Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, December 27, 2020
through
Saturday, January 2, 2021
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It’s Saturday, January 2, 2021
Welcome to the 986th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
The Favorite – Grandfather and Grandson, by Georgios Jakobides (1890)
Georgios Jakobides - Unknown source
"The Favorite" - Grandfather and Grandson - "Ο Αγαπημένος του Παππού"
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2.0 Commentary
My daughter subscribed me to a website that demands I answer one question per week about my life.
I answered the first question asking about my grandparents.
I found my response pathetic; sad.
But Kat insisted it would be of interest to the blog’s 1,000+ monthly followers.
So it’s in the 11.0 Thumbnail section of todays post.
The lead picture is someone’s idea of a fine person.
I have no pictures of my own grandparents, itself a comment.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Busy on researching Sacco and Vanzetti which I’ll be sharing soon.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and
the time will come when men such as I
will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men.”
~ Leonardo da Vinci
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Tommy D.
Tommy sent a long piece and, as I’ve done at times with long pieces from others, I’ve assigned a new section to it, 20.0 Extended Sharings, found in today’s post, right after 11.0 Thumbnail.
It begins:
Hi Dom,
I read your overview on Columbus and there was one segment that needs further explanation that gives a more accurate picture of why or how he was arrested and sent back to Spain.
Dom, I hope this is helpful? Is this not appropriate for me to share my knowledge? Let me know. And , I will shut up.
Happy New Year,
Tommy
Blog meister responds:
Everyone who knows you must love you, my friend.
Nothing is more trusting and intimate than sharing knowledge.
I am delighted to print your offerings.
God bless!
Happy New Year!
Tommy’s thoughtful piece continues in section 20.0 Extended Sharings, just below 11.0 Thumbnail.
Enjoy it.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
On Thursday night, New Year’s Eve, we had an early dinner at Rochembeau in Boston.
We shared four courses:
Mussels, Halibut, Pork shank, and Tournedos.
All terrific.
The wines and service both excellent.
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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
“What were your grandparents like?”
My maternal grandmother, Giuseppina Baldassari, and my paternal grandfather, Domenic, grew up in the North End from the 1920s through the 1950s. She learned the lessons that this richly-Italian neighborhood taught. Unfortunately, ignorance was a required course and neither of them was an important contributor to my life. For example, neither of them ever spoke a word of English.
From my mother I learned that she was a shirker, in bed a good deal of the time when she might have been executing her responsibilities, like cooking for her children, not relying on neighbors to provide them with meals. Or watching her children: several of my uncles were habitual criminals.
All I personally remember of Giuseppina was her regular visits to our apartment. She stood up for the duration, arguing in Italian with my mother almost the entire time. She always asked my father, he withdrawn at every of her visits, “Cammie, how are you?” in Italian, of course. My father waved a dismissive hand and, not looking up from his solitaire card game, “Good, good,” turning over another card. Giuseppina didn’t pursue a conversation. “If I told her anything else, she’d start with a list of her aches and pains. Who wants to hear her?” he spoke softly to me. I was ten and I certainly didn’t.
As Giuseppina Baldassari got older, my mother would walk to her West End apartment and do her heavy cleaning. You might call my mother her cleaning lady since nonny (my grandmother) always gave my mother some money. Nonny made a few extra dollars taking numbers from her West End neighborhood into the North End where the bookmakers gave her a commission.
Well into her seventies she took on a boyfriend and they stayed together for ten years until Arthur passed. Arthur had a car (we never had a car) and it was he who drove me to a boys’ Roman Catholic seminary in North Andover, Massachusetts, my home for the next two years.
She died near 100 years old.
These jerky, unconnected remembrances indicate the limited impact she had on us. A great loss to be without grandparents. A family that connects across generations is so much richer and healthier.
My paternal grandfather, Domenic, for whom I was named, was married twice and sired two sets of children, my father being from the first set.
My grandfather spent a lot of time in our apartment, often having dinner with us. He and his second wife argued a good deal and he sought refuge with us. Even without my grandfather, dinner was never a socially pleasant time for my family, and Nonno’s gruff and domineering personality made things worse.
One Christmas my father bought me a set of toys guns with holster.
