He is an intellect, and an actor, and quite friendly. He (like the otters at the National Zoo) is worth the price of admission. In fact, I may go back just to see him. He is my friend.
Art: The Retratos exhibit of Latin American portraitry (is that a word) at the Smithsonian Ripley International Gallery is gone. You can catch in next, I believe, in San Antonio. One hundred exhibits of Latin portrait art, ranging from 2000 year old Peruvian clay sculptures, to late 20th century modern portraits and self portraits. The big names are represented (Rivera, Tomayo, Botero, Sequeiros,Kahlo and so on) and many you have never heard of. A fascinating sixteenth century painting of ethnic African nobility; religious paintings of saints and priests; portraits of wealthy women and their husbands. All with those rich and lustrous colors that were found in the Peruvian exhibit last year at the National Geographic.
Drama: Nextbook's program last night, featuring four actors reading from literature written by non-Jews but about Jews, was also not to be missed. But most people missed it, as I only counted about 50 or so in the Theater J space. The readings were from The Canterbury Tales (the Prioress' tale), Ivanhoe, Daniel Deronda, The Great Gatsby, House of Mirth, the Sun Also Rises and Ulysses. All four actors were excellent: Laura Ferri, Colin Byrne, David Klein and Shellie Shulkin. They went from character to character, from American to British to Irish dialects, giving great comic and dramatic readings. This was rehearsed; no sight readings here. See it when it plays Chicago next.
Music: My Tuesday lunch time concert today featured three Levine School staff members, vocalist Marilyn Moore-Brown, clarinetist Tiffani Perry and pianist Matthew van Hoose. The music they chose to play left something to be desired. First, there were three songs by Gordon Jacobs (don't know him, do you?) for voice and clarinet. I did not care for them musically, and the words (which I read but could not understand from Moore-Brown, whose beautiful voice masks her diction) were nonsense, I thought. van Hoose then played a Beethoven sonata (E major, Opus 109). I thought I would recognize all the Beethoven sonatas...but not this one. It is characterized by a superabundance of notes. Not always the best thing. but it does give a chance for the painist to show off his talents. They ended with Schubert's "The Shepherd on the Rock", a lied with piano and clarinet accompaniment, with lyrics by Wilhelm Mu[with an umlaut]ller. I could listen to most Schubert 24/7 and this song is no exception.
Turtles: Yesterday, I went to the National Acquarium at the Commerce Department on 14th Street, just south of Pennsylvania Avenue. I had not been there in about 30 years. It has not changed a bit. The water in the tanks looked clean, so I assume the fish are well cared for, but the basement acquarium remains dreary, dreary, dreary. And you have to feel sorry for the residents. They don't know how good their Balitmore cousins have it. But then, there is the sea turtle. He is an intellect, and an actor, and quite friendly. He (like the otters at the National Zoo) is worth the price of admission. In fact, I may go back just to see him. He is my friend.
Art, Drama, Music and Turtles
Four brief reviews where much more is warranted.
Art: The Retratos exhibit of Latin American portraitry (is that a word) at the Smithsonian Ripley International Gallery is gone. You can catch in next, I believe, in San Antonio. One hundred exhibits of Latin portrait art, ranging from 2000 year old Peruvian clay sculptures, to late 20th century modern portraits and self portraits. The big names are represented (Rivera, Tomayo, Botero, Sequeiros,Kahlo and so on) and many you have never heard of. A fascinating sixteenth century painting of ethnic African nobility; religious paintings of saints and priests; portraits of wealthy women and their husbands. All with those rich and lustrous colors that were found in the Peruvian exhibit last year at the National Geographic.
Drama: Nextbook's program last night, featuring four actors reading from literature written by non-Jews but about Jews, was also not to be missed. But most people missed it, as I only counted about 50 or so in the Theater J space. The readings were from The Canterbury Tales (the Prioress' tale), Ivanhoe, Daniel Deronda, The Great Gatsby, House of Mirth, the Sun Also Rises and Ulysses. All four actors were excellent: Laura Ferri, Colin Byrne, David Klein and Shellie Shulkin. They went from character to character, from American to British to Irish dialects, giving great comic and dramatic readings. This was rehearsed; no sight readings here. See it when it plays Chicago next.
