dual personalities

Month: October, 2016

October 6, 2016

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”*

by chuckofish

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It is that time of year when the Monarch Butterflies appear in flyover country. These pictures are from a friend’s blog. Cool, right?

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“Marvelous!” he repeated, looking up at me. “Look! The beauty–but that is nothing–look at the accuracy, the harmony. And so fragile! And so strong! And so exact! This is Nature–the balance of colossal forces. Every star is so–and every blade of grass stands so–and the mighty Kosmos perfect equilibrium produces–this. This wonder; this masterpiece of Nature–the great artist.”

―Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim 

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Photos by Don Sessions

*Psalm 19:1 (KJV)

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October 5, 2016

“The skeleton of the whale furnishes but little clue to the shape of his fully invested body.”*

by chuckofish

kellogg-photoToday is the birthday of Remington Kellogg (October 5, 1892 –May 8, 1969)–a fascinating fellow who was an American naturalist and a director of the United States National Museum. Born and raised in Davenport, Iowa, he attended the University of Kansas where he pursued his lifelong interest in wildlife. From there he went to the University of California–Berkeley. While serving in the Army in France during WWI, Kellogg still found time to collect specimens, which he sent back to Berkeley and the University of Kansas. He was discharged in July 1919 and returned to Berkeley to complete his doctorate, transferring from zoology to study vertebrate paleontology.

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In 1928 Kellogg became assistant curator at the United States National Museum and in 1941 became curator. At the museum he devoted time to studying primitive whales from the Eocene and early Oligocene of North America. In 1948 he was appointed director of the Museum and in 1958 was made assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1951.

Whales have been at the heart of Smithsonian research since 1850. It was Museum director Remington Kellogg who wanted a “scientifically accurate” model and pushed for the research to make one.

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So a toast to Remington Kellogg (what a great name!) and to Herman Melville while we’re at it.

“Speak, thou vast and venerable head,” muttered Ahab, “which, though ungarnished with a beard, yet here and there lookest hoary with mosses; speak, mighty head, and tell us the secret thing that is in thee. Of all divers, thou hast dived the deepest. That head upon which the upper sun now gleams, has moved amid this world’s foundations. Where unrecorded names and navies rust, and untold hopes and anchors rot; where in her murderous hold this frigate earth is ballasted with bones of millions of the drowned; there, in that awful water-land, there was thy most familiar home. Thou hast been where bell or diver never went; hast slept by many a sailor’s side, where sleepless mothers would give their lives to lay them down. Thou saw’st the locked lovers when leaping from their flaming ship; heart to heart they sank beneath the exulting wave; true to each other, when heaven seemed false to them. Thou saw’st the murdered mate when tossed by pirates from the midnight deck; for hours he fell into the deeper midnight of the insatiate maw; and his murderers still sailed on unharmed — while swift lightnings shivered the neighboring ship that would have borne a righteous husband to outstretched, longing arms. O head! thou hast seen enough to split the planets and make an infidel of Abraham, and not one syllable is thine!

Have a good “hump” day!

*Moby-Dick, Herman Melville

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October 4, 2016

“The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.”

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946)–American newspaperman and author. He is most remembered today for writing the stories which inspired the broadway musical Guys and Dolls. 

Sportswriter Damon Runyon

Here are some things about him you probably didn’t know:

He was born in Manhattan–but in Manhattan, Kansas. He grew up in Pueblo, Colorado. His father and grandfather were newspaper editors.

In 1898, when still in his teens, Runyon enlisted in the U.S. Army to fight in the Spanish-American War.

He was the Hearst newspapers’ baseball columnist for many years, beginning in 1911, and his knack for spotting the eccentric and the unusual, on the field or in the stands, is credited with revolutionizing the way baseball was covered.

One year, while covering spring training in Texas, he met Pancho Villa in a bar and later accompanied the unsuccessful American expedition into Mexico searching for Villa.

Runyon died in New York City in 1946, at age 66. His body was cremated, and his ashes were illegally scattered from a DC-3 airplane over Broadway by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. The family plot of Damon Runyon is located at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

His stories are still in print and I am going to read them. His gangsters seem much more appealing than our 21st-century ones.

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October 3, 2016

Mustard seeds

by chuckofish

After a hectic week at work, we were faced with a mouse invasion on Friday and I may have shrieked three four times (twice in the middle of a conversation with the former dean of the law school). After calling the maintenance guys, who then called the exterminator, I closed the office and my assistant and I went home. I mean there are limits.

Thus began my weekend.

Luckily good news from Netflix arrived:

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I have been waiting for season two! I watched it this weekend and it did not disappoint. I do love Andy and Lance.

I also had fun going to the Best of Missouri Market at the Missouri Botanical Garden with Becky and Carla on Saturday. After driving around looking for a place to park and finally scoring, we found “more than 120 food producers and crafters offering baked goods, fresh and dried flowers, herbs, handcrafted items, baskets, wooden toys, custom jewelry and more” in four big tents. The rain threatened,

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but never materialized, so all was well.

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I bought a jade plant.

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I went to an estate sale after church on Sunday and bought a couple of books and a Christmas present for someone–yes, it’s time to get serious about that. I puttered around and then the boy and daughter #3 came over for dinner.

A good weekend and now it is back to work. Cross your fingers that the mice are gone, gone, gone.

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Not so cute in real life.

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October 1, 2016

This and that — Saturday edition

by chuckofish

After an unusually busy week, it’s all fun now as son #3 and his lovely lady are visiting for a few days. They’ve got that North Country vibe down.

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Before I rush off to join the fun, I’ll leave you with a few fun facts in honor of October 1st and the  official start of Octoberween.

Today is the birthday of ardent collector, Charles Townley, born in 1737. Over the course of a privileged life spent pillaging ancient Roman villas in partnership with the Vatican, Townley amassed a vast personal collection of Greek and Roman sculpture, bronzes and smaller finds. Eventually, the British Museum bought the whole thing from Townley’s heirs for about £20,000 — significantly below its purchase price, but still a lot of money at the time. Earlier, Johann Zoffany painted Charles Townley with some of his more famous items. I have to admit that my favorite part of the painting is the dog lying at its master’s feet.

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Famously, the head of this particular copy of Myron’s Discobolus (front left in painting) was restored incorrectly, so that it faces in the wrong direction. It should look like this:

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Townley’s collection was so large that the British Museum  catalogue had to be two volumes.  Besides the Discobolus, the Townley Galleries included the Townley Vase

the-townley-vase-british-museumand the Townley Venus.

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Evidently the family wanted to make sure everyone knew who had purchased these objects. Although I don’t approve of the type of wholesale scavenging that went on, or the profligate way Townley threw his money around, at least the objects ended up in the British Museum. Right?

By contrast, here’s an altogether more appealing story from yesterday’s BBC Explorer about humble, Scottish naturalist and explorer, Joseph Thomson (of Thomson’s Gazelle fame).

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Born in 1858, Thomson led several expeditions to Africa in the 1870s and 1880s. Living by his favorite adage, “He who goes gently goes safely; he who goes safely goes far”, Thomson became a legend among the Maasai — so much so that one of their elders recently made the pilgrimage to visit Thomson’s birthplace in Scotland. As the BBC tells it, Elder Kakato had wanted to make the trip ever since he was a child and heard stories about the kind Scotsman. Indeed, I agree that “the words of the elders are blessed.”*

Have a wonderful 1st day of October! Just think — we only have to endure this dreadful election stuff for another month. Until then, I’ll stick with my statues and explorers, thank you very much.

*Maasai proverb

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