My grandfather, not believing in guns, took them from me and threw them out of our fourth story window. I never got them back. My grandfather had a lot of philosophy but that never translated into understanding what Americans did to get ahead. Like many Italians of that neighborhood and generation, a steady job was more important than a prospect of advancement.
My grandfather was a hard worker at a shoe factory in Boston, one of the dirtiest and lowest paying jobs in all America. Intelligent fathers don’t want their children to work at one of the dirtiest and lowest paying jobs in all America. Unfortunately, my father’s father was not numbered among those.
Instead, my grandfather squelched my father’s aspirations of entering Bentley’s School of Business and, at age seventeen, brought my father to take a place beside him at the shoe factory. Grandfather must have been so proud.
My grandfather saved enough money to buy a very small farm in Revere, Ma. From spring to fall he spent many nights planting, tending, and harvesting salad ingredients as well as bushels of tomatoes for sauce. He often took one of his grandchildren with him. I remember his making a simple Marinara Sauce from those tomatoes. He demanded that I cover the sauce with a layer of freshly-grated Parmigiana cheese so thick as to hide the red of the tomatoes. And lots of freshly-ground pepper.
The memory of that simple plate of spaghetti stayed in my head as a beacon, leading me, leading me, until I was able to make the best Marinara Sauce ever. Occasionally he’d take us a large bag of produce from the farm. We had to watch as he took out every tomato and held it up for us to see: the color, the shape. Then he’d sprinkle salt on one and force me to bite it. I had to. I almost threw up.
He loved food. In he winter when he visited, he often washed and halved several potatoes. Then he’d drizzle olive oil over them and cover each with salt and pepper. Finally, into the oven for an hour. A simple potato. When he pulled them out of the hot oven we rushed for our pieces. Amazing. Something so unpretentious, such a taste of joy.
He taught my mother how to cook and, in a family replete with excellent cooks, my mother was the undisputed best cook. Being a decent cook myself, I suppose my grandfather indirectly influenced me.
We were all poor then yet somehow my grandfather found the money to buy us our first television, an Andrea, paying near $400.00 for it, a small fortune. Where did he get the money?
He died near seventy.
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20.0 Extended Sharings
From Tommy D:
This information is from the Historian Carol Delaney's book called Columbus The Quest for Jerusalem. Delaney also vindicates Columbus from the human atrocities committed ed by those he left in charge as he explored other Islands or when left in charge on his return trips to Spain. The men who were responsible for these atrocities were Marga it, Roldan, Bobadilla, and Ovando. These were the evil Spaniards, not Columbus. He never harmed a native, or commanded such acts, and never enslaved or had slaves.
This is the statement that was written in your narrative that needs clarification.
As a colonial governor, Columbus was accused by his contemporaries of significant brutality and was soon removed from the post.
Columbus's strained relationship with the Crown of Castile and its appointed colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, and later to protracted litigation over the benefits that he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown.
Dom, I hope this is helpful? Is this not appropriate for me to share my knowledge? Let me know. And , I will shut up.
Happy New Year,Tommy
THE THIRD VOYAGE
Finally, on May 30 1498, he set sail on the 3rd voyage. Three ships would go with him and sail farther south while three others three would go straight to Hispaniola. Unfortunately, these went off course and landed on the far side of the island where a reel group under a man named Roldan were holed up.
Roldan and the men with him went of rampages, raping and pillaging. All of this was unknown to Columbus who was sailing along what is now Panama, Venezuala, and the north coast of South America. Along that coast he thought he was near the Terrestrial Paradise (Garden of Eden) the discovery of which was a sign that the End Time was near.
In the meantime, the sovereigns had sent Francisco de Bobadilla to the settlement to check on the situation. It was a terrible choice as he “already had a reputation for being harsh and had been sued by the citizens of the towns he commanded” in Spain.
When Bobadilla got to La Isabella he saw that two of the Spaniards had been hung. Columbus had ordered their deaths because those men had done terrible things to the natives and he wanted to set an example that such behavior would not be tolerated.
His job was to go exploring, to find the Grand Khan: he thought the men he left in charge would follow his instructions … but they just did whatever they pleased and are responsible for the terrible things that occurred.
