tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-238979682024-03-23T17:51:44.375-04:00shermaniablogart, cataloging, queer, whatever, exactlySherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.comBlogger678125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-12519686790595421272024-03-23T17:51:00.000-04:002024-03-23T17:51:09.713-04:00Harmony Hammond at the Whitney Biennial<p>A wonderful paragraph, for a variety of reasons, from the review of the 2024 Whitney Biennial in the <i>New Yorker</i> by Jackson Arn entitled "The Whitney Biennial's taste for flesh." Posted March 22, 2024, to appear in the April 1 print edition:</p><p>By a close margin, the four fabric assemblages of Harmony Hammond are the fleshiest things in this show. They use a variety of materials to suggest a whole menagerie of bodies, from pimply-shiny to aged and chalky. Colors are subdued for the most part, and strategically so: when a touch of red shrieks out of the dirty white field of "Chenille #11," it almost hurts. Hammond has suggested that flourishes like this were meant to evoke "sexual brutality against women," but take a few steps back and marvel at how this only deepens her work's mystery -- if the red is brutality, what are the string, the smeared white, the grommets? Interpretation is interwoven with the sheer, thingy strangeness of the object, and can't be ripped out. Art like this is built to last, I would guess. But if you prefer your political messaging neat, no chaser, you are welcome to walk to the other end of the sixth floor, go to the terrace, and spend some time with Kiyan Williams's big dirt sculpture of the White House sinking into the ground, complete with upside-down American flag. There's a label in case you can't figure out what it means.</p><p><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/the-whitney-biennial-art-review">https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/04/01/the-whitney-biennial-art-review</a><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">Some of the reasons:</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>descriptive words, rich and evocative</li><li>I was lucky enough to spend time with Harmony Hammond when we were both active in the Queer Caucus for Art, an affiliated society of the <a href="https://collegeart.org/">College Art Association</a> (now rebranding itself as simply CAA).</li><li>particular memory of drinks and conversation after a caucus business meeting in Philadelphia when the last remaining folks in the hotel lounge were several older lesbians and me, and then we walked each other back to our hotels. The younger folks had gone off dancing.</li><li>memories of visits to various Whitney Biennials; this one has just opened and runs until August so there's a chance I might get to the City to see it</li><li>I actually said the word "chenille" today when a friend asked us what color we thought her sweater was. I asked about the material. "Is it chenille?"</li><li>the ending of the paragraph</li></ul><p></p><p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-7186521012646797512024-03-14T10:21:00.000-04:002024-03-14T10:21:21.213-04:00trying to remember the artist's name<p>Some months ago, I was reminded of the work of a contemporary artist who does watercolors of animals, usually with captions beautifully written in the image. Kind of Audubon-like. I tried all kinds of googling and just could not get a result that included the artist. I had become familiar with the artist when I worked at the <a href="https://www.cartermuseum.org/">Amon Carter Museum</a> and I searched their collection online and that of other museums that might have had a work by him. I thought of sending a note to Milan (a colleague at the Carter) to ask about the artist. The desire to remember his name came and went. I cannot really say I was obsessed but I was frustrated. I felt like I could kind of remember his name but it's hard to search "kind of" on the web.</p><p>I hadn't thought about it for a while but, this morning, as I was reading the style section from last Sunday's <i>Times</i>, the social event pictures were from a centennial event at the <a href="https://www.themorgan.org/">Morgan Library & Museum</a> which happened to mention that one of the guests was artist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_Ford">Walton Ford</a>. Ta da! That's it! It is Walton Ford that I was trying to remember. Now I wonder what I just forgot so I have room for "Walton Ford" in my brain.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfmPsyQt2FID_qGUvyxV2PvuiFHDzVC6lgp1plUWO3Ut83UPeqGIAWtYeJzbN296g23DG1TNo8RAG_5FlW8C2wfJnlk5FFmnFDsKVlj173SH9KQaIzokiFTf0hoE4Ty-Ue-jyRTvQdSgaDqQOtJqdWUPz_0kzB5W5MHgsJDhwJNcbNshDVX9k/s300/waltonford-dyingwords.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="300" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfmPsyQt2FID_qGUvyxV2PvuiFHDzVC6lgp1plUWO3Ut83UPeqGIAWtYeJzbN296g23DG1TNo8RAG_5FlW8C2wfJnlk5FFmnFDsKVlj173SH9KQaIzokiFTf0hoE4Ty-Ue-jyRTvQdSgaDqQOtJqdWUPz_0kzB5W5MHgsJDhwJNcbNshDVX9k/s1600/waltonford-dyingwords.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Walton Ford</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"Dying Words"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Honolulu Museum of Art</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(from his Wikipedia page)</div><p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-49927264346684597542024-03-01T10:41:00.001-05:002024-03-03T12:21:26.713-05:00Bute & Montmirail<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhauLnLPbpC6GlBSOlnvOu31kAthZnxo1Yvn1cKoSLsiobL8UKTpWnxy-jFlC-txwMcp6MGSgr2ePlOgW9V_yEEAxtTYWFa3tsoOIKMINL8LKFl0H791EdKFTOC5-unDxaqozZ1VFGZMR4NdZycZGSu3I5-mVzrpLdFfhbO28mTx06sHx3p7BI5/s800/liotard-montmirail.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="625" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhauLnLPbpC6GlBSOlnvOu31kAthZnxo1Yvn1cKoSLsiobL8UKTpWnxy-jFlC-txwMcp6MGSgr2ePlOgW9V_yEEAxtTYWFa3tsoOIKMINL8LKFl0H791EdKFTOC5-unDxaqozZ1VFGZMR4NdZycZGSu3I5-mVzrpLdFfhbO28mTx06sHx3p7BI5/s320/liotard-montmirail.jpeg" width="250" /></a></div>This is a portrait of <a href="https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/108GFH">John, Lord Mountstewart</a>, later 4th Earl and 1st Marquess of Bute. The portrait is now in the Getty and was one of the works in today's <a href="https://www.nga.gov/artle.html">Artle</a>. I hear "Bute" in the voice of Michelle Fairley who plays Princess Augusta in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Charlotte:_A_Bridgerton_Story">Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story</a>. Another of today's Artle works was a portrait of Charles Benjamin de Langes de Montmirail, Baron de Lubières. "Montmirail" was the noble name of the man who was obsessed by Dowager Countess Violet (Maggie Smith) in the second Downton Abbey film. He left his villa in the South of France to her. Perhaps I'm living too much in historical spaces as manifested in popular culture. Or perhaps the real world needs to be escaped from.<br /> <p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-4985958563268719132024-02-25T17:34:00.001-05:002024-02-25T22:41:54.397-05:00another southern road trip, 2024<p>This road trip in the deep of winter to the southern states may be habit forming. <a href="https://shermaniablog.blogspot.com/2023/01/stops-along-way-on-my-southern-road-trip.html">Last year's road trip</a> was quite focused on the Sargent show in Washington, visiting Jeanette in South Carolina, magazines to USModernist, visiting Elizabeth in Orlando, and the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum in Biloxi, Mississippi. This year, I did visit Jeanette again and spent a couple days with Elizabeth and brought her some papers from Alfred that she needed. But overall it was less focused. Here, again, I am posting a list of the overnight or other stops along the way.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Fredericksburg, Virginia: after the bucolic ride through horsey Virginia country, the confluence of U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 1, and Interstate 95 at Fredericksburg was almost more maelstrom than I could handle; I did find the Holiday Inn Express and settled into a yummy catfish and grits at the Orleans Bistro, a walk from the hotel; it was karaoke night at the bistro but I survived and woke refreshed; alas, I lost my beloved Harvard IT Summit 2011 travel mug when I left it on top of the car (I didn't drive away with it still on the roof but it wasn't there when I remembered to go get it after supper)</li><li>Florence, South Carolina: overnight with Jeanette and Wanda, plenty of pleasant catching up</li><li>Beaufort, South Carolina: intrigued with Beaufort, is it just because I like saying "bew-fert"?; the <a href="https://shermaniablog.