Maggie's Farm

h/t, Wizbang:

Walked past the Joyce the other evening. $10 sounds good. Mrs. BD was trying to remember how many times she has seen Appalachian Spring.

I remember when old Martha herself would wobble out to the stage at the end of the performances.

A re-post -

The Greeks colonized Poseidonia - now Paestum - on the south-west coast of Italy (90 miles south of Napoli) around 650 BC. Poseidonia became the Roman city Paestum in 273 BC.

Paestum contains the finest complex of Greek temples in the world, which was discovered in 1762 by a road crew. They were built before the Parthenon was completed in the 400s (BC).

The modern town of Paestum is a seaside resort, but the reason to go there is to see the Greek temples outside of town. Our Dylanologist did just that (and brought me back a Paestum t-shirt!).

The splendid, if heavy-looking, Doric temple in this photo is known as The Temple of Hera ll.

Here's a photo of the 450 BC Temple of Hera l, later rededicated to Neptune. More info on the Hera l temple here.

Here's a photo bank of the contents of the Paestum Archaeological Museum.

A bit of commentary from the Great Buildings Online website:

When the ruins of Paestum were 'rediscovered' by 'antiquaries'�chiefly Johann Joachim Winckelmann�in the 1750s, "the ruins [were] then made widely known, and an enthusiastic appreciation of Greek art and architecture was also sparked...Because of Paestum, the Classic Revival was born with Greece, not Rome, ascendant."

� Deborah Fritz from G. E. Kidder Smith. Looking at Architecture. p16.

The three Paestum temples are all in the Archaic Doric style of heavy columns with capitals that are squat, or as Goethe termed them, 'oppressive.' By the time the Parthenon was finished (438 B.C.), columns were elegantly slender, capitals had an alert, load-bearing profile, and refinement attended every detail. Moreover, they were carved from Parian marble; Paestum's now crudely exposed shellstone shafts, it is only fair to say, were originally covered with lime stucco. As in Greece proper, the temples at Paestum face easterly so that the rising sun will awaken the statue within."

� G. E. Kidder Smith. Looking at Architecture. p16.

I wrote earlier today that Mozart had a negative feeling towards Roman Catholicism. I don't know where I read that. He certainly was a Freemason, and at least impatient with Catholic requirements, but never formally left the RC Church.

By coincidence, today Potemra has a post about Merton, Barth, and Mozart. A quote:

Merton and Barth were both wrestling with what it meant to be created in God’s image, and — as in the famous passage, Matthew 18:3 — saw that image most clearly in human beings who could express childlike joy.

Since I am specializing today in posting statements which I cannot source, I may as well mention that I once read that Barth said that this song summed up all anybody needed to know about Christian faith.

Story here.

Photo of Dr. Bob's grave in Akron, from the story.

We finished up yesterday with a performance of Figaro by the Chelsea Opera in their usual space, St. Peter's Episcopal Church on W. 20th St. Just wonderful to be so close up to the sorts of remarkable singers small opera companies can get in NYC. I have decided that I prefer this sort of thing to the Met or the New York City Opera - and it is not just the price.

Lorenzo da Ponte was the librettist for Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. A Jewish convert to Catholicism, it is said that he hated the RC Church as much as Mozart did, but I am not certain of that from a Mozart who said “Protestantism was all in the head.” Da Ponte was a priest for a while, and a famous scoundrel, debtor, womanizer, and MILF-predator.

Another cool factoid: St. Peter's was built in 1836 on farm land donated by Clement Moore who became Warden and organist for the church. The Moore family had a good-sized estate there, which was named "Chelsea." Moore also donated the land on which General Theological Seminary still stands, a few blocks away. St. Peter's is a fine old church but a bit down at the heels:

Luke 7:36-8:3

7:36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table.

7:37 And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment.

7:38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.

7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him--that she is a sinner."

7:40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "Speak."

7:41 "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

7:42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?"

7:43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly."

7:44 Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.

7:45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.

7:46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.

