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February 2006 Archive 28 February - Svelte Tuesday Tragically, the press of business kept me from going nuts at today's Mardi Gras festivities in downtown DC, so once again, I have to fall back on repeating the jolly coverage from '04. I never have any fun. link home 27 February - Mountain View; a Rare Encounter  Sugarloaf Mountain from Thurston Road From One Hundred Famous Views of Sugarloaf Here's another study from our series of heartbreakingly beautiful shots of Sugarloaf, Central Maryland's mightiest peak. During the Civil War, the brave boys of the Washington Grove Horse Marines manned a lookout post on the mountain; their shocking inattention to duty during Gen. Jubal Early's 1864 raid led to the Battle of Derwood. Yesterday, I was browsing in a nearby Barnes & Noble bookstore, and I actually caught a glimpse of Animals Aloft, the heartbreakingly beautiful book that I wrote - I had not actually seen it in a real bookstore before, only in the Janus Museum museum shop. I did the traditional author thing and moved a couple of copies to more prominent positions on endcaps. It's traditional, you know. One may buy a copy or two online, of course, and help support the Museum's unspecified activities. link home 25 February - Preternaturally Alert Catwalk  Leroy and Natasha are on the alert during a brisk catwalk this afternoon in the Janus Museum Forest Preserve. Sadly, there was a terrible dog attack in town yesterday - a cat named Ms. Bear was killed. Dog George, the guilty party, has been removed from town; maybe Leroy and Natasha's catly senses caught a hint of the tragedy on the wind. link home 24 February - The Piano-Forte-Felinus-Domesticus  The Cat Piano, or clavier des chats, is obviously part of the sadistic musical instrument family that also includes the Mouse Organ. The Cat Piano is said to have been first described in 1650 by the remarkable Athanasius Kircher. Via the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society, as a matter of fact. link home 24 February - Babes in Toyland, Rats in Airships  And now, for your viewing pleasure, an airship manned by a monkey in a Mickey Mouse suit. The monkey is bombing the boogymen, you see, who are raping and pillaging Toytown. Oh, no! The airship, hit by a dart fired by Stannie Dum (Stan Laurel), bursts into flames in an eery presentiment of the Hindenburg tragedy:  Cue the Herb Morrison narration. Oh! Mickey bails out - his chute opens! He survives! The boogymen are bloodily repulsed by the wooden soldiers and retreat to Boogyland; the citizens of Toytown sing and dance - and curtain down. I'm referring to Babes in Toyland (1934), starring Laurel and Hardy. I watched a handsomely colorized reissue called March of the Wooden Soldiers, mainly for the lighter than air content, but I ended up enjoying the film more than I thought I would - come for the airship, stay for the boogymen. Many thanks to Friend of the Museum Dana Bell for lending it to me.  Dana Bell, eminent aviation historian And this is a good moment to congratulate Dana on his retirement from the National Air and Space Museum - Dana in an eminent aviation historian and author. He'll be devoting his time to writing - has some exciting book projects coming up - and to spending more time with young Mack, possibly the best little boy in the world, and with his wife Susan, who is Susan Lawson-Bell, a superb artist whose work is in the Janus Museum's permanent collection. link home 19 February - The Monarch of the Fluff  Glimpsed through a powerful telephoto lens, another rare sighting of the elusive Gray Dire Cat, his noble ruff magnificently illuminated by the late afternoon sun. Oh my god, I think he sees me! I got away, somehow. 19 February - A Good Deed, and the Sound of Drums Last week I identified the first worry-free flush after the plumber's visit as one of the great pleasures that life has on offer. A few days ago, I discovered another satisfactory life experience (this time not involving plumbing) - the opportunity to help one's fellow man and at the same time to show off a bit. I was at the local record store, browsing in the classical section, when a young man approached me in a respectful fashion. Did I know something about classical music, he asked me. I allowed that I knew a bit about it. He asked - if he hummed a bit of classical music, could I identify it? I told him to hum away and I'd give it a shot. "Dum dum de DUM de dum, dum dum de DUM de dum," he hums. "Ah," says I - "La Donna é mobile - from Rigoletto, by Verdi." And in my melodious baritone: La donna é mobile"Oh, wow, dude!" he says, cutting me off before the second verse; he went on to explain that his girlfriend wanted to do a dance routine to the music - where would he find a recording? I found him a CD - Verdi Without Words - and he travelled on contented. I felt all warm and smug inside. And I even found an interesting album for myself - something that rarely happens in the classical section anymore - Virtuoso Timpani Concertos, with the Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Alexander Peter on the skins and conducting, which must be a first for a percussionist. The music is from the 18th century; there are pieces by Fischer, Molter, Graupner, Philidor frères and Georg Druschetzky, who I knew of previously as a composer of musical novelties in the mode of Leopold Mozart - lots of gunshots and whips and stuff. You might expect the music to be pretty bombastic - and there is a fine virtuoso solo timpani march by the Philidor boys - but for the most part, the music is very mellow - charming, even. Here's the Bourée from a sinfonia by Johann Christophe Graupner (streaming Real Audio format) - give