WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Beautiful Daze: “listen: there’s a hell of a good universe next door; let’s go. . . “
byVanderleunonAugust 11, 2022
Giant Statues of Moai, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile.
“Blue Bird” fresco depicts a blue bird sitting among plants on a rock
in a mountainous landscape.
Part of a large landscape fresco that once decorated spacious room of a house west of palace of Knossos, “House of frescoes, 1600-1500 BC, at Knossos, Crete.#archaeohistoriespic.twitter.com/Td4VV64jBk
How to Meow in Yiddish: A Note Of Appreciation To The MenWe know that you also have a mysterious inner life. I bet it’s not the same as mine, but it’s the kind of inner vision that has produced most of the greatness in culture on earth. Once again we do it too, but this is about you guys. Astounding in your strength and creativity. And playfulness, given half a chance and some sympathy.
Children viewing Edgar Degas,, Little Dancer (1878)the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, USA,photo by Alejandro Jodorowsky 1977.
Sculpture presented, in wax, at [Impressionist] Exhibition, 1881, found in the artist’s studio after his death, then reproduced in bronze, 1921-1931. pic.twitter.com/Ztd7b30oad
“I can’t wait to get out of bed every morning. To me, it’s the only way to live.When the founders wrote about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they didn’t mean longer vacations and more comfortable hammocks. They meant the pursuit of learning. The love of learning. The pursuit of improvement and excellence. I keep telling students, Find work you love. Don’t concern yourself overly about how much money is involved or whether you’re ever going to be famous. I’m giving a talk at Dartmouth this week. It’s called the Hard Work of Writing. And it is hard work. But in hard work is happiness.” R.I.P, David McCullough
Dear kids: sometimes, self-care is ridiculously unsexy. It’s cleaning your filthy bathroom after weeks of ignoring it. It’s washing your bedsheets and vacuuming your floors. It’s forcing yourself to take a shower and brush your teeth. When that temporary motivation strikes, RIDE THAT WAVE as far as you possibly can. It’s the kindest thing you can do for yourself sometimes. Make your bed tomorrow morning. I’m serious. If you’re experiencing depression, the simple act of making your bed is an early morning victory. Each time you enter your bedroom, your made bed stands out as an accomplishment- no kidding. And the act of unmaking your bed to retreat back under the covers will feel unnatural. Stack up those easy victories- a made bed, a hot shower, a shave. Every little accomplishment is another step on your journey to better mental health.
Nevada Northern Railway Museum Ely, NevadaAccommodations at the railroad for extended stays are something that no dorm could ever offer. The bunkhouse is reminiscent of a mountain cabin, but with more modern amenities like walk-in showers. Looking north from its kitchen, the Steptoe Valley turned purple at dusk with pinholes of white and red light from trucks along the highway offering a spectacular view of the Steptoe Valley. Adjacent to the bunkhouse, a caboose is also available to spend the night in.
DNA extracted from bones and teeth in a 4600-year-old stone age burial unearthed in Germany has provided the earliest evidence for the nuclear family as a social structure.#archaeohistoriespic.twitter.com/V3CIjEawW0
Round Spring – Round Spring, Missouri ROUND SPRING POURS INTO A collapsed cave creating an illusion of a double-stacked spring. The collapsed cave, known as the spring’s resurgence, is almost perfectly spherical, giving Round Spring its name.
Library found in Tibet containing 84,000 secret manuscripts (books), including history of mankind for over 1000 years. Sakya Monastery Perhaps the largest library in the world in the distant history of the planet. It was discovered behind a huge wall. It is 60m long and 10m high. pic.twitter.com/yNxqY5rj6K
— Archaeo – Histories (@archeohistories) July 17, 2021
Reading Room
A fascinating collection of vintage automobile ads between the 1900s and 1950s – The first auto ad appeared in 1898 in the newspaper of Ohio. The title of the auto ad was very straightforward in terms of marketing. It included a call to action, “Dispense with a Horse”. The auto ad talked about the model and benefits of Winton Motor Carriage.