7:47 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

7:48 Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

7:49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

7:50 And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

8:1 Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him,

8:2 as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

8:3 and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

Recessional

God of our fathers, known of old--
   Lord of our far-flung battle line
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
   Dominion over palm and pine--
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies;
   The captains and the kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
   An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!

Far-called, our navies melt away;
   On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
   Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
   Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe--
Such boasting as the Gentiles use
   Or lesser breeds without the law--
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget - lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
   In reeking tube and iron shard--
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
   And guarding, calls not Thee to guard--
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord!

Posted today because Driscoll recently linked Derbyshire's 2002 post on Kipling's poem which had been written for the 1897 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Many do not know that Kipling later became a resident of Vermont for many years.

Our friend Gregory (aka Sippican) is doing just that: Quiet, Numskulls, I'm Broadcastin'

From our friend Nathan in the future JerusaLand:

Business Flash.

Dateline: The City formerly known as Jerusalem

In a shocking market coup, former Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, has been awarded the 99-year lease for Jerusalem, outbidding Jews and Palestinians.

“I am delighted, like I am in heaven, almost,” Eisner elated. “We pulled an all-nighter, God’s team and ours, but came out with the best deal for Him, a lucrative, exclusive contract for Disney, and Family Fun For All.”

God’s representative, C.O.A (Chief Operating Angel) Gabriel Raphael, added, “That Michael. Eisner has the first name of an archangel had no bearings on the negotiations: the deal was struck on its merits: the best price for God and a history of Disney’s fine management.  Our C.E.O, whose name we do not use in vain, has had concern about management of this city, since Kollek was retired.  We had handsome offers from the Vatican, Dubai, and Jimmy Carter, but our CEO is not in this for the money and we were searching for a manager and corporation with a reputation for excellent, consistent customer service.  Based on market research, we have counted more smiles and a child-friendlier atmosphere at Disney than at churches, mosques and synagogues, or at Carter’s lectures.”  God was not available for comment and messages were not returned. 

Eisner effused, “After an international naming contest on Inter-American Idols, we are renaming the city, “JerusaLand,” City on the Hill, Fun-Town for All.  Runners up were “Jewro-Disney” and “Mickey’s Heaven.”

“This is a new era for JerusaLand,” Eisner ebullianated.  Since there are already only two entrances to the city, there will be entrance fees covering all events within, with VIP packages additional.  No money will be used by tourists: everyone can buy Holy-Gelt chips, like Club Med, but without the Mediterranean nor sand.  Everyone living in the city will be employees of JerusaLand Corp., International.  We are professionalizing the beggars,” he continuated. “Everyone now begging, will be an employee of JerusaLand, and will be uniformed in historically authentic beggars’ tatters from the various eras. You can give Holy-Gelt chips to a beggar from Jebusite, or King David’s era, or Roman right up to the present, knowing that each beggar will turn in his chips at the end of the workday for a salary and benefits. We will have an incentive system for all employees, including beggars, with vacations to EuroDisney or Disney World.  Beggars will be promoted based on performance, with areas near the Western Wall as prime.”  Eisner notated that any Beggar-employees caught praying at the Western Wall, then requesting charity from others for their prayers, will be restationed by the Dung Gate.  “Prayer will be free, no charge, in JeruseLand!  This, the Big Guy insisted on.” Eisner enunciated.

“You will notice,” Eisner persisticated, “that we have renamed this the Western Wall: wailing is not permitted.  Other activities, such as shuckling, dancing, spinning and bobbing are encouraged. We will have rides, including a praying roller coaster that while not the highest ever built, will be the holiest: imagine getting closer to God while looping the loop on the holiest mount.”

“And if that isn’t close enough to God,” Eisner emphasated, “We have an introductory package that includes DirectLine.  For only fifty cents a minute children can use the Red Phone to talk with God!” When asked about the very reasonable price, Eisner pointed out that this was a local call.  “God has specified that he will only talk with children, as they seem to hear what he says better.”  (This reporter was able to use the service and can ascertain that God speaks with a Viennese accent, and responds with “Uh, huh.” Yesss,” and “Vat do you make of zet?”)  Videophone service – called MosesPhone -- for those reclined, is planned in the future.

