tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73203750123646670002023-11-16T05:47:56.327-08:00LRNArtsLRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-73961214817285221332022-01-07T08:03:00.006-08:002022-01-07T16:56:14.260-08:00<p> <span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">ECHOES OF SEPHARAD AND THE PRESENCE OF THE PAST</span></p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>“As soon as Coyote opened the lid, the moon escaped, flying high into the sky. At once all the plants shriveled up and turned brown. Just as quickly, all the leaves fell off the trees and it was winter.. Coyote ran in pursuit as it skipped away from him. Meanwhile the sun flew out and rose into the sky. It drifted far away, and the peaches, squashes, and melons shriveled up with cold…<br /></i><i>‘You fool! Look at what you’ve done!’, Eagle said, ‘It’s your fault that cold has come into the world!’”<br /></i>American Indian Myths and Legends, Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz (editors), 1984</div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Rupert Sheldrake is a botanist, rather a controversial chap… </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Dr Sheldrake has an explanation for many minor mysteries of life—things like why your spouse knows you’re about to walk through the door because your dog started jumping up and down about the time your car turned the corner two blocks away or why you can solve a <i>New York Times </i> Sunday crossword puzzle in just a few minutes on some days and why you scratch your head for an hour as you try to solve the clue like “it comes after two” when you’re down to that one missing letter in “thr-e”. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">He calls his explanation <i>morphic resonance</i>… </p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg29vyGzRVcMX_c7ZSi3CrMgfWINv2tekYkB0-HstXND7aJ0oTKYonMhYCSvrP2pbgye8mYGAHR8q32sK_trbO3gvTqr6NSyYRKjWMBj2uZIx5or9UBR59iDf3FS57lcZl_GcURewZP9EzzyZ0rZ7Zm7QYskR2-J6m2dzDV7VgK-tsi_m6f4AXS5SvV=s327" style="clear: right; color: #2288bb; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="154" data-original-width="327" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg29vyGzRVcMX_c7ZSi3CrMgfWINv2tekYkB0-HstXND7aJ0oTKYonMhYCSvrP2pbgye8mYGAHR8q32sK_trbO3gvTqr6NSyYRKjWMBj2uZIx5or9UBR59iDf3FS57lcZl_GcURewZP9EzzyZ0rZ7Zm7QYskR2-J6m2dzDV7VgK-tsi_m6f4AXS5SvV=s320" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;">Most of his fellow scientists find his theory just plain unbelievable, saying it reeks more of myth than of science…</span><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The Sheldrake Organization website defines the concept as “a process whereby self-organizing systems inherit a memory from previous similar systems… morphic resonance means that the so-called laws of nature are more like habits.” </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Skeptical scientists have a point when they note most of Sheldrake’s ideas cannot be examined through traditional methods used by researchers to establish the truth or falsehood of a theory. A November 2005 <i>Scientific American</i> column by nay-sayer Michael Shermer is one of the more charitable critiques. Shermer echoes other critics who say “confirmation bias” (seeing what you expect to see) may explain positive results achieved by participants in an online test posted on Sheldrake’s website…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">But, truth be told, Dr Sheldrake makes his critics uncomfortable because his work veers into the world of the paranormal and other topics dismissed by mainstream scientific researchers. He has found supporters who embrace his ideas for the very reason academics reject them: morphic resonance offers hints of a meaningful universe, one where the past blends into the present which will in turn blend into the future, a world where man and tree and rock have an inherent dignity just by the mere fact they exist. Sheldrake himself sees morphic resonance as a framework for understanding how Carl Jung’s concept of the “collective unconscious” works…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Jung in a 1936 address to the Abernethian Society in London, postulated in addition to our personal and immediate consciousness, there exists “a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms, the archetypes, which can only become conscious secondarily” …</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7_WRcffK_2gFx4wg4On-nfudOWuqI7wt6JGZZH4cz8yvKy0fYjeVUu-EjI-2WviBZAlif41re0tJ8uJuqbMFJAXnvqENrW-RNZQ8NQahxEvr_I25ewxvjKNaaiBvUjIVh8bX3jliLny53nIK9-Q4kCXio9RmK2J9uWgGhcjyaas_NeQrHoSWhHG2c=s800" style="clear: left; color: #2288bb; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7_WRcffK_2gFx4wg4On-nfudOWuqI7wt6JGZZH4cz8yvKy0fYjeVUu-EjI-2WviBZAlif41re0tJ8uJuqbMFJAXnvqENrW-RNZQ8NQahxEvr_I25ewxvjKNaaiBvUjIVh8bX3jliLny53nIK9-Q4kCXio9RmK2J9uWgGhcjyaas_NeQrHoSWhHG2c=w320-h320" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Devil, the archetypal tester of faith, takes the form</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">of Satan to show Jesus the kingdoms of this world that</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">could be his if he but renounces God, a scene recreated</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">in </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Duccio's "Temptation on the Mount" painted in the early</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">years of the 14th Century</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">In the realms of archetypes, we travel into the lands of myth and legend…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Laymen think of myths as stories of gods and heroes, stories that aren’t true but fun to read, stories that explain why spiders weave their webs the way they do or stories about why constellations in the night sky are shaped the way they are shaped. Others see myth as a more neutral concept: a myth is an account of why the world is the way it is without passing judgment on whether or not the explanation is fact or fantasy. One man’s myth is another man’s truth…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: right; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYcABr9V1JrVnpRDZeGeMAUMS3bw2AsEHb_e_VKU4lOs7dbAFWHOejUW3wKEJvnC1hUK-dhSTa9xE4Mj2W77FbLMJ9ZeLsOb-9dieB0Uj1Ye0Y1TM3jcyjBtkt8XGUbX1f2hfDNqfSM8E2mPR3LSKwyUqyvVrvsPE-T-hpkOBXsI--e-6tZCOq6kXS=s640" style="clear: right; color: #2288bb; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="457" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYcABr9V1JrVnpRDZeGeMAUMS3bw2AsEHb_e_VKU4lOs7dbAFWHOejUW3wKEJvnC1hUK-dhSTa9xE4Mj2W77FbLMJ9ZeLsOb-9dieB0Uj1Ye0Y1TM3jcyjBtkt8XGUbX1f2hfDNqfSM8E2mPR3LSKwyUqyvVrvsPE-T-hpkOBXsI--e-6tZCOq6kXS=s320" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="229" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Adam and Eve in the jungle?</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">But it’s the myths that we know aren’t true that interest us most. Given the choice of attending a stimulating lecture on the gravitational pull exerted by Saturn on its many moons or watching a movie in which the good guy saves the world from a deranged madman who wants to split the planet in half and then gets kissed by the prettiest girl in the movie, most of us would pick the movie with the good guy, crazed villain, and pretty girl…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Explaining the “why” of this became the life’s work of Joseph Campbell, who like Sheldrake, saw merit in Jung’s notion of a collective unconscious. The archetypes that Jung described would heavily influence Campbell’s study of mythology. Jung saw archetypal events in our life cycles such as birth and marriage and death, encounters with persons who fulfill roles of archetypal figures like the devil and the trickster and the hero and the goddess, and archetypal structures in our personalities in the form of the shadow, the animus/anima that guide our actions even when we don’t know we are being guided…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6se41T7PL4WhTUnwzzK9kjDp-P2cfmI1Cn8Qv1Tp14Y4G12tSpzJPyu4ru1F4Frg4F5Rtdmzmt2Pr8GZFvkW_AhSxWlXzhEqhZPEfdmEB17Csh5JN-7Ix762SwZ0TlLX6VhV13MuRqJj22Ed2SlOztW14Ly6_qV8AiyU8nGK6x6xtWhDawo3ObQ-t=s994" style="color: #2288bb; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="994" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6se41T7PL4WhTUnwzzK9kjDp-P2cfmI1Cn8Qv1Tp14Y4G12tSpzJPyu4ru1F4Frg4F5Rtdmzmt2Pr8GZFvkW_AhSxWlXzhEqhZPEfdmEB17Csh5JN-7Ix762SwZ0TlLX6VhV13MuRqJj22Ed2SlOztW14Ly6_qV8AiyU8nGK6x6xtWhDawo3ObQ-t=w583-h216" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="583" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Monterey Peninsula in central California where Joseph Campbell and John Steinbeck shared dinners, drinks, and conversations</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Campbell, a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence and one of the world’s fastest half-mile runners in during his student days at Dartmouth, traveled extensively in his lifetime. He studied in Europe, Japan, and India, visited Hawaii, tromped up to Alaska. And then there was a year spent in California living on the Monterey Peninsula where he became friends with John Steinbeck, author of <i>The Grapes of Wrath</i> and <i>East of Eden</i>, and Steinbeck’s buddy, marine biologist Doc Ricketts…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">George Lucas and <i>Star Wars</i> brought Campbell worldwide attention when the filmmaker acknowledged the mythologist’s influence in the telling the story of Luke Skywalker.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Luke Skywalker was merely one incarnation of Campbell’s “Hero with the Thousand Faces”...</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDdUASHSlHtfPVbQBpILdS-lflPvH0TPiJVNBJ9uWPp2hOsqUkVYInhGH-kjC4h74o-fiqPLtkrcs7GvsDpU7TdLTJHa1_PfemXOiAb7Tv79eiWsfiGAGF56zJ3kJT3X2CORTrrb8mGsevic5DIo9W6IwNWSFs2ExzN6B8brMjImvI-PGShXx0yzcM=s1120" style="color: #2288bb; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1120" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDdUASHSlHtfPVbQBpILdS-lflPvH0TPiJVNBJ9uWPp2hOsqUkVYInhGH-kjC4h74o-fiqPLtkrcs7GvsDpU7TdLTJHa1_PfemXOiAb7Tv79eiWsfiGAGF56zJ3kJT3X2CORTrrb8mGsevic5DIo9W6IwNWSFs2ExzN6B8brMjImvI-PGShXx0yzcM=s320" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: right;">Gilgamesh, a legendary Sumerian king </span><span style="text-align: right;">said to have lived </span><span style="text-align: right;">more </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: right;">than 4000 years </span><span style="text-align: right;">ago, fought bulls sent by a vengeful </span><span style="text-align: right;">goddess and</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: right;">s</span><span style="text-align: right;">ought immortality without </span><span style="text-align: right;">success. He is perhaps most ancient </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: right;">Hero </span><span style="text-align: right;">With a Thousand Faces whose name we know</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Campbell believed heroic stories followed a pattern he called the <i>monomyth</i>: a hero ventures forth from his normal everyday world into a realm of wonder where he faces fabulous challenges. Overcoming these challenges, he returns home with something that he may use to transform his ordinary world for the better. The structure of the monomyth is more complex than this summary, of course. The hero often has a mentor to guide him to the threshold he must cross to enter into the supernatural realm. He also may find allies who help him fight battles as he travels to face an ordeal that threatens to destroy him, an ordeal that is his alone to win or lose…</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidJrzp-rlKhBZqTYFl50l7yZ00JqCBi5cKXmeN6ShjC1FJgldPNq70lwKzxuiJ6HoGEUFhhqukGjm-zgU4HRG3zL0jVprNWe9NJ12F_yuqEPrcQIw2HABILuX_ICFtMeTLQGaPheyY6n4jGNlgNmKXFyPVgwAX0MBqYnNn2aD1YSNRg3Gy8b60T6BU=s687" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="549" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidJrzp-rlKhBZqTYFl50l7yZ00JqCBi5cKXmeN6ShjC1FJgldPNq70lwKzxuiJ6HoGEUFhhqukGjm-zgU4HRG3zL0jVprNWe9NJ12F_yuqEPrcQIw2HABILuX_ICFtMeTLQGaPheyY6n4jGNlgNmKXFyPVgwAX0MBqYnNn2aD1YSNRg3Gy8b60T6BU=s320" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Coyote appears as a Trickster figure in various<br />Native cultures in the American West and<br />Southwest. In some stories, like Prometheus,<br />he steals fire from the gods and gives it to man</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">[Folklorists frequently accuse Campbell of source bias—selecting examples conforming to his monomyth and overlooking those that don’t. It is perhaps instructive to note these same folklorists level similar criticisms at other authors such as Clarissa Pinkola Estes (<i>Women Who Run With Wolves</i>) and Robert Bly (<i>Iron John: A Book About Men)</i> who achieve best-selling author status. The commercial success of these writers doesn’t invalidate the points made by their critics but it does show their approach to the subject strikes a chord with a larger audience in the marketplace of ideas, an audience who sees enough truth in their arguments and enough familiarity with their examples to ignore the quibbling of their detractors.]<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;"><o:p></o:p></p><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13.2px;"></span><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: left; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPtRw7pydm4wDcqWX4k_oYDUfkDaBhLI7ECsseZmGa8VHCdw968wMMrBXntOjpy3ZX8jrN6Nc6pB8fJo_mFIg2UNOyPQVxmM4pjJuBxaOxKSVKsOKCmgSsuhXwrnB_5xh4Peg5z-M0jBcByGYhmcZJhEp3SJVEnAYbaX706xhO7j18wwk2jDvQBeo4=s1200" style="color: #2288bb; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPtRw7pydm4wDcqWX4k_oYDUfkDaBhLI7ECsseZmGa8VHCdw968wMMrBXntOjpy3ZX8jrN6Nc6pB8fJo_mFIg2UNOyPQVxmM4pjJuBxaOxKSVKsOKCmgSsuhXwrnB_5xh4Peg5z-M0jBcByGYhmcZJhEp3SJVEnAYbaX706xhO7j18wwk2jDvQBeo4=w200-h150" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="200" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The American Monomyth: Wonder Woman, daughter of Zeus </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">himself, casts off her anonymity in our darkest hour to fight the </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">God of War and bring an end to a conflict engulfing the entire world</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: justify;">Robert Jewett and John Shelton Lawrence have proposed an American variant of the monomyth: a peaceful community finds itself threatened by some evil force or being; normal institutions such as the police or military which are designed to protect society fail under the onslaught of this evil; a selfless superhero emerges to battle this seemingly unstoppable menace; despite the overwhelming force he faces, our selfless hero overcomes trials and temptations to eventually win a decisive victory; with peace restored, the hero fades back into anonymity and obscurity…</div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">My suspicion is the millions of people who watched Luke Skywalker battle Darth Vader and the scientists working to understand the first seconds and minutes of our new-born Universe or exploring the origins of life on our small planet in vast universe share a common desire: to understand their individuality and still be part of the larger human community…</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: right; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQvVLCfrSRExdkA-gk9d8Kll1z4V-gQSf5Y1BZW2rubrenI3Fc5MfA5QW5-LEm7Rl-IPgFbIaHT3bAqHviEEoG6FYgoFaV_ftRFnPvLKlC7gRMvWDWik_IhnioVxXjLqCYx4Qt8fXhQfu6g5Lpgsm9HDkvIzTsTMgW59DMWmybdnYg-p40gO_VTWc1=s795" style="clear: right; color: #2288bb; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="795" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQvVLCfrSRExdkA-gk9d8Kll1z4V-gQSf5Y1BZW2rubrenI3Fc5MfA5QW5-LEm7Rl-IPgFbIaHT3bAqHviEEoG6FYgoFaV_ftRFnPvLKlC7gRMvWDWik_IhnioVxXjLqCYx4Qt8fXhQfu6g5Lpgsm9HDkvIzTsTMgW59DMWmybdnYg-p40gO_VTWc1=s320" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Greek hero Herakles performs twelve daunting tasks as<br />penance for having slain his wife and children in a fit of<br />madness. His final labor is to bring Kerberos, the<br />three-headed hound Hades from the underworld<br />to the land of the living.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">This struggle to define our own individuality in a world filled with other persons who look much like ourselves has occupied philosophers for centuries. Humankind looks at itself to find ways to distinguish one person from another. Some use skin color and regional origins to separate themselves from others. Unfortunately, when people do this, the ugly faces of racism and ethnocentrism begin to peer out from the primitive forests of our past to make the civilized villages our present more dangerous places. The Eighteenth and Nineteen Centuries had entire sciences devoted to demonstrating the racial superiority of white people…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Many of us are surprised to learn that dividing our species into separate races based on skin color is a relatively recent idea. A French traveler and physician, Francois Bernier, anonymously published an essay in 1684 which described the four races of man which share this world as a home. It was an attempt at a more scientific analysis of the older medieval concept of three races of mankind springing from the sons of Noah—an Asiatic Semitic race, an African Hamitic race, and the Indo-European Japhetic race…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">People in ancient times certainly did realize that there were other people with different skin colors than their own and these other people had ways of life different than they did. Ancient Greeks and Romans generally attributed these differences to environmental factors. Hippocrates of Kos wrote “the forms and dispositions of mankind correspond with the disposition of the country.” Comfortable, temperate climates produced indolent and sluggish populations while more extreme climates resulted in peoples who were industrious and vigorous. Tongue in cheek, we might note the ancient Chinese may have been the first to see evolutionary factors at work. A Han Dynasty historian pointed out blonde haired and green-eyed barbarians resembled the monkeys from which they descended…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Religion added its own take on race—and not always for the better. Some writers have asserted the Babylonian Talmud describes black skinned Africans as the descendants of Ham, cursed for mocking his drunken father, Noah-- a belief popular in the Antebellum South of the United States. (Other scholars vigorously dispute this interpretation of the Talmudic text as inaccurate and note that nowhere in the Biblical narrative is skin color mentioned in connection with Ham's shameful behavior.) The idea of black skin as a curse and justification for enslavement found favor with some Islamic writers as the slave trade became lucrative. Not everyone in the Muslim world agreed with this idea. Ibn Khaldun, a fourteenth century scholar, explained dark skin as the product of the hot African sun...</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaHFPRRDg8uubA6T2k9ju-DnSMW9sCMu_pov4FRY47YlEy1hxWhyyB7rM_ubwd7ANPbchAR2rBHrLXyqHdoI3EDXPU6hvwygKsILJuDXybc_A0Tg4S2q2L4LxkIwrSIv-8TfOJaBJnrjLYWKZfPd9unshVG-ob7oW1bPYjPqkDW2w1yei932NklLiv=s960" style="clear: left; color: #2288bb; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="960" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaHFPRRDg8uubA6T2k9ju-DnSMW9sCMu_pov4FRY47YlEy1hxWhyyB7rM_ubwd7ANPbchAR2rBHrLXyqHdoI3EDXPU6hvwygKsILJuDXybc_A0Tg4S2q2L4LxkIwrSIv-8TfOJaBJnrjLYWKZfPd9unshVG-ob7oW1bPYjPqkDW2w1yei932NklLiv=w287-h205" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="287" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel retelling of the story of </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">of a drunken Noah who is mocked by son Ham, an </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">incident used to explain the dark skin of Africans as</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">God's punishment upon Ham's descendants</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">Early pseudo-scientific attempts at analyzing race went horribly and terribly awry, degenerating into craniometry and phrenology. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach studied human skulls and concluded their various shapes indicated the existence of five races—Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethiopian, American, and Malayan. To his credit, Blumenbach strongly refuted a then popular theory of black inferiority…<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Phrenologists expanded the study of skull shapes and bumps to predict an individual’s personality. Despite the dubious honor of being called the “Father of Phrenology”, Franz Joseph Gall’s work would inspire others to conduct more scientifically sound analysis in the fields of psychology and anatomy. Gall was the son of a rich wool merchant. Being the second son, he was expected to become a priest but chose to study medicine. He observed that many of his more intelligent classmates seemed to have prominent eyeballs. This, he concluded, could not be mere coincidence—just as he’d noticed the oddly shaped head of a childhood acquaintance had certainly contributed to the lad’s flair for languages…</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">It became only a matter of time until some phrenologists saw the potential analyzing skulls had when it came to assessing the superiority or inferiority of the various races of mankind. In 1837, the American physician Charles Caldwell concluded skulls of Africans indicated qualities that required the need for a master. Samuel Morton, a physiologist, focused his analytical skills on Native American skulls. His 1839 work, <i>Crania Americana</i>, determined the minds of Native Americans were not like the minds of white men. Dr Morton became one of the most influential voices of scientific racism. Nineteenth Century European academics tended to distrust American scientific acumen, but Morton found supporters abroad, including Charles Darwin who saw him as an authority of race…</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: left; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiUVp8WtYCiN2dkxWerO65UrOqHlpN8xhvUwTDZiafcv_lWguBHECokL7CBXGkJ-xORXTKxEi65Cr-NulW7uTidxMxOkKaBbS3tnPEY0ba6QHJ6dR2PfBEXiyjJeQb1XkW_ndrusYf567e1rNlpg132Ug2Si-IuMawl99VbA2mbtNsMp0bsZ9NCWYNt=s900" style="color: #2288bb; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="569" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiUVp8WtYCiN2dkxWerO65UrOqHlpN8xhvUwTDZiafcv_lWguBHECokL7CBXGkJ-xORXTKxEi65Cr-NulW7uTidxMxOkKaBbS3tnPEY0ba6QHJ6dR2PfBEXiyjJeQb1XkW_ndrusYf567e1rNlpg132Ug2Si-IuMawl99VbA2mbtNsMp0bsZ9NCWYNt=w126-h200" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="126" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ernst Haeckel, a 19th Century German<br />zoologist, proposed a "scientifically<br />based" racial theory which saw whites as<br />the most advanced form of humans and<br />blacks as the least advanced. His theory<br />included the idea the Lost Continent of<br />Lemuria now covered by the Indian Ocean<br />was home to the first humans.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Morton’s insights on the varieties of mankind: the African race is by nature joyous and indolent and possesses strong powers of imitation but little capacity for invention or innovative thinking; the Native American race is crafty, prone to devouring disgusting food, lacking in gratitude, and incapable of comprehending abstract concepts…<o:p></o:p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: right; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTZA5yVUE5ck-Z06vIsQgpJUwRMFyUqm-NOtGVJDcYV39AN1_VAE_82mfeGLBi4BfcOw7PNHnHXC2v5PrENjAHYgV_6uKjmw4O4OsirAjsSdXLq-v-R6RfHVDLBdrDOnrUlw2YOG6OVaiuu9fquGmEN0eSn7PUwN49kzl5R_Cun_8C2PZVXHSejWGC=s500" style="clear: right; color: #2288bb; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTZA5yVUE5ck-Z06vIsQgpJUwRMFyUqm-NOtGVJDcYV39AN1_VAE_82mfeGLBi4BfcOw7PNHnHXC2v5PrENjAHYgV_6uKjmw4O4OsirAjsSdXLq-v-R6RfHVDLBdrDOnrUlw2YOG6OVaiuu9fquGmEN0eSn7PUwN49kzl5R_Cun_8C2PZVXHSejWGC=s320" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Technological advances made it possible for phrenologists to</span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: justify;">quickly analyze skull shapes and bumps on a person's head </div><div style="text-align: justify;">and offer pseudoscientific insights into personality traits and</div><div style="text-align: justify;">character by the early years of the 20th Century</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Upon the occasion of Morton’s passing from this life, <i>The Charleston Medical Journal</i> eulogized him—“We of the South should consider him our benefactor for aiding most materially in giving to the negro his true position as an inferior race” …</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Others find distinctions in the smaller ways than skulls. Look, for instance, at the tips of your fingers with their odd patterns of whorls and ridges. Neither your spouse nor co-worker will have the same patterns as yours—nor will your child, parents, or neighbors…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">A sense of the uniqueness of fingerprints has been around for a long time. In ancient China, they were used to authenticate government documents. Babylonians, in the time of Hammurabi (circa 1790 BCE), policing officials fingerprinted suspected criminals. In more modern times, notions of a forensic use for them didn’t take hold until the late 19<sup>th</sup> Century. Argentine police used fingerprints in 1892 to solve a particularly brutal murder case in which a woman killed her sons and falsely accused a neighbor of the crime, the first such use of fingerprints to catch a killer…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">In more recent decades, the myth of fingerprints has transformed itself into the myth of DNA for many millions of persons (myself included) who have taken DNA tests to learn from whom and whence they came. The results of these tests can be simultaneously enlightening and baffling…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">A good friend of a half-century’s standing told me about the DNA test he took. “Apparently,” he said, “my parents and grandparents and great grandparents and great-great grandparents were wrong. We always thought we were Jewish. And that my family had lived in Poland before we came to America. Turns out I’m half Jewish, 36% Hispanic, and 24% Native American. Probably Navajo”…<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">DNA tests that predict your ethnic origins, to be fair, use up-to-date technology that do a pretty good job of analyzing your individual genome. Those odd results that some people get have more to do with the way a computer program compares your DNA sample to a reference database of people of “known ancestry” (people whose four grandparents were all Swedish or Polish or Nigerian, etc) and then hazards a scientific guess about your ethnicity. The more highly admixed your DNA, as mine is, the more confusing and contradictory the results can be…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">By way of example, I’ve taken multiple DNA tests. One hinted at ancestry in North Africa, another at forebearers on the Iberian Peninsula. Yet another saw me as the descendant of West Asians. Only problem with those prognostications is I have no known ancestors in the past several hundred years from those parts of the world…<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_3vz2vFIfrMEYcWEy-4OYnDhyY3-oAUw0snZfGY281vAh5suBMGMVdFnWKUFbJ-aYhknfyIjqZ82uCqAjHYrHgVMhdtZPQToxEv2IyESk2cIeT_mBQrQxzvKm3F8xCBdbf88mS16cDL-A-1qGdgcI28GAmnqkCkyKhV6CCGcOUKNVEZXSQtwxMhaE=s1000" style="color: #2288bb; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="1000" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_3vz2vFIfrMEYcWEy-4OYnDhyY3-oAUw0snZfGY281vAh5suBMGMVdFnWKUFbJ-aYhknfyIjqZ82uCqAjHYrHgVMhdtZPQToxEv2IyESk2cIeT_mBQrQxzvKm3F8xCBdbf88mS16cDL-A-1qGdgcI28GAmnqkCkyKhV6CCGcOUKNVEZXSQtwxMhaE=s320" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The author's Ancestry DNA sample as interpreted by Ancestry</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaApcVI29wSf1aPPtLqYNesteBDpYh-iz6vUXF4fbtAQAqPkuEeN7yPYUXtnX-f9JKp6zLhAVevDSIC_tjHdo7QQZpUNI56ofJLeElWcM37_HPIBcHXRzj8w8PUVVedcbkMi7mnS2CcZfsLEFLAqxw_L973pcmVRbEL21Eeiqui4BOkCUTOdGxKuxy=s1000" style="color: #2288bb; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="1000" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhaApcVI29wSf1aPPtLqYNesteBDpYh-iz6vUXF4fbtAQAqPkuEeN7yPYUXtnX-f9JKp6zLhAVevDSIC_tjHdo7QQZpUNI56ofJLeElWcM37_HPIBcHXRzj8w8PUVVedcbkMi7mnS2CcZfsLEFLAqxw_L973pcmVRbEL21Eeiqui4BOkCUTOdGxKuxy=s320" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The author's Ancestry DNA sample as interpreted by FTDNA<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjSLS9gxj0Ck9AMqoFgspclyFWYrEfjgdPyixKUqf_pm7mouZ_ER8gXE_MADcNvYHDL0wAayO2fo-vPmeTYAjwMMnlydGdlQ3ubB5mkasZ_GtVIohQhbozhaK6Zra996LGisSebnb4kVfpgixMx5_c4tG_pqu5PhdMh2VxoERzvqoxBy5wJ3x-UbfY=s1000" style="color: #2288bb; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="1000" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjSLS9gxj0Ck9AMqoFgspclyFWYrEfjgdPyixKUqf_pm7mouZ_ER8gXE_MADcNvYHDL0wAayO2fo-vPmeTYAjwMMnlydGdlQ3ubB5mkasZ_GtVIohQhbozhaK6Zra996LGisSebnb4kVfpgixMx5_c4tG_pqu5PhdMh2VxoERzvqoxBy5wJ3x-UbfY=s320" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The author's Ancestry DNA sample as interpreted by My Heritage</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">I eventually learned of a commercial program that would compare my individual DNA test data to a database of DNA samples taken worldwide and plot the results on a map of the globe. This program wouldn’t make a prediction about my ethnic origins. It would just show where people with DNA similar to mine DNA were living today. The database would note a sample may have been taken in one place and attributed to the original homeland of the sample donor (e.g., Morocco—migrant to Israel) …</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">The results of that program showed my DNA matches were literally splashed all across the map in stark contrast to my wife’s whose DNA matches are basically concentrated in the British Isles and Northwestern Europe. Not surprisingly, I had strong matches to those areas as well—after all, half of me comes from folk of British and French descent. But matches to the Balkan and Iberian and Italian peninsulas? That didn’t make sense-- one set of grandparents came from Eastern Europe. I noticed many of my widely distributed matches were to samples collected in Israel but mapped as coming from various locations in Northern Africa and Western Asia…</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Research into population genetics and historical migrations offered possible explanations for both the Map My Genes and commercial DNA test results…<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiccRNNkxmuWZmp6m8t9UYznCK6D0HbhvjiewnRHRDBSmft_UJ2M1NBrA_5Y235pwNlFcUD1MXRwTETKzBHi55laVRKUqVt7XZZ2deRDn41NIh3aX0G8UV5buGwt9xPZ44Mxnta1Hge9BRQ4DvrANWp17i0z6LJqqdCGo6d9dXA8dPRCDefxMVr9rH-=s899" style="color: #2288bb; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="899" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiccRNNkxmuWZmp6m8t9UYznCK6D0HbhvjiewnRHRDBSmft_UJ2M1NBrA_5Y235pwNlFcUD1MXRwTETKzBHi55laVRKUqVt7XZZ2deRDn41NIh3aX0G8UV5buGwt9xPZ44Mxnta1Hge9BRQ4DvrANWp17i0z6LJqqdCGo6d9dXA8dPRCDefxMVr9rH-=s320" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Detail of the author's DNA sample when plotted on a world map<br />with the "Map My Genes program". The letter "A" is text<br /> added by the author to note areas where the Map My Genes<br /> database entry is noted as having been collected in<br />Israel but attributed to the sample donor's original homeland<br />(e.g., Morocco-- collected from migrant to Israel)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">I learned Ashkenazi Jews and Italians have similar genetic signatures, most likely due to a high rate of intermarriage between exiled Judeans and Italians in the years between the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE and the beginning of the Crusades when anti-Semitism became the norm. Another study found approximately 20% of Spanish men show traces of Sephardic Jewish ancestors—the result of forced conversions to Christianity in the late 15<sup>th</sup> Century…</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; float: right; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYhHszoKf8VZLZLX6jyuFyqZgu5hQKCDNpoDELc603ayVJKyO3PLRVpTCOqdKIGGdwbRPBVhuKL_0GS51mujNEaTwasUBxbGNPyn6QKH0s0TUVTfxOtVl8pr5hkzEq9FXPEmWQlkOOp0Bn3jFDH0uwyponviT9r6dc5dTfSb4KqaJmpqBGWB2oT4Wd=s720" style="clear: right; color: #2288bb; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="720" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYhHszoKf8VZLZLX6jyuFyqZgu5hQKCDNpoDELc603ayVJKyO3PLRVpTCOqdKIGGdwbRPBVhuKL_0GS51mujNEaTwasUBxbGNPyn6QKH0s0TUVTfxOtVl8pr5hkzEq9FXPEmWQlkOOp0Bn3jFDH0uwyponviT9r6dc5dTfSb4KqaJmpqBGWB2oT4Wd=s320" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;">The Exile from Sepharad</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Ashkenazi ancestry came as no surprise whatsoever, but I hadn’t considered the possibility of Sephardi forebearers. But, comparing my mapped DNA to a map of the historic routes taken by the exiles forced to leave Spain in the time of Columbus, I could see a striking similarity… </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">It may be the map generated from my DNA test shows echoes of Sepharad in my ancestry, reminders that the presence of the past lingers in the present. Or it may hint at the truth of a long-held assertion that the far-flung populations of the Jewish Diaspora share a common distant ancestry. Perhaps the map shows both..<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; position: relative;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLJv1cXzYAWxyWxjKEbHtkCmPEQv8a57gPgPFL5AV3OylJDME0g4d0W8RDb1kANKaDa9jQcTRnt39-iad69vvZ7U3YnLFQm9hKpZBxBjYiB2nfvkVR0fMDYwU4WPPEEhMmtVEHE5OpMI1YfIUgnnzotwEvgueBI_CbvyAOkFSrwzhDmcqSShhFvHke=s282" style="color: #2288bb; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="195" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLJv1cXzYAWxyWxjKEbHtkCmPEQv8a57gPgPFL5AV3OylJDME0g4d0W8RDb1kANKaDa9jQcTRnt39-iad69vvZ7U3YnLFQm9hKpZBxBjYiB2nfvkVR0fMDYwU4WPPEEhMmtVEHE5OpMI1YfIUgnnzotwEvgueBI_CbvyAOkFSrwzhDmcqSShhFvHke" style="background: transparent; border: none; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="195" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 10.56px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Andromeda, princess and damsel in<br />distress, awaits her rescue by Perseus,<br />another incarnation of the Hero With<br />A Thousand Faces in this painting by<br />Edward Poynter who served as the<br />Director of the National Gallery in<br />London from 1894-1904</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">THE MARKETPLACE</span></span></i><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span face="arial, sans-serif"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration-line: none;">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/<o:p></o:p></a></span></i></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i>Follow and Like </i><span face="arial, sans-serif">Louis R Nugent Photography<i> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i> </i></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Note: All photographs and research for this essay were located through Google Images or Wikipedia and other readily available online public materials, without authoritative source or ownership information except as noted in the essay text or as follows: photographs of the Monterey Peninsula and Coyote the Trickster by the author</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></i></div></div>LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-25658865298155078842016-10-07T11:51:00.000-07:002016-10-07T11:53:55.629-07:00<i><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></i><br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Journey To The Desert's Edge, Part 11</span></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Note:
this is the eleventh in a series of occasionally appearing entries focusing on
deserts in general and the drylands of West Texas in particular</span></i><br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">“One
reason that Texas is so drought prone is its latitude, the same latitude as the
Sahara Desert.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>As in the Sahara, large
high-pressure cells can sit over the state for weeks or months at a time and
block storms and incoming moisture.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
cause of these cells is not well understood but possible influences are solar
storm cycles, ocean temperature cycles (El Nino and La Nina), and global
warming.”-- Andrew Sansom, </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Water In Texas: An Introduction<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, 2008</i></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Men’s lives in a place have always been
influenced by climate: a truth...</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">For centuries, the western Concho Valley of
Texas has been a sparsely land due to its harsh and demanding climate.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>When the Spanish explored the area in the
1600s, they found people we know today as the Jumanos, some of whom lived in
small rancherias along the river and some of whom practiced a more nomadic
lifestyle.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>By the latter half of the
Seventeenth Century, the Jumanos found themselves displaced by the Lipan Apache
who for a time, controlled barren lands between the Colorado River of Texas and
the Rio Grande.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Next came the Comanche...</span><br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The concept of large permanent settlements came
fairly late to this land of short grass and cactus.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It wasn’t until 1870 that a thousand people
lived in what is now present day Tom Green County and most of those made their
homes near Fort Concho, one of several remote military outposts established
after the Civil War to bring law and order to western Texas...</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGK55EOcShkFqLKB81tneeKZaaKLSZn-bhNwkTX_hSiGSqrKEi4OVmsv9gmyAX-ldi1nzljK1Ez7jFMM80jFjMrzOrVhqogOVLLoGgATWf7FsUBiEug62SUpspNdndtbMX2pXUb9Gpyk/s1600/LipanApachePaintingGeorgeNelson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGK55EOcShkFqLKB81tneeKZaaKLSZn-bhNwkTX_hSiGSqrKEi4OVmsv9gmyAX-ldi1nzljK1Ez7jFMM80jFjMrzOrVhqogOVLLoGgATWf7FsUBiEug62SUpspNdndtbMX2pXUb9Gpyk/s400/LipanApachePaintingGeorgeNelson.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lipan Apache, seen here in a painting by George Nelson, changed their lifestyle after the introduction of the horse and abandoned the traditional wikiup dwelling in favor of the tipis favored by Plains tribes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">In the dry country surrounding the Fort,
ranching became a way of life.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Later
settlers tried their hand at farming.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Both activities were heavily dependent on the sporadic rains
occasionally falling on sun-baked land.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Both activities would ultimately disrupt the fragile ecology of a
semi-arid desert.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But these are stories
for another day...</span><br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Uncertainty is the name of the game when it
comes to knowing what happens tomorrow (or even later today): a second truth...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">As a consequence, astrologers and other folks
with prognostication skills in fields like tea-leaf analysis and sheep entrail
reading have enjoyed steady employment for millenia.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The problem is that accurate predictions
based on planetary locations one day are usually followed by multiple weeks of
being wrong.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It’s a flaw that encourages
skepticism among scientists who tend to believe theories should be considered
faulty if reality disproves predictions based upon those theories...</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihlCVCRBCVXJjZMqeztxja1-j3qix9Y2L935tBmBu9y0M3HvECUMsBFgekk8Tbiz8_H6_20vhczloolZ9-yEocuk1J3F65lghRww-FM3PkaG1uVaSn0O0lXeV_873USSYry89IkgTsrr8/s1600/babylonianAstrologer-211x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihlCVCRBCVXJjZMqeztxja1-j3qix9Y2L935tBmBu9y0M3HvECUMsBFgekk8Tbiz8_H6_20vhczloolZ9-yEocuk1J3F65lghRww-FM3PkaG1uVaSn0O0lXeV_873USSYry89IkgTsrr8/s1600/babylonianAstrologer-211x300.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Man's attempt to foresee changes in</div>
<div>
weather dates at least to the days</div>
<div>
of the ancient Babylonians</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Science really doesn’t like uncertainty but
efforts by scientists to provide us with a clear picture of Earth’s future
climate is no easy task.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This difficulty
may offer some comfort to those who prefer to ignore the overwhelming evidence
of global warming.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But the facts do not
take the side of climate ostriches who believe that we’re merely having a
couple warm years before things go back to normal.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Sea levels <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> rising, Arctic ice levels <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i>
decreasing, lower troposphere temperatures <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i>
increasing...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Where global warming leads the United States in
terms of long term effects is a mixed bag.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Models show average daily temperatures will continue to rise but will do
so unevenly both in terms of time and location.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Frost free times of the year and growing seasons will lengthen,
especially in the western half of the United States.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Projections for precipitation are that it can
be expected to increase in the winter and spring in the north.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But the rains and snow are likely to decrease
in the Southwest during those seasons as well.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Heat waves will be more common everywhere with periods of drought
lasting longer in the already arid Southwest.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>For those who dislike frozen winter days, there is the promise that cold
waves are likely to become less intense over time.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Those who live along the coasts can expect
sea levels to rise and for hurricanes to become stronger and more dangerous...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">A good deal of global warming can be tied to an
increase in greenhouse gases (which include water vapor, carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone) in the atmosphere.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Greenhouse gases absorb and emit radiation in
the thermal infrared range.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This is not
necessarily bad-- the radiation from greenhouse gases in the atmosphere raise a
planet’s surface temperature to a level above what it would be if the planet
had no atmosphere.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Without an
atmosphere, Earth’s surface temperature would likely be about 0 degrees
