Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, August 2
through
Saturday, August 8
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It’s Saturday, August 8, 2020
Welcome to the 849th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Pisa Cathedral with the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Saffron Blaze - Own work
Duomo, the medieval cathedral of the Archdiocese of Pisa
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2.0 Commentary
Two major steps to protect the safety of its riders that the MBTA can take now:
1. Retrofit each car to be safe when used as presented with both
seats and handles for standees properly distanced.
Affix signs onto the exterior of each car reading:
This vehicle may safely carry up to thirty (30) properly protected passengers.
2. Install ‘velvet ropes’
as found in movie theaters to delineate a queue.
Or use chain link for that matter.
The delineated aisles will lead in one direction – from the entry turnstyles to the cars.
Concomitantly, those disembarking from the trains will have their own designated aisles to the exits.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Pisa.
Inadvertently omitted Pisa from the Arezzo to Padua auto loop.
Must reinsert.
Must refigure time and distance.
Pisa will add ninety minutes of driving and two or three hours additional
locating the buildings and art desired,
including of course the Leaning Tower and Pisano’s Pulpit.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
Good night, good night!
Parting is such sweet sorrow,
that I shall say good night
till it be morrow.
~William Shakespeare
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
Got a couple of notes on restaurants opening or not opening.
In response to the posting citing fear as a factor that is keeping some from reopening.
Fear being reopening only to find that a viable market for your goods no longer exists.
Sad times.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Last night I fried a large pork chop.
Simple and delicious.
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The Piazza dei Miracoli (English: Square of Miracles),
formally known as Piazza del Duomo,
is a walled 8.87-hectare area located in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy,
recognized as an important center of European medieval art and
one of the finest architectural complexes in the world.
Considered sacred by the Catholic Church,
its owner,
the square is dominated by four great religious edifices:
the Pisa Cathedral,
the Pisa Baptistry,
the Campanile, and
the Camposanto Monumentale (Monumental Cemetery).
Partly paved and partly grassed,
the Piazza dei Miracoli is also the site of the Ospedale Nuovo di Santo Spirito (New Hospital of the Holy Spirit), which
houses the Sinopias Museum (Italian: Museo delle Sinopie) and
the Cathedral Museum (Italian: Museo dell'Opera del Duomo).
The name Piazza dei Miracoli was
coined by the Italian writer and poet Gabriele d'Annunzio who,
in his novel Forse che sì forse che no (1910),
described the square as the "prato dei Miracoli", or "meadow of miracles".
The square is sometimes called the Campo dei Miracoli ("Field of Miracles").
In 1987, the whole square was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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It’s Friday, August 7, 2020
Welcome to the 848th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
St. Francis of Assisi
Philip Fruytiers - http://www.kmska.be
oil on canvas, 259.5 x 169.3 cm,
Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
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2.0 Commentary
In the midst of a depression, we give scant attention to our economy.
Everything going wrong is blamed on Covid,
when much of what ails us is our dire economic plight.
True, Covid put us here.
But providing long-term engines to lead us out of this economic death-trap
is garnering little time in the press or social media.
Along with the conversation of keeping us healthy,
where are the strategic plans for getting our economy back to producing?
Thinking some businesses don’t want to reopen.
Thinking some businesses afraid on reopening
they will discover they are dead.
Exactly what Sulla discovers in her eponymous novel by Toni Morrison.
But death doesn’t hurt, Sulla realizes.
“Wait till I tell Nell.”
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Continuing with a discussion of destinations,
the length of the trip plays a crucial role.
In my experience, a ten-day trip is what I can handle comfortably.
Ten days, including Days 1 and 10 as travel days,
from home city to first destination abroad.
I miss my country.
Ten days and I want to,
need to,
come home.
And this psychological barrier limits the number of destinations.
So for Tuscany we have to plan for eight days.
What did we know for certain?
Arezzo with its imperative Piero dello Francesca frescoes, History of the True Cross.
Assisi with the Life of Saint Francis frescoes, creator in dispute, and home to Sts. Francis and Claire.
Leisurely driving through the countryside of Val d’Orcia.
Siena, with its art, including Duccio’s Maesta, its town center declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site, its buildings, and St. Catherine of.
Padua with Giotto’s art-world shattering of the Scrovegni Chapel frescoes of the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin Mary.
Florence, mais oui.