The ad showed that it’s not costly to maintain, its speed is 20 mph, and it had no odor. In the end, the ad compared it with the horse saying that a horse would never be able to do these tasks.
PLEASE. . . AND THANK YOU!
OR BY MAIL WITH “CASH CHECK OR MONEY ORDER” TO
Gerard Van der Leun // 1692 Mangrove Ave Apt: 379
Chico, CA 95926
1. Compare the Easter Island statues with Michelangelo’s “David”. Then talk to me about the evils of Western Civilization.
2. The palace complex of Knossos of the Minoan Civilization—after King Minos, he of the Minotaur, the Labyrinth, and the stories of Daedalus and Icarus—is the largest ever built. When excavated by Sir Arthur Evans between 1900 and 1903 it revealed a series of 1000 interlocking rooms that resembled—wait for it—a labyrinth.
3. While Evans was working at Knossos a tremendous storm arose and flooded the Cretan cities below the ruins. The 4000 year old plumbing of the palace complex worked as intended, and Knossos remained dry.
4. Incidentally, the tale of how the Minotaur came to be involves Minos’ wife Pasiphaë and her unnatural attraction to a Cretan bull. She had the architect Daedalus construct a machine that would allow her to enter it and entice the bull to have sex with her. Because Daedalus built that device Minos imprisoned him and his son Icarus. They escaped by using wax to attach huge wings to their bodies and so flew to freedom. Icarus, however, disobeyed his father and flew too close to the sun. The wax melted and Icarus plummeted to the sea.
5. The Minoans practiced the art of Bull Dancing, where teenage athletes would circle a small stadium into which was introduced a huge—and no doubt pissed off—bull. The teens would take turns running up to the bull and, grabbing its horns, leap over its back in a summersault.
That burial of the family looks like a murder scene to me.
A friend’s father had a white 59 caddy convertible that he would sometimes get to use (and this was in 1960). We would take it to Revere Beach on a Friday or Saturday night. The best friend of the driver was a precipitous Italian 18 YO. When the driver, in fun, refused to unlock the door for this guy he began punching the window. Big guy, strong, big fists, and that damned window didn’t break. I was sitting inside and the window bowed in when he hit it but it didn’t break. It looked like his knuckles broke though, bleeding and cut to the bone. Five years later this guy became a Mafia enforcer. Sure glad he was a friend. But he was seriously crazy and dangerous.
ghostsniperAugust 11, 2022, 2:11 PM
OneGuy sed: “But he was seriously crazy and dangerous.”
========
A proper ass kickin’, I’m talking several large bleeding wounds and multiple broken bones, ALWAYS eliminates that arrogant attitude by substituting it with extreme pain and humility.
Historic Flatulence CzarAugust 11, 2022, 12:27 PM
Easter Island heads are a construct of the white male patriarchy? (snarkle)
Love the drive out West on I-70 where it starts to get beautiful after the glorious peoples republic of Illinois (CCP) and the CPUSA occupied territory of St. Louis which is always bypassed.
Automotive ads are thoughtcrime and contribute to global flatulence, you’ll own nothing and like it.
KCKAugust 11, 2022, 1:09 PM
About ’57-62 or so: absolute pinnacle of automotive beauty. Other good eras exist, certainly, but those cars… those beautiful cars.
Sonia Delaunay was among the first non-subjective painters (you might call it “abstract”). I don’t excuse anything, nor lean out of my way to “recognize female artists”. But, SD was a pioneer no matter what sex you’re talking about. That is something.
Pietro Annigoni never ceases to amaze me, and I Pin a lot of his beautiful works and gaze over them. I never show my sources, though. Veracity is not the loadstone of art. Maybe if the object is applied and the portrait is a record more than an artwork. Then, knock yourself out. BTW, getting a likeness is a mother, until you get really good at it. Then it’s only damned hard.
