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Please Buy a Copy A Cat Compendium DVD by the Museum's Video Unit  |
November 2009 Archive 25 November - Strange Encounter in the Scanning Queue  It might be a measure of the load of tedium I'm working under as I continue scanning the backlog of the Janus Museum's image files, but I was greatly charmed by the chance pairing in the scanning queue of (above) the great Carmen Miranda (Maria do Carmo Miranda Da Cunha), 1909-1955, and...  ... an etching by Christoffel van Sichem of François Ravaillac, assassin of Henri IV, king of France. The smaller portraits show Henri himself, his queen, Marie de Medici, and their son, Louis XIII. Also appearing in the background are charming little scenes from Ravaillac's complicated and protracted execution. I see that one may purchase a handmade oil painting reproduction of the van Sichem etching; how nice, just the thing for the kids' room. Oh, let's have a look at Carmen Miranda's fabulous The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat from Busby Berkeley's The Gang's all Here: Can't wait to see what turns up next in the queue. link home 20 November - Dog Cap  And now, a dog in a smoking cap; sort of a companion piece to the dog in a kepi featured previously. I think we have another photograph of a dog smoking a pipe in the collection - will try to locate it, soonish. link home 17 November - At the Stein House  Lawrence Dickerson, left, was kind enough to show me the way to the Gertrude Stein House in Baltimore on an October day in 1986. There we met William Tarranthead and a friendly tuxedo cat. Good times. link home 16 November - Lunchtime at Sceaux  A cat gallops up a pathway in the grounds at Sceaux, having heard the French Cat Lady arrive with lunch. Here's that previous Sceaux Cat, and the recent Monceau Cat. link home 15 November - Dog in the Grotto  Just one more French dog and I'll give it a rest for a while. I didn't get her name, but she was jolly interested in the cave of the Grotto at Trianon - maybe she was a lady-in-waiting in a past life, or Marie Antoinette herself. Or maybe she smelled a rabbit. link home 15 November - On the Boulevard with Dog Sultan  This is Sultan, maître-dog of a café on the Boulevard Saint-Michel; somewhat world-weary and a bit cynical, but a very fine fellow - just don't try to get away without paying for your chestnuts. Oh, another Parisian dog. link home 14 November - Free-Range Phrenology  Over at a farm auction near Lansing, around 1975; a farmer cuddles his phrenology bust. link home 14 November - On the Transience of Cheap Cameras  The Terrior Column, Dumbarton Oaks. Made with a Russian Lubitel camera, which became permanently set in moody and haunting mode after I dropped it. The Lubitel is now part of the Lomo pantheon of subprime but massively overpriced cameras - here it is for only 340 bucks; Children, I paid fifteen dollars for mine, back around a hundred years ago. link home 13 November - Less Moody and Not Haunting  Something for Friday the thirteenth - a black cat crosses my path in Parc Monceau, Paris, 1987. I recall that I had a very nice crêpe in the park, and no black cat-related harm came to me. Another French black cat, from Sceaux, was previously featured here. link home 12 November - More in the Moody and Haunting Line  Another snap from Versailles - nice place, early in the morning with no one around but the ghost of Atget. Previous Moody Versailles Snaps: Bassin d'Apollon Rainy Evening in Versailles Belvedere Sphinx Encore, le Bassin d'Apollon Tableau Militaire Trianon A Bunch More link home 12 November - At the Little Bear Theater  Standing outside the Théatre de la Petite Ourse in the Tuileries, Paris - a puppet show. Sorry to report that I didn't actually see the performance - too racy for me. link home 12 November - Pickelhaubes Invade Alaska  Courtesy, the Skagway Museum Soldiers of the 14th Infantry parade in their superb dress helmets in downtown Skagway, Alaska, 1898. They were posted to Skagway at the request of Alaska's territorial governor, John Brady, to protect Skagway from hordes of "gamblers, thugs and lewd women" - no doubt the sight of the serried ranks of pickelhaubes helped bring the gamblers, thugs, and those lewd women back to a sense of civic responsibility. Many thanks to old Friend of the Museum Bob Lyon, now stationed in Alaska, for sending the snap along. link home 11 November - From the Collections, Even More  And now, something in the moody and haunting line - a shot from Square Georges Cain, Paris. link home 11 November - Orville's Album  Wild Cherry Blooms (in doors) - Cyanotype from the Orville Pack Album The Orville Pack Album has eleven silverprint landscapes, two cyanotype landscapes, and eighteen cyanotype flower studies; all are very fine. We haven't found anything out on Orville Pack, yet. A previously posted cyanotype, the girl in blue plaid. link home 11 November - Armistice Day  Too rainy today to put out the flag, but best wishes from the staff of the Museum to veterans everywhere. I'm happy to report that Frank Buckles of Charles Town, West Virginia, the last American veteran of the Great War, is still with us - Friend of the Museum Tico sent us this photograph shown above that he made in 1985.   