Music: My Tuesday lunch time concert today featured three Levine School staff members, vocalist Marilyn Moore-Brown, clarinetist Tiffani Perry and pianist Matthew van Hoose. The music they chose to play left something to be desired. First, there were three songs by Gordon Jacobs (don't know him, do you?) for voice and clarinet. I did not care for them musically, and the words (which I read but could not understand from Moore-Brown, whose beautiful voice masks her diction) were nonsense, I thought. van Hoose then played a Beethoven sonata (E major, Opus 109). I thought I would recognize all the Beethoven sonatas...but not this one. It is characterized by a superabundance of notes. Not always the best thing. but it does give a chance for the painist to show off his talents. They ended with Schubert's "The Shepherd on the Rock", a lied with piano and clarinet accompaniment, with lyrics by Wilhelm Mu[with an umlaut]ller. I could listen to most Schubert 24/7 and this song is no exception.
Turtles: Yesterday, I went to the National Acquarium at the Commerce Department on 14th Street, just south of Pennsylvania Avenue. I had not been there in about 30 years. It has not changed a bit. The water in the tanks looked clean, so I assume the fish are well cared for, but the basement acquarium remains dreary, dreary, dreary. And you have to feel sorry for the residents. They don't know how good their Balitmore cousins have it. But then, there is the sea turtle. He is an intellect, and an actor, and quite friendly. He (like the otters at the National Zoo) is worth the price of admission. In fact, I may go back just to see him. He is my friend.
Art: The Retratos exhibit of Latin American portraitry (is that a word) at the Smithsonian Ripley International Gallery is gone. You can catch in next, I believe, in San Antonio. One hundred exhibits of Latin portrait art, ranging from 2000 year old Peruvian clay sculptures, to late 20th century modern portraits and self portraits. The big names are represented (Rivera, Tomayo, Botero, Sequeiros,Kahlo and so on) and many you have never heard of. A fascinating sixteenth century painting of ethnic African nobility; religious paintings of saints and priests; portraits of wealthy women and their husbands. All with those rich and lustrous colors that were found in the Peruvian exhibit last year at the National Geographic.
Drama: Nextbook's program last night, featuring four actors reading from literature written by non-Jews but about Jews, was also not to be missed. But most people missed it, as I only counted about 50 or so in the Theater J space. The readings were from The Canterbury Tales (the Prioress' tale), Ivanhoe, Daniel Deronda, The Great Gatsby, House of Mirth, the Sun Also Rises and Ulysses. All four actors were excellent: Laura Ferri, Colin Byrne, David Klein and Shellie Shulkin. They went from character to character, from American to British to Irish dialects, giving great comic and dramatic readings. This was rehearsed; no sight readings here. See it when it plays Chicago next.
Music: My Tuesday lunch time concert today featured three Levine School staff members, vocalist Marilyn Moore-Brown, clarinetist Tiffani Perry and pianist Matthew van Hoose. The music they chose to play left something to be desired. First, there were three songs by Gordon Jacobs (don't know him, do you?) for voice and clarinet. I did not care for them musically, and the words (which I read but could not understand from Moore-Brown, whose beautiful voice masks her diction) were nonsense, I thought. van Hoose then played a Beethoven sonata (E major, Opus 109). I thought I would recognize all the Beethoven sonatas...but not this one. It is characterized by a superabundance of notes. Not always the best thing. but it does give a chance for the painist to show off his talents. They ended with Schubert's "The Shepherd on the Rock", a lied with piano and clarinet accompaniment, with lyrics by Wilhelm Mu[with an umlaut]ller. I could listen to most Schubert 24/7 and this song is no exception.
Turtles: Yesterday, I went to the National Acquarium at the Commerce Department on 14th Street, just south of Pennsylvania Avenue. I had not been there in about 30 years. It has not changed a bit. The water in the tanks looked clean, so I assume the fish are well cared for, but the basement acquarium remains dreary, dreary, dreary. And you have to feel sorry for the residents. They don't know how good their Balitmore cousins have it. But then, there is the sea turtle. He is an intellect, and an actor, and quite friendly. He (like the otters at the National Zoo) is worth the price of admission. In fact, I may go back just to see him. He is my friend.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Now here is a coincidence.
I am reading two books, "Fatelessness" by Imre Kertesz, a Nobel Prize winning Holocaust novel, and "One's Company" by Peter Fleming, a British journalist and brother to Ian, who wrote a travel book about his journey to China in 1933. Very different books.
In the Kertesz book, after our fifteen year old hero and tens of other Jewish youth are herded off a bus in Budapest in 1944, and held in a large empty builidng for several hours, the guarding policeman asks them if they knew any "party games". Page 45: "One boy - "Leatherware" as I recall - suggested paper, scissors, stone. The policeman, however, was not too keen on that, saying that he had expected better of "such bright kids" like us."
