Saturday Morning

Away we go.

Comments

[Buckeye]

1st?

[JiB]

2nd?

[Miss Marple]

Repost from end of last thread, regarding Dale Chihuly:

Dale Chihuly has a huge glass installation called "Fireworks" at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. My daughter was dumbfounded that I knew about his work when she mentioned it was being put in.

Why did I know? Because 2 Chihuly bowls were part of the illegal loot the Clintons took from the White House when they left. Another was the painting "Avenue in the Rain" which George Bush had displayed on the wall outside the Oval Office (as a message I think).

They had to send the Head Usher from the White House up to New York to get those and other items.

By the way, does anyone remember that they set up a housewarming registry for the Clintons because they didn't have any stuff to set up housekeeping, having lived in government housing almost their entire political lives?

[pagar]

One of my friends sent me a email last night about how the VA was cleaning house by getting rid of the number 2 man. Thanks to JOM it didn't take but a minute to straighten out his misconception, but apparently some of the public bought the phony story.

"When Mathews complained, he was removed from his job, assigned to an isolated office to oversee pensions and compensation. He was told not to contact the other doctors or patients."

See LUN

Wonder what happened to his supervisor?

[Buckeye]

MM

Saw the picture of Hildabeast with Chihuly in the last thread and then your posting about the Indy showing. If you like modern art glass, visit Hawk Galleries in Columbus. Quite a collection of perhaps a couple dozen artists including Chihuly. He was here for an exhibition a year or two ago. Friend went to the cocktail reception, didn't think much of him.

[Miss Marple]

Buckeye, Might wander over there with sister on a road trip later this year, after I get back from out west.

I like some art glass, although the piece in the picture posted and the one in the Children's Museum look about the same except for different colors and size. Same shapes and same interlocking design.

[JiB]

Chihuly is the "master" who supervises about a dozen glass blower artisans. Even the "masters" in Murano consider him to be incomparable.

PBS did a bio-doc on him and his atelier about 20 years ago. Impressive art.

[GMax]

The American Spectator has a call to arms this AM, buck up patriots we are going to send a strong message in November:

It has now become obvious that the economy is never going to improve under Obama because he and his supporters don’t want it to. It might hurt the planet. So it’s procrastinate and procrastinate and procrastinate until the next election and maybe even the one after that.

This is the kind of stagnation Thorstein Veblen warned against in The Theory of the Leisure Class. When you couple an aristocratic upper crust that has lost interest in economic progress with a lumpenproletariat that doesn’t understand growth and only wants handouts from the government, you have a prescription for long economic decline.

But all this is going to end in November. Then the Great American Middle is going to have its say. All those 9-to-5 people who work in manufacturing plants or real estate offices or the corner 7-Eleven, who don’t want handouts from the government but only the opportunity to make a living and keep the fattest part of their paychecks — they are stand up and be counted. And then the President is going to discover that those same people whom his fellow professors told him are racist, homophobic, gun-toting troglodytes are actually the ordinary Americans who made this country great and want to see it made great again.

[Thomas Collins]

Shameless bragging in the guise of factual reporting alert: I am outside in the sun at the graduation ceremonies of The Catholic University of America, where my son, having passed his comprehensive exam with honors, is walking for his Master of Arts in Political Theory. He continues at CUA in the fall in the PhD program. He will be spending part of the summer as a Publius Fellow.

[Miss Marple]

Congratulations, TC!

[narciso]

Congrats TC, Taranto spots a Fox Butterfield, although he put it in another category;

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/may/16/murdoch-media-hypes-lone-climate-denial-big-oil

[GMax]

Dale Chihuly is a genius at composition and expression. You don't observe his work as much as you radiate in its glow. Never met the man, know nothing else about him but his art. I would go out of my way to take in a Chihuly exhibit, and have gone to the same exhibit multiple times in the past. Saw one in the day, and then went back at night and it was like a complete second exhibit.

[Skoot]

repost: Good weather and a strong field for the Preakness this afternoon. Here's hoping California Chrome pulls it off. A Triple Crown winner sure would cull some of the malaise from the Obama years.

[Miss Marple]

I am rooting for California Chrome too. Love the story of how the guys bought his mother.

I like Cinderella stories.