I’ma steal that Tolkien invite idea.
Degas’ Little Ballerina is so astounding that it will only grow larger in status over centuries, although it had little applause when first exhibited. I once rendered that curiously monkey-like face from memory, and made a pastel from it. I guess I did a sketch of her in a museum, now that I think of it.
Being slow on the uptake, myself, I never really understood fresco, until went to Italy and saw them. The Greek one you show is stunning, isn’t it?
KCKAugust 11, 2022, 1:28 PM
“Non-objective painters” I meant, of course. This comment so good the review bot posted it twice ^
KCKAugust 11, 2022, 1:09 PM
About ’57-62 or so: absolute pinnacle of automotive beauty. Other good eras exist, certainly, but those cars… those beautiful cars.
Sonia Delaunay was among the first non-subjective painters (you might call it “abstract”). I don’t excuse anything, nor lean out of my way to “recognize female artists”. But, SD was a pioneer no matter what sex you’re talking about. That is something.
Pietro Annigoni never ceases to amaze me, and I Pin a lot of his beautiful works and gaze over them. I never show my sources, though. Veracity is not the loadstone of art. Maybe if the object is applied and the portrait is a record more than an artwork. Then, knock yourself out. BTW, getting a likeness is a mother, until you get really good at it. Then it’s only damned hard.
I’ma steal that Tolkien invite idea.
Degas’ Little Ballerina is so astounding that it will only grow larger in status over centuries, although it had little applause when first exhibited. I once rendered that curiously monkey-like face from memory, and made a pastel from it. I guess I did a sketch of her in a museum, now that I think of it.
Being slow on the uptake, myself, I never really understood fresco, until went to Italy and saw them. The Greek one you show is stunning, isn’t it?
Annigoni’s portrait has a bit of Daliesque to it, at least as I see it, and it is well done, but I prefer Riddick’s piece. Even though it is a bit idealistic, I can imagine doing just what is portrayed in that painting, dog and all.
The nuclear family info flys in the face of cavemen dragging women about by their hair and bonking them willy nilly, if anyone ever really believed that crap.
That Tibetan library find is amazing. I wish they could find as large a cache of early Greek writings, or a Library of Alexandria style full of untouched for ages scrolls.
The DeSoto is nice, but I’ll take the Caddy.
Last but not least, Gerard, if you’re ever gonna throw a bash for your readers I’d expect your invitation to be as colorfully worded.
The greatest library find was the discovery of Ashurbanipal’s library in 1849. This Assyrian king—ruled 668 – 627 BC—was a bit of a bookworm, and his collection of 30,000 books included the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The contents of the Library of Alexandria, like the location of Alexander’s tomb, are unknown. It is unlikely that any more Greek and Latin texts will ever be found.
Casey KlahnAugust 11, 2022, 3:18 PM
In Bible College, we had a mnemonic to remember his name: Ass or banana pole. I guess there was some latent homosexuality about. GfawW,
Ashurbanipal was the last great Assyrian king, “great” in that like all of his type his greatness was measured by the levels of cruelty he would inflict upon the enemies of Assyrian. What the Assyrians did to all around them would shock an Aztec. And like that of the Aztecs, the fate of the Assyrians was well-deserved.
“King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?”—Nahum 3:18 – 19
Sid VAugust 11, 2022, 1:42 PM
RIP McCullough. Both of my grandfathers passed before I was born and so I sort of thought of him as America’s grandfather.
McCullough talking to Ken Burns about the Wright Brothers:
I too can’t wait to get out of the rack in the morning. Without fail 6am, every. dam. morning. since about 1986 when I started my biz. Yes, Sats and Suns too and all holidays. It started as a goal and turned into a habit and I have not used an alarm clock since before ’86. I have an internal clock. Up til 1am drinkin’? No problem, I’m up at 6. ALWAYS.