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-big-thrill.html">waiter at the Lost Local</a> told me where I might find the <i>Sunday New York Times</i> the next day but City Java & News didn't come through and the Publix supermarket did; I enjoy traveling through the coastal salt marshes between Beaufort and Savannah though I didn't stop in Savannah this year</li><li>Brunswick, Georgia: Main Street in the historic district; good pad thai at Basil Thai with a staff that included Asians, Mexicans, Blacks, and whites</li><li>Flagler Beach, Florida: dreaming of an old-fashioned oceanside motel along the beach highway but ended up at a Hampton Inn in Palm Coast</li><li>Winter Park, Florida: lunch, strolling, and shopping to spend time before getting to Elizabeth's after she did her volunteer income tax assistance sponsored by AARP at a community center</li><li>Orlando, Florida (day 1): got to Elizabeth's before she was home; Capsi looked at me quizzically and then decided I was that guy from Alfred and started jumping and barking</li><li>Orlando (day 2): both Elizabeth and I had a morning zoom; we had an easy day with a visit to the Orlando Museum and otherwise just kind of hung around and chatted</li><li>Orlando (day 3): Elizabeth went to the community center for some more tax assistance and I walked around downtown Orlando, looked at some architecture books at the public library, and then went to the Orange County Regional History Center; the library had a historical vitrine display that included an early accession book; the new performing arts center in Orlando is named for Dr Phillips and I learned at the History Center that he developed the process for pasteurizing orange juice; I also learned that Hannibal Square in Winter Park was the former Black section of the downtown shopping area</li><li>Sarasota, Florida: Ringling Museum of Art, particularly the new Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for Asian Art (a small pavilion with a green-glazed terracotta façade, designed by <a href="https://www.machado-silvetti.com/portfolio/ringling-museum-of-art">Machado Silvetti</a>)</li><li>Sarasota to Tallahassee, Florida: I wanted to take the blue highways and ended up confused off the interstate around Tampa and discovered a pre-Vatican II chapel (<a href="https://www.qaschapel.org/">Queen of All Saints Chapel</a>) near Brooksville; I couldn't go inside since the dress code for men required coat and tie, no jeans, no earrings</li><li>Tallahassee, Florida: what a hilly surprise (the seven hills, just like Rome) after several hours of flat coastal territory</li><li>Bainbridge, Georgia: the Quality Inn here somehow reminded me of Mount Vernon (columns and porch)</li><li>Blakely, Georgia: county seat of Early County (good courthouse and square)</li><li>Kolomoki Mounds State Historic Park, near Blakely: the Temple Mound is 50-odd feet high (I didn't make it to Teotihuacán last year but this mound was pretty impressive)</li><li>Columbus, Georgia: the museum was mostly closed for rehabilitation but the Corn Center at Columbus State University had a Lennart Anderson show and several large Bo Bartlett paintings on view; downtown Columbus has a handsome new formalist Government Center that reminded me of Yamasaki and a performing arts center designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer; the symphony here is the second oldest in the U.S.</li><li>Bremen, Georgia: El Morelia Mexican restaurant was just across from the Tractor Supply, near the Quality Inn</li><li>Bremen to Rome: just the beginning of the international city names; U.S. 27 up the western side of Georgia was mostly four lane and divided highway and virtually empty; it was quite a surprise to re-enter the interstate world after Rome, Georgia</li></ul>Continuing to repeat last year's road trip, at a certain point I quit dawdling and interstated most of the rest of the northward journey. This year, I did a more inland trip, skirting Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Lexington, Kentucky. I stopped at Dry Ridge, Kentucky, because it was getting dark, it was about 25 miles south of greater Cincinnati, and it was just south of Sherman, Kentucky. It also happened to be just north of The Ark Experience in Williamstown, Kentucky. I did go look through the gates to The Ark but it wasn't open and I probably wouldn't have gone in even if it had been. Anyway, I looked around Sherman a bit and took a couple pictures.<div><div><p></p></div></div><div>I had started seeing snow alongside the road but it was bright and the snow was melting. I skirted Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, Ohio. One more night on the road, in Painesville, Ohio, and then back to the blue highways in Salamanca, New York, for the last couple hours.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beyond Bremen, Rome, and Salamanca, I also went through or saw signs for Paris, London, Chatsworth, Florence, Berlin, and Athens, and Ringgold.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZPCpzsKTReVXIAQSrhahy61EecQ_0BB3Kc9ejdRmcLEoykndcAFdKky-__ADJ7Agy2YuQA5zdwIKvaccNEoUbUxYE2EOCcCoaVzPTaQDVWqn1tXfuBDlRk38Zt2gFY58Iiervxo4nBM8MbJWRWRtAGQ9oa48BjlcXW5DjNgCxgUmrzZXSoMx/s4608/IMG_5119.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZPCpzsKTReVXIAQSrhahy61EecQ_0BB3Kc9ejdRmcLEoykndcAFdKky-__ADJ7Agy2YuQA5zdwIKvaccNEoUbUxYE2EOCcCoaVzPTaQDVWqn1tXfuBDlRk38Zt2gFY58Iiervxo4nBM8MbJWRWRtAGQ9oa48BjlcXW5DjNgCxgUmrzZXSoMx/s320/IMG_5119.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpF6trBR4pC-HK-aRSW2YBrcDDM3w1a0jyHZCTJHzFJ2NUSy1cphnM_hup0I02tJXAfWqJRE2lpNZaOm6xbhYLoO0diVconVVcNA5cT5OBKaxUKJXx-NRjvwGVVhuB9W-ugQdNVl9KAP5nuxiKSCeeC7EhH7xO_PiB6KqJPclyG5XU5R5YRrR/s4608/IMG_5090.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpF6trBR4pC-HK-aRSW2YBrcDDM3w1a0jyHZCTJHzFJ2NUSy1cphnM_hup0I02tJXAfWqJRE2lpNZaOm6xbhYLoO0diVconVVcNA5cT5OBKaxUKJXx-NRjvwGVVhuB9W-ugQdNVl9KAP5nuxiKSCeeC7EhH7xO_PiB6KqJPclyG5XU5R5YRrR/s320/IMG_5090.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Top picture is a church (no sign) in Sherman, Kentucky. The bottom picture is Ca' d'Zan, the Ringling mansion, Sarasota, Florida. More pictures at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/56294332@N00/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/56294332@N00/</a>.</div>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-71061035624526953032024-02-21T22:27:00.000-05:002024-02-21T22:27:27.772-05:00Miuccia Chickanzeff: ah, Venice<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B7IpS7BzU5B1ma7BFtnUYvzRsXhFZTVAeyX2U4BtoBce0FMU1jK2tbJBaBdztIabkHuFmvIT2GTxVO8Jrps0GLBoZziqIdLwiwRSUcDY0Oqp92VqSBm2W0I9mE7GlJTIt38foSQrArRxjsUfpEflA_gueT6ii78PspUtxAEXB-TjAX9LEtbm/s1036/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-21%20at%2010.17.36%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1036" data-original-width="830" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9B7IpS7BzU5B1ma7BFtnUYvzRsXhFZTVAeyX2U4BtoBce0FMU1jK2tbJBaBdztIabkHuFmvIT2GTxVO8Jrps0GLBoZziqIdLwiwRSUcDY0Oqp92VqSBm2W0I9mE7GlJTIt38foSQrArRxjsUfpEflA_gueT6ii78PspUtxAEXB-TjAX9LEtbm/s320/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-21%20at%2010.17.36%20PM.png" width="256" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURGP8P8sYFsZKcR1T-_-80GQXt3XcTiG-XShFJ_EhwJ_SZsRBVHGWn99wfcr3FipVCmv3L4tPMkzjyIX4K1lqkeljhr2tv3U4Z35uPNXNtSO2SWtLKXkNdsW8VoV1ivalWi6ynM_q6ww8IBPLVQrdi7f3IZkQTTNvBeJ9qTa52g2D35vLLkOG/s799/5241679737_c50dfde52c_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="799" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURGP8P8sYFsZKcR1T-_-80GQXt3XcTiG-XShFJ_EhwJ_SZsRBVHGWn99wfcr3FipVCmv3L4tPMkzjyIX4K1lqkeljhr2tv3U4Z35uPNXNtSO2SWtLKXkNdsW8VoV1ivalWi6ynM_q6ww8IBPLVQrdi7f3IZkQTTNvBeJ9qTa52g2D35vLLkOG/s320/5241679737_c50dfde52c_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-46520020881083079792024-02-19T19:37:00.000-05:002024-02-19T19:37:12.554-05:00Queen of All Saints Chapel<p>I happened on the Queen of All Saints Chapel on Spring Lake Road near Brooksville, Florida, because I was lost northeast of Tampa on my way from Sarasota toward Tallahassee. But what fun to find this treasure of conservative traditionalism. It would have been fun to go inside but the dress code for men included coat and tie, no jeans, no earrings. Three strikes, you're out(side).