“We have specialty packages, for instance for Cohens.  Since they can’t mount the Mount until the Temple is rebuilt, we have a hover-craft package, called Lift-a-Cohen (or, Coney–on-the-Spot) so that they can float over Aaron’s spots.”

Our planting and transplanting season is now done, as is my anniversary gift to Mrs. BD which entailed two solid weekend days of being a submissive garden slave, taking all orders with shovel, wheelbarrow, trimmers, saws, mulch, and the final load of plantings. Beer breaks and a couple of ceegars, natch. I am the brawn, she is the brains.

Transplanting shrubs and perennials is like musical chairs. There is always at least one thing that ends up with no place to go, and is left to die, roots up in the sun. Murder.

Mrs. BD has been getting interested in putting dwarf shrubs in perennial borders in recent years. In this bed, we had moved some hybrid Rhodies out two months ago, and moved those lacecap hydrangeas back against the wall (they will revive just fine, but look a little wan right now). That left a hole for these three new red-leafed dwarf Weigelas to the left of the dwarf Buddleas. It will all fill in nicely in a year or so with the goal, of course, being no space between plants for weeds to grow:

The edge is Lady's Mantle, in full bloom. It makes a solid and subtle perennial edge with its pale yellow-green florets.

Here's one site with dwarf Weigelas.

Good place to stop when passing through Reading, PA: The Mid-Atlantic Air Museum.

Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love?), from Empire Burlesque, 1985

Sample of the lyrics:

Well, they're not showing any lights tonight
And there's no moon
There's just a hot-blooded singer
Singing 'Memphis in June'
And they're beating the devil out of a guy
Who's wearing a powder-blue wig
Later he'll be shot
For resisting arrest
I can still hear his voice crying
In the wilderness
What looks large from a distance
Close up ain't never that big.

I never could learn to drink that blood
And call it wine
I never could learn to hold you, love
And call you mine.

The music video here.

Mitch Daniels: Ride Along with Mitch

Kuhn on the O's tipping point:

At some point, the bad show also goes on too long. Negative perceptions of the character are formed. That's the tipping point. And it's possible, but not necessarily probable, that Obama's point has already come to pass.

Jobs report a nightmare for Obama progressivism

Senate showdown over EPA power grab

This could get to be fun: CARLY FIORINA on Her Impressive Record, Sean Hannity & Barbara Boxer’s Hair

Shaidle: Toronto’s Love of Diversity Is Tested by Islamists

Genetics of Jews. Still Semitic.

Days after being caught cropping photos for political effect, Reuters releases a photo bank of Hamas propaganda images from Gaza.

From Coyote:

...here is a sure fire test for a progressive.  If given a choice between two worlds:

1. A capitalist society where the overall levels of wealth and technology continue to increase, though in a pattern that is dynamic, chaotic, generally unpredictable, and whose rewards are unevenly distributed, or…


2. A “progressive” society where everyone is poorer, but income is generally more evenly distributed.  In this society, jobs and pay and industries change only very slowly, and people have good assurances that they will continue to have what they have today, with little downside but also with very little upside.

Progressives will choose #2.  Even if it means everyone is poorer.  Even if it cuts off any future improvements we might gain in technology or wealth or lifespan or whatever.  They want to take what we have today, divide it up more equally, and then live to eternity with just that. 

We posted our morning links last night. Just this for now, from Henninger:

Coming as it did on the heels of various other government fiascoes and embarrassments—the subsidized-mortgage crisis, ethanol, California issuing IOUs, Bernie Madoff, ultra-deep public debt, infrastructure turning to dust everywhere—the Gulf mess is the moment for the American people to reconsider just what they think government can do, or should do.

When not gripped by hysteria, many have a more rational view of government's limits, even on the left. Some in the Gulf do-something chorus are the same people who doubted that the U.S. military could succeed in Iraq or Afghanistan. But the U.S. military is surely the most competent instrument of government.