Fahrenheit...</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6AJiNRRD7eCTK5I1VAf-V9J-Djzbkzjj-VDN6WDb30hhuIHUZku-lMzSTEXmaKLullbOYsMMiSSYBu93Rj9guaURmtMk6-lUgy471p7CZpnnOpgkL-W8kam86pJjKL-zTWBpvXrcXzIY/s1600/SheepRanching_DSCN0876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6AJiNRRD7eCTK5I1VAf-V9J-Djzbkzjj-VDN6WDb30hhuIHUZku-lMzSTEXmaKLullbOYsMMiSSYBu93Rj9guaURmtMk6-lUgy471p7CZpnnOpgkL-W8kam86pJjKL-zTWBpvXrcXzIY/s320/SheepRanching_DSCN0876.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
West Texas sheep rancher as depicted in a mural </div>
<div>
by Stylle Read</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">But too much atmospheric warming is not a good
thing.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Our planetary neighbor Venus
enjoys mean surface temperatures of about 863 degrees Fahrenheit thanks to the
greenhouse effect and an atmosphere which is roughly 96% carbon dioxide... </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Overwhelming numbers of scientists believe
human activity, particularly human activity increasing the amount of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere, is a major factor in the global warming now taking
place.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Lest the reader be tempted to
believe this assertion is a new-fangled notion fostered by enemies of the
energy companies, we note Alexander Graham Bell expressed concern in 1917 with our
continued fossil-fuel use as ultimately causing a terrestrial “hot house
effect” versus a “greenhouse effect”...<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The level of carbon dioxide emissions generated
by human activity is particularly critical in understanding future climate on
earth.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Studies of ice core samples
reveal a carbon dioxide concentration of about 270 parts per million (ppm) in
the years immediately before the Industrial Revolution.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>By 1960, the level had increased to 313
ppm.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>By 2013, carbon dioxide
concentrations were at 400 ppm.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This
rapidly rising number (and attendant global warming) can be traced primarily to
human activities such as burning fossil fuels and tropical deforestation...</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6dpkLTdu2aa-O8TERiOXnxtyeJwTISqTwz2mrHw6QzsM4uGH4_Z661-7hKDwqMVzaBmwEYJgTBEPSU2yZGQqQ29w3iqvuKgeEHCphi66gr6aClhBgJsPCTTB-uEXbRERqt5tb0iphIk/s1600/cs_seasonal_precip_projections_a2_v6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6dpkLTdu2aa-O8TERiOXnxtyeJwTISqTwz2mrHw6QzsM4uGH4_Z661-7hKDwqMVzaBmwEYJgTBEPSU2yZGQqQ29w3iqvuKgeEHCphi66gr6aClhBgJsPCTTB-uEXbRERqt5tb0iphIk/s640/cs_seasonal_precip_projections_a2_v6.png" width="488" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56G3idQoXzxdRgf2c5C2X2XbcU7y-l2EZJucgU4y2Burh5ayQyAXPyHAMdm3BuDiBQY92N8keEQNK-OgoFdFyF8kVWhSoonAqfx6SRIIVE0i-GxuhQDlg6L2vLj8nGqMYuAvvtTXA1PY/s1600/ECO_water_risk_index_V2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56G3idQoXzxdRgf2c5C2X2XbcU7y-l2EZJucgU4y2Burh5ayQyAXPyHAMdm3BuDiBQY92N8keEQNK-OgoFdFyF8kVWhSoonAqfx6SRIIVE0i-GxuhQDlg6L2vLj8nGqMYuAvvtTXA1PY/s640/ECO_water_risk_index_V2.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Global warming travels with problems for humans,
the species largely responsible, for it and the severity of future climate
changes it brings may be in the hands of those same humans.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>In terms of the effects we noted earlier, we
might point out rising sea levels impact the habitability of coastlines.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Likewise, higher temperatures and the
likelihood of increased precipitation in some areas and prolonged drought in
others affect agricultural production...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Dire predictions for the future of the planet
as a whole set aside, we all have a localized interest in what changing weather
brings.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>What does global warming mean
for me, I ask...<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">My home is a semi-arid area at the edge of the
Chihuahuan Desert with an average annual rainfall of about 20 inches.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This average, however, may not entirely what
it would be if man let Mother Nature take her own course.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>For roughly two decades, cloud seeding operations
have been used to enhance area rainfall.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>A study conducted for the city of San Angelo suggests rainfall during
the 1985-1989 period increased at least 25% in seeded areas during the months seeding
operations took place...</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSn_BOlXm39nJ0g85NR-XYRjPKPBPp4yHZCIfuXLCUaqYlUobMBpWLRWXxe9v5LAjGPy8Sn5hMZ9S3ePBwoDE9OzFgm_Y7ON_c0UeVvbUYepDDvkh7ioS573Nf0dB3-yIGC3S095kd3Sc/s1600/DSCN9666a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSn_BOlXm39nJ0g85NR-XYRjPKPBPp4yHZCIfuXLCUaqYlUobMBpWLRWXxe9v5LAjGPy8Sn5hMZ9S3ePBwoDE9OzFgm_Y7ON_c0UeVvbUYepDDvkh7ioS573Nf0dB3-yIGC3S095kd3Sc/s400/DSCN9666a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ranchland in the western Concho Valley</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">What effect cloud seeding ultimately will have
on area rainfall averages remains to be seen.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>In the fifty years prior to consistent cloud seeding, San Angelo
averaged 19.08 inches of precipitation per year with individual years totaling
as low as 7.41 inches and as high as 40.40 inches.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Since folks began injecting cumulus clouds
with silver iodide, annual average rainfall has increased to 21.58 inches with
individual year extremes ranging from 9.21 to 32.93 inches...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">(Compounding the difficulty of short-term
assessments of long-term climate change as it occurs in the Concho Valley is
the fact precipitation in the dry country is erratic.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>While a given year’s rain in semi-arid
regions is usually within ± 50% of the statistical average, there is no
guarantee amounts that actually fall will be in that range.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Additionally, the monthly deviation from
statistical norms can be (and usually are) significant.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The month of May offers a good example.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>With an annual average rainfall of 02.82
inches, May sits statistically as the “wettest month of the year” for San
Angelo.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>But actual monthly totals from
2005 to 2016 range from 0.12 inches to 9.12 inches.)</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje4u2R-azo01Y1hcAna1YSGfRkvPIuysf_ZQdZKvR7xDCxIiedpge0WJMLrnf_UMYKTuulryiHg9OCmsOQjo3lckeBhuO5C75E4Js2fjiXS3otVxvCY862jKU-3rzENqiagavbtJwpLqQ/s1600/AGB1867.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje4u2R-azo01Y1hcAna1YSGfRkvPIuysf_ZQdZKvR7xDCxIiedpge0WJMLrnf_UMYKTuulryiHg9OCmsOQjo3lckeBhuO5C75E4Js2fjiXS3otVxvCY862jKU-3rzENqiagavbtJwpLqQ/s320/AGB1867.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Alexander Graham Bell, father of the</div>
<div>
telephone and prophet of global warming</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Although cloud seeding likely helps raise
reservoir levels, it makes analyzing effects of global warming on natural precipitation
patterns and evaporation rates in this sector of Texas more difficult.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This is dry country by nature-- <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>we can look at data collected by the Texas
A&M agricultural research station near San Angelo over a 54 year period and
see the site’s 19.20 inches of precipitation was offset by a potential
evapotranspiration rate of 71.34 inches.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>Any increase in average annual rainfall derived from either cloud
seeding or precipitation pattern changes induced by global warming may not
prove to be as useful as hoped if rising temperatures lead to higher
evaporation rates...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Scientists suspect rainfall may gradually
lessen in already arid South and West Texas.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>As temperatures continue to rise and warm air blankets the state for
longer periods of time, meeting points between cold and warm air masses will
shift and push seasonal rains more to the north and east...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Probably a lot of long hot summer days for my
part of the world down the road...</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQM72wnSJjlzWJlkcbZNiZjBjKISylrBPFOp9gULWOeMeQabQ17pGkIE5gqCUgqC2ERaGAMcHnnR2WLMvAEV8UtIaX7FXYJBpfHMGKez-2sKJQm-vgsAoTMTe239X-nC0wGUUEF542bA/s1600/climatemaps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeQM72wnSJjlzWJlkcbZNiZjBjKISylrBPFOp9gULWOeMeQabQ17pGkIE5gqCUgqC2ERaGAMcHnnR2WLMvAEV8UtIaX7FXYJBpfHMGKez-2sKJQm-vgsAoTMTe239X-nC0wGUUEF542bA/s640/climatemaps.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
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Louis R Nugent gallery at Fine Art America.<span style="margin: 0px;">
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Follow and Like </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Louis R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.</i></span><br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Fine Art America now
features painting, drawings, and photographs by twenty-two artists who
celebrate majestic and uncompromising landscapes, settlements, people, plants,
and flora and fauna scattered across the vast emptiness called West Texas.</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">CREDITS</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Note: All
photographs and information for this essay were located through Google Images, Wikipedia
and readily available general information sources such as Enclcopedia
Brittanica, without authoritative source or ownership information except as
noted: photographs of Stylle Read mural and Concho Valley ranchland by Louis R Nugent; George Nelson Lipan Apache painting from <a href="http://www.forttumbleweed.net/apachepass.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.forttumbleweed.net/apachepass.html</span></a>
; water supply sustainability from <a href="https://data.globalchange.gov/assets/36/96/d21cee93238d81f9ea1404f06c5d/ECO_water_risk_index_V2.png"><span style="color: blue;">https://data.globalchange.gov/assets/36/96/d21cee93238d81f9ea1404f06c5d/ECO_water_risk_index_V2.png</span></a>;
average Texas summer temperature increase from <a href="http://images1.dallasobserver.com/imager/u/745xauto/7439644/climatemaps.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://images1.dallasobserver.com/imager/u/745xauto/7439644/climatemaps.jpg</span></a>
; Alexander Graham Bell photograph from <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><a href="http://www.telcomhistory.org/vm/Images/AGB1867.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.telcomhistory.org/vm/Images/AGB1867.jpg</span></a>
; Information on general effects of
climate change from <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></i><a href="http://climate.nasa.gov/effects/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">http://climate.nasa.gov/effects/</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">; the Future of Climate Change from </span></i><a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-change-science/future-climate-change"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.epa.gov/climate-change-science/future-climate-change</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">; evidence for global warming from </span></i><a href="https://www.skepticalscience.com/evidence-for-global-warming.htm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.skepticalscience.com/evidence-for-global-warming.htm</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">; rainfall increase from cloud seeding from </span></i><a href="https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/weather/weatherfaq.htm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/weather/weatherfaq.htm</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">; nature of semi-arid precipitation patterns from </span></i><a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0122e/t0122e03.htm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0122e/t0122e03.htm</span></span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">; future rainfalls likely more to north and east from <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2014/07/14/state-only-planning-bigger-texas-not-hotter-one/"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.texastribune.org/2014/07/14/state-only-planning-bigger-texas-not-hotter-one/</span></a></span></i></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-71940736579129454372016-01-08T08:30:00.000-08:002016-01-10T07:39:36.708-08:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;">Saints, Cowboys, And Buffalo Soldiers<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"General
Orders No. 1, issued in February 1881, abolished all military districts in the
Department of Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Colonel Benjamin F)
Grierson took note of the service of the black soldiers from 1878-1880 of the
Tenth, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Fifth (Cavalry Regiments) from his
headquarters at Fort Concho in the District of the Pecos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had constructed and maintained three
hundred miles of telegraph lines, guarded over one thousand miles of wagon
roads, and marched 135,710 miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
had conducted the successful campaign against Victorio and the Mimbres
Apaches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had made the district so
safe that settlers flocked to western Texas."-- Debra J Scheffler, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Buffalo
Soldiers:Their Epic Story and Major Campaigns<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, 2015<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bartholomew J De Witt, whose beloved wife
Carolina Angela Garza died in 1866, paid $320 for 320 acres of land in the arid
quarter of Texas west of the 100<sup>th</sup> meridian and south of the 32<sup>nd</sup>
parallel around the time a nearby military installation received its third and
final name in 1868...</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORbCHEpIQY-wNx7FtUgAHEWcIZ7lCFlXHCB_u0F-Wk_3Lfgbx0RHiJZUws35t8xDl45ipHVXsYURVo6l_tQp2jp-Q5jUg7rZUL0Wl6DTu0fm2YbkzQFEjiesXssR8-LwOg5o3JkcxC98/s1600/0002_LasDosAngelas_JohnNoelke_2005_GEDC5262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiORbCHEpIQY-wNx7FtUgAHEWcIZ7lCFlXHCB_u0F-Wk_3Lfgbx0RHiJZUws35t8xDl45ipHVXsYURVo6l_tQp2jp-Q5jUg7rZUL0Wl6DTu0fm2YbkzQFEjiesXssR8-LwOg5o3JkcxC98/s320/0002_LasDosAngelas_JohnNoelke_2005_GEDC5262.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angela Garza De Witt and her patron saint, Angela de Merici,<br />
overlook the Concho River in John Noelke's 2005 sculpture,<br />
<em>Las dos Angelas</em>, located behind the visitor's center in downtown<br />
San Angelo </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fort Concho (after brief incarnations as Camp
Hatch and Camp Kelly) sat near the junction of the Middle and North Concho
rivers at a site meant to overcome a lack of water for troops and horses-- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the major deficiency of Fort Chadbourne which
had been established in 1852 in what later became Coke County to protect stage
coach routes and the few European descent settlers in the harsh and dry region...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwppIwtbwwciWUJUOsw2VMxPwUE1HhMFrQ7HwK78X57QSqZQnL5HNN0cZlVqvlWTfoT-RD0psREUIbJJqmRYn1wjkvTcQZcr-NsZMXzYal3CV3hc8_7BqH1W3iz6nzQeKFNJPPtcyFnpM/s1600/0002_PioneersRestingAtFortConcho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwppIwtbwwciWUJUOsw2VMxPwUE1HhMFrQ7HwK78X57QSqZQnL5HNN0cZlVqvlWTfoT-RD0psREUIbJJqmRYn1wjkvTcQZcr-NsZMXzYal3CV3hc8_7BqH1W3iz6nzQeKFNJPPtcyFnpM/s400/0002_PioneersRestingAtFortConcho.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wagon train settlers headed west pause for a respite at Fort Concho in this<br />
undated photograph from the late 19th Century</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The renamed military outpost would play a key
role in settling the American Southwest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Its soldiers were charged with protecting settlers and keeping the route
to El Paso del Norte open at the same time they mapped the four hundred miles
of desert separating the Army garrisons of Fort Concho and Fort Bliss, working
in conjunction with men assigned to even more remote and isolated locations
such as Fort Stockton and Fort Davis... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Most of this grueling work fell to a group of
men called Buffalo Soldiers..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-l1D3fHdZ3oLwSCjVOy9k3JrVMBhf7urnzVgjqhbQ1e7GAfEPff22r_q3JTF2cRlBkZ9JOkwEgYgVw_MYlio_Q2sOZyzxIBEDthL48nx_bWJiI5zkU2_R2MnwFckh_-Fdh_yEH7zb7Q/s1600/0002_MilitaryHeritageMural_StylleRead_2012_GEDC0310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-l1D3fHdZ3oLwSCjVOy9k3JrVMBhf7urnzVgjqhbQ1e7GAfEPff22r_q3JTF2cRlBkZ9JOkwEgYgVw_MYlio_Q2sOZyzxIBEDthL48nx_bWJiI5zkU2_R2MnwFckh_-Fdh_yEH7zb7Q/s400/0002_MilitaryHeritageMural_StylleRead_2012_GEDC0310.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stylle Read included this realistic depiction of a Fort Concho soldier in the<br />
harsh and unforgiving West Texas desert in a 2012 mural devoted to the military<br />
heritage of San Angelo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Where there are soldiers, there are goods not
readily available in military commisaries and Bart De Witt established a
trading post in an area referred to as “Over The River” to meet the needs of
troops and settlers alike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The collection
of shops and saloons that sprang up soon took the name San Angela, either in
honor of De Witt’s wife, her patron saint (Angela de Merici), or a relative of
the family who was a nun in San Antonio...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Santa Angela became the town of San Angelo,
thanks to a mishap with the Post Office which resulted in a bureaucratic sex
change for a town known for gamblers, prostitutes, and saloons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among the rascals who added to the
misdeeds committed in the dusty desert settlement were the card sharps Carlotta
J Thompkins aka Lottie Deno aka Mystic Maude (and the prototype for Miss Kitty
on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gunsmoke </i>television series) and
John Henry “Doc” Holliday, a dentist best remembered today for a 30 second
gunfight at the O K Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. This outlaw past and reputation
as a dangerous frontier city eventually worked its way into popular American
music as “San Angelo”, a gunslinger ballad by Marty Robbins, who told a similar
story about an outlaw and his lover in El Paso...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1BsFo4_C2EyL-mhWNAdyMYSUBjL5-SD_cojQrFg0DvtnbQIWwXb_dmKrYVOsLI-N5R1oktNdXSS8apaIkxZaYFD33hlfX5jTP2fQeM_kIf99NPajaC8Er2KT9JpOiEMgWr5VEFafgug/s1600/0002_LottieDeno.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1BsFo4_C2EyL-mhWNAdyMYSUBjL5-SD_cojQrFg0DvtnbQIWwXb_dmKrYVOsLI-N5R1oktNdXSS8apaIkxZaYFD33hlfX5jTP2fQeM_kIf99NPajaC8Er2KT9JpOiEMgWr5VEFafgug/s400/0002_LottieDeno.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Born into Kentucky wealth, Lottie Deno chose the<br />
life of gambler in San Angelo and other western<br />
frontier towns. She is said to be the inspiration for<br />
<em>Gunsmoke</em>'s Miss Kitty</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">But, long before that, in 1866, following the
Civil War, Congress found itself impressed by the bravery of the 180,000 or so
black soldiers who’d seen service in the Union Army and decided to form cavalry
and infantry regiments composed of African-Americans. Several regiments were
consolidated after their creation and, by 1869, these men were assigned to one
of four regiments: the Ninth United States Cavalry, the Tenth United States
Cavalry, the Twenty-Fourth United States Infantry, and the Twenty-Fifth United
States Infantry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were relatively
well paid for the times-- Buffalo Soldiers enlisted for five years with a
starting salary of $13 per month...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Despite the dangerous duties assigned these men,
their ability to lead themselves and plan complex military operations was
questioned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White officers commanded
them with few exceptions, the most notable of these being Henry O Flipper, who,
in 1873, became the first black man to receive a commission from West Point...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQul0XjxKfxPx26URQa2iOPbzDeKKQL665SRChXetZ3sGTLScmG9hAnLP4sNibilApEDnqXuNc2l5VFuXs5cedojORivy5rDQsg4HiaEQITJocW2zVYTkDZcIG5W3HulOVNv7Ad776HQk/s1600/0002_Henry_Ossian_Flipper_1900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQul0XjxKfxPx26URQa2iOPbzDeKKQL665SRChXetZ3sGTLScmG9hAnLP4sNibilApEDnqXuNc2l5VFuXs5cedojORivy5rDQsg4HiaEQITJocW2zVYTkDZcIG5W3HulOVNv7Ad776HQk/s320/0002_Henry_Ossian_Flipper_1900.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Henry O Flipper, circa 1900. Despite his mistreatment<br />
by the military, Flipper went on to a long and successful<br />
career as an author, engineer, and political advisor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[Flipper was eventually forced out of the Army
in what now appears to have been a racially motivated court martial involving
the disappearance of post funds entrusted to his care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Acquitted of charges of embezzlement, he was
nevertheless found guilty of “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman”
and dismissed from the service in June 1882.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sadly enough, a number of white officers,
including George Armstrong Custer of Little Bighorn infamy, refused to command black
soldiers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Custer’s case, he believed
them inclined to cowardice and consequently considered it below his dignity to
ride alongside such men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His distaste
for black soldiers was so great that he turned down command of the Tenth
Cavalry, a Colonel’s position, and instead accepted a Lieutenant Colonel’s
duties with the Seventh Cavalry...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Among those who disagreed with Custer’s
assessment of African-American courage and fighting skills were Native American
tribes of the Desert Southwest and the Great Plains who first referred to the
black infantry and cavalry troops as Buffalo Soldiers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a term bestowed with respect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disagreement exists as to whether the
Cheyenne or the Comanche first used the term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Several theories have also been advanced to explain the origin of the
Buffalo Soldier nickname: the curly black hair of the soldiers, their ferocity
and bravery in battle, the buffalo hide coats they wore in the winter...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ZBCy5iQ_kWszm1jpn9xOmAfkR2DGQgu4RK3n6NLdZcvC5PRn1e5elke4rqH5kJ1vNngFtTSqLszf6n-pjJ6_Ihyphenhyphen8MrjUJQYAV00H0AF15zBOqnfumc44tFo3gb1fFcCY3WlyBG1xoRA/s1600/0002_10thCavalryFortDavis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ZBCy5iQ_kWszm1jpn9xOmAfkR2DGQgu4RK3n6NLdZcvC5PRn1e5elke4rqH5kJ1vNngFtTSqLszf6n-pjJ6_Ihyphenhyphen8MrjUJQYAV00H0AF15zBOqnfumc44tFo3gb1fFcCY3WlyBG1xoRA/s400/0002_10thCavalryFortDavis.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10th Cavalry soldiers on the parade grounds of Fort Davis</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Regardless of how they got their name, black Buffalo
Soldiers made the Great Plains safe for white settlers at the expense of the
red man in quick order, building roads and telegraph lines and escorting mail
between skirmishes with the native settlers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The focus of their duties then shifted southwest to the dry country of
West Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In April 1875, regimental
headquarters for the Tenth Cavalry were transferred to Fort Concho (which
simultaneously also became home base for the Ninth Cavalry) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>where its soldiers continued the work they’d
begun on the Kansas plains at Fort Leavenworth...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Soldiers assigned to Fort Concho were primarily
responsible for patrolling the previously mentioned southwestern quarter of
Texas, a land of desert grasslands dotted with xeric shrubs as well as large
stretches of barren country almost entirely lacking in vegetation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Readers who are familiar with the western
half of Texas would appreciate the difficulty of their duties even if the hard
country of the Concho Valley and Trans-Pecos had been the only area of
responsibility for these men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they
also found themselves traveling northward to the equally harsh regions of the
Llano Estacado and Panhandle to fight Comanches or map the sparsely populated
landscapes... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of the greatest miltary challenges the
Tenth Cavalry faced came in 1880 when it became part of the campaign against
the Apache chieftain Victorio and his band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Led by Colonel Benjamin Grierson, who had commanded the regiment since
its founding in 1866, the Buffalo Soldiers of the Tenth Cavalry marched ten
thousand miles of desolate country to successfully engage Victorio’s men at
Tinaja de las Palmas and Rattlesnake Springs...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-2LctVfRFfqyAsmj-H-WHKg3iPzS6bLZiOiQtu0tRYrt_6CwdzoWHRtA7tCprjTu4amMVF_yJkLpJGhN_17Q5-_8XrxMQ-geth7sKaaZuhzXgpadk-4zOjptPs5hEEodUyVbx2pHVHg/s1600/0002_Benjamin_H_Grierson.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-2LctVfRFfqyAsmj-H-WHKg3iPzS6bLZiOiQtu0tRYrt_6CwdzoWHRtA7tCprjTu4amMVF_yJkLpJGhN_17Q5-_8XrxMQ-geth7sKaaZuhzXgpadk-4zOjptPs5hEEodUyVbx2pHVHg/s320/0002_Benjamin_H_Grierson.JPG" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benjamin Grierson commanded the 10th Cavalry from<br />
its beginnings in 1866 until his retirement from the<br />
Army in 1890, refusing numerous offers of transfer to<br />
less grueling assignments</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">[Eventually killed in battle in Mexico, Victorio
was, like Cochise, a son-in-law to Mangas Colorado whose torture and murder by
American soldiers in January 1863 while under a flag of truce inflamed the
Apache. Victorio’s sister Lozen was also highly regarded for her courage in battle,
her skill as a horsewoman, and what seems to have been a kind of prophetic
ability and clairvoyance allowing her to see things at a distance and forecast
the outcome of events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After her
brother’s death, Lozen allied herself with Geronimo and continued to battle for
her people until her own death from tuberculosis in 1890.]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Grierson also wore the hat of commander of the
Military District of the Pecos from 1878 to 1881.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he relinquished those duties, he noted
“a settled feeling of security, heretofore unknown, prevails throughout Western
Texas.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year later, in 1882, the
regimental headquarters of the Tenth Cavalry was transferred deeper into the
desert to Fort Davis in Texas across the Pecos to contend with the remaining
threats posed to settlement...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLd6nC2aw78KbMGh0yqAWe85eYGfw5TSAMkXyuHut29wIg-xygGNwiUZFsXrLdEpRqNBvJcbbWz5FbdBURXt_f7WqchMyqernrQtEaPvyfFfh1bB1HXkTN0vDZXn66vD-VYGhucBV4LY/s1600/0002_Lozen_SisterOfVictorio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWLd6nC2aw78KbMGh0yqAWe85eYGfw5TSAMkXyuHut29wIg-xygGNwiUZFsXrLdEpRqNBvJcbbWz5FbdBURXt_f7WqchMyqernrQtEaPvyfFfh1bB1HXkTN0vDZXn66vD-VYGhucBV4LY/s400/0002_Lozen_SisterOfVictorio.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lozen, sister of Victorio and a fierce warrior in her own<br />
right, was said to possess supernatural powers of prophecy<br />
and clairvoyance</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The tenor of the times was such that Grierson, originally
a music teacher who lacked West Point credentials but who’d overcome a personal
fear of horses to prove his mettle during the Civil War, was viewed by his
peers with a certain disdain not only for his unwavering support of the black
soldiers he commanded (from 1866 until 1890) but also for his strong respect
for the Native Peoples he fought...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">While the role of the Buffalo Soldier in settling the frontier is slowly
becoming more widely known, the fact that about one in four post Civil War
Texas cowboys was a black man (with Mexican cattle hands being at least as
numerous) still eludes most of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>British born film documentary producer John Ferguson suspects the lack
of cowboys of color during in the movies and television shows from the heyday
of Hollywood westerns lies at the root of our general ignorance about the role
minorities played in taming the frontier...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbIGvLmDDOUM88qp2ZjyKbtA4mMlDcdeEfZ8SAzODy9-_nlUyE0Uj6KAZuiaRzIx_68mO1ejGpsW63oyIWnNJ-O2bAWVOXuY9CXJfTogwtmrwP7fyrezUncnxpT48l169jwJakdfyw4_Q/s1600/0002_MarioVanPeebles_Posse_1993_IMDB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbIGvLmDDOUM88qp2ZjyKbtA4mMlDcdeEfZ8SAzODy9-_nlUyE0Uj6KAZuiaRzIx_68mO1ejGpsW63oyIWnNJ-O2bAWVOXuY9CXJfTogwtmrwP7fyrezUncnxpT48l169jwJakdfyw4_Q/s320/0002_MarioVanPeebles_Posse_1993_IMDB.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mario Van Peebles in <em>Posse</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One notable example of the lack of color in
Hollywood is John Ford’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Searchers</i>,
a 1956 film starring John Wayne as a Civil War veteran whose niece has been
abducted by Indian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Alan Le May
novel on which Ford based his film was inspired largely by the story of Brit
Johnson, a black cowboy whose wife and children were taken prisoner by the
Comanche in 1865... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Despite this under-representation of the black
role in settling the American West, the movie industry didn’t totally ignore
the subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A sampling of these films:
in the 1920s, Bill Pickett, an African-American cowboy credited with inventing
the “bull-dogging” rodeo event starred in a film produced by the Norman Film
Manufacturing of Jacksonville, Florida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Herbert Jeffrey, who later toured with Duke Ellington, played the lead
in 1939’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harlem Rides The Range.</i> In
1972, Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte teamed up for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Buck and The Preacher</i> as a wagon-master and con man leading freed
slaves west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A quest for vengeance
drives 1993’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Posse</i> with Mario Van
Peebles...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6lYld9WhN6f4bgax3JYoFGlfhnqDeCTk4hZAB01Hk4nxe8mttrg15f7kk6ujC6okjHgq3f7bt-qz8m2cAwAetHQJhJiqdfB3qZN3CYT7gYN6aTiU6s14593zAIsJsV5pNa7J_IWR0No/s1600/0002_SettingUpForChristmasAtFortConcho_GEDC0646.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6lYld9WhN6f4bgax3JYoFGlfhnqDeCTk4hZAB01Hk4nxe8mttrg15f7kk6ujC6okjHgq3f7bt-qz8m2cAwAetHQJhJiqdfB3qZN3CYT7gYN6aTiU6s14593zAIsJsV5pNa7J_IWR0No/s400/0002_SettingUpForChristmasAtFortConcho_GEDC0646.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Despite the fact that the last soldiers marched away from Fort Concho in<br />
June 1889, it remains among the best preserved frontier outposts in the nation.<br />
Local merchants and historical re-enactors have staged an annual "Christmas at<br />
Old Fort Concho" event since the 1980s to recall San Angelo's beginnings<br />
as a rough and tumble Old West haven for outlaws</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Black cowboys, especially those born into
slavery, often found a better life on the range than they could have elsewhere
in a state that had allied itself with the Confederacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason for this was fairly simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Survival of men working together in the hard
land of the American West depended on trust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A man had to rely, like a soldier in combat, on the man next to
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too much prejudice could easily
prove fatal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As cattle driver Charles
Goodnight said of his friend Bose Ikard, born into slavery in Noxubee County,
Mississippi, “(I) trusted him farther than any living man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was my detective, banker, and everything
else in Colorado, New Mexico, and the wild country I was in”...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Historian Mike Searles has noted the range
offered another form of equality for former slaves-- there were few bosses to
tell him what to do. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A black cowboy
often had the unenviable task of being the one to break unridden horses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you might also find him as the camp cook
or the man whose job it was to sing softly and keep restless herds calm when
there was a hint of a desert thunderstorm on the horizon... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdox4_kSteQ58X8tgXZHZWSkD_7vmnvyvLabrPSy15NnYVIVrx6pGUTLGeQsHOqua24ST2KaL7wP-5vfWbtH67i11FDbFlqoDcegS9KCJUpa6gscYrJnlqlDW-cAXCcLyvkYue7i0OG68/s1600/0002_Harlem_on_the_prairie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdox4_kSteQ58X8tgXZHZWSkD_7vmnvyvLabrPSy15NnYVIVrx6pGUTLGeQsHOqua24ST2KaL7wP-5vfWbtH67i11FDbFlqoDcegS9KCJUpa6gscYrJnlqlDW-cAXCcLyvkYue7i0OG68/s320/0002_Harlem_on_the_prairie.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Follow and Like </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Louis R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<em>Note: All
photographs and research for this essay were located through Google Images or
Wikipedia and other readily available public materials, without authoritative
source or ownership information except as noted: photographs of Las dos Angelas, Christmas at Old Fort Concho, and Stylle Read mural by Louis R Nugent; Still of Mario Van Peebles in </em>Posse<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> (1993) from http://ia.media-imdb.com/; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lottie Deno from http://www.legendsofamerica.com/; 10<sup>th</sup>
Cavalry at Fort Davis from http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/programs/buffalo-soldiers/;
wagon train at Fort Concho from http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/forts/images/travellors.html;
origin of Buffalo Soldier nickname and racial prejudice against black soldiers
from http://www.buffalosoldiers-amwest.org/history.htm; Custer comments from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/496071/BUFFALO-SOLDIERS-GOT-THE-LAST-LAUGH-ON-CUSTER.html?pg=all;
chronology of Fort Concho: http://www.fortconcho.com/forms/A%20Fort%20Concho%20Chronology.pdf;
http://www.vq.com/buffalo-soldiers/; http://texasalmanac.com/topics/history/frontier-forts-texas;
Grierson’s comments upon relinquishing his command from </i>Fort Concho: A
History and a Guide, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">James T Matthews,
Texas State Historical Association Press, 2013; black cowboys from http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/15/world/black-cowboys/;
</i>Black Cowboys, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teresa Paloma Acosta,
Handbook of Texas Online; Mike Searles observations from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21768669;
black western films from http://www.separatecinema.com/exhibits_harlem.html<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-37192033660108356762015-12-18T13:19:00.003-08:002015-12-19T07:44:52.499-08:00<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Buck And Icarus<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"I
often asked him how he managed to stay up in the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He never could understand why we could not do
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He just took a leap, held his
breath, and stayed up."-- Nandor Fodor quoting Romola Nijinsky, </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Between Two Worlds<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, 1964<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nandor Fodor puzzled over many things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of those puzzling things was a mystery
associated with the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky whose audiences often wondered if,
for a few moments, Nijinksy somehow temporarily suspended the laws of gravity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fodor, a Hungarian born lawyer turned
psychoanalyst, mulled the possibility that there was something to an ancient
Hindu belief a person could somehow awaken the Anahatu Chakra through
meditation and breath control and briefly walk on the air...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNtj2orAuF4tMEjtYXzdoSvXP8tdHCxUUDiNWr13ZcFQ_mq2E_6cExG-sxtz_-LM8NNADauM1kBuD50MYILSNCIlqAg2hg8SePfIXh4C_FNX2wgvLVoZmkcvmk9hl27TssYunf0x3jEk/s1600/0001a_Nijinsky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNtj2orAuF4tMEjtYXzdoSvXP8tdHCxUUDiNWr13ZcFQ_mq2E_6cExG-sxtz_-LM8NNADauM1kBuD50MYILSNCIlqAg2hg8SePfIXh4C_FNX2wgvLVoZmkcvmk9hl27TssYunf0x3jEk/s400/0001a_Nijinsky.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vaslav Nijinsky</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The famous ballet dancer was not the only
person reputed to have some secret way of briefly suspending the natural laws
of the universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1868, a Scottish
medium named Daniel Dunglas Home allegedly levitated himself in the presence of
Lord Adare and strolled out of a room through one third story window of the
aristocrat’s home and back into it through the window alongside it...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Since nearly a century and a half has passed
since D D Home, the son of a Scottish carpenter, enthralled the high society of
Europe (receiving audiences from Napoleon III and Pope Pius IX), we have no way
of proving he whether was charlatan or a minor miracle worker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can say that he caused a bit of a rift
between two noted poets-- his admirer Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her
skeptical husband Robert Browning who made the effort to write to the London <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Times</i> to denounce the man he referred to
in one of his poems as “Sludge the Medium”...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNgTK6AfNOLdRkiX1lGiShLCmfK0xbJmrW8M0vyGuGZqE7YFYvvzj6_9kRzYZViW3KTAK2Zh_1-PrLBWpUXRuj84HYqMzztEH5JwzC1jCphyphenhyphenSxdNnVJX28J4Y2TYiYlUMrK_gFUI3-kA/s1600/0001b_ColinEvans_SeanceLevitation_1938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNgTK6AfNOLdRkiX1lGiShLCmfK0xbJmrW8M0vyGuGZqE7YFYvvzj6_9kRzYZViW3KTAK2Zh_1-PrLBWpUXRuj84HYqMzztEH5JwzC1jCphyphenhyphenSxdNnVJX28J4Y2TYiYlUMrK_gFUI3-kA/s400/0001b_ColinEvans_SeanceLevitation_1938.jpg" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">British medium Colin Evans captured in an infra-red<br />
image as he allegedly levitates during a 1938 seance</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of course, the notion that man could somehow
break the bonds of earth through some mechanical means appealed more to those
of a scientific bent than the idea that a chap might simply will himself into
the sky through some esoteric mumbo jumbo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Roman poet Ovid told the story of Icarus, ill-fated son of the Greek
master craftsman Daedalus, in his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metamorphoses</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Father and son had been imprisoned by King
Minos of Crete for whom Daedalus had constructed the infamous Labyrinth which
housed the murderous Minotaur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Daedalus
fashioned a set of wings for himself and Icarus, warning his son not to fly to
close to the sun lest its heat melt the wax holding the feathers together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Children rarely heed the wisdom of their
parents and Icarus was no exception when he discovered the freedom of soaring
like a bird above the ocean...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZAXWEr3wcfi6tPlvCfnj_vb31cDVThrCglQMKiqCXlzZmVumAyyzwuOa6wJ5ajzFJZWZ7Lr_sCV2HJDokw7plo5NZeeL20N7IUvesOvwS_s4nFi6NBDuOe5zXsCeEcddku87aevWX8g/s1600/0001_TheFallOfIcarus_PeterPaulRubens1636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZAXWEr3wcfi6tPlvCfnj_vb31cDVThrCglQMKiqCXlzZmVumAyyzwuOa6wJ5ajzFJZWZ7Lr_sCV2HJDokw7plo5NZeeL20N7IUvesOvwS_s4nFi6NBDuOe5zXsCeEcddku87aevWX8g/s320/0001_TheFallOfIcarus_PeterPaulRubens1636.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Fall of Icarus</em>, Peter Paul Rubens, 1636</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We should not find ourselves surprised that men
have long desired to rise up into the sky, either through some man-made
apparatus or in a magical way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
desire appears in our dreams and daydreams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fantasies of flight attracted Sigmund Freud’s attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He saw them, at least in males, as the
product of sexual impulses whose normal channels have been blocked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The desire also expresses itself covered in
the more socially acceptable cloak of religion-- on one occasion, Saint Joseph
of Cupertino, in the words of one witness, “rose into space... and flew like a
bird onto the high altar where he embraced the tabernacle”...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The holy man of Cupertino is not the only
religious figure said to have the power to float in the air or fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified, an Arabian
Carmelite, rose to the top of trees in the garden of a monastery in Bethlehem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similar accounts popped up in stories told
about Saint Dunstan and Saint Dominic and a number of other righteous priests
and nuns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The religious fanatic Girolamo
Savonarola, supposedly floated in his dungeon cell during his devotions as he
awaited noose and flame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shamanic
traditions of Central Asia speak of men who transformed themselves into birds
