THE SIGNAL from David Katznelson
"Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void, but out of chaos."-Mary Shelly
We returned late last night from the finale of the August trips, having just celebrated the the engagement of our niece. The light of early morning has changed so much after being gone most of these past four weeks, with the sun still not up as I sit here listening to Nikhil Banerjee start one of his ragas with candlelight and incense dancing with the morning fog outside the window.
Today is the birthday of Virginia Lee Burton, a children’s book author and illustrator known for such incredible works as Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel and one of my favorites of all time, The Little House. Like many children’s stories that one both reads as a child and rereads as an adult to your own kids (or a friends…), the story of The Little House has such an evolving depth of meaning through its dark, pertinent themes. It hits like the The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, which reads sadder and sadder as you age and find yourself following and relating to the different life stages of the boy, as he comes to his limited-resourced childhood friend with new needs, and where love and sacrifice play such crucial roles in that relationship.
The Little House is the story of a beautiful, simple cottage in the country that finds itself consumed in a growing suburbia and finally overtaken by a radically developed city. It is only rescued—moved back to a country setting—after it has gone through a period of being uncared for, with broken windows and boarded-up doors, blocked-in by sky scrapers making up the concrete jungle of a city. It is a tale of land development, of imminent human growth and the resulting affect we have on our natural resources.
Burton does a fantastic job of using color to show the difference between the ever changing seasons of the vibrant county and the grays of the city, with the house all smiles until it is enveloped in construction. And. yet, she is not telling our children a tale of condemnation of this growth, but the knowledge of its inevitability and maybe just a little warning of what we are losing in the process. As discussed in the documentary film about Burton, A Sense Of Place, a theme of hers is “adapting to change while still recognizing the importance of the past.” A heavy concept for a child, but related so simply and beautifully.
Burton was not a prolific children’s author, only publishing seven stories in her lifetime before her untimely death. She was also a textile artist, showing in many exhibitions in the 40s and 50s and founding the Folly Cove collective of designers. Her son Aristides Demetrios took the artistic reigns as a sculptor, keeping the tradition handed down to him from his mom and dad of using art to tell the stories of our lives.
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Reggae Giant and Dub Pioneer, Dead at 85
The world keeps getting less colorful as another giant is silenced. Lee “Scratch” Perry….complete madman (I will miss the always unexpected quality of his live shows)…the production genius (thank you for The Wailers…for everyone you took in the studio)…the one-of-a-kind recording musician. This article offers some nice career spanning listens. One of a kind, one of a kind.
Friend and co-conspirator Josh Kun has a super-power of using music to frame our reality, teach history, while opening our eyes with the worlds greatest sounds. He put this playlist together recently which connects the ear and mind to the realities of Afghanistan in a different, mind-opening way. As he says, “Music has been crucial to shaping Afghan nationalism and crucial to maintaining Afghan community, memory, and family ties throughout the diaspora. As the world watches this latest traumatic chapter of invasion, war, and abandonment unfold, tuning in to the country’s varied and multi-layered musical histories can offer deeper and more nuanced understandings of Afghan cultural resilience and cultural struggle.”
Amphibious Whale-Like Creature Dating Back 43 Million Years Ago Discovered In Egypt
My wife turned me onto this article after it was sent to her by her friend Courtney who lives in Cairo. Thanks Barbara!!!!
Anya Taylor-Joy and Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu Revives the Strangest Movie Vampire
I have been waiting for the next Eggers’ production…loving the Witch, really liking Lighthouse…just feeling the need to jump back into his dark, dream of a world. With Taylor-Joy re-teaming with him, and Eggers focusing on such a beloved creature such as the hideous Nosferatu, the upcoming film just sounds great.
The Tale of a Chaotic and Failed Attempt to Explore Antarctica in 1897
Who doesn’t like a 19th century tale of a crazed trip to the Antartica led by an unexperienced captain who sails into trouble so he doesn’t have to be embarrassed at ending the trip too early? The New York Review of Books has a superior article to this one, but the damn paywall makes it so the non-subscriber cannot enjoy the article, so no reason to post it. But let’s just say….MADHOUSE AT THE END OF THE EARTH looks to be a dark, compelling read.
Bob Ross Netflix Documentary Surveys the Tense Legal Battle Over His Estate
So Bob Ross, Inc has already said that this doc is far from true…but how can you even think of missing out on learning more about the man who painted happy clouds?
THE HAPPINESS
By: Jack Hirschman
There's a happiness, a joy
in one soul, that's been
buried alive in everyone
and forgotten.
It isn't your barroom joke
or tender, intimate humor
or affections of friendliness
or big, bright pun.
They're the surviving survivors
of what happened when happiness
was buried alive,
when it no longer looked out
of today's eyes, and doesn't
even manifest when one
of us dies, we just walk away
from everything, alone
with what's left of us,
going on being human beings
without being human,
without that happiness.