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQz2XxS__aT2BSi1-Sh6si-612mKFezKDiEPI6-3FGQb4tvMgLJcD68cM0xaEXmDg9nhC-EYDQsPASliUHaj7_K8pZWEgN6-oINEC8-rsM0Zln0Q-sB3L9eB9bnLw4b2did4BjjvOVa1xDJYNvlCM6DuHtI1kyexcKahie5bmK78pfI29-aRLi/s4608/IMG_5096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQz2XxS__aT2BSi1-Sh6si-612mKFezKDiEPI6-3FGQb4tvMgLJcD68cM0xaEXmDg9nhC-EYDQsPASliUHaj7_K8pZWEgN6-oINEC8-rsM0Zln0Q-sB3L9eB9bnLw4b2did4BjjvOVa1xDJYNvlCM6DuHtI1kyexcKahie5bmK78pfI29-aRLi/s320/IMG_5096.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPa0rChbbAgfmk-INnHgfQnlTWdnE0dARBcehqRvRaCqQ69i6D43_szH0AanEUxCe6rHbvMEes1GZzhmV1sQhewMLcs3d2juN8VM6PkWhexMBweg47M8YilThO9nB7GhIy330PujMXjdbVdL9LlezOcnrXZAm-3ZdCMVQkpEGHe6vjuBl3zGxH/s4608/IMG_5094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPa0rChbbAgfmk-INnHgfQnlTWdnE0dARBcehqRvRaCqQ69i6D43_szH0AanEUxCe6rHbvMEes1GZzhmV1sQhewMLcs3d2juN8VM6PkWhexMBweg47M8YilThO9nB7GhIy330PujMXjdbVdL9LlezOcnrXZAm-3ZdCMVQkpEGHe6vjuBl3zGxH/s320/IMG_5094.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>More pictures from my southern road trip at <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/56294332@N00/albums/72177720314881851">https://www.flickr.com/photos/56294332@N00/albums/72177720314881851</a><br /> <p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-72786564695095565912024-02-11T18:32:00.001-05:002024-02-11T18:33:14.107-05:00the big thrill<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0AKzUmK4iqtQAQCVgLn5JsBJwJZbweh_EtC_51Kgk09MLZjc8NaJSmlVo1UaOgRQU5jH1IxjyqVCYOccHqNlYQEX8W5uR0saaEcYEbuwe87fB7sQ2C8VzFlCL9pGaCr5KpdqHVLe_VTWHeYcXDeEi95IXG4yWmmMWt4EWkjIkMLo_-y61sir/s1125/bigchillhouse-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="1125" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0AKzUmK4iqtQAQCVgLn5JsBJwJZbweh_EtC_51Kgk09MLZjc8NaJSmlVo1UaOgRQU5jH1IxjyqVCYOccHqNlYQEX8W5uR0saaEcYEbuwe87fB7sQ2C8VzFlCL9pGaCr5KpdqHVLe_VTWHeYcXDeEi95IXG4yWmmMWt4EWkjIkMLo_-y61sir/s320/bigchillhouse-1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>I was in Beaufort, South Carolina, last night, with early supper at the <a href="https://lostlocal.com/">Lost Local</a> for tacos (one ahi tuna and one carnitas) and a yummy margarita (Perfect Margarita on the menu). It was Saturday night so I asked the waiter if she knew where I might get a Sunday <i>New York Times</i> the next morning. She didn't know but asked one of her colleagues. One place was <a href="https://citylofthotel.com/city-java-news/">City Java & News</a> so I figured there was a good chance they'd be purveyors of a good selection of papers including the <i>Times</i>. They weren't open after I left the restaurant so I couldn't ask. The waiter said she saw folks with Sunday papers so the chances seemed good with both City Java and the other coffee shop, over on the waterfront.<p></p><p>Well, when I went 'round on Sunday morning, neither of the coffee shops had any papers other than the local weekly. So I asked the City Java clerk if there were any big grocery stores. Yep, there's a Publix over on Boundary Street, on the way out of town, said she. And I'm delighted to say they had quite a stack of <i>Times</i> but one less after I got mine.</p><p>There was a fine used book store in Cleveland named <a href="https://wayneandchristina.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/of-bookshops-past-part-one/">Publix Book Mart</a>. We medieval art history graduate students at Case Western used to find great treasures there. Like manuscript leaves (at least one of mine is from the Ege album), early prints (at least one of Chuck's was a Dürer and I found a page from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Chronicle"><i>Nuremberg Chronicle</i></a>), and other good stuff. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJycMWqBVBNZdq0s_YjzYY93uWKwHxK_prR4-QYYfNXDhMPEbSPkS_4DWvWj_NXZviKhZrzBBmlENdfoRCzk1NCzu_yRwWlrfQJ2TtYzlyDKyPcYwW6iZMCqb3kCW4vO0vUXrhyvzyZLBQnuNGXmzSzkw0miHwjXhQ2LGS1hnD2-1z2km3gZ1/s800/4678856810_4dedc5137a_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="578" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJycMWqBVBNZdq0s_YjzYY93uWKwHxK_prR4-QYYfNXDhMPEbSPkS_4DWvWj_NXZviKhZrzBBmlENdfoRCzk1NCzu_yRwWlrfQJ2TtYzlyDKyPcYwW6iZMCqb3kCW4vO0vUXrhyvzyZLBQnuNGXmzSzkw0miHwjXhQ2LGS1hnD2-1z2km3gZ1/s320/4678856810_4dedc5137a_c.jpg" width="231" /></a>Ege 13</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjva8HOsvmQ33HK-84feXHdMNTT2wzDJ250iK6rLH1BGPiKqN3Mb8ofX4XPLIvjha4i9MMOaGBevVjOsLbB32j0JpMe0fYdOzpQijoYpv8Z_feZmhahSqPxmgJQzs-iPkF9XN0kIs6hRrqmPyQMmwWUPDhdWauRZYdio2QDlKPAAS08twSRVYlu/s920/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-11%20at%206.18.48%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="656" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjva8HOsvmQ33HK-84feXHdMNTT2wzDJ250iK6rLH1BGPiKqN3Mb8ofX4XPLIvjha4i9MMOaGBevVjOsLbB32j0JpMe0fYdOzpQijoYpv8Z_feZmhahSqPxmgJQzs-iPkF9XN0kIs6hRrqmPyQMmwWUPDhdWauRZYdio2QDlKPAAS08twSRVYlu/s320/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-11%20at%206.18.48%20PM.png" width="228" /></a>Nuremberg Chronicle</div><p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-80532979953888733232024-01-31T10:18:00.003-05:002024-02-02T19:07:45.855-05:00reading at the taverna<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkai7lGVVkdqsgOIhsWrS2Yk80g1RW2MD0co1iCXxKhQOsjw9zI_2ilsvZ7626jVB9rMWZujJNjLD6g20KGk31SOi48UR5lDNPaCUjpcW5iXlGuV1RlwckTbXcz-bFqfw9qcHRI_QEsgQoOJAxi_cogIpAUZRbSGyGmLfg8ZCGSnQHo2L5TgCP/s1536/Naxos_Taverna.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1536" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkai7lGVVkdqsgOIhsWrS2Yk80g1RW2MD0co1iCXxKhQOsjw9zI_2ilsvZ7626jVB9rMWZujJNjLD6g20KGk31SOi48UR5lDNPaCUjpcW5iXlGuV1RlwckTbXcz-bFqfw9qcHRI_QEsgQoOJAxi_cogIpAUZRbSGyGmLfg8ZCGSnQHo2L5TgCP/s320/Naxos_Taverna.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><b>"Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).</b><p></p><p> Each summer I rent a house in a village in the foothills of the White Mountains in Crete. There is one bougainvillea-shaded taverna, which shares the village square with a tiny Byzantine chapel, decorated with magnificent 14th-century frescoes. I go there at lunchtime with a book. The taverna owner, Kostas, brings me whatever he's cooking, with beer. He lets me talk my lousy Greek. Cats snooze. Dogs lollop. The local farmers come and discuss the price of watermelons. I'm in heaven."</p><p>Dan Jones, "By the book," <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/25/books/review/dan-jones-by-the-book-interview.html"><i>New York times book review</i></a>, January 28, 2024.</p><p>Sounds perfect, Mr Jones.</p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-56500387443082775622024-01-23T11:13:00.003-05:002024-01-25T12:00:01.261-05:00cheatle<p>I'll admit it: I cheat at <a href="https://www.nga.gov/artle.html">Artle</a>, the art game from the National Gallery of Art. They show you four works in succession and you have to guess the artist. I do try but if I'm just blanking, I'll do a Google image search. Work number three today was intriguing, kind of Daliesque, fantastic surrealism.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNBpFPy-Sb82nkMm9BLqrAgHm-JZtTFM8ZvNgHnjWtcyC2VGJQTfBqOsp6IAWqYBVx47zZ7BpPjYcga5wCopllfKgoFMJx_Dp2pWanvl_WlSWbXPFGzBy_N_CWcowpuOUl9D-vAiMWMYmqe93CfMcpXvWdvWNMpumlU6uu99PpJiRiGqMZXZV/s740/dekooning.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="740" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNBpFPy-Sb82nkMm9BLqrAgHm-JZtTFM8ZvNgHnjWtcyC2VGJQTfBqOsp6IAWqYBVx47zZ7BpPjYcga5wCopllfKgoFMJx_Dp2pWanvl_WlSWbXPFGzBy_N_CWcowpuOUl9D-vAiMWMYmqe93CfMcpXvWdvWNMpumlU6uu99PpJiRiGqMZXZV/s320/dekooning.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>The first and second works were very different and I should have guessed but work number three really threw me. It's one of the interesting early works from a federal competition by an artist whose mature works are significantly different.