In the Fleming work, in Hangchow, the author is dining in a restaurant with a friend. Page 167: "From a room downstairs came that sound which so often accompanies meals in China - the staccato, competitive ejaculations of a party playing the "scissors" game. In this you and your opponent shoot out your right hands at each other simultaneously, the fingers being arranged in three postures. A clenched fist means "stone"; two fingers extended mean "scissors"; all five fingers extended mean "paper"........"
I can't wait for Google to put every book in the world on line. As soon as they tell me they are finished, I am going to write my Ph.D. thesis on "rock, paper, scissors" in fiction and non-fiction writing across the ages.
I am reading two books, "Fatelessness" by Imre Kertesz, a Nobel Prize winning Holocaust novel, and "One's Company" by Peter Fleming, a British journalist and brother to Ian, who wrote a travel book about his journey to China in 1933. Very different books.
In the Kertesz book, after our fifteen year old hero and tens of other Jewish youth are herded off a bus in Budapest in 1944, and held in a large empty builidng for several hours, the guarding policeman asks them if they knew any "party games". Page 45: "One boy - "Leatherware" as I recall - suggested paper, scissors, stone. The policeman, however, was not too keen on that, saying that he had expected better of "such bright kids" like us."
In the Fleming work, in Hangchow, the author is dining in a restaurant with a friend. Page 167: "From a room downstairs came that sound which so often accompanies meals in China - the staccato, competitive ejaculations of a party playing the "scissors" game. In this you and your opponent shoot out your right hands at each other simultaneously, the fingers being arranged in three postures. A clenched fist means "stone"; two fingers extended mean "scissors"; all five fingers extended mean "paper"........"
I can't wait for Google to put every book in the world on line. As soon as they tell me they are finished, I am going to write my Ph.D. thesis on "rock, paper, scissors" in fiction and non-fiction writing across the ages.
Haiti at the Beginning (13 cents)
I really did not know much about the creation of Haiti. i knew it was the first independent country in the Caribbean, and the first black run country in the hemisphere. I knew that it owed its existence to a man named Toussaint L'Ouverture; I had been to his palace in Cap Hatien. But I was very weak on the details.
I still am not strong, but have a much better feel for them after reading Gordon Brown's new book, "Toussaint's Clause". Brown interweaves three stories: the separation of Haiti from France in the early 1800s; developments in France itself during the Napoleanic years; and this country's relationship and reaction to the prospect of an independent Haiti, both politically and economically.
The facts themselves are too complex to relate. The Haitians took the French revolutionary slogan of equality, liberty and fraternity seriously, even when the French did not. They demanded an end to slavery and a change to the plantation system that led so many to a quick and early death. Because of the lack of assumed French support for their position, the African population turned anti-white in general, and also against the favored mulatto class. But they had no basis for the creation of a democratic society, and fell into dictatorship immediately. And, the plantation economy might have been socially reprehensible, but it was the economy, and with its collapse, Haiti quickly turned from the most prosperous island in the Caribbean to one of the poorest.
The French were conflicted, as well. They did not want to lose their prize colony, but could not hold onto it; they had neither the resources, nor (once the Napoleanic Wars began) the economic capacity that was needed. It was the same drain on their resources that led to the bargain sale of the Louisiana territory to the United States. But the French wanted to maintain some trade with Haiti, they wanted to preserve the wealth of its French population, they did not want to see America, and especially Britain, gain as a result of their limitations.
America had a number of conflicting interests. The northern states, mouthing support for another new self-governing republic, were in fact mainly interested in the preservation of trade, which was very important to the New England economy. The south, on the other hand, saw only bad precedent in the existence of a free black population so close to our shores. At least these were the major issues; in fact, things were much more complex, getting involved in issues of domestic politics to be sure, and even more with our relationship with our sometime friends and sometime adversaries, Britain and France, who were for the most part at war with each other.
Nothing turned out as expected, or as it could or should have, and Haiti suffers for it to this day. Brown's book sheds significant light on this interesting aspect of US history, even if its complexity is too great for perfect understanding.
I still am not strong, but have a much better feel for them after reading Gordon Brown's new book, "Toussaint's Clause". Brown interweaves three stories: the separation of Haiti from France in the early 1800s; developments in France itself during the Napoleanic years; and this country's relationship and reaction to the prospect of an independent Haiti, both politically and economically.
