 Janus Museum Webcams Washington Grove Pacer Farm Circle Cam Groveland Security Network Node 4 The Groveland Security Network At-a-Glance A Spotter's Guide to the Circle Cats The Janus Museum Panabasis II Panabasis - Photo Youtube, Google Video Please Buy a Copy 
  Listen in to our webmaster, Tibor Szégy-Légy, as he presents a wide-ranging program of some of his favorite music. Program 3 in our new series - Outlaws and Bad Persons Program 9 - Music from the Civil War for Decoration Day Program 8 - Jazz, harp, and hurdy-gurdy. We're pleased to feature tunes from The Janus Museum's extensive music library. Every week - or more often as the spirit moves, we'll feature a tune, song, or sound from the collection in streaming Real Audio format. Here's an extremely rare treasure, a 78 rpm recording of The Rocket Ranger March from the 1953 TV series Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers These may be the the first internet performances of The Rocket Rangers March, performed by the Rocket Rangers Chorus, and also an instrumental version of the Rocket Ranger March, performed by the Rocket Ranger Philharmonic Orchestra of Zagreb. For Armistice Day - The Bells of Hell, from a newly reissued DVD of Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War. And now, a Stephen Foster song especially for the Fourth of July, Plain Old Soldier, sung by Leslie Guin. From Songs of Stephen Foster. Here's a sprightly archaic banjo tune - Pompey Ran Away (1782) from Carson Hudson Jr.'s I Come from Old Virginny! Early Virgina Banjo Music 1790-1860, another recent find in the old-time music bin. Here's a thumping good tune, Chasing Old Satan, from the Double Decker Stringband's fine new album, The Rest is Yet to Come. In honor of the splendid Hésperion XXI concert we recently attended, here's Jordi Savall performing Captain Tobias Hume's A Souldiers Resolution on the viola da gamba. To commemorate the end of legal fox hunting across the pond, here are two songs from the rich tradition of hunt songs: Nic Jones sings Reynard the Fox from Ballads and Songs. Oak, Ash and Thorn perform Bold Reynard from Sowing Wild OATs & Out On A Limb. We occasionally mention of some of the classic films that are shown in The Janus Museum's Fellow's Lounge - here are links to the webmaster's capsule reviews: Aaya Toofan Aelita, Queen of Mars Amar Akbar Anthony Astérix & Obélix contre César L'Atalante Babes in Toyland (1934), AKA March of the Wooden Soldiers Baiju Bawra Bajrangbali Balram Shri Krishna Berserk! Body Book and Sword Boxer The Brain That Wouldn't Die Bride & Prejudice British Intelligence Byron The Calamari Wrestler (Ika Resuraa) The Call of Cthulhu The Captain's Paradise Catwoman The Charge of the Light Brigade China Gate Chronicles of Narnia The Clowns Cold Comfort Farm (1995 version) Cousin Bette The Crawling Hand A Dance to the Music of Time Death in the Air (AKA Pilot X) Drôle de Drame Elena and Her Men, More on Elena Enchanted French Cancan George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation Giulio Cesare Glen or Glenda The Golden Coach Gormenghast H.M. Deserters (C.K. Dezerterzy) Halaku Har Har Mahadev The Heart of the World Henry V (1944 version) Hot Fuzz The Illusionist Les Indes Galantes The Indian Tomb (Das Indische Grabmal; Fritz Lang's Indian Epic) More on The Indian Tomb Jai Santoshi Maa Jungle ki Nagin Lagaan The Living Corpse Lola Montes The Lost Zeppelin Luv Kush (TV serial) The Maggie Mahabali Hanuman (Dara Singh, 1980) Mahabali Hanuman (Rakesh Pandey, 1981) Mahabharat; And another entry Maniac March of the Wooden Soldiers Master and Commander The Mikado (1939 version) Mister Vampire 3 Münchhausen (1943) Oh! What a Lovely War Old Khottabych Old School Les Paladins Passport to Pimlico The Phantom Empire The Pirates of Penzance (1980) The Pirates of Penzance (1983) Porco Rosso Pride and Prejudice (2005) Private Life of a Cat Ramayan (TV serial) Royal Flash The Saddest Music in the World Sadko Sampoorna Ramayana (children's theater version) Sampoorna Ramayan; Also a video segment Seven Years Bad Luck Shaolin Soccer Sikander-e-Azam Sleepy Hollow The Legend of Suriyothai Tarzan (1985 Bollywood version) Teenagers From Outer Space They Who Step on the Tiger's Tail (Tora no o wo fumu Otokotachi) Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines Titus Two Comrades Were Serving (Sluzhili dva Tovarishcha) V for Vendetta Valiant Wagner - The Complete Epic Waterloo War of the Worlds (2005) Yahudi Zeppelin For Image Searchers Many visitors to this page arrive via Google Image. Google's links are often out of date - so here are some of our most popular image searches, linked to their placement on the site: Absinthe Drinker Aelita, Queen of Mars Bertillon Photograph Cottages Dara Singh, plus another shot Eddie Carmel (the Jewish Giant) Hoplite Safety Poster Slave Girl Phantom Empire Poster (external link) Pikeman Russian Blue The oddest image search, so far, is for Sweaty Women, which brings up this image, yikes. Go