Paved Paradise

Since I last posted, I had a wonderful weekend in MN with my family celebrating a cousin's high school graduation and my twin uncles' 50th birthday. This trip included a black raspberry pie whose berries had been picked not 12 hours before they came out of the oven in a pulchritudinous pie. One of the people who came back for a second piece (and was still talking about it the following morning) was Jean-Yves, a retired French chef who started as saucier at La Caravelle in 1969 in NY and moved to sous chef at Le Cirque before finishing at the University Club as Executive Chef. I'm still quite proud that I was able to make something for him to enjoy.

The parking lot behind Prescott Hall, in front of my work, is being refinished this week. Monday they sprayed a new coat of tar/asphalt, and today they painted new yellow lines. I find the immaculate lot to be a thing of beauty and wish I had the means to take some aerial pictures before it is spoilt by use and the bleaching sun. The black lot and yellow lines are striking. Then again, it could just be the tar fumes talking.

Victory!

That is the answer to the previous post's cliffhanger. The oak branch on the dime symbolizes victory.

I was looking up the word fritter, to reduce or squander little by little, and came across frith. While it can be a woody place, or an alteration of firth, an inlet of water, the definition I gravitated to was peace, security, protection.

I really like the moral ambiguity of greys and pinks.

Last week my grocery store had like 6 varieties of pear on sale. So after trying Forelle, D'Anjou, Red D'Anjou, Comice, and Bosc pears, I have decided that my favorite was Comice.

Running dangerously low on Irish whiskey, for my Irish coffee (what can be better than alcohol, coffee, sugar, and cream?) on Sunday morning, I grabbed a bottle of Jameson. This allowed me to compare it to the other (I know they aren't the only two anymore, but really why bother with any others) Irish whiskey I already had, Bushmills. I first got Bushmills last year sometime, because it was cheaper and had been the first distillery to receive a license from England back in 1608. My main use for it has been Irish coffees. But comparing it on the rocks with the Jameson helped me to realize it is pretty solid all alone, and I prefer it to Jameson (actually Scottish distillers who moved to Ireland).

My favorite commercial right now is for Skittles. I love how the Skittles bag is appropriately reflected, and the tailor is in all three mirrors. I think from concept to execution the whole thing is brilliant.

My favorite Shepard Fairey picture is this.

Going through my "name" dictionary (the one that has lots of entries for first names), I came across Mary, from Miriam--to rebel. I like that Jesus was born of rebellion. Then I was looking up Maroon (name for group of people from escaped slaves in the Caribbean) and came across marid -- a powerful and evil djinni in Arab and Indian lore. It also comes from Aramaic -- to rebel.

Lincoln has been fortunate enough to have temps in the upper 40s and lower 50s the past few days (don't worry our projected high for the next few days is in the 20s), and I had some boxes of shirts at work sitting on the dock in the sun. It has been a while since I've worked with something that was warmed by the sun, and it is nice. Plus it helps me to remember how powerful and hot the sun's energy is.

Some more names that have caught my fancy: Linus, Olyphant (not Oliphant)

Friday Favorites

Billy Stewart, 60s singer whose rendition of Summertime is one of my favorites.

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with . . . This is Elvis' new talk, performance, music history show. The first guest was Elton John, and Sir Elton referred to the aforementioned Billy Stewart as a "30 stone man." That is quite hefty.

Ed Ruscha, one of the pop artists from the LA scene. He and Stella McCartney were featured in the Iconoclasts episode on Sundance Channel last night.

Sundance Channel, Spectacle is another of their original shows, along with Iconoclasts, and Live from Abbey Road. If Robert Redford had done nothing else, I would still appreciate him for giving me the Sundance Channel.

Bespoke tailoring, I'm not quite certain what this is in its entirety, but Stella McCartney said her shops are some of the few remaining that do bespoke.

328, My favorite three digit number. When I registered my car in August, I had the choice of three digit numbers at the end of my license plate. I wasn't expecting to have a choice, so I said any would do (and ended up with 171). But now I realize that I do prefer 328; it doesn't hurt that is is my birthday. What is your favorite three digit number?

The Sham Wow! Guy. I've seen this commercial a few times, and I'm always impressed by the pitch man. He's not too attractive, but his charisma and presentation carry him quite far.