The facts themselves are too complex to relate. The Haitians took the French revolutionary slogan of equality, liberty and fraternity seriously, even when the French did not. They demanded an end to slavery and a change to the plantation system that led so many to a quick and early death. Because of the lack of assumed French support for their position, the African population turned anti-white in general, and also against the favored mulatto class. But they had no basis for the creation of a democratic society, and fell into dictatorship immediately. And, the plantation economy might have been socially reprehensible, but it was the economy, and with its collapse, Haiti quickly turned from the most prosperous island in the Caribbean to one of the poorest.
The French were conflicted, as well. They did not want to lose their prize colony, but could not hold onto it; they had neither the resources, nor (once the Napoleanic Wars began) the economic capacity that was needed. It was the same drain on their resources that led to the bargain sale of the Louisiana territory to the United States. But the French wanted to maintain some trade with Haiti, they wanted to preserve the wealth of its French population, they did not want to see America, and especially Britain, gain as a result of their limitations.
America had a number of conflicting interests. The northern states, mouthing support for another new self-governing republic, were in fact mainly interested in the preservation of trade, which was very important to the New England economy. The south, on the other hand, saw only bad precedent in the existence of a free black population so close to our shores. At least these were the major issues; in fact, things were much more complex, getting involved in issues of domestic politics to be sure, and even more with our relationship with our sometime friends and sometime adversaries, Britain and France, who were for the most part at war with each other.
Nothing turned out as expected, or as it could or should have, and Haiti suffers for it to this day. Brown's book sheds significant light on this interesting aspect of US history, even if its complexity is too great for perfect understanding.
My Four Cents on Abortion (4 cents)
With the Alito hearings starting, abortion policy is on everyone's mind.
It poses some interestng questions.
First, we have an issue that the "left" (which normally favors governmental regulation) wishes the government not to regulate at all, and which the "right" (which normally favors minimal government regulations) wants to the government to regulate completely.
Second, the issue focuses on Roe v. Wade, a thirty year old case which precluded state regulation of abortions under what most people recognize is a relatively weak constitutional theory, and is potentially subject to reversal, or modification, if the Supreme Court is faced with certain facts and an anti-abortion disposition. It has always been vulnerable in this regard, but has been in place for 30 years. Indeed, one of the questions now is whether the precedent set by 30 years of Roe v. Wade, or the legal concept of "stare decisis", should induce the Court not to overturn a decision that today might be decided much differently.
The number of people in the United States today advocating abortion as a matter of right, irrespective of situation or facts, seems to be diminishing. This is because the anti-abortion lobby has been very successful in bringing the negatives of abortion into public view, while the "pro-choice" lobby has been less successful in advocating the opposite position.
But to my mind the most complicating issue today is that the arguments in favor of eliminating or abolishing the right to an abortion has taken on sectarian, religious tones to the extreme.
The Catholic church has long been anti-abortion on the theory (another charged term these days) that life begins at conception. Thus, an abortion is murder and, as I understand it, murdering a "pre-born child" may be worse than murdering any other living person, because the pre-born child has not been baptized (why can't they baptize in utero?), and therefore the afterlife of its soul is in question. For this reason, again as I understand it, the church would, if there were a conflict between saving the life of the unborn child and saving the life of the pregnant mother, save the child at the expense of the mother.
The Jewish position is very different. Under Jewish law, a child is not born until it leaves its mother's body. Although great respect is paid to the fetus, an abortion is not "murder" under Jewish law, and if there is a question of saving the life of the unborn child, or the life of the mother, it is the mother's life that is favored. Just the opposite of the Catholic position. In addition, under Jewish law, abortions are permitted to preserve the health of the mother (physical or mental, under relevant responsa), again the opposite of the Catholic position that there can be no basis for an abortion.
As to Protestant and other non-Catholic Christian denominations, the positions vary greatly, with the more fundamentalist denominations taking positions close to the Catholic position and the more liberal denominations taking positions more alligned to the Jewish position (although for different reasons).
Another difference, of course, is that the Jewish position would oppose governmental regulation on the basis that the Jewish community self-regulates according to its halakhic rules, and that those rules do not govern other communities, which should be left to their own devices. The Catholic/rightwing Protestant position, on the other hand, is a universal position, not permitting other groups to operate by other religious or ethical standards.
If Roe v. Wade were overturned, abortion rights would revert to the states. It would be expected that some states would seek to regulate abortion closely (or eliminate it entirely), and others would leave it unregulated.
