The Journal of the Janus Museum http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/main.htm

I can't say why I thought it was a good idea to call for a catwalk, what with the temperature at 99 and still climbing - must have been sunstroke. There was Natasha stretched out on the stoop, but she gamely rallied for the walk in the Museum's Forest Preserve... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#24july2

Our old friend and colleague Martha Norbeck-Wallingford has taken over the product development desk for the Janus Museum Museum Shop, and some fabulous new merch is beginning to come through the pipeline. Above, custom high top Keds, sporting World War I German aircraft lozenge camouflage (Buntfarbenaufdruck)... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#24july

Scanning the old 3D and stereoviews from the 1981 Yorktown reenactment reminded me of a moment while we were stationed in the trenches - Yorktown was a siege, you'll recall - I heard a whoosh and saw a smallish mushroom cloud rising from the trench to the right of our position, followed by a peal of manic laughter. Old friend Bob Lyon, he of the dramatic cinematic death scene, witnessed the incident and tells the story... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/XX.htm#

On April 5, 1868, a Mr. Bacon and his dog had their portrait made at the studio of R. Knecht of Easton, Pennsylvania. Mr. Bacon wrote a question under the image: 'When shall we three meet again.' A note on the back shows that the question is intended for a lady, Miss Hannah Knight. It's a great image, and the question still hangs in the air after 140 years - did Miss Knight and Mr. Bacon reunite? Or did she insist on a bit of a beard trim, first? http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#18july2

Red/cyan 3D glasses on? It's time for a few more scans of my old stereo slides. Above, gallants of the 1st Maryland Regiment at Yorktown, 1981. Or, if one prefers, the same scene as a stereocard... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#18july

It was 5:06 AM. I was minding my own business, asleep, and then... it felt and sounded like a great thud! - it only lasted a second, and I assumed it was a tree coming down nearby; not an uncommon occurrence in these parts. It was, instead, the great 3.6 Germantown Earthquake. In the map above, the epicenter is the green dot at the upper left, and the red circle to the lower right, about four miles away, is us. We shut the Museum down for the day and looked for damage - nothing found, thank goodness, and the drains seem to be running a bit faster, even... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#17july

Happy Bastille Day, unless you're an aristo. Let's go to the video... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#14july

There have been goat-related ex votos posted here from time to time - the goat of evil ex voto, and the truck-riding goat ex voto, and even a dancing goat ex voto - but I believe this is the first ex voto with a sheep; it's currently for sale on eBay... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#10july3

And now, coming hard on the heels of the Celebrated Broody Cat of Excelsior, Minnesota, is another superb chicken-related photograph from the Janus Museum collections - a lady gazes enigmatically at the camera while clutching a hen and rooster in this anonymous stereoview, circa 1870. Now that I come to think about it, multitudes of nineteenth century photographic prints are chicken-related, having been made with the albumen process - the paper is treated with egg white before sensitization. I wonder what came first in our stereoview - the chickens or the egg white? http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#10july2

Gus, the Museum's maintenance man, salutes Washington Grove mayor Darrell Anderson (on tractor) during the Fourth of July parade; Gus begged me to post a snap of him actually getting off a shot during the celebrations, since his delayed Patriotic Salute occurred after the camera stopped rolling... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#10july

Soldiers of the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists - the Boxers - are on the run from troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance (from the left, German, Japanese, and Russian) in this melodramatic German lantern slide of the Boxer Uprising from the Museum's collection. The Janus Museum used to present magic lantern shows back during the our less scholarly dime museum phase, around 1900. This slide and our Buster Brown slide are the only remnants that I've been able to locate in the files. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#6july2

The ranks of the Grove Militia swelled to four this year with the recruitment of Paul Ludwig, brother to neighbor and superb fiddle-maker David Rapkievian. In this photo, contributed by Friend of the Museum Lawrence Hare, Paul is second to the right. That's Museum maintenance man Gus Norbeck at the left - William Van Camp next to him - Paul - and the Hornbostel Institute's Jeffrey Price to the right... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#6july