Here a short digression. I would like to say that as far as we know Columbus never killed a native, or took a native woman, or had a slave, yet Bartholome de las Casas who is revered as the “Defender of the Indians” had slaves, had several encomiendas that were worked by slaves, and did not begin to change his views about slavery until years after Columbus’s death. But then it was only about the indigenous people in the Caribbean because he suggested that the colonists import Blacks from Africa instead!
When Columbus finally arrived back at La Isabella, Bobadilla captured him and put him in chains. His brothers were already enchained and on board a ship ready to return to Spain. Columbus knew nothing of this and when guards came to get him he feared they were going to behead him. Instead they were all sent back to Spain but on different ships. With Columbus out of the way, Bobadilla took up residence in Columbus’s house, confiscated all his belongings, and told his men they could take all the gold and women they wanted. Under his rule many more natives were killed.
Back in Spain. The Queen ordered that the chains be removed, told him she had not ordered his capture, and promised to replace Bobidilla. Shortly, she sent Nicholas Ovando with 35 ships and 2500 colonists and appointed him Governor over the lands Columbus had discovered—thus stripping Columbus of that title
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It’s Friday, January 1, 2021
Welcome to the 985th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Circumcision of Christ
In Christendom, under which the Gregorian Calendar developed, New Year's Day traditionally marks the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, which is still observed as such by the Anglican Church and the Lutheran Church.
Anonymous - http://vatopaidi.wordpress.com/2010/01/01/το-μήνυμα-της-περιτομής-1-ιανουαρίου/
Circumcision of Christ. Menologion of Basil II. f.287
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2.0 Commentary
Here we go!
Vaccines elbowing out covid devastation.
In this instance, the arrival of a third vaccine, the Oxford-Astrazenga out of the United Kingdom.
To be produced and distributed first in the UK.
Good for us in the US: less competition for our own vaccines.
And more vaccine news.
President-soon Biden announcing intent to inoculate 100 million Americans in 100 days.
A call to arms.
Will America respond?
Of course we will!
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Worked on Ghirlandaio’s Visitation, part of the frescoes he did in the Tornabuoni Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Novella.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.”
~ Leonardo da Vinci
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from a new friend and reader, Alexandra S:
I subscribed to your blog. It is awesome and I am inspired by your daily dedication to it!
Blog meister responds: Kind words and welcome from a new friend.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Wednesday night we had a clam feast: baked, NY Chowder, and White Clam Sauce.
All delicious.
The chowder featured an oil base of pancetta and garlic-infused olive oil (Kat, lactose intolerant) into which we softened celery, carrots, red bell, fresno chili, and leeks.
The broth included the clam broth and a 14oz can of Italian tomatoes, emulsified.
It was my first attempt at creating a recipe for this.
Don’t know why it took me so long.
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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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New Year's Day, also simply called New Year's, is observed on 1 January, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar.
In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named. As a date in the Gregorian calendar of Christendom, New Year's Day liturgically marked the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus, which is still observed as such in the Anglican Church and Lutheran Church.
The Roman Catholic Church celebrates on this day the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
In present day, with most countries now using the Gregorian calendar as their de facto calendar, New Year's Day is among the most celebrated public holidays in the world, often observed with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the new year starts in each time zone. Other global New Year's Day traditions include making New Year's resolutions and calling one's friends and family.
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It’s Thursday, December 31, 2020
Welcome to the 984th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Fauci at conference
Joe and Kamala?
I don’t think so.
Tony Fauci, man of the year
The man inspires trust at a level not seen in America since Walter Cronkite.
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2.0 Commentary
I’m trying to figure what’s making me as excited as I feel.
The holidays?
The people around me?
The receding threat to our democracy?
The too good, too much food?
The start, albeit clumsy, of covid vaccinations?
The looming promise of better days ahead?
The lack of storm systems in our area?
I’m feeling excited.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
It is one of the most famous works of the Italian Renaissance.
The master painter marries the strict approach to perspective learned during his Florentine education with the lenticular representation more characteristic of Flemish painting, achieving extraordinary results and unmatched originality.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“Once you have tasted flight,
you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward,
for there you have been, and
there you will always long to return.”