[sbw]

A 15 foot tall Chihuly piece greets you as you walk in to the Turning Stone Resort about 15 minutes away from us.

I have viscerally disliked the piece since I first saw it, although I have admired its technical virtuosity. It is, for me, unpleasant to look at.

But I am willing to walk past it for a pot roast at the Upstate Tavern or anything at the TS Steakhouse where, during his last visit my brother marveled that they had Pappy Van Winkle.

[rich@gmu]

congratulations Tom Collins and to your son.

...a bit chilly this lovely morning in May.

[Miss Marple]

sbw, Does it have those same twisted glass tubes with points on the end like the picture that was posted on the prior thread? Because that is what the thing in the museum here looks like. It's a different mix of colors but is the same design as the piece shown in the picture.

I don't actually like it much. It vaguely reminds me of snakes or something.

[Bori]

Narciso,

Re. your Guardian story, I love how he determines that because only the articles that blame AGW get published that this is proof of anything.

He then proceeds to make the same mistake that other surveys make, by using the agreement of most scientists that humans are "contributing" to any warming as saying that humans are the reason for the warming.

[sbw]

It vaguely reminds me of snakes or something.

Exactly. Medusa’s hair.

[sbw]

Speaking of Medusa, and for now good reason except I like the passage:

"The Gorgon’s deadly head, according to mythologists like Jane Ellen Harrison, ‘was made out of terror, not the terror out of the Gorgon.’"

“What’s the difference?”

"History is filled with writhing, senseless terror, waiting to be repeated. Douglas Adams, who understood that, had Zaphod Beeblebrox, in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, face the crushing awareness of the nothingness of the universe and its supreme lack of purpose. He understood and survived while others, unprepared and reduced by the horror of that understanding, became gibbering idiots.
...
"Looking for sense in history could drive us mad. Either paw the rubble of the past for understanding and justice, or, better yet, keep history at a distance as fair warning how quickly the angry sea can tip you overboard. Look too closely at the past and the rage and despair can poison the reader. Softly reflected in Perseus’ mirrored shield, hope and invention remain intact to negotiate a more solid future.

“History is another country. We don’t live there, but Perseus’ winged sandals take us there, even though it’s located far away. Invisibility offers the chance that we can learn enough about the need to defend ourselves before we actually have to do so. The sword reminds us that the past, the present, and the future require us to find the courage to stand up for ourselves."

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

--I have viscerally disliked the piece since I first saw it, although I have admired its technical virtuosity. It is, for me, unpleasant to look at.--

Wasn't going to say anything but almost all of his stuff strikes me the same way.

[Miss Marple]

sbw, Who wrote that and where can I find it?

I am fascinated because I see that despite all known cause-effect relationships, our nation seems to be willfully walking down a path of self-destruction.

I am therefore led to believe that either history IS chaotic, or that we are under some sort of divine punishment.

[glasater]

Re Chihuly:

I have literally lain on the floor of the Bellagio Las Vegas taking pictures of his artwork:

"Inside Bellagio, Dale Chihuly's Fiori di Como, composed of over 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, covers 2,000 sq ft (190 m2) of the lobby ceiling."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellagio_(resort)

And no one thought I was doing anything strange at all :-)

The sun shines through a skylight during the day where the artwork is and lighted at night. Its spectacular.

[narciso]

One would to try to fisk, but where to begin;

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/16/4121911/fabiola-santiago-those-who-deny.html

[Jane]

I also have some great pix of Chihuly art (where my phone lied on the floor not me). I tried to post one this morning but my incompetence got the best of me.

Congrats TC! Your kids are growing up!

[Miss Marple]

glasater,

The Bellagio piece is more pleasing to me because it only has a few of those snake-like forms.

Running a Bing image search on "works of Chihuly" I see that he seems to now favor the "ball o' snakes" installations more than flowers. Maybe the Bellagio owners insisted on flowers.

[Miss Marple]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-16/where-worlds-unsold-cars-go-die

This is just the weirdest story and set of pictures I have seen in some time.

[peter]

congratulations, Tom Collins!

beautiful day here in Port Washington after some cloudy and rainy days: first good night's sleep after a week of getting up pre-dawn for my new gig.