figure... News & Comment City Journal DEBKAfile Thomas Friedman History News Network Jane's Information Group New York Times The New Yorker Oliphant Salon Slate Washington Post Weekly Piracy Report Weblogs and Filters Achenblog Airminded ArtsJournal Arts & Letters Daily BibliOdyssey Lilek's Bleat Boing Boing Brass Goggles Cephalopodcast Chase me Ladies, I'm in the Cavalry Juan Cole Collateral Damage Combat Helmets of the 20th Century Command Post Comics Curmudgeon Cooked Books Cool Tools Cottage Renovations Cronaca Cul de Sac Cute Overload Daffodil Field Daily Kos DC Blogs Defense Tech Fausta's Blog Fed by Birds FuturePundit.com Gizmodo Grow-a-Brain Hand Eye Paint Hullabaloo Instapundit Intel Dump J-Walk The Kitten Channel Language Hat The Law West of Ealing Broadway Little Green Footballs Metafilter Ministry of Minor Perfidy Mirabilis Notes from the Technology Underground Octopia The Online Photographer Oxblog Peek (Alternet Blog) Pharyngula Pinky Diablo and His Singing Grubworm Political Animal Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society Ramage reBlog Ref Grunt Repository for Bottled Monsters The Rest is Noise Retro Thing The Rhine River Samizdata.net seven years in the navey Squid Squidblog Talking Points Memo things magazine The Tsarina of Tsocks Your Daily Art Winds of Change Janus Links Another Janus Museum Temple of Janus by Peter Paul Rubens Temple of Janus by H.W.B., 1883 Some Thoughts on the God Janus Janus in Myth More Janus in Myth The Mystery of Janus Emblem 18 from Andrea Alciato's Book of Emblems (1531) Engraving of Janus from Vincenzo Cartari's Le Imagini de gli Dei (1608) Janus and Athena Mars, Janus, and Minerva Janus Galleries The Art of Katherine Janus Kahn Janus Great Danes The Society of Janus (not connected with The Janus Museum) Photography The American Museum of Photography Eugene Atget at George Eastman House Atget at the International Center of Photography Civil War Photographs from the Library of Congress The Daguerreian Society The George Eastman House Kathleen Ewing Gallery (represents the Janus Estate) Helios - Photography at the National Museum of American Art Klotz/Sirmon Gallery Robin Schwartz Star Camera Company Music Alan Lomax Archive Archeophone Records Archie Edward's Blues Heritage Foundation Blues on Air Classical Music Archives Classical MIDI Connection Concertzender Radio Dr. Horsehair Hackmann Hurdy-Gurdies honkingduck.com John Fahey Magnatune Joe Bussard's vintage 78s Max Hunter Folk Song Collection Music by Michael Starke Old-Time Music Homepage Phonozoic Roots of Folk: Old English, Scots, and Irish Songs and Tunes (Bruce Olson's Web Site) Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Sugar in the Gourd Weenie Campbell History & Reference American Civil War Portal American Memory - Library of Congress CivilWar@Smithsonian Common-Place Cyber Times Navigator (New York Times) Government Information Awareness The Great War in a Different Light Historical Picture Collections ibiblio Making of America Moving Image Archive New York Public Library Digital Gallery Online Books Page Open Video Project Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674-1834 Repositories of Primary Sources David Rumsey Map Collection SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System Statistical Abstract of the United States Studies in Intelligence Voice of the Shuttle Favorites 5ives Amusing Seaches The Apothecary's Drawer Big Meadows (Virginia) Webcam Bookworm Game Cat of the Day Coconino World Coudal Partners Ferd'nand Framley Museum Golden Age Comic Cover Gallery Jesus of the Week Lawsonomy Mars Attacks Macaroni and cheese recipes Mutts - the Official Site Mutts Online Patrick O'Brian Web Resources Pepys' Diary Sodaplay The Tasarina of Tsocks Washington Grove Pacer Farm webplayer |
Recent photographs, commentary,
and links from The Janus Museum's webmaster, Tibor Szégy-Légy 3 May - Feline Augmented Literacy  Here's the latest cat-related ex voto - a commemoration of a miraculous intervention - currently on offer through May 9th on eBay. And the translation of the inscription, as supplied by the seller: I readed stories to my daughter since she was a very little girl but when she learned to read she didn't wanted to do it by herself, I had the good idea of tell her that she have to read to the cats because they couldn't do it, and she began to read stories to them and the cats looked facinated with the sound of her voice, she began to read them each day and they heared attentive as if they were understanding. I thanks to the Virgen de Guadalupe for the miracle.Very fine, and even if you're already pretty literate, reading to your cats would be a pleasant way to spend an evening. What should you read to your cats? Jenny and the Cat Club is always popular, but I recommend Katherine Rogers The Cat and the Human Imagination - Max and Maxine found it absolutely facinating. Both are available through the Janus Museum Museum Shop, of course. Previous cat-related ex votos featured