All we had to do was look at the maps to discover the driving distances,
connect the dots, and
Voila!
Trip planned for us.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
Some men never seem to grow old.
Always active in thought,
always ready to adopt new ideas,
they are never chargeable with foggyism.
Satisfied, yet ever dissatisfied,
settled, yet ever unsettled,
they always enjoy the best of what is,
are the first to find the best of what will be.
~William Shakespeare
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Howard D:
FYI: Boston-area restaurants that have closed amid coronavirus
kinda’ sad…
Blog Meister responds: Certainly is.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Last night I enjoyed, really enjoyed, a plate of pasta with a Gravy I made of
pig’s feet, small pieces of short ribs of beef, chicken wings, and, of course, meatballs.
The pot was a classic turnout.
I froze half of it
in preparation of my daughter’s visit in two weeks.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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Francis of Assisi (born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, 1181 or 1182 – 3 October 1226), venerated as Saint Francis of Assisi,
also known in his ministry as Francesco,
was an Italian Catholic friar, deacon, philosopher, mystic, and preacher.
He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor,
the women's Order of Saint Clare,
the Third Order of Saint Francis and
the Custody of the Holy Land.
Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in Christianity.
Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis on 16 July 1228.
Along with Saint Catherine of Siena,
he was designated Patron saint of Italy.
He later became associated with patronage of animals and the natural environment, and
it became customary for churches
to hold ceremonies blessing animals on or near his feast day of 4 October.
In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt
to convert the Sultan to put an end to the conflict of the Crusades.
By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent
that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient.
He returned to Italy to organize the Order.
Once his community was authorized by the Pope,
he withdrew increasingly from external affairs.
Francis is also known for his love of the Eucharist.
In 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas live nativity scene.
According to Christian tradition,
in 1224 he received the stigmata
during the apparition of Seraphic angels in a religious ecstasy,
which would make him the second person in Christian tradition after St. Paul (Galatians 6:17) to bear the wounds of Christ's Passion.
He died during the evening hours of 3 October 1226,
while listening to a reading he had requested of Psalm 142.
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It’s Thursday, August 6, 2020
Welcome to the 847th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Duccio’s Maesta in Siena, 1308-1311
Altarretabel des Sieneser Doms, Vorderseite, Haupttafel, Szene: Thronende Maria mit Kind, Engeln, Heiligen und Apostelfiguren in Arkaden
Duccio di Buoninsegna
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2.0 Commentary
The battle against corona in Massachusetts suddenly experiencing a setback.
The Governor is poised to take steps to close some of the openings we have grown to appreciate.
He’s done well so far.
Am confident he’ll lead us down the right path.
But it ain’t easy, is it?
So I’m accumulating notes on the towns, the buildings, and the art within.
What will be hundreds of pages.
Printed out they will occupy desirable space in and add unwanted weight to my carryon,
more important since we will not be checking luggage.
So I called a friend, also a tech expert, and Tucker assured me that the Surface laptop I use
is the perfect device to forestall the papers.
The tablet separates from the heavier keyboard section and has the power to hold, find, and display
all the pages I could possibly compose.
Only problem is the battery life of the tablet is only 2 hours.
Two hours is the maximum I would spend at any one time in a museum.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Destination Towns and attractions within the town
Have decided to create a face sheet
for each of the towns we are planning to stop in:
Arezzo, Assisi, Siena, San Gimignano, Padua, Venice, and Florence.
A couple of sentences on the town’s history,
a list of the town’s landmarks: buildings and Piazze,
the ‘must see’ art,
any important pilgrim sites, and
‘must experience’ restaurants and cafes.
Any names that appear on this face sheet will have its own face sheet, say,
Duccio’s Maesta, with all the notes we will want to read on that topic.
Much of the work in planning the trip is the filtering and sorting that time and money impose on us.
So much to see and do.
Fortunately, so much has been written about this area it’s easy enough, with a little time and effort, to prioritize our interests.
Even with meticulous planning,
I’m certain that we travelers,
when discussing the trip with friends,
will face many reactions along the lines of,
“Oh! Don’t tell me you didn’t even stop at Cortona?
”It was only five minutes out of the way and has so much to see.”
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.
~William Shakespeare
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Sally C:
Dear Dom,
Although I understand your seriousness in addressing MBTA issues, I had to chuckle at your sentence: “The specific how-tos will be fun to thresh out [crowd control].” My quirky and oft-times silly brain replaced “thresh” with “thrash.”