</p><p>Spoiler here: <a href="https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.158369.html">https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.158369.html</a> </p><p>I justify my cheating by saying that Artle is a learning experience. The object pages are linked from the game as is the artist information page. Fortunately, Artle doesn't talk back to me or accuse me of cheating. One of my friends and colleagues at the NGA Library says she is involved with setting up Artle and I thank her every day.</p><p>When I'm done with Artle, I do Wordle and Globle. They (the famous they) say that little brain exercises are good for aging people, aka everybody.</p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-88492596494497608272024-01-17T23:55:00.003-05:002024-01-17T23:55:59.016-05:00The Diplomat<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimQkqjAqmdmR0yCd8-eGDGm0JhkuUjR9hakaVd3W5qf-_ngN9WPyqAXxsInh6TOErgPRPJLFt96DYP3rYfk4BZhUXEg9-uQtpRm_HHaatZ19uFmWFv7sisoVhfM48SUVVps3FYJqtzGuSNecO-IV3cAbF-iVixyJV1mPaDYoolukIG4Pg7P4jY/s2048/diplomat.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2048" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimQkqjAqmdmR0yCd8-eGDGm0JhkuUjR9hakaVd3W5qf-_ngN9WPyqAXxsInh6TOErgPRPJLFt96DYP3rYfk4BZhUXEg9-uQtpRm_HHaatZ19uFmWFv7sisoVhfM48SUVVps3FYJqtzGuSNecO-IV3cAbF-iVixyJV1mPaDYoolukIG4Pg7P4jY/s320/diplomat.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>I have been bingeing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diplomat_(American_TV_series)">The Diplomat</a> and it is kind of scary. But then you check out the day's headlines in the <i>New York Times</i> and discover that the real world is just a whole lot too similar. Explosive events in the Middle East. Potential for nuclear options. Personal relationships getting tangled up. Ambition and revenge. Power hunger. Maybe I should go watch <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/">Barbie</a>.<br /> <p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-85950524010883501892024-01-04T17:00:00.002-05:002024-01-06T15:42:41.201-05:00the books I read in 2023<p>The last book I finished in 2023 was <i>The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry</i> by Rachel Joyce. I was in New York City for the New Year's weekend, catsitting at John's. John had shown me an article from <i>Harper's</i> on "<a href="https://harpers.org/archive/2023/08/street-life/">Street Life</a>" by Rachel Kushner from the August 2023 issue. I went to the film "All of Us Strangers" on New Year's Day. The book, the article, and the movie all circled, in their way, around the banality and disappointment and glory of everyday life and how big a role observation can play in how that works out. On the 30th, I was off galleryhopping at MoMA PS1 and ran into Janis, Sherri, Julie, and Hikmet in the Court Square subway station. I joined them in visiting the Tracey Emin and Donna Huanca shows at <a href="https://www.faurschou.com/">Faurschou</a> in Greenpoint but then split off and went to the Whitney and LGBT Center before meeting Heidi and Dan for supper. All everyday and ordinary and glorious and, well, New York City.</p><p>The books I read this past year are listed here in chronological order of reading.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>The magician</i>, by Colm Tóibín (2021)</li><li><i>Harlem shuffle</i>, by Colson Whitehead (2021)</li><li><i>Flâneuse: women walk the city in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London</i>, by Lauren Elkin (2017)</li><li><i>Piazza Carignano</i>, by Alain Elkann (1985) - bought at a used book store in Provincetown; the Carignano Palace in Turin was one of my favorite buildings on our 2018 trip to Turin, Milan, and Genoa; the book was fine but I really enjoyed the association with the building and plaza</li><li><i>Driver's eduction</i>, by Grant Ginder (2013) - this only gets 3.17 stars on Goodreads; that's why I don't pay too much attention to review stars; I really enjoyed this book and its style</li><li><i>Germania: in wayward pursuit of the Germans and their history</i>, by Simon Winder (2010) - one of a trilogy of histories of Middle Europe; I really enjoyed all three volumes (thanks, Daniel)</li><li><i>Just by looking at him</i>, by Ryan O'Connell (2022)</li><li><i>Just mercy</i>, by Bryan Stevenson (2014)</li><li><i>Mrs Caliban</i>, by Rachel Ingalls (1982)</li><li><i>Radio girls</i>, by Sarah-Jane Stratford (2016)</li><li><i>Italian days: fifty things we know about life now</i>, by Beppe Severgnini (2022)</li><li><i>Danubia: a personal history of Habsburg Europe</i>, by Simon Winder (2013)</li><li><i>The art of description: world into word</i>, by Mark Doty (2010) - it sounds like a book on cataloging ... but it's not, it is about words and putting them together</li><li><i>The heart's invisible furies</i>, by John Boyne (2017)</li><li><i>The honey bus: the memory of loss, courage and a girl saved by bees</i>, by Meredith May (2019)</li><li><i>JD</i>, by Mark Merlis (2015)</li><li><i>Girl, woman, other</i>, by Bernardine Evaristo (2019) - it took me a while to get used to the writing style but it worked: each sentence was a paragraph, not capitalized</li><li><i>The library book</i>, by Susan Orlean (2018)</li><li><i>Unsheltered</i>, by Barbara Kingsolver (2018) - chomping at the bit, waiting for <i>Demon Copperhead</i> to come out in paper but did enjoy this one while waiting</li><li><i>Becoming George Orwell: life and letters, legend and legacy</i>, by John Rodden (2020)</li><li><i>The promise</i>, by Damon Galgut (2021)</li><li><i>The poetics of cruising: queer visual culture from Whitman to Grindr</i>, by Jack Parlett (2022)</li><li><i>Solomon's crown</i>, by Natasha Siegel (2023) - Richard the Lionheart and Philip Augustus, 12th century speculative fiction</li><li><i>The address book: what street addresses reveal about identity, race, wealth, and power</i>, by Dierdre Mask (2020)</li><li><i>The last day: wrath, ruin, and reason in the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755</i>, by Nicholas Shrady (2008)</li><li><i>The personal librarian</i>, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray (2021) - fictionalized life of Belle da Costa Greene, longtime librarian for J.P. Morgan; it took me a while to get into it but I really enjoyed it once I hit the rhythm</li><li><i>Every good boy does fine: a love story, in music lessons</i>, by Jeremy Denk (2022) - maybe my favorite book of the year</li><li><i>High-risk homosexual</i>, by Edgar Gomez (2022)</li><li><i>French braid</i>, by Anne Tyler (2022)</li><li><i>Dream cities: seven urban ideas that shape the world</i>, by Wade Graham (2016)</li><li><i>The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry</i>, by Rachel Joyce (2012)</li></ul>I would not advise you against reading any of these books. I enjoyed some of them very much as I read them. Several of them resonated with places I have been or want to go. I bought several of them in Provincetown, over the years. Plenty of Rachels. As usual, about an even split of fiction and non-fiction. And now I've started reading <i>Orwell's roses</i> by Rebecca Solnit and find it thoughtful (no surprise because Solnit) and compelling.<p>If you want to see how Goodreads saw my year in reading, go to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2023/6837039">https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2023/6837039</a>. There, you can click on book covers and see a summary of the book and how it is rated on Goodreads. I did read a note in one of my magazine newsletters that the author had given up on Goodreads (part of the Amazon empire) and was just using Google Sheets where she could add a column for author's gender if she wanted to. I would like a column for how I heard about a book. I know Carol recommended <i>Orwell's roses</i>.