so they could quickly move from one place to another...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBo770pI2GjCy24AdTFfhrqYDOF2oJLzQGR7WaBctq70iy2cLdpF9472cg7ESV-xmk1pes7jArmBOtk9IihPKyFyk2YC94YX0fr7tU4IQXjEflCG-pVLkUalObdtN-Me12r7clhtDTic/s1600/0001b_MagicianLevitatingGirl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBo770pI2GjCy24AdTFfhrqYDOF2oJLzQGR7WaBctq70iy2cLdpF9472cg7ESV-xmk1pes7jArmBOtk9IihPKyFyk2YC94YX0fr7tU4IQXjEflCG-pVLkUalObdtN-Me12r7clhtDTic/s400/0001b_MagicianLevitatingGirl.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magician and Pretty Girl With No Visible Means of Support</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Levitation has no adherents in the modern
scientific world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mystical speculations
about interfaces between man and the divine or states where human consciousness
can twine together with the elements and fundamental forces of the universe don’t
lead to tests whose results can be duplicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the material world, levitation is fraud, delusion, or cleverly done
trickery...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">But the dream of flight lingers even in the
material world of testable propositions...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In 1886, Jules Verne speculated that perhaps it
was time for man to begin to think about moving past travel in balloons which
began one hundred and three years earlier with a five and a half mile flight
over the French countryside for the course of about a half hour in a balloon
designed by the Brothers Montgolfier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Verne
tells the story of Robur the Conqueror who has mastered the technology
necessary to achieve heavier than air flight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The novel telling the story has its moments of action and conflict and
adventure but isn’t quite as exciting as a 1961 movie in which Vincent Price,
playing Robur, is an idealist bent on ending tyranny and violence by bombing
warring nations into a lasting worldwide peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Robur himself, of course, would be the benevolent ruler who insured
harmony continued to exist between the conquered nations of Earth...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGpgjD5F4dnidfxtjfW8u-qwQtQyLpLvM7hRr1OkqNJvq_cmaEqp-ol-fTGcwJtzwnZUTBypgw6t2r8414Q-c9hVkFzXBDSW0oGXck42-hvxWjMLqEPEbo9_Qz9XLJrgR9NqO8RuRJ8g/s1600/0001_FlashGordonDaleArden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFGpgjD5F4dnidfxtjfW8u-qwQtQyLpLvM7hRr1OkqNJvq_cmaEqp-ol-fTGcwJtzwnZUTBypgw6t2r8414Q-c9hVkFzXBDSW0oGXck42-hvxWjMLqEPEbo9_Qz9XLJrgR9NqO8RuRJ8g/s400/0001_FlashGordonDaleArden.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flash Gordon and Dale Arden preparing to take on...<br />
<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjGeap3AGUfnRL5V8wJGDbMadnmc2EouzZ0jfj1iHihnLZ9mlX8XbC40XW-6qdNStdP080ixu2VA3ychg2M3opIp9AISZId7ju-lPJ7NTnGeh-VIS_V8Zt6H4Ty8HmM20hHAu1sFF5eM/s1600/0001_FlashGordon_CharlesMiddletonAsMingTheMerciless.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNjGeap3AGUfnRL5V8wJGDbMadnmc2EouzZ0jfj1iHihnLZ9mlX8XbC40XW-6qdNStdP080ixu2VA3ychg2M3opIp9AISZId7ju-lPJ7NTnGeh-VIS_V8Zt6H4Ty8HmM20hHAu1sFF5eM/s320/0001_FlashGordon_CharlesMiddletonAsMingTheMerciless.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ming the Merciless (as portrayed by Charles Middleton)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">When Verne penned a sequel to his story in 1904,
Robur had become a madman akin to the character portrayed by Vincent Price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His new thirty meter long craft, named
(appropriately) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Terror</i>, could
travel hrough the skies at a mind-boggling 200 miles an hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was considerably faster than the first
sustained flight by a powered and controlled aircrat, a flight of 120 feet
covered in twelve seconds at Kittyhawk, North Carolina, by the Wright Brothers
on December 17, 1903...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Aviation through the clouds above the mountain
peaks of this world offered adventure aplenty to those seeking to cross oceans
and polar ice caps-- and for those who simply wished to travel from New York to
San Francisco in less time than it took a locomotive to drag railroad cars
across a continent...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9fSdGbIXzzHcEYqxtb36hkv4-fHHkYD-FUgVyTlb6rsZtvyeM3C0me4zn7vjrIpWbh8Ie0ksSXGoMan88AS6poEZXhkzqJ7Np_iS2PRYf5oimpTBN527gYmO08mfy-46Z9dXQF7p8YE/s1600/0001b_DanielDunglasHome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw9fSdGbIXzzHcEYqxtb36hkv4-fHHkYD-FUgVyTlb6rsZtvyeM3C0me4zn7vjrIpWbh8Ie0ksSXGoMan88AS6poEZXhkzqJ7Np_iS2PRYf5oimpTBN527gYmO08mfy-46Z9dXQF7p8YE/s320/0001b_DanielDunglasHome.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gentleman known as Daniel Dunglas Home<br />
to Elizabeth Barrett Browning and as Mr Sludge<br />
to her skeptical husband Robert Browning</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The frustrated lad who could find no proper way
to express his affection for a lovely lass could now dream of becoming a virile
hero on distant worlds instead of indulging in the fantasy of hovering over a
playground, thanks to the reality of aircraft travel in the real world in which
he was just another pimply-faced kid with a squeaky voice and an after school
newspaper delivery route...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In August 1928, a pulp magazine called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Amazing Stories</i> published Philip F Nowlan’s
novella, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Armageddon: 2419</i>, whose hero
Anthony Rogers found himself starring in a comic strip several months later as
Buck Rogers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the novella, Buck
brought some old fashioned American values to the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was born in 1898, fought the Germans in
the Great War, returned home to work for the American Radioactive Gas
Corporation, and then found himself waking up in the 25<sup>th</sup> Century
after he being exposed to one of those radioactive gases in a Pennsylvania coal
mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the fact that the United
States has been conquered by Mongol Reds, young Rogers fortunately meets the
very lovely rebel Wilma Deering and joins her in the battle to take America
back from the Communists...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPpyIanWJIH9d-JaovC8MWmnGXgv2gI1I1Z2kD1KvAc1-nuuift2j3nUmZ5KTgduQxiD6jFipk35Z5vn9xfk8k9TCYfsXm3eoB7-wj4ukrFV_mykbTh7tiZFcbbR-CTnQohDa8uTLUXs/s1600/0001_FlashGordon_DaleBeingTaughtObedience.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRPpyIanWJIH9d-JaovC8MWmnGXgv2gI1I1Z2kD1KvAc1-nuuift2j3nUmZ5KTgduQxiD6jFipk35Z5vn9xfk8k9TCYfsXm3eoB7-wj4ukrFV_mykbTh7tiZFcbbR-CTnQohDa8uTLUXs/s320/0001_FlashGordon_DaleBeingTaughtObedience.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dale Arden learns about obedience the hard way</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Buck and Wilma eventually travel into space
where they encountered Tigermen on Mars and other hostile alien life forms. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Buck Rogers comic strips (which debuted on
the same day as the Tarzan comic strip) have no record of any meeting between
these two heroic Earth people and the equally heroic interplanetary trio of
Flash Gordon, Dale Arden, and the half-crazed Doctor Zharkov who kidnaped Flash
and Dale after inventing a rocketship he hopes to use in preventing a collision
between Earth and the planet Mongo whose despotic ruler Ming the Merciless could
easily put Fu Manchu to shame in any contest of villainy...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">During the Great Depression days of comic strip
and pulp fiction interplanetary flight, the kid who dreamed of flying as a
substitute for kissing pretty girls had no shortage of role models: Superman,
like that daring young man on the trapeze admired by those fellows not willing
to admit they were smitten by those curvy Gibson Girls, flew through the air
with the greatest of ease-- and he could move faster than a speeding bullet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clark Kent, aka Superman, had his Lois Lane
who admired him as chastely as Dale and Wilma did their swashbucklers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there, too, was Doc Savage to emulate, a
two-fisted scientific genius whose ability to soar in the sky came strictly
through his skills as a pilot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doc was
too busy stopping would-be dictators to pay much attention to girls but even he
had to admire his lovely cousin Pat who could outdraw any gunslinging outlaw
and rarely found herself bested in hand-to-hand combat...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBIFcOsymJJ_CI6da88OCIDtK_zHmJo7_tRLTNpJxGpZBY-JfI4aG1ouozALwjt9t2w8B8QsvcTvWc_XsaHLzSfRhyphenhyphen5JgkjSaCwtyv77hsHQCalhT6tSmu6ioeQqI1LCV90KxvEkAHNRo/s1600/0001_DocSavageTheMetalMaster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBIFcOsymJJ_CI6da88OCIDtK_zHmJo7_tRLTNpJxGpZBY-JfI4aG1ouozALwjt9t2w8B8QsvcTvWc_XsaHLzSfRhyphenhyphen5JgkjSaCwtyv77hsHQCalhT6tSmu6ioeQqI1LCV90KxvEkAHNRo/s320/0001_DocSavageTheMetalMaster.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doc Savage rescuing a Damsel in Distress<br />
as he tries to stop the reign of terror<br />
created by The Metal Master, a fiend who<br />
has learned how to cause steel to melt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXy9h33SgaCmCbPCTAZay0J0jOTs0AuA5Ik-MUDOd7Hz4NnYAL5jZMfGwYwWUX2qHYunoCYZkt6gJcNO_l-47U0RvxQQ-Ftq0WLdKyUrO7swJqlMiEr85h4jHKoEqV33ORltmZK9chdR4/s1600/0001_DocSavagePatSavage_BrandOfThe+Werewolf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXy9h33SgaCmCbPCTAZay0J0jOTs0AuA5Ik-MUDOd7Hz4NnYAL5jZMfGwYwWUX2qHYunoCYZkt6gJcNO_l-47U0RvxQQ-Ftq0WLdKyUrO7swJqlMiEr85h4jHKoEqV33ORltmZK9chdR4/s320/0001_DocSavagePatSavage_BrandOfThe+Werewolf.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patricia Savage as we meet her in <em>Brand of the Werewolf</em>,<br />
her first adventure shared with her cousin Doc</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">No idea is rarely without many facets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is particularly true when we think about
our desire to escape the force of gravity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As we ponder the notion, we encounter scientific skepticism that the
mind can somehow suspend the laws of physics, scientific faith in humankind’s
ability to study the natural world and learn truths that will allow us to work
within nature’s rules to fashion commonplace realities that would have been
miracles to ancient peoples, questions of religious faith, psychological
ponderings on sexuality and dominance, and pop culture analyses that may or may
not contain valid insights...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Among the last category, we offer this idea for
consideration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we may see hints of
sublimated sexuality in the comic strip fictions, we also glimpse something else:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an incipient feminism where Wilma Deering and
Dale Arden and Pat Savage stand beside men as warriors in their own right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sexual prowess and intellectual skill of
these women hover over them like a barely noticed halo in the 1930s...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Times do change and by the 1970s, Dale Arden
had become Dale Ardor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s
another and much sexier story...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm0qDicD53g66IhCVRvlnt_IAF2SpqQEAqn1m_efd_Xgxwe_SLi-VZHPDcdAqwE3c-_Ur7tvsdpNfnmJW-WnGemqHiF4kHRrVfMhfYjEYMDMDVNqXzwtQblhaC_FL6IEodMrYqzypiGgk/s1600/0001_DocSavage_TheEarthWrecker_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm0qDicD53g66IhCVRvlnt_IAF2SpqQEAqn1m_efd_Xgxwe_SLi-VZHPDcdAqwE3c-_Ur7tvsdpNfnmJW-WnGemqHiF4kHRrVfMhfYjEYMDMDVNqXzwtQblhaC_FL6IEodMrYqzypiGgk/s640/0001_DocSavage_TheEarthWrecker_1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By the mid-1970s, tomboy Pat Savage was still as two-fisted as she was in the 1930s but now prone to offering up a little sexual teasing to her notoriously girl shy cousin when she,Doc, and the rest of the crew uncover the secret of the Loch Ness Monster in the 1976 Marvel Comics graphic novel, <em>The Earth Wreckers</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/<o:p></o:p></a></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Follow and Like </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Louis R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Note: All
photographs and research for this essay were located through Google Images or
Wikipedia and other readily available public materials, without authoritative
source or ownership information except as noted: Vaslav Nijinsky from </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Between Two Worlds, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nandor Fodor, Parker Publishing, New York,
1964; the levitational abilities of Daniel Douglas Home from </i>The
Supernatural, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Douglas Hill and Pat
Williams, Hawthorn, New York, 1965 and </i>Harper’s Encyclopedia of Mystical
and Paranormal Experience, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rosemary Ellen
Guiley, Harper, San Francisco, 1991; Freud and fantasies of flight from </i>Fantasies
of Flight<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Daniel M Ogilvie, Oxford
University Press, 2003; religious expression of fantasies of flight and
levitation from </i>Shamanism, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mircea
Eliade, Princeton University Press, 1964 and </i>An Encyclopedia of Occultism, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lewis Spence, Citidal Press, New York, 1993;
illustration of Pat Savage from </i>The Earth Wreckers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Marvel Comics, April 1976; Vaslav Nijinsky in costume from National
Public Radio (http://www.npr.org/assets/img/2013/05/29/3202983_archive.jpg)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-9349562442585007222014-12-08T09:50:00.001-08:002014-12-08T09:50:33.233-08:00
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Woman Behind The Most Influential Book No
One Actually Reads<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><em>"Never utter these words:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'I do not know this-- therefore it is
false.'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One must study to know, know to
understand, understand to judge."-- H P Blavatsky, </em>Isis Unveiled<em>, 1877<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Trivia lovers constantly seek to impress others
with obscure facts for reasons probably best (and better) known only to
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This truth can be verified
by anyone who has suddenly been asked by the resident know-it-all to state, for
the record, the average distance between Jupiter and Pluto, the atomic weight
of Molybdenum or the occupation of Theda Bara's father...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">We arm you with our own fact of minimal value
or interest:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>July 1878 was the month and
year when the first Russian born woman was granted citizenship by the United
States government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lady in question didn’t
really wish to while out all her days in the land of the free and the home of
the brave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She, in fact, desired to
travel to India and stay there for an indefinite period of time, possibly even
take up residence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the British were
a suspicious lot and she thought a new nationality on an already well-worn
passport would allay the notion that this visitor to the crown jewel of their
Empire was, in fact, a Russian spy...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwlsGtaGti5fgvNwUxPZYsIKTpE1NMuzCsFIzMAw69wVoHKMd1Py5CcktRy2jOnhVwdamYgCP2U8Tqu5VIB_CROxIDs2Z-qpixwjQP27LO4K0ot6Etgs6R9x7swjwrWOVlFyaT-EL_Hxk/s1600/002_BlavatskyTheosophicalSocietyLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwlsGtaGti5fgvNwUxPZYsIKTpE1NMuzCsFIzMAw69wVoHKMd1Py5CcktRy2jOnhVwdamYgCP2U8Tqu5VIB_CROxIDs2Z-qpixwjQP27LO4K0ot6Etgs6R9x7swjwrWOVlFyaT-EL_Hxk/s1600/002_BlavatskyTheosophicalSocietyLogo.jpg" height="173" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madame Blavatsky and the Logo of her Theosophical Society</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Exactly who and what Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
was (or was not) remains a matter of debate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Toward the end of her life, the British Society for Psychical Research
issued its opinion of her activities in India:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"For our part, we regard her not as the mouthpiece for hidden
seers, nor as a mere vulgar adventuress; we think she has achieved a title to
permanent remembrance as one of the most accomplished, ingenious, and
interesting imposters of history"...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">More charitably, we will say Madame Blavatsky
(HPB, to her followers) co-founded the Theosophical Society in New York in
1875.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Partners in this venture included
lawyers Henry Steel Olcott and William Q Judge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Known as "Colonel" for services rendered in the American Civil
War, Olcott was blessed with an inquisitive mind that pondered subjects as
varied as methods to improve agricultural yields and claims made by the
spiritualist movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Attorney Judge
specialized in commercial paper cases when not pursuing esoterica...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The goals of the Theosophical Society (which
continues as an active and significant force in the occult movement to this
date) cannot be quickly summarized without doing the movement grave injustice…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMv7tbT-I59aQHdy7r2P1K3r12SOhuUVufDUyAF7UW_zBng37vOlJCdhDlEFTFInxI52wyRZBpxiFjr-IgZaQM2WJFM0E5-8ArhSZsow1BQFQSMQvPfoO7RdpUYZlVgB2_SQuU0YBz-aU/s1600/004_BlavatskyOlcott.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMv7tbT-I59aQHdy7r2P1K3r12SOhuUVufDUyAF7UW_zBng37vOlJCdhDlEFTFInxI52wyRZBpxiFjr-IgZaQM2WJFM0E5-8ArhSZsow1BQFQSMQvPfoO7RdpUYZlVgB2_SQuU0YBz-aU/s1600/004_BlavatskyOlcott.jpg" height="229" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HPB and Colonel Olcott</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Blavatsky believed all faiths and sets of
religious belief contain core spiritual truths that could be recovered through
a combination of direct revelation from the Divine and meditative and/or occult
practices designed to isolate these truths from the dogma surrounding them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A God Who is the Source of all, an immortal soul,
and a possibility of total spiritual enlightenment are among these core truths...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In July 1878, preparing to travel overseas with
a reinvented identity, H P Blavatsky refused to take credit as sole author of
the weighty <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Isis Unveiled</i>, published
the year previous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had written much
of the book herself, she confessed to her supporters, but she’d also simply
assembled pages which appeared mysteriously in her study, as many as 50 per
night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The truth of the matter: a Great
Lodge of highly evolved spirits, an invisible brotherhood, had chosen her to be
their instrument to guide mankind to higher states of consciousness...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Born in 1831 near the village of Yekaterinoslav,
Helena Petrovna's father served the Tsar as an artillery officer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He descended from aristocratic German stock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was well and good but her mother had the
better blood lines-- her noble family traced itself to Prince Mikhail of
Chernigov.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In turn, Mikhail claimed Rurik,
the legendary Norseman credited with founding the Russian state, as his
ancestor...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8GOIUuTvNr4KITR7_VooTz6yJI4SJw1I70_yRhODia329eFDIBJ1Kk80KANHllkelXVnBOxTU5HCXPKxyUmGd1Pu-1crC7-8pS2WLjwU6kxYPzwvdQfOn4hksR6WICo_MTcLJf-bYzs/s1600/008_TheosophicalHeadquartersAdyarIndia1890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8GOIUuTvNr4KITR7_VooTz6yJI4SJw1I70_yRhODia329eFDIBJ1Kk80KANHllkelXVnBOxTU5HCXPKxyUmGd1Pu-1crC7-8pS2WLjwU6kxYPzwvdQfOn4hksR6WICo_MTcLJf-bYzs/s1600/008_TheosophicalHeadquartersAdyarIndia1890.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Theosophical Society Headquarters, Adyar, India, 1890</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Several things about HPB's childhood hint at
the woman she becomes...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Her mother and grandmother, also named Helena,
provided strong role models.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mother
wrote novels whose heroines strove to break free of the emotionally constricting
lives society expected of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Russian literati compared her to George Sand (aka Amandine Dupin, Baroness
Dudevant), the scandalous French novelist who advocated free love and had an
affair with composer Frederic Chopin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grandmother,
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>aka the Princess Dolgorkurov, studied
the natural world and earned academic respect for her botanical studies...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Blavatsky (her married name) demonstrated disturbing
hints of genuine telepathic and precognitive abilities while growing up at the
family estate near Odessa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More upsetting to her relatives was HPB's distinct
democratic streak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The girl simply did
not care if the new friend she brought home to dinner was an unkempt peasant
child or the equally odious offspring of a peddler...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">These factors-- strong female role models,
psychic phenomena, and indifference to her social standing-- appear to have come
together in her mid-teen years to create HPB.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At sixteen, she discovered her late grandfather's library and began
poring over his books about medieval occultists, hoping to make sense of her
own paranormal experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year
later, she ran away from home to spite her governess and promptly married a General
decades older than herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three months
after exchanging vows with the old soldier, Helena walked away from the
marriage...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQya_c46BD0pisBxHqdLo7luO7THpYNyAs9Nc8z7qnc2MPEr6iQDoeXYFiyS8zClE9Z7n0r6KTcsHFKgMIWWwi0LI3tHYZAilqEBI6sw5D07_AyJms_74ldtRIdqZ5OOuJUHDV_5wMX5c/s1600/005_EdisonLightBulb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQya_c46BD0pisBxHqdLo7luO7THpYNyAs9Nc8z7qnc2MPEr6iQDoeXYFiyS8zClE9Z7n0r6KTcsHFKgMIWWwi0LI3tHYZAilqEBI6sw5D07_AyJms_74ldtRIdqZ5OOuJUHDV_5wMX5c/s1600/005_EdisonLightBulb.jpg" height="400" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Edison would eventually be among the many persons<br />
who made the acquaintance of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. An<br />
agnostic on the question of the survival of the human<br />
personality after death, Edison toyed with the idea of creating<br />
a machine that would capture spirit vibrations if they existed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Four decades and three years later, Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky would die far from New York, India, or Holy Mother Russia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would move to the next plane of existence
in London...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Those 43 years spanned a time of incredible
technological progress and the atheistic intellectual challenges posed by
Charles Darwin and Karl Marx.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They simultaneously
twined with serious attempts by educated men and women to find a scientific
basis to believe in a teleological universe-- or at least locate reasonable
hints lives had some meaning and we could hope to continue beyond the grave...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The British were in the forefront of this
search.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the appearance of the
London Dialectical Society in the late 1860s, many intellectuals in the land of
Angles and Scots had investigated claims of contact with spirits, thought
transference, glimpses into the future, and similar phenomena.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the suggestion of physicist William
Barrett, a Society for Psychical Research was formed in 1882...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoykWdIRjfwT9wF6P_uTiIMfb8Uw9mz5vYC5-A318bWZVPmS60lQvjPH-HvcAz6KNJ0licIIGWKH3ty5141C5RbptHL3JjXwyS6bGY6lMvIs-SMrm-6JO9WSPAV4S2BWboQI3D579caI/s1600/009_Wurzburg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoykWdIRjfwT9wF6P_uTiIMfb8Uw9mz5vYC5-A318bWZVPmS60lQvjPH-HvcAz6KNJ0licIIGWKH3ty5141C5RbptHL3JjXwyS6bGY6lMvIs-SMrm-6JO9WSPAV4S2BWboQI3D579caI/s1600/009_Wurzburg.jpg" height="156" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The city of Wurzburg where HPB worked on <em>The Secret Doctrine</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The society attracted the attention of natural scientists
like William Crookes (discoverer of the element Thallium) and Oliver Lodge
(noted for studies in electromagnetism), as well as students of the mind Sigmund
Freud and psychologist William James.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle, the Scottish physician best remembered for creating Sherlock
Homes, belonged to the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like
Doyle, Lodge had a very personal interest in knowing if the soul continued its
existence after death-- both had lost family members to the horror of the First
World War…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another thread of research co-existed with
organizations interested in finding any hard science that might explain paranormal
events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This thread consisted of
esoteric societies whose goal was to isolate, refine, and reunite the divine
spark in mankind with the Ultimate Source.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is probably fair to say these magical orders were more in search of
mythic truth rather than scientific fact...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Members of these esoteric orders were well
educated, well-to-do, often with some sort of connection to Masonic lodges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the best known of these societies is
the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn whose members included William Butler
Yeats, Bram Stoker and Arthur Edward Waite...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVrOgrQSelD9YjXaKGL_Ql7PRf_tSqDpOnI6zBpOPxoX3ckcMDdGUOPQUz-lVmxBW7oLVtW5UYLX1TBM6NNe60btnC6uCK5Pr2MWqt_zQiqxhucJL7OuipDfKdDFdfQGWKSnO9Hjo-fYU/s1600/007_GoldenDawn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVrOgrQSelD9YjXaKGL_Ql7PRf_tSqDpOnI6zBpOPxoX3ckcMDdGUOPQUz-lVmxBW7oLVtW5UYLX1TBM6NNe60btnC6uCK5Pr2MWqt_zQiqxhucJL7OuipDfKdDFdfQGWKSnO9Hjo-fYU/s1600/007_GoldenDawn.jpg" height="320" width="235" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adherents of societies such as The Hermetic<br />
Order of the Golden Dawn were inclined to<br />
odd costumes. Here, a member seeks to<br />
embody Isis</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">For Helena Petrovna (whose Theosophical Society
was closer in intent to the purpose of the Golden Dawn than the goals of the
Society for Psychical Research) the 43 years during which she attached
Blavatsky to her name were simply a magnificent adventure, a rollercoaster whirlwind
of activity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were shipwrecks off
the Egyptian coast, treks to remote monasteries in Tibet, voyages to New
Orleans to learn secrets of voodoo…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">But, above all, there was the grand stay in India
where the invisible (and probably non-existent) Ascended Master and Secret
Brother Koot Hoomi assisted HPB in creating a lucrative business as a spiritual
adviser…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then came the British Society of Psychical
Research to examine her claims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oddly
enough, their experts determined Master Koot apparently used HPB's own hand and
ink to write his messages from The Great Beyond...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Denying wrongdoing, the disheartened HPB left
India.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She penned another book in Europe,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Secret Doctrine, </i>spending time in
Italy and Germany as she did so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then it
was on to Belgium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One hopes she found her way to a joyful
reunion with Koot Hoomi in the world beyond this and that the Ascended Master
enjoyed traveling as much as she did ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">HPB's magnum opus, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Isis Unveiled</i>, remains in print today, thanks to the Theosophical
Society that she, Olcott, and Judge organized well over a century ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a massive work consisting of two
volumes (Science, 657 pages, and Theology, 848 pages).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One suspects that very few of HPB's critics or
devotees have actually read this collection of writings despite its impact on
New Age thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a shame,
considering Volume 1, page 327 (Science) offers the definitive discussion on
the subject of the astral body of apes... <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1q4VN2_vKg7-t1pZ1kebDIGTDColZ8gfU5RGme_gNQ9C39J7PU7oSjgMIFPGQnua1vSZJ0PqyJeYLk9I3zx9a-L4zWYUbFRWN7hvjtD8WTi5hxOB_cmDAxXkn-fkrRlefQuAw3s5j4o/s1600/003_CottinglyFairies1917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1q4VN2_vKg7-t1pZ1kebDIGTDColZ8gfU5RGme_gNQ9C39J7PU7oSjgMIFPGQnua1vSZJ0PqyJeYLk9I3zx9a-L4zWYUbFRWN7hvjtD8WTi5hxOB_cmDAxXkn-fkrRlefQuAw3s5j4o/s1600/003_CottinglyFairies1917.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes and member<br />
of the Society for Psychical Research, found himself at odds with<br />
colleagues who considered this 1917 "Fairy Photographs" to be<br />
a blatant hoax</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">THE MARKETPLACE</span></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Follow and Like </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">Louis R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Note: All
photographs and research for this essay were located through Google Images or
Wikipedia or other readily available public materials, without authoritative
source or ownership information except as noted: HPB/Theosophical Society logo
from</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> http://www.richardcassaro.com/<o:p></o:p></span></div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-62396819930237786962014-07-03T12:05:00.002-07:002014-07-03T12:40:34.875-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">More Public Art In A Desert Town<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">On the first day of November 2012, we took a
brief walking tour of San Angelo’s public art… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Then as now, San Angelo sits at the northeastern
edge of the Chihuahuan Desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little
more than 100,000 people call the city and surrounding county home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are approximately two-thirds of the
population of the Concho Valley whose hard and dry terrain covers an area
greater than the square miles of the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island combined…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevofv3SkjDjSx4VjQKP3fAhpENbsHy6CTbT9T1q3xk-mDM0KLcctRzUWfQM2Nft5IgSVtow4YI0XsSn5wmQNCcZyz10BSGrh9f_KjpGfAfphkG7dtIOxUOOJJJCCqiuhK2OqbsIHm6rc/s1600/Facade_StephensCentralLibrary_SanAngelo_DSCN4881a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevofv3SkjDjSx4VjQKP3fAhpENbsHy6CTbT9T1q3xk-mDM0KLcctRzUWfQM2Nft5IgSVtow4YI0XsSn5wmQNCcZyz10BSGrh9f_KjpGfAfphkG7dtIOxUOOJJJCCqiuhK2OqbsIHm6rc/s1600/Facade_StephensCentralLibrary_SanAngelo_DSCN4881a.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hemphill-Wells Building: Remo Scardigli</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It is an area heavily invested in the “old”
American West’s economy of ranching, hard scrabble farming, oil and gas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hemphill-Wells-- a San Angelo department
store whose building was later transformed into the county library-- hired celebrated
sculptor Remo Scardigli to honor this heritage and placed the completed project
on its western wall in 1972.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scardigli
had lived along the central California coastline in his younger days and had
been part of the “bohemian” crowd surrounding novelist John Steinbeck and
marine biologist Ed Ricketts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
circle that included scandalous storyteller Henry Miller and cerebral
mythologist Joseph Campbell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Readers who
have visited the town of Carmel may have seen another of Scardigli’s works, a
redwood carving of Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan friar who established
missions in California’s days under Spanish rule…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEtYqW_hro9CZX-tp0Cu6LTLqdS4PBWTwWUYW0M4Zah3lg3bqccwLZr7Ragyi2_YkIRyQcnAB0bI1nEOxrNHgxTCtCmkSWP_83MpjkQFrQtfv5cTHccVCBZSfVMMVGUs1Ra-zTBurWc7U/s1600/TexasFlora_JoeBarrington%252C+ThrockmortonTexas_GEDC0192a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEtYqW_hro9CZX-tp0Cu6LTLqdS4PBWTwWUYW0M4Zah3lg3bqccwLZr7Ragyi2_YkIRyQcnAB0bI1nEOxrNHgxTCtCmkSWP_83MpjkQFrQtfv5cTHccVCBZSfVMMVGUs1Ra-zTBurWc7U/s1600/TexasFlora_JoeBarrington%252C+ThrockmortonTexas_GEDC0192a.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salmon Competition: <em>Texas Flora</em> by Joe Barrington</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4Tm-CFqKvq-_UrIjKCe-rn3VAw8mLn92Z1waUm5RyDRGsqOjHiMBC3KjdpNy1NX9_xqogtFPs-4dH97aPhf5stcK25QjKfe2rLoouRO7sD5soYFPGPYWqwE4TEZ37wkoaxd0FVoS9qs/s1600/Windswept_BenWoitena_HoustonTexas_DSCN0885a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC4Tm-CFqKvq-_UrIjKCe-rn3VAw8mLn92Z1waUm5RyDRGsqOjHiMBC3KjdpNy1NX9_xqogtFPs-4dH97aPhf5stcK25QjKfe2rLoouRO7sD5soYFPGPYWqwE4TEZ37wkoaxd0FVoS9qs/s1600/Windswept_BenWoitena_HoustonTexas_DSCN0885a.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salmon Competition: <em>Windswep</em>t by Ben Woitena</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The ranching heritage of San Angelo and other
aspects of area life form the basis for a series of murals sponsored by a
non-profit organization called Historic Murals of San Angelo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this writing, the group’s latest project
(Native American life) is in the process of being completed by muralist Stylle Read
whose other work includes historically accurate depictions of ranch life, the
military presence in the area, and the work of western writer Elmer
Kelton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another muralist, Crystal
Goodman, has painted wall scenes showing the impact of the railroad and downtown
San Angelo as it appeared in the very early Twentieth Century…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWShoLYT5q__SqABjDdvU0CENNTuOH6UmsqZL6dT2fNMrt8mNmcjE7o1l5IbkwWTkqz61l9CK3W5MYlq9J26Awfw1cxoHOACeLN8FbZ_ohbLdigoq23kK8Bn2W09sXputwwq74mGa0_tY/s1600/ChadbourneStreet1908_CrystalGoodman_DSCN1083a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWShoLYT5q__SqABjDdvU0CENNTuOH6UmsqZL6dT2fNMrt8mNmcjE7o1l5IbkwWTkqz61l9CK3W5MYlq9J26Awfw1cxoHOACeLN8FbZ_ohbLdigoq23kK8Bn2W09sXputwwq74mGa0_tY/s1600/ChadbourneStreet1908_CrystalGoodman_DSCN1083a.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crystal Goodman: <em>Chadbourne Street circa 1908</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ykx3UJs36rtXmai7I1jAxb1YEskGXEz3xoAJXfJkKC3gsC0qvxW9ORIYFsKpbMBQsF2hF0WBPUHpJniiK1_xBZIlil0RR8Y0XHZD1OyIJaoVAL48K8xlUizei2lIbKSBlvL48LVFufQ/s1600/ArtInUncommonPlaces_MosaicCar_MelodieMcDonald_Designer_SanAngelo_GEDC9453a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ykx3UJs36rtXmai7I1jAxb1YEskGXEz3xoAJXfJkKC3gsC0qvxW9ORIYFsKpbMBQsF2hF0WBPUHpJniiK1_xBZIlil0RR8Y0XHZD1OyIJaoVAL48K8xlUizei2lIbKSBlvL48LVFufQ/s1600/ArtInUncommonPlaces_MosaicCar_MelodieMcDonald_Designer_SanAngelo_GEDC9453a.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Melodie McDonald, Designer: <em>Mosaic Car</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Goodman is one of the artists associated with
The Old Chicken Farm Art Center founded in 1971 by Roger Allen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With twenty artist studios and a Bed and
Breakfast for visitors to southwest Texas on its three acre site, the Chicken
Farm is a major force in the regional art scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the first Saturday of each month, the
compound hosts an open-to-the-public exhibition of artists at work and
blacksmithing as local musicians provide background entertainment…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisISTOIUy3BqKGbfhVCSfMp9w___Ww69rkO7Wl2FVUVDxgnccQlLHb8s9wM0_SAATSURqeA_WRYxT7q02bVvX_TbtBOFh-M7g9zDebdNjTIuG4lrsAZPBaCLqds6oQXgcy-JaQ6uSYjU8/s1600/DecorativePlates_RogerAllen_ChickenFarmArtCenter_GEDC0483a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisISTOIUy3BqKGbfhVCSfMp9w___Ww69rkO7Wl2FVUVDxgnccQlLHb8s9wM0_SAATSURqeA_WRYxT7q02bVvX_TbtBOFh-M7g9zDebdNjTIuG4lrsAZPBaCLqds6oQXgcy-JaQ6uSYjU8/s1600/DecorativePlates_RogerAllen_ChickenFarmArtCenter_GEDC0483a.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roger Allen: <em>Decorative Plates</em>, Old Chicken Farm Art Center</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The most easily noticed local celebration of
the arts may be the juried Richard and Pam Salmon Sculpture Competition with
its nearly yearlong exhibit at the Sunken Garden Park in the center of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeking to win the prize this year is
Uruguay-born and USA educated Ana Lazovsky, who lives now in Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Previous competitors include San Angelo
sculptor Anthony Fuentez...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWwt4NjeTE3Vk3veDrJDdmldWs7YY3U_1Yop_j7TThTTsmdTD_X2whk5CWgUVeltN4Ejueg-5NsS3lXIZhaZd85OYqPmPjDd8u6mcJNhZcmkzAX9KpsnbnMd8xiY9hfaoOU8DGdFox6g/s1600/CopacabanaWave_AnaLazovsky_KadimaIsrael_DSCN0892a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWwt4NjeTE3Vk3veDrJDdmldWs7YY3U_1Yop_j7TThTTsmdTD_X2whk5CWgUVeltN4Ejueg-5NsS3lXIZhaZd85OYqPmPjDd8u6mcJNhZcmkzAX9KpsnbnMd8xiY9hfaoOU8DGdFox6g/s1600/CopacabanaWave_AnaLazovsky_KadimaIsrael_DSCN0892a.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salmon Competition: <em>Copacabana Wave </em>by <br />
Ana Lazovsky</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wCEOwIv-20S75e2XSpEDgZFm3zFATO6hRtcKnM3YogG4VEQqOgjyN-DzuarHBKlLExMMq5GOmY9_QWWcH-RBRMeV2mKfotPNF3XKkmNgB5EoAGyLE-H5WwIKDGr7_9MJvGkWonryd8U/s1600/CuddlingFish_BobbyPeiser_SanAngelo_DSCN0869a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7wCEOwIv-20S75e2XSpEDgZFm3zFATO6hRtcKnM3YogG4VEQqOgjyN-DzuarHBKlLExMMq5GOmY9_QWWcH-RBRMeV2mKfotPNF3XKkmNgB5EoAGyLE-H5WwIKDGr7_9MJvGkWonryd8U/s1600/CuddlingFish_BobbyPeiser_SanAngelo_DSCN0869a.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salmon Competition: <em>Cuddling Fish aka Hot Lips</em><br />
by Bobby Peiser</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Fuentez, incidentally, created one of San
Angelo’s most easily missed works of public art-- a whimsical sculpture of a
cat burglar quartet scaling the sides of an insurance company’s offices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wire figures are almost invisible to a
pedestrian walking past a shaded patio between the walls of a bank and those of
the insurance company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many thousands of
people have strolled by, unaware of the “crime” in progress…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MF9pqeeMW5vCVgIsHHGKxJMiy_meOOj7O3WRkXYzink3SRkg3tInYa2n-_rjQhrM8gzEsbKKPbjAj7wFeV8hYAqe2h3BXGQ54qCWpM011Cl4M3HJYd_vU2kMdwNaZnJGsg9uzeQMjAE/s1600/CatBurglars_AnthonyFuentez_SanAngelo_GEDC9298a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MF9pqeeMW5vCVgIsHHGKxJMiy_meOOj7O3WRkXYzink3SRkg3tInYa2n-_rjQhrM8gzEsbKKPbjAj7wFeV8hYAqe2h3BXGQ54qCWpM011Cl4M3HJYd_vU2kMdwNaZnJGsg9uzeQMjAE/s1600/CatBurglars_AnthonyFuentez_SanAngelo_GEDC9298a.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Fuentez: <em>Cat Burglar Quartet</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The almost-invisible public art theme is
repeated elsewhere in the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless
one knows where to look, it’s all too easy to walk past the entrance to
downtown Paintbrush Alley where mostly anonymous artists gave new life to the
back side of old buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the
work was completed in 2005 but a visitor suspects the creativity behind the
paintings is merely dormant, perhaps taking a long nap...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9rr-0tLT99sF_Iqbq_UAA7XEA4RDJrUTdIVy8f5QktSGtMhlU4ZgRMA04S10dkxufqnmfIuASZslIwm-Xpf37W_4C4KRwZ0X0UBzSrGAYgwFTFGimpu7yXTyQdiHiM-FzuowFiDZzag/s1600/PaintbrushAlley_June1937_ArtistUnknown_DSCN4929a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9rr-0tLT99sF_Iqbq_UAA7XEA4RDJrUTdIVy8f5QktSGtMhlU4ZgRMA04S10dkxufqnmfIuASZslIwm-Xpf37W_4C4KRwZ0X0UBzSrGAYgwFTFGimpu7yXTyQdiHiM-FzuowFiDZzag/s1600/PaintbrushAlley_June1937_ArtistUnknown_DSCN4929a.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paintbrush Alley: <em>June 1937</em> (Artist Unknown)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwnJPdCyTf78Kg9oAv7PebRM_5SaOxVebwhi7nyz8jTC8aaMImGCvPgTqaZ4OTm74otqq8ZB1TeK2eHvahyqJrbqmdYDs1f1ROxnP_-IC6XMRNNnQwbrfPHkjxE3HjR2vo9JgGft-EFA/s1600/PaintbushAlley_MovieMemories_ArtistUnknown_GEDC3535a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggwnJPdCyTf78Kg9oAv7PebRM_5SaOxVebwhi7nyz8jTC8aaMImGCvPgTqaZ4OTm74otqq8ZB1TeK2eHvahyqJrbqmdYDs1f1ROxnP_-IC6XMRNNnQwbrfPHkjxE3HjR2vo9JgGft-EFA/s1600/PaintbushAlley_MovieMemories_ArtistUnknown_GEDC3535a.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paintbrush Alley: <em>Movie Memories </em>(Artist Unknown)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MKziPJz77lqQ6ZXLvdnVNmnblk5EonjYQSlA3ENbO4g6dH3ZmG_VT-S8i4Ut_YVUAeFng0nk5OCqNYnP2L8MsPuBCUBJL_7Zv8qNjUj49AUiQism-50rSqWqfqycrwHFQWE9YTXoV4c/s1600/PaintbrushAlley_SaintJoseph_ArtistUnknown_DSCN4938a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3MKziPJz77lqQ6ZXLvdnVNmnblk5EonjYQSlA3ENbO4g6dH3ZmG_VT-S8i4Ut_YVUAeFng0nk5OCqNYnP2L8MsPuBCUBJL_7Zv8qNjUj49AUiQism-50rSqWqfqycrwHFQWE9YTXoV4c/s1600/PaintbrushAlley_SaintJoseph_ArtistUnknown_DSCN4938a.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paintbrush Alley: <em>Saint Joseph </em>(Artist Unknown)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Elsewhere on the streets of the city at the