Suppose this happens. I would expect that, if say Alabama outlawed abortions, the challenge to the state legislation would be made on a different basis than Roe was decided. It would be made on the basis that this is a law that embodies a particular religious position and thus does not permit others to enjoy freedom of religion. This would be a different issue than the courts would have faced before and, because the anti-abortion positions all seem to the based on particular religious beliefs held by certain denominations, we might be back where we are now, with state regulation of abortion deemed unconstitutional.
Because of the volatility of the issue, however, it would not only be a question of confusion and cost while this battle is being refought, but stands to deepen even further the polarized positions on abortion more and more evident in American society, and have a continuing negative influence on the commonweal.
It poses some interestng questions.
First, we have an issue that the "left" (which normally favors governmental regulation) wishes the government not to regulate at all, and which the "right" (which normally favors minimal government regulations) wants to the government to regulate completely.
Second, the issue focuses on Roe v. Wade, a thirty year old case which precluded state regulation of abortions under what most people recognize is a relatively weak constitutional theory, and is potentially subject to reversal, or modification, if the Supreme Court is faced with certain facts and an anti-abortion disposition. It has always been vulnerable in this regard, but has been in place for 30 years. Indeed, one of the questions now is whether the precedent set by 30 years of Roe v. Wade, or the legal concept of "stare decisis", should induce the Court not to overturn a decision that today might be decided much differently.
The number of people in the United States today advocating abortion as a matter of right, irrespective of situation or facts, seems to be diminishing. This is because the anti-abortion lobby has been very successful in bringing the negatives of abortion into public view, while the "pro-choice" lobby has been less successful in advocating the opposite position.
But to my mind the most complicating issue today is that the arguments in favor of eliminating or abolishing the right to an abortion has taken on sectarian, religious tones to the extreme.
The Catholic church has long been anti-abortion on the theory (another charged term these days) that life begins at conception. Thus, an abortion is murder and, as I understand it, murdering a "pre-born child" may be worse than murdering any other living person, because the pre-born child has not been baptized (why can't they baptize in utero?), and therefore the afterlife of its soul is in question. For this reason, again as I understand it, the church would, if there were a conflict between saving the life of the unborn child and saving the life of the pregnant mother, save the child at the expense of the mother.
The Jewish position is very different. Under Jewish law, a child is not born until it leaves its mother's body. Although great respect is paid to the fetus, an abortion is not "murder" under Jewish law, and if there is a question of saving the life of the unborn child, or the life of the mother, it is the mother's life that is favored. Just the opposite of the Catholic position. In addition, under Jewish law, abortions are permitted to preserve the health of the mother (physical or mental, under relevant responsa), again the opposite of the Catholic position that there can be no basis for an abortion.
As to Protestant and other non-Catholic Christian denominations, the positions vary greatly, with the more fundamentalist denominations taking positions close to the Catholic position and the more liberal denominations taking positions more alligned to the Jewish position (although for different reasons).
Another difference, of course, is that the Jewish position would oppose governmental regulation on the basis that the Jewish community self-regulates according to its halakhic rules, and that those rules do not govern other communities, which should be left to their own devices. The Catholic/rightwing Protestant position, on the other hand, is a universal position, not permitting other groups to operate by other religious or ethical standards.
If Roe v. Wade were overturned, abortion rights would revert to the states. It would be expected that some states would seek to regulate abortion closely (or eliminate it entirely), and others would leave it unregulated.
Suppose this happens. I would expect that, if say Alabama outlawed abortions, the challenge to the state legislation would be made on a different basis than Roe was decided. It would be made on the basis that this is a law that embodies a particular religious position and thus does not permit others to enjoy freedom of religion. This would be a different issue than the courts would have faced before and, because the anti-abortion positions all seem to the based on particular religious beliefs held by certain denominations, we might be back where we are now, with state regulation of abortion deemed unconstitutional.
Because of the volatility of the issue, however, it would not only be a question of confusion and cost while this battle is being refought, but stands to deepen even further the polarized positions on abortion more and more evident in American society, and have a continuing negative influence on the commonweal.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
No Known Motive (ten cents)
A close paraphrase of news I heard yesterday on the radio.
"A 28 year old man has been arrested for setting fire to a commercial building in Thurmont, Maryland, on New Years Day. Authorities say there is no known motive for the assumed arson. The suspect had previously worked for a company headquartered in the building, had been fired, and had been engaged in a dispute with his former boss over the firing and back pay."
"A 28 year old man has been arrested for setting fire to a commercial building in Thurmont, Maryland, on New Years Day. Authorities say there is no known motive for the assumed arson. The suspect had previously worked for a company headquartered in the building, had been fired, and had been engaged in a dispute with his former boss over the firing and back pay."