Will post a full account of yesterday's festivities as soon as possible. Meanwhile, please enjoy this magnificent stereoview from our collection - '6913. 'Tis the Land of Liberty, flowing with milk and Honey.' Published by B. W. Kilburn, Littleton, New Hampshire, 1891. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#5july

Our maintenance man Gus achieves a jolly nice volley with the Museum's musket while wearing the Museum's pickelhaube, in rehearsal for tomorrow's patriotic salute... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/july10.htm#3july

Here's another treasure from the Museum's scanning queue - a carte de visite by H. A. Ball, c.1870, of a cat mothering a brood of poor orphan chicks. The text as printed on the reverse of the carte... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#27june2

If you're planning a visit to the Janus Museum to view our renowned portrait of Sir Charles Wallingford, you'd better pick another leading cultural institution instead - Sir Chas. is off to the conservators for a thorough cleaning. It seems that things got out of hand during last night's Young Benefactors Evening, and the gallant cavalier now sports a couple of unsightly Jaegermeister and Mojito stains... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#27june

The Moon being full and rising late last night, I took the Museum's Galileoscope and a tripod out into the Circle for a bit of observation, accompanied by Cats Leroy and Natasha. Not having an adapter tube as suggested in these instructions for Galileoscope photography, I merely held my camera up to the eyepiece and snapped away. The cats enjoyed the nocturnal activity and ran about, though neither of them pestered me for a peek through the scope. It was all very pleasant, and it made me wonder if Galileo took his cats along when he observed the heavens - would make a good children's book, I bet - like 'Captain Kidd's Cat'. The name of June's full Moon, by the way, is the Strawberry Moon... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#26june

The steer was on the move and so was I, trying to get to the car before the storm reached us. It's somewhere along the Blue Ridge, I think. Probably taken... oh, around 1980, maybe. I should've kept track of these things better, I know, me being an archivist. But really, in a couple of hundred years, what difference will it make? However, I'm fairly certain it is a steer - Hereford, I think. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#25june2

Myself, I try to stick to photographing cats and dogs, or, if I'm feeling particularly brave, rabbits. But Francis Frith (1822-1898) was obviously made of sterner stuff - here's his shot of a crocodile - just look at the teeth on that boy - taken on one of his three trips to Egypt between 1856 and 1860... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#25june

That's my Pa, Milton Szegy-Legy, grimacing on the left, during a visit to the House of David, c.1920. And here's a Father's Day song, especially for Father's Day... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#20june

Here's a superb image from the Museum's Haberdashery in Photographs collection - two straw boaters messing about in a boat, c.1920, presumably after Straw Hat Day. If there had been a third hat in the picture, it would have made an excellent book cover for a new edition of Three Men in a Boat. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#19june

There was a mellow old tree stump, the remnant of an ancient oak, located a bit east of the North Wallow in the historic Circle, Washington Grove - it was a favorite with Cat Leroy, who would hop up and seek a bit of attention; thus, it was known locally as the Old Petting Stump. One could just sit on it and meditate on important matters... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#18june

Today in the Janus Museum's scanning queue - a superb view of a double platen planer, photog. unknown, c.1920. Note the disembodied hand in the lower left corner, turning a wheel. Next... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#14june2

Too beautiful to even think about eating: a Pelagic Octopus (though not a Tuberculate Pelagic Octopus). Photograph by Chris Newbert. Many thanks to our cephalpod correspondent Grahame for sending the snap, via Pharyngula, via National Geographic. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#14june

Please say hello to young Alejandro, who showed up scared and hungry in neighbors Margot and Ned's garden last week. He was given a couple of square meals and was soon captured by Friend of the Museum Rebecca. She took him to the vet, who pronounced him about eight weeks old and healthy - not even a flea on him. Neighbor Mimi dubbed him Alejandro, and so far the name suits him pretty well. He's now very friendly and affectionate - and over-the-top cute... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#13june