I’m a morning person. I hit the bedroom floor doing 60mph and by 7am I am breaking the sound barrier and by noon I have done more stuff than most people do all week. I believe you only get one chance to do this thing, so you gotta do it as much as possible. There’ll be time to rest when it’s over.
I read, no, make that “consumed”, David McCullough’s book “1776” during the summer we moved here in 2006 while sitting on the porch. The timing was right.
The cowboy with the horse, the birch tree and the tri-color aussie is magnificent. I’m gonna look it up and see if I can procure a print for matting and framing here in my office. I find it calming to view, and let mind wander.
Take a look at the side view of the 59 caddie 2 door rear fender and consider that thing is made out of 1 piece of steel, manipulated in such a way as to exploit the very laws of physics as only american designers of that era could do. As Casey said, that was a glorious time to be alive in these united states – the very pinnacle of greatness. I elate and I mourn….
AnneAugust 11, 2022, 3:06 PM
In 1958 my dear mom had managed to work two jobs (one was in that little 2 chair beauty shop a block up from the Franklin school that she owned) Her other part time job was cleaning offices at night. In between customers at the beauty shop she made beautiful Christmas Tree ornaments–hand crafted. In those days it only took 8 years for her to be able to save enough money to go out and pay cash for a 2 year old pink and white Cadillac ( 1956)–the iconic 4 door model you see on all the posters! She was independent–owned her own business–and the women who were married to the college guys staying home doing the housewife thing did not like my mom. You should have heard the women in the middle school talk about her when she pulled up to the door of the school to pick me up after class one day! Way to go mom!!
Sorry, wondered off there for a minute. That particular model of Caddy had a transmission problem–it seems it was just a little too short for the frame and I remember it falling out of the car on at least 2 different occasions~that may be why she could afford to buy it! She traded it in for a brand new 1960 Studebaker Lark “now transmission problems”. The caddy came with a 16 foot Shasta trailer painted to match pink lower half and white upper half. Mom was so thrilled because it was on the front cover of the popular trailer magazine!! Did I mention mom had about a 6th grade education and her beautician’s license? That was when America had hope and merit and hard work paid off. That was when anything was possible if you worked hard enough! We’ve come a long way baby and we didn’t do it in a cadillac. Although we did drive from Glendale CA to Cleveland OH on several occasions in that car!! Air conditioned with power steering and headlights that would automatically go on high when the road was too dark.
mmackAugust 11, 2022, 3:11 PM
Ah, the 1958 De Soto ad. Capturing the beauty of Chrysler’s “Forward Look” cars.
Mopar and chief stylist Virgil Exner caught GM and Ford napping 😴 in 1957 and introduced a sleek, clean design look that shook GM designers to their core.
Too bad those pretty 1957s were supposed to be 1958 models that were rushed into production for 1957. Corners were cut and owners of those pretty cars were the beta testers who found out they leaked, rusted, and rattled with alarming regularity and rapidity. Word of mouth and a recession (can we say that word?) in 1958 killed any sales momentum Chrysler got. Too few De Sotos went home in 1958 and 59 to keep the brand going.
But if not for that DeSoto and all the other finned flyers from Chrysler in 1957, that iconic 1959 Cadillac would never have rolled down GM assembly lines. Bill Mitchell and Chuck Jordan at GM tore up their designs for the 1959 GM line and “out-finned” Chrysler and created a legend. And the “bat winged” 1959 Chevrolet.
Portraits! My wife and I visited the National Portrait Gallery earlier this week and were overwhelmed. Pretty much all of American history, up close and personal, and much of it quite beautiful.
Snakepit KansasAugust 12, 2022, 5:46 AM
Why does Commando Cody wear a mask? And where is hit hot rod Lincoln?