"Like a Kick in the Head"

I really enjoyed myself quite thoroughly on my trip to Des Moines with Karen, Friday. I'll give you an overview and then Break. It. Down.

We left at 10 and arrived uneventfully right on time to join Nathan for lunch at the Art Center's "five star" restaurant. Then we had a wonderful two hours absorbing the art. After getting a bit derailed by the one way street system, we had twenty minutes to buzz through the Capitol building. We then mastered the aforementioned street system and had supper at Court Avenue Brewing. This left us with enough time for me to 'av a pint at The Royal Mile, a British type pub, and another at El Bait Shop, with 100 taps from which beer comes. We arrived also on time for the Squirrel Nut Zippers concert (the main reason for the trip). The Dex Romweber Duo opened, and the Zippers headlined. And again we arrived uneventfully back at Lincoln right at 2.

Des Moines Art Center was really more than I had hoped for. I remembered that they had an Andy Goldsworthy sculpture from a documentary I'd watched on him. But the rest of their collection was really great and Karen and I really liked it. Some pieces I particularly enjoyed: Man and Pegasus, Women, Bird, Stars; Light over Gray by Rothko, A Panic That Can Still Come Over Me: Salvages II by Jess, Ballet Girl in White, Jasper Johns' Tennyson (a favorite of mine), Phantom in a Wooden Garden, Range by Brice Marden, Giacometti's Man Pointing, another one that was one of my favorites was a Samurai Tree by Gabriel Orozco, but I can't find a picture of it.

I thought it would be interesting to ask what the Art Center's guards' favorite piece was. Three out of five said John Singer Sargent's Portraits of Edouard and Marie-Louise Pailleron. Other favorites of the guards were Childe Hassam's Bridge in Snow, and Gerhard Richter's Landschaft. I liked the other John Singer Sargent they had there, Study of an Old Man, more. My favorite guard was Milton Bruce Jr. who had been at the center for 8 years after working 35 years mixing rubber for tires. He had worked at the same machine in the same room for 35 years. He said coming to the Center was like a kick in the head. I suppose so. It should also be mentioned that three different architects have designed segments building which is compelling in itself.

Karen and I were repeatedly impressed by Jean Dubuffet. We first saw his Villager with Close Cropped Hair on the main floor. And there were a couple others I really liked including The Gardens of the Highway. Another piece I couldn't find images of but enjoyed was Leon Golub's Colossol. And to fully document the rest of the pieces I liked: Ernst Barlach's The Avenger and Ritman's Nude in Landscape.

The Capitol Building was impressive. My opinion was that I liked the art of the Nebraska Capitol and the structure and ornament of the Iowa building.

Court Avenue Brewing was good. Karen liked her Porto Bomb sandwich and I my Black and Tan Reuben. They even had a very good bread pudding for dessert (though Famous Dave's is still tops). I tasted three of their beers and their root beer. I didn't care for the Blackhawk Stout or the Kaplan Hat Hefeweizen, but I did like the Capital Raspberry Wheat and their root beer was quite good with just enough kick. We then hit the Royal Mile where I had Fuller's London Porter. I liked it, but it was really sweet, so much that a whole glass was almost too sweet. At El Bait Shop I had Bell's Oberon, a wheat beer, that had very nice citrus overtones. Bell's is from Michigan.

By now it was time to head over to the Hoyt Sherman Place for the concert. The Dex Romweber Duo opened and did a fine job. I was thinking of how to describe them to you, and I decided that their style and music is what would have happened if the White Stripes (Dex's sister Sara plays the drums.) were born in the early 40's and had matured musically with the rise of Rock and Roll. And sure enough, if you click on my first link to them, there is a quote from Jack White about his influence. Dex is reminiscent of a winner of an Elvis contest at the Kremlin.

The Squirrel Nut Zippers were great. The last few concerts I've been to are Sufjan Stevens, Of Montreal, Ryan Stupe and the Rubber Band, and Gym Class Heroes. Sufjan opened his Austin City Limits concert with butterfly wings on his back, The Of Montreal lead singer opened his Sokol Underground show in a wedding dress so that he could legally make love to the audience. Ryan Stupe plays the fiddle and they have a song about a Banjo Boy.