We always need some amusement to tickle our funny-bones, even more important in stressful times.
The more appealing topic of food, ever-present in your blog, makes me regret my haste in consuming the dinner I made the other night. My haste was prompted by hunger, because dinner was later than usual, and I should have taken a picture of it to share with you and your fans. Large portabello mushroom caps inside which a mayo/garlic/pesto blend was plastered, then a ring of crumbled bacon applied, in which I dropped a raw egg, the bacon serving like a wall to keep it in/on the cap. Broiled for a few minutes until the egg just began to set, then a slice of sharp cheddar cheese laid on top and returned to the broiler for two minutes. (I go through a couple other small, intermediate steps during this process.) A bit messy on the plate, with the loose yolk mixing with the mushroom juice, but scrumptious! I’ll try to be less greedy next time and take a picture.
Sally
Blog Meister responds: Sounds good.
What does your doctor say? I asked.
Sally responded:
Depends on the doctor! 😁
Sally
Blog Meister responds: Touchez!
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Tuesday I had a shrimp experiment.
It was okay.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
Duccio's Maestà (1308–11)
Served as the altarpiece for the Siena Duomo, from about 1311 until 1505.
The altarpiece is composed of many individual paintings commissioned by the city of Siena in 1308 from the artist Duccio di Buoninsegna and is
his most famous work.
The front panels make up a large enthroned Madonna and Child with saints and angels, and
a predella of the Childhood of Christ with prophets.
The reverse has the rest of a combined cycle of the Life of the Virgin and the Life of Christ in a total of forty-three small scenes; several panels are now dispersed or lost.
The base of the panel has an inscription that reads (in translation):
"Holy Mother of God, be thou the cause of peace for Siena and
life to Duccio because
he painted thee thus."
Though it took a generation for its effect truly to be felt,
Duccio's Maestà set Italian painting on a course leading away from the hieratic representations of Byzantine art towards more direct presentations of reality.
Besides the Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus,
saints depicted in the painting include
John the Evangelist (to the left of the throne); Saint Paul; Catherine of Alexandria; John the Baptist (to the right of the throne); Saint Peter; Mary Magdalene, and Saint Agnes.[4] In the foreground are Siena's various patron saints: Saint Ansanus; Saint Sabinus; Saint Crescentius; and Saint Victor.
Stylistic analysis
Deposition
Christ's followers, Joseph and John,
remove him from the cross while
Nicodemus removes nails from his feet.
The Virgin Mary looks into his closed eyes while
Mary Magdalene holds his arm, and
all have painful expressions as they tend to the dead Christ.
The background has the same gold texture as in the "Crucifixion" and
the cross that held Christ has blood running onto the ground,
increasing the sense of realism in the scene.
This panel aroused the emotions of its audiences and
the story helped to symbolize the birth of Christianity.
Burial
Immediately following the "Deposition," is
the depiction of Christ as he is prepared for burial,
surrounded by his mourning followers.
His mother leans in close to him and kisses him one last time and Mary Magdalene throws her arms towards the sky in anguish.
The background retains the gold setting of the "Deposition" and "Crucifixion," and
the mountains in the background are
similar to the mountains portrayed in previous and subsequent panels.
These mountains lead the viewer's eye to Mary who is
accompanying him, and
then to Christ's face.
This scene also elicits an intense emotional response from its viewers and
you can see the close connection that the burial party has to Christ, and
especially to the Virgin Mary.
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It’s Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Welcome to the 846th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
David Teniers the Younger: Flemish Pilgrim
Teniers, David the younger (1610 - 1690) – Studio of Details of artist on Google Art Project - AQHQ7aL-KvF3g at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level
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2.0 Commentary
Corona news in Massachusetts not positive.
A short tick up in the major indices
in each of the last several days.
Let’s hope we see an abrupt stop to the trend followed by
a return to the lower numbers of last week.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
We’ve been talking about choosing Tuscany as a destination.
Subliminal reasons, love of art, love of food, stunning countryside, beautiful city of Florence.
Here I offer up another: religion.
For the non-religious.
Our travels will take us to three small towns
of great importance to pilgrims:
Padua, the home of St. Anthony,
Siena, the home of St. Catherine, and
Assisi, the home of St. Francis.
