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July 2003 Archive  Janus Museum Kittens Maxine, left, and Max. As reported earlier, Martha N-W liked Hepburn, the slinky Russian Blue, and I bonded on Waylon, the laid-back Siamese mix. However, the Curator indicated a preference for the kittens Faith and Justice, and, well; rank hath its privilege. So the Kitten Formerly Known as Faith and TKFKA Justice arrived at the Museum yesterday and, in a simple but moving ceremony, were installed as our official Museum Kittens and renamed Maxine and Max, after which they enjoyed a simple luncheon in the privacy of the kitty carrier. Gus, the Museum's maintenance man, promised to keep an eye on them in the staff kitchen 'til they become a bit more comfortable with their surroundings, but Maxine later made a break for the Fellow's Common Room and has holed up in the bookcase in the area between Atget and Bourke-White. The latest report is that Max has now joined her. We'll try to resist the temptation to turn the proceedings into an ickle kitty blog. But we may fail. 26 July  I don't know his name, but I admire the taste of a gent in here in Washington Grove. About a year ago he moved a nice old caboose into a lot next to the railroad tracks, festooned it with Christmas lights, and has been using it as an office. Then he moved in a lovely Mack pumper (left), followed closely by an International Harvester truck. I find that I can just stand and stare in admiration, exactly as I did when I was five years old. My favorite equipment back then were Seagraves and LaFrance. But these are very nice, too. Very, very nice. 24 July Oh, my God - is this the end of Maryland?! pinniped has been keeping up on the Titan arum bloom watch at the US Botanical Garden in DC. 20 July  Hepburn, a lovely Russian Blue at the MCHS. Those eyes... We've started interviewing for the post of Museum Cat. Assistant to the Curator Martha Norbeck-Wallingford and I visited two nearby shelters, the Montgomery County SPCA and the Montgomery County Humane Society this weekend. Too many fine candidates for the job! Martha loved Hepburn (pictured above), and I tend to favor a Siamese mix named Waylon. Photos of all of the candidates may be viewed here. The polling has started, if you'd like to let us know who you like. 18 July The Great French Train Robbery. And there's also this disturbing report, via the Washington Post, on rising hate crimes in France. Sigh... I take back some of the nice stuff I was just saying about the French... 14 Juillet - Bastille Day  Tuileries, September 1983. Yes, yes, it seems that the French were not totally supportive when we recently went out to liberate poor little Iraq. And yes, M. Chirac is a crooked hypocritical thieving unprincipled toad - but do we really expect foreign politicians to behave better than the domestic variety? And it may be true that the French no longer actually go down on their knees daily to thank us for their liberation 59 years ago - may, in fact, get a bit testy when we remind them from time to time of all of the nice things we've done for them. Oui, some of them make fun off my primitive French when I'm over there and dare to open my mouth. So instead of dwelling on all that and on the current parlous relationship between our governments, I'll remember instead the jolly chat I had with a couple at the table next to mine in a little Left Bank restaurant, when they picked me out as an American - they recommended a wine (cheap and excellent) - asked me about myself, told me about themselves - interrogated me on my touristic activities - bought me a marc - and finally suggested that I have a look at Strasbourg St. Denis. I ask - what's there? Madame replies in French and Monsieur translates - Zat is ze avenue of ze naughty girls... Or that little café in Versailles - the owner refused to allow me to pay for my marc, took me home to meet his wife and mother, filled me to the gills with unrevenued marc, and then took me out to dinner. 'Cos I was an American, and the guy liked Americans. All right, I realize that my liking for the French appears to revolve around the free booze I've been able to cadge off them over the years. But we go back a pretty long way with the French (Oh, right - we owe our own independance to them - nearly forgot) and I refuse to whinge and whine over a perfectly respectable nation just because our politicians have fallen out. And besides, the marc is really excellent. 13 July  One of the current topics of civic discussion in Washington Grove is the burgeoning deer population in the town woods and in the Museum's forest preserve. Over-browsing has forced the deer into the town proper, and most gardens have been ravaged by the hungry deer - the Museum's daylilies have been totally devoured. This never would have happened during Toby the Museum Cat's tenure - I once saw him chasing a moderate herd in the woods. Don't think he ever brought one down, though. 12 July Washington Grove is a bit safer with the installation of another cam in the Groveland Security Network - Node 3, operating from an undisclosed location in the Grove. 6 July My latest Bollywood acquisition is a musical about Alexander the Great - Sikander-e-Azam (1962), featuring Dara Singh, who starred as Hanuman in Bajrangbali, as Alexander. Very exciting, though the DVD crapped out during the climactic battle between Alex and Paurava (Porus). So I don't know who won. I'm betting the Indians cleaned the Macedonians water clocks, though.  Dara Singh enjoying the carnage and gore. He was pretty buff for this role; fourteen years later as Hanuman he would get a bit portly. Actors who do loincloth roles really should take a little better care of themselves.  Cyntha the slave girl is carrying a torch for Alexander, so she disguises herself as a soldier. Without a doubt, it's the least convincing "I'll pass as your comrade" woman-in-uniform set-up in movie history. Knowing the historical open-mindedness of the average ancient Greek on matters of sexuality, she might have saved herself the trouble. Cytha entertains the troops in the only example of a recreation of ancient Greek song-and-dance that I know of that includes scoring for accordions.  Is that a gladius under your chiton, or are you just hoplite to see me? As omens go, this one, reported in the Washington Post, couldn't be much worse: a bald eagle was attacked and killed by an unidentified fierce predator in DC's National Zoo on Independence Day. Let the Rites of Propitiation begin. I'll be hiding under the bed for a while. Not that I'm superstitious. 5 July Well, everyone had a fine time at Washington Grove's Fourth of July celebration. Here are a couple of shots from the muster of the citizenry on the town's athletic field:  A patriotic tableau.  The Washington Grove Women's Club Cross Country Ski Club's stirring performance.  Gus Norbeck, the Museum's maintenence man, turned out to fire a salute for the flag raising. I think his firearm has been "borrowed" from the Museum's collections. Various inquiries into stupidity, via the New York Times. 3 July The town of Washington Grove celebrates the Fourth of July with some style - a flag-raising, the playing of the Anthem by the town's Muskrat Band, a grand parade of the residents through the town, orations, weenies - -the fun never stops. And the Muskrats play the Town Song, Washington Grove on the Fourth of July, as everyone sings (Real Audio format).  Gus Norbeck, the Museum's maintenence man, teaches Present Mallets to the Grove Croquet Club before the parade, 1995.  In 1999, we played a game of 19th century rules baseball. I'll be up early to help Gus put out the Museum's flags, and will try to add some snaps from our celebration later in the day. Check out the Pacer Farm Circle Cam starting around 12:10 (eastern) for coverage of the big parade. We hope everyone has a fine holiday. |