Well Katherine Whalen opened the show with cowboy boots, a wedding dress, and butterfly wings, oh and she also played the banjo. The wings were the only thing that didn't last the whole show. I must say I was quite smitten. I'm definitely glad that our seats were in the center of the second row with no one sitting in front of us. They played all their hits from their previous three or four albums; this is their first tour in seven years. And then we got to participate in that great charade where they pretend they are done with the show and the audience pretends they have the power to control musicians by merely standing and clapping. Good stuff.

Between Dex and the Zippers I walked around the lobby and noticed the name Mrs. Galusha Parsons. I don't know if that is her husband's name or hers.

An Email Forward I Appreciated

How much chalk could a woodchuck chalk if his name were Julian Beever?

It is mainly a bunch of sidewalk chalk drawings done in three dimensional perspective. The Batman and Robin is my favorite.

I'm doing well. I've been running again, at least three miles on Friday, Monday, and Wednesday. I've been eating healthier--ice cream only once or twice in the last couple weeks. And I'm making my second pie in seven days. This one will be a blue-barb (unless you prefer rhuberry) pie with honey instead of sugar. I went with honey instead of sugar, because my normal rhubarb custard recipe is too sweet. Sure you want sweet, but you also want the tartness of the rhubarb, so I'm making some adjustments. We'll (me and those joining me tomorrow for Thursday Night) see how it goes.

"In the Marmalade Forest . . .

between the Make-Believe Trees in a cottage cheese cottage lives Albi (Albi), Albi, Albi, Albi the Racist Dragon.

Part Six:

So all the angry villagers chased Albi into a very cold, very scary cave, and it was so cold and scary in there that Albi began to cry, dragon tears (which as we all know turn into jelly beans). Anyway, at that moment he felt a tiny little hand rest upon his tail, and he turned around, and who should it be but the badly burnt Albanian boy from the day before.

"What are you doing here? I thought I killed you," grumbled Albi, quite racistly.

"No Albi, you did not kill me. However you left me very severely disfigured and scarred," laughed the boy. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm crying because all of the villagers chased me into this horrible cave. I think it's because I'm so racist."

"No Albi, it isn't because of your racism that they chased you here. They chased me here too when I became disfigured. It's because they don't like you and I because we're different to them."

And SUDDENLY Albi wasn't racist anymore.

So they sat in their cave and ate bubble gum pie. Yum!

Albi the Racist (well, not anymore) Dragon."

This is from a musical comedy group from New Zealand called Flight of the Conchords. One member is now doing commercials for Outback Steakhouse.

Conversational Cul de sac

Here on the shore of Baltimore observing the barrage of rockets and bombs from the man o'war,
The gunnery mates stripp'd to the waist and glistening with sweat,
Shouting each to the other and working together in close drill,
Ramming the powder charge and then the enormous projectile,
Each of them a man like myself and possessed of secret longings,
Each of them comely and well-appointed,
Especially the tall one on the left with black curls and taut abdominal muscles,
Who looks so long and lovingly at me, a stranger in big boots,
And I return his gaze--O aficionado, come, take my hand--
Leave your cannonading and we shall travel the open road
Where there are no banners except of affection and the love of dear comrades.

--WW

Whose flag this is I think I know
His house is being bombed now though
He will not see that I have come
To watch the twilight's ebbing glow.

My little horse must think it dumb,
The cannons' pandemonium,
The rockets bursting in the air,
The sound of bugle, fife, and drum,

He turns and shakes his derriere
To show me that he doesn't care
Who takes this battle flag or why,
When in the redness of the glare

I see the banner flying high
Through the tumult in the sky
And, knowing all is now okay,
We walk away, my horse and I.

The flag is lovely, hip hooray,
But I have things to do today,
Some here and others far away,
Before I stop to hit the hay.

--Robert Frost

She being brand
New he threw
A flag over h
Er & began
The bombard
Ment & was soon
Rocketing
A (long) & feeling
Braveandfreeand(proudly)perilous
Can you see? Said he
Oui oui, said she
And it was love and it was
Spring and roses and it was
Dawn &
He
B
U
R
S
T
Into song.

--E.E. Cummings

That's all I've got. I'd be interested in what someone who is good at poetry could do with just words five letters or less. It is my obstruction for them.