Is it possible to be at these sites,
each steeped in religion, and not
be affected in any way?
No.
Not even with blinders.
Should we examine
the level of participation that would
add another wonderful layer of awe to the trip?
Yes.
Of course, yes.
At the least,
surrounded by pilgrims,
we’ll come away with
a definition of devout.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
~William Shakespeare
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Howard D:
I mean this in the spirit in which I feel I am writing it, with love for a friend, with respect, with caution, and with concern.
It’s not so much I take exception to what you say, but I do take exception to the inferences that must be drawn.
There’s a difference between saying we each choose the life we pursue, sometimes with great constraints, sometimes with hardly any. And acknowledging that those constraints may not be self-imposed.
You say,
“I use ordinary caution but I do have a life,
which includes (etc. .. you know what you said)…
I can’t imagine you were thinking of me, or of anyone in particular compared to whom you might measure the vitality of your life [aside: I can’t think of a better word to describe the quality by which we measure some essential quality of being alive than vitality].
I too have a life. I wouldn’t call it anything else. I don’t feel it’s a life I experience as repressed.
There are conditions in the world… out there in reality… call it what you will. Conditions over which I certainly don’t, and you certainly don’t, when you come right down to it at this moment absolutely not one person, out of the seven billion plus in the world has the least measure of control.
We, if we’re sentient and conscious and at all informed in a reasonable way about the facts about the threat facing every human who might be exposed to this virus, have to make decisions about the amount of risk we are willing to take in the course of pursuing our daily affairs. Note I said “daily affairs” not “our lives.”
I have a life, and right now I confront conditions that represent risks to my health, my well-being, and even my mortality, not to mention those I love. I accept that I can do nothing about the threat, but I can do something about the risks.
I can’t eliminate, but I can manage them, and minimize them to a certain conditional and comparative degree.
If I take fewer risks than the next person, I don’t look at them and think, “gee, they have a life; I wish I did, but I don’t because I’m not doing this, that, and the other thing…”
I don’t condemn you for taking what are to me unacceptable levels of risk in the pursuit of the life you say you have. As if doing any less would mean you have no life (I’m not trying to insult you by saying this, but the logic of this is ridiculous).
We are mortal creatures, fragile creatures, subject to decline, decay, and deterioration… some more so inclined than others, often as a purely chance-laden genetic disposition. We all learn to live with our limitations. And to make the most, if we’re wise and lucky to be able to do it, of the gifts and abilities and skills and capabilities with which we’ve been endowed by that same genetic disposition, and to the extent we’ve elected to try to enhance the benefits derived from such gifts, insofar as we can use them and keep them in a healthy state of functioning, so that we, the organism thereby driven by our energy and our endowments are also healthy for as long as our nature as a species permits.
We all, in short, unless burdened or suppressed or crushed by malign agencies or even merely disabled in some way short of death by inescapable natural forces at work, have a life.
I’m glad you are enjoying your life. I’d feel less worried about you if you assumed less risk than you do. But that’s my problem. I’m not trying to make it yours.
However, to the extent you may, if prodded, conclude that if someone like me, who is willing to do fewer things with the level of safeguards you’ve chosen to subject your conduct, doesn’t have a life, I want to disabuse you.
I have a life that satisfies me fine. Maybe it wouldn’t you, but it’s mine, not yours, so lucky you. I just choose to live it with more conscious safeguards enacted than you practice. Not a comparison that’s at bottom invidious of one or the other of us. I just don’t want us, as friends, to be at odds in the use of an expression like, “I have a life.”
And I will continue to express my concern for you as I may. It’s part of my sense of having a life.
xo
h
Blog Meister responds:
Well written as always.
However, the point of the Commentary was
not who has a better life but that
hosting large backyard parties was reckless.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Monday night old friend Tony Cintolo and I had dinner at Ma Maison.
I had foie gras followed by Pig’s Feet.
Both were excellent, the Pig’s Feet was seared in panko then roasted.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
A pilgrimage is a journey,
often into an unknown or foreign place,
where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self,
others,
nature, or
a higher good,
through the experience.
It can lead to a personal transformation, after which
the pilgrim returns to his daily life.