[Happy, happy, joy, joy Ignatz]

More on channel stuffing that MM's 10:48 link refers to.

[Momto2]

I think the Chihuly pieces look best in garden settings. They had a gorgeous exhibit at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens a few years ago (actually googled it and it was 10 years ago!! how time flies) - Don't know anything about him or his politics... I will assume he is a liberal unless I see evidence to the contrary.

[Miss Marple]

Momto2,

When he was here to supervise the installation, he was very nice to the museum employees, very polite and unassuming.

I assume he is a liberal politically, as almost all artists seem to gravitate in that direction.

[clarice]

Chihuly learned his craft at the Univ of Wis..wish I'd known him then. A friend who also went there at the same time has a substantial collection of his work which was displayed at the Corcoran gallery here. I love his work.

Congrats, TC

And from the prior thread--evidence of the worldwide recession--a massive glut everywhere of cars:http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-16/where-worlds-unsold-cars-go-die

[clarice]

Oops, Ig and MM beat me on the channel stuffing,

[Man Tran back home]

The channel stuffing is a bit like the housing bubble. What if everyone had a house to live in and they were good for several decades? The need for new homes would be minimal. We have four cars: the oldest is nearly 35 (fun old crock that is still good as new), the newest is five. Only the 'new' one seems to need constant attention. All that jimcrackery at a grand a pop somehow needs fixin', but the mechanicals will run forever.

If those channel stuffed lumps were sold for 10c. on the $, I wouldn't bother to pick one up.

[Marlene]

Good Morning from rainy Maine! We drove down from the cabin in sheets of rain,I would have stayed there sitting by the woodstove,curled up with a book,but we have a dinner tonight. Congrats TC! daddy,our Scout has a rabbit friend but there is no way he would be able to take down the rabbit. The rabbit is huge and has no fear.I actually think it is a pet rabbit from the farm down the road.
Re: Henry Adams and John Hay...Clover Adams conducted an exclusive salon in DC. She is interesting,in a fit of despair she drank photographic chemicals and killed herself. Henry Adams commissioned St.Gaudens to sculpt the statue Grief,which is in Rock Creek Park.

[Jane]

Marlene, it's been gorgeous here since about 11:00 AM. It's coming your way.

[clarice]

Here,too..about 70 and clear after the deluge.

[pagar]

IMO, you can add Panama to the list of places with huge carparks of new unsold cars. Judging by the Newspaper ads, one can add warehouses of unsold TVS, Refrigs etc also.

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

Contra Gmax, Palo Duro Canyon State Park by itself makes a trip to Amarillo worthwhile.

[Beasts of England]

Started this other the other thread, but I thought the ‘Fussy Gus’ (a 1954 Chris Craft Sportsman) from the antique boat show today was worth a re-post:

A beautiful Chris Craft wooden ski boat:

Another beautiful Chris Craft:

Several older boats, including one of the painted variety…

[JiB]

Beasts,

In the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are the Le Chenneaux islands. Every year is a huge classic wooden boat show and parade. Don't remember the exact town or island but it is spectacular to see.

[JiB]

Les Chenneaux Historic Boat Show

[Thomas Collins]

Thanks for the congrats. Phillip Rivers, the San Diego Chargers QB, gave a fine speech to the graduates. My son's professors were most gracious to me. Because I am such a politics junkie, for me, meeting politics professors at a school with such a great politics program as CUA is a great thrill. Yesterday my son took me to the Soldiers Home grounds near CUA, where Civil War exhibits are in abundance. Yesterday's traditional CUA pre-commencement Mass was wonderful. The wine and cheese at the CUA Prez's reception went down well. Today we ate at Booeymonger's Deli, which has great food to go along with its odd name. On the way to Eastern Market with my son, I drove by two DC power centers, Sidwell Friends School and Fannie Mae. My reaction to driving by these places was that any man, such as the POTUS, who sends his kids to Sidwell Friends, and can help them with his connections to financial powers such as Fannie Mae, and who tries to shut down charter school opportunities for other DC kids, is beyond shameless. That thought was the one downer for me on what has been a great weekend in DC.

[Jane]

YOu can think about that next week. Today is to enjoy!

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

Congrats TC and son.