edge of the desert sit mermaids and stand fiberglass sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are several statues of Pearl to be
found downtown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Local folklore has it
that the lovely half-human half-fish makes her home somewhere along the banks
of the Concho River where she supervises the mussels who produce rare purple
freshwater pearls endemic to the region…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnOOl4a0xHmVEiPo34Y1EJ8aEv80hHgCYLrUZG9bTUEtn3caT_0U4vUhu2zhjjimpIkUccF7WxoitDtjpHV_gqqA1rb1iE_-TRIUKdJOvfN1JYJjTNq8QARVQX9031ztcIzN_Rb7t-CQ/s1600/Pearl_ArtistUnknown_GEDC0326a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnOOl4a0xHmVEiPo34Y1EJ8aEv80hHgCYLrUZG9bTUEtn3caT_0U4vUhu2zhjjimpIkUccF7WxoitDtjpHV_gqqA1rb1iE_-TRIUKdJOvfN1JYJjTNq8QARVQX9031ztcIzN_Rb7t-CQ/s1600/Pearl_ArtistUnknown_GEDC0326a.jpg" height="320" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Pearl</em> (Artist Unknown)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A plethora of fiberglass sheep dot the San
Angelo cityscape, the visitor notices...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The answer of why there are so many of them
is simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historically, the city holds
a prominent place in the business of shearing sheep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A local businesswoman, musing on San Angelo’s
historic claim to being the Wool Capital of the World and the Miss Wool pageant
that honored this status, put her senses of humor and whimsy to good creative use
and saw a downtown filled with painted fiberglass sheep grazing the sidewalks…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Standing on a corner in the old part of the
city, I think Brenda Gunter had a good idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I see a mural honoring the spirit of the warrior, a store celebrating
the hippie ideal with a bright pink peace sign, a fiberglass sheep paying
homage to the hard work needed to survive life at the edge of the desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I agree with her comments that San Angelo
is the true capital of West Texas. Where else, I ask myself, could these three
things come together...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzk-ZrIG6RQhiqZiFXrSHEXV5WQEyauaouoH78v3MrlBI-hz20B35vyjw2RG566ywuEO34nvu_kjMfIyGsvZFBMMCpGF6Cmxf5dk7lqwYn8jKomG7UyUL_F17BRqKZ7mHHuYFXZKcOEB4/s1600/FiberglassSheepWithMilitaryHeritageMural_GEDC0320a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzk-ZrIG6RQhiqZiFXrSHEXV5WQEyauaouoH78v3MrlBI-hz20B35vyjw2RG566ywuEO34nvu_kjMfIyGsvZFBMMCpGF6Cmxf5dk7lqwYn8jKomG7UyUL_F17BRqKZ7mHHuYFXZKcOEB4/s1600/FiberglassSheepWithMilitaryHeritageMural_GEDC0320a.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fiberglass sheep,<em> Military Heritage Mural</em> by Stylle Read,<br />
and Store</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For more Public Art in San Angelo:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://lrnarts-lrnarts.blogspot.com/2012/11/public-art-in-desert-town-clear-skies.html">http://lrnarts-lrnarts.blogspot.com/2012/11/public-art-in-desert-town-clear-skies.html</a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Follow and Like </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
All photographs for this essay were located through Google Images or Wikipedia,
without authoritative source or ownership information except as noted: All
photographs by Louis R Nugent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Research
for topics covered in this essay consists primarily of information from readily
available sources such as Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica except as
noted: Remo Scardigli as sculptor of Hemphill-Wells artwork, information on the
Salmon Competition, and Richard Fuentez’ sculptures from San Angelo Standard
Times columns by Rick Smith; information on Remo Scardigli as friend of John
Steinbeck from </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">With
Steinbeck In The Sea of Cortez <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">by Sparky
Ennea and Audry Lynch (Sand River Press, 1991).</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-27850237035366085672014-06-05T07:40:00.000-07:002014-06-05T07:59:19.585-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Big Boy and Mr Big<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“If you
will allow the conceit, I see myself sometimes as one of those great Egyptian
fresco painters who devoted their lives to producing masterpieces in the tombs
of kings, knowing that no living eye would ever see them.” Ian Fleming, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Live and Let Die<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, 1954<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Mr Big sat in front of the English secret
agent James Bond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a monstrous man
who had devoted his life to creating the greatest criminal enterprise that
would remain forever unknown to ordinary people who worked in factories and
offices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr Big’s head, twice the size
of a normal man’s, reminded Bond of a football.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His taut grey-black skin could have been worn by a corpse that had spent
a week in the East River of New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The thing Bond found most frightening was the absolute power and genius
intelligence radiating from eyes that danced with evil…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Buanopart Ignace Gallia, aka Mr Big, was far
from being the first freakish fiend to grace pop culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most Americans who devoured the James Bond
adventures in the late 1950s and early 1960s had at least a passing familiarity
with the detective Dick Tracy who had a penchant for encountering bad men and
women who belonged in a carnival sideshow…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIjVO631yqfCF8UVzwq3V5Xj7zAz2sSNswQfmTVR5YUY_uzKdxz8gOk2tNV6etEEKELNzSLEnG5Ra8s5U5nIZvsdc4nU4Cn2aExf-oM4LGkc0xRoAs-97f_qOKqntpli11tR8rOF2Lzk/s1600/11_LiveAndLetDie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIjVO631yqfCF8UVzwq3V5Xj7zAz2sSNswQfmTVR5YUY_uzKdxz8gOk2tNV6etEEKELNzSLEnG5Ra8s5U5nIZvsdc4nU4Cn2aExf-oM4LGkc0xRoAs-97f_qOKqntpli11tR8rOF2Lzk/s1600/11_LiveAndLetDie.jpg" height="216" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr Big (Yaphet Koto) prepares to execute James Bond (Roger Moore) and<br />
Solitaire (Jane Seymour), the seer who has betrayed him for the love of the<br />
secret agent, as one of Big's henchmen looks on.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Chester Gould, whose <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dick Tracy</i> strip debuted in 1931 with a villain named Big Boy,
understood we humans allow ourselves to be publicly fascinated by grotesqueries
in a way that overshadows our power to embrace beauty except in the most
private places of our hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Big Boy
was one the few hoodlums Gould permitted to escape swift justice, surviving
encounter after encounter with Tracy for over forty years until one of his
henchmen makes the fatal mistake of murdering the detective’s daughter-in-law…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[The character of Tracy’s daughter-in-law,
incidentally, first entered the comic strip as a result of its creator’s
fascination with futuristic technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Gould had already incorporated the notion of a wristwatch allowing for
two-way televised communication between Tracy and police headquarters when he
decided to have to have one of his minor characters invent a “magnetic space
coupe” that journeys to the Moon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There,
the daughter of the Moon’s Supreme Governor stows away and travels back to
Earth where she and Tracy’s adopted son fall in love and soon become the proud
parents of little Honeymoon Tracy, much to the chagrin of the Supreme Governor
who would have preferred his daughter marry a lad who sported giraffe horns on
his head, a trait that made it relatively simple to distinguish lunar folk from
ordinary humans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXftw1szNk333bP815nk6L_KYe1Lrx_afKf39IbNo7dncaGBn9EY42fkJvfW4CksjAeAAk23eosL3AlVFHlTQAG7dMeqNXj-ibqfbQkibUWsHCnfj2g-Z6wWHO5cIeD9044_d414WCQs/s1600/06_DickTracy_MoonMaidMoonGovernor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXftw1szNk333bP815nk6L_KYe1Lrx_afKf39IbNo7dncaGBn9EY42fkJvfW4CksjAeAAk23eosL3AlVFHlTQAG7dMeqNXj-ibqfbQkibUWsHCnfj2g-Z6wWHO5cIeD9044_d414WCQs/s1600/06_DickTracy_MoonMaidMoonGovernor.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Moon Governor and his Daughter, Moon Maid,<br />
celebrate her nuptials to Dick Tracy's son</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Gould’s Moon Maid is not to be confused with
Nah-ee-lah, the heroine of Edgar Rice Burrough’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Moon Maid</i> trilogy, a thinly veiled attack on Russia’s
Communists and their totalitarian mindset set in outer space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Honeymoon Tracy’s mother, Nah-ee-lah is also
the daughter of a lunar ruler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She captures
the heart of Julian, another earthling who has traveled into space and who
describes her as being “as perfectly formed a human female as I had even seen”
with raven-black hair and creamy-white skin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As with many of ERB’s heroines, this Moon Maid turns out to be a strong,
tough-willed, highly intelligent and quick-witted princess who also,
fortunately for the young men who devoured Burroughs stories, passionately believes
beautiful women should never be overly encumbered by garments.] <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4n4bvNyRprIl_kFln8NqF_X8ISLaI82CbKyGPxcDt7P0cDQ7_LU6-EW76yp7a52B_BudwW_L9ZoXHWbY3NzLvdQljm7u87wVEUOkKDocJxzLjjWf7jwZ6MrDuYwB_xRe55DFo8n87w0/s1600/07_TheMoonMaid_ERB_FirstEdition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4n4bvNyRprIl_kFln8NqF_X8ISLaI82CbKyGPxcDt7P0cDQ7_LU6-EW76yp7a52B_BudwW_L9ZoXHWbY3NzLvdQljm7u87wVEUOkKDocJxzLjjWf7jwZ6MrDuYwB_xRe55DFo8n87w0/s1600/07_TheMoonMaid_ERB_FirstEdition.jpg" height="400" width="293" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover art for the 1926 A C McClurg edition of Edgar Rice<br />
Burroughs' novel is credited to J Allen St John, whose long<br />
career as an illustrator included time as an instructor at the <br />
Chicago Institute of Art and the American Academy of Art </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Big Boy dies of a heart attack in the midst
of a fit of rage as Dick Tracy closes in on him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His fate was far more merciful than the one
Ian Fleming bestowed on the nemesis of James Bond-- to be slowly ripped apart
by ravenous barracuda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a horrible
fate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the secret agent he failed to
kill briefly hopes Mr Big’s disease-ridden heart will fail him and deliver him
the savagery of the fishes’ teeth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
it does not…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Occasionally, other villains defeated by
Tracy met ends far more gruesome than Big Boy’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flattop Jones, loosely patterned on the
real-life Depression era bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd, drowns after being
trapped underwater at a harbor under a replica of the Columbus ship, Santa
Maria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ocean surface and life are
but inches away from the killer’s eyes as he struggles to free himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Nazi spy, The Brow, escapes prison only to
die impaled on a flagpole reserved for the Stars and Stripes of the Land of the
Free and the Home of the Brave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for
the most part, Dick Tracy’s foes spend their last days in prison as they await
a date with Old Sparky in the execution chamber.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tracy was an old-fashioned cop who tried to
bring the bad guys in alive-- it was a jury’s job to decide the just rewards of
a criminal, not a task for adrenaline-fueled men with badges and guns…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7joiE5usXmODyy33mwCl60E_rUzcuWRh9iv7mxYMqMMwhhQec_fXwBGt488xOrZPEtkqM8fhbDvtiS4K1qhVlloa_AGOtLg9i5aHAXheiRYLxs5NTEJOIIbxydbDiLlgYmkCttkYoQMg/s1600/05_DickTracy_AlPacinoBigBoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7joiE5usXmODyy33mwCl60E_rUzcuWRh9iv7mxYMqMMwhhQec_fXwBGt488xOrZPEtkqM8fhbDvtiS4K1qhVlloa_AGOtLg9i5aHAXheiRYLxs5NTEJOIIbxydbDiLlgYmkCttkYoQMg/s1600/05_DickTracy_AlPacinoBigBoy.jpg" height="255" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Al Capone as Big Boy schemes with Madonna as Breathless Mahoney on the<br />
best ways to do in a pesky detective in Warren Beatty's film adaptation of<br />
Chester Gould's <em>Dick Tracy</em> comic strip </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Big Boy and Mr Big belong to the world of
human oddities, a landscape greatly favored by both Robert Ripley of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Believe It or Not</i> fame and entrepreneurs
whose carnivals and “freak shows” lined their pockets with entrance fees paid
by gawking rubes eager to see human deformities…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ripley’s interest in unusual people remains
far more palatable to modern sensibilities than the distasteful public displays
of physically abnormal persons which enthralled viewers in Europe and the
United States from the 16<sup>th</sup> to early 20<sup>th</sup> centuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Born in 1890, Ripley was a cartoonist with
youthful dreams of becoming a baseball player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was fascinated by the incredible diversity of the world around him,
the strangeness of exotic cultures…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It was an interest that embraced the macabre
without pandering too greatly to ghoulish tastes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ripley was as intrigued by tallest woman in
the world as he was by the voltage generated by electric eels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Culinary delights of Lapps and men who
covered the backs of postage stamps with Biblical quotations both had a home in
his syndicated <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Believe It Or Not</i> comic
strip, an outgrowth of a sports-oriented cartoon feature which Ripley first
began drawing in 1918…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhni9vweBwV_5QJIrwUrlqiKWAyrrrBcUErzEdCb-hICj6m2U6RjlZbsULUL3ZKK3KcwsQ4zsfr_lA1G86fHYN_LnORc4OmEPpvdWGKVOhyy0i6OckDfdLeCjF5EuEdNUAmxdhbMvjqG3o/s1600/03_DickTracy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhni9vweBwV_5QJIrwUrlqiKWAyrrrBcUErzEdCb-hICj6m2U6RjlZbsULUL3ZKK3KcwsQ4zsfr_lA1G86fHYN_LnORc4OmEPpvdWGKVOhyy0i6OckDfdLeCjF5EuEdNUAmxdhbMvjqG3o/s1600/03_DickTracy.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">D C Comics reprinted the Flattop saga in 1975. The cover<br />
art celebrated a number of the strip's favorite villains.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">After <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Champs
and Chumps</i> became <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Believe It or Not</i>
in the autumn of 1919, Ripley’s fame soared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The strip had over eighty million readers during the darkest days of the
Great Depression and World War Two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
one to be content with recognition only by newspaper readers, Robert Ripley
recognized the growing importance of radio, movies, television, and public
exhibitions in building and sustaining an audience in what was even then a
rapidly changing world…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Whether it was prescience as to the role
technology would play in creating audiences in the future or merely the drive
of a showman to put on the biggest and bestest spectacle possible, there is no
doubt Ripley’s strategy worked. He did have a bit of P T Barnum in his blood--
over two million visitors to “Ripley’s Odditorium” at the 1933 Chicago World’s
Fair were occasionally distracted by people hired to “faint” at shocking sights
their eyes encountered…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Unlike Barnum and his mermaids of dubious
authenticity, Ripley had a passion for truth and knew he could lose an audience
overnight that had taken him years to build if fraud or factual inaccuracy were
proven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He hired researchers to check
and double check his data-- one of them, Norbert Pearlroth, spent ten hours a
day, six days a week, in New York City’s public library, attempting to disprove
items destined to appear in Ripley’s comic strip…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhD6_oJA2kxk1OkOmkY2E966rFZlRcTvCgWgFBUZoULv9XpwRodiRVJmcMYYCAQle2OBRa5tOxrKimsCHu4lRZOfeCwhVcRTW3vlzmNIJON5RAgDs8eNK5gIo5xgJDCgS2jyZMyI5VSvs/s1600/00_RipleyAndGirlfriends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhD6_oJA2kxk1OkOmkY2E966rFZlRcTvCgWgFBUZoULv9XpwRodiRVJmcMYYCAQle2OBRa5tOxrKimsCHu4lRZOfeCwhVcRTW3vlzmNIJON5RAgDs8eNK5gIo5xgJDCgS2jyZMyI5VSvs/s1600/00_RipleyAndGirlfriends.jpg" height="338" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Ripley joins five lovely companions for a lake excursion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[One November 1929 Ripley panel would
eventually spur Congressional action when the cartoonist revealed, despite
popular belief, “The Star Spangled Banner” had never been officially designated
as the National Anthem of the United States of America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1931, this legislative oversight would be
corrected with President Hoover’s approval.]<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It is to be expected that a chap like Robert
Ripley would carefully cultivate eccentricities to make himself even more
distinctive to the general public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
had the money to do so-- in addition to the $100,000 salary paid him by William
Randolph Hearst for the rights to his strip, the cartoonist’s other ventures
took in another $400,000 or so yearly during a time when people hit hard by the
Great Depression needed cheap thrills to get them through the day…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">He lived a life designed to appeal to the
fantasies of his readers-- traveling the world on Mr Hearst’s dime, surrounding
himself with beautiful girlfriends, attending parties with the likes of the
Marx Brothers and Harry Houdini as guests, broadcasting radio shows from snake
pits and ships in the middle of the ocean, posing for photographs in his
trademark pith helmet and holding the shrunken head of an unfortunate enemy of
South American tribesmen…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2VtjSwl5AQAenRvVZhqJwwaLQ5AejT3aS29cpgqLxt59BKfWgDzX6X4B777mOuzXs14YZ2eYQGMARM2H2OMEVcUdfKy1eoSpd3iXp6iY5Fo6vG3iXql9MllBlIZBSfOpy-B5i_G14Io/s1600/01_RipleyWithShrunkenHead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2VtjSwl5AQAenRvVZhqJwwaLQ5AejT3aS29cpgqLxt59BKfWgDzX6X4B777mOuzXs14YZ2eYQGMARM2H2OMEVcUdfKy1eoSpd3iXp6iY5Fo6vG3iXql9MllBlIZBSfOpy-B5i_G14Io/s1600/01_RipleyWithShrunkenHead.jpg" height="300" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Ripley in a series of publicity photographs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Quests for the odd and unusual did not place
Mr Ripley on a search for deeper and darker truths about the nature of the
universe…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Such roads were the ones traveled by Charles
Hoy Fort who combined Robert Ripley’s enthusiasm for the bizarre with Norbert
Pearlroth’s passion for sitting in the New York Public Library and doggedly
searching out facts that “Dogmatic Science” preferred to ignore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were the truths the academic
establishment had relegated to the real of the damned…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Fort had no real explanation for the events
he found chronicled in old newspapers and forgotten books but he had a passion
for forcing scientists to confront phenomena such as red rains, fish falling
from the sky, mariners’ reports of wheels of light just below the ocean’s
waves, anomalous shapes traversing the heavens, flashes of illumination from
the moon’s surface…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTFd2ROfctXnh-bS4whWXM2qNRme6yUSMuy46fwSP3OLNKWHbrfLHHhDeFWRlUF1-WtW4gS9XbhVAB2bEZ8rqRVMSgvueo3K0yeAH5-dt8IXiKTQkxHsiKxXwj1Y-89QxNkk5t23W1s4/s1600/10_NaziFlyingSaucer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHTFd2ROfctXnh-bS4whWXM2qNRme6yUSMuy46fwSP3OLNKWHbrfLHHhDeFWRlUF1-WtW4gS9XbhVAB2bEZ8rqRVMSgvueo3K0yeAH5-dt8IXiKTQkxHsiKxXwj1Y-89QxNkk5t23W1s4/s1600/10_NaziFlyingSaucer.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artist's conception of tests of a Nazi flying saucer--<br />
perhaps the very craft used to ferry Hitler to a sectet<br />
base in Antarctica if one conspiracy theory is to be<br />
believed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Despite this, he did offer suggestions as to
what might be going on behind the scenes of our placid world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps there are worlds and dimensions
parallel to our own, perhaps alien beings abduct us for their scientific
curiosity or amusement, perhaps objects might be teleported instantaneously
from one location to another…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[Generally unsuccessful as a fiction writer,
Fort explored some of his notions in novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One suggested a Martian civilization controlled events on Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another hinted at an equally sinister human
civilization based at the South Pole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This latter notion is favored by a number of modern conspiracy theorists,
some of whom assert the Nazis created a secret base in Antarctica, with Hitler
escaping to a safe-- if not frozen-- haven in one of the flying saucers the
Third Reich secretly built during the closing days of the second world war.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Charles Fort published his first collection
of data, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book of the Damned</i>, in
1919, the year that Robert Ripley changed the name of his fact-based cartoon to
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Believe It or Not</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike the erstwhile baseball player, Fort
failed to capture an extremely large following among the general public but he
did attract a number of the more minds of his day…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Prominent intellectuals who immediately
rallied to Fort’s call to not ignore the “damned”, those anomalous events that
couldn’t be pigeon-holed into the notion of a mechanistic and orderly universe,
included Theodore Dreiser, Ben Hecht, Alexander Woollcott, H L Mencken, Booth
Tarkington, Tiffany Thayer, John Cowper Powys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fort himself refused to accept leadership of a Fortean Society created
in his honor, neither willing to be bothered by the time such duties entailed
nor desiring to be cast in the role of authority figure for anyone other than
himself…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJRFCU4GtQfnX4jjTgn-RS0JIWVEmEaHCm0_mLRnbA9dTBI5RvRvGzSeOCuGWyKkDbCmI_m_7dc_cnbgr_Uve-UpCZZLMwVGweE92FLetbfOssosEc6l9-7YByme4km506Nq0uAzCR2M/s1600/09_CharlesAndAnnaFort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaJRFCU4GtQfnX4jjTgn-RS0JIWVEmEaHCm0_mLRnbA9dTBI5RvRvGzSeOCuGWyKkDbCmI_m_7dc_cnbgr_Uve-UpCZZLMwVGweE92FLetbfOssosEc6l9-7YByme4km506Nq0uAzCR2M/s1600/09_CharlesAndAnnaFort.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Fort and wife Anna</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Today, Charles Fort is generally regarded as
a harmless crank, occasionally mentioned by the scientists he mocked as a mere
collector of data that could surely be explained if Fort had bothered to dig a
little deeper into the circumstances surrounding red snows on the Antarctic ice
or people whose charred remains hint at spontaneous human combustion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is seen by The Establishment as a bit akin
to Robert Ripley-- a chap who loved interesting facts but had no real desire to
explain anything, a little boy who brings a nine-legged spider to class to
shock the teacher…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Perhaps he was less of a crank and more of a
man who wished to create masterpieces of data that would remain uncatalogued by
today’s ordinary minds, awaiting intellects of the future that would see
patterns that he himself never saw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
this, he would be akin to those great Egyptian fresco painters admired by Mr
Big, toiling away to honor kings whose living eyes would never see them…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixLXv2VO4aLZfj4iDuQKkQU04s0PloAx4LosVD6AsBDxMiEuYbMNQtbYX-0flNtc27qr9N10o8x38gpBGn0c63V8CikVY7KDxBpPi160Kc3X_PyK8VbCVAfMSEQoZGPyCODjwiOm40tYk/s1600/02_LiveAndLetDie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixLXv2VO4aLZfj4iDuQKkQU04s0PloAx4LosVD6AsBDxMiEuYbMNQtbYX-0flNtc27qr9N10o8x38gpBGn0c63V8CikVY7KDxBpPi160Kc3X_PyK8VbCVAfMSEQoZGPyCODjwiOm40tYk/s1600/02_LiveAndLetDie.jpg" height="400" width="251" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><strong> </strong></o:p></span></div>
<strong>
</strong><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Follow and Like </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
All photographs for this essay were located through Google Images or Wikipedia,
without authoritative source or ownership information except as noted: Jane
Seymour and Yaphet Koto still from </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Live and Let Die (Director: Guy Hamilton,
1973) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>photograph of Charles and Anna Fort from http://www.forteantimes.com/features/commentary/
395/who_was_charles_fort.html; Robert Ripley photographs from </i>“The
Unbelievable Mr Ripley” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">by Neal Thompson
(linked below); Dick Tracy by Chester Gould cartoons from Chicago Tribune New
York News Syndicate and D C Comics; Al Pacino and Madonna still from </i>Dick
Tracy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Director: Warren Beatty, 1990);
Nazi flying saucer from http://www.henrymakow.com/nikola_tesla2.html <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Research for topics covered in this essay
consists primarily of information from readily available sources such as
Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica except as noted: Mr Big quotation
taken from </i>Live and Let Die<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> by Ian
Fleming, 1954; additional Robert Ripley biographical data from “</i>The
Unbelievable Mr Ripley<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">” by Neal Thompson,
extract published in </i>Vanity Fair<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> (http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/05/robert-ripley-believe-it-or-not)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-83855674889044648362014-03-14T09:12:00.002-07:002014-03-14T09:20:40.464-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em>High Strangeness At Hopkinsville<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">J Allen Hynek, PhD, professor of astronomy
and a specialist in stellar evolution at Ohio State University, probably wasn’t
thinking about a small town called Hopkinsville in the neighboring state of
Kentucky as he sat down to dinner in the early evening of August 21, 1955...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dr Hynek had no idea that a visitor from
Pennsylvania, one Billy Ray Taylor, would be stepping outside at 7 PM to get a
drink from a hand pump because the Suttons, his hosts, did not have running
water inside their modest home in Kentucky’s backwoods not too many miles from
Hopkinsville...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For his part, Billy Ray Taylor probably
didn't know J Allen Hynek was a consultant to the United States Air Force investigation
into Unidentified Flying Objects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he
almost certainly had no premonition that Hynek would be credited with coining a
term-- "high strangeness"-- many years later when he no longer worked
with military men who were trying to figure out what people saw in the sky when
they saw things that ought not be seen in the sky...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbsqMctssloi9f3FlYZKsnZQ2KObVkSG0YohEnvEjh7XhHsi0nQG2eEio0sDXQ_TS3LeefcirETbj36RQwVbOwhw0CFZzU_oml57HoSfgWJeqRSVfZcQXfe8WQ6fIELhyphenhyphenyvgyPzvScSI/s1600/E01_JAllenHynekCameoCloseEncounters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWbsqMctssloi9f3FlYZKsnZQ2KObVkSG0YohEnvEjh7XhHsi0nQG2eEio0sDXQ_TS3LeefcirETbj36RQwVbOwhw0CFZzU_oml57HoSfgWJeqRSVfZcQXfe8WQ6fIELhyphenhyphenyvgyPzvScSI/s1600/E01_JAllenHynekCameoCloseEncounters.jpg" height="230" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">J Allen Hynek makes a cameo appearance in Steven Spielberg's<br />
<em>Close Encounters of the Third Kind</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">High Strangeness is a good way to describe
what happened to Billy Ray Taylor and his hosts about an hour after the
Pennsylvanian got his drink of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
told the others that he'd just seen a flying saucer in the western sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its lights had all the colors of the
rainbow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Suttons chuckled, amused by
Billy Ray's vivid imagination, and told him he should recognize a shooting star
when he saw one...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What happened next is well-known to any
serious student of the UFO phenomena.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At
roughly 8 PM, the Sutton hound began barking and howling and soon crawled under
the house where he hid until the next morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Being good rural sorts, Billy Ray and Elmer "Lucky" Sutton
decided to get a shotgun and a deer rifle to investigate the ruckus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They stepped outside and promptly opened fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moments later, the men rushed back inside,
claiming they’d seen something floating in the air near the tree line...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The "something" was humanoid, roughly
three feet tall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had huge ears that
pointed up and spindly limbs that reminded the Suttons of a hospital patient
with atrophied legs and arms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Claw-like
talons seemed to be the best way to describe the creature's hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had a silvery glow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most disturbing to Billy Ray and Lucky was
the fact it seemed to be impervious to bullets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A shotgun blast would hit the critter and it would gracefully tumble
backwards through the air in slow motion and then resume floating toward the
house...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRspCDfYvvw9ZlqVfDhmSJrCE1p9CFuR0llEgBXH4ZGUY4tGj1J8hhJnwuamN2T_OsVDZ8DOAzHG126VuZw7QmnbGjr0krGR3I8WaENirj8E9ucGSMl3jPkTHfkV0UUF7SVdltS9rQ0CQ/s1600/E02_IvanTSandersonWithModelOfHopkinsvilleGoblin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRspCDfYvvw9ZlqVfDhmSJrCE1p9CFuR0llEgBXH4ZGUY4tGj1J8hhJnwuamN2T_OsVDZ8DOAzHG126VuZw7QmnbGjr0krGR3I8WaENirj8E9ucGSMl3jPkTHfkV0UUF7SVdltS9rQ0CQ/s1600/E02_IvanTSandersonWithModelOfHopkinsvilleGoblin.jpg" height="400" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Biologist Ivan T Sanderson, who had a strong interest in<br />
unusual phenomena, poses with a model of the Hopkinsville<br />
Gremlin in an undated Polaroid photograph.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Eventually, the gremlin-- as the Suttons
called it-- and several more like it reached the Sutton house, where (still
floating in the air) they peered in through the windows and clambered on the
roof, scaring the tarnation out of kids and adults alike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Billy Ray and the Suttons fired at the
creatures through the glass and walls for several hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every bullet had the same effect: the
gremlins floated away unharmed and then returned to be shot again so they could
float away unharmed and then return...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Neighbors down the road heard gunshots from
the Sutton place and wondered what in the world could be going on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None called the sheriff, figuring it was the
Sutton’s affair if they were shooting at someone…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">After a couple hours, the goblins (a term
often used by modern researchers) appeared to tire of the game and disappeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Billy Ray and Lucky and the rest of the
household piled into the family car and burned asphalt to nearby Hopkinsville
where they reported what had happened to Police Chief Russell Greenwell...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Greenwell and twenty other lawmen including
Kentucky State Troopers investigated the Sutton home that night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chief and his officers didn't know what to
make of the crazy tale they heard when the Suttons invaded his station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they knew a look of genuine terror when
they saw it and they saw it in the eyes of every man, woman, and child who
stood before them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What made this
troubling was that a State Trooper had radioed in a report of a strange object
in the skies near Hopkinsville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
made this more troubling was that the Sutton family enjoyed a good reputation
in Christian County-- hardworking, devout and regular churchgoers, honest, and
not inclined to sample moonshine...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What do we do with a case like the
Hopkinsville Goblin Incident…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgMHuVGSqTWWXoUgrXSJHbIVHJtZZL8UtosiXJ9qLllxEJCswENttKsauYrdE1Y9rkLpaojhyhMkWW1a-_2VN9I6B8AXHs3SZlbihJrooOm1LcUWzcT0mp2EVRsT-7db-FtslU8SNJ3g/s1600/E04_GreatHornedOwl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRgMHuVGSqTWWXoUgrXSJHbIVHJtZZL8UtosiXJ9qLllxEJCswENttKsauYrdE1Y9rkLpaojhyhMkWW1a-_2VN9I6B8AXHs3SZlbihJrooOm1LcUWzcT0mp2EVRsT-7db-FtslU8SNJ3g/s1600/E04_GreatHornedOwl.jpg" height="291" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">United States Air Force investigators opined the Suttons mistook a<br />
Great Horned Owl for silver-clad "gremlins" floating in the air.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Do we ignore it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we attempt a ludicrous explanation such as
one offered by Major John Albert of the Air Force two years after the
incident-- the gremlin was an escaped circus monkey painted in silver?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we nod sagely and agree with those who
opine Billy Ray and the Suttons misidentified Great Horned Owls defending their
nests?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This latter is perhaps more
ridiculous than Albert's escaped monkey explanation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Country folk know owls and educated fools
when they see them...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Seven years before the Sutton incident, J
Allen Hynek was, by his account, a skeptic when it came to UFOs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was a man with solid academic credentials and he'd been teaching at a
major state university since 1936 with the exception of the World War II years
when he worked as a civilian scientist for the Navy as one of the developers of
a radio proximity fuze.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1948, newly
hired as a part-time consultant to the Air Force's Project Sign, Hynek was
confident he would learn people who saw flying saucers had misidentified known
objects or were unreliable witnesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
considered the whole subject "utterly ridiculous"...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguSQ7428HuUCGyfll_zL9K54h4Kdocm1zFHiS4aTl2d09LwFwf05hq4s7GJGS_rJJuLQNdGA8oYe1yxIJ-G6yyLgK7UejJz0ntgZwAS0cmIRjShWqRlP0ql5GVFyHPLFmccNC13wsdSJY/s1600/E03a_MichiganSwampGas1966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguSQ7428HuUCGyfll_zL9K54h4Kdocm1zFHiS4aTl2d09LwFwf05hq4s7GJGS_rJJuLQNdGA8oYe1yxIJ-G6yyLgK7UejJz0ntgZwAS0cmIRjShWqRlP0ql5GVFyHPLFmccNC13wsdSJY/s1600/E03a_MichiganSwampGas1966.jpg" height="272" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">J Allen Hynek would become infamous in the early spring of<br />
1966 for suggesting Michiganders were seeing "swamp gas"<br />
and not flying saucers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Dr Hynek attempted to debunk UFO
sightings for many of his 21 years as a Project Sign and Project Bluebook
consultant, writing he not only enjoyed finding rational explanations for
extraordinary phenomena but also felt an unspoken pressure from the military to
find the unusual was simply misunderstood and mundane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the mid-1960s, he would become infamous
for explaining a series of sightings in Michigan as "swamp gas"...<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The official attitude that everything about
unidentified aerial phenomena could be easily explained away as
misidentification of conventional objects began to trouble Hynek who basically
initially believed the same thing...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As a scientist, he had difficulties with his
own willingness to jump to conclusions without a thorough analysis of the
data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His review of information
available to him suggested that the subject of UFOs was more complex than he
initially thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another thing that
bothered Hynek was that many reports coming across his desk were made by
trained observers such as military pilots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These were not men who were prone to jeopardizing careers by signing
their names to a prank incident log...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Hynek would eventually found his own Center
for UFO Studies in 1973.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His studies of
the subject never led him to any definite conclusions but he increasingly
placed a high value on the strangeness of some reports.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is one thing to see an unknown light zip
across the night sky in a straight line at a speed ten times greater than the
fastest plane made by men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is
another thing if this object comes to an abrupt halt, changes shape,
disappears, then reappears to resume <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a
zigzag</i> journey across the heavens...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOMG86xmq0jIyMIX9hlQnVJqrgTnqzrl9L3ZbwbeW8LX5VbugwAxsO6OIM0kNU0uOj3Uv0XtSZ3pXeBSv7HoLWZJwcy-dUTeZAW6xfgQDSn5IaTxvJLM5h4XIWRuayLb850LrYo30oLwk/s1600/E05_EdgarCayce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOMG86xmq0jIyMIX9hlQnVJqrgTnqzrl9L3ZbwbeW8LX5VbugwAxsO6OIM0kNU0uOj3Uv0XtSZ3pXeBSv7HoLWZJwcy-dUTeZAW6xfgQDSn5IaTxvJLM5h4XIWRuayLb850LrYo30oLwk/s1600/E05_EdgarCayce.jpg" height="320" width="183" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hopkinsville, site of the infamous <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Gremlin attack, was also home to the</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Sleeping Prophet, Edgar Cayce, said </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
by many to be a worker of miracles.</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[Jacques Vallee, another scientist who has
investigated the high strangeness of some UFO reports, originally supported the
possibility of an extraterrestrial origin for some of these unusual aerial
events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His study of the phenomenon
caused a shift in thinking for the co-developer of NASA's first computerized
mapping of Mars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He now suspects the UFO
phenomenon is associated with a non-human consciousness that can manipulate
time and space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Steven Spielberg's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close Encounters of the Third Kind</i>,
Vallee served as the model from the French researcher Lacombe who was played by
noted film director Francois Truffaut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>J
Allen Hynek also appears briefly in Spielberg's movie in a non-speaking role as
the bearded pipe-smoking man who witnesses the alien disembarkation towards the
end of the story.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As for the Suttons, Chief Greenwell and the
other lawmen accompanied them back to theirhome around midnight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The police officers and troopers saw walls
filled peppered with gunshot and broken windows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each witness was interviewed separately and
told basically the same story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neighbors
were tracked down and they told the cops they'd heard lots of gunshots from the
Sutton place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Late in the night, the
police left, unsure of exactly how to report the incident, but convinced
something strange had happened...<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">After the law had gone, a lone floating
gremlin returned at around 4:30 AM to the small house between Kelly and
Hopkinsville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Billy Ray Taylor grabbed
the shotgun, fired, and shattered one of the home's few unbroken windows as the
little troublemaker playfully vanished... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-DxyG7WfCgAWxBxAG2IXqJ8Z29RbxuayvPQreIIWBIdAZ9WEOnYb3D2gEb4lnE59pjeM33Jpqbla7yLXQvOfQxxEEomCK3QyMG_lZLpTFs460Hs_nbcXQgDoqRFxyaKW9_ugq7S0QDrc/s1600/E06_AntonioVillasBoas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-DxyG7WfCgAWxBxAG2IXqJ8Z29RbxuayvPQreIIWBIdAZ9WEOnYb3D2gEb4lnE59pjeM33Jpqbla7yLXQvOfQxxEEomCK3QyMG_lZLpTFs460Hs_nbcXQgDoqRFxyaKW9_ugq7S0QDrc/s1600/E06_AntonioVillasBoas.jpg" height="271" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sutton family's experience was not the only unsettling "contact"<br />
between humans and small humanoids during the 1950s. A little more<br />
than two years after the Hopkinsville incident, a Brazilian farmer claimed<br />
to have been forced into a sexual encounter with an alien female.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Follow and Like </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis R Nugent Photography/LRNArts<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
All photographs for this essay were located through Google Images or Wikipedia,
without authoritative source or ownership information except as noted: still of