Pilgrims frequently journey to a shrine or
other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith,
Many religions attach spiritual importance to particular places:
the place of birth or death of founders or saints, or to
the place of their "calling" or spiritual awakening, or of
their connection (visual or verbal) with the divine, to locations where
miracles were performed or witnessed, or locations where
a deity is said to live or be "housed", or
any site that is seen to have special spiritual powers.
Such sites may be commemorated with
shrines or temples that devotees are
encouraged to visit for their own spiritual benefit:
to be healed or
have questions answered or to
achieve some other spiritual benefit.
A person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim.
As a common human experience,
pilgrimage has been proposed as a
Jungian archetype by Wallace Clift and Jean Dalby Clift.
The Holy Land acts as a focal point for the pilgrimages of the
Abrahamic religions of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
According to a Stockholm University study in 2011,
these pilgrims visit the Holy Land to
touch and see physical manifestations of their faith,
confirm their beliefs in the holy context with collective excitation, and
connect personally to the Holy Land.
The Christian priest Frank Fahey writes that
a pilgrim is "always in danger of becoming a tourist", and
vice versa.
He identifies eight differences between the two:
1. faith,
2. penance, search for wholeness,
3. community, often solitary but should be open to all,
4. sacred space, silence to create an internal sacred space, including meditation, using a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity –
to train attention and awareness, and
achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state.
(Scholars have found meditation difficult to define, as practices vary both between traditions and within them.)
5. ritual, externalizing the change within,
6. votive offering, leaving behind part of oneself, letting go in search of a better life,
7. celebration, of victory over self and celebration to remember, and
8. perseverance, the pilgrimage is never over
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It’s Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Welcome to the 845th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Is this what our leaders are offering?
Is this the best our government can do?
Really?
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2.0 Commentary
From the NYT:
In countries where the coronavirus pandemic has ebbed, ridership has rebounded — and there have been no notable superspreader events linked to mass transit, according to a survey of transportation agencies conducted by The Times. (One caveat: Ridership in major cities is still well below pre-pandemic levels).
That caveat being the killer.
Literally.
Bless Gov. Baker for his moves to reconstruct the MBTA.
Let’s hope that the fixers begin with the first two commandments of Public Transport:
1. T cars shalt carry only a safe, uncrowded number of passengers and
2. That number is immutable and may not be influenced by the number of people wanting to step into that car.
Let’s hope that, these commandments accepted by all, the fixers turn their attention to crowd control.
And the first rule of crowd control is to provide as many trains as is possible to ferry riders around.
Having reached agreement on the numbers per car,
on the maximum number of cars riding the tracks,
we address the issue of crowd control:
the crowd being the throngs of people who now jam themselves into T stations
creating an atmosphere of fear and stress and jostling and anger and infection.
Pretty basic: do not allow more people into stations than the stations
can accommodate.
The specific how-tos will be fun to thresh out.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
This section added into the Pages of this blog
So I’m reading and
looking at paintings basically of the Renaissance and the pre-Renaissance,
a time when we were clear about good and evil.
When, well, when God was God and
we knew where He lived.
Looking at these pictures,
one after the other,
we can’t help being awed by their spirituality.
And we are going to travel thousands of miles and
spend thousands of dollars to get to
places to see these works
as they were originally conceived and executed.
We will be deluged with religiosity,
questioning how we’ve so far lived our lives.
We must be ready.
We must embrace this opportunity to check our direction and
seek answers to the
Who are we?
The Where have we come from?
and, most especially, Where are we going?
Whither goest thou?
Ourselves?
Me.
This is not an opportunity to be ignored.
Dismissed.
A moment underestimated.
We will be pilgrims searching for beauty but more.
Much more.
We will seek truth amidst that beauty.
Simplicity.
In this moment.
In our lives.
We will love the artists with this vision and
this talent to express it in a way
that transcends the centuries and
infiltrates itself into our souls.
Our souls.
We will talk of such things during our car rides.
At dinner.
Over espresso.
We will return home filled with love.
Understanding what effect art can have on us.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
What a terrible era in which
idiots govern the blind.
~William Shakespeare
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Howard D, still enjoying culinary creativity:
And, as a bonus, here’s the latest food photo.
Last night’s savory tart:
Tomatoes, with pesto, goat cheese, and mozzarella
Be well and stay safe.
xo
h
Blog Meister responds: Looks gorgeous!
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Had a leftover stuffed boneless chicken legs which
I sliced into circles.
I bought slices of spiced ham and American cheese.