</p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-6627654572585209642024-01-03T22:54:00.001-05:002024-01-04T11:57:24.582-05:00Lady Moody's Gravesend<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy-A8IhTbin_pOz1mZ3L1_Eu9CWTkqjbgftZsiSzC99FE4fSXXnN2zJnEQQloQuWq6UaZfM7HnLi_lUQhRWYPbsBhwbCB_BS9PSnMawauEzHbZEuXO354mITlzM2LTOz7Zvbrs3JjPWc_vIi7UppIbgH76PD2bqdUwB9GMuqUfmA8VfbdDVKm/s968/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-03%20at%201.11.42%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="968" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy-A8IhTbin_pOz1mZ3L1_Eu9CWTkqjbgftZsiSzC99FE4fSXXnN2zJnEQQloQuWq6UaZfM7HnLi_lUQhRWYPbsBhwbCB_BS9PSnMawauEzHbZEuXO354mITlzM2LTOz7Zvbrs3JjPWc_vIi7UppIbgH76PD2bqdUwB9GMuqUfmA8VfbdDVKm/s320/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-03%20at%201.11.42%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>The Municipal Art Society announced a tour of Gravesend, in southern Brooklyn, and entitled it "<a href="https://www.mas.org/events/lady-moodys-gravesend/">Discovering Lady Moody's Gravesend</a>." The announcement is illustrated with a picture of Trinity Tabernacle (above, screengrabbed from Google Street View). Lady Moody (born Deborah Dunch, married Sir Henry Moody) left England in 1639 where she was prosecuted for her Anabaptist beliefs. She settled in Saugus, Massachusetts, where she soon got in trouble with the established Puritan church. She moved on to Gravesend, Brooklyn, where she is the only European woman known to have founded a town in colonial America. The Dutch West India Company was more tolerant of religious dissent than the Puritans of Massachusetts. More detail: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Moody">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Moody</a><p></p><p>The tabernacle grabbed my attention with its quirky massing and Gothic Revival details. I was further intrigued because my mother's family has paternal roots in Gravesend. Among Lady Moody's followers who joined her in Gravesend after she was excommunicated in Massachusetts was a Thomas Poling who had a son John Poling. John's son Samuel Poling married the granddaughter of Pieter Claesen Wyckoff, an early Dutch settler. The early Polings used various spellings of the surname, including Poland, Polen, and Polan. My mother's people had settled on Polan a few generations before hers.</p><p>I am not as obsessed with genealogy as some folks but I do enjoy the probable connections. Bunches of religious dissenters. My father's paternal ancestors come down through the Clarkes of Rhode Island.</p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-38519707302386448472023-12-11T12:35:00.000-05:002023-12-11T12:35:53.961-05:00George and Dora in Philadelphia<p>Great Aunt Dora was one of the most gracious ladies that I knew in my childhood. She was the longtime Dean of Women at Alfred University when that role also included playing hostess to esteemed guests of the university. Her first husband was George C.R. Degen, a stockbroker, and they lived in Philadelphia for most of the first couple decades of the twentieth century. They also lived for a while in New York City; I have seen a photo of their NYC apartment which shows a bit of the cherry dining table that became part of my furnishings for much of my adult life. That table came back to the family house in Alfred, New York, in 1995 when I moved from Texas to my studio apartment in New York City.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivi4S5XVHwoX6kuP4HXWXbczaSGFP4Fpk7s5RLrMZ5AQSlroZifzxbrZo-QTBgatqRMUr08T89xHHkvPR3vMvGeul4KYW6WjuwFErXZW4vUXsYV9AztA_dtCUiAIxQY7H6JUTEI7FZxbdS3VS-TjhkSs8ezqUn2LrHQSU-0S8URRkRCiLATsUv/s800/8452598600_8c534a2e90_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="800" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivi4S5XVHwoX6kuP4HXWXbczaSGFP4Fpk7s5RLrMZ5AQSlroZifzxbrZo-QTBgatqRMUr08T89xHHkvPR3vMvGeul4KYW6WjuwFErXZW4vUXsYV9AztA_dtCUiAIxQY7H6JUTEI7FZxbdS3VS-TjhkSs8ezqUn2LrHQSU-0S8URRkRCiLATsUv/s320/8452598600_8c534a2e90_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Aunt Dora came back to the family house in Alfred, New York, after the death of her husband in the early 1920s. She married J. Nelson Norwood, also widowed, in 1954 and they lived upstairs in the family house. Uncle Nelson had been president of Alfred University. This picture shows Aunt Dora and Uncle Nelson in 1936, both officers of the university and probably part of the centennial celebrations that year. They were not yet married but are standing in front of the family house.<p></p><p>The reason I have been thinking about all this history is a coincidence in the most recent book I finished reading. The book was <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/690553/french-braid-by-anne-tyler/"><i>French Braid</i></a> by Anne Tyler. Most of the characters and action are set in Baltimore. The mother of the family, Mercy Garrett, mentions at one point that she went to visit her friends George and Dora in Philadelphia. Nothing about the two, no relevant twist of the plot, nothing. Just George and Dora in Philadelphia.</p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-73668259123837411002023-12-10T21:25:00.000-05:002023-12-10T21:25:40.875-05:00Connecticuters in LCDGT<p>I am a bit skeptical about the value of the <a href="https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeLCDGT/freelcdgt.html">Library of Congress Demographic Group Terms vocabulary</a> (LCDGT). While there are demographic terms like <i>Nebraskans</i> and <i>Californians</i> that are widely used to describe people from those places, some of the terms being proposed for the vocabulary seem like a stretch, for example, <i>Albanians (New York State)</i> for the residents of Albany, New York. And then I saw an article in today's <i>New York Times</i> about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/09/nyregion/connecticut-rebranding.html">Connecticut doing a rebranding</a>. The governor and others are worried that people see Connecticut as a somewhat boring waystation between New York City and Boston. The author of the article opines that residents do not even know what to call themselves. Are they Connecticuters? Connecticutians? Connecticutites? So I checked LCDGT and the preferred term is <i>Connecticut residents</i>. The LCDGT record has references from <i>Connecticuters</i>, <i>Connecticotians</i>, and <i>Connecticutensians</i>, as well as from <i>Nutmeggers</i>, from the state nickname, The Nutmeg State.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg9MmWueLGIBBigFUPJLzETfRbZPVKAV0vL0_oaylLqbDzm1fm7Yg4xN8jZeb5BVH-CcUJ7JcY0B8tYwbNMbz2fFfTZyy5aWbVk1kE62Wh6zoGb068DRp49lRz8AKbWgkf_DoNwVf4uFMusb8Ts69H5FjqC03InH0JWvlYy7D0b7AG8iNc9vEz/s800/10650787544_61ff9e0a8e_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg9MmWueLGIBBigFUPJLzETfRbZPVKAV0vL0_oaylLqbDzm1fm7Yg4xN8jZeb5BVH-CcUJ7JcY0B8tYwbNMbz2fFfTZyy5aWbVk1kE62Wh6zoGb068DRp49lRz8AKbWgkf_DoNwVf4uFMusb8Ts69H5FjqC03InH0JWvlYy7D0b7AG8iNc9vEz/s320/10650787544_61ff9e0a8e_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Photo taken in Albany, N.Y., by an <i>Alfredian</i></div><p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-47392701258347169682023-12-04T11:02:00.003-05:002023-12-09T09:52:21.456-05:00the subject of the Artle work<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8eket1a3bC3RkjRRZVfGkXRdBYTu3mPF_573FzBVVu6VZXm7hi9S7ZbzeaMd36Jog1KCanuJqbl1UnO5jkIeHrV4cot5-ce1IDKNsQpbcKlzIwqyNYYbJVlXNXJiwQDSsmSIn7U8n6zWfdQeTl4tZ2nsQlnSoKSMRk5EnGv_Ap4BHEdfxiBra/s244/Marie_Norton_Harriman,_1956.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="166" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8eket1a3bC3RkjRRZVfGkXRdBYTu3mPF_573FzBVVu6VZXm7hi9S7ZbzeaMd36Jog1KCanuJqbl1UnO5jkIeHrV4cot5-ce1IDKNsQpbcKlzIwqyNYYbJVlXNXJiwQDSsmSIn7U8n6zWfdQeTl4tZ2nsQlnSoKSMRk5EnGv_Ap4BHEdfxiBra/s1600/Marie_Norton_Harriman,_1956.jpeg" width="166" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Norton_Harriman">Marie Harriman</a>, 1903-1970, gallerist and second wife of W. Averill Harriman, is the subject of the portrait in today's <a href="https://www.nga.gov/artle.html">Artle</a>. The portrait, in the National Gallery of Art, does not seem to me like a predictable work by the artist. Joe Biden borrowed the painting to hang in his Vice Presidential office in the Old Executive Office Building from 2009-2015, according to the NGA exhibition information on the page for the painting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Marie Harriman's Wikipedia page is a master lesson in name dropping: Averill Harriman, Peter Duchin, Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney (son of Harry Payne Whitney and Gertrude Vanderbilt), Hall Roosevelt (brother of Eleanor), Babe Paley, Pamela Beryl Digby Churchill Hayward, Randolph Churchill (son of Winston), Leland Hayward, and Miss Spence's School. I guess this is what happens when you are in the New York upper crust.