J Allen Hynek cameo appearance from </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Close Encounters of the Third Kind, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1977, directed by Steven Spielbergl undated
Polaroid of Ivan T Sanderson with model of Hopkinsville Goblin from
johnkeel.com;
Great Horned Owl from ksbirds.org; Antonio Vilas-Boas article from
webelieveinaliens.com. Research for topics covered in this essay consists
primarily of information from readily available sources such as Wikipedia and
the Encyclopedia Britannica except as noted: none </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-42470048121621344622014-02-03T14:37:00.002-08:002014-02-04T16:41:12.621-08:00<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;">Will The Real Prince Of Darkness Please Stand
Up<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Paradise Lost<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> is one of those books which the reader
admires and puts down, and forgets to take up again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None ever wished it longer than it
is."-- Samuel Johnson, </i>Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Volume One: Milton, 1779<o:p></o:p></i></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A few days ago, a hike to the road and mailbox
brought an anonymous letter addressed to me in handwriting I didn't
recognize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The missive contained a vile
little pamphlet alerting me to the fact that Satan gave Roman Catholicism and
Islam and evolution to the world so mankind might be deceived and lured into
eternal damnation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a fact I
hadn’t known and one which I still thankfully do not know...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfdeP5D0MhSIhhXXHTfssXS8gQVzY_PrUMyuNsNrk32XStwtPWy83tyA3231-a0KTah0izdQtcUUu_E24PXQxvTHA3ywd7hOeAJvVOGgwJysFrHPYHhySCEDJRI7pxqAmFCyqDabEQHQ/s1600/D00_1_JohnMilton_ParadiseLost_ThirdEdition_1678.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfdeP5D0MhSIhhXXHTfssXS8gQVzY_PrUMyuNsNrk32XStwtPWy83tyA3231-a0KTah0izdQtcUUu_E24PXQxvTHA3ywd7hOeAJvVOGgwJysFrHPYHhySCEDJRI7pxqAmFCyqDabEQHQ/s1600/D00_1_JohnMilton_ParadiseLost_ThirdEdition_1678.jpg" height="337" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Milton's <em>Paradise Lost</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This venom spewed out in the name of a loving
God bore the imprint of an outfit called Chick Publications which offers to
send the reader a sample assortment of more titles for a mere $12.95.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Southern Poverty Law Center considers the
firm to be a band of hate mongers and it is hard to disagree with such an
assessment after looking at even a single tract.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Page 8 of the pamphlet I received reminded me
"Jesus hates Catholicism and calls her the Great Whore".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally, it berates former President
George W Bush for urging Americans to distinguish between deeds of terrorists
claiming to act in the name of Allah and a faith deeply held by a billion
people...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">While Jack T Chick's cartoon collection is
likely best used as a floor liner for the cage of a diarrheatic ape, he
certainly isn't the first English language writer to pontificate on the Prince
of Darkness and his misdeeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor will
he be the last...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Paradise
Lost</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">,
John Milton's epic poem exceeding 10,000 lines of blank verse, tells the story
of a rebellion in Heaven against God led by Satan who, along with his
followers, is cast down into Hell where he plots to corrupt Jehovah's newly
formed Earth and lead our primeval parents Adam and Eve into death and sin by
convincing them to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxHXbuvScFCu_VBBq3qsxf_1Y7CqLNHk069VaASVUcxD852MfHRZhUHF4-GiRZfn8VQFOTjxBjq9BUSgmKoAuBI8TSi8058oSt98zstz46xhBJpJcTF_z4UD64aHSQIxkMcFxEjNpEQU/s1600/D00_2_ParadiseLost_GustaveDore_Circa1866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxHXbuvScFCu_VBBq3qsxf_1Y7CqLNHk069VaASVUcxD852MfHRZhUHF4-GiRZfn8VQFOTjxBjq9BUSgmKoAuBI8TSi8058oSt98zstz46xhBJpJcTF_z4UD64aHSQIxkMcFxEjNpEQU/s1600/D00_2_ParadiseLost_GustaveDore_Circa1866.jpg" height="400" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Satan is cast from heaven in Gustave Dore's 1866 illustration<br />
for Milton's <em>Paradise Lost</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Milton obviously told his story well since
many people assume it reflects the Biblical tale of Eden although the poem
bears little if any resemblance to the account to found in the Hebrew
scriptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Genesis</i> tells us in Chapter 3 the serpent who led Adam and Eve to
open their eyes and be like divine beings in knowing good and evil was the
"shrewdest of all the wild beasts the LORD GOD had made."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, the wily snake is a trickster not much
different from those in other origin stories found elsewhere in the world...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[An identification of Serpent with Satan
doesn't appear to have taken place in Judaism until the early part of the
Common Era (CE) shared with Christianity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A Hellenistic work, the Greek <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apocalypse
of Baruch</i>, which may date to as early as 130 CE, is among the first works
to link Eden’s snake to the darkest of angels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other scholars believe the earliest hint of such an identification
occurs in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wisdom of Solomon</i>,
dating to about two centuries earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Others say the first clear merging of the two figures comes in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Apocalypse of Moses</i>, likely penned
in 1st Century CE.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Satan makes very few appearances in Hebrew
scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He never does so as a force
even remotely capable of challenging Yahweh's authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Giving him power to do so would encroach on
the sovereignty of God Who, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Isaiah</i>
45: 7, clearly claims to form the light and create the darkness and to be
author of peace and maker of evil.)...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In the 21st chapter of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First Chronicles</i>, Satan arises against Israel and incites David to
conduct a census.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God becomes angered by
the presumption that God's people can be numbered like cattle and sets
pestilence upon the land, killing 70,000 men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Still filled with wrath, God relents after David looks up to see
"the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth with a drawn
sword in his hand directed against Jerusalem" and begs the Almighty to
direct vengeance against him and not the innocent people of Israel...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoh6n52aZLLEtL20rtGUSuISfkUsDjcBsl-NaOv_wmiHt7YiTw-iErEMgNCS6Cg9HeVrzAA5ccSzTSTpobQbvAiZR1dOCDe8qS0pqUapc8zV9oQ7umwY1Cmh6YHiKFML_c3KGQc26Kps/s1600/D06_EmilJanningsAsMephisto_FWMurnau_Faust_1926.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoh6n52aZLLEtL20rtGUSuISfkUsDjcBsl-NaOv_wmiHt7YiTw-iErEMgNCS6Cg9HeVrzAA5ccSzTSTpobQbvAiZR1dOCDe8qS0pqUapc8zV9oQ7umwY1Cmh6YHiKFML_c3KGQc26Kps/s1600/D06_EmilJanningsAsMephisto_FWMurnau_Faust_1926.jpg" height="292" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emil Jannings as Mephisto in a 1926 film adaptation of the Faust legend</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Readers familiar with the Bible may recall an
older version of this story is to be found in the 24th chapter of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Second Samuel</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, here, it is God who prompts David to
"go and number Israel and Judah."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>David-- as in First Chronicles-- does the proper kingly thing and asks
the Lord to punish him and not his people...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The difference in the two accounts may be
explained by when each work was written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We know the earliest possible date for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First Chronicles</i> would be 539 BCE based on the history it records and
also that the book was likely put down on a scroll, give or take a decade,
circa 300 BCE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Samuel</i> belongs to earlier times-- three centuries or more-- with
its final story taking place during David's reign, or roughly a thousand before
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Attitudes about God's direct
involvement in human misery were clearly evolving during the centuries between
the tales told in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chronicles</i> and
the penning of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Samuel</i>... <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZV3AfCKafdSDe9CAn-sr_IEuasMfQtWpaUzGEdwi_t8JmQ4kOUbr7QGjxvAwjQrMDsqy7jsVWzcqPKYGC-d9nU_rnOGD-LXJ1CeHJlO105J7aG1A-of7TzhGA-oVVUiIQ_1rw-zG-nMs/s1600/D01_2_WilliamBlake_SatanSmitingJobWithSores_1826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZV3AfCKafdSDe9CAn-sr_IEuasMfQtWpaUzGEdwi_t8JmQ4kOUbr7QGjxvAwjQrMDsqy7jsVWzcqPKYGC-d9nU_rnOGD-LXJ1CeHJlO105J7aG1A-of7TzhGA-oVVUiIQ_1rw-zG-nMs/s1600/D01_2_WilliamBlake_SatanSmitingJobWithSores_1826.jpg" height="315" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Blake: <em>Satan smiting Job with boils</em>, 1826</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">An unfortunate chap named Job has his own
experience with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ha-Satan</i>, The
Adversary, who presents himself to the Lord alongside other members of the
celestial court one fine day. God asks if Satan has come across Job, "a
blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil" in the course of
his roaming across the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Adversary answers Job honors God because God constantly blesses Job, making him
richer and more comfortable with each new day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>"But lay Your hand upon all that he has," Satan counsels the
Lord, "and he will surely blaspheme You to Your face"...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyE53hVMvBscCOS0zmPwk3rfBd-WAVEE7a39cDfknGPnjaE88tmul2iDi5CSyOwMjKsOJ_pgrv4kzdTYQi3i4OsQFIpGYfuI2luFPMJLAY2o_KV_g_TOO17AUqet4rZHAu70VWMQdkkw/s1600/D01_1_MarcChagall_Job_1960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyE53hVMvBscCOS0zmPwk3rfBd-WAVEE7a39cDfknGPnjaE88tmul2iDi5CSyOwMjKsOJ_pgrv4kzdTYQi3i4OsQFIpGYfuI2luFPMJLAY2o_KV_g_TOO17AUqet4rZHAu70VWMQdkkw/s1600/D01_1_MarcChagall_Job_1960.jpg" height="400" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marc Chagall's 1960 depiction of the despair of Job</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Thus began the tribulations of the righteous
man named Job who eventually hears a Voice challenging him out of the whirlwind
to gird up his loins like a man and answer where he was when the Lord laid the
foundations of the earth or say he can dispatch the lightning on its
missions...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[Job, incidentally, holds an important place
in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the latter religion, he is considered a prophet and Islamic narratives about
his misfortunes are broadly similar to the Biblical account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shaitan, aka Satan, plays a much more
malevolent role in the Koran and Arabic folklore, however: after he overhears
angels praise Ayyub as a righteous man, the Devil takes it upon himself to
corrupt Ayyub and his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing the
two will remain faithful despite any evil worked by Shaitan, Allah permits them
to suffer temporarily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Modern scholars believe Job's story took on
its current form between the 6th and 4th Centuries before the Common Era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Job</i>
was likely cobbled together from multiple sources, one of which may have been
the product of an Edomite author. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students
of the book cite linguistic constructions and a general lack of Jewish
"color" to support arguments the unknown writer lived somewhere south
of the Dead Sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other experts suspect
early versions of Job's tale date back to to ancient Sumer, the city-state
which flourished five thousand years ago in the area of current day Iraq.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Earlier, we noted a gradual tendency to avoid
directly attributing evil to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
may have been due to the growing regional influence of the teachings of a
Persian prophet named Zoroaster who lived about six centuries before the Common
Era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A vegetarian who condemned animal
sacrifices, Zoroaster taught a monotheistic faith in which Ahura Mazda, sole
and Uncreated Creator of the universe, constantly battles Angra Mainyu, source
of sin and evil and father of demons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Angra Mainyu may be strong, Zoroaster said, but Ahura Mazda will
ultimately defeat evil through the aid of good men...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnO5d7hqYpjPQZMRZkVthtMDptEJvSYQwvNr82LKvID3LWhVA2SAcnE63tBmzLuBPrC0cHnLbqMWsPfGPN8pVBDS552jlV0_FVYCi2pk3g_y_syyIPdEZrzJH955cyIh4I-iV_3TNMPC4/s1600/D02_2_AngraMainyuAttackingTheCosmicBull_Persepolis_PhotoByMaryLoosemore2008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnO5d7hqYpjPQZMRZkVthtMDptEJvSYQwvNr82LKvID3LWhVA2SAcnE63tBmzLuBPrC0cHnLbqMWsPfGPN8pVBDS552jlV0_FVYCi2pk3g_y_syyIPdEZrzJH955cyIh4I-iV_3TNMPC4/s1600/D02_2_AngraMainyuAttackingTheCosmicBull_Persepolis_PhotoByMaryLoosemore2008.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Angra Mainyu, the force of darkness ever in contention with the force of<br />
light in Zoroastrian thought, attacks the cosmic bull in a carving at Persepolis<br />
(photograph by Mary Loosemore, 2008)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">As the new religion of Christianity took
root, its chroniclers incorporated an encounter between Jesus and Satan into
the Gospel stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The writers of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Matthew</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mark</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luke</i> speak of
the Temptation of Christ by the Devil as he fasts in the wilderness...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Understanding the nature of this encounter
requires an understanding of the Gospels in which the story appears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The briefest version is found in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mark</i>, suspected by scholars of being the
oldest of the four canonical Gospels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Written in Greek shortly after the destruction of the Temple in
Jerusalem by Roman legions, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mark</i>
seems to be the work of an unknown writer living in Syria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It dates as early as 70 AD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is less than forty years after Jesus'
execution-- and may contain accounts of his life that can be linked to a
historian's Jesus vs a theologian's Jesus...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mark</i>'s
narrative is a sparse account from the "this is what happened"
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does not open with an account
of a miraculous Virgin Birth and concludes almost immediately after Jesus is
raised from the dead and instructs his disciples to go forth into the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Satan appears only indirectly
when the writer says the Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the desert for forty days
after his baptism at the hand of John the Baptist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the desolation, Jesus finds himself
tempted by Satan but no other details are provided.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">These missing details show up in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Matthew</i> (probably written around 80 CE
by a person of Jewish birth) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luke</i>
(likely composed at around the same time as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Matthew</i>
by the same person who recounted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Acts
of the Apostles</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not likely
either man knew the historical Jesus in the opinion of Biblical scholars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Matthew</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">'s intended audience
appears to be Jewish (he doesn't take the time to explain customs referenced in
his narrative, implying a belief his audience would be familiar with them) and
we can assume his account of Satan coincides in some degree with the thinking
of his readers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the Temptation
episode, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Matthew</i> says, Satan presents
himself to the Nazarene as an alternative god to Yahweh, offering Christ the
kingdoms of the world if he would but fall to his knees before Satan.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35oc8Xh7sUe8DNhCF-HMh9jVXqDT7dE2rEXcVJAu7vrh1b3bcRaAMolfJdfkLuhdBOuu9ZVgNFQ5IT8YSIkIaq1LMKjAM4CfdfvnTa90kZTsI4h-8cEJyxEfqHXZK2uTpPgs7TfO9WzE/s1600/D03_1_Duccio_Di_Buoninsegna_TemptationOnTheMount_1308_1311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35oc8Xh7sUe8DNhCF-HMh9jVXqDT7dE2rEXcVJAu7vrh1b3bcRaAMolfJdfkLuhdBOuu9ZVgNFQ5IT8YSIkIaq1LMKjAM4CfdfvnTa90kZTsI4h-8cEJyxEfqHXZK2uTpPgs7TfO9WzE/s1600/D03_1_Duccio_Di_Buoninsegna_TemptationOnTheMount_1308_1311.jpg" height="377" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duccio: <em>The Temptation on the Mount</em>, 1308</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">All three Gospels, we note, were written
during a time of barely comprehensible change in the Jewish world, in the
aftermath of a horror comparable to the Holocaust...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The destruction of the Temple in 70 CE
effectively ended the Jewish rebellion against Rome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Caesar's armies were unable to claim total
victory until Masada fell three years later but it was a hollow win for the Roman
legions since the fortress' defenders chose suicide over submission to tyranny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flavius Josephus, a contemporary historian,
tells us that over 1,000,000 people died during the siege of Jerusalem and
97,000 more were taken prisoner and enslaved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Survivors scattered throughout the Mediterranean world...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Mystery religions and Gnosticism flourished
in these places where the survivors found new homes...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We can, at a later date, look to the
Mysteries for clues as to why the new Christian faith became a child alien to
its Judaic heritage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is the
Gnostics and their notion of the Demiurge who can help us understand the transformation
of Satan from a Counselor of God to the Lord of Hell...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMot9HG4_ldv3Q80VRuzG7tzwi8zgvGcR8IaNjWWQH4FZ2QoloOaqQbVbLxjOT_svnEQ8O_Kb40uESLH67Le-olzQJZT1O-_PAlvzKa2uBJA5LxgIAAUNL3a6Of26ToeLCHJ-nhJjMQ88/s1600/D04_Baphomet_AntiMasonicPropaganda_19thCentury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMot9HG4_ldv3Q80VRuzG7tzwi8zgvGcR8IaNjWWQH4FZ2QoloOaqQbVbLxjOT_svnEQ8O_Kb40uESLH67Le-olzQJZT1O-_PAlvzKa2uBJA5LxgIAAUNL3a6Of26ToeLCHJ-nhJjMQ88/s1600/D04_Baphomet_AntiMasonicPropaganda_19thCentury.jpg" height="400" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enemies of Freemasonry often assert its followers<br />
worship darkness incarnated in the form of the<br />
Baphomet, a scurrilous allegation repeated in this<br />
late 19th Century illustration</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In the early years of Christianity, there
were a fair number of sects whose members saw the material world as evil and
believed they could find salvation only through <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gnosis</i>, the knowledge bringing mystical enlightenment and intuitive
encounters with God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Readers interested
in studying the Gnostics in detail, be warned: many groups have cosmologies so
complex and convoluted that it would probably be easier to wade through
graduate texts on subatomic physics armed only with a fifth grade education
than to try to quickly understand the world view of more than two or three
Gnostic sects... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Gnostics also tended to see the material world
as the work of a malevolent Demiurge, godlike but inferior to the true God who
exists outside the world of stone and wood and flesh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most Gnostic sects did not identify Satan with
the Demiurge but the Cathars, a 12th Century sect influenced by Gnosticism,
believed the Creator God celebrated in the Jewish Bible was the Demiurge whom
they called Satanael...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
Jewish Encyclopedia</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">,
1906 edition, sums up early views about the Devil by noting the prologue of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Job</i> makes it clear The Adversary has no
power of independent action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we can
elaborate on this by saying, in addition to requiring God's permission to do
his work, Satan doesn't have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">carte
blanche</i> in what he does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He must act
within limits specified by God...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Contact with the Persian dualism of Zoroaster
and various Gnostic notions modified this early view both among common folk and
the intellectual class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The 1906 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">JE</i> offers an opinion that Zoroastrianism
may have influenced the account of David's census in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First Chronicles</i> as well as a passage in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zechariah</i> where Satan is The Adversary of the High Priest Joshua.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the 4th Century CE, the Palestinian <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Talmud</i> had been compiled and it
reflected evolving views about Satan found in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apocrypha </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>To some of the rabbis, Satan was
synonymous with both Samael (the Angel of Death) and that inclination in the
heart of man to do evil...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Lest we forget, let us revisit <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paradise Lost</i> briefly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Occasionally, when pressed to point to
textual confirmation in the Bible itself of Milton's story of Satan and his
rebellious horde being cast down from Heaven into Hell, devout Christians point
to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Isaiah</i> 14:12-20.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A careful examination of the text suggests
this is a warning to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, that his days are
numbered...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipkZ0rzHdFR_NIRwob0S8ubM88CEM2H4eSVVDpDUmWch7VH_LEfztwtT8PPQ6lFpAb5hMHYzotFM9C1sv14CgJshuc0fveE2-Ev9sVAANIYHlHMxHvqnI4D4MqqZZzGaqOkK3lmXNBztM/s1600/D05_FaustAndMephisopheles_Monaco_1969.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipkZ0rzHdFR_NIRwob0S8ubM88CEM2H4eSVVDpDUmWch7VH_LEfztwtT8PPQ6lFpAb5hMHYzotFM9C1sv14CgJshuc0fveE2-Ev9sVAANIYHlHMxHvqnI4D4MqqZZzGaqOkK3lmXNBztM/s1600/D05_FaustAndMephisopheles_Monaco_1969.jpg" height="243" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Composer Hector Berlioz musically retold the medieval German legend of<br />
a scholar named Faust who sells his soul to darkness for the pleasures to<br />
be known in this world. In 1969, the principality of Monaco commemorated<br />
Berlioz with a retelling of his version of the story in stamp form.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The confusion of a wicked king with an evil
angel results from the poetic and beautiful language found throughout King
James'<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Version of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bible</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Literate men who lived in 17th Century England could not read Isaiah's
mocking prophecy ("How art thou fallen from the heavens, O Lucifer, son of
the morning") and fail to think of Milton's Satan who arrogantly thought
to displace God...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Genesis</i>,
we read of Adam and Eve and Serpent in Eden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We contemplate the Lord God said, "It is not good for Man to be
alone; I will make a fitting helper for him" (from the rib of Man as he
slept) in the second chapter after creating Man, male and female, in God's
image in the first chapter after saying "Let us make Man in our image,
after our likeness".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And some of us
wonder if these are not two different stories about creation...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We are not alone in such thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many a rabbi and common man alike pondered the
words of Moses' Torah before proffering a theory: Adam had two wives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know who his second spouse was: Ishshah,
or Eve in modern English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Folklore
assigned Lilith as the name of Wife Number One...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In contemporary lingo, Lilith was one uppity
woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She presumed to think that just
because she was created in the image of God at the same time as Adam that she
was also his equal!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even worse, Lilith
preferred to be "on top" when she and Adam had intercourse out of a
theory she should enjoy sex as much as he did!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She tired of her unimaginative husband, the folktales say, and left him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, one day, as she enjoyed the single
woman's life outside the Gates of Eden by the shores of the Red Sea, she looked
up and saw a handsome Devil out to raise a bit of hell on earth...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Love at first sight, one supposes, since
Lilith went on to become Mother of Demons... <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMvxVtcTaAUjeJz3Y1wekhuGPzj7RUrrWOlURFcz40SrRbPTniLyP1UmuTbmYQtZ1WD2_e6jE5ZX8g0DT58NZBT7t2O1EvszWrqsiJTlzE2DjZ-cMkrIDLdVYTpxcmV3SgLX7BtGnqoHs/s1600/D00_3_WilliamBlake_EveTemptedByTheSerpent_17991800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMvxVtcTaAUjeJz3Y1wekhuGPzj7RUrrWOlURFcz40SrRbPTniLyP1UmuTbmYQtZ1WD2_e6jE5ZX8g0DT58NZBT7t2O1EvszWrqsiJTlzE2DjZ-cMkrIDLdVYTpxcmV3SgLX7BtGnqoHs/s1600/D00_3_WilliamBlake_EveTemptedByTheSerpent_17991800.jpg" height="282" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Blake: <em>The Temptation of Eve by the Serpent</em>, 1799-1800</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Follow and Like </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
All photographs for this essay were located through Google Images or Wikipedia,
without authoritative source or ownership information except as noted:
photograph of Angra Mainyu at Persepolis by Mary Loosemore, 2008. Research for
topics covered in this essay consists primarily of information from readily
available sources such as Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica except as
noted: comments citing 1906 edition of the Standard Jewish Encyclopedia on
origin and nature of Satan from </span></i><a href="http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13219-satan"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13219-satan</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-4088185978222557232014-01-06T08:21:00.002-08:002014-01-06T08:27:20.575-08:00<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Water In Texas: A Graphic Journey, East To
West<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“Average
rainfall trends from east to west, with Orange in the Sabine Valley averaging
about 59 inches per year and El Paso at the far western tip averaging about 8
inches.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andrew Sansom, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Water In Texas: An
Introduction<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, University of Texas Press,
Austin, 2008</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Questions about the availability of water
dominate much of the political conversation in Texas these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the same time that lawmakers smile at the increasing
population of the state since this means more “clout” in Congress and in setting
legislative agendas, they frown at the worrisome implications of more people in
a vast land area where most of a population exceeding 20 million people is
concentrated along and east of Interstate Highway 35.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Water is already scarce and it will become
scarcer…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYA9Sir7KbZYxdrQ1kNM2Lcg-sCXrOOW9FjXqdyjEsTHWNY5j0lEy2E-AGI9zE3clMHI9aFr1YyV4Q_Hc4_2jQGVKwOmHiVSIz3Hx6nWqx9_qJeDfx0twVJqL5MwpIwi6DnqjmOwszD4/s1600/01_EastOfHouston.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYA9Sir7KbZYxdrQ1kNM2Lcg-sCXrOOW9FjXqdyjEsTHWNY5j0lEy2E-AGI9zE3clMHI9aFr1YyV4Q_Hc4_2jQGVKwOmHiVSIz3Hx6nWqx9_qJeDfx0twVJqL5MwpIwi6DnqjmOwszD4/s1600/01_EastOfHouston.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">East of Houston</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIMml99BIPx94JzcYXHxB9TaLRVPqaFVk7ZCgyA3n_2OOZ0gY5oXWtOZjH68o4DXXu8dcewWLTut_5BluU3tr_rYu8gGEPPixQQZZG6B4ztELeJoPT78qVx_GPvYTDhGuGAAn4frbt20/s1600/03_SanAntonio_BexarCounty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIMml99BIPx94JzcYXHxB9TaLRVPqaFVk7ZCgyA3n_2OOZ0gY5oXWtOZjH68o4DXXu8dcewWLTut_5BluU3tr_rYu8gGEPPixQQZZG6B4ztELeJoPT78qVx_GPvYTDhGuGAAn4frbt20/s1600/03_SanAntonio_BexarCounty.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ranch Country near San Antonio</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZZdmz5-qxo7vPw2ntNrij9IdFFtKsoFJxvYvj2iJsG2YLDSaWQL4fnsfCQgw6vGNr0e8xLtxcPAIs5YJfRedw3tYBo7R6SJi5tRYGZ_3tpGcqJoPlHSRBM4OysDwS2DR1WsroSn4rSw/s1600/02_WestOfSanAngelo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZZdmz5-qxo7vPw2ntNrij9IdFFtKsoFJxvYvj2iJsG2YLDSaWQL4fnsfCQgw6vGNr0e8xLtxcPAIs5YJfRedw3tYBo7R6SJi5tRYGZ_3tpGcqJoPlHSRBM4OysDwS2DR1WsroSn4rSw/s1600/02_WestOfSanAngelo.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">West of San Angelo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Compounding the problem in the search for a
state-wide solution to water related issues is the fact that Texas does become
increasingly dry as one travels east to west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is not merely a function of lower precipitation levels but also the
result of greater amounts of water lost to evaporation…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Let us take an imaginary journey from Houston
to El Paso, with stops in San Antonio and San Angelo, comparing annual
precipitation and water lost to evaporation along the way, noting the ever-increasing imbalance between the rain that falls to earth and the moisture that returns to the sky under the relentless Texas heat and wind…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3DV4kCagsUi9K_zBalz3URs37n9M2EUrCadguzrzTCBzi376XF-_TxUtfwBcYUY9KkG576ZTiE8tXnx-80csw17dEpmLSbZwSf69iyUf5NBLehj1d1TsdUjhMTp7ThfLr_T7UnbFN2c/s1600/Quadrangle812_Houston_Historical_EvapPrecip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3DV4kCagsUi9K_zBalz3URs37n9M2EUrCadguzrzTCBzi376XF-_TxUtfwBcYUY9KkG576ZTiE8tXnx-80csw17dEpmLSbZwSf69iyUf5NBLehj1d1TsdUjhMTp7ThfLr_T7UnbFN2c/s1600/Quadrangle812_Houston_Historical_EvapPrecip.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Precipitation vs Evaporation: Houston area</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKt6I07cBya9rNDbpaHnQ8bLIFDKqVxIuoSLAFbSqsAwp9mg2z2GoCHNKW7tn0l1qiij-15NBryjWHzflnzokIi38jgE94PL9MDSFwtpd0mbnKlfHvKtWM1YcHnIEoZA5HojJ0rIxGuSo/s1600/Quadrangle809_SanAntonio_Historical_EvapPrecip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKt6I07cBya9rNDbpaHnQ8bLIFDKqVxIuoSLAFbSqsAwp9mg2z2GoCHNKW7tn0l1qiij-15NBryjWHzflnzokIi38jgE94PL9MDSFwtpd0mbnKlfHvKtWM1YcHnIEoZA5HojJ0rIxGuSo/s1600/Quadrangle809_SanAntonio_Historical_EvapPrecip.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Precipitation vs Evaporation: San Antonio area</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiomjksvo6k5j7AYfmzc2oUN3HDw_-0ojO87momgYOOeSgM-4AYYDE-Zr7vCrVFf9snu9YVEV-DsTeOxoki4WyiLTv1m5WY-VvLQR5Ey0WpnY0Q64gLLtHsaL2MMyH3R48oGyo48KKr0E/s1600/Quadrangle607_SanAngelo_Historical_EvapPrecip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiomjksvo6k5j7AYfmzc2oUN3HDw_-0ojO87momgYOOeSgM-4AYYDE-Zr7vCrVFf9snu9YVEV-DsTeOxoki4WyiLTv1m5WY-VvLQR5Ey0WpnY0Q64gLLtHsaL2MMyH3R48oGyo48KKr0E/s1600/Quadrangle607_SanAngelo_Historical_EvapPrecip.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Precipitation vs Evaporation: San Angelo Area</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5fjdEDZv4c2zW8iwGxfdC_iO79Ja829utGSFOt_25bNe1s8b2s1uM2eaBd4dOEaEcbfGsrEbmAkKEL8ZGK-9CPqpIyHMI-v9bhMSHsV4o0FYbC66G7zOR7LdDsytUFKzuotmFZhkA9rs/s1600/Quadrangle601_ElPaso_Historical_EvapPrecip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5fjdEDZv4c2zW8iwGxfdC_iO79Ja829utGSFOt_25bNe1s8b2s1uM2eaBd4dOEaEcbfGsrEbmAkKEL8ZGK-9CPqpIyHMI-v9bhMSHsV4o0FYbC66G7zOR7LdDsytUFKzuotmFZhkA9rs/s1600/Quadrangle601_ElPaso_Historical_EvapPrecip.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Precipitation vs Evaporation: El Paso area</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></i> </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></i> </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></i> </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></strong></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">One easy and inexpensive
way to build a collection of work by today's finest painters, sculptors, and
photographers:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greeting cards from Fine
Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Easier still: browse the
Louis R Nugent gallery at Fine Art America and choose from nearly 300 ideas for
home and office decor or holiday and birthday cards for yourself or special
someones who deserve something extraordinary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Individual cards cost less than $5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wall prints from $22.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Follow and Like </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Fine Art America now
features painting, drawings, and photographs by more than forty artists who
celebrate majestic and uncompromising landscapes, settlements, people, plants,
and flora and fauna scattered across the vast emptiness called West Texas.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></span><br />
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note: Information
for this essay was obtained primarily through readily available sources such as
Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica except as noted: graphics comparing
precipitation and evaporation for selected Texas cities generated from data at </span></i><a href="http://www.twdb.texas.gov/surfacewater/conditions/evaporation/index.asp"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.twdb.texas.gov/surfacewater/conditions/evaporation/index.asp</span></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All photographs for this essay were located
through Google Images or Wikipedia, without authoritative source or ownership
information except as noted: ranchland near San Antonio from </span></i><a href="http://www.landsoftexas.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.landsoftexas.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">; </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">all other <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">photographs by Louis R Nugent<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-50971198574326300492013-11-22T06:45:00.000-08:002016-05-06T13:54:05.476-07:00<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">Journey To The Desert's Edge, Part 10<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
this is the tenth in a series of occasionally appearing entries focusing on
deserts in general and the drylands of West Texas in particular</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: blue;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“At the
foot of the Panhandle lies the vast western portion of Texas, an area of the
state that epitomizes the isolation and beauty of the American desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the edge of the metropolitan area of El
Paso, the West Texas desert stretches over four hundred miles (640 km) into the
heart of the state.”-- Gary Reyes, </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Texas<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">,
Mallard Press, New York, 1991</i><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Defining deserts is a tricky endeavor and
defining their boundaries can be even trickier business…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Readers of previous columns in this series
about the dry country remember we have settled on a fairly simple definition
for a desert-- an area where the potential water loss through
evapotranspiration significantly (and consistently) exceeds that
area’s precipitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most
scientists who study deserts agree on this definition…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJZKJpY7keYoNjd_Z1g1755DKI7H6Q1CuWcVeYhbT1goDtGJz3QDPuDt6_jUC9QFuODQ6d0VAki35lvdSMf4ta5pcWjfh9r27OatzCwgPW9s9czaHn1AC4pZGI57uAACbQPzIuvwzGAs/s1600/B00_ChihuahuanDesert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJZKJpY7keYoNjd_Z1g1755DKI7H6Q1CuWcVeYhbT1goDtGJz3QDPuDt6_jUC9QFuODQ6d0VAki35lvdSMf4ta5pcWjfh9r27OatzCwgPW9s9czaHn1AC4pZGI57uAACbQPzIuvwzGAs/s320/B00_ChihuahuanDesert.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chihuahuan Desert, broadly outlined in this map, is both<br />
North America's largest and most biologically diverse desert.<br />
It is also one of the continent's least explored wilderness areas.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We’ve also discussed the lack of universal
scholarly agreement as to what “significantly exceeds” means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1937, H C Trumble provided empirical
answers to part of this dispute by demonstrating water need for a month exceeds
water supply when computed evaporation is more than three times
precipitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His work, cited over a
decade later by C W Thornthwaite in a landmark analysis of climate, dealt only
in facts and not in the nuances of language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thus, scholars continue to debate exactly what makes a desert a desert…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Does a region become a desert when this
“three times precipitation” threshold is met-- or must the area be even more
arid?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it must be even drier, at what
point is the land desert dry-- when computed evaporation is five times the
precipitation, nine times the precipitation, twenty times?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just what does “significantly exceeds” mean ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">One school of thought embraces a very wide
stretch of country as desert and includes all of Wladimir Koeppen’s “B” series
of dry climates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another school excludes
those areas Koeppen defined as steppes but includes ones he called
deserts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(A problem with this approach is
that Tucson, Arizona, and most of the Big Bend area of Texas would be among the
places not considered deserts-- an omission that most visitors or residents of
these areas might strenuously dispute.)…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Q7PK30ZQGgiL5WAIWfkvurubgVG9MkIAciEf6Ah5aBkxcC9Us_k9lAfDcuker0TEZgloykftWMNsXHnOhFdg6tVpwXp6Z4zi9G562IicaIMyjEjpaFcVu4H4LY2CVWbz1T0NP_luZlA/s1600/B00_WesternTomGreenCounty.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Q7PK30ZQGgiL5WAIWfkvurubgVG9MkIAciEf6Ah5aBkxcC9Us_k9lAfDcuker0TEZgloykftWMNsXHnOhFdg6tVpwXp6Z4zi9G562IicaIMyjEjpaFcVu4H4LY2CVWbz1T0NP_luZlA/s400/B00_WesternTomGreenCounty.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the author's home in western Tom Green County</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Some scholars also say there are no true
deserts in North America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They limit
deserts to exceedingly arid regions like the Sahara of northern Africa and the
Atacama in Chile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latter may be the
driest place on Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Researchers
believe parts of this vast desolation haven’t received measurable rainfall for four
hundred years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Average annual
precipitation for the Atacama as a whole hovers around an estimated 0.004
inches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Placing that figure in
perspective, it could be somewhere around the year 2263 before we add a single
inch to this desert’s sparse total…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A majority of laymen (and probably most
scientists) say there are deserts in the United States. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s also general agreement four large
areas-- the Mojave, the Sonoran, the Chihuahuan, and the Great Basin-- can be
so designated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fixing their boundaries
is a difficult and probably impossible task though…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Rough outlines of deserts have been established
by studying plants native to a region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The same can be said for other ecosystems such as grasslands or rain
forests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Wladimir Koeppen first
conceived the notion for developing a world-wide classification scheme, he drew
upon both his training as a botanist and his childhood travels to botanically diverse
regions through the Russian empire to create the broad outlines of his system.
