Category: Thoughts, Musings, Stories
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The pandemic is the medium
When it started, I thought the interruption would be short. Life would revert. We’d get back to the headlong insanity that we called normal. A year has passed, and that once-vivid world is just another memory. Like university. Like that summer vacation, when you couldn’t wait to go back next year. Like Humphrey Bogart saying…
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The Pardoner and his Tale, Jan 19 2021
Today (January 19, 2021) everyone in the U.S. is busy guessing who will be on the pardon-list of that outgoing guy. The official list will be documented here: https://www.justice.gov/pardon/pardons-granted-president-donald-trump#Jan202021 Meanwhile, let’s find out how a person who Pardons does it. Geoffrey Chaucer’s character The Pardoner, and his tale in The Canterbury Tales (1387) come to…
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Noguchi sculpture appears in the Rose Garden, Episode #2
How your intrepid blogger discovers new answers to her puzzles about the Noguchi sculpture … on Dec. 1 Timothy Harleth and Nikki Pisha in the Rose Garden. On Dec 1, 2020 at 10:00 am, the White House Historical Association host an online two-panel symposium on “The History of Diverse Artists in the White House Collection”.Between…
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Noguchi sculpture appears in the Rose Garden, Episode #1
How a surprising news story in the US leads us to a Noguchi sculpture, a White House puzzle, and an unexpected update a week later … Breaking News, Friday Nov 20, 2020 “First Lady Melania Trump is pleased to announce the installation of Floor Frame (1962), by Isamu Noguchi (1904-88). The sculpture will be located…
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East Enders vs the Republic of China
How a small news story about East-Enders and the Chinese Embassy takes us on a big ride through family history, via the Battle of Cable Street and the mural … Ron’s late mum Alice Weihs was an honourary East-Ender. She was dubbed “Ellis the Ken-eye-dian” (cockney accent). She went off to London UK on her…
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Playing Real Good for Free
One of the pleasures of our 10-day stay in Lisbon was the quality of the street music all over the city. Best of all was a really fine ensemble from Cabo Verde playing near the waterfront, Nôs Raíz. We listened to their concert for about 40 minutes and bought a CD, which turns out to…