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
“I can’t wait to get out of bed every morning. To me, it’s the only way to live. When the founders wrote about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they didn’t mean longer vacations and more comfortable hammocks. They meant the pursuit of learning. The love of learning. The pursuit of improvement and excellence. I keep telling students, Find work you love. Don’t concern yourself overly about how much money is involved or whether you’re ever going to be famous. I’m giving a talk at Dartmouth this week. It’s called the Hard Work of Writing. And it is hard work. But in hard work is happiness.” R.I.P, David McCullough
Art Contrarian: Pietro Annigoni, Portrait Artist
Max Factor’s Beauty Calibrator: A beauty-measuring device to analyze facial flaws, 1930s This is the Beauty Micrometer, a Clockwork Orange-style device that claimed to measure facial ugliness.
Art Contrarian: Sonia Delaunay Clothing in Black and White Delaunay (1885-1979), was a Modernist designer of note who during the 1920s and early ’30s mainly focused on cloth patterning for women’s fashions.
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
1. Compare the Easter Island statues with Michelangelo’s “David”. Then talk to me about the evils of Western Civilization.
2. The palace complex of Knossos of the Minoan Civilization—after King Minos, he of the Minotaur, the Labyrinth, and the stories of Daedalus and Icarus—is the largest ever built. When excavated by Sir Arthur Evans between 1900 and 1903 it revealed a series of 1000 interlocking rooms that resembled—wait for it—a labyrinth.
3. While Evans was working at Knossos a tremendous storm arose and flooded the Cretan cities below the ruins. The 4000 year old plumbing of the palace complex worked as intended, and Knossos remained dry.
4. Incidentally, the tale of how the Minotaur came to be involves Minos’ wife Pasiphaë and her unnatural attraction to a Cretan bull. She had the architect Daedalus construct a machine that would allow her to enter it and entice the bull to have sex with her. Because Daedalus built that device Minos imprisoned him and his son Icarus. They escaped by using wax to attach huge wings to their bodies and so flew to freedom. Icarus, however, disobeyed his father and flew too close to the sun. The wax melted and Icarus plummeted to the sea.
5. The Minoans practiced the art of Bull Dancing, where teenage athletes would circle a small stadium into which was introduced a huge—and no doubt pissed off—bull. The teens would take turns running up to the bull and, grabbing its horns, leap over its back in a summersault.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/Bull-Leaping.jpg
Don’t try this at home.
That burial of the family looks like a murder scene to me.
A friend’s father had a white 59 caddy convertible that he would sometimes get to use (and this was in 1960). We would take it to Revere Beach on a Friday or Saturday night. The best friend of the driver was a precipitous Italian 18 YO. When the driver, in fun, refused to unlock the door for this guy he began punching the window. Big guy, strong, big fists, and that damned window didn’t break. I was sitting inside and the window bowed in when he hit it but it didn’t break. It looked like his knuckles broke though, bleeding and cut to the bone. Five years later this guy became a Mafia enforcer. Sure glad he was a friend. But he was seriously crazy and dangerous.
OneGuy sed: “But he was seriously crazy and dangerous.”
========
A proper ass kickin’, I’m talking several large bleeding wounds and multiple broken bones, ALWAYS eliminates that arrogant attitude by substituting it with extreme pain and humility.
Easter Island heads are a construct of the white male patriarchy? (snarkle)
Love the drive out West on I-70 where it starts to get beautiful after the glorious peoples republic of Illinois (CCP) and the CPUSA occupied territory of St. Louis which is always bypassed.
Automotive ads are thoughtcrime and contribute to global flatulence, you’ll own nothing and like it.
About ’57-62 or so: absolute pinnacle of automotive beauty. Other good eras exist, certainly, but those cars… those beautiful cars.
Sonia Delaunay was among the first non-subjective painters (you might call it “abstract”). I don’t excuse anything, nor lean out of my way to “recognize female artists”. But, SD was a pioneer no matter what sex you’re talking about. That is something.