Later, as Peggy Larson commented in a study of the southwestern deserts, the
botanist Forrest Shreve took this same understanding that plants define the
natural character of an area and used it to decode the landscape of “the North
American desert into four individual deserts… based on their distinctive
vegetation”…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRLCtXFw-rCC1wn9l27lncdZEzKglKbQWacdJyvlE3G-lKPJITEglBlIwacW7LvjnkC_Qcin8JKsJ8TzwK0H5YPAoSHOueLJO-RV9p4W-jUk8eu2ITEfmJZAwmRrcMl7vPjQyraf_dYA/s1600/B00_Ocotillo_FouquieriaSplendens.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaRLCtXFw-rCC1wn9l27lncdZEzKglKbQWacdJyvlE3G-lKPJITEglBlIwacW7LvjnkC_Qcin8JKsJ8TzwK0H5YPAoSHOueLJO-RV9p4W-jUk8eu2ITEfmJZAwmRrcMl7vPjQyraf_dYA/s400/B00_Ocotillo_FouquieriaSplendens.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ocotillo, <em>Fouquieria splendens</em>, as photographed by the author.<br />
For more photographs of this fascinating desert shrub, visit the<br />
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower at the link provided in the text.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Shreve, who became director of Desert
Investigations in 1928 for the Carnegie Institute, published his desert
boundary outlines in a 1942 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Botanical
Review</i> article.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then,
subsequent researchers have either confirmed his descriptions, contracted the
territory included in them, or expanded the areas he considered to be desert
based on factors they consider relevant...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The largest disagreements over the boundaries
of any desert focus on North America’s easternmost desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mountain ranges basically limit the maximum
possible boundaries for three of our four deserts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, for the Chihuahuan, those boundaries are
ill-defined products of heat, wind, and potential evapotranspiration rates of
dry west Texas plains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Complicating the
problem is the fact these boundaries more likely lie in places more resembling
short grass prairies dotted with xeric shrubs than in the harsh landscapes
known to us from cowboy movies...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Where those eastern boundaries might be can
be seen on the map of Texas shown at the end of this essay…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">First, we should explain what the map shows…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Colors are used to denote the presence of
various plants in the map.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Counties shaded
in brown contain populations <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">of Agave
lechuguilla</i> and/or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flourensia cernua</i>,
populations documented on range maps developed and maintained by the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) and/ or the Biota of North America Program (BONAP). One should note that range maps are not always complete. The reader will notice that Irion County, between Tom Green County and Reagan County, lacks a USDA or BONAP documented population of <i>Flourensia cernua.</i> But such a population does exist...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJmXVw_owAsc3TD1kIitaKfyCUTNs0jWQmKacVZVDC4NKHA_1sCq4C6r1pvtLS-7EojX1Pn8_YfEEjf8oBbD192jbBz5JiiNkeupbBPhUX5_leZfHA9U_NFk1WQddxfsJ-zmqaqJNVbU/s1600/01c_Asteraceae_Heliantheae_FlourensiaCernua_IrionCounty_DSC_0126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgJmXVw_owAsc3TD1kIitaKfyCUTNs0jWQmKacVZVDC4NKHA_1sCq4C6r1pvtLS-7EojX1Pn8_YfEEjf8oBbD192jbBz5JiiNkeupbBPhUX5_leZfHA9U_NFk1WQddxfsJ-zmqaqJNVbU/s320/01c_Asteraceae_Heliantheae_FlourensiaCernua_IrionCounty_DSC_0126.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
Spindly tarbush, <i>Flourensia cernua</i>, like <i>Agave lechuguilla</i> roughly</div>
<div>
outlines the borders of the Chihuahuan Desert in the United States</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Red counties have USDA or BONAP documented populations of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Larrea tridentata</i>, a widely distributed
desert shrub, but lack similar records for either Agave lechuguilla or Flourensia cernua
having been found inside the county.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yellow
means <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Condalia ericoides</i> is present
with no documented populations of the three other plant species.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gray documents <em>Tiquilia canescens</em>...</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><em>Note: Readers
who are interested in learning more about the plants briefly mentioned above
and discussed in the following paragraphs are encouraged visit the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center of Austin, Texas at</em> <span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";"><a href="https://www.wildflower.org/explore/">https://www.wildflower.org/explore/</a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: purple;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
site contains descriptive information as well as photographs for more than 7000
native species</i>.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Now, we need to explain what the map means…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Botanists like Shreve consider
certain plants as unique to certain regions-- giant Saguaro cacti belong to the
Sonoran Desert and the oddly shaped Joshua Tree yucca to the Mojave…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately for those who love majestic
desert beauty, two plants used to define the Chihuahuan don’t tower above arid
landscapes as magnificently as do their cousins in the drylands of the west…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But tarbush (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flourensia cernua</i>) and lechuguilla (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Agave lechuguilla</i>) are like the Joshua Tree and the Saguaro in
needing a hard land with poor soil, sporadic rains, and month after month of
searing heat if they hope to flourish…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0JsQZAVqO4qyukZGiHfggwK-N5m_P_QJcsnxvF2D4m_NmVea_9-66DAI6Mq2UhCjsM5330R_64mLMn_U8a7vtqDJK4A-_sNTAq1d3h7DFsVZKKrsBfmgz6ZITihGAHG-Ba8VZTYbHCk/s1600/B00_Saltbush_AtriplexCanescens.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0JsQZAVqO4qyukZGiHfggwK-N5m_P_QJcsnxvF2D4m_NmVea_9-66DAI6Mq2UhCjsM5330R_64mLMn_U8a7vtqDJK4A-_sNTAq1d3h7DFsVZKKrsBfmgz6ZITihGAHG-Ba8VZTYbHCk/s400/B00_Saltbush_AtriplexCanescens.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saltbush, <em>Atriplex canescens</em>, seen here at the San Angelo State Park in Texas,<br />
is one of the most widely distributed xeric shrubs in North America and is not<br />
unique to any specific desert region.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Related to century plants but generally more
compact in size, lechuguilla enjoys a bit of notoriety as the source of tequila.
Sharp tipped leaves, slender and spiny enough to impale a man unlucky enough to
fall on it, give the plant another common name-- shin dagger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like other agaves, it may take twenty-five
years for lechuguilla to flower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it
finally does, it shoots a spectacular plume of tiny blooms skyward from the
center of the plant and then dies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
life span of any lechuguilla is tied to the amount of rain it receives and the
soil in which it lives-- the wetter the weather and the richer the soil, the
sooner the plant dies…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Counties in red may lack documented populations
of lechuguilla or tarbush but they do provide a home to creosote bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Known to scientists as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Larrea tridentata</i>, creosote bush often grows in association with
tarbush in the desert country of Texas and New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both are short spindly shrubs with tiny
leaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both exude odors highly
reminiscent of petroleum-derived products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both thrive on alluvial soils derived from limestone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But creosote bush can be found in more places
than tarbush-- it and a tall wand-like plant with flaming red flowers known as
ocotillo vie for the title of most widely distributed plant found in the “hot”
deserts of North America…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">(As the reader may suspect, creosote bush and
ocotillo also grow, more often than not, in the brown counties where
lechuguilla and tarbush can be found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This association is strongest in the barren Trans-Pecos where almost
every county is home to all four plant species.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In the western Concho Valley of Texas, the
association of these four species becomes sporadic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only lechuguilla has been found east of the
San Angelo area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Creosote bush makes limited appearances outside Reagan and Crockett counties and is difficult to find.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Mesquite-Juniper-Creosote-Live
Oak brush community can be found in southern Tom Green County but the numbers of Mesquite, Juniper, and Live Oak are far greater than the number of creosote bushes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Texas Handbook Online</i> articles anecdotally note the shrub's presence in the
countryside near San Angelo, particularly around the hardscrabble country
surrounding the Devil’s Courthouse Peak, known to most folk in the area as
Devil’s Mountain, but one will find more Desert Sumac (<em>Rhus microphylla)</em> or White Brush <em>(Aloysia gratissima) </em>in a region that is also home to giant yuccas ...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEOFi5iVFLHO6-hr4Y-yB3f4kDSy46jTuxIZs-mypFQMHc78hLUK7IJ0g9MbrIiyFEMUYQfEw84PjnJh8zExjt6ReAEwL0F3IKonX19hJu06qcv0AsI7JcM6a3bA4ADMsdnWFrLCwRX70/s1600/B00_JavelinaBush_CondaliaEricoides.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEOFi5iVFLHO6-hr4Y-yB3f4kDSy46jTuxIZs-mypFQMHc78hLUK7IJ0g9MbrIiyFEMUYQfEw84PjnJh8zExjt6ReAEwL0F3IKonX19hJu06qcv0AsI7JcM6a3bA4ADMsdnWFrLCwRX70/s400/B00_JavelinaBush_CondaliaEricoides.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Javelina bush, <em>Condalia ericoides</em>, growing near the somewhat misnamed<br />
Water Valley settlement in western Tom Green County. Other photographs<br />
of this plant, including some by the author, can be found at the Lady Bird<br />
Johnson Wildflower Center website by visiting the link provided elsewhere in<br />
this blog.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The spiny and twisted javelina bush can be
found in Irion County, at one time part of Tom Green County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Known to the botanical world as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Condalia ericoides</i>, javelina bush has a distribution
much akin to that of tarbush and can be found growing in all counties west of
the Pecos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is one of the many dry
country species that the biologist Vernon Bailey noted as growing near San
Angelo when he passed through the Concho Valley in May, 1899.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He described the area as a “genuinely arid
region…with great stretches of smooth surfaces with only short grasses and
little desert plants…(and) a scattered growth of small mesquites”… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">One of those little desert plants mentioned
by Bailey is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tiquilia canescens</i>. Commonly
known as “dog ear” due to the shape of its small, grayish leaves, this
sub-shrub strays but very little outside desert regions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its presence, marked in gray on the map, is
an indicator of land which receives erratic rainfall rapidly lost to wind and
sun…</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This map with color-shaded counties leaves us
with much to ponder and topics to be explored in detail at a later date…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It suggests a large portion of Texas is
exceptionally and naturally dry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Detailed climate studies confirm that roughly 80% of the Lone Star State
can be described as subhumid, semi-arid, or arid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This implies very real challenges to both
agricultural activities and human populations heavily dependent on water for
survival, challenges highlighted and made more urgent by the proximity of large
cities kissing the desert’s edge-- cities like Austin in Travis County and San
Antonio in Bexar County… </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXus4-701dVjjgbcofgRrPhzcRHqI79GLod_gcXyPHd-vH41tsNcTmscKOsWmV0lplADipjrNXJAzyKCLsIanUWbwF3Axqhuy05B_Zx2fl6gNb1YEOAnSiiwlY0CE7iEvUG_NJ2-3mRQs/s1600/B00_TexasCountyMap_DesertPlantDistribution_10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="548" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXus4-701dVjjgbcofgRrPhzcRHqI79GLod_gcXyPHd-vH41tsNcTmscKOsWmV0lplADipjrNXJAzyKCLsIanUWbwF3Axqhuy05B_Zx2fl6gNb1YEOAnSiiwlY0CE7iEvUG_NJ2-3mRQs/s640/B00_TexasCountyMap_DesertPlantDistribution_10.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">One easy and inexpensive
way to build a collection of work by today's finest painters, sculptors, and
photographers:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Greeting cards from Fine
Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Easier still: browse the
Louis R Nugent gallery at Fine Art America and choose from nearly 300 ideas for
home and office decor or holiday and birthday cards for yourself or special
someones who deserve something extraordinary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Individual cards cost less than $5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wall prints from $22.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuyGbD1DThTwMSuMOyTRiObNBTtRrOjFlWg6RbCutlhQ1G-bgziGlPTNMdBOjMheSBTptmT924S_BYkcUTh9sDpEXOwC7YzpOu0FnXVv_Ph4gjA6W9vp_YFadv8v35s877HQEWKY3sATw/s1600/B01_LouisNugent_DesertVoodoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuyGbD1DThTwMSuMOyTRiObNBTtRrOjFlWg6RbCutlhQ1G-bgziGlPTNMdBOjMheSBTptmT924S_BYkcUTh9sDpEXOwC7YzpOu0FnXVv_Ph4gjA6W9vp_YFadv8v35s877HQEWKY3sATw/s320/B01_LouisNugent_DesertVoodoo.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis Nugent: <em>Desert Voodoo</em></td></tr>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Follow and Like </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Louis R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @ louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Fine Art America now
features painting, drawings, and photographs by forty-five artists who
celebrate majestic and uncompromising landscapes, settlements, people, plants,
and flora and fauna scattered across the vast emptiness called West Texas.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note: Information
for this essay was obtained primarily through readily available sources such as
Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica except as noted:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forrest Shreve and desert boundaries from </span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Deserts of the
Southwest<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> by Peggy Larson (Sierra Club
Books, San Francisco, 1977); biographical information about Forrest Shreve from
</i></span><a href="http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/chronob/SHRE1878.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/chronob/SHRE1878.htm</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>; Flourensia cernua and Agave lechuguilla as indicator plants of Chihuahuan Desert region from </em>Deserts<em> by James A MacMahon (Knopfm New York, 1997) and</em> Trees and Shrubs of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Regions<em> by A Michael Powell (University of Texas Press, Austin, 1998) plant distribution data from range maps developed by
the United States Department of Agriculture and the Biota of North America
Program; information about creosote-juniper-live oak plant association from</em> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Distribution, Natural
History, And Biogeographic Relations On The Edwards Plateau Of Texas<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> by Jim Goetze (doctoral dissertation, Texas
Tech University, 1995); Vernon Bailey quotes from </i>Texas Natural History: A
Century of Change<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> by David J Schmidley
(Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, 2002) All photographs for this essay
were located through Google Images or Wikipedia, without authoritative source
or ownership information except as noted: map of Chihuahuan Desert region from
the Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso; blank county level map
used to outline Texas desert species distribution from United States Census
Bureau; all other illustrations by Louis R Nugent <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-11133771349365223202013-10-31T05:39:00.000-07:002013-10-31T12:32:15.270-07:00<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em>The Beat Goes On<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"I
dig rock and roll music/I could really get it on in that scene/I think I could
say something if you know what I mean/But if I really say it, the radio won't
play it/Unless I lay it between the lines"-- </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I Dig Rock and Roll
Music<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Paul Stookey, Jim Mason, Dave
Dixon, 1967<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Some mornings a song sneaks into your head
and just won't go away...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Today, that wicked melody come to bedevil me
would be "I Dig Rock and Roll Music", a slightly offbeat tune
recorded in 1967 by the folk trio Peter, Paul, and Mary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The group had been performing together for
roughly six years when they took the song into the studio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PPM was a put-together group, assembled by
Albert Grossman, a Chicago-born music act manager who went on to shepherd careers
for Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, and Janis Joplin...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYv-4soLWXqswxqps64EbeA1YlzgFmQx7tp9T4vL1aCgJmT5FWjNP4ChaO7-2uq3QR-d-kNJL76RZqGaNHgkcQoQx5Q3J5v-IEEzq7ZlR4VnERBx3FSUUFYEIg0g9hyLcxlZuFWcikooE/s1600/A01_PeterPaulMary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYv-4soLWXqswxqps64EbeA1YlzgFmQx7tp9T4vL1aCgJmT5FWjNP4ChaO7-2uq3QR-d-kNJL76RZqGaNHgkcQoQx5Q3J5v-IEEzq7ZlR4VnERBx3FSUUFYEIg0g9hyLcxlZuFWcikooE/s320/A01_PeterPaulMary.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter, Paul, and Mary</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Readers who've heard the song know that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Dig Rock and Roll Music</i> is not rock
and roll and not really folk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It touches
the ear more as an homage to Beat Poets and the smoky jazz clubs these renegade
rhymers were alleged to frequent by their champions...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"Beatnik", of course, is the word
that comes to mind when we think Beat Movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The term was coined early in April 1958 by a San Francisco newspaper
columnist, Herb Caen, who also popularized "hippie" a decade or so
later when he tried to describe the practitioners of another Bay Area lifestyle
that aging squares like him couldn’t quite dig or wrap their heads around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beats, incidentally, didn't like being called
beatniks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For them, it came across as sounding
pejorative...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkFZpyHMTC5I3jgWTXCxnoixW28SSmgQXPzr9CFa2mosUiPIPDgGh9x-8RRixIibjYocLQWck9l8no8jFMWYxg6vMdB0k0UyflO1RqjPD6_D6bkILNOqSXlGcfMl0WXWgyvtoHv6rv7k/s1600/A03_BobDylanAndAlbertGrossman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKkFZpyHMTC5I3jgWTXCxnoixW28SSmgQXPzr9CFa2mosUiPIPDgGh9x-8RRixIibjYocLQWck9l8no8jFMWYxg6vMdB0k0UyflO1RqjPD6_D6bkILNOqSXlGcfMl0WXWgyvtoHv6rv7k/s320/A03_BobDylanAndAlbertGrossman.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Hipster and The Square who "Gets It":<br />
Bob Dylan and Albert Grossman</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When Caen got around to marrying
"beat" with "sputnik", the Beats had been around for a good
decade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The writer Jack Kerouac used the
phrase Beat Generation while talking to novelist John Clellon Holmes in 1948 as
he searched for a quick way to describe the way he and his friends viewed the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an odd comment--
"beat" in the slang of the late 1940s meant a shabby lowlife who
didn't quiet make the grade as a serious criminal: a two-bit hustler, a strung
out drug addict, a punk who smashes store windows and makes off with cheap display
case merchandise...<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8S7jbJTBvc3Wh4zn2Ge9KHKLItcaBvK0TfC9wW2BYtnkod0CzYsIzsLYIT_9GnH0Xho7tUyL8mFFLlAxYAHQ4PczEV1I1v-bHb-Fg7Lsx-t6u3oB5G5jINgCLhhf-VPGoeWtj2o7D-s/s1600/A07_HerbCaenAndAlfredHitchcock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8S7jbJTBvc3Wh4zn2Ge9KHKLItcaBvK0TfC9wW2BYtnkod0CzYsIzsLYIT_9GnH0Xho7tUyL8mFFLlAxYAHQ4PczEV1I1v-bHb-Fg7Lsx-t6u3oB5G5jINgCLhhf-VPGoeWtj2o7D-s/s320/A07_HerbCaenAndAlfredHitchcock.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>San Francisco</em> <em>Chronicle</em> columnist Herb Caen enjoys a visit with<br />
director Alfred Hitchcock during the filming of <em>The Birds</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Jack Kerouac saw himself and his fellow Beats
as something else entirely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wrote In
"Aftermath: The Philosophy of a Beat Generation" that he and they
were "characters of a special spirituality who didn't gang up but were
solitary Bartlebies staring out the dead window of our civilization"...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It's an interesting literary reference for
Kerouac to make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Long before Franz
Kafka-- the solitary lawyer who worked for an insurance firm-- wrote melancholy
tales about men who turn into cockroaches and find themselves no longer
belonging to a world of normal men, Herman Melville penned his account of a
clerk employed by a Wall Street attorney who specializes in recording deeds and
mortgages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bartleby at first seems an
ideal worker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, one day the
scrivener becomes less productive, eventually transforming into an almost
motionless fixture in the office where he once worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Attempts to elicit explanations for this odd behavior
are met with a simple reply:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"I
would prefer not to"...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXU2KZmXORWIRo8QzC1FGnCDD5iT-uKkH87DPlBS8-yJHHwZtX_Kg_mbrRVSomUqzqE2DA82d_3vUIBqbM24-6r6HVtWzOx9Jj1Kp8wWc1JMKepuk4j-l6iEUuVohPL-lY9VdXXyzz5M0/s1600/A05_JackKerouac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXU2KZmXORWIRo8QzC1FGnCDD5iT-uKkH87DPlBS8-yJHHwZtX_Kg_mbrRVSomUqzqE2DA82d_3vUIBqbM24-6r6HVtWzOx9Jj1Kp8wWc1JMKepuk4j-l6iEUuVohPL-lY9VdXXyzz5M0/s320/A05_JackKerouac.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Kerouac: Beat Catholic Mesmerized by Buddhism</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Kerouac left this earthly plane in 1969 at
the age of 47, so we are unlikely to know just what he meant by the Bartleby
metaphor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the surface, it is a
strange comparison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bartleby seems more
amoeba than man, a depressive who fills his employer with both loathing and
pity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jack Kerouac and pals had much more
personality than Mr Melville's lowly ledger-scribbler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The autobiographical <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On The Road</i> fictionalizes Kerouac as Sal Paradise and friend Neal
Cassady as Dean Moriarty as they travel across America from East Coast to West
Coast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There's boozing, womanizing,
reefer smoking, gambling, and back alley fighting enough to last poor Bartleby
a dozen lifetimes...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The real Sal Paradise was born in Lowell,
Massachusetts, a town known for being the Cradle of the Industrial Revolution
in America, thanks to the textile mills surrounding it from the 1820s onward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jack's dad was the son of a potato farmer who
descended from the minor French nobility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This decline in status and family fortune was never lost on Kerouac who
was involuntarily-- but honorably discharged-- from the Army after a few weeks
of military service due to signs of schizophrenia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, he signed on to work as a
commercial sailor in the Merchant Marine...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjuDUVyqZDJjzf00GHW7BclaAdF-tfg_0XIfDQ6G1-ORNN6sKCU2-F5jCqCvC-ZzD70FQvmS4v1qNK006Zn-Iy1977uRU-kWS8BkDfxKOXOVRRV-6XC1C2m_tsXsFN29cmJhzHu-dhPM/s1600/A18_LowellMassachusetts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjuDUVyqZDJjzf00GHW7BclaAdF-tfg_0XIfDQ6G1-ORNN6sKCU2-F5jCqCvC-ZzD70FQvmS4v1qNK006Zn-Iy1977uRU-kWS8BkDfxKOXOVRRV-6XC1C2m_tsXsFN29cmJhzHu-dhPM/s320/A18_LowellMassachusetts.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lowell, Massachusetts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">By the time Jack Kerouac came into the world
in 1922, his Lowell was knee deep in steep economic decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Manufacturers tripped on their own feet,
almost trampling themselves, as they rushed across the Mason Dixon line to find
cheap labor and tax breaks down South.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Great Depression had turned Lowell, according to a 1931 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harper's Magazine</i> article, a "depressed
industrial desert"...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A devout Catholic from his childhood until
his death, Kerouac offered other comments about what Beat really meant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told an audience at Hunter College in New
York in 1958 that "I believe in beatitude and that God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son to it."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jack's search for deeper meanings weren’t confined to the faith of his
youth-- a personal dialogue with Buddhism peeked briefly through his remarks as
he went on to speculate "the universe... is one vast sea of compassion,
the veritable holy honey, beneath all this show of personality and cruelty".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On another occasion, Kerouac complained
critics didn't "get" <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On The
Road</i> was actually the story of two Catholic guys in search of God who found
Him "in the sky and on Market Street San Francisco" and understood
"the Godhood of God is forever Established and must really never be talked
about"...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5ryMJNp6Cs81TlzlfO68hqwK989q2EK7tVca9idIf8MDzHFam0Euqbpo7sWLFzEtafDI_vzC5JRmoHWgX1l16Kl_GURrBQKfD0rCcPac0HYAWop9-1p2Ni4mW8VDZ7m_yt_f55l334s/s1600/A06_OnTheRoad_SignetBooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE5ryMJNp6Cs81TlzlfO68hqwK989q2EK7tVca9idIf8MDzHFam0Euqbpo7sWLFzEtafDI_vzC5JRmoHWgX1l16Kl_GURrBQKfD0rCcPac0HYAWop9-1p2Ni4mW8VDZ7m_yt_f55l334s/s1600/A06_OnTheRoad_SignetBooks.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signet Paperback edition of Kerouac's masterpiece</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Buddhist thought heavily influenced other
Beats, Allen Ginsberg being one of the most prominent...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Irwin Allen Ginsberg was born in Newark, New
Jersey, in 1926 on the third day of June.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His father, Louis, taught in public high schools and labeled himself a
poet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His mother, Naomi, suffered from a
never properly diagnosed psychological issue and labeled herself a Communist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Young Allen labeled himself an atheist by
the time he turned 14 but was never able to fully distance himself from his Hebraic
roots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Naomi died in 1956, there
were fewer than ten adult Jewish males in attendance at her funeral and the Kaddish
prayer was not recited due to the lack of a minyan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This bothered Ginsberg greatly and his poem <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kaddish</i> (written between 1957 and 1959)
became, at one and the same time, a memorial to his troubled mother, a
manifesto of his estrangement from his heritage, and a masterpiece of Beat
literature...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8a61it5GCVM3y6dTkfjq6EbqT6nt1hD0oc5SjqgaSBZV1874pgP01O3oVVl5IgwOjdxm98kW42EHEdknJ_DfJAt3NIEUP-9YxKlpulX8GNITO6gtk1Hn7_qNWyGJ92-hJl55Ipln02xo/s1600/A10_AllenGinsbergReadsHowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8a61it5GCVM3y6dTkfjq6EbqT6nt1hD0oc5SjqgaSBZV1874pgP01O3oVVl5IgwOjdxm98kW42EHEdknJ_DfJAt3NIEUP-9YxKlpulX8GNITO6gtk1Hn7_qNWyGJ92-hJl55Ipln02xo/s320/A10_AllenGinsbergReadsHowl.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Allen Ginsberg, Beat Jew mesmerized by Buddhism, reads from<br />
<em>Howl</em> to fans who were in diapers when he wrote the poem</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Ginsberg ultimately embraced Buddhism, perhaps
attracted by its teaching that there is no individual self or soul independent
of the rest of the Universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or the
Eightfold Path may have been a useful guide for navigating the challenges of
this lifetime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We find the beginning of
wisdom in viewing reality as it is, Lord Buddha taught us, and not seeing it as
it appears to be...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[Another part of Allen Ginsberg's spiritual
quest was a journey into Hindu thought, most particularly a cult associated
with the Lord Krishna who is an incarnation of Vishnu, the Preserver, the highest
aspect of God and the essence of all things created.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Common to both Hinduism and Buddhism is the
concept of Maya, or Illusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those
consumed by a search for higher truth, the goal becomes to see beyond Maya and
to understand there is no distinction between individual self and the Universe,
that consciousness and physical matter are one reality.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEYYWM-aLxfhDxF947eKh1LxRfKWlaoHsHdMxMSa5VlG2QkZlYNfURQu931OHuMbAlfCTojM2MQka0U31AVaIt20dY8J87UHy7ew3ipgcyd3x7y8qtnbwYsaqovHa0suQt2pilwvtmhk/s1600/A04_BobDylanAndSallyGrossman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfEYYWM-aLxfhDxF947eKh1LxRfKWlaoHsHdMxMSa5VlG2QkZlYNfURQu931OHuMbAlfCTojM2MQka0U31AVaIt20dY8J87UHy7ew3ipgcyd3x7y8qtnbwYsaqovHa0suQt2pilwvtmhk/s320/A04_BobDylanAndSallyGrossman.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Albert Grossman's wife, Sally, languidly shares an album<br />
cover with her husband's rebellious young client</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Esoteric concepts rarely make for best-sellers
nor do they generally appeal to the mass market movie-maker. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the Beat Movement found its way into
bookstores and theaters, the public got Beatniks who smoked dope, indulged in
casual sex, listened to jazz played by black musicians, stood on stages as they
muttered incoherent poetry to other stoned beatniks who snapped fingers to keep
time with the bass player thumping away behind the alleged poet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beatniks wore berets and turtleneck sweaters or
striped shirts and raggedy jeans (male) or tights (female)...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Similar misperceptions distorted the hippie
movement which blossomed from the middle 1960s into the early 1970s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hippies endured another plague: young people
who wanted to look cool without actually being cool...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uzaDY6lCid6ghTZPOmdj7D5aJjV1D-_VDMyaTrOJbdL-cHfSCeg2QDOdFlNJvrXnToYPAYuBTwehpb5I3ELmuZrYJpQjbe8lnK-uT3cxXrypqs-ihyphenhyphenmSK4Oyq0ojREilcD9FqnqXdsQ/s1600/A08_BeatniksInTheirLair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uzaDY6lCid6ghTZPOmdj7D5aJjV1D-_VDMyaTrOJbdL-cHfSCeg2QDOdFlNJvrXnToYPAYuBTwehpb5I3ELmuZrYJpQjbe8lnK-uT3cxXrypqs-ihyphenhyphenmSK4Oyq0ojREilcD9FqnqXdsQ/s320/A08_BeatniksInTheirLair.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beatniks listening to jazz music in their smoke-filled lair</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Moviemakers churned out hippie exploitation
flicks with titles like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Trip</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hallucination Generation</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love-Ins</i> to cash in on the money cow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Long-haired lads, high on marijuana and LSD,
hopped from bed to bed, sharing them with willing nymphomaniacs, whenever they
weren't plotting a federal courthouse bombing...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The counterculture played along with the mainstream
culture's stereotypes by gobbling up underground "comix" that
emphasized sex, drugs, and rock and roll...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[The undergrounds were generally depressingly
misogynous and presented women as not much more than willing or
uncooperative receptacles for sperm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There were other disturbing qualities in these subterranean funnies:
graphic depictions of dismemberment and mutilations and an irrational hatred for authority in any form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many ways, the Comix were a marriage of the grisly 1950s EC Comics and the 1930s Tijuana Bibles, eight-page
comics banned in most states their explicit depictions of sex. Readers without experience in reading underground comix probably shouldn't feel cheated.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvsvUv0On1NVQNvkAn4wMhwbGnMiFknAPzNsCed0EyqCvsWTJbDTQHF_5KPq9pVcug5ve4EaY-Rcv5ZT9VOtIzV2OAau7IePePY9DurzJq0FwVIT7xGULFKVNoF7Rjetkx95uOfxml2zc/s1600/A14_Woodstock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvsvUv0On1NVQNvkAn4wMhwbGnMiFknAPzNsCed0EyqCvsWTJbDTQHF_5KPq9pVcug5ve4EaY-Rcv5ZT9VOtIzV2OAau7IePePY9DurzJq0FwVIT7xGULFKVNoF7Rjetkx95uOfxml2zc/s1600/A14_Woodstock.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woodstock: Trying to find The Garden</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">American pop culture still reverberates with
echoes of the Hippie era:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Woodstock music festival, the critically
acclaimed film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Easy Rider</i>, the
musical <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hair</i> celebrating the dawning
of the Age of Aquarius.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the way
we, as a culture, want to remember psychedelic days and the rock scene...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgE-6GfSSo8qNCTPsA5Jr6XyCClsDxdfQxd1HnPuI2GTbL9qSdFaK8xWcRD6XsPY-10z4PaTjkpJym8Cpzx5ClD_AL5Ns8WXDgKXgCevubRUsJS0KiamX2cQVTr84ujZIK9XmyCh5MiM/s1600/A12_BottomlessBeatnik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgE-6GfSSo8qNCTPsA5Jr6XyCClsDxdfQxd1HnPuI2GTbL9qSdFaK8xWcRD6XsPY-10z4PaTjkpJym8Cpzx5ClD_AL5Ns8WXDgKXgCevubRUsJS0KiamX2cQVTr84ujZIK9XmyCh5MiM/s640/A12_BottomlessBeatnik.jpg" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Nugget, </em>a quality publication for gentlemen, introduced its readers to bottomless beatnik<br />
Dione Garret in April, 1960</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjglVGpw5E0XSTkwb0kLrV5x8rv7e50tB3sAFEcLHzeyS7a15nG8DwjXJ1SbuR8J_nBJZVs9QbTY-x7VlNp3jxWH-9UhGrSAc-wQzeoPK-o95omSzK967iDqn0HigLElcv67iycjEf4dqw/s1600/A16_LikeCrazyMan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjglVGpw5E0XSTkwb0kLrV5x8rv7e50tB3sAFEcLHzeyS7a15nG8DwjXJ1SbuR8J_nBJZVs9QbTY-x7VlNp3jxWH-9UhGrSAc-wQzeoPK-o95omSzK967iDqn0HigLElcv67iycjEf4dqw/s640/A16_LikeCrazyMan.jpg" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The title of Mr Geis' novel says it all</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Hippie values (or at least the perception of
them) crept into other entertainment of the late 1960s and early 1970s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sex was usually the selling point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The avant-garde revue, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh! Calcutta!</i>, examined changing sexual values but failed to gather
love from critics at newspapers like the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New
York Times</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A rough draft for one of
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Calcutta</i>'s sketches came courtesy of
the pen of Beatle John Lennon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
who gave his talents to the revue included playwright Samuel Beckett of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Waiting for Godot</i> fame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arbiters of public taste found <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Calcutta</i>'s humor sophomoric but said its
oft nude cast was quite attractive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
my view, despite my personal desire to be contrary and automatically disagree
with critics, this is probably a fairly accurate description... <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Hippies took their name from black slang--
"hip" meaning to be up-to-date and in-the-know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some linguists trace <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hip</i> to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hepikat</i>, a word
from West Africa's Wolof language that translates to "one who has his eyes
open".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hepikat eventually became
the jazz world's hepcat (or hipster) who communicated through slang, enjoyed
cannabis now and then, didn't take the world seriously (except when it came to
his music), made sarcastic wisecracks, and enjoyed his sex without being
chained to a wedding ring...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitR_doQAXLBEr_eYSeysaidQzOWGJevCSJv9M8EaKMdf-GW0dOSD2izNHJ_o0COQu4SUhzzOMEI_wnjKRIqofKXYytKtcBFu8VztPria-zhHPvTzTTlj3LvM4ZcJX3tG0n-cCg7CWrZnA/s1600/A11_OhCalcuttaPublicityPhotograph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitR_doQAXLBEr_eYSeysaidQzOWGJevCSJv9M8EaKMdf-GW0dOSD2izNHJ_o0COQu4SUhzzOMEI_wnjKRIqofKXYytKtcBFu8VztPria-zhHPvTzTTlj3LvM4ZcJX3tG0n-cCg7CWrZnA/s320/A11_OhCalcuttaPublicityPhotograph.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Publicity photo from Oh! Calcutta!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It probably comes as no surprise that the
beginnings of the Hippie Movement reflect a certain continuity with the Beat
Movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Allen Ginsberg and Neal
Cassady played important roles in transferring a generational authority from
Beats to Hippies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, Cassady was
one of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, a communal living troupe which traveled
cross-country in a psychedelic-painted school bus, spreading the joys of LSD
into the communities of America's hinterlands as they rolled along...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[Kesey may be known to some readers as the
author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest</i>,
a 1962 novel set in a mental hospital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This story of ill-fated and rebellious Randle McMurphy formed the basis