Friday, January 06, 2006
An Embarrassment to Yale Law School
Is Pat Robertson, who believe it or not has a Yale LLB. He is also part of the best proof against Intelligent Design (no intelligent deity could ever have designed Robertson).
Having said that God struck down Ariel Sharon because he gave up Gaza to the Palestinians, Robertson has joined Rabbi O.J. (Obediah Joseph - see previous posts)in the lead for the category "Religious Stupidity". (OJ said that Katrina hit New Orleans because the black population of New Orleans did not study Torah.)
"God said: This is my land. You can't give it away", said Robertson. Even today's Wall Street Journal, of all papers, with its generally simplistic and wrongsided editorial policy, said that Robertson had hit a new low in religious crassness. Way to go, WSJ.
Having said that God struck down Ariel Sharon because he gave up Gaza to the Palestinians, Robertson has joined Rabbi O.J. (Obediah Joseph - see previous posts)in the lead for the category "Religious Stupidity". (OJ said that Katrina hit New Orleans because the black population of New Orleans did not study Torah.)
"God said: This is my land. You can't give it away", said Robertson. Even today's Wall Street Journal, of all papers, with its generally simplistic and wrongsided editorial policy, said that Robertson had hit a new low in religious crassness. Way to go, WSJ.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
I Should Have Said Something Earlier
The Sean Scully exhibit at the Phillips is not to be missed. And, if you don't go by Sunday, you will have missed it.
Look up Scully on the Internet and you will see what he does. Basically, geometric walls and shapes, often on large, textured canvasses, showing extraordinary colors and light.
It is a large exhibit, but you can do it quickly, as the impressive thing about it is the overall impression it makes, not the details on each piece.
Look up Scully on the Internet and you will see what he does. Basically, geometric walls and shapes, often on large, textured canvasses, showing extraordinary colors and light.
It is a large exhibit, but you can do it quickly, as the impressive thing about it is the overall impression it makes, not the details on each piece.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
No such thing as a klezmer organ (4 cents)
This is what I learned at Tuesday's lunchtime concert at Grace Episcopal Church. It was called "Music for Christmas and Epiphany" and consisted of organ solo renditions of various carols and other seasonal songs. I was relatively unexcited about most of the songs and most of the arrangements. Several seemed to consist of too many notes and too much noise. A simple melody line would have been preferable.
But I did like (a lot)a piece called Weinachten (Christmases in German), composed by Max Reger. It is a soulful piece meant to explore the relationship between World War I (it was written in 1914) and the prince of piece. Very moving.
Most of the pieces were hymns, with words (and piano music) found in the hymnals. Did you know that the fourth verse of O, Come, All Ye Faithful contains: "Lo, he abhors not the virgin's womb"? What does that mean?
The organist, Lawrence Young is organist for a Presbyterian church in Annandale. He wrote the program notes. I think that his view of organ music and mine differ quite a bit. He called one of the pieces a "rollicking bit of fun". Can you imagine an organ that rollicks?
We'll see what next week brings.
But I did like (a lot)a piece called Weinachten (Christmases in German), composed by Max Reger. It is a soulful piece meant to explore the relationship between World War I (it was written in 1914) and the prince of piece. Very moving.
Most of the pieces were hymns, with words (and piano music) found in the hymnals. Did you know that the fourth verse of O, Come, All Ye Faithful contains: "Lo, he abhors not the virgin's womb"? What does that mean?
The organist, Lawrence Young is organist for a Presbyterian church in Annandale. He wrote the program notes. I think that his view of organ music and mine differ quite a bit. He called one of the pieces a "rollicking bit of fun". Can you imagine an organ that rollicks?
We'll see what next week brings.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Starbucks Egg Salad Sandwich (25 cents)
I was enjoying my Starbucks egg salad on dark bread until I looked at the label and saw that this one sandwich contained 740 calories.
My lunch? One half of a Starbucks egg salad sandwich.
My lunch? One half of a Starbucks egg salad sandwich.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Heartburn
I don't have a CURE for heartburn, but if you want to GET heartburn, sit through the new movie, "Syriana".
What's worse, under the current rules of our house, I have now lost the ability to select the next movie. After a successful run of two (Goodnight and Good Luck, and Capote), I now must await my wife's selection of a klunker before I can pick another.
What's worse, under the current rules of our house, I have now lost the ability to select the next movie. After a successful run of two (Goodnight and Good Luck, and Capote), I now must await my wife's selection of a klunker before I can pick another.