Pietro Annigoni never ceases to amaze me, and I Pin a lot of his beautiful works and gaze over them. I never show my sources, though. Veracity is not the loadstone of art. Maybe if the object is applied and the portrait is a record more than an artwork. Then, knock yourself out. BTW, getting a likeness is a mother, until you get really good at it. Then it’s only damned hard.
I’ma steal that Tolkien invite idea.
Degas’ Little Ballerina is so astounding that it will only grow larger in status over centuries, although it had little applause when first exhibited. I once rendered that curiously monkey-like face from memory, and made a pastel from it. I guess I did a sketch of her in a museum, now that I think of it.
Being slow on the uptake, myself, I never really understood fresco, until went to Italy and saw them. The Greek one you show is stunning, isn’t it?
“Non-objective painters” I meant, of course. This comment so good the review bot posted it twice ^
About ’57-62 or so: absolute pinnacle of automotive beauty. Other good eras exist, certainly, but those cars… those beautiful cars.
Sonia Delaunay was among the first non-subjective painters (you might call it “abstract”). I don’t excuse anything, nor lean out of my way to “recognize female artists”. But, SD was a pioneer no matter what sex you’re talking about. That is something.
Pietro Annigoni never ceases to amaze me, and I Pin a lot of his beautiful works and gaze over them. I never show my sources, though. Veracity is not the loadstone of art. Maybe if the object is applied and the portrait is a record more than an artwork. Then, knock yourself out. BTW, getting a likeness is a mother, until you get really good at it. Then it’s only damned hard.
I’ma steal that Tolkien invite idea.
Degas’ Little Ballerina is so astounding that it will only grow larger in status over centuries, although it had little applause when first exhibited. I once rendered that curiously monkey-like face from memory, and made a pastel from it. I guess I did a sketch of her in a museum, now that I think of it.
Being slow on the uptake, myself, I never really understood fresco, until went to Italy and saw them. The Greek one you show is stunning, isn’t it?
Annigoni’s portrait has a bit of Daliesque to it, at least as I see it, and it is well done, but I prefer Riddick’s piece. Even though it is a bit idealistic, I can imagine doing just what is portrayed in that painting, dog and all.
The nuclear family info flys in the face of cavemen dragging women about by their hair and bonking them willy nilly, if anyone ever really believed that crap.
That Tibetan library find is amazing. I wish they could find as large a cache of early Greek writings, or a Library of Alexandria style full of untouched for ages scrolls.
The DeSoto is nice, but I’ll take the Caddy.
Last but not least, Gerard, if you’re ever gonna throw a bash for your readers I’d expect your invitation to be as colorfully worded.
The greatest library find was the discovery of Ashurbanipal’s library in 1849. This Assyrian king—ruled 668 – 627 BC—was a bit of a bookworm, and his collection of 30,000 books included the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The contents of the Library of Alexandria, like the location of Alexander’s tomb, are unknown. It is unlikely that any more Greek and Latin texts will ever be found.
In Bible College, we had a mnemonic to remember his name: Ass or banana pole. I guess there was some latent homosexuality about. GfawW,
Ashurbanipal was the last great Assyrian king, “great” in that like all of his type his greatness was measured by the levels of cruelty he would inflict upon the enemies of Assyrian. What the Assyrians did to all around them would shock an Aztec. And like that of the Aztecs, the fate of the Assyrians was well-deserved.
“King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
Nothing can heal you; your wound is fatal. All who hear the news about you clap their hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?”—Nahum 3:18 – 19
RIP McCullough. Both of my grandfathers passed before I was born and so I sort of thought of him as America’s grandfather.
McCullough talking to Ken Burns about the Wright Brothers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sTJxX_ORvo
I too can’t wait to get out of the rack in the morning. Without fail 6am, every. dam. morning. since about 1986 when I started my biz. Yes, Sats and Suns too and all holidays. It started as a goal and turned into a habit and I have not used an alarm clock since before ’86. I have an internal clock. Up til 1am drinkin’? No problem, I’m up at 6. ALWAYS.