</div> <p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-64113918490481563202023-11-01T22:13:00.000-04:002023-11-01T22:13:28.468-04:00perusing the paper & architecture and politics<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0aZqDMJSNLyXCFKcwLow3UIu-Z2eMQtyytO5oo7Jhjr4qRZbTiSj7cmGN6M7as-4LPLCNYrN-1-K0EZyy1324feOfEGm0bracBDwnJ4_PSGMDAKMHs-5icVgFRYWCwibGDACcpYjiQo8_izAqeD7TxSHe6_bhO7QCgAnqrSndHHtBp80CDVXM/s2048/st-louis-arch.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0aZqDMJSNLyXCFKcwLow3UIu-Z2eMQtyytO5oo7Jhjr4qRZbTiSj7cmGN6M7as-4LPLCNYrN-1-K0EZyy1324feOfEGm0bracBDwnJ4_PSGMDAKMHs-5icVgFRYWCwibGDACcpYjiQo8_izAqeD7TxSHe6_bhO7QCgAnqrSndHHtBp80CDVXM/s320/st-louis-arch.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(NPS photo)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My nephew asked me about the obituary for Dr Lloyd Watson, a bee scientist who had been a major influence on my father as he was growing up. Enough that I was named after his son. The obituary appeared in <i>The New York Times</i> for February 27, 1948. I looked at the obituary on the TimesMachine so I was looking at the content as a newspaper page.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">An obituary in a neighboring column was for a Dr William Maxon, a botanist and expert on ferns. Probably not a relative but I am related to Maxsons, a variant spelling of the surname. LCSH uses <b>Maxson family</b> with a reference from <b>Maxon family</b> and a couple other variants.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I couldn't help myself. I turned the newspaper back a page or two, noting book reviews, letters to the editor, opinion pieces, and other items that now seem less integrated in today's <i>Times</i>. Next to the main book review was an article entitled "Decision to stand on Jefferson Arch: prize-winning design for huge parabola is opposed here as similar to Mussolini's." The arch, designed by Eero Saarinen, is now known as the Gateway Arch and is part of the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/jefferson-national-expansion-memorial.htm">Jefferson National Expansion Memorial</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Jefferson Arch was criticized by Gilmore D. Clarke, the chairman of the National Commission on Fine Arts, as similar to a Mussolini arch. Mussolini had approved a parabolic arch for the international exposition in Rome in 1942 celebrating twenty years of fascism. The president of the Jefferson Memorial Association argued that the similarity of the designs was "purely coincidental." Saarinen described the parabola shape as a basic form and said he had never seen the Rome design. The connection of fascism to modern architecture, particularly in Italy, is troubling to me (and others).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As an aside, Gilmore Clarke is mentioned three or four times in the article and his "Clarke" is misspelled as "Clark" in the first instance.</div> <p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-51494498604740378142023-09-21T10:19:00.000-04:002023-09-21T10:19:13.385-04:00housing inequality<p>The National Edition of the Sunday <i>New York Times</i> includes two or three pages of real estate and metropolitan content at the back of the business section. These days, when stock prices and currency exchange rates are readily available on the web, the business section has more content about business people or firms and socioeconomic context. The two real estate articles this past week, on facing pages, were titled "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/realestate/branded-real-estate-miami.html">A name brand as an amenity</a>" and "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/04/realestate/tiny-homes-detroit.html">In Detroit, an eviction rattles a housing plan</a>." While not explicitly about housing inequality, the amenity article addresses apartment buildings in Miami and elsewhere with condos selling for as much as 59 million dollars. The Detroit eviction article addresses the eviction of a homeowner for not living full time in her tiny house. Her name appears on the lease of her boyfriend's riverfront condo. She says that she works for her boyfriend's firm which is based in the apartment. The tiny houses are owned and operated by <a href="https://casscommunity.org/">Cass Community Social Services</a> and the rent is $1 per square foot on the lease-to-own basis.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbnAWD8YefqkfKeHR7sGHpeVbZEYwkLKEJ89GN5-GfVJ35UuXQs9FOluj26a-XIR8aTkRHRVHo1S7ix3iZAhyp-rEP-qgjfMT0lNuYy5eYQLfMWxeGW6LZm4yyzDdu16bihBVBwBGLZwGCtDezF_JGjM-Q3pMo_NMcagxhgbTkMvy_UnDSH_js/s1400/TinyHomes_detroit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbnAWD8YefqkfKeHR7sGHpeVbZEYwkLKEJ89GN5-GfVJ35UuXQs9FOluj26a-XIR8aTkRHRVHo1S7ix3iZAhyp-rEP-qgjfMT0lNuYy5eYQLfMWxeGW6LZm4yyzDdu16bihBVBwBGLZwGCtDezF_JGjM-Q3pMo_NMcagxhgbTkMvy_UnDSH_js/s320/TinyHomes_detroit.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(Photo by Michelle and Chris Gerard on Curbed Detroit)</div><br /><p></p><p>Neither article is simply about high-priced or low-priced housing but I cannot help thinking about how many decent living spaces could be created with 59 million dollars. Not just tiny houses but living spaces from abandoned industrial buildings, rehabilitated houses, accessory dwelling units, as well as new buildings. Rehabilitation also can go a good distance on greenhouse gas mitigation.</p><p>I just finished reading <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/713570/solomons-crown-by-natasha-siegel/"><i>Solomon's Crown</i></a> by Natasha Siegel. When I went to the shelf to pick my next book, I selected <i><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250134769/theaddressbook">The Address Book:</a> What Street Addresses Reveal about Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power</i> by Deirdre Mask. I guess I will be thinking more about the socioeconomics of housing.</p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-72259265111739019722023-09-01T16:04:00.003-04:002023-09-03T11:04:59.819-04:00Jane Lapotaire<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXS5rOP_cfH67cRNVD1mE4yBt_jS4e4EpIB58tXnlsW1ONs6IZJrXHQJIBOrLGlKouaw9pfBNFG0fkdLOstVn9FYwovnsjJi54edNrSwU5JEZrs5kpHAE19iQPfCyY-bMCkjaPL_mzvoTrhIKC3bkAVWP1CS3Dhvz4um47NXaWC5iMQmeo2Un/s320/janelapotaire-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="320" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXS5rOP_cfH67cRNVD1mE4yBt_jS4e4EpIB58tXnlsW1ONs6IZJrXHQJIBOrLGlKouaw9pfBNFG0fkdLOstVn9FYwovnsjJi54edNrSwU5JEZrs5kpHAE19iQPfCyY-bMCkjaPL_mzvoTrhIKC3bkAVWP1CS3Dhvz4um47NXaWC5iMQmeo2Un/s1600/janelapotaire-1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Every once in a while, there's a scene in some film or other program where an actor just shines. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0487743/">Jane Lapotaire</a> is the actress that just knocked me off my chair. She plays Princess Alice (Battenberg), the mother of HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in <i>The Crown</i>. She has been staying at Buckingham Palace after a coup made the situation in Greece precarious. Her brother, Lord Mountbatten, has just gotten a dressing down from Queen Elizabeth for conspiring (QE II's word) with others against Harold Wilson's government.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEO-mBQqpk6xRO_6ex7UgPB0C-iUd0Xy_KrtakcwSmGPztA-fheIoMiMY7zvMBtbHmr5p5hFtFhEjBBdnwt1LMCvkHaLaBk0Sss_fs0a7VIsBjUbiUYsx926REe2Hzo5azn9pwKdrnfjMCHS-biggEnSV8nGHR9-8xs9BIOWIKErC7T0KcHMD/s590/janelapotaire-3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="590" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEO-mBQqpk6xRO_6ex7UgPB0C-iUd0Xy_KrtakcwSmGPztA-fheIoMiMY7zvMBtbHmr5p5hFtFhEjBBdnwt1LMCvkHaLaBk0Sss_fs0a7VIsBjUbiUYsx926REe2Hzo5azn9pwKdrnfjMCHS-biggEnSV8nGHR9-8xs9BIOWIKErC7T0KcHMD/s320/janelapotaire-3.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Lord Mountbatten goes to see Princess Alice in her room and their conversation resonated for me as I think about what to do about more Trump presidency. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT6yUlDzkfs">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT6yUlDzkfs</a> <p></p><p>As I was watching that scene in <i>The Crown</i>, I realized that Jane Lapotaire also played Princess Kuragin in <i>Downton Abbey</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpcpL50ZgcZ9jEAdK8WlqNzZCL7kSLcU3PkG7CqfZlLJfurv0gDeTAjNwQG0D8grH_S7tO4qc6wxmHpgtzu_qHjE8q9DOU995cKvlI7_urC4PMNZxlrE0PSP71zu00iVgpXOZOcdQZ1gzehnEOyNGBlV3p8nvFbzki3WswNKt5p_RD-Wg-y2iv/s540/janelapotaire-2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="540" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpcpL50ZgcZ9jEAdK8WlqNzZCL7kSLcU3PkG7CqfZlLJfurv0gDeTAjNwQG0D8grH_S7tO4qc6wxmHpgtzu_qHjE8q9DOU995cKvlI7_urC4PMNZxlrE0PSP71zu00iVgpXOZOcdQZ1gzehnEOyNGBlV3p8nvFbzki3WswNKt5p_RD-Wg-y2iv/s320/janelapotaire-2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I was wearing my t-shirt yesterday with a quote from Moira Rose of <i>Schitt's Creek</i>. "When one of us shines, all of us shine."</p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-26993678021170989482023-06-05T17:16:00.003-04:002024-03-01T12:19:58.983-05:00the Napier line<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuB__Kee6kVZBz_xqauATDyQnWeWO3C8Hm4oC0i-jWmB4unxIfMDhKP-JMSrLEiUIWyqjaxKwh0DImlz78cqeRk0ycjpFwcrutjEKmE8O60aCYK9e6gJsj6xtXVHMZgNH9YFn6jLHiif0lr0MzI2JwHjujrAhDuKqPmSZSX6f_WBkyo4OSig/s720/453px-Lady_Sarah_Bunbury_Sacrificing_to_the_Graces_by_Joshua_Reynolds..jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="453" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuB__Kee6kVZBz_xqauATDyQnWeWO3C8Hm4oC0i-jWmB4unxIfMDhKP-JMSrLEiUIWyqjaxKwh0DImlz78cqeRk0ycjpFwcrutjEKmE8O60aCYK9e6gJsj6xtXVHMZgNH9YFn6jLHiif0lr0MzI2JwHjujrAhDuKqPmSZSX6f_WBkyo4OSig/s320/453px-Lady_Sarah_Bunbury_Sacrificing_to_the_Graces_by_Joshua_Reynolds..jpg" width="201" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lady Sarah Lennox by Sir Joshua Reynolds</div><div style="text-align: center;">(<a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4788/lady-sarah-bunbury-sacrificing-to-the-graces">Art Institute of Chicago</a>)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Sarah_Lennox">Lady Sarah Lennox</a> was a favorite of King George III of Great Britain. I learned this while watching an interview with India Amarteifio and Corey Mylchreest who play Charlotte and George in the Shonda Rhimes and Netflix series "<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14661396/">Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story</a>." Lady Sarah married Charles Bunbury and later George Napier. She and Napier had eight children. One wonders if Evelyn Napier, a friend of Lady Mary in "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downton_Abbey">Downton Abbey</a>," was perhaps a grandson or great-grandson of Lady Sarah.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI7FlNZ9UmZxL8LPlF0ysqHk2hTvbJiJ2f_YMvPMpoSY5HAXH37n5OyAwSXx8H99Yf6Kz6SwvHjcE1DEsAbkaMjGdLumI8P2hEA7VjDxcF8nzb1bF3ABOl1t-sLuIc5sPzAF0yNaeIJXcZlvMGPPwLtpfU1ZF23lvS02ySmsBycAzM9zhSDA/s612/evelyn-mary.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI7FlNZ9UmZxL8LPlF0ysqHk2hTvbJiJ2f_YMvPMpoSY5HAXH37n5OyAwSXx8H99Yf6Kz6SwvHjcE1DEsAbkaMjGdLumI8P2hEA7VjDxcF8nzb1bF3ABOl1t-sLuIc5sPzAF0yNaeIJXcZlvMGPPwLtpfU1ZF23lvS02ySmsBycAzM9zhSDA/s320/evelyn-mary.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-19911978376457723212023-05-24T15:09:00.000-04:002023-05-24T15:09:41.505-04:00The Heart's Invisible FuriesI have been getting toward the end of <i><a href="https://johnboyne.com/book/hearts-invisible-furies/">The heart's invisible furies</a> </i>by John Boyne. A compelling read and some portions have been just a little too close to things that are happening or have happened in my life. This morning as I was reading, someone asked what I was reading. I handed the book to him and said something like "it's the story of an Irish man from the 1940s and I'm in the '80s now." I rarely recommend a book to someone. Enjoying a particular book is such a personal thing. Again, more resonance in <i>Furies</i> when I read the following passage just now.<div><br /></div><div>And I quote ....</div><div><br /></div><div>"No, you're all right. I believe you," she said, waving my offer away. "Cyril then, if you prefer. What's that you're reading?"</div><div><br /></div><div>I turned the book over to reveal a copy of Colm Toibín's <i>The Story of the Night</i>. I'd owned it for years but had never got around to reading it until now.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Now, I haven't read that one," she said, picking it up and reading the back. "Is it any good?"</div><div><br /></div><div>"It is," I said.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Should I read it?"</div><div><br /></div><div>"Well, that's up to you, really."</div><div><br /></div><div>.... end quote</div><div><br /></div><div>As it happens, I think <i>The story of the night</i> is my favorite book by Tóibín.</div>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-10825689626661029482023-04-24T17:17:00.002-04:002023-06-06T21:28:21.043-04:00ARLIS/NA @ CDMX<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qlFynk-XV_DniQdYly7B-csmL3u1PP4AERbnkH3LJCm3qiHEDg2obs1nHaJnZXvGupjFMT06tk7-bjHXdDGRmSWq6lKd8UA-jny7CBX2KpSNkYwgL55WlKK5IdczrVsWFxs68gv04MamByE858pZs8vuNvj4kamoiSo2y9PmbF72neecCQ/s4608/IMG_5019.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qlFynk-XV_DniQdYly7B-csmL3u1PP4AERbnkH3LJCm3qiHEDg2obs1nHaJnZXvGupjFMT06tk7-bjHXdDGRmSWq6lKd8UA-jny7CBX2KpSNkYwgL55WlKK5IdczrVsWFxs68gv04MamByE858pZs8vuNvj4kamoiSo2y9PmbF72neecCQ/s320/IMG_5019.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I just got back from the Art Libraries Society of North America conference in Mexico City, our first conference in Mexico although we have been proudly North American all of our collective lives. We have already met a few times in Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Banff). Mexico City is a gritty city, like I like 'em. Gritty, busy, noisy, diverse, full of architectural treasures, good and interesting art, food (fancy and plain).<p></p><p>On our last afternoon, after the business meeting, Bill and I walked over to see the murals in the Secretariat of Public Education building. Diego Rivera, Jean Charlot, and others. We meandered on the way back, partly on the Calle de la República de Cuba. In addition to bridal shops and gay bars, we saw this building that could use some attention and maintenance. I think a third-floor deck would be just fine through those open arches.</p><p>That evening, we went to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_de_Bellas_Artes">Palacio de Bellas Artes</a> for a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico. The program included an overture by Louise Farrenc (Opus 23), a double bass concerto by Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (KR 172), and the Third ("Organ") Symphony by Camille Saint-Saëns. The music was lovely. The conductor was a joy to watch. The hall has a Tiffany dome as well as a Tiffany (glass) stage curtain. The first and third works were played on the full stage. The Ditters von Dittersdorf only uses a chamber orchestra so they put some chairs on the front of the proscenium and lowered the Tiffany glass curtain for that portion of the concert. We were physically as well as musically in heaven. Bill had purposely chosen seats in the top of the house (más alta, por favor) so we were close to the Tiffany dome.</p><p>Now back home and last night was the dance showing by choreography students at Alfred University. Pretty glorious too. Stendhal much?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuAF_aHeSP3o4ghPnRmvtFM31qEXqaD49uKmXddbAa7BomlE4ViBnoWLaO_KddCO1oFLFl_l6yxUn_82ktvpwgC0MMHCK6RypMXISdfIEeAaAwZNMYUKpIMN1uRSxVFVk1pPBH__RyAYleLVhOJTlv7I2DHmuWbCb5hBSdiVKyX0vXCPsTQ/s4608/IMG_4993.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuAF_aHeSP3o4ghPnRmvtFM31qEXqaD49uKmXddbAa7BomlE4ViBnoWLaO_KddCO1oFLFl_l6yxUn_82ktvpwgC0MMHCK6RypMXISdfIEeAaAwZNMYUKpIMN1uRSxVFVk1pPBH__RyAYleLVhOJTlv7I2DHmuWbCb5hBSdiVKyX0vXCPsTQ/s320/IMG_4993.