~ Leonardo da Vinci
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Sally C:
Dear Dom,
From your college friend, Joyce G: “Isn't it wonderful that as we age, we are freed from schedules and can eat and do what and when we please.”
Gee! I thought that what covid was for! (other than the fact that I’m still a working stiff with something that once a day or so does resemble a schedule …)
Providing, of course, that you can find in the stores the items that you want to eat. The enforced isolation has led to some culinary adventures, as one looks at what is available and devises something entirely new and delectable that otherwise would never have existed. (But I can tell you this from ‘way past experience - nothing to do with pandemics – do not use both smoked shoulder and carrots in a stir-fry! The combination is perfectly awful.)
In any case, I like Joyce G’s sentiment! My great-aunt Eva, a wonderfully zany woman who died just short of 100 years of age, was particularly partial to chocolate-drizzled macaroons. Her motto in life was, “Always eat dessert first. You never know when you’re going to die.” I think she had something there …
Here’s to a much Happier New Year!
Sally
Blog meister responds: You have the best stories. You should write!
(For those who don’t know, Sally is a published author of several books and a blog. You can reach her at brasscastlearts@gmail.com)
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Tuesday night Kat and Will and I each had a small piece of salmon, buttressing the meal with pasta and gravy meat.
Very tasty and agood way to start to empty our bulging refrigerator.
Will and I prepared baked stuffed clams for tomorrow’s all clam dinner.
The stuffing included small pieces of red bell pepper, fresno chili, leek, garlic, and celery softened in an oil of porchetta and garlic-olive oil.
Freshly-ground pepper for spice and chopped parsley for fresh herb, Panko bread crumbs and Romano cheese completed the recipe.
Tomorrow we’ll bake them and serve them as part of a dinner including our own New York Clam Chowder (Kat is lactose intolerant, why not New England Chowder) and White Clam Sauce on al dente angel hair pasta.
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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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Anthony Stephen Fauci (born December 24, 1940) is an American physician and immunologist who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984. Since January 2020, he has been one of the lead members of the Trump administration's White House Coronavirus Task Force addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. In January 2021, he will become Chief Medical Advisor to the President in the Biden administration.
Fauci is one of the world's leading experts on infectious diseases, and during the early stages of the pandemic, The New Yorker and The New York Times described Fauci as one of the most trusted medical figures in the United States.
As a physician with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Fauci has served American public health in various capacities for more than 50 years, and has been an advisor to every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan.
He has made contributions to HIV/AIDS research and other immunodeficiency diseases, both as a scientist and as the head of the NIAID at the NIH.
From 1983 to 2002, Fauci was one of the world's most frequently-cited scientists across all scientific journals.
In 2008, President George W. Bush awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, for his work on the AIDS relief program PEPFAR.
Fauci is a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force established in late January 2020, under President Trump, to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
He became a "de facto" public health spokesperson for the office of the president during the pandemic and a strong advocate for ongoing social distancing efforts in the United States.
In March, he predicted that the infection fatality rate would likely be close to 1%, which was ten times more severe than the 0.1% reported rate for seasonal flu.
On March 29, 2020, Fauci argued for the extension of the initial 15-day self-isolation guidelines, issued by the executive office, to at least until the end of April 2020.
In mid-April, Fauci stated that if the administration had "started mitigation earlier," more lives could have been saved, and "no one is going to deny that." He added that the decision-making for implementing mitigation measures was "complicated," and "there was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then."
Fauci's comments were met with a hostile response from former Republican congressional candidate DeAnna Lorraine. President Trump retweeted Lorraine's response, which included the call to "#FireFauci", drawing public alarm. "Fire Fauci" has also been chanted loudly by anti-lockdown protesters in various locations, including Florida and Texas.
As a result, the White House denied that Trump was firing Fauci, and blamed the media for overreacting.
Due to his disagreements with Trump, Fauci has been criticized by right-wing pundits and received death threats that resulted in the need for a security detail.
In an interview with 60 Minutes he mentioned that other members of his family, including his wife and daughters, have been repeatedly harassed since the pandemic begun.