Consider, if you have not done so, adding a comment to today's Grandpa post. We'll make it an annual repost, a website Keepsake.

How we think our forager ancestors lived. Like hippies, shared women and shared food.

Ask a (science) Nobel Laureate. Cool. My question: Are numbers a real reflection of reality, or just a handy human invention?

Meg Whitman will be the next gov of California. But is the job do-able with a Dem legislature?

Hating Christianity Is Nothing New for Progressives. Always wondered how the Left managed to portray Hitler as a "right-winger" when he was a socialist.

Emery on Messiah Fatigue:

How did he turn health care into a wedge issue against his own party? Why are we awash in a sea of dead pelicans? Why has he so much time on his hands for fundraisers and galas? Why are our relations so much worse with all of our allies, while our -- and their -- enemies go on building bombs?

Based on these facts, Obama seems nobody's highway to heaven. He's the sleek, splashy sports car that sits in the driveway, that looked so cool in the showroom, and handled so well on the test drive, but has a bad habit of stalling in traffic, and just doesn't take to the road.

WSJ: The Alien in the White House - The distance between the president and the people is beginning to be revealed.

Red Rosie O’Donnell Calls For ‘Communism’ In America; Confiscate BP’s Assets. Confiscate her assets first, please.

O Admin policies destroying jobs for youth

Sissy: What really goes on beneath the burka?

Still crazy after all these years: Daniel Ellsberg

Iran mocks US sanctions. (where did that link go?) Oh, here it is.

How many real jobs has Jerry Brown created in his life? Jerry Brown comes out swinging
at Meg Whitman

The Limits of Liberalism: The dangers of ideological confusion

The stupidification of America

Reb on Russell Kirk:

Saying "limited government is good" is not very much different from saying "I wish I had a full head of hair."  The more adamant a person is in these simplicities, the more likely it is that he or she has an allergy to thinking.)  If you want to save America, you need to get yourself schooled in Kirk. 

President Kick Ass cannot even handle a pet dog. Pathetic. Even when my kids were little, they would not put up with that from our dogs. That is now a worthless dog, and it is the owners' fault. How your dog behaves is a reflection of you and your training - or lack thereof, so analyze this:

Back in April I did a little bit of reminiscing about one of my Grandpas. At that time, I promised an open session for Grandpa reminiscing.

It is understood that Grandpas are or were not perfect, but each one is a story. A better story than those of parents, because the grandparent stories reach further into the past.

Sometimes I feel like I am an unsettled, unhomogenized mix of both of my Grandpas.

For example, my other Grandpa was the opposite of the warm, fun-loving one I posted about. This guy was a stern, dignified, laconic, unsociable, never smiling, morally-rigid GP and cardiologist who made house calls into his 80s. He totalled his car making a house call on one Christmas night in a blizzard. Cops took him to his house call with his big black leather bag, then back home, where he arrived bloodied but unbowed. 

He worked 7 days/wk. Had zero tolerance for foolishness of any sort, and the only times I ever saw a smile was when he was holding a baby. He was not about "fun," and was a serious man who took life seriously. He had a dry Milton or Shakespeare quote for any occasion, and he liked a Scotch or two in the evening, neat. Smoked corn-cob pipes at work and at home. (It is only recently that one could not smoke in hospitals.)  Osler was his hero, and he had nothing but contempt for FDR and Lyndon Johnson.

When he opened his medical practice, the scourges in CT were malaria, syphilis, puerperal fever, and TB and other infectious diseases - plus all the diseases we still have. Few people were "healthy," as we view it, in the 1920s and 30s: just imagine everybody today with a new hip or knee hobbling around painfully on canes, or stuck in chairs, or everybody today with a bypass or stent or heart meds, bedridden and slowly dying of heart failure. Not to mention untreatable Depression.

He grew up on a farm in northern CT in a hamlet named after his (and my) family name. Worked his way through college and medical school (in Baltimore), mostly as a cook during the summers at lumber camps in Maine and NH. (I never saw him even boil an egg - he always had a cook in the house. My Dad tells me that he did know how to cook pancakes.)