of a 1975 movie of the same name which won all "Big Five" Oscars--
Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best (Adapted)
Screenplay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kesey based the tale on his
experiences as a night shift attendant at the Menlo Park Veterans' Hospital
where he participated voluntarily in experiments involving hallucinogenic
drugs.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlnMd17JQzELnNrS5dsfqCrFnrHSMqgTkTJl0X0v_oGdoVCvT90JBefGGqWwUXR521L0UXh_OzdzcK0za4h2samxOenypZptoTygTyDHy_OYJVYEHWVlqVK2uVFk-0xezXWXfFTbyq5I/s1600/A15_KenKeseysMerryPranksters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlnMd17JQzELnNrS5dsfqCrFnrHSMqgTkTJl0X0v_oGdoVCvT90JBefGGqWwUXR521L0UXh_OzdzcK0za4h2samxOenypZptoTygTyDHy_OYJVYEHWVlqVK2uVFk-0xezXWXfFTbyq5I/s320/A15_KenKeseysMerryPranksters.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ken Kesey, Merry Pranksters, and a Psychedelic Schoolbus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Like Beats, Hippies found themselves
influenced by Eastern thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were
part of that 1960s Trinity of Counterculture Headaches that bedeviled the
uptight Establishment and its middle-class conformity-- the New Left and the
Civil Rights movement, being the other threats to Decency and Good Order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Married simultaneously to peace, love (both
physically and generically spiritual), expanded consciousness (often via
drugs), Hippies celebrated Flower Power and formed the vanguard for anti-war
movements challenging US involvement in Vietnam...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Critics and philosophers occasionally ponder
the dialectic between the counterculture and the established way of doing
business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Media historians analyze the
relationship between mass media and misperceptions of subcultures among the
greater society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect a
"square" culture of conformists needs its "hip"
counterculture more than the latter needs the former if only for a vicarious
life of bad behavior...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgspGb_OiKuZ2YBRj_Yq8G__8av2kEinNKcv-g1k9TD1cVfOSNo90agz4quyOXmPNCgpDPyOX8e8rIinRBfWaKZX5zYnZ79nAGbkUcMwrI1P1oXMqvUI1vG5Rn9lMMM_9wMOTGeIUoJZZI/s1600/A09_BeatnikBeretAdvertisement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgspGb_OiKuZ2YBRj_Yq8G__8av2kEinNKcv-g1k9TD1cVfOSNo90agz4quyOXmPNCgpDPyOX8e8rIinRBfWaKZX5zYnZ79nAGbkUcMwrI1P1oXMqvUI1vG5Rn9lMMM_9wMOTGeIUoJZZI/s320/A09_BeatnikBeretAdvertisement.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Official Beatniks Of America Beatnik Beret: Real snazzy,<br />
Man, and made of quality wool by real Frenchmen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">That being said, a brief essay on a blog
fails miserable to capture the complexity of any counterculture movement like
that of the Hippies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The failure is even
greater when one has personal memories which cannot be captured with words or
pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it doesn't matter if a
blogger grows old or if his beard is long gray...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Beat goes on... <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXOBmknzQiX4Pebj-xYHCa6z6nyB7PgSVuu74druR-PMWbTKR-FufW7HxODb4lEZmtY82SZkrnx308QMoFd_LqLxvwajD3wzx0OA18mewerXsnUvb0ZMYLMQHWbi9YRx9keHRB4ZoHPA/s1600/A17_Beatnik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXOBmknzQiX4Pebj-xYHCa6z6nyB7PgSVuu74druR-PMWbTKR-FufW7HxODb4lEZmtY82SZkrnx308QMoFd_LqLxvwajD3wzx0OA18mewerXsnUvb0ZMYLMQHWbi9YRx9keHRB4ZoHPA/s320/A17_Beatnik.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ernie Bushmiller's Sluggo has an epiphany</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span id="goog_2018374084"></span><span id="goog_2018374085"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Louis R Nugent
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Fine Art America also
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settlements, people, plants, and flora and fauna scattered across the vast
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
Information for this essay is taken primarily from readily available sources
such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, and almanacs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When other sources are employed they are
credited either in the text or as follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>None. All photographs are taken from Wikipedia or Google Images without
source or authorship credits available, except as noted: Peter Paul and Mary
from nosurfmusic.com; Bob Dylan
and Albert Grossman from johannasvision.com; Bob Dylan album cover with Sally
Grossman from CBS Records; Jack Kerouac with cigarette from mibba.com; </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">On The Road<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> cover from Signet Books; Herb Caen and
Alfred Hitchcock from The San Francisco Chronicle; Beatniks in their Lair from
tucsoncitizen.com; Beatnik Beret advertisement from freerepublic.com; Allen
Ginsberg reads from </i>Howl<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> from
futureofthebook.org; Bottomless beatnik Dione Garret from Nugget Magazine,
April, 1960<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-36953617304136344192013-09-06T03:11:00.002-07:002013-09-06T03:11:17.992-07:00<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On Holiday...</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm away from the business of researching and writing essays for a bit to observe an annual period of reflection and spiritual renewal and vacation. Posting updates will be a bit spotty until early November. Back soon...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ahVSn6ZL1o98GXrpqG1sc-gkRkbWM4DRNbF8LIuBFNAFG28_5CRhROhyphenhyphenUtIQfy5GlfbjGG78b_zONdJyOi1EBWF2_13V_mmEnJkXKkpNKuY1IbylKbMLKzAn5YBh3JsJlWHU8GQW-dY/s1600/HI_03_VintageBeachPoster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ahVSn6ZL1o98GXrpqG1sc-gkRkbWM4DRNbF8LIuBFNAFG28_5CRhROhyphenhyphenUtIQfy5GlfbjGG78b_zONdJyOi1EBWF2_13V_mmEnJkXKkpNKuY1IbylKbMLKzAn5YBh3JsJlWHU8GQW-dY/s320/HI_03_VintageBeachPoster.jpg" width="199" /></a></div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-50397908018038857472013-08-29T06:17:00.001-07:002013-08-30T03:11:10.544-07:00<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">A STUNT GONE HORRIBLY AND TERRIBLY AWRY<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Over 30,000 people stood on the Texas prairie
near Waco in late afternoon sunshine on September 15<sup>th</sup> in 1896.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all had come to witness the disaster
that none believed would occur because they had been assured by the wise and
educated men of the day that it could not happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few moments after the clock snuck past 5
PM, two 35-ton locomotives, both hauling seven boxcars and each moving at
roughly 60 miles per hour, intentionally slammed into each other…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The spectacle was a publicity stunt at the
town of Crush, built expressly for the purpose of allowing folks to watch a
train crash and a metropolis abandoned immediately after its gruesome purpose
had been served.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two mighty locomotives
would meet head on at a terrific speed and suffer only minor damage…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszmMOLLEL63VkMUOYCUJGGKyp5aD7PMLziNQfL7inAv81m5Q6o6XoktfvHk1M4RQ-VOs-l2kSEwuj5pQtgfdAc6Ab3bWmg4DD4_17Hx2Qedg3zBd1dObAumOwEy_fOS26b4N5edJGWn8/s1600/HG01_CrashAtCrushTX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszmMOLLEL63VkMUOYCUJGGKyp5aD7PMLziNQfL7inAv81m5Q6o6XoktfvHk1M4RQ-VOs-l2kSEwuj5pQtgfdAc6Ab3bWmg4DD4_17Hx2Qedg3zBd1dObAumOwEy_fOS26b4N5edJGWn8/s320/HG01_CrashAtCrushTX.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The burg was named for William George Crush,
a passenger agent for the Katy aka the Missouri, Kansas, & Texas
Railway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d been tasked with promoting
and staging this display of engineering prowess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Readers who live in the Houston, Texas, area
may suspect correctly that one of the suburbs of the nation’s fourth largest
city took its name from the MKT nickname.] To gin up crowds, the Katy’s
officials charged no admission to witness the collision which would prove the
durability of their equipment even in the face of horrific disaster…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The only cost imposed upon witnesses was the
train fare required to visit the briefly lived metropolis of Crush-- and that
was offered at rock bottom rates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
could travel from El Paso to the site for only $5, from Waco for pennies on the
dollar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon arrival, the thirsty could
“wet their whistles” with all the absolutely free “fresh Waco water” they could
drink and find shade in tents on loan from the Ringling Brothers circus… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCgg5e5Q9TlVyMiGoPF1I6-pKc2TDucU9p4hS7pQoAfuvDtl39hgWAKg03GFpRWw-d6UI9Aeg0l37vgyteWSK8idURT0e9VnV7OlBDWY-oBVA1zZMJtzQDxEn5_JxLjV-YGf7X91goWk/s1600/HG02_CrashAtCrushTX.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXCgg5e5Q9TlVyMiGoPF1I6-pKc2TDucU9p4hS7pQoAfuvDtl39hgWAKg03GFpRWw-d6UI9Aeg0l37vgyteWSK8idURT0e9VnV7OlBDWY-oBVA1zZMJtzQDxEn5_JxLjV-YGf7X91goWk/s320/HG02_CrashAtCrushTX.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But something went wrong a few moments after
the clock snuck past 5 PM in the late afternoon sunshine…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">All the technocrats who assured Mr Crush the stunt
would be perfectly safe hadn’t told the boilers in the engines of Old Number
999 (painted bright green) and Old Number 1001 (painted bright red) that their
meeting would be perfectly safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One indestructible
boiler decided to prove the 19<sup>th</sup> Century’s exuberant faith in Man’s
Progress dead wrong by exploding, hurling jagged metal fragments into the crowd
at the moment of impact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least two
people died, many more suffered grievous injury…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBbALDmlrx0L0tQuDF00uTtOd2Xp7tjZX9S6M5OB80HepDthtNoct6zEg3ox56dCaZlMimQ3jMpdKNM-_0OMKEUKzXYP4jKp_F7CoSjp6B6OF6GKCUs4Ol32__7HFaOSTyglzJTxkD3ks/s1600/HG03_CrashAtCrushTX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBbALDmlrx0L0tQuDF00uTtOd2Xp7tjZX9S6M5OB80HepDthtNoct6zEg3ox56dCaZlMimQ3jMpdKNM-_0OMKEUKzXYP4jKp_F7CoSjp6B6OF6GKCUs4Ol32__7HFaOSTyglzJTxkD3ks/s320/HG03_CrashAtCrushTX.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">One of the witnesses to the disaster (which
resulted in Mr Crush’s immediate firing in public and quiet rehiring in private
the next day) may have been a young black man, about thirty years of age, born
and raised in northeast Texas, then touring the area as a musician.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Historians can’t verify that Scott Joplin--
America’s most famous ragtime composer, best known for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Maple Leaf Rag</i>-- actually witnessed the publicity stunt gone
horribly and terribly awry but they can say he did pen a lively little tune
about the most famous event in Crush’s brief history, submitting it for a
copyright about a month after The Crash…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
Great Crush Collision March, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">performed by Benjamin Loeb: </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KFmZdBvPYQ"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KFmZdBvPYQ</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXivGM8xR_-l93oY5L6pzwDaxiWu0qYV44IoZ-4sVvodGOqMPOHqRExKhTT0dgZGsdzjfHRvyCJAySyqWxbsdlJkzZZLHpk1SdG0pAz7qATsJ7DyyJha_F2GpkK-opMM-_KpBtvIsiT70/s1600/HG04_ScottJoplin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXivGM8xR_-l93oY5L6pzwDaxiWu0qYV44IoZ-4sVvodGOqMPOHqRExKhTT0dgZGsdzjfHRvyCJAySyqWxbsdlJkzZZLHpk1SdG0pAz7qATsJ7DyyJha_F2GpkK-opMM-_KpBtvIsiT70/s1600/HG04_ScottJoplin.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE
MARKETPLACE<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">An easy and inexpensive
way to build a collection of work by today's finest painters, sculptors, and
photographers-- Greeting cards from Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easier still: just browse the Louis R Nugent
gallery at Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choose from
hundreds of unique ideas for home and office decor or holiday and birthday
cards for yourself or that special someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Individual cards cost less than $5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wall prints start at only $22.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqJyUnnaIi5HK4-l_NEb3hf89R0PNKAU2zprnLkcSM3vUw3pP9ZvHw0xQEbMLol5Mk7Mngii7TZBb3RQ1rS8VXkxGfPuTlFtZVdAjswcPVou7ebI6_iNY1GoqYweJGU7raT2AnXCkG8I/s1600/E08_LouisNugent_MetalArmadillo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJqJyUnnaIi5HK4-l_NEb3hf89R0PNKAU2zprnLkcSM3vUw3pP9ZvHw0xQEbMLol5Mk7Mngii7TZBb3RQ1rS8VXkxGfPuTlFtZVdAjswcPVou7ebI6_iNY1GoqYweJGU7raT2AnXCkG8I/s1600/E08_LouisNugent_MetalArmadillo.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span></i> </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We’re also on Facebook: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis
R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @
louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span></i><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>Note:
Information for this essay is taken primarily from readily available sources
such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, and almanacs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When other sources are employed they are
credited either in the text or as follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
information about the Crush Crash also taken from the Lone Star Junction website at </span>.</em><a href="http://www.lsjunction.com/facts/crush.htm"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">http://www.lsjunction.com/facts/crush.htm</span></a><em> All photographs are taken from Wikipedia or Google Images without source
or authorship credits available, except as noted: None. <o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-60950176270651455822013-08-22T08:07:00.001-07:002013-08-22T08:07:32.392-07:00<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">West of the 100th Meridian, South of the 32nd Parallel</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZo8oxzMJ_WE4VOpvM1W7A4cItN0r60TqbxUNz5EZt2i9z6VipB-HDqc0XN7ECGc6Je4MuMWede8kJmGPI4XGYRT77r2FAJCPCx9p72P9XXW831nr4MwNB4QbUVQzoSloBt_icaQ9YXs/s1600/DSCN1469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZo8oxzMJ_WE4VOpvM1W7A4cItN0r60TqbxUNz5EZt2i9z6VipB-HDqc0XN7ECGc6Je4MuMWede8kJmGPI4XGYRT77r2FAJCPCx9p72P9XXW831nr4MwNB4QbUVQzoSloBt_icaQ9YXs/s320/DSCN1469.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_1408968144"></span><span id="goog_1408968145"></span><br />LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-28299303764520705032013-08-15T05:53:00.001-07:002013-08-16T03:09:31.520-07:00<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><em>A Second Rider, Fallen<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We tarry with the Blue Riders a bit longer to
celebrate the legacy of August Macke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not quite a decade younger than his close friend Franz Marc, this son of
Westphalia was also the son of a building contractor (and amateur artist) and a
farmer’s daughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He grew up in Cologne
and Bonn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While still a schoolboy, he
became friends with another lad named Walter Gerhardt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sometimes happens that one’s friends have
beautiful sisters and, as it sometimes happens when friends have lovely
siblings, August fell in love with Walter’s sister, the pretty Elisabeth Gerhardt
whom he married and whom the War To End All Wars widowed on the battlefields of
Champagne not three months after the conflict began…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">August, born in cold January winds and dead
in September breezes, tell us the meaning behind the enigmatic title, Three<em> Acts</em>-- is it drama of which
you wished to speak in broad strokes of color, or is it the beauty of a lovely woman come to the attention of a
lover, or perhaps you meant to say to say something about life itself…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdWVaJir6L8w7lZMqcKicYbQn4QY63Y-_e4iSolvSNYbls4dGBt7euD5JHENCy_mV_Oy5CIHDC8JSy9mx1Fd3Dl1yjLbZQcyMp5VqgblzDddb3kUWXMka2PqRjf-fXNtQ8gioYIFpbP8I/s1600/HF01_AugustMacke_TheArtistWife_1909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdWVaJir6L8w7lZMqcKicYbQn4QY63Y-_e4iSolvSNYbls4dGBt7euD5JHENCy_mV_Oy5CIHDC8JSy9mx1Fd3Dl1yjLbZQcyMp5VqgblzDddb3kUWXMka2PqRjf-fXNtQ8gioYIFpbP8I/s640/HF01_AugustMacke_TheArtistWife_1909.jpg" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Artist's Wife</em>, 1909</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMri80A7TDqUQ9eXOCx-MBiOJAy3D5mTYWUU7G-sTww5BUYlvIWCzgCdDpjDswwwuK8Vs2BIpzKGU9YuDHEdClW4uf_8sz2zKgQXQoogYXuUZqgLgInyBydxkyRq8PWtvy6pspT3ge-Jw/s1600/HF01a_AugustMacke_Nude+with+Coral+Necklace_1910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMri80A7TDqUQ9eXOCx-MBiOJAy3D5mTYWUU7G-sTww5BUYlvIWCzgCdDpjDswwwuK8Vs2BIpzKGU9YuDHEdClW4uf_8sz2zKgQXQoogYXuUZqgLgInyBydxkyRq8PWtvy6pspT3ge-Jw/s640/HF01a_AugustMacke_Nude+with+Coral+Necklace_1910.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Nude with Coral Necklace</em>, 1911</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IsaWPfe4SAvmJt87PjMQX0-TE3uzyEdK5Dk51IKoWmzb7kbsedOMGg3x-oMpW6h37B-ntL0-Vp8vVe75ZZJJfKse7TFnBzO0BLmTyIBpqI4DWFW_OsKPDEErucTZMFpguqFew5FUPvg/s1600/HF02_AugustMacke_RussianBallet_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3IsaWPfe4SAvmJt87PjMQX0-TE3uzyEdK5Dk51IKoWmzb7kbsedOMGg3x-oMpW6h37B-ntL0-Vp8vVe75ZZJJfKse7TFnBzO0BLmTyIBpqI4DWFW_OsKPDEErucTZMFpguqFew5FUPvg/s640/HF02_AugustMacke_RussianBallet_1912.jpg" width="498" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Russian Ballet</em>, 1912</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSq7dIX70_6dKAQtPXVEO4aKBvQhVnUd1uxRJwMVe5263CTOrCFZNkG9MEskIbxDYvvFnbjEIMCewLQd5a6gIYP5w07Fz8neZyTEXKlxCSjX6zn5KFjdcNUfizp-9zIXdlLeDthxhBAI/s1600/HF03_AugustMacke_ZooogicalGarden_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzSq7dIX70_6dKAQtPXVEO4aKBvQhVnUd1uxRJwMVe5263CTOrCFZNkG9MEskIbxDYvvFnbjEIMCewLQd5a6gIYP5w07Fz8neZyTEXKlxCSjX6zn5KFjdcNUfizp-9zIXdlLeDthxhBAI/s640/HF03_AugustMacke_ZooogicalGarden_1912.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Zoological Garden</em>, 1912</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpermkBG6pgI16uwGWmLTNeyWBPOljfDSWwUL1D0lhdawdCHp6HOC4zTjuX8HuI9yAMf_F1XJe5-adCSx3eSTcBtkyo9muJpFaM4tTQVQ6lPwqXtp567YtZwwxlzmzLyRmntbzeAoATAk/s1600/HF04_AugustMacke_LandscapeWithCowsAndCamel_Circa1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpermkBG6pgI16uwGWmLTNeyWBPOljfDSWwUL1D0lhdawdCHp6HOC4zTjuX8HuI9yAMf_F1XJe5-adCSx3eSTcBtkyo9muJpFaM4tTQVQ6lPwqXtp567YtZwwxlzmzLyRmntbzeAoATAk/s640/HF04_AugustMacke_LandscapeWithCowsAndCamel_Circa1912.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Landscape with Cows and Camel</em>, circa 1912</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-318_Vzw9MT1qJc_NMh7OI1OnthnwWme-UpxHdYxML8pbCXqsMOWgduHIPuaiA95uAqL-3cgfxVKZEWreei1O2CaK1-lBf8WA7CK26wFg4LF8-rPp2zA1wA3_loROsG5f9gq5DzosW0/s1600/HF05_AugustMacke_SunnyWay_1913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-318_Vzw9MT1qJc_NMh7OI1OnthnwWme-UpxHdYxML8pbCXqsMOWgduHIPuaiA95uAqL-3cgfxVKZEWreei1O2CaK1-lBf8WA7CK26wFg4LF8-rPp2zA1wA3_loROsG5f9gq5DzosW0/s640/HF05_AugustMacke_SunnyWay_1913.jpg" width="370" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Sunny Way</em>, 1913</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2CNpa2txwoele83Il02sEgxJmjAkQsUAv0kraubOeHTQgI0NhL95Io9X5U6NiDM8_amuBQoyKXOylBNska6YEj9zyPTZNKJDRx3jkxOhBkaNYSPV6ieShl9S-jNNGmpUJL6gwRKHUaMY/s1600/HF06_AugustMacke_Hutladen_1914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2CNpa2txwoele83Il02sEgxJmjAkQsUAv0kraubOeHTQgI0NhL95Io9X5U6NiDM8_amuBQoyKXOylBNska6YEj9zyPTZNKJDRx3jkxOhBkaNYSPV6ieShl9S-jNNGmpUJL6gwRKHUaMY/s640/HF06_AugustMacke_Hutladen_1914.jpg" width="488" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Milliner's Shop</em>, 1914</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXYv1XQrOJb6xtslBTID9T6SQaiC5i_BsrTNa9urvASl9lhieS3B1a15rtud3ee3wRJOTw6lkpAWUeLWvJmVkqnsDLwR3LkenHTovinpWVeV21rSDnB-U_TVYwyLiQarhB_QtLdKBfmo/s1600/HF06_AugustMacke_ViewIntoALane_1914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXYv1XQrOJb6xtslBTID9T6SQaiC5i_BsrTNa9urvASl9lhieS3B1a15rtud3ee3wRJOTw6lkpAWUeLWvJmVkqnsDLwR3LkenHTovinpWVeV21rSDnB-U_TVYwyLiQarhB_QtLdKBfmo/s640/HF06_AugustMacke_ViewIntoALane_1914.jpg" width="498" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>View into a Lane</em>, 1914</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBrmF3RFZXTOjKDh1-cLh0uu9p335NVa1CdwMS4HtmFno1BXR8LEK2xpxzMa7VkuTLNgUE5CfCbHp1t8lfeam6dzlqi6ZVmkDYaslsfA8IACU1IIPirEozkX2nGHkiVo-gFrYgvjai78/s1600/HF07_ThreeActs_1913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBrmF3RFZXTOjKDh1-cLh0uu9p335NVa1CdwMS4HtmFno1BXR8LEK2xpxzMa7VkuTLNgUE5CfCbHp1t8lfeam6dzlqi6ZVmkDYaslsfA8IACU1IIPirEozkX2nGHkiVo-gFrYgvjai78/s640/HF07_ThreeActs_1913.jpg" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Three Acts</em>, 1913</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">An easy and inexpensive
way to build a collection of work by today's finest painters, sculptors, and
photographers-- Greeting cards from Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easier still: just browse the Louis R Nugent
gallery at Fine Art America. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choose from
hundreds of unique ideas for home and office decor or holiday and birthday
cards for yourself or that special someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Individual cards cost less than $5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wall prints start at only $22.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8YaRfrAv9owulLxo7XZlerGkpMH5cDzPavp2LhIMmBOFClLaOx8nKFKGKXZ7jN7705BaRpflx3wuRpjAlWRkZjOxuAkPxup71e9Vpc7SzKwaDvwSodpLFRl_Qbh9GIAEupsp7sgTOws/s1600/HF08_LouisNugent_Almost.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8YaRfrAv9owulLxo7XZlerGkpMH5cDzPavp2LhIMmBOFClLaOx8nKFKGKXZ7jN7705BaRpflx3wuRpjAlWRkZjOxuAkPxup71e9Vpc7SzKwaDvwSodpLFRl_Qbh9GIAEupsp7sgTOws/s1600/HF08_LouisNugent_Almost.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis Nugent: <em>Almost</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We’re also on Facebook: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis
R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @
louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Other Fine Art America
sites for discriminating collectors:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><em><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
Information for this essay is taken primarily from readily available sources
such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, and almanacs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When other sources are employed they are
credited either in the text or as follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>None. All photographs are taken from Wikipedia or Google Images without source
or authorship credits available, except as noted: None. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-80263187284717183852013-08-08T06:22:00.002-07:002013-08-08T06:22:26.218-07:00
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;">A Blue Rider, Fallen<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We noted World War One hastened the end of
the Blue Rider circle of painters in our last installment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two brilliant and talented men, August Macke
and Franz Marc, both Blue Riders, joined the armed forces to defend their
homeland and both became-- all too soon-- casualties of conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This week we celebrate Franz Marc’s
legacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his mid-thirties at the
outbreak of the War To End All Wars, this prolific celebrant of color and form
volunteered for military service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
died at thirty-six years of age…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbTzyoT3_QAMHofzTAbFnWN-0xFGFGWZHLsDRpWwLoHLtf-IzK8KJHhu_eWRYgIWmr7IT0b-rNuJYjjywrGOjtA5jGR33m_4iOJUK9-orD8NBPeAPz92o2ZK08qWeu2q_O1Wzom9vTgFo/s1600/HE01_FranzMarc_Tiger_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbTzyoT3_QAMHofzTAbFnWN-0xFGFGWZHLsDRpWwLoHLtf-IzK8KJHhu_eWRYgIWmr7IT0b-rNuJYjjywrGOjtA5jGR33m_4iOJUK9-orD8NBPeAPz92o2ZK08qWeu2q_O1Wzom9vTgFo/s400/HE01_FranzMarc_Tiger_1912.jpg" width="362" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Tiger</em>, 1912</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGL0_pVfgHJihvsUHDJvf9KzjrUCtGKxS5TQCF8s0_LxQGhubPwYvMjqjPvz2Fgi08QjfFBAeLdA9OJgmVY9qIIO9MHNpsN0YNowD7xGKKaK6aHe8uYQZvbNyrcJ2_zpHARXPf9C6g9RM/s1600/HE02_FranzMarc_TheFateOfAnimals_1913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGL0_pVfgHJihvsUHDJvf9KzjrUCtGKxS5TQCF8s0_LxQGhubPwYvMjqjPvz2Fgi08QjfFBAeLdA9OJgmVY9qIIO9MHNpsN0YNowD7xGKKaK6aHe8uYQZvbNyrcJ2_zpHARXPf9C6g9RM/s400/HE02_FranzMarc_TheFateOfAnimals_1913.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Fate of Animals</em>, 1913</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOQz3AL6uge0iGEUYj0LGv06SYtRLHAi8vW9DNES3NjwNGJI1OlSUECVvsPng2XJP7VzP2FHBowNev-svb8bMoACdD7R2gH11jUHu1r4B6-NtrF1Jg2kzwxI9cjzr1LxVkArwA_Du9pI/s1600/HE03_FranzMarc_TheWaterfall_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOQz3AL6uge0iGEUYj0LGv06SYtRLHAi8vW9DNES3NjwNGJI1OlSUECVvsPng2XJP7VzP2FHBowNev-svb8bMoACdD7R2gH11jUHu1r4B6-NtrF1Jg2kzwxI9cjzr1LxVkArwA_Du9pI/s400/HE03_FranzMarc_TheWaterfall_1912.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Waterfall</em>, 1912</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xgCKgAHohZHGR7xF-yHQlDsZaQR2rHhuNuV3k4Yx0Do_QDg8B3ylpyzTLW6K1VmwpC_gVizMXIYD2pPjaAtKi0rCXMS43gxqb-JnHu34M1KXTSFb5S3s5liBOwkOuJnCfUysz5IkL1M/s1600/HE04_FranzMarc_HorseStalls_1913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xgCKgAHohZHGR7xF-yHQlDsZaQR2rHhuNuV3k4Yx0Do_QDg8B3ylpyzTLW6K1VmwpC_gVizMXIYD2pPjaAtKi0rCXMS43gxqb-JnHu34M1KXTSFb5S3s5liBOwkOuJnCfUysz5IkL1M/s640/HE04_FranzMarc_HorseStalls_1913.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Horse Stalls</em>, 1913</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6H_B3Yy6lQc-wx3hR6uu8WiZZWdOCEYxFSIqilqmQe_Il6gkf62IvYTOUBw38bJGyvxX4eHcWBjkcRVRxa7D5T1VWKt2yrwThKD70mVqW4iX7wq3jl7wv9TUIAb-NWwADOrb1MSkoEog/s1600/HE05_FranzMarc_TheDream_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6H_B3Yy6lQc-wx3hR6uu8WiZZWdOCEYxFSIqilqmQe_Il6gkf62IvYTOUBw38bJGyvxX4eHcWBjkcRVRxa7D5T1VWKt2yrwThKD70mVqW4iX7wq3jl7wv9TUIAb-NWwADOrb1MSkoEog/s400/HE05_FranzMarc_TheDream_1912.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Dream</em>, 1912</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfx6jwS9tJZY9UB0zIRYIDSkbTt-CBRgGkYOxAg9J8voDBoxNRBashyphenhyphenY5msXVAwzN8wLo36fIGRG90cgnd5DsxqS6DPT4hdU0m7U5DkZvNTfLlgNX7e_JPq0CO5xQmGuxjisGW6mp3pqw/s1600/HE06_FranzMarc_DeerInAMonasteryGarden_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfx6jwS9tJZY9UB0zIRYIDSkbTt-CBRgGkYOxAg9J8voDBoxNRBashyphenhyphenY5msXVAwzN8wLo36fIGRG90cgnd5DsxqS6DPT4hdU0m7U5DkZvNTfLlgNX7e_JPq0CO5xQmGuxjisGW6mp3pqw/s400/HE06_FranzMarc_DeerInAMonasteryGarden_1912.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Deer in a Monastery Garden</em>, 1912</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5p5PTQGQ_bkDqCZx7bF3nFKZZRYZjXtzP_BXct-KH6BzpfodCYHoDYflToElqek_d9BZF0uq7asFolPeg7dEVBbcF3q5DS12RHoSd3WFgm1rxsnBTut3m2zu7NUrBnJeWs9hcXlnkGw/s1600/HE07_FranzMarc_TwoStandingNudesWithGreenRock_1911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5p5PTQGQ_bkDqCZx7bF3nFKZZRYZjXtzP_BXct-KH6BzpfodCYHoDYflToElqek_d9BZF0uq7asFolPeg7dEVBbcF3q5DS12RHoSd3WFgm1rxsnBTut3m2zu7NUrBnJeWs9hcXlnkGw/s400/HE07_FranzMarc_TwoStandingNudesWithGreenRock_1911.jpg" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Two Standing Nudes with Green Rock</em>, 1911</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE
MARKETPLACE<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">An easy and inexpensive
way to build a collection of work by today's finest painters, sculptors, and
photographers-- Greeting cards from Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easier still: just browse the Louis R Nugent
gallery at Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choose from
hundreds of unique ideas for home and office decor or holiday and birthday
cards for yourself or that special someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Individual cards cost less than $5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wall prints start at only $22.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsYrMLCfR3fFV28q2e8LrB8DQDoSCkdDV40-m8iKgsKba7S1EV_hyphenhyphenApNlwsRtO_CwXe5DaKVFBgSFChQRHzEpb6ACuYhXQSOWzXxGOhfeXBiRk7GkiyjkyMcWRDlSo02ruHzkJ6ssbqk/s1600/HE08_LouisNugent_FanDancer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsYrMLCfR3fFV28q2e8LrB8DQDoSCkdDV40-m8iKgsKba7S1EV_hyphenhyphenApNlwsRtO_CwXe5DaKVFBgSFChQRHzEpb6ACuYhXQSOWzXxGOhfeXBiRk7GkiyjkyMcWRDlSo02ruHzkJ6ssbqk/s320/HE08_LouisNugent_FanDancer.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis Nugent: <em>Fan Dancer</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We’re also on Facebook: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis
R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @
louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Other Fine Art America
sites for discriminating collectors:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
Information for this essay is taken primarily from readily available sources
such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, and almanacs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When other sources are employed they are
credited either in the text or as follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>None. All photographs are taken from Wikipedia or Google Images without source
or authorship credits available, except as noted: None. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-91594744225572775542013-08-01T05:45:00.001-07:002013-08-01T05:45:43.660-07:00
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">BLUE RIDERS: A FIRST GLANCE</span></span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“Every
work of art is the child of its time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Often it is the mother of our emotions.”-- Wassily Kandinsky, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Concerning the
Spiritual in Art<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, 1912<o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Munich (and Vienna) rarely leap to the
forefront of consciousness in the minds of most Americans when the phrase “art
capital of Europe” is spoken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why this
is may simply be an unfortunate aftermath of two World Wars triggered by madmen
in that part of the world, an attempt by the victors to marginalize the
defeated by trivializing their artistic contributions…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzD2JD_wbJHa_TPR2Ps_J13QKE-fP3ZLhgVnZGXqF6Kb9h1ZGEJhb2M8W716VAx0m-KFdKUF_LW6p3Hdf51zSK2KW1J2RIq15O3WGr2sEWwDbKWa9OwI1Kn3s7AFyFoB3jItDf-DmSno/s1600/HD01_WassilyKandinsky_TheLastJudgement_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzD2JD_wbJHa_TPR2Ps_J13QKE-fP3ZLhgVnZGXqF6Kb9h1ZGEJhb2M8W716VAx0m-KFdKUF_LW6p3Hdf51zSK2KW1J2RIq15O3WGr2sEWwDbKWa9OwI1Kn3s7AFyFoB3jItDf-DmSno/s400/HD01_WassilyKandinsky_TheLastJudgement_1912.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wassily Kandinsky: <em>The Last Judgment</em>, 1912</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Yet the truth remains that in the late 19<sup>th</sup>
and early 20<sup>th</sup> centuries, both cities attracted brilliant writers
and artists from both sides of the Atlantic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thomas Wolfe, born in North Carolina, was among those who traveled to
Munich.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He began writing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Look Homeward, Angel</i>, while in
Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the most likely source of
the novel’s title are lines from a poem by John Milton carved onto a tombstone
near Wolfe’s childhood home, some say young Tommy Wolfe found himself on the
losing end of a fist fight in Munich.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This more romantic version has it that his (married, rich, and much
older) lover gently whispered “Look homeward, angel” as she tended his bruised
face…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMJDUTm0Ji3zu8CSVK1t_vOsYCPWO3IYd2ORgd2LgLGMBCI4IqzKW0IfV-hv4Uoc_ilC6Qrl3kN9X-AHu83L5qWDYhat_96VohQ_FmrBssRROX4aRIiffjFIQmLX5qtm0Weg54jFUJEo/s1600/HD02_FranzMarc_TheTowerOfBlueHorses_1913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHMJDUTm0Ji3zu8CSVK1t_vOsYCPWO3IYd2ORgd2LgLGMBCI4IqzKW0IfV-hv4Uoc_ilC6Qrl3kN9X-AHu83L5qWDYhat_96VohQ_FmrBssRROX4aRIiffjFIQmLX5qtm0Weg54jFUJEo/s400/HD02_FranzMarc_TheTowerOfBlueHorses_1913.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Franz Marc: <em>The Tower of Blue Horses</em>, 1913</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">It was a bruising of another sort that
inspired a group of German and Russian artists living in Munich circa 1911 to
form a short-lived circle of painters calling themselves “The Blue Riders”…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Critics thought Wassily Kandinsky’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Last Judgement</i> too outrageous to be
included in a serious exhibit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Emotionally bruised by the rejection, Kandinsky and his friend Marc
Franz gathered a circle of like-minded painters around themselves and garnished
their works with dashes of fauvism and cubism, adding a sprinkle of
expressionistic emotion to vitalize the work…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjri5u0go6oyke9HqWWfHPGekfD2XLV0cc9I8GWUAFRVV0TdznEXn_dbzxHV14IjgFzSVg8eyljQ9JvDj3cOcPSBnKKW-LH5qVm6K3t54Fskn-GpeHeTU-TBdxGutVP133C0teG0s3Rbdc/s1600/HD03_AugustMacke_ViewIntoALane_1914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjri5u0go6oyke9HqWWfHPGekfD2XLV0cc9I8GWUAFRVV0TdznEXn_dbzxHV14IjgFzSVg8eyljQ9JvDj3cOcPSBnKKW-LH5qVm6K3t54Fskn-GpeHeTU-TBdxGutVP133C0teG0s3Rbdc/s400/HD03_AugustMacke_ViewIntoALane_1914.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">August Macke: <em>View into a Lane</em>, 1914</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This group’s name may have been inspired by
the title of one of Kandinsky’s earlier pieces (dating to about 1903) but
Kandinsky later wrote that both he and Franz Marc loved the color blue and both
found equines and equestrian sport fascinating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For Kandinsky, especially, blue had a profound spiritual meaning as it
linked man to the divine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The darker the
blue, the closer to God…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_R8Nl75g5nJoeaQDukNwmZslHYku1oNNUV_Uu8xJjuac8KbJ2RMiYBOSGnPHUO5dt8VSzbz_F5tRNVp1RFtHdLsbwdR8vE97dsxEJ9Cwrg1MxtCLsXDZZkXUZ5vaZauO2IvbYdwEwWY/s1600/HD04_AugustMacke_Rokoko_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_R8Nl75g5nJoeaQDukNwmZslHYku1oNNUV_Uu8xJjuac8KbJ2RMiYBOSGnPHUO5dt8VSzbz_F5tRNVp1RFtHdLsbwdR8vE97dsxEJ9Cwrg1MxtCLsXDZZkXUZ5vaZauO2IvbYdwEwWY/s400/HD04_AugustMacke_Rokoko_1912.jpg" width="397" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">August Macke: <em>Rokoko, 1912</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[Kandinsky trained as an economist and
lawyer, incidentally, and did not move toward a career in the arts until he was
thirty years of age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The son of a tea
merchant, he grew to spiritual maturity in the Russian Orthodox Church.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No artistic manifestos were ever produced by
this group of painters, although it did produce an “Almanac” in 1912.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The outbreak of World War One prevented
publication of a second edition of the almanac.) Each held differing views
about what art should emphasize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
bonded them was a deep and abiding faith that art must not ignore the spiritual
and that art should be spontaneous and intuitive…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZThBTq8WJ2u6h9Kg8I-QXYBqE6EP6BnwteJgUzQpsIUPdmMCLdd3K3U9voWyP8JkfyeoV3P5S26B86n3dKUnOc3hoG4mW3Rf9EJfqqYsTAaBmRlOkQk5s-P59r0b0S0G1ML0BLeyVO8/s1600/HD05_AlexejVonJawlensky_HeadInBlue_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZThBTq8WJ2u6h9Kg8I-QXYBqE6EP6BnwteJgUzQpsIUPdmMCLdd3K3U9voWyP8JkfyeoV3P5S26B86n3dKUnOc3hoG4mW3Rf9EJfqqYsTAaBmRlOkQk5s-P59r0b0S0G1ML0BLeyVO8/s400/HD05_AlexejVonJawlensky_HeadInBlue_1912.jpg" width="293" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alexej von Jawlensky: <em>Head in Blue</em>, 1912</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Rarely does very much good come of the
carnage of battle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>World War brought an
end to the Blue Riders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Franz Marc and
August Macke, two of the Blue Riders, died in the trenches in military
service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kandinsky and the other Russian
members were driven from Munich because men who led their homelands preferred
to settle differences with bullets…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GOW1SCmO8OJJzGA_k9HNvURDFdzbZQGcKCn4lJtof9aeiEHWXsg8DOXE5B17D3GX9aOPzcmRtZLUSLPztU6QRYzy7NZ1fpS1mQPQh5KRsrSBItRWKuVvaRuzyUvM9j0S7EI8mL0Cj00/s1600/HD06_DerBlaueReiter_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GOW1SCmO8OJJzGA_k9HNvURDFdzbZQGcKCn4lJtof9aeiEHWXsg8DOXE5B17D3GX9aOPzcmRtZLUSLPztU6QRYzy7NZ1fpS1mQPQh5KRsrSBItRWKuVvaRuzyUvM9j0S7EI8mL0Cj00/s400/HD06_DerBlaueReiter_1912.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Blue Rider</em> Almanac, 1912</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">An easy and inexpensive
way to build a collection of work by today's finest painters, sculptors, and
photographers-- Greeting cards from Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easier still: just browse the Louis R Nugent
gallery at Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choose from
hundreds of unique ideas for home and office decor or holiday and birthday
cards for yourself or that special someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Individual cards cost less than $5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wall prints start at only $22.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5RvldfTr7awP3ifmBXI3IcnlCGRThfWzCJlBMAlRKjmIknLA2VkU6DPadtv5fF_vR2Tz-SBdtHf7A_SJrvDyXBFdA2owmUcZyXxlAOeu1u8RJESCkaH9kQhOeeLUMylYW3NlOUBAOIo/s1600/HD07_LouisNugent_DesertVoodoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5RvldfTr7awP3ifmBXI3IcnlCGRThfWzCJlBMAlRKjmIknLA2VkU6DPadtv5fF_vR2Tz-SBdtHf7A_SJrvDyXBFdA2owmUcZyXxlAOeu1u8RJESCkaH9kQhOeeLUMylYW3NlOUBAOIo/s320/HD07_LouisNugent_DesertVoodoo.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis Nugent: <em>Desert Voodoo</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We’re also on Facebook: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis
R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @
louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Other Fine Art America
sites for discriminating collectors:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: lime;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note: Information for this essay is taken primarily from readily available sources
such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, and almanacs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When other sources are employed they are
credited either in the text or as follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>None. All photographs are taken from Wikipedia or Google Images without source