Came home the other afternoon to find a package from Brother Granville at the door - inside was a styrofoam cooler which held the goods temptingly arrayed in the photo above. From the lower left and going clockwise, we find German style salami, bratwurst, natural casing frankfurters, shinken speck, pork sausage links, and Polish sausage - truly a coronary in a cooler. It's a superb assortment of goodies from Koenemann's Sausage of Volo, Illinois. I've had to store it all in a freezer in an undisclosed location to preeserve it from those ravening hounds, Gus and the Museum Fellows. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#11june

The latest eBay cat-related ex voto - a token giving thanks for a miraculous intervention - tragically casts the kitties in an unfavorable light... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#5june

His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Franz Joseph (1830-1916), King-Emperor of Austria-Hungary*, may have appeared in lots of cartoons, but the only one I'm familiar with is Tom and Jerry's Johann Mouse - it's your basic Cat on Mouse scenario, but set in Vienna and complete with waltzes... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/june10.htm#1june

Cat Leroy does not appear very pleased as he models his new miniature World War II M1C paratrooper helmet. I can't blame him - it's a bit snug, and it offers little or no ballistic protection. I told him to wait for our new cat pickelhaubes to arrive. Not that they offer any more protection, but at least the fit's better, and it's got lots more bling. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#31may2

From the Museum's collections - an old Rebel shakes the hands of two Yankees, Gettysburg - probably at the Great Reunion of 1913. The northerners are veterans of the 134th New York Infantry - that's the Regiment's marker for the first day fight, 1 July. The New Yorkers were heavily engaged on the second day in the defense of Cemetery Hill. Altogether, at Gettysburg the Regiment lost 252 men - killed, wounded, missing - out of 400. Here's their monument on Cemetery Hill. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#31may

How fierce Cat Nutmeg looks in our new katzenpickelhaube! This is the prototype helmet, just received from the factory in Bangalore. The Museum's regents and the curator must pass judgment on it, and if approved, we'll pass the word to Mr. Pradeep in Bangalore, production will begin, and the Museum Shop will soon have it available for purchase at an amazingly reasonable price. Reasonable, that is, to people who wish to equip their cats and small dogs with miniature Model 1897 Prussian other ranks pickelhaubes. What the rest of the wide world will have to say about it I can only imagine. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#30may2

Here's another fine cephalopod-related ex voto recently on offer on eBay from seller grancronopio... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#30may

Here's good old Socks, AKA Cat Van Beek, having a relaxing wash in the meadow off First Avenue. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#23may

I'm back from Tampa and the ALTGEM conference, but am still feeling a bit fragile. My talk on fund-raising through the production and sale of azalea petals for dugyeonju (Korean azalea wine) went over pretty well; I expect that small museums all over will be getting into the game, depressing azalea petal prices. I knew we should have locked in our contract for the 2011 harvest before the talk... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#22may

Since I'll be away on May 14 - Folk Song Day (so-called because of the quantities of songs that take place on that date) - I'll post the songs today. Don't listen to 'em before the 14th, though... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#9may2

Cat Leroy once again demonstrates his superior contemplativeness, so useful in a cat who poses for 3D photographs using the one camera system. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#9may Here's our final video from the superb Gut, Wind and Wire concert from March - Ronn McFarlane, Mindy Rosenfeld and Mark Cudek perform a rousing encore, "Les Bouffons". http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#8may

A view of St.-Cloud, near Paris. The dog statue to the left of the nice lady statue was featured previously here, when we noted that St.-Cloud is well endowed with dogs. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#2may

Cat Max tries out the pile on a new acquisition, an Afghani rug featuring fine woven cats and helicopters and something like peacocks. Long-time Museum site visitors may recall that we once enhanced our revenue through the sale of Afghan war rugs. The business got... difficult in 2001, and we've only just re-established contact with our old buyer in Kabul - this is the first rug he's been able to ship to us. It's very nice. Wonder when it'll attract its first hairball? http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#1may2