As Per Bryant

This is just to say
I have taken
The flag
That was
Flying

And which
You probably expected
To see
This morning

Forgive me
It was beautiful
So free
And so brave

--William Carlos Williams

Up in the night to piss
Saw the flag
Stripes & stars
Reflected in the stream
& in the morning
Still there

--Gary Snyder

The Banner--that we watched in Air
So Proudly as it Gleamed
Was Proven by the Rocket Glare
Or so to us it Seemed--

And so we waited for the Dawn
To see if it still flew
Or if--in Tatters--it is Gone--
As happened once--with You.

I woke up--at the Matin Bell--
A vast and empty Bed--
The Pillow bore--the slightest smell
Of Oil--from your Head.

A fleeting Phantasy--perhaps--
The Ghost of--Not To Be--
And Postmen--in their Crimson Caps--
Aim their Artillery.

--Emily Dickinson

I'm watching Punch-Drunk Love on TV. This is about the third or fourth time I've seen it, and I really like it. One of the things that first caught me was Shelley Duvall singing "He Needs Me" from the Popeye movie she did as Olive Oyl. Kudos to Paul Thomas Anderson.

Barry Egan Lena Leonard

The Anthem

On the ship, I sit and wait for the dawn
In the midst of the bombs and rockets and so forth,
A prisoner of these British marines who might shoot me,
You never know in a situation like this.

Like so many great moments in history,
You come upon it without meaning to.
You're a lawyer who goes to negotiate for the release of a prisoner
And voila you become one yourself.

There is this incredibly perious fight going on
And I suppose a person should be thinking about freedom
Or bravery but I must admit
I would give anything for a cup of coffee right now.

Like a Starbucks made by a girl in a striped blouse,
A latte streaming and gleaming.
But that seems less likely at the moment
Than Betsy Ross doing a striptease, stripe by stripe.

The graceful arc of the rockets, like Don
Larsen's curve ball for the Bronx Bombers.
He was a hero and then suddenly he was gone.
I wonder what's going to happen to that flag.

Somebody could write a poem about this,
Something to mark this whole thing that's going on,
But if they did, probably they shouldn't include
The coffee and the part about Betsy dropping the flag.

--Billy Collins

Actually it was Garrison Keillor impersonating Billy in the latest issue of The Atlantic. If you would like to see his impersonation of Whitman, Dickinson, Frost, Cummings, Carlos Williams, or Snyder, let me know I'll be happy to include them here.

Lindsay Peterson (LP) is the one that shared the wisdom with me the other day. She works and learns at AdventSource, while attending CVA.

Pegamus

Last Wednesday, I met my mother and step-father in York on their way down to TX to spend more time with the new grand babies. On the 40 miles of interstate to York, I saw a semi-trailer with a very nice silhouette of a moose with wings on the mud flaps. The company that made the trailer was Manac (canam). I really love the mythology of this creature. Often the "deer" of Swedish folk tales were moose particularly in one of my favorite illustrator's images.

Does this picture remind you of anything?

Tattoo Inspiration

a surveyor

Sculpture: Lee Lawrie, a Sower and Atlas

Second from Bottom: John Bauer illustration for The Ring

Bottom: William Blake's Newton

Crumpus

Go to here.

William Blake

Periwinkle or Wedgewood?

I saw Syriana tonight. I liked it a lot. I'll be giving it four stars out of five on Netflix, which means that I would enjoy watching it again. The writing was wonderful, acting spot on (being intimately familiar with the circles surrounding the oil industry, I can say this truthfully), material compelling, and outcome disheartening. What more could you want from a film?

Follow-up, Jeremy, the screenwriting phlebo I told you about earlier; I saw him and his family at Super Saver a couple nights ago.

John Bauer

Cone Appetit

I got my hair cut shorter tonight.

I also went to Ivanna Cone. I tried the redundant ambrosia nectar and banana pudding. Didn't like the nectar, it was like a lame tutti frutti. The banana pudding did a good job of replicating banana pudding taste. However, I purchased a large dish of pistachio, rum raisin, and egg nog. All very good.

I scream, you scream,
We all scream
For Wendy's eyes' cream.

Lee Lawrie