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It’s Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Welcome to the 983rd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Portrait of a Man, said to be Christopher Columbus
Sebastiano del Piombo -
This file was donated to Wikimedia Commons as part of a project by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See the Image and Data Resources Open Access Policy
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2.0 Commentary
Time to stop.
The ubiquitous calendar that fills the TV screen with details of the spread of covid.
We are inured to the details of the spread of the pandemic.
Infections.
Deaths.
Global figures.
US figures.
State of Massachusetts figures.
The figures pertaining to my street.
All growing by the hour.
Enough.
Time to stop.
Instead, tell us how many people have been inoculated up to today.
How many were vaccinated last week?
Compare that number to the week before.
And what’s expected this week?
Show us hope and joy.
Calendars of death and loss?
We’ve seen enough.
Time to stop.
And talking of covid upbeat.
The state of Massachusetts has put me in the third of four prioritized groupings: over 65 years old.
My grouping is scheduled for a February-March vaccination.
That puts me ahead of the general population, scheduled now for April-May.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Did some work on Raphael marriage portraits, a diptych, of Agnolo Doni and Maddalena Doni.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
“It is impossible for me to be an Anarchist, for I do not believe in the essential goodness of man.
The world, the physical world, that was once all in all to me, has at moments such as these no road through a wood, no stretch of shore, that can bring me comfort.
The beauty of these things can no longer at such moments make up to me at all for the ugliness of man, his cruelty, his greed, his lying face.”
~ Edna St Vincent Millay
on the plight of Sacco and Vanzetti.
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from college friend, Joyce G:
Isn't it wonderful that as we age, we are freed from schedules and can eat and do what and when we please.
Right now I am in a condo in Florida by myself but near my daughter.
The peace and quiet is deafening;
I love it.
Blog meister responds: Widely-shared sentiments, my dear. Yes. It is wonderful.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Lauren and I exchanged gifts, buying each other dinner at Fugakyu.
We had dinner there on Monday night.
Lovely food and company.
Almost too attractive to eat.
Almost.
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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
Christopher Columbus[ (between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italian explorer and navigator who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, opening the way for European exploration and colonization of the Americas.
His expeditions, sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, were the first European contact with the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.
Scholars generally agree that Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa and spoke a dialect of Ligurian as his first language.
He went to sea at a young age and travelled widely, as far north as the British Isles and as far south as what is now Ghana.
He married Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo and was based in Lisbon for several years, but later took a Castilian mistress; he had one son with each woman.
Though largely self-educated, Columbus was widely read in geography, astronomy, and history.
He formulated a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies, hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade.
Following Columbus's persistent lobbying to multiple kingdoms, Catholic monarchs Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II agreed to sponsor a journey west.
Columbus left Castile in August 1492 with three ships, making landfall in the Americas on 12 October (ending the period of human habitation in the Americas now referred to as the pre-Columbian era).
His landing place was an island in the Bahamas, known by its native inhabitants as Guanahani.
Columbus subsequently visited the islands now known as Cuba and Hispaniola, establishing a colony in what is now Haiti.
This was the first European settlement in the Americas since the Norse colonies begun some 500 years earlier.
Columbus returned to Castile in early 1493, bringing a number of captured natives with him.
Word of his voyages soon spread throughout Europe.
Columbus made three further voyages to the New World, exploring the Lesser Antilles in 1493, Trinidad and the northern coast of South America in 1498, and the eastern coast of Central America in 1502.
Many of the names he gave to geographical features—particularly islands—are still in use.
He continued to seek a passage to the East Indies, and the extent to which he was aware that the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain.
He never clearly renounced his belief that he had reached the Far East and gave the name indios ("Indians") to the indigenous peoples he encountered.
As a colonial governor, Columbus was accused by his contemporaries of significant brutality and was soon removed from the post.
Columbus's strained relationship with the Crown of Castile and its appointed colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, and later to protracted litigation over the benefits that he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown.
Columbus's expeditions inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for centuries, helping create the modern Western world.
The transfers between the Old World and New World that followed his first voyage are known as the Columbian exchange.
Columbus was widely venerated in the centuries after his death, but public perception has fractured in recent decades as scholars give greater attention to the harm committed under his governance.
Proponents of the Black Legend theory of history claim that Columbus has been unfairly maligned as part of a wider anti-Catholic sentiment.