here: Pretty Hairy Kittens Miracle Demonic Fear of Kitties Cat Scratch Fever Miracle Miracle of the Cat Husband The Miracle of the Embarrassed Cats Tragic Love Canción de los Gatos San Pascual's Cat Aunt Honorata's Cats The Perfect Cat Storm Cat Pi Milagro Greedy-guts Miracle Cat link 2 May - Our Summer Blockbuster  Natasha menaced in Giant Squid vs. Cat II Very pleased to premiere the Janus Museum Video Unit's own summer blockbuster, Giant Squid vs. Cat II, the long-awaited sequel to our rapturously reviewed, incredibly successful 2006 feature, Giant Squid vs. Cat - viewed over 170,000 times on Youtube. And now, Giant Squid vs. Cat II: I would like to emphasize that no cats were harmed during the making of Giant Squid vs. Cat II. link 2 May - The Lameness of the Season  The famous Janus Museum azaleas are now in bloom, and the bus tours are upon us to view them. I ran into that edgy young photographer Max Gray while I was manning the espresso cart, waiting for the next tour group to arrive. He seemed to be grooving on the blooms, so I asked why he didn't have his camera with him. Such a look he gave me - "I don't do pretty, man", he said, which really put me in my place. Here's coverage of azalea season last year, and in '05. Sorry if it's too pretty... link 26 April - The New Old Footbridge  We ventured out during a break in the monsoon the other day for our first glimpse of the new Old Footbridge - regular readers, if any, will recall how stunned we were to find the old Old Footbridge had gone missing. Above, the site of the old Old Footbridge, now strangely bridgeless. Wallingford Creek is in full flood due to the monsoonal rains and the removal of the dam of leaves and branches that had formed under the old Old Footbridge. The new Old Footbridge can be glimpsed behind the trees to the right of the picture. I don't know why the new location was used - it'll take some getting used to, I can tell you.  Cat Natasha makes the ceremonial first crossing of the new Old Footbridge. It's very well-made and solid, and now one can cross the creek without fear of wrenching one's ankle, and the danger of sudden ambush has been removed, but it does lack the rustic charm of the old Old Footbridge. Gad, the world has run mad with innovation... I apologize for the gap in posting - I was moderating one of the sessions at the meeting of the local conference of ALTGEM, "Dealing with Unruly Curators" - pretty interesting session - the secret is not to leave visible marks. link 20 April - Le Cochon Danseur Since pigs fly, why shouldn't they dance, too? This superb Pathé film dates from 1907. link 12 April - Max Gray, Photographer, in Portrait Mode  That fascinating young Washington Grove photographer Max Gray, whose work we've been featuring here from time to time, was in the mood for making portraits today out in The Circle, near the Historic Cottage. Above, a nice shot of Cat Natasha.  And here's a rather jolly snap of Martha Norbeck-Wallingford, the Janus Museum's Director of Planned Giving, and Gus the maintenance man - Max Gray has given Martha a real Modigliani sort of vibe. Gus has once again jumped the gun on Straw Hat Day, I see.  Finally, a pretty terrifying close-up of Gus. Interesting, but I think I prefer Max Gray's landscape work. link 12 April - Christopher Smart  Christopher Smart, c.1745, artist unknown. National Portrait Gallery Happy birthday (yesterday) to Christopher Smart (1722-1771), poet, friend of Samuel Johnson, and author of a work beloved of cat owners, For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry, a part of his longer poem Jubilate Agno. Smart composed the poem while confined in a madhouse, Cat Jeoffry being his companion in the asylum. Here's a bit of the Jeoffry section of the poem: For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.The Janus Museum Press once offered an elegant tasteful small edition of the poem, illustrated with photographs of dear old Museum Cat Toby, about ten years ago. It's highly sought after today - we really ought to reissue it. Smart's Wikipedia entry reveals that he also was something of a proto performance artist, appearing in taverns and theaters as the midwife Mary Midnight, dressed... ...'in a high crown hat' and deliver[ing] outrageous 'oratories' or monologues about controversial topics of the day. His performances were accompanied by boisterous comedians, slapstick acts, one-legged dancers, and animal tricks...How I wish someone had taped his act! Smart was sent to the madhouse for his religious mania - he would fall to his knees in the street and demand that strangers kneel and pray with him. Though, as Dr. Johnson said, "It is greater madness not to pray at all than to pray as Smart did... His infirmities were not noxious to society. He insisted on people praying with him; and I'd as lief pray with Kit Smart as anyone else..." Here's Benjamin Britten's setting of Jubilate Agno, which he titled in the English - Rejoice in the Lamb (streaming MP3). Jeoffry