It being May Day, and May Day being a good day for a song, and us having featured The Padstow May Song some years back - why not have a listen to a really ancient song for May Day, Calenda Maia? Composed around 1200 by the Provençal knight and troubador Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, the tune still has an immediacy and freshness to it, as if it had been composed this morning.. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/may10.htm#1may

Our experimentation with the ancient art of stereo photography advances. Thanks to a very fine freeware program called StereoPhoto Maker, a limited production of Janus Museum Stereo Series stereoviews is just starting to ramp up. Above, an early test card features Archie, the Museum's beloved giant squid mascot... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#25apr

Spring brings foggy mornings around here, and the Museum's Video Unit showed up early down at the Washington Grove train stop to record the arrival of MARC train 872... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#24apr

I would bet that there aren't a lot of photographs showing vice presidents of the United States wearing pickelhaubes, the German spiked helmet of the imperial period. And yet, here is Thomas Riley Marshall (1854-1925), Woodrow Wilson's vice president, wearing one on the steps of the Capitol - taking part in a 1918 Liberty Bond rally, I think. Marshall's most notable achievement was coining the immortal phrase What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar. Via the Library of Congress. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#18apr

Pleased to continue our ongoing documentation of the Dogs of Washington Grove with an old friend - Piper, who hangs out over on Washington Grove Lane with Jamie and Sat. Piper's very friendly - likes to munch on twigs and gravel - prefers a scritch under the chin to a pat on the head... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#17apr2

Browsing through the Museum's scanner queue, I'm continually reminded that our ancestors were much more antic than they're usually given credit for. Above, a carte-de-visite from the 1870s reveals two British or Canadian officers and a toff posing with a stuffed heron. Hard to tell, but it might even be a Wallingford's Heron (Ardea wallingfordensis). The soldiers are wearing jolly little kilmarknock caps at the requisite jaunty angle... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#17apr And now, another set from the fine Gut, Wind and Wire concert - Ronn McFarlane, Mindy Rosenfeld and Mark Cudek perform a saltarello and piva. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#16apr2

Not pictured in dramatic 3D, but still quite lovely in its own way; a plate of perfectly grilled asparagus. Previously featured here: grilled brussels sprouts. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#16apr

Am very pleased to present this thrilling 3D tableau of a kitty taking on an M3 Lee tank. I believe that the cat is Mounard le Fougueux. It's hard to prove, but I'll bet that a 3D Cat/M3 Lee tank tableau is unique in the blogosphere at this time... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#13apr

I'll admit that it's not usually a consideration, when one is choosing a kitten, to determine whether the kitten has the inherent calmness necessary for holding a pose for the two exposures needed for a 3D image - it certainly didn't occur to me when Leroy and Natasha were candidate-kittens. But I certainly lucked out with Leroy, who has the calm contemplative nature required for good Cat/3D work... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#11apr Here's another video from the splendid concert by Gut, Wind and Wire - Ronn McFarlane, Mindy Rosenfeld and Mark Cudek. The set includes 'Gray's Inn', 'Doun in yon Bank', and 'Green Grow the Rashes' - which is a damned odd color for a rash, but never mind about that. Sorry about the odd camera movements - I didn't use a tripod, and I got the twitches. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#10apr2

Possibly not as therapeutic as the contemplation of Cat-3D photography; but I'm convinced that a quick glance or two at a 3D image of the rare Wallingford's Heron (Ardea wallingfordensis) will do you no harm. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#10apr

The last concert of the season of Washington Grove's Mousetrap Concert Series was very fine - very much up my particular alley. Gut, Wind and Wire is a trio of members of the Baltimore Consort - Ronn McFarlane, lute; Mindy Rosenfeld plays flutes, fifes and the whistle; and Mark Cudek on cittern, renaissance guitar, and bass viol. The program consisted of works from the renaissance, Elizabethan consort pieces, country dances, and some beautiful pieces by Ronn McFarlane, all played with considerable verve and brio. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#4apr2

