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November 2003 Archive
27 November
Yesterday afternoon - more stressed-out holiday travelers, as represented by lovely fleecy contrails.
25 November
Pretty - it was a very contraily sort of day, today. Sometimes contrails dissipate quickly, and sometimes they hang around and make complex and pleasing patterns in the sky, delighting children and aging hippies. Whether they quickly waft into nothingness or stay put and possibly have an effect on the weather depends on the humidity structure and winds of the upper troposphere, but you already knew that. Or maybe they're really chemtrails; very dangerous, and it's all a massive conspiracy. And a coverup, of course. And yet, I've got lots of other things to get deeply worried over - terrorism, The War, domestic repression, the election, staff reductions at the Janus Museum, the need to once again go out and purchase socks, etc. etc. - contrails will just have to get into line and wait their damn turn. Nice, though.
23 November
Yet another foggy morning in the Forest Preserve.
20 November - Pecked to Death by Ducks
What are we looking for? Library Juice's Amusing Searches lists some of the curious topics folks are searching on. Contributed by Friend of the Museum Pinniped. And now I must search for a bunion poem and also for bovine growth hormone girls.
© Paul Guinan
Read the thrilling adventures of Boilerplate, the Mechanical Man, soldier and Antarctic explorer; seen here with Pancho Villa. And also see the other Robots of the Victorian Era. Via J-Walk.
18 November
I deeply love Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels, so I've been both looking forward to and dreading the new movie - how could a mere hour-and-a-half distillation of twenty novels do justice to the series? So I've now seen Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and the answer is that it can't, of course; but Peter Weir still turned out a thumping good film. It's really a stew of bits and scrag ends from all of the books in the series; and for the devoted reader, it's damned distracting to watch and attempt to identify which bit came from which book. But the action is impressive and the photography is beautiful. HMS Surprise, here played by the frigate HMS Rose, is splendid - I was fortunate enough to spend some time aboard the Rose for a publication party for Lobscouse and Spotted Dog, the erudite and witty cookbook for the series. I have to say that I enjoyed the film - will probably see it again - will probably buy the DVD when it appears. I saw the film with Gus, the museum's maintenence man, who hasn't read the books (Gus isn't really much of a reader), and he absolutely loved it. If you've read the series, just see the movie and try not to think about it. If you haven't read the books, just see the movie. And then go get the books and read 'em.
Oh, yes - here's an interesting account of the production by a fellow who played a Surprise seaman.
16 November
Delightful offerings from the Foreign Groceries Museum, via Coudal Partners.
Forget fuel cells and hybrids - dog power is the way to go. Via Transport Blog.
15 November - Back in Business (Partly)
Thanks to the kindness of the Farmer General of the Washington Grove Pacer Farm, we're back on the net for email and M2 Cam updating. Many thanks go to Winthrop, the Pacer Farm farmhand, who snaked cable from the Pacer Farm server farm to the Historic Cottage's tech center, and tweaked the network 'til we were back on the air.
We're still waiting for the phone company to splice our downed phone line, though. And of course the fruitcake order line is still silent at what should be our busiest time of year. Blast...
14 November - A Mighty Wind
The strong winds of the past couple of days have taken out our phone lines, webcam and internet connections. The Curator borrowed our intern Zoe's cell phone to call the repair service - maybe they'll come Sunday. Meanwhile, the phone orders for famous Janus Museum fruitcakes have ceased. I'm sending in this update from the public library. The kittens, however, remain calm.
11 November - Armistice Day
From Propaganda Postcards of the Great War.
Before it became Veterans' Day, it was Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day in Great Britain and the Commonwealth, commemorating the fallen of World War One. The temptation to turn the day into a mere excuse for a three day weekend, like Memorial Day (the former Decoration Day), has been resisted - so far. Visit World War I - Trenches on the Web. And also World War One Photos, which has a splendid page of songs. Much more WWI music at First World War.com
Was Geoffrey Chaucer murdered? And not by angry high school students enraged by required rote memorization of The Wife of Bath's Tale? Terry Jones, late of Monty Python, has written a book that suggests Chaucer may have been murdered during the unrest caused by Henry IV's overthrow of Richard II in 1399. Via the always interesting Cronaca. Friend of the Museum Ed McDevitt found this verse on the subject by the prolific Anon (apologies for substituting effs for the long ess):
A Poeme of Vengeaunce upon the Feloniouf Dethe of Chaucer
I have mye onwe felfe oft inne thought ywrought
That murther fowle waft houe he mufte have bought
That fynal refting place wee calle the farme
By those who mente him ought but grievouf harme.