I dressed an arugula salad and
sliced open my favorite baguette, from Tatte’s café.
I stuffed the baguette and sat for a delicious dinner.
With the sandwich I finished the other half of a bottle of
Taurasi, Radicci, Mastroberardino, 2004.
I enjoyed the wine today more than I did yesterday: more balance, finesse.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
Commuting is periodically recurring travel
between one's place of residence and place of work, or study, and
in doing so exceed the boundary of their residential community.
It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations,
even when not work-related.
A distinction is also often made between commuters who commute daily or weekly
between their residence to work place,
often being suburbs to cities, and
are therefore considered respectively local or long-distance commuters.
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It’s Monday, August 3, 2020
Welcome to the 844th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
II=Expulsion of Adam and Eve, Masaccio
Masaccio - book:
La Cappella Brancacci a Santa Maria del Carmine, in AA.VV.,
Cappelle del Rinascimento a Firenze,
Editrice Giusti, Firenze 1998.
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2.0 Commentary
Now I am not a self-quarantining person.
I use ordinary caution but
I do have a life,
which includes having dinners with people I know.
I’ve drawn a circle around a few close friends and limit my hanging out within this included group.
I’m having dinner with a boyhood friend on Monday night and
we will not be wearing face masks against each other.
I lift weights at Planet Fitness.
I sit in the Thinking Cup café while I plan my trip to Tuscany.
I have a life.
But large gatherings?
Twenty people clustered in a backyard,
face to face without masks,
hugging, kissing?
Come on!
That’s not living.
That’s decidedly death-wishing.
How reckless can you be?
Take your pool party and ship yourself and your guests to Florida
where they welcome freedom for the insane.
Glad to see our governor,
again on the correct side of the issue,
warning against these gatherings,
citing the proof of their dangers: a bunch of cluster outbreaks.
Please, friends, don’t offer these temptations for disaster.
Please.
Friends don’t let friends infect each other; and
the world at large.
What about making hosting such gatherings a felony?
With mandatory jail time?
Would that get Suburban Joe’s attention?
Bet your rump it would.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
At Howard’s suggestion, I added Masaccio’s work in the Cappella di Brancacci to my list of must-visits.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but
I see you are unarmed!
~William Shakespeare
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Tommie Toner.
Dom, your trip sounds amazing!
What a great time you and your friends are going to have!
I am awed at your detailed planning and
think that everyone will come back to the USA with
a strong knowledge base of the classic artists and their magnificent works.
I am very happy that you are back in the gym.
Exercise is the gift that keeps on giving.
My Navy father was doing calisthenics in his bed almost to his dying day.
His oncologist told my father that he had the body of a 50-year-old when he was 66 and
diagnosed with a rare blood and lymph disease.
The doctor told us that if Daddy had not been in such good physical condition,
he would have not have lived to be 69.
I might add that my mother did not cook Southern.
I never had sweet tea until I went to college and
never in my life ate "fat back" until my adult years. And
we never ate fried food -
always broiled, grilled, baked, or braised.
And we never had white, store-bought bread.
(I thought I had died and gone to heaven when
I would visit my mother's youngest sister and
we would have fried bologna sandwiches with mayo and mustard on white bread, which tasted like cake to me.)
Diet and exercise keep our bodies agile and those synapses connecting.
Too much about me. I apologize.
love,
tommie
Blog Meister responds: Lots of wisdom, homegrown and professional.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Saturday night I ate a simple, unpretentious rib eye.
But elevated by three ears of the sweetest corn on the cob and
an entire sweet heirloom tomato.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
__________________________________
11.0 Thumbnail
The painting, Adam and Eve - Expulsion from the Garden of Eden,
showcases Masaccio's mastery understanding of color, perspective, and form.
The fresco is a single scene from the cycle painted around 1425 by
Masaccio, Masolino and others on the walls of the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence.
It depicts the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, from the biblical Book of Genesis chapter 3, albeit with a few differences from the canonical account
There is an array of sources the artist was believed to draw from to aid the inspiration of his artwork, including numerous sculptures of Marsyas (from Greek Mythology) and certain crucifix done by Donatello.
For Eve, art analysts usually point to different versions of Venus Pudica, such as Prudence by Giovanni Pisano.
The works of Michelangelo immensely inspired Masaccio as he integrated his style and technique into his own understanding of art.
