Sunday, August 26, 2018

Book Review: Nasa/Art: 50 Years of Exploration

NASA/Art: 50 Years of Exploration, by James Dean and Bertram Ulrich, NASA, Abrams, New York, 2008.
This book is where science and art meet.  This book provides a history of the NASA space program, as told through the eyes of several artists.  From early on different artists were invited to NASA to interpret history through the eyes of an artists.  There is a very mixed bag.  In talks about NASA failures, three flights that ended in tragedy, two Space Shuttles and Apollo 1.  There are some very brilliant pictures; three for Norman Rockwell, Nathan Greene contributes several, John Solie and Ken Wicks. Jaune Quick-To-See Smith provides a Native American interpretation of the space program which is very telling.  A woman’s robe represents the earth.  There are several artworks of the plume of smoke left after take-off.  These include symbolic representations.  This book is divided into four chapters: Blazing the Trail, On to the Moon, Soaring to the Skies and the Heavens, New Worlds.  I have enjoyed browsing the pictures.

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Railroad Runs Through It: Art and Poetry

Railroad Runs Through It: Livingston Artists Celebrate the railroad: An Exhibition of Dynamic Interpretations of the Railroad, The Livingston Depot Center, Livingston, Montana, 2017.
 This is a booklet that I am sure was available at an art exhibit.  This exhibit is unique as it focused on the railroad.  Livingston must have a long history with the railroad.  The booklet includes artwork as well as poems.  There are views of scenes from the railroad car, pictures of trains, Those who waited for a ride, those who worked on the trains, and raffic effected by the trains.
Edd Enders

Sheila Hrasky

David Swanson

Richard Dillof

Doris Davis Gallagher

John Zumpano

Jim Barrett

Joe Wayne

Bob Newhall
Marc Beaudin  Ghost Town

They dug for the bones of the earth
clinging to darkness
Meanwhile people built homes, raised kids of corn

The ore-filled railcars rolling east
spreading the darkness
Meanwhile some people died, some were born

The big shovels scraped & gnashed--came up empty
holding only darkness
Meanwhile the people stood with hands outstretched

Looking into the darkness of yet another American dream

Marc Beaudin from Vagabond Song.

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Quote: Oscar Hammerstein: A Bell's not a bell 'til you ring it

Oscar Hammerstein III quoted his grandfather at the Pioneer Day Concert.  I really like these words:
A bell's not a bell 'til you ring it
A song's not a song 'til you sing it
Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay
Love isn't love 'til you give it away!

Mosaics: Northwest Trek Wildlife Park

I like the mosaics at the wildlife park we visited in Washington.

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Camping on the Mississippi and the legend of Grand Tower, Illinois

When I was an 11-year-old-scout we lived in Illinois.  My dad was the scoutmaster, so I participated in both the 11-year-old program and the regular program.  As such I went with my dad to scout camps.  It was because our group  was small, just one patrol, so my dad needed every scout he could get.  One of our camps was to a camp ground by Grand Tower, Illinois.  Grand Tower is between  St. Louis and Cape Girardeau which are both on the Missouri side of the river, while Grand Tower is on the Illinois side.  Grand Tower takes its name from Tower Rock, which is an island on the Missouri side of the river.  Out in the river was this rock tower, which was covered with trees.  We sleep where we could see the rock, and where we could walk along the banks of the river.  It was  an experience to remember for a life time.  Rock Tower isn't the only island in the river.  In fact there was a larger island close by.  However it is the prettiest.  I thought it could be its only little National Park.
However what made this trip even more special, was the legend of the Rock Tower.  Somehow we became familiar with this story, and in its way it kept us from swimming too vigorously in the river  Wading was about as far as we got.  We hadn't come prepared for swimming anyway.
I was recently reading a book, set in grand Tower, which reminded my of this story.  In fact I told the story to my daughter; and then I read the actual story in the book.  I am taking the liberty to share the story from the book, "The River Between Us'  by Richard Peck.  This is an early Civil War book.  In the book it explains one of the character's  visions.  It must be written on a plaque someplace in the town, as the story is what I remembered:

The wedding party was Grand Tower's oldest story.  It went back to 1839, and people talked about it yet.  It seemed there was a young couple who took a notion to get married across the river on top of Tower Rock.  She was Miss Penelope Pike.  He was John Randolph Davis, both of them shirttail kin to half the county.  They set forth in an open boat with the bride's parents and  sister, the groom's mother, and three slaves.  The Reverend Josiah Maxwell went too, to tie the know for them.
Well, they got married on the rock.  Don't ask me how they got up to the top of the thing.  That's never part of the story.  On their way back, their  boat got caught crossways in the current and pulled down by the whirlpool.  They disappeared without a trace, though a moment before they were visible from both shores.  That was the story of the wedding party.
That story played with my imagination when I was a scout.  You could see small whirlpools int he water.  I could imagine them bigger, pulling  down boats and swimmers and whatever else might venture out there.

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Movie Review: Death of a Nation (2018)

The Death of a Nation (2018)  This is a movie from Dinesh D’Souza.  He is a conservative film producer.  He compares the Trump Presidency with that of Abraham Lincoln.  In both cases the public, or the Democratic Party was unwilling to accept the election results.  With Abraham Lincoln this lead to a fractured nation.  With Trump it has led to a political party doing everything they can to delegitimize a presidency. 
One of the big themes is the use of a Hitler strategy.  If you tell a lie enough eventually people will start to believe it.  The “Big Lie” is that the Democrats have been the party of racist, slavery and the Ku Klux Klan.  Ku Klux Klan was an arm of the Democrat Party.  The Democrat Party fought for slavery.  Woodrow Wilson screened the movie Birth of a Nation, which lead to a rebirth of the Klan through the U.S. rather than just the deep South.  It was Republicans who passed the Civil Rights laws, with Southern Democrats opposing.  And no, the parties did not change sides.  The Southern Democrats did not join the Republican Party.  Richard Nixon sponsored Affirmative Action.  And President Trump has unemployment among African Americans lower than it has ever been.
When Abraham Lincoln talked about slavery, he talked about people being forced to work, and then someone else taking their efforts to feed themselves.  The Democrat Party continues to be the party of taking wealth from those that work, to give it to others. 
An interesting story of resistance to the Nazi regime is presented.  Sophia School opposed the Nazi tactics, and published a newsletter which she and others distributed.  She called Hitler a liar.  She was caught and executed for her resistance. 
This movie is very disturbing to me.  I was antsy in my seat.  I keep trying to think why conservatives are often labeled as racists or bigots.  This does not make sense to me.  D’Souza calls this the “Big Lie” but I do not think this explains enough. 
As for myself my loyalties have shifting from being more liberal to being conservative.  Being a social worker that doesn’t quite add up; but I think conservative philosophies, “work for what you get” is more in line with my thinking. 
This production is very likely bound for documentary apathy.  However I think it deserves a view.