The wight who did, betidef, performe the deede
Waft nought but other than a lowly weede
And may hif inwit thuf for all and aye
Have bitten him untill hif tyme to dye.
9 November
I'm up to Episode 13 of Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan. Above, Sita is escorted to her wedding to Ram; the subtitles add an element of pleasure possibly unintended by the producer. Will I make it through all 78 episodes? Much depends on whether the calvados holds out.
8 November
The ancient art of wiener origami, via Ordo.
Bored with your Personal Labyrinth already? Try out the healing Peace Rug™, only $99.99 - guaranteed to stop bullying. Via Boing Boing.
7 November
Ah, well - the leaves are fallen, mostly. After some very warm and muggy weather this week, the temperature's beginning to dip. When will the Curator let us call the oil company so we can turn on the furnace?
A Friend of the Museum, Trish Graboske, reports that convenient executive desk labyrinths are available. Search on "labyrinth" for a small pewter version of the Chartres labyrinth with velour travel pouch included for only $29.95 - so much affordable than the ones mentioned below. Or try a fancier model in oak, walnut or maple. And the Chartres labyrinth's also available on a comfy Polar Fleece vest Or just get the tee shirt. Hey, there's even a nice plastic labyrinth! Fine, no more labyrinths for at least a week.
3 November
Hooray, the traveling labyrinth came to town yesterday - a handsome canvas version of the Chartres Cathedral labyrinth was laid out in McCathran Hall, Washington Grove's town hall. In ye olden days, taking a journey through a cathedral labyrinth was reckoned as a sort of a pilgrimage. Nowadays, labyrinths seem to be getting very popular in a new-age sort of way, as a quick Google search reveals. The Labyrinth Company, which manufactured our rental labyrinth, calls the modern version a "walking meditation device"; a "right brain activity" (as opposed to a wrong brain activity like watching TV) which "can induce or enhance a contemplative or meditative state of mind", according to the handsome labyrinth brochure I picked up. It can "calm our anxieties... deepen self-knowledge... allow for reconciliation..." and "... lead to personal and spiritual growth." But wait, it's also "... a metaphor for the journey of life." One is requested to take one's shoes off and deepen one's self-knowledge in one's stocking feet. Certainly, the labyrinthistes that I watched seemed to have achieved a level of deep calm and meditative self-knowledge. It looked like great fun, but I gave it a miss; I'm already a deeply spiritual kind of guy, and I had a hole in one of my socks.
Want a labyrinth? The Labyrinth Company will rent you a canvas or vinyl labyrinth for $150 to $300 per week, or build you a splendid permanent indoor or outdoor version in stone, pavers, concrete or turf for $11,000 to $159,000. The Curator is considering the Amiens Replica™ for the Museum Garden; one might also think about a Personal Sacred Space™ for only $169 delivered.
Yesterday was a beautiful warm day; perfect to enjoy the colors in the Museum's Forest Preserve again.
1 November - Post-Halloween
Max and Maxine, the Museum Kittens, watched last night's Halloween festivities with great interest, but tended to retreat when the trick-or-treaters approached the Historic Cottage. Everyone seemed to have a fine time; no signs of vandalism. I didn't make it down to the Haunted House, though.
Our maintenance man, Gus Norbeck, gave out the treats from his old Chinese ammo belt, on the swords-into-ploughshares principle, I'm guessing.
 
Lots of ninjas, plus scattered witches.
The devil on the right had blinking devil-horns - very striking.
A little late for Halloween, but here's something that no home should be without, via Cronaca. Homeland Security ought to be all over this.
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