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(view from exhibit hall at the conference, Hilton Reforma)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/56294332@N00/albums/72177720307697363">(my CDMX picture album on Flickr)</a></div><p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-11147236050851001772023-04-08T21:56:00.000-04:002023-04-08T21:56:02.245-04:00Radio Girls, before and after their time<p>There are all sorts of reasons why you buy and/or read a book. Sometimes it's the stack of books on the new releases table in the bookstore. Sometimes it's a review. Sometimes a friend recommends the book. Maybe the book is just in the social air. And sometimes the daughter of a friend and colleague is the author. It was this last circumstance that put <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318234/radio-girls-by-sarah-jane-stratford/"><i>Radio Girls</i></a> by Sarah-Jane Stratford on my to-read shelf.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw49xvBlLfXn0Pyip3O3xuOgYg8U1Ml6F6sy-K7bHV5d49zMhnXuQlmJNEs0d-Nc_ue2nKYi3IeYuWm0KjBGGcEGxBs5Y3edtO6YmwftigP2ScgXcyqaOLZnf3xUW2trI5ffo8YKpSdHiPWeX7SjzhiQ1qRk337v0arADmD7NKH2iYfptZBw/s450/radio-girls.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw49xvBlLfXn0Pyip3O3xuOgYg8U1Ml6F6sy-K7bHV5d49zMhnXuQlmJNEs0d-Nc_ue2nKYi3IeYuWm0KjBGGcEGxBs5Y3edtO6YmwftigP2ScgXcyqaOLZnf3xUW2trI5ffo8YKpSdHiPWeX7SjzhiQ1qRk337v0arADmD7NKH2iYfptZBw/s320/radio-girls.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(image from Penguin-Random House webpage for the book)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sarah-Jane Stratford is the daughter of my longtime art cataloging colleague Nancy Norris, now retired from UCLA. It took me a little while to get into the story but I'm awfully glad I got past that. The story is set in London, between the wars, as the fascist threat grows and people become more and more aware of the seriousness of the threat. The "radio girls" are working at BBC which is in its infancy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The first printing of the New American Library paperback edition was in June 2016. It is amazing and terrifying how the story resonates with the situation in the United States from 2016 when Trump was running and then serving as president. Suppression of news. Officious bosses. Male date assumptions. Stratford must have had her fore-seeing glasses on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Always looking for parallels, I was amused that one of the bad guys was a Mr Grigson. Not quite the same name as Michael Gregson, from Downton Abbey, but our heroine Maisie Musgrave's fiancé Simon does go to Germany on family business and get involved with Grigson on some corporate shenanigans related to making deals with the Nazi government. By the way, librarians are mentioned a couple times as being good with facts.</div><p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-17443070958648256942023-03-30T22:01:00.002-04:002023-04-01T19:12:42.217-04:00teardowns<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6N-PotZHCuyd9A1DmWRFzsoOiI1CH1hfUJIDfv1AotTg7wx_r6Aw8QevLJ1keXYhByzUerchSgB5ZW2jp6EX2ewVr_1xQg-DVpmQhm7UL-lxtAFUE4aBH5EBAJD6r8EEyCfTJ7AAqHhAjad-QLUmLOu-QIaIlP2aCpLiKUcKpdQyHwEResg/s799/7616519714_30ee9f7127_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="799" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6N-PotZHCuyd9A1DmWRFzsoOiI1CH1hfUJIDfv1AotTg7wx_r6Aw8QevLJ1keXYhByzUerchSgB5ZW2jp6EX2ewVr_1xQg-DVpmQhm7UL-lxtAFUE4aBH5EBAJD6r8EEyCfTJ7AAqHhAjad-QLUmLOu-QIaIlP2aCpLiKUcKpdQyHwEResg/s320/7616519714_30ee9f7127_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I have been watching the 1981 version of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083390/">Brideshead Revisited</a>. Lady Marchmain has died and the London house has been sold by Lord Marchmain. Bridey has asked Charles to paint some views of the house before it is torn down, to be replaced by flats. But don't worry. The house will be saved and the flats will not be built. Charles will find his painting career with the success of the paintings. I know the house will be saved because it is also Grantham House, the London residence of the Crawleys from <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606375/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Downton Abbey</a>.<p></p><p>This photo of the actual <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgewater_House,_Westminster">Bridgewater House</a>, earlier Cleveland House, is on Flickr, taken by jupiter1953.</p><p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/b1953/7616519714">https://www.flickr.com/photos/b1953/7616519714</a><br /></p><p>I first watched the 1981 Brideshead at Judith Holliday's apartment in the Dewitt Mall Apartments in Ithaca. My then boyfriend Randy and I went over every Sunday night while it was on Great Performances on PBS. I had not had a television and bought a modest black-and-white television so we could watch the series. Randy also did not have a television. Judith had a color TV and it beat out my B&W model. I took along my copy of the book and it was amazing (and surprising) how much of the dialogue in the book made it into the telescript.</p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-54250524580574199042023-02-28T16:33:00.002-05:002023-03-03T10:54:41.727-05:00meta credits<p>So you may know that I watch <a href="http://shermaniablog.blogspot.com/2021/09/sink-or-swim-words-words-words.html">film credits</a> pretty voraciously. I love the loopy rhyme of Loop Group as well as the name of such a post-production sound group that I have seen credited a number of times: Sync or Swim. Sometimes, the folks responsible are called Crowd ADR or just ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement). I just watched <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_Down_in_LA-LA_Land">Going Down in LA-LA Land</a> and was amused by the credit for Expendables. Those responsible for expendables were Studio Depot, The Expendables Recycler, Bulbtronics, and Expendable. I glanced over the YouTube comments and someone noted that they really enjoyed watching the credits because "The ADR then is hilarious." Here's the two leads getting to know each other:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYepaYbfRYN-34QV8UaXwt7KxVg4dMetgfDDYg0h_CaeqIUmMyyuEeqmSuF5sA7jMubk4r5cPsCLAEmhmmnld0X6cjdZ_kFtfwr9N7YLwJOvoq69rA0zufgQJGfODKehBgnd83NcJ-Z7z-TXUgqYo_Ovxn4b25IdkMj86DcXEma02vQ4zTA/s1480/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-28%20at%204.16.05%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1480" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYepaYbfRYN-34QV8UaXwt7KxVg4dMetgfDDYg0h_CaeqIUmMyyuEeqmSuF5sA7jMubk4r5cPsCLAEmhmmnld0X6cjdZ_kFtfwr9N7YLwJOvoq69rA0zufgQJGfODKehBgnd83NcJ-Z7z-TXUgqYo_Ovxn4b25IdkMj86DcXEma02vQ4zTA/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-28%20at%204.16.05%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">P.S. Emma Kantor also reads the end credits: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/magazine/closing-credits-movies.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/magazine/closing-credits-movies.html</a></div><p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23897968.post-59965506983344936392023-02-24T12:58:00.004-05:002023-07-08T18:21:24.603-04:00at hand, just six feet away<p>I occasionally think that I should find an institution that could use the <a href="https://www.librarything.com/catalog/sherman.clarke">books on art and architecture</a> that I've been buying for decades. I used to worry about the appraisal for tax deduction purposes and decided that was just an impediment. Still, it is satisfying to have my book collection when I am at an Unboxed Lunch sponsored by the <a href="https://www.aaa.si.edu/">Archives of American Art</a>. Josh Franco talked today about new accessions to the Lucy Lippard archive. He happened to pick out the folder on her book <i>Overlay</i>. It was glorious to stand up, take a couple steps, and take <i>Overlay</i> off the shelf and look at it as he spoke.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kQzFMla17ws64oaWf4scBnDEaeWwWXPFCY861FnOgujCr_jHowsgGolVHg8F_uQmgOS00pEgEWhARh3PX23GFaSmWNkhk6FGAPQBFbaus5cpUM85I8laLjVmHPaduRaTk5ndpao_r6HigvVVNpRnUwELl0pVT86GbAeY28AdEX4mnyAzJA/s500/overlay-lippard.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="406" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_kQzFMla17ws64oaWf4scBnDEaeWwWXPFCY861FnOgujCr_jHowsgGolVHg8F_uQmgOS00pEgEWhARh3PX23GFaSmWNkhk6FGAPQBFbaus5cpUM85I8laLjVmHPaduRaTk5ndpao_r6HigvVVNpRnUwELl0pVT86GbAeY28AdEX4mnyAzJA/s320/overlay-lippard.jpeg" width="260" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Sherman Clarkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17825017103161880163noreply@blogger.com0