These are snaps I took of the gentlemen of the 1139 Barracks of World War 1 Veterans, Iowa City, 1974 - fine gents, they were. Here's a medley of doughboy songs from World War I (streaming MP3). link home 9 November - Milagro del Gato Azul Gigante  Oh, here's a superb cat-related ex voto currently on offer on eBay through November 16. The translation of the inscription, as supplied by the seller: Since his little brother was born, my daughter's behavior changed a lot, she became taciturn, moody and aggressive and I was very worried. Then my sister left us her cat because she left to live to the capital for a new job, and since the cat is here my daughter has recovered her usual behavior, she loves the cat and she talks, caresses and spoils it, and she's happy again. I thanks to the Virgen de Guadalupe for the miracle.Yes, yes - I can see that having a bright blue mammoth kitty could change one's outlook on life - would like having such a cat myself. Do they come in any other colors? Previous Cat-Related Ex Votos: Brave/Ugly Cats Miracles Miracle of Feline Augmented Literacy 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 home 8 November - Joys and Perils of Big Trash Day  Big Trash Day comes around a couple of times a year - one pulls large unneeded objects out to the curb, and the trash guys come by later and take them away. Big Trash Days are eagerly awaited by citizens of Washington Grove because of the opportunity of scoring some primo stuff from the neighbors - the custom is to notify residents, if you're putting out anything decent, through the town listserv. We put out a nice comfy chair from the Fellows' Common Room - one of the older fellows had died in it, and no one would sit in it anymore - we dragged it out, and it was gone in ten minutes. So when neighbor and Friend of the Museum Ann Briggs notified the list that she had put out four vintage sling camp chairs, I hotfooted it over and snagged the lot pronto - the snap shows our maintenance man Gus, who should be raking leaves, relaxing in one on the porch of the Historic Cottage. Ann also sent along the chairs' history: ... These chairs were in the old farm house my mother bought in Trumansburg, NY, in 1963 after my father's death.There followed a brief discussion on the list on the difficulty of getting out of a sling camp chair. So Gus demonstrates his own matchless grace and agility: But why was it necessary for him to wear the Museum's priceless von Wallingsfurt pickelhaube? I've spoken to him about this before, you know. link home 8 November - From the Soviet Mad Men  Light beer is Capitalist plot - Modern Soviet Man drinks fine heavy Socialist Heavyweight Beer. From a page of excellent Soviet advertising posters at English Russia. We've considered Soviet advertising art before. link home 7 November - New Guy in Town  Meet Guy Noir, a recent arrival to Washington Grove - he lives over on First Avenue - very nice fellow. This was, I think, his first visit to the Circle, and I'm afraid that the Circle Cats stared at him in a rude sort of way. But I hope he wasn't put off, and will come again. I bet he and Sgt. Fuzzyboots will be great pals, eventually.  Circle Cats, staring in a rude sort of way at poor Guy Noir. link home 7 November - The Saucy Parrot  Thank goodness St. Francis was on hand to teach this parrot something more suitable for the kids, as evidenced in this ex voto recently featured on eBay. Here's the translation of the inscription, as supplied by the seller: A fiend give a parrot to my husband and the bird sang, but only obscene songs, my children were facinated with it and they began to learn the horrible songs even if they didn't understood the meaning of them, as my husband didn't wanted to give away the parrot I began to ask to San Francisco to teach good manners to the bird and with his help and my patience we achieves that the parakeet learned children songs.Maybe the parrot's original repertoire included such hits, not available in stores, as Eskimo Nell (mature adults only) and Cats on the Rooftop (mature adults only). We've featured another ex voto featuring an animal behaving badly, The Miracle of the Larcenous Monkey. Oh, and about a zillion scary octopus ex votos, too. link home 7 November - Sweet Dreams  Half Completed Ventriloquist Dummy Since I will have terrible nightmares tonight after beholding the picture above, I thought I'd share. Via the always fascinating Mostly Forbidden Zone, via Modern Mechanix. link home 1 November - Watch the Skies, Not the Cats  Gus gives our new telescope a try - it's a Galileoscope, a special production of the International Astronomical Union for the International Year of Astronomy, which commemorates the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei. We highly recommend the 'scope (though not for cat-watching) - very cheap - easy to assemble (not by Gus - didn't want him to handle lenses with his greasy mitts). If you do buy one, do yourself a favor and download the detailed instructions available here - they're much better than the instructions that come with the kit. And friend Gibbons sent hints on using the Galileoscope for photography - may give it a try. By the way, Gus is wearing the superb embroidered smoking cap made by friend Lisa Grossman, whose birthday is today - please raise a glass in her honor. link home 1 November - Halloween Report  It was a warmish, drizzly Halloween around here; had a fair number of participants, including some very interesting group costume themes - I believe the young ladies shown above represent weather conditions - from the left, Clouds, Fair Skies, Night. And we also had...  ... The Colors of the Rainbow. But sadly...  ... Of the costume group The Seasons, young Master Snowdrop was the only one to actually show up - he had two Snickers for his pains. And we were also treated to...  ... A superb impromptu recital by a ballerina - it was very fine. And elsewhere on the Circle...  ... Buddha Minor supervises candy distribution at his house. And when it was over, we had hot soup with rivals. link home |