The Bugatti Queen
Recall my reviews of books about "progressive" women of the early twentieth century (such as the novel about Tina Modotti, "Tinisima" by Eleana Poniatowsa), and add to them the Bugatti Queen, Helle Nice. This biography tells the story of a girl from rural France, born in 1900, who finds her way to Paris, becomes a night club performer, and professional dancer, but who has always wanted to become a race car driver. Her career picks up, she makes friends with all the right people (in all the wrong ways, perhaps) and then has an accident which destroys her knee and her dancing career.
Not to be held down, this gives her the chance to really concentrate on the still new (and very dangerous) sport of auto racing, something that few women were involved with. She sees an extraordinarily high percentage of her male peers killed in racing accidents, but she becomes the toast of racing circles in (at least) France, her fame and ambition growing. Until she, too, is in a racing accident, this time in South America, which leads to a long recovery, and to an end to her highflying career as a driver (although she does not stop participating in the sport).
Cut to Paris in WWII, and the German occupation. Now, Nice's activities grow mysterious, as evidence of them does not seem to exist. She is living with her latest lover (and mechanic, a much younger man) in Paris, but they move to the Riviera where they live in elegant surroundings in a villa overlooking the sea. The war ends, the Germans vanish, and life goes on. But within a few years, Nice finds herself in a restaurant in Monaco where the runs into another well known French racer, named Louis Chiron, who loudly and publically accused her of being an agent of the Gestapo. The run-in is reported, and obviously was meaningful, because Nice drops from public view.
Was she a Gestapo informer? Was she a Nazi? Was she anything?
Again, the evidence one way or another appears to be non-existent. Nice lives almost another 40 years. But she lives them in poverty, loneliness and obscurity.
As a subject of a biography, she is interesting. Her story has never before been written and there are obvious gaps in it. (The author, Miranda Seymour, includes an Afterwood, where she talks about how she came to write this book, and how she obtained the information contained in it.) It ends in mystery.
Most importantly, in addition to the biography of the subject, is the description of the early days of automobile racing, especially in Europe. Fascinating.
Not to be held down, this gives her the chance to really concentrate on the still new (and very dangerous) sport of auto racing, something that few women were involved with. She sees an extraordinarily high percentage of her male peers killed in racing accidents, but she becomes the toast of racing circles in (at least) France, her fame and ambition growing. Until she, too, is in a racing accident, this time in South America, which leads to a long recovery, and to an end to her highflying career as a driver (although she does not stop participating in the sport).
Cut to Paris in WWII, and the German occupation. Now, Nice's activities grow mysterious, as evidence of them does not seem to exist. She is living with her latest lover (and mechanic, a much younger man) in Paris, but they move to the Riviera where they live in elegant surroundings in a villa overlooking the sea. The war ends, the Germans vanish, and life goes on. But within a few years, Nice finds herself in a restaurant in Monaco where the runs into another well known French racer, named Louis Chiron, who loudly and publically accused her of being an agent of the Gestapo. The run-in is reported, and obviously was meaningful, because Nice drops from public view.
Was she a Gestapo informer? Was she a Nazi? Was she anything?
Again, the evidence one way or another appears to be non-existent. Nice lives almost another 40 years. But she lives them in poverty, loneliness and obscurity.
As a subject of a biography, she is interesting. Her story has never before been written and there are obvious gaps in it. (The author, Miranda Seymour, includes an Afterwood, where she talks about how she came to write this book, and how she obtained the information contained in it.) It ends in mystery.
Most importantly, in addition to the biography of the subject, is the description of the early days of automobile racing, especially in Europe. Fascinating.
Siberia
"Siberia" is a travel book written by English travel writer Colin Thubron. Thubron at the age of 58 decided to travel throughout Siberia to see the effect of the fall of Communism on life (if you can call it that) in this large (and cold) region. Speaking some Russian (and having written one previous travel book on Russia), he embarked by himself in 1998 on what seemed to have been a 4-5 month trip, generally following the Trans-Siberian railroad, but going off on excursions (sometimes hitching a ride, and sometimes flying in propeller planes) both north and south. He method is as follows, or so it seems: he researches the area to which he is to travel in order both to set out his route (marked generally by distinct locations which he believes are 'must see'), and to get background on the places he is to visit (generally, it appears, by reading and by visiting museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where he speaks to scholars and curators. Then he sets off, with minimal baggage. It seems he is only carrying a large rucksack. Although he knows where he is going and what he wants to accomplish there, he makes no advance arrangements, relying on his wits to find places to sleep and eat, and people to meet. Often the places he travels to are very remote, with no accomodations, and he must fend for himself.