After mentioning the difficulties of cat 3D photography last week, I thought I'd have another go at it while we took our first walk of the season to the New Old Footbridge. The pleasant weather and the peacefulness of the scene contributed to making the cats, including the usually turbulent Cat Natasha, quite still and meditative. Above, Natasha is in the foreground and Leroy's already on the bridge. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/XX.htm#

All right, put on your red-blue glasses for our latest example of exciting 3D work - an picturesque out of commission wicker chair and a bust of Aphrodite in the Historic Cottage's old formal garden. When the glasses are on, it looks like you can fly through the wicker - most exciting! http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#2apr2

The morning brings two more superb cat-related ex votos on eBay. In the ex voto shown above, according to the seller-provided translation of the inscription: When I was mupping the kitchen I slid and I fell down on the basket with kittens, I thanks to the Virgen because miraculously I didn't squashed my cat kittens because I quite fat. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/apr10.htm#2apr

I believe that this is Cat Milkshake's first appearance in Cat/Daff coverage - always pleased to see a new player... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/mar10.htm#31mar

Enthusiastic feedback from our recent anaglyphic 3D post has been so absolutely nonexistent that I thought I'd try again. Above a dog poses with a paw hovering dramatically in mid-air... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/mar10.htm#28mar

Currently on eBay, a very fine ex voto - a object (in this case a retablo, a painting) that commemorates a miraculous intervention. Here, a kind lady gives thanks for three poor little stray cats - here's the caption, translated by the seller... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/mar10.htm#27mar2

Thanks to the generous contribution of a good Friend of the Museum, we recently acquired these superb corn prongs, circa 1925, from the Benish Restaurants of St. Louis. The Janus Museum has the largest collection of Benish Restaurants artifacts and documents of any major museum. I'm not bragging; it's just a fact. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/mar10.htm#27mar

I'm sad to report that an old Friend of the Museum, Archie the Dachshund, has died at the age of thirteen. Above, with his buddy David Neumann, he meets good old Cat Toby. We'll miss Archie's cheerful bark when we go down Fifth Avenue. http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/mar10.htm#24mar

Pleased to announce that Cat/Daff Season is now open, even if the daffs aren't quite in bloom, at least in the Museum's Forest Preserve. But Cat Leroy was anxious to get on with the festivities, and who am I to say no? http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/mar10.htm#21mar

Nice and warm, here - beautifully sunny - doors and windows thrown open - ceiling fan in operation for the first time since September - daffs opening. Should go rake out the cat wallows for the big Wallowing Season Opener (or at least attempt to get Gus to do it), but suddenly feel tremendous lassitude stealing over me - can barely keep eyes open on the Fellows' Common Room couch - fresh air making me woozy - can barely lift new issue of Wired... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/mar10.htm#20mar

What with the torrential rains, the snowpack from the February blizzards is pretty much gone, but images from last week's probe into the Museum's Forest Preserve show the last icy remnants. Above, from the left, Nutmeg, Leroy, and Natasha. Leroy and Natasha are on the former Excellent Climbing Tree... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/mar10.htm#13mar

Yesterday was fine and warm, and with the snow rapidly disappearing, it was as if someone blew a clarion trumpet that only the local cats could hear - everyone was out for the first real scamper session of the season. Above, Natasha lifts an elegant paw in the presence of the first snowdrops... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/mar10.htm#7mar

Looking a bit poleaxed after emerging from the drifts, the first crocuses of the season have shown up, somewhat later than the last couple of years. Soon it'll be time for the big annual Wallowing Season Opener, and then comes Cat/Daff Season, and then maybe Blue Jay Ground Attack Season - Spring in all its varied moods... http://janusmuseum.org/panabasis/mar10.htm#5mar