the subwoofer a tweak and crank up the speakers. Harrison Powley, who prepared the musical editions for the album, tells of celebrated timpanists of the 18th and 19th centuries in his fascinating program notes: Georg Roth, a Nuremburg timpani virtuoso, gave a concert at the Kärntnertor Theater in Vienna on 29 April 1798. The concert advertisement shows him performing on sixteen timpani with three sticks in each hand. In the earliest timpani tutor, Georges Kastner's 1845 Méthode complète et raisonée de timbales he cites an early 19th century timpanist from Berlin who played a concerto on ten timpani and juggled his sticks in the air as he ran from drum to drum. Kastner also says that "the German timpanists were, overall, very famous" and draws particular attention to a celebrated timpanist from Strasbourg called Willig, who "had a superb costume and a big salary."All this many years before Gene Krupa - contemporary timpanists can eat their hearts out. I highly recommend this Naxos album - buy it here and help support the Janus Museum's musical programming. Oh, and have a look at our notes on rudimentary drumming. link home 19 February - Film Noir with Singing and Dancing  John Abraham as Kabir and Bipasha Basu as Sonia in Body What does one get when one does a remake of the 1944 classic noir thriller Double Indemnity Bollywood style? Well, basically, one gets Body (2003), a two and a half hour version of Double Indemnity by way of Body Heat with added singing and dancing, and lots of wind chimes and candles, set in exotic Pondicherry. In Bollywood terms, two and a half hours qualifies as a taut, fast-paced story, and Body does move along at a pretty good clip, especially if one fast-forwards through the songs. John Abraham, hunky model turned actor, is Kabir, the Fred MacMurray character. Bipasha Basu is Sonia, the very fatale femme Barbara Stanwyck character; Vinay Pathak is Sidharth, the stand-in for Edward G. Robinson. I still prefer the original, though the concept is interesting - I'd like to see Dial M for Mumbai, or Sorry, Wrong Namaste - Film Noor, maybe. link home 18 February - Our Curious Cephalopods  Argonauta nodosa Friend of the Museum Grahame, who is becoming our correspondent of cephalopods, sent this photo of the very handsome Argonauta nodosa - the paper nautilus - via Pharyngula. There are at least four species in the family Argonauta, which are pelagic octopi with shells. Argonauts are also one of the most sexually dimorphic of the cephalopods! No information on how they are with olive oil and garlic, or fried. Bonus Movie Cephalopod Fact - In Sexy Beast (2000), Gal (Ray Winstone) says that he's going to order the calamari during the restaurant scene. But the scene ends before he places his order. 18 February - The Tense Tragic Fireworks We hadn't heard from Emerson Chu, our long-time Hong Kong airship correspondent and geopolitical philosophe, since last November when he gave us sage counsel on the conduct of the war in Iraq. This, despite the fact that the Janus Museum is not a branch of the Department of Defense (despite what our maintenance man Gus may think). So we were pleased to receive a letter from Emerson yesterday - until I saw that he was taking me severely to task: you should visit E- L- [name redacted] the Harvard grad in psychiatryOuch, that hurts! I have to say that this is the first time a correspondent has criticized me for, essentially, not having my head examined. What can I say? I did have E.L.'s address, which Emerson had sent me some years ago, and I did fail to contact him. Why? Because I knew that the Janus Museum's laughable health plan care provider, the AAAA Super-Valu Wellness Mart would never pay for a consultation. Also, I'm not aware that I have any mental problems that call for the services of a Harvard Grad, actually. However, I think that Emerson thinks that E.L. thinks he has some intelligence value, and that I could strike a blow for freedom by hearing what E.L. has to say. Emerson continues, thankfully leaving the subject of my own turpitude: American economy according to CNN is sliding slower todayWhatever. As I've mentioned before, we don't actually have a General Davis at the Museum. And I'm a lowly museum staffer - not a secret agent. Although I do hear stuff occasionally, usually from Jittery Beltway Insider Guy. link home 16 February - Elena and Her Men, Part 2  I mentioned a few days ago how much we had enjoyed the scenes of military ballooning in Jean Renoir's 1956 film Elena and Her Men; well, I couldn't resist posting a few more stills. After the French balloon accidently lands in a German town, an international incident is triggered and France and Germany are brought to the brink of war. Public opinion is mobilized by the press, and very convincing approximations of illustrated newspapers of the period flash on the screen. Above, the French Petit Journal shows the innocent French officers being menaced by the brutal Hun soldiers (left). On the right, the German Illustrierte Zeitung has the violent French officers threatening the poor unoffending German troops. Haw, haw!  