or authorship credits available, except as noted: None. <o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-19522740788239445202013-07-25T05:13:00.002-07:002013-07-25T05:13:16.734-07:00<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Flowers by the Gates of Eden</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">West of Interstate 35, Texas is sparsely traveled country, a rugged and sub-humid land that transitions into semi-arid desert country in the western Concho Valley as one nears the Rio Pecos. There are no clear boundaries to define what is desert and what is not. But those who travel the area to San Angelo will notice a subtle difference near the town of Eden-- to the east, live oaks dot the landscape. Mesquites become more numerous to the west and shrubs such as graythorn and desert sumac show up in increasing numbers...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xcCQXsQbL-Xjh-Vr6ppV_igImUTPSyVt3AkHFzuzfiNNyxIbn5oAA2lN8fCZqnIBC4spvnHBwR8BNjUSE_HD8yRxs6NElwk-CPuXUNGP1LQb5jhyphenhyphenWPnhSEz36Sw23FAYY5xiWzaT8T0/s1600/HC01_Ericaceae_KalmiaLatifolia_TE_ConchoCounty_GEDC7295_CULTIVATED.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xcCQXsQbL-Xjh-Vr6ppV_igImUTPSyVt3AkHFzuzfiNNyxIbn5oAA2lN8fCZqnIBC4spvnHBwR8BNjUSE_HD8yRxs6NElwk-CPuXUNGP1LQb5jhyphenhyphenWPnhSEz36Sw23FAYY5xiWzaT8T0/s320/HC01_Ericaceae_KalmiaLatifolia_TE_ConchoCounty_GEDC7295_CULTIVATED.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I travel a stretch of U S Highway 87 toward Eden occasionally. The road leads me down to Interstate 10 and family living in areas that receive quite a bit of rain each year. Journeys often taken lead to rituals that make the trip a more comfortable routine. For my wife and me, one of these is a stop at a small rest area near Eden. It signals the first hour and a half of the eight hours it takes us to reach Houston where we will rest for the evening. On the return trip, we know that we are on the final leg of a long day's ride...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9LK04Ddh9R4vMf3y5Mr4vGCYAzdK8dLws36EGU3QwDovt8lZtFpns2rxsDBLFC7HXhaXMQvqEmNLnwhyBte8iGm3okt4GNi0mRmoszDkGAhi1OKSLco8G9wH-kBnl06oJyDG3wGglY8/s1600/HC02_Caryophyllaceae_DianthisChinensis_Geraniaceae_GeraniumSpp_ConchoCounty_GEDC7296_CULTIVATED+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9LK04Ddh9R4vMf3y5Mr4vGCYAzdK8dLws36EGU3QwDovt8lZtFpns2rxsDBLFC7HXhaXMQvqEmNLnwhyBte8iGm3okt4GNi0mRmoszDkGAhi1OKSLco8G9wH-kBnl06oJyDG3wGglY8/s320/HC02_Caryophyllaceae_DianthisChinensis_Geraniaceae_GeraniumSpp_ConchoCounty_GEDC7296_CULTIVATED+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The rest stop at Eden is small. It rests in the center of the four lanes of U S Highway 87 and rarely do we encounter other travelers. When we do, they are tired and hours away from where they plan to be when they do sleep. Yet this rest stop at Eden, like those throughout Texas, is a place where flowers have been planted. Some are native, others exotic. All remind us that beauty lurks close at hand even when we play the hustle and bustle game...</span>LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-25582066154946783012013-07-18T05:43:00.003-07:002013-07-18T05:43:45.177-07:00The Confrontation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuFJoMXM73octed36Bmgo-VD1LywLAVOZiEmzZfzC4avSx5Fnr6FORcSAup2mVl32kcya32XYnbUCR3qHFyQ7Q0WrUr3BtvyhZAbvttxhKNAQQIQc-1AAR4HNRo_c5biJoKFvq7-lxgLs/s1600/HB01_Conversation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuFJoMXM73octed36Bmgo-VD1LywLAVOZiEmzZfzC4avSx5Fnr6FORcSAup2mVl32kcya32XYnbUCR3qHFyQ7Q0WrUr3BtvyhZAbvttxhKNAQQIQc-1AAR4HNRo_c5biJoKFvq7-lxgLs/s320/HB01_Conversation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-53199956720645150842013-07-11T05:55:00.000-07:002013-07-11T05:55:00.988-07:00
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><em>Through Spanish Eyes<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">War is a particularly noxious human
activity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This week we view it through
the eyes of three Spanish artists, one horrified by the human misery born of
the conflicts in the time of Napoleon and two who saw the horrors of the
Spanish Civil War in the years prior to World War II…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRy2-spi8Mnreejv_e8vQS10A5SvP1io8RNoRDYFH3s7a4DyW4hF_QVv-fDd-ckT5eW9O4GymsAjQesc1ndmDjAAWWFAgfqdnRWVQeFVFHvdvn4P3arEg4vqSknKmQi3YJ36G7uWINtA/s1600/HA_01_FranciscoGoya_TheDisastersOfWar_Plate25_TheseToo_Circa1810_PosthumouslyPublished1863.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpRy2-spi8Mnreejv_e8vQS10A5SvP1io8RNoRDYFH3s7a4DyW4hF_QVv-fDd-ckT5eW9O4GymsAjQesc1ndmDjAAWWFAgfqdnRWVQeFVFHvdvn4P3arEg4vqSknKmQi3YJ36G7uWINtA/s400/HA_01_FranciscoGoya_TheDisastersOfWar_Plate25_TheseToo_Circa1810_PosthumouslyPublished1863.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Francisco Goya: <em>The Disasters of War, </em>Plate 25, circa 1811</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03MmHhZxBPK7ZR2xclQHLW-QTRS8xanSv_EAkR4gL2J8jgKoBe3aLAq4N0d660TUoaxiA2kE5Un7CUDHZZtwt4ySUsPbtwUWX4Fcz2pzaYi_FY9toBymazIlpJqHHMSM0vzXuNmXvQoU/s1600/HA_02_PabloPicasso_Guernica_1937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03MmHhZxBPK7ZR2xclQHLW-QTRS8xanSv_EAkR4gL2J8jgKoBe3aLAq4N0d660TUoaxiA2kE5Un7CUDHZZtwt4ySUsPbtwUWX4Fcz2pzaYi_FY9toBymazIlpJqHHMSM0vzXuNmXvQoU/s400/HA_02_PabloPicasso_Guernica_1937.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pablo Picasso: <em>Guernica</em>, 1936</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDcjNyQuZoFai30U1H7fBIhPxdSbhbtiAdvmyRJjgToDIrqfz4wqGt_CYGR2v9ourS1Zc_cu7cGzvMAQmKJn0FKzUWNwLkF2AZFBBNIxvpGa_X3q8no8ojLrNIuBNThiQFIEzjtpXTcs/s1600/HA_03_SalvadorDali_SoftConstructionWithBeans_PremonitionsOfCivilWar_1936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDcjNyQuZoFai30U1H7fBIhPxdSbhbtiAdvmyRJjgToDIrqfz4wqGt_CYGR2v9ourS1Zc_cu7cGzvMAQmKJn0FKzUWNwLkF2AZFBBNIxvpGa_X3q8no8ojLrNIuBNThiQFIEzjtpXTcs/s400/HA_03_SalvadorDali_SoftConstructionWithBeans_PremonitionsOfCivilWar_1936.jpg" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salvador Dali: <em>Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonitions of</em><br />
<em>Civil War)</em>, 1936</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">An easy and inexpensive
way to build a collection of work by today's finest painters, sculptors, and
photographers-- Greeting cards from Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easier still: just browse the Louis R Nugent
gallery at Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choose from
hundreds of unique ideas for home and office decor or holiday and birthday
cards for yourself or that special someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Individual cards cost less than $5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wall prints start at only $22.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdUmZiAyJxaXPDIhUbmsVGs_sVHQwTFbowKUwu2bZAoZXT0ne3B45vVa0FVNPxIUaZifpAypGqxRAKm_unL3v9B1anupnIJW71kXCXAtWR0IYGeX3oDjc5BFxdC8-boouQyBuiPjZwws/s1600/HA_04_LouisNugent_MesaVerdeThreeGhostsOfTheAnasazi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdUmZiAyJxaXPDIhUbmsVGs_sVHQwTFbowKUwu2bZAoZXT0ne3B45vVa0FVNPxIUaZifpAypGqxRAKm_unL3v9B1anupnIJW71kXCXAtWR0IYGeX3oDjc5BFxdC8-boouQyBuiPjZwws/s1600/HA_04_LouisNugent_MesaVerdeThreeGhostsOfTheAnasazi.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis Nugent: <em>Mesa Verde Three (Ghosts of the Anasazi)</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We’re also on Facebook: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis
R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @
louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Other Fine Art America
sites for discriminating collectors:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">h<a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html">ttp://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
Information for this essay is taken primarily from readily available sources
such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, and almanacs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When other sources are employed they are
credited either in the text or as follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>None. All photographs are taken from Wikipedia or Google Images without source
or authorship credits available, except as noted: None. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-27513953018302430552013-07-04T06:06:00.002-07:002013-07-04T06:10:17.850-07:00Independence Day<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">This week we in the United States commemorate July 4, 1776-- our Independence Day. On that date, our Founding Fathers served notice to monarchs and theocrats that there was no place for them in our experiment in government. In the place of despotic autocrats would be a democratic republic where mankind used reason and carefully crafted compromise to promote individual liberty and the common good. As with any noble ideal, we often fail in our pursuit of perfection. But we have not abandoned our faith that we shall be the nation that our ideals say we can be. Nor shall we...</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkoZwyHyx7g_HFWXHMfbWxuVrFlGEaf7Y81e5ykePfc81wezHquZKQ43oue3kQ9z_O1ANiD9S4k3u446MvCz3pnGVJmg6SU5OTWorhMPx_JmqBVpqHJ2YoABxKmGXmrbptj5guirCI4yU/s1000/Desert_Texas_SanAngelo_ViewFromBeauregardAvenue_GEDC7970c1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkoZwyHyx7g_HFWXHMfbWxuVrFlGEaf7Y81e5ykePfc81wezHquZKQ43oue3kQ9z_O1ANiD9S4k3u446MvCz3pnGVJmg6SU5OTWorhMPx_JmqBVpqHJ2YoABxKmGXmrbptj5guirCI4yU/s320/Desert_Texas_SanAngelo_ViewFromBeauregardAvenue_GEDC7970c1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis Nugent: <em>View on Beauregard Street</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> </span>LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-62305118909879350752013-06-27T04:02:00.003-07:002013-06-27T05:46:40.717-07:00<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Cults of the Literati<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>“He stood there alone under the white
floodlight, spinning his rope around him, stepping in and out of it… Two-Gun
Earl, the Terror of Cochise County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
belonged on one of those dude ranches that are so all fired horsy that the
telephone girl wears riding boots to work.”-- Raymond Chandler,</em> The Long Goodbye<em>, 1953<o:p></o:p></em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Book lovers can thank (or curse) the Thor
Power Tool Company for the increased (or decreased) availability of those
discounted books stacked sky-high on tables near the magazine section in their
local Wal-Mart or supermarket…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Thor Power Tools began its corporate life in
1893 as the Independent Pneumatic Tool Company of Aurora, Illinois.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Company founders included Chicago mayor John
Hopkins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The business produced
jackhammers and bicycles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the 1970s,
the firm had long since changed its name but it continued to manufacture tools
that were assembled from component parts also produced by Thor…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCcU-XSUBmAyi-j9iT1pqVvCYIIvRvh5QUACjdlOxI0qAwfMHTdELiTpz8BtTam7Oat4WTJjrpw3vlHZNeYSktngXPaLA5-Ubt4HatV0HfGzOCHNHjpr2ORJo7_-YsQQBvLnGHLglTt2U/s1600/H02_ThorPowerToolAdvertisement_1948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCcU-XSUBmAyi-j9iT1pqVvCYIIvRvh5QUACjdlOxI0qAwfMHTdELiTpz8BtTam7Oat4WTJjrpw3vlHZNeYSktngXPaLA5-Ubt4HatV0HfGzOCHNHjpr2ORJo7_-YsQQBvLnGHLglTt2U/s1600/H02_ThorPowerToolAdvertisement_1948.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advertisement for the Thor Power Tool<br />
Company whose accounting practices<br />
triggered a lawsuit that affected the sale<br />
of a publisher's excess inventory</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When Thor’s inventory of component parts
exceeded its actual production needs, the company “wrote down” the excess,
treating it as an accounting loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its
management felt that since this was an accepted business practice, Thor’s tax
liabilities ought to be calculated in similar fashion…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">IRS auditors disagreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tax law provided goods can be written down
only if one of two conditions is met: these items are either defective in some
way or the manufacturer demonstrates the goods have a fair market value less
than the cost of producing them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
courts agreed with the IRS:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there was
nothing unconstitutional about the statute per se and Thor failed to meet the
burden of proof…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Essentially a landmark 1979 Supreme Court
decision (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor Power Tool Company v
Commissioner of Internal Revenue</i>) held that manufacturers may not write
down their inventories for taxation purposes simply because they are not
selling what they have produced…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How this affects bibliophiles comes down to
how it affects remaindering, a practice in the book trade...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Publishers routinely print far more copies of
books and magazines than are sold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
results in an inventory of dubious value in the marketplace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than take a complete loss, many
publishers opt to sell their excess stock to a mass marketer at a greatly
reduced rate-- a hardback originally commanding $20 in a bookstore may be resold
to a general merchandise retail chain for $1 a copy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The retailer slaps a $5 tag on the book,
stacks it on a table, and will generally sell enough copies to make a small
profit on his initial investment…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDzUoD-cJGG3Gqe7_BaO4PBgS8AzyGzZhM-nXAYi48_mS3HbgSsGDu0TLlvuuzqadQwJSPMC98m2esVGf8mWq8Zd1he-D13PIAqqAVvnLJ2m-y-WzJ7EXJWWG4_-3e3BIn3bygxognbg/s1600/H03_500EssentialCultBooksGinaMcKinnon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDzUoD-cJGG3Gqe7_BaO4PBgS8AzyGzZhM-nXAYi48_mS3HbgSsGDu0TLlvuuzqadQwJSPMC98m2esVGf8mWq8Zd1he-D13PIAqqAVvnLJ2m-y-WzJ7EXJWWG4_-3e3BIn3bygxognbg/s1600/H03_500EssentialCultBooksGinaMcKinnon.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gina McKinnon's guide to "cult books"<br />
titles as diverse as <em>Stranger in a Strange Land,</em><br />
<em>The Long Goodbye </em>and <em>Hollywood Babylon</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The decision in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor Power Tool</i> has encouraged publishers to remainder books much earlier
than they would have done prior to 1979.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It has also, sadly, encouraged others to simply take the loss and
destroy excess stock…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I recently came across one of those tables
stacked with books when I stopped into the local shop of a mass marketer who
sells everything from milk to power tools to T-shirts to large print crossword
puzzle magazines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the titles
caught both my eye and $4.97 worth of a spare $5 bill in my wallet…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">A bibliophile named Gina McKinnon had put
together a work she called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">500 Essential
Cult Books: The Ultimate Guide</i> (Sterling, New York, 2010) in association
with a chap named Steve Holland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ms
McKinnon wanted to explore those books which inspire a devoted following among
readers, the sort of novel or nonfiction treatise that “has to be” in someone’s
home library…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Cult books may become bestsellers, Gina
McKinnon believes, but they are often titles with only modest sales over a
period of many years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The essence of a
cult book is that it becomes a central part of the intellectual and emotional
life of its devotee in much the same way that a musician or rock band gains
die-hard fans because they “get it” as far as their listeners are concerned…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">McKinnon’s selection is a grab bag of the
human experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We find biographies of
jazz musician Charles Mingus, musings on archetypal images from the
psychologist Carl Jung, unabashed and unashamed erotic tales, warnings about
the reach of the totalitarian state and novels favored by rebellious adolescents
in search of a Cause…</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv8qDOJG0v0E68ugHkacWuk3VBS8H0uwTtPH3sU6J_2UxbG_ZoEHiPQ-_f8YsBM33ZTPaaHyTGW8dGHy-dArm7flksMn_n_yZv_75r57y93EFehLtJo4VO3isFpa7tu2LX5GQ1Oq8Kq_8/s1600/H04_LadyChatterleysLover_DHLawrence_1993ScreenAdaptation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv8qDOJG0v0E68ugHkacWuk3VBS8H0uwTtPH3sU6J_2UxbG_ZoEHiPQ-_f8YsBM33ZTPaaHyTGW8dGHy-dArm7flksMn_n_yZv_75r57y93EFehLtJo4VO3isFpa7tu2LX5GQ1Oq8Kq_8/s320/H04_LadyChatterleysLover_DHLawrence_1993ScreenAdaptation.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sylvia Kristel and Nicholas Clay star in a 1981 screen adaptation<br />
of D H Lawrence's <em>Lady Chatterley's Lover</em>. The controversial<br />
1928 publication tells the story of Constance Chatterley,<br />
trapped in a loveless marriage to an impotent cripple, and her<br />
sexual awakening through an affair with a groundskeeper. It<br />
was the first novel by a mainstream author to use the "F"<br />
word.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Robert Heinlein’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stranger in a Strange Land</i> is one of these 500 titles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First published in 1961, it takes its title
from a Biblical passage about the naming of the prophet Moses’ son (Exodus
2:22) and was inspired by a suggestion from Heinlein’s wife that he rework
Rudyard Kipling’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Jungle Book</i>
wherein we have a human child raised by invisible Martians on Mars rather than
by wild animals in India…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Heinlein’s novel enjoyed about as much
commercial success as can be expected in the science-fiction genre and became
of that field’s all-time bestsellers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Valentine Michael Smith, the story’s protagonist, is the orphaned son of
a member of the first human expedition to Mars and that expedition’s sole
survivor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is raised by Martians who
both grok (an empathetic state where an observer becomes part of what is
observed) and possess psychokinetic abilities…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBPRpSMr9NKf04HU8smHuAQH_IsQxfCOFaXrRmGwzRTHQldob0r2jUJnRCUhg-vJabN_GqqIXVVvK2pQ4zIlGyGNLQdyLj-PHkbj0c1SfC-jrRxgt-lAnmGsBylDUbyO2dPcK7f-snUGo/s1600/H07_StrangerInAStrangeLand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBPRpSMr9NKf04HU8smHuAQH_IsQxfCOFaXrRmGwzRTHQldob0r2jUJnRCUhg-vJabN_GqqIXVVvK2pQ4zIlGyGNLQdyLj-PHkbj0c1SfC-jrRxgt-lAnmGsBylDUbyO2dPcK7f-snUGo/s1600/H07_StrangerInAStrangeLand.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Edition cover for Robert Heinlein's<br />
<em>Stranger in a Strange Land </em>(1961)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">After twenty Earth years pass, a second expedition
to Mars finds Smith and brings him to the planet of his biological
ancestors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Smith has no idea of
human experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His knowledge of
Martian technology that allows for interstellar travel at a very low cost spawn
international intrigue while his apparently supernatural powers bring followers
who turn him into a messiah who must ultimately die a savage and gruesome
death…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Stranger</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> is a book of ideas,
a challenge to puritanical folkways, that likely would have had little success
in the late 1940s when Heinlein began writing it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The turbulent 1960s proved tailor-made for
the novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its impact on our popular
culture can’t be quantifiably measured except perhaps in the realm of
furniture:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>water beds, which appeared on
the market in the real world in 1968, were first described in Heinlein’s novel…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSr4QysjT_4Za6wI3iDN6Gz2nB4PdbWo6UXAC6_Fgh8jlk24qMall_zJQfKg9jInCFawhn5D9mojtv71pCIHkEHjPQBxw7PmJ71KAf0X-92LR857X3KVJCppSeOuzIfSzZ4wqNXgYoHqk/s1600/H06_RobertHeinlein_LSpradeDeCamp_IsaacAsimov.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSr4QysjT_4Za6wI3iDN6Gz2nB4PdbWo6UXAC6_Fgh8jlk24qMall_zJQfKg9jInCFawhn5D9mojtv71pCIHkEHjPQBxw7PmJ71KAf0X-92LR857X3KVJCppSeOuzIfSzZ4wqNXgYoHqk/s320/H06_RobertHeinlein_LSpradeDeCamp_IsaacAsimov.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Heinlein, L Sprague de Camp, and Isaac Asimov (from<br />
left to right in photo), three of the science fiction genre's<br />
"giants" worked together at the Philadelphia Navy Yard during<br />
World War II. Conspiracy buffs will recall the facility as the<br />
site of an alleged time travel experiment gone horribly awry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stranger
in a Strange Land</i> practically demands that we adopt a new world
view and it provided concepts which found their way into popular television
series like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Trek</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Its questioning of "The Establishment"</span> turned the novel into a
manifesto of sorts for the hippie movement thanks to its themes of suspicion of
government, big business, and organized religion at the same time it advocates sexual and
personal freedom… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Its influence on the counter-culture
encouraged the growth of the neo-pagan movement to some extent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One group known as The Church of All Worlds,
or CAW, took its name from the faith promulgated by Valentine Michael Smith…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UGUKnL6exTZIMhfjFMkCHihZvOCkd8tvWDNFAHQIelerbuAqntnhYsESDuhvXnlWo2vQ26CajDyXeRr_1xxWNurKM8C0l1rfYvNF84f14xuqflHB-rHVdmpmC3tyg8DU4G4SNvu4Lw4/s1600/H08_CAW_Handbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UGUKnL6exTZIMhfjFMkCHihZvOCkd8tvWDNFAHQIelerbuAqntnhYsESDuhvXnlWo2vQ26CajDyXeRr_1xxWNurKM8C0l1rfYvNF84f14xuqflHB-rHVdmpmC3tyg8DU4G4SNvu4Lw4/s320/H08_CAW_Handbook.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover of handbook used by a neo-pagan<br />
group inspired by the ideas in Robert<br />
Heinlein's <em>Stranger in a Strange Land</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">[CAW has a following that may be in the
neighborhood of 20,000 people with about 5% of that number living in the San
Francisco area where Oberon G’Zell founded the group after reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stranger in a Strange Land.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Robert Heinlein was never a formal
member of CAW, he encouraged its leaders with letters of support and even purchased
a subscription to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Green Egg</i>, the
church’s magazine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxq56NZ3i5pphgk6RNbD2Z-coNbbPsucxVcvR8hyphenhyphenBJyEjOwp4qgAn4MXg-5FrJQEAF9U2aO0wHe6PeQV54VQ_Ec7NzmtH_E5Vl8Hjnm7sFzwI2XytPBq0fGh6YhktQNm_OpiiQCYETjs/s1600/H00_OberonGZellAndMorningGlory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxq56NZ3i5pphgk6RNbD2Z-coNbbPsucxVcvR8hyphenhyphenBJyEjOwp4qgAn4MXg-5FrJQEAF9U2aO0wHe6PeQV54VQ_Ec7NzmtH_E5Vl8Hjnm7sFzwI2XytPBq0fGh6YhktQNm_OpiiQCYETjs/s320/H00_OberonGZellAndMorningGlory.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oberon G'Zell and Morning Glory, founders of CAW</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Interviewed for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">People of the Earth: The New Pagans Speak Out</i> (Ellen Evert Hopman
and Lawrence Bond, Destiny Books, Rochester Vermont, 1995), G’Zell commented
CAW began as a “water brotherhood” which was extremely selective about who
could be admitted to celebrate rites inspired by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stranger</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After five years
and acquisition of roughly a hundred members, G’Zell and his wife Morning Glory
decided to incorporate as a church since that seemed the best way to spread the
message.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">While <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stranger
in a Strange Land</i> is among the books in Gina McKinnon’s guide to cult
classics that I’ve personally read, I must confess that it has not proved a
central part of my way of thinking or outlook on life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a novel worth reading and its ideas
should be considered seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
Heinlein’s writing style just doesn’t grab my soul…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">More to my liking is Raymond Chandler’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Long Goodbye</i> which features the
world-weary private eye Philip Marlowe on yet another quest to find the answer
to why people do the evil things they do…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Critics, being the contrary lot they are, are
of mixed opinions when it comes to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Long Goodbye</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some consider it
Chandler at his finest, others dismiss it as inferior when it’s compared to his
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Big Sleep</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author seems to have agreed with the
first batch, writing to a friend that it was his best work…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJgJYAJ-cD1iCkhrJ56rNN2lbsFjzjyTrPE0PweB_stTOowjV36PiRj1lMovHY_imcQ62aFId5iPYm7OWLstRcrI7HOE1K6f9k1NVz_h9_H81fgP8__ibzhiyLxOdS0ALJKnwp4AdYGk/s1600/H11_LongGoodbye_FirstEdition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuJgJYAJ-cD1iCkhrJ56rNN2lbsFjzjyTrPE0PweB_stTOowjV36PiRj1lMovHY_imcQ62aFId5iPYm7OWLstRcrI7HOE1K6f9k1NVz_h9_H81fgP8__ibzhiyLxOdS0ALJKnwp4AdYGk/s1600/H11_LongGoodbye_FirstEdition.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Edition cover for Raymond Chandler's<br />
<em>The Long Good-Bye</em> (1953)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Philip Marlowe’s travails in this story begin
one night when he meets a drunk named Terry Lennox seated behind the wheel of
Rolls Royce Silver Wraith at The Dancers, a club on the outskirts of Los
Angeles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lennox’ companion is a girl
whose hair was a lovely shade of dark red.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She wore a distant smile on her lips and “over her shoulders she had a
blue mink that almost made the Rolls Royce look just like another automobile”…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Now, as any automobile aficionado can attest,
ain’t nothin’ can make a Rolls look like just another car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not even a gorgeous doll with a distant
smile and a blue mink…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Terry Lennox and Marlowe chat briefly at The
Dancers and Marlowe thinks nothing more about him until Lennox comes to the
detective’s office several months later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He needs to get to Tijuana…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizGi1mPshpJyr4FGBRCa7xSBlLSXjo-5SsqCIcU9KoFowgXVMgDDroHU8MnmMeFZeTyv9OZVMnfX333O1l8Of29b0H72aehtEShB_JHUD7Op-IBGQ7WRlZ4hJDzxfKkhvD1FStNZ-c5_o/s1600/H09_RobertMitchumAsPhilipMarlowe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizGi1mPshpJyr4FGBRCa7xSBlLSXjo-5SsqCIcU9KoFowgXVMgDDroHU8MnmMeFZeTyv9OZVMnfX333O1l8Of29b0H72aehtEShB_JHUD7Op-IBGQ7WRlZ4hJDzxfKkhvD1FStNZ-c5_o/s320/H09_RobertMitchumAsPhilipMarlowe.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screen tough-guy Robert Mitchum portrayed Philip Marlowe,<br />
Raymond Chandler's world-weary private eye, in two film<br />
adaptations of Chandler's novels. Chandler became a full time<br />
mystery novelist after he lost his job as an oil industry executive<br />
due to his alcoholism, flings with female employees, and chronic<br />
absenteeism from work. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Good detectives know to agree to such
requests ONLY if the man to whom they are giving a ride promises to say nothing
about WHY he needs a ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marlowe asks
no questions and Lennox volunteers no information…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When he returns from the border town, Marlowe
learns what he didn’t want to know: Mrs Terry Lennox is dead, the victim of
murder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cops won’t be able to get a
whole lot of answers from Mr Terry Lennox.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It appears he’s committed suicide down Mexico way shortly after Marlowe
dropped him off at the airport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guilt
can cause a person to do that sort of thing…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Philip Marlowe won’t be mistaken for Albert
Einstein anytime soon, pal, but he’s smart enough to know that sometimes a man
doesn’t begin to cause trouble until he’s dead…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBz1BYJ2_DhKDjPrlODKj0cinTumxCdkPVwTjbbVJklxbeHL6N0f04ocfjDCnnBZFBeGsz-gWMt1POS8_zKT0EyzY16szC_EKOC9jmUmdkHXyLEg4ox40yTU92wcCUS5s1LWxW6FtG8vk/s1600/H12_HollywoodBabylon_KennethAnger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBz1BYJ2_DhKDjPrlODKj0cinTumxCdkPVwTjbbVJklxbeHL6N0f04ocfjDCnnBZFBeGsz-gWMt1POS8_zKT0EyzY16szC_EKOC9jmUmdkHXyLEg4ox40yTU92wcCUS5s1LWxW6FtG8vk/s400/H12_HollywoodBabylon_KennethAnger.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kenneth Anger, underground film maker and<br />
Aleister Crowley devotee, published <em>Hollywood</em><br />
<em>Babylon</em> in 1965. The peek through the keyhole<br />
look at Tinseltown scandals was promptly banned<br />
and not republished until 1975.<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">An easy and inexpensive
way to build a collection of work by today's finest painters, sculptors, and
photographers-- Greeting cards from Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easier still: just browse the Louis R Nugent
gallery at Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choose from
hundreds of unique ideas for home and office decor or holiday and birthday
cards for yourself or that special someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Individual cards cost less than $5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wall prints start at only $22.</span></i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7MUb9OsnY4tZVD5gBEyTlz4GdvoGgD_UuSDBHIdq6O9oIlPpHcNulKmk4A4LfRAfDMPgzFm5bXzz_AeKXGjF_XH1fgMSPGAj79yM9SCXpR0cQIDYyVAJCtxGuTGmV_ormzgqB4Ep_Ck/s1600/H13_InValleysOfLiliesWeShallRest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7MUb9OsnY4tZVD5gBEyTlz4GdvoGgD_UuSDBHIdq6O9oIlPpHcNulKmk4A4LfRAfDMPgzFm5bXzz_AeKXGjF_XH1fgMSPGAj79yM9SCXpR0cQIDYyVAJCtxGuTGmV_ormzgqB4Ep_Ck/s1600/H13_InValleysOfLiliesWeShallRest.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Louis Nugent: <em>In Valleys of Lilies we shall rest</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></i> </div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We’re also on Facebook: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis
R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @
louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span></i><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: black;">Other Fine Art America
sites for discriminating collectors</span>:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/cajun-country-louisiana.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/cajun-country-louisiana.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
Information for this essay is taken primarily from readily available sources
such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, and almanacs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When other sources are employed they are
credited either in the text or as follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>None. All photographs are taken from Wikipedia or Google Images without source
or authorship credits available, except as noted: None. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-51350072681936486042013-06-20T06:36:00.002-07:002013-06-20T06:36:57.067-07:00<span style="background-color: white; color: purple; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As Summer Approaches</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We've had more rain than usual for June in the western Concho Valley and that means flowers that don't normally appear at this time of year. My camera and I have been out capturing as many of them as possible. Unfortunately, that leaves little time for research and essay composition. Back next week...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqO3WKTC9dhz-OUmvjQODiK94wnH71VZ-4LJZPm3PrLyGiZmF2F7TTXthqeyMeDPgI_t_EYvi1LpzAS4ucU6V0ehZV7JajxgBVbc8amBUUxM4dqM_82PfZ6tQhPqLLLF51b5XwLep-EPk/s1600/H_04_JavelinaBush_CondaliaEricoides_GEDC1504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqO3WKTC9dhz-OUmvjQODiK94wnH71VZ-4LJZPm3PrLyGiZmF2F7TTXthqeyMeDPgI_t_EYvi1LpzAS4ucU6V0ehZV7JajxgBVbc8amBUUxM4dqM_82PfZ6tQhPqLLLF51b5XwLep-EPk/s320/H_04_JavelinaBush_CondaliaEricoides_GEDC1504.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
LRNArtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17757774423820242957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7320375012364667000.post-3168270365403337462013-06-13T05:26:00.002-07:002013-06-13T05:33:54.694-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>Movie Poster Art: Five From The American Film
Institute’s Top Ten<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In 1998, the American Film Institute surveyed
1500 leaders in America’s motion picture industry-- directors, actors, critics,
screenwriters, producers, historians-- to ask their help in listing the 100
Greatest American Movies of all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Films
receiving the most votes were (in order): <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizen
Kane</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Casablanca</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Godfather</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gone With The Wind</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lawrence
Of Arabia</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wizard Of Oz</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Graduate</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On The Waterfront</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Schindler’s
List</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Singin’ In The Rain</i>… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq36XEVohXcQvRBwdsTrh1OqH8HwNAxZaFWDj1Fwh5mvYDRmRu4gaCyJD80syt2-gNyFmTIpZ_PZZRmdr98n8fgyOBWdL6qDGu8etnFLcm4PeegeFIz4a2Qe9PvRGV6ya5bRnr-Xx8Hcc/s1600/G01_CitizenKane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq36XEVohXcQvRBwdsTrh1OqH8HwNAxZaFWDj1Fwh5mvYDRmRu4gaCyJD80syt2-gNyFmTIpZ_PZZRmdr98n8fgyOBWdL6qDGu8etnFLcm4PeegeFIz4a2Qe9PvRGV6ya5bRnr-Xx8Hcc/s400/G01_CitizenKane.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Citizen Kane</em>, 1941, Director: Orson Welles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span><br /></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“I run a couple of newspapers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you do?”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.05in;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Casablanca</em>, 1942, Director: Michael Curtiz</td></tr>
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<span class="character"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It is perhaps a strange
circumstance that we both should be in love with the same woman. The first
evening I came to this café, I knew there was something between you and Ilsa.
Since no one is to blame, I - I demand no explanation. I ask only one thing. You
won't give me the letters of transit: all right, but I want my wife to be safe.
I ask you as a favor, to use the letters to take her away from Casablanca.”</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxRMySKDw62P-4mWuCsZ4ENspLIt-d30rwSvxhoIJJruAX3gWV6_Q0aul2HeXe16dNt-Wcq1NkAN8DBHVT7gYbB7V_9EkdWvMQ7Hb5LmQY4tvzzoifYp5zAAq8wNnX0DSUAkDyKe0eqI/s1600/G03_TheGodfather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxRMySKDw62P-4mWuCsZ4ENspLIt-d30rwSvxhoIJJruAX3gWV6_Q0aul2HeXe16dNt-Wcq1NkAN8DBHVT7gYbB7V_9EkdWvMQ7Hb5LmQY4tvzzoifYp5zAAq8wNnX0DSUAkDyKe0eqI/s400/G03_TheGodfather.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Godfather</em>, 1972, Director: Frances Ford Coppola</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Mr Corleone
never asks a second favor once he’s refused the first, understood?” </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>The Graduate</em>, 1967, Director: Mike Nichols</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“Benjamin, I am not trying to seduce you... Would you like me to seduce you?" </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwknteseej70x6Xqm6WuRFN8Kazy8CrjPIoqbCXSAqwf1ceS_MHhdxtQdmw0rEZJLMpZA8Ibd1-ZBnn5l9nY_cIzipL7WLwIR7CmwCK3n9mY8jfZ2d3VvK3DqXbEpXbCOv3fs0aZK7Vds/s1600/G08_OnTheWaterfront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwknteseej70x6Xqm6WuRFN8Kazy8CrjPIoqbCXSAqwf1ceS_MHhdxtQdmw0rEZJLMpZA8Ibd1-ZBnn5l9nY_cIzipL7WLwIR7CmwCK3n9mY8jfZ2d3VvK3DqXbEpXbCOv3fs0aZK7Vds/s400/G08_OnTheWaterfront.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>On The Waterfront</em>. 1954, Director: Elia Kazan</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“You don’t understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I coulda had class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I coulda been a contender, I coulda been
somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">THE
MARKETPLACE</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">An easy and inexpensive
way to build a collection of work by today's finest painters, sculptors, and
photographers-- Greeting cards from Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easier still: just browse the Louis R Nugent
gallery at Fine Art America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choose from
hundreds of unique ideas for home and office decor or holiday and birthday
cards for yourself or that special someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Individual cards cost less than $5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wall prints start at only $22.</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEVUu21JcxfFl_Ba0rkkyGZl3q8DnIQ7DO85Dh4E3Rb6CpY4BUPME9yoxZRyJUWnXTkk6Am1bOW4KaO21Cuwevk7Hzom77B0afMf5AVrYK_IZQpQNtwm32nqKAQOIVx18SkT7rbkqvYk/s1600/T07_LouisNugent_FanDancer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEVUu21JcxfFl_Ba0rkkyGZl3q8DnIQ7DO85Dh4E3Rb6CpY4BUPME9yoxZRyJUWnXTkk6Am1bOW4KaO21Cuwevk7Hzom77B0afMf5AVrYK_IZQpQNtwm32nqKAQOIVx18SkT7rbkqvYk/s320/T07_LouisNugent_FanDancer.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></i> </div>
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">h</a></span><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null"><a href="http://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/">ttp://louis-nugent.artistwebsites.com/</a><o:p></o:p></a></span></i><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Louis
R Nugent Photography<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> on Facebook @
louisnugent22.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span></i><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Other Fine Art America
sites for discriminating collectors:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/west-texas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/cajun-country-louisiana.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/cajun-country-louisiana.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/art-inspired-by-art.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/all-natural-scenic-landscapes.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html">http://fineartamerica.com/groups/4-abstract.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: large;">CREDITS<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Note:
Information for this essay is taken primarily from readily available sources
such as Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, and almanacs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When other sources are employed they are
credited either in the text or as follows:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>production and data film quotes from Internet Movie Database entries </span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt;">for Citizen Kane<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>Casablanca<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>The Godfather<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>The
Graduate<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, and </i>On the Waterfront<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">. All photographs are taken from Wikipedia
or Google Images without source or authorship credits available, except as
noted: None. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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