What a terrible place Siberia is. And always has been. Largely, of course, because of weather and expanse. The native tribes began to be joined by Russian who were fur trading and mineral mining centuries ago. But those were the good told days. Struggles with native populations, continued and generally unsuccessful attempts at larger scale colonization and industrialization, the creation of enormous prison and labor camp systems by a series of Russian governments, and environmental destruction have all left their mark.
In some of the larger cities (Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinislav), there are hotels, but not first class ones. In some smaller places, there are guest houses. But there are also places, such as Pokrovskoe (the boyhood home of Rasputin) where he stays in the two room cabin of an old woman.
"It never fails. You arrive in a small town towards sunset. You know nobody, nothing. The main street is empty, the shops closed, the few offices, almost deserted. But you tell yourself: within an hour, I'll be under shelter. So you trudge into some municipal building, where a dazed looking secretary directs you down the street to a guesthouse. It doesn't exist."
The trip is certainly not without interest. You see where Tolstoy died, where Doestoevsky and Lenin and Stalin were exiled. You meet people who survived the gulag and hear of those who did not. You see the Communist attempts to build industrial powerhouses in the east, now mainly abandoned and left to decay. You see the large science center built at Novosibirsk, once totally off limits to foreigners, and now attracting only third rate researchers, who scrape buy with virtually no financial support from the government. You see the resurgence of Russian orthodoxy, and of buddhism. You see how removed the non-Russians feel from Moscow, and how so many of the Russians believe that they are still part of a large unified country. You see the brain drain, the vodka, the lack of a balanced diet, the madmen, the religious enthusiasts of all stripes. You visit Lake Baikal, deepest and purest in the world, in spite of increasing pollution. You go into regional museums, you see the large public and cultural buildings in places such as Irkutsk, built in better times. You see Chinese merchants who cross the border to see, you visit Birobidjan (the Jewish autonomous republic) now without Jews, you enter a restaurant in Yakutsk, where horsemeat and pony stew highlight the menu.
You are fascinated by the trip as it moves along. You are thrilled when it is over.
Thubron is an excellent writer, but he makes you wonder about what was left out, as well as about the situations he describes. You don't want to visit Siberia.
What a terrible place Siberia is. And always has been. Largely, of course, because of weather and expanse. The native tribes began to be joined by Russian who were fur trading and mineral mining centuries ago. But those were the good told days. Struggles with native populations, continued and generally unsuccessful attempts at larger scale colonization and industrialization, the creation of enormous prison and labor camp systems by a series of Russian governments, and environmental destruction have all left their mark.
In some of the larger cities (Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinislav), there are hotels, but not first class ones. In some smaller places, there are guest houses. But there are also places, such as Pokrovskoe (the boyhood home of Rasputin) where he stays in the two room cabin of an old woman.
"It never fails. You arrive in a small town towards sunset. You know nobody, nothing. The main street is empty, the shops closed, the few offices, almost deserted. But you tell yourself: within an hour, I'll be under shelter. So you trudge into some municipal building, where a dazed looking secretary directs you down the street to a guesthouse. It doesn't exist."
The trip is certainly not without interest. You see where Tolstoy died, where Doestoevsky and Lenin and Stalin were exiled. You meet people who survived the gulag and hear of those who did not. You see the Communist attempts to build industrial powerhouses in the east, now mainly abandoned and left to decay. You see the large science center built at Novosibirsk, once totally off limits to foreigners, and now attracting only third rate researchers, who scrape buy with virtually no financial support from the government. You see the resurgence of Russian orthodoxy, and of buddhism. You see how removed the non-Russians feel from Moscow, and how so many of the Russians believe that they are still part of a large unified country. You see the brain drain, the vodka, the lack of a balanced diet, the madmen, the religious enthusiasts of all stripes. You visit Lake Baikal, deepest and purest in the world, in spite of increasing pollution. You go into regional museums, you see the large public and cultural buildings in places such as Irkutsk, built in better times. You see Chinese merchants who cross the border to see, you visit Birobidjan (the Jewish autonomous republic) now without Jews, you enter a restaurant in Yakutsk, where horsemeat and pony stew highlight the menu.
You are fascinated by the trip as it moves along. You are thrilled when it is over.
Thubron is an excellent writer, but he makes you wonder about what was left out, as well as about the situations he describes. You don't want to visit Siberia.
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