His first wife died of leukemia before she could have kids. He had been her doctor. He did not remarry until his 40s. Both of my grandpas lost young wives to illness. It wasn't rare at all, two generations ago.

Like most docs of the past, he was not much of a vacation-taker until his later 60s, but was known to enjoy fly fishing at his favorite getaway spot, Mohonk. He also liked the old resort hotels in Watch Hill, where he met his second wife. She was a summer hotel waitress there, but her main job was as a Brooklyn grammar school teacher, teaching new Jewish and Italian immigrant kids. Her parents were a farm family in Norwalk, CT., and I have no idea why or how she ended up in Brooklyn. She once told me she had to check the kids for lice daily.

Her Mom lived with them until she died aged 107. She had been a nurse while being a farm wife too. She did jigsaw puzzles, and looked like an Indian (she had plenty of Indian blood, I am told, but was not happy about that, I suspect).

Grandpa's garage shelves were piled with hearts and brains and kidneys in jars with formaldehyde or alcohol or whatever. Cool for a kid. As I recall, my Dad burned them - along with all of his old wooden file cabinets of medical records, when the old guy died at 86 or 87.

This is him at my aunt's wedding. My Dad's sister was a beauty and a Physical Therapist for the Army until she had kids, but she is now gone too:

His patients loved him but eventually he outlived most of them. Many paid him with farm produce, and the poor paid him with labor at his house - chopping wood, painting, cleaning up the grounds, etc. I remember stopping by and seeing a bushel basket of fresh-dug potatoes left on the back porch, and a basket of sweet corn another time. He had a good-sized vegetable garden down in the back, which he tended himself. Lots of wax beans, as I recall. I do like them too.

He had the first EKG machine in CT. We still have that German machine in its splendid mahogany case. It still works. I need to take a photo of it when I remember. I think my Dad intends to donate it to the Yale Medical School museum.

I'll welcome more Grandpa thumbnail sketches in the comments.

We, and others, have often felt that one of the best uses of the internet is to disseminate local - very local - news. Local newsletters/online newspapers will never win millions of daily viewers, but if they can pick up some local ads (and if the area has broadband), it's a better biz model nowadays than the dying dead tree format.

Our pal Greg Sullivan has just begun publishing The Rumford Meteor. Pretty slick for a small town rag, and a good model for what can be done.

Among other things, he posted this video of Maine clam diggers:

I do not blame BP for the oil. It's a SNAFU, and such things happen daily in life if not usually on this scale. Blaming and scapegoating are for nursery school and politicians. This BP gas station is good, tho:

Thomas Jones, Naples. The Capella Nuova outside the Porta di Chiaja, 1778:

Dalrymple discusses Thomas Jones and the non-essential consumption economy: The Machine. Almost a miracle, isn't it, that we no longer have a predominantly essential-consumption society? 

"We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey."

Stephen Covey (h/t Retriever)

It's working flawlessly: President Obama's outreach to Muslim countries. Pic from June 2, via Ross here. 

Harvard gives honorary degree to Adderal. A drug that makes you smarter.

College Reading Lists: Drenched in Moonbattery

First the SAT, Next the MCAT? Related from Betsy: Wrong but scoring points

Reshape Universities Because of "Stereotype Threat"?

Govt created 10X more jobs than private sector

What is China all about these days? A rising power is plagued by doubts.

Mark Steyn: Contempt for Israel also contempt for U.S.

Gateway: Gov. Haley Barbour on Obama: “Napoleon Said Never Interfere With the Enemy When He’s in the Process of Destroying Himself”

FTC proposes a Drudge Tax. Some call it an iPad Tax

To Avoid Voter Rage, Democrats Skip Town Halls

Newsweek Frets Over Conservative Hotties; Newsweek, Heal Thyself. h/t, Insty

Can Israel Survive A Second Obama Term?

It's the Wilders Effect:

Every Dutch party, Labor included, now holds positions concerning immigrants’ obligations to Dutch society that might have been called fascistic by the left a decade earlier.

Two women: Rachel Corrie and Shiri Negari