makes his appearance about four minutes into the piece. link 8 April - Surveillance  Natasha keeps an eye peeled for our local fox. I saw him Saturday, trotting out of The Circle, with a squirrel in his mouth. And neighbors Lee and Marlene Fisher report that he was hanging out on their porch just a few minutes ago. Here's an appropriate song for the occasion - Tomorrow the Fox will come to Town (streaming MP3) by Thomas Ravenscroft, performed by the Pro Cantione Antiqua. Here's the music, in case you'd like to join in. link 5 April - From the Collection  We haven't had a featured artifact from the Janus Museum's collections for such a long time, so here's a 1/6 plate ambrotype (collodion positive on glass) of a Federal artillery crew at Fort Washington, Maryland, possibly made by Allan Janus. Here's another superb artillery ambrotype from Fort Washington. link 4 April - Shocking Case of Footbridge Larceny  Just last Sunday, we enjoyed a little picnic during our catwalk to the Old Footbridge, our destination of choice for many years, little knowing it would be our last. 'Cos the next time we strolled over - yesterday, it was - the footbridge was missing - gone! This was the scene:  ... With Leroy and Natasha sadly checking out the crime scene by the banks of Wallingford Creek. Well, I was aghast - the Old Footbridge, the focus of most of our catwalks, the subject of hit movies, and moving tableaux vivants - stolen. Later, a reliable source (Friend Ann Briggs) sent me this horrifing snap:  ... Of the actual act of the bridge theft. Actually, she says it's going to be refurbished, and a brand new Old Footbridge will soon be in place. Later, we found the old Old Footbridge, looking strangely out of place in the middle of the woods:  Leroy looks a bit confused, and who can blame him? It reminds me of London Bridge transplanted to Arizona. I'm sure the new Old Footbridge will be very nice, but such memories the old Old Footbridge had for us... Many thanks to the anonymous Friend of the Museum who made a generous contribution via our Amazon Tip Jar. I'd love to send a commemorative Janus Museum Fridge Magnet to the donor - please contact me at refdesk at janusmuseum dot org. link 4 April - Something About Worms  Friend Mark Taylor pointed me towards this strangely compelling video from 1970 on the dangers of intestinal worms. For some reason it reminded me of an anecdote from the French Revolution. Fabre d'Églantine and Georges Danton were in the tumbril on their way to the guillotine (April 5, 1794) along with the other indulgents, the victims of Robespierre. Fabre, a poet, was mourning the verses he would never write, beheading being detrimental to poets. Danton replied, "Des vers... Avant huit jours, tu en feras plus que tu n'en voudras!" - "Before eight days have passed, you'll make more of them than you would like to!" Vers, of course, referring to either verses, or worms. Pretty good for a fellow on his way to the scaffold. By the way, Danton was purged by Robespierre for his obstructionism on the Committee of Public Safety, relentlessly vetoing Robespierre's more bloodthirsty initiatives. Which is why Robespierre is said to have said, on hearing the news of Danton's execution, "Mais, òu sont les nays Danton?" link 4 April - Photo Review  Max Gray, Photographer Here's an excellent review of the work of Max Gray, that scintillating young photographer, by friend Hope Hare: It is good to see that younger artists such as Max have begun to investigate the possibilities of photography in a post-Kantian context, without giving up their works' traditional epistemological character in favor of a verbal model of production. It has perhaps been the impressive artisanry of historical hagiography that seemed to overwhelm the metaphoric possibilities, or perhaps the metaphor itself (weight as content) was simply too obvious, but the fresh and unusually organic plasticity so evident in Max’s oeuvre not only blends with figurative styles but also injects it with local folklore. It is irradiated with a progressive, optimistic outlook, and marked by a rejection of totalizing, essentialist, foundationalist concepts.link 3 April - Walking with Coyotes  Kind of miraculous in its timing, considering the arrival of the Beast of the Grove, is this ex voto - a painting commemorating a miraculous intervention - recently offered on eBay. Here's the translation of the inscription: At dusk I went to take a walk by the forest with my little daughter, and suddenly we saw that we were sorrounded by coyotes, I took in my arms to my girl and I commended us to the Virgen de Guadalupe because the animals seemed hungry, under her holy mantel I walked among the coyotes very slow and they let me go away without attacking us and I thanks with this retablo for the miracle.link Archives 2008 January February March April May 2007 January February March April May June July August September October November December
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