Above, à gauche, the French paper shows the Beastly Hun hectoring the poor French officers at their trial. Recht, The insane frogs riot in the courtroom. What a great movie! link home 16 February - Duck Social Notes  The local mallards are beginning to pair off. Above, a duck checks out a studly looking drake at the US Capitol grounds. link home 12 February - Recipe Corner Many Friends of the Museum have written in, requesting the recipe for the choucroute I mentioned I made yesterday in the teeth of the storm. Here it is; quantities are approximate; one should suit one's own taste: Old Carriage House ChoucrouteActually, no one wrote in and requested the recipe; I can't imagine why. link home 12 February - Winter Storm Update  The snow started coming down hard after midnight - we now have 10 inches. Above, the North Wallow this morning - compare to yesterday's shot. Here's a lovely, Zhivago-like panorama of The Circle taken from the porch of the Historic Cottage:  There's a big tree branch lying across our phone line; I trimmed what I could, but expect it'll carry away the line at any time - will continue to post as long as we can. Thank god there's still some slivovitz left. link home 11 February - Elena and Her Men  A couple of nights ago we watched Elena and Her Men (1956), the final film in the splendid Criterion box set, Stage and Spectacle, of Jean Renoir's later work (also including The Golden Coach and French Cancan). I have to say that Elena may be my favorite film of the three, what with its wonderful evocation of French military aerostation of the Belle Epoque. Above, soldiers tend a field hydrogen generator.  Here we see a winch, used to haul in a tethered observation balloon. God, I loved this scene.  The aérostiers prepare for their mission - to observe the German frontier.  Up balloon! C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre...  Sapristi! The balloon's tether breaks, and it drifts over the frontier, coming down in a German town - an international incident is precipitated! On a personal headgear note, our maintenance man Gus has examples of the hats shown in this picture - a German feldmutze and a French képi.  What a film... oh, yes - Ingrid Bergman's in it, too - plays Elena, in fact. link home 11 February - Winter Storm Event  Washington Grove is enduring its first winter storm event - what used to be called a snowfall - of the year today; above are the conditions as of 3 PM at the North Wallow in the Circle. The weather forecasters on the local channels are getting a bit over-excited; they call for 10 inches plus possible thunderstorms, locusts, boils, and a thirty percent chance of the death of the first-born. Having a pot of choucroute on the simmer and a full bottle of slivovitz in reserve, I larf at the tempest. One may continue to monitor conditions in the Circle ('til sundown) on our Circle Cam. link home 10 February - Plumbing News  Snaking out the Historic Cottage The Janus Museum's Historic Cottage is equipped with prehistoric plumbing - parts of it include hollow tree trunks used as sewer pipe, dating back to Hiram Wallingford's time. So occasionally, the Cottage suffers plumbing disasters. Because of the general prejudice against full and frank discussion of plumbing disasters, I'll draw a veil over the exact nature of our plumbing disaster, except to say that I've been visiting the Janus Museum Forest Preserve rather more than usual. But David Stang & Son Plumbing arrived with their usual celerity and used their specially reinforced Janus Museum snake to solve our disgusting problem, at least for now. I can't speak too highly of David Stang & Son Plumbing - fast, efficient, non-judgmental, empathetic - when I showed off the hideous disgusting seat of the disaster, the David Stang & Son Plumbing plumber just said, "Aw, that's all right - I've seen worse" - I almost wept. They fixed us up with their usual skill, presented us with a very fair bill, and, as the music swelled, went on their way to assist the next sufferer. Not to put too fine a point on it, but I maintain that the first worry-free flush after the plumbers' departure is one of the finest things in the world. I did cry, a little, at that point. link home 7 February - Wildlife Sighting  Walking in the woods earlier; caught a glimpse of the rare elusive dangerous Gray Dire Cat. Took one picture, then turned and ran for my life. link home 6 February - Our Supportive Felines  Museum Cat Maxine is a big help as I work on tonight's talk. link home 5 February - Global Climate Change Update  The Janus Museum continues its far-reaching but tragically under-funded documentation of climate change, as evidenced in the Museum grounds. As reported last year, the crocuses appeared on February 12; in 2004, February 29; 2003, March 14. The implications, while certainly of the mind-boggling variety, could be more thoroughly examined if someone would just give us a generous grant, for crying out loud. All we're asking for is to dip our beak in a little of that sweet global warming honey pot. link home 2 February - Groundhog Day  In honor of Groundhog Day, we are pleased to feature Tailwind, the 1930s daredevil groundhog aviator, whose story is told in a fascinating book, Animals Aloft. Tailwind (not to be confused with Tail Wind, another flying quadruped featured here in December) can be glimpsed in the window of the Bellanca Skyrocket The American Nurse, with nurse Edna Newcomer. Dr. Leon Pisculli, also seen in the window, organized the nonstop New York-to-Rome flight to study the effects of long-distance flight on humans, and presumably on groundhogs. Tailwind, Edna, Leon, and pilot William Ulbrich took off from Floyd Bennett Field on a September day in 1932 and were never seen again. Tailwind should've stayed in Punxsutawney. link home 1 February - Extended Catwalk Coverage  Well, just one more shot from Sunday's catwalk. Natasha leads the way; Leroy wonders if he can get away with a quick butt sniff. I'll be up on my hind legs, giving a talk at the Lockheed Martin Auditorium in Middle River, Maryland next Monday as part of the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum's monthly speaker series. It'll be on Animals Aloft, of course, and I'll also sign books, if anyone wants one. Oh! There will be door prizes, too! Admission's free, but you have to bring a picture ID. link home |