The main points in this painting that deviate from the account as it appears in Genesis:
1. Adam and Eve are shown in the nude.
Although this increases the drama of the scene, it differs from Genesis 3:21 (KJV) which states, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them."
2. Only one Cherub angel is present.
Genesis 3:24 states, "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, ...]" (-im being the original Hebrew plural ending of Cherub, doubled with an English plural in this version).
3. The arch depicted at the garden entrance does not appear in the Biblical account.
The portrait showcases the main themes presented within the book of genesis that outline the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden.
As the couple are tempted to eat the unknown fruit of good or evil they follow into their desires and betray god, creating the first mortal sin.
The story of Adam and Eve is one of the most prominent stories of history as it showcases the original sin of humanity.
Masaccio's evocation of Eve's howling, deeply felt pain in particular explores the meaning of the expulsion on a previously unexamined, more personal level.
The painting illustrates the two figures distraught as they are forced to leave the Garden of Eden.
Eve’s face is tilted upwards in agony as her mouth falls open.
Her body is lightly tilted forward as she places her right arm against her breasts covering them.
It is interesting to note how while Eve covers her body in all angles,
Adam’s genitals are showcased within the painting.
Eve's body is colored in a light shade of nude,
while Adam is covered in a deeper shade.
Adam's body is showcased as his muscular form is portrayed within the painting.
Adam walks hunched over as he places his hands upon his face covering his eyes in shame and pain.
Adam and Eve walk together in the same direction together
as an angel escorts them from above.
The angle holds a large black sword in one hand as she forces them to leave.
Her form is still betrayed from a mystical presence as
she is clothed in a deep red dress with matching colored wings.
The angel's features are covered in a similar nude color as to Eve’s,
while Adam's dark presence remains as a focal point.
The setting of the artwork is based in the tropical desert in which the Garden of Eden is based.
Yellow colored sand fills the floor,
while a light blue sky covers the overhead section of the background.
The linear angle in which the artwork is based in allows for the viewer
to witness Masaccio's ability to incorporate color and form into his work.
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It’s Sunday, August 2, 2020
Welcome to the 843rd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Theatrical scenery
Marcel Jambon – Gallica
Set design model for Giuseppe Verdi's Otello,
created for a Paris production in 1895
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2.0 Commentary
An Act for Reliable, Sustainable MBTA
Honestly, if this proposal emanated from a governor other than our own Charlie Baker,
I would ignore it as more political bs.
But it’s not.
It’s from the man.
The legislation calls for a new, five member “fiscal control board” to oversee the MBTA. That new board would have the power to restructure the organization of the MBTA and install performance management metrics while altering existing procurement requirements.
And the existing board that governs the MassDot has resigned
to clear the way for implementation of the legislation.
After four months of this blog’s railing against the MBTA’s failure to implement needed changes,
this is the dramatic breakthrough to restart the T,
from the top down.
The situation is bad;
soon it will be desperate.
Kudos to the governor for a significant first step.
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
I believe, every day,
you should have at least one exquisite moment.
~Audrey Hepburn
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Friday night our day-trippers repaired to our apartment to feast on shrimp toast, risotto, and Braciolettini di Pollo.
Despite errors, it was all delicious.
One of our guests brought a simple unadorned intensely delicious chocolate cake for dessert.
Yummy!
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy/political story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
Today we post Chapter 22 in which Dee presents to the world her personal take on Christian mysticism.
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Twitter, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
Here’s the link:
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
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11.0 Thumbnails
Theatrical scenery is used to provide a setting for a theatrical production.
The main features are usually flats,
two-dimensional canvas-covered panels painted
to resemble three-dimensional surfaces or vistas.
Other scenery types include curtains, platforms and scenery wagons.
They all need to be light and portable, as well as durable.
Construction of theatrical scenery is frequently
one of the most time-consuming tasks when preparing for a show.
The lead photograph shows a model of the set designed for the first act of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello for a performance in Paris in 1895.
Set design credit: Marcel Jambon; photographed by the Bibliothèque nationale de France
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12.0 Diary of the Surrender of a Private Car
So day-tripping in the summer demands a car.
Not owning a car, one must look for alternatives.
Since we share the automotive expense of a rental,
our automotive expense is so far below the cost of ownership that
buying a car is not even worth considering.
Unless, of course, one needs a car daily for commuting.