I’m a morning person. I hit the bedroom floor doing 60mph and by 7am I am breaking the sound barrier and by noon I have done more stuff than most people do all week. I believe you only get one chance to do this thing, so you gotta do it as much as possible. There’ll be time to rest when it’s over.
I read, no, make that “consumed”, David McCullough’s book “1776” during the summer we moved here in 2006 while sitting on the porch. The timing was right.
The cowboy with the horse, the birch tree and the tri-color aussie is magnificent. I’m gonna look it up and see if I can procure a print for matting and framing here in my office. I find it calming to view, and let mind wander.
Take a look at the side view of the 59 caddie 2 door rear fender and consider that thing is made out of 1 piece of steel, manipulated in such a way as to exploit the very laws of physics as only american designers of that era could do. As Casey said, that was a glorious time to be alive in these united states – the very pinnacle of greatness. I elate and I mourn….
In 1958 my dear mom had managed to work two jobs (one was in that little 2 chair beauty shop a block up from the Franklin school that she owned) Her other part time job was cleaning offices at night. In between customers at the beauty shop she made beautiful Christmas Tree ornaments–hand crafted. In those days it only took 8 years for her to be able to save enough money to go out and pay cash for a 2 year old pink and white Cadillac ( 1956)–the iconic 4 door model you see on all the posters! She was independent–owned her own business–and the women who were married to the college guys staying home doing the housewife thing did not like my mom. You should have heard the women in the middle school talk about her when she pulled up to the door of the school to pick me up after class one day! Way to go mom!!
Sorry, wondered off there for a minute. That particular model of Caddy had a transmission problem–it seems it was just a little too short for the frame and I remember it falling out of the car on at least 2 different occasions~that may be why she could afford to buy it! She traded it in for a brand new 1960 Studebaker Lark “now transmission problems”. The caddy came with a 16 foot Shasta trailer painted to match pink lower half and white upper half. Mom was so thrilled because it was on the front cover of the popular trailer magazine!! Did I mention mom had about a 6th grade education and her beautician’s license? That was when America had hope and merit and hard work paid off. That was when anything was possible if you worked hard enough! We’ve come a long way baby and we didn’t do it in a cadillac. Although we did drive from Glendale CA to Cleveland OH on several occasions in that car!! Air conditioned with power steering and headlights that would automatically go on high when the road was too dark.
Ah, the 1958 De Soto ad. Capturing the beauty of Chrysler’s “Forward Look” cars.
https://www.web.imperialclub.info/Yr/1957/FwdLkAd/NewNewLg.jpg
Mopar and chief stylist Virgil Exner caught GM and Ford napping 😴 in 1957 and introduced a sleek, clean design look that shook GM designers to their core.
Too bad those pretty 1957s were supposed to be 1958 models that were rushed into production for 1957. Corners were cut and owners of those pretty cars were the beta testers who found out they leaked, rusted, and rattled with alarming regularity and rapidity. Word of mouth and a recession (can we say that word?) in 1958 killed any sales momentum Chrysler got. Too few De Sotos went home in 1958 and 59 to keep the brand going.
But if not for that DeSoto and all the other finned flyers from Chrysler in 1957, that iconic 1959 Cadillac would never have rolled down GM assembly lines. Bill Mitchell and Chuck Jordan at GM tore up their designs for the 1959 GM line and “out-finned” Chrysler and created a legend. And the “bat winged” 1959 Chevrolet.
Thanks for the mention again!
OLIVE THE CAT told me to do it. “That pbird is very very appealing to meow!” said she.
Portraits! My wife and I visited the National Portrait Gallery earlier this week and were overwhelmed. Pretty much all of American history, up close and personal, and much of it quite beautiful.
Why does Commando Cody wear a mask? And where is hit hot rod Lincoln?