Mickey 3d - La Mort du Peuple

"What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is only related to objects, and not to individuals, or to life."

- Michel Foucault

When Mr. McGinnis introduced me to Mickey 3d, I was instantly smitten. Searching around on YouTube, I found the video for La Mort du Peuple and went from smitten to spellbound. I recalled the first time I saw a collection of Diane Arbus portraits, and was reminded of a fact that is too often lost on us in our search for the sublime and the beautiful: Art lies not outside or within us; art is us.

Lives: Mrs. Marie-Dennett McDill

We're all, of course, well familiar with the life of Lord Michael Pratt; as a gentleman and a scholar, an example to us all.

I was saddened this morning to learn that world has lost another example of fine living in Mrs. Marie-Dennett McDill, a beautiful woman who loved the Carlyle.

At age 71, Mrs. McDill learned that she was terminally ill, and, her family wanting to ensure she lived out her final days in relative comfort, took a suite at the Carlyle for her, and brought in some kind young women to see that she was well cared for.

The family hired two attendants from Brooklyn to care for Mrs. McDill: Rose Marie Moore and her sister Shirley Innis. In the evenings, Ms. Moore would sing spirituals for Mrs. McDill.

“She would put her head back and close her eyes and ask me to sing ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.’ She’d say, ‘Give me the long version, Rose,’ ” said Ms. Moore, who took the subway from East New York to stay in the Carlyle with Mrs. McDill.

Mrs. McDill represented a bygone era, one might say. During a time when popular culture has sunk to ever new lows, Mrs. McDill still requested the classics. She was, indeed, herself a classic.

On language: Females

Please stop referring to young women as "females." They're not Labradors.

Tweedy Autumn

The following clip is a favorite scene of mine from Alan Bridges' 1985 film, The Shooting Party. It's always what I imagined being an adult would be like. Civilised discourse on the topics of the day, all while wearing country tweeds and shooting pheasant.

Adulthood has so far turned out to be a bit different, but I keep my hopes up. Today it's grey and cool, and all the sidewalks are lined with wet leaves. Rather the perfect day for a hunt. Or, at any rate, a quiet day spent stalking one's thoughts.




"Pretty place, Hindhead."

Armistice Day

11 November is a holiday recognized by nations across the world, commemorating the same day in history - 11 November 1918, the end of World War I - but differently. The New York Times has a good overview of how Armistice Day came to be remembered differently by different people.

In the years after the war, official ceremonies in the United States reflected these victorious ideals and celebrated “world peace” — it was only after World War II that the day was dedicated specifically to veterans. The touchstone of loss and suffering for Americans remained the Civil War, the world’s first industrial conflict, which 50 years before World War I had taken the lives of more than 600,000 soldiers. Memorial Day (or as it was originally known, Decoration Day) was first instituted in May during the late 1860s to commemorate these fallen.

In contrast, it was only in August 1914 that the horrors and shock of modern warfare came to Europe. The Great War, as the conflict is still known in France and Britain, was a prolonged and vicious struggle demanding the commitment of nations’ wealth and manpower on an unprecedented scale.

War is a terrible thing, though at times unavoidable. And it takes great courage and sacrifice to be willing to risk physical or psychological injury, or death to protect liberty and justice. Today we pay homage to those, the living and the dead, who have given of themselves when called on by their countrymen.

May we soon see the day when the call to sacrifice is silent evermore.

John Coltrane - My Favorite Things

It's 72 degrees and sunny in nation's capital today, and the foliage is dripping in golds and reds. The autumn leaves on the Eastern seaboard really are something to behold. I love crossing the Potomac on the train in the morning and looking out over the sun-kissed water and the trees lining the river bursting in color. It's Friday afternoon, and tomorrow some friends from London are stopping through on their drive from New York to Florida. Which reminds me, I've got to make sure the city has enough wine for tomorrow night.

Legacy Man

There's a palpable excitement that hangs in the air today, leftover from yesterday's historic election. But as everyone settles down from the long lines, bated breath, and eruptions of late night tears of joy, I can't help but reflect on one interesting bit of history that seems to have been passed over, and that's the legacy of George W. Bush.

For years people the world over have suggested that the Yalie from Midland would leave as his legacy a smoldering middle east, a crippled world economy, or the loss of the arctic ice caps and much of the world's bio-diversity.

What no one seems to have realized, or at least is talking about, is that George W. Bush's legacy very well may be that he made it possible for a Black man to be elected President of the United States of America.

Obama on the important issues

On national television last night, Barack Obama spoke about the one issue at the forefront of real America.

"I think it is about time that we had playoffs in college football. I'm fed up with these computer rankings and this and that and the other," Obama said. "Get eight teams — the top eight teams right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide on a National Champion."

With that, Obama won the votes of countless red blooded Americans who were waiting for him to speak truth to power.

And with last night's game, things could be looking good for Obama.

Jesus & Mary Chain - Never Understand

The first time I heard these guys was one of those moments when, as a young man, you know that you will never look at the world in the same way every again. There's something supernatural about the sounds that are coming out of those amps, a static virus that gets into your brain and permanently alters your metaphysical makeup.

Gore Vidal On Elections

“You must never underestimate the apathy of the American electorate, and their inability to get the point to anything. I believe that’s quite true of most electorates and ours is no different. In fact, I think we’re rather proud of the way our people can be bamboozled by anyone who’s good on television.”

- Gore Vidal, 1968