Many landmarks and institutions in the Western Hemisphere bear his name, including the country of Colombia and the District of Columbia.
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It’s Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Welcome to the 982nd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Pope Leo X with two Cardinals
Raphael
Ritratto di Leone X coi cardinali Giulio de' Medici e Luigi de' Rossi - Google Art Project
Raphael - qwFo4XF73Dmd1Q at Google Cultural Institute, zoom level maximum
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2.0 Commentary
The race is on.
Covid’s days are numbered.
However many more the infections and however distant the turnaround, the air fills with the inevitability of covid’s demise.
The same air of inevitability that carries with it the joy of a new president.
These post-Christmas, pre-new years days have a unique flavor, each one branded: the day after Christmas, the second day after Christmas, in the Gregorian calendar, the 362nd day of the year (363 in leap years), the day before the day before new year’s eve, the day before new year’s eve, and new year’s eve.
Huh?
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Today we did some research on Raphael’s Portrait of Pope Leo and Two Cardinals, one of the masterpieces in the Uffizi.
See 11.0 Thumbnails below for more.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
We must also resist the temptation to romanticize history’s losers.
The other civilizations overrun by the West’s, or
more peacefully transformed by it through borrowings as much as through impositions,
were not without their defects either,
of which the most obvious is that they were incapable of providing their inhabitants with any sustained improvement to the material quality of their lives.
Niall Ferguson, Civilization, the West and the Rest
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Tommy D:
Hi Dom,
Your feelings are ours too.
This was the saddest and most unmerry Christmas in our lives
because we could not be surrounded by family and love ones.
There is no joy in celebrating if you cannot share it with others.
Tommy
Blog meister responds: Knowing your personality, I know that the spirit of the holidays burns brightly within. You naturally spread cheer, even over the telephone.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Sunday night we celebrated Will’s 21st birthday with hamburgers at Ab and Louie’s.
Will had a gin and tonic.
The burgers are always great there.
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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
The Portrait of Pope Leo X with two Cardinals is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael, c. 1517.
It is housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence.
Raphael is best known for his depictions of the Virgin Mary (Madonnas), and his large-scale depictions of humans.
His work is widely appreciated for the clarity and magnificence with which he could paint people and his simple compositions.
In 1508, he was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II, the predecessor of Pope Leo X, to become the lead court painter.
He stayed there until his death, which was one year before the death of Pope Leo X. He is buried in the Pantheon in Rome.
In contrast to works depicting classical, idealized Madonnas and figures from antiquity,
this portrait shows the sitter in a realistic manner.
The Pope is depicted with the weight of late middle age, while his sight appears to be strained.
The painting sets up a series of visual contradictions between appearance and reality, intended by Raphael to reflect the unrest of a period of turmoil for the papacy.
Martin Luther had recently challenged papal authority, listing among other grievances, Leo X's method of selling indulgences to fund work on St Peter's.
The pommel on top of the Pope's chair evokes the symbolic abacus balls of the Medici family,
while the illuminated Bible open on the table has been identified as the Hamilton Bible.
The cardinal to the left of the painting is surely identified as Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici (the future Pope Clement VII) while the other cardinal is usually identified as Luigi de' Rossi, who was a maternal cousin to both the other two portrayed.
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It’s Monday, December 28, 2020
Welcome to the 981st consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Largest Adobe Building in the world
Arg-e Bam
Diego Delso
This is a photo of a monument in Iran identified by the ID
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2.0 Commentary
Countdown to New Year begun.
Lots of celebrations.
Saturday night Will, Kat, and I will have dinner at home: roast turkey, tripe.
Will’s birthday on Sunday. Celebration will be burgers at Abe and Louie’s.
Monday cousin Lauren and I will trade gifts: dinner at a favorite restaurant: this year, Fugakyu.
Tuesday, Will, Kat, and I will have pasta at home with meatballs, beef shoulder, pork roast, tripe, lasagna, (this a treat prepared by my son Dom for me, by now a Christmas tradition) and penne for Kat who is lactose intolerant..
Wednesday we’ll have a clam dinner: New York Clam chowder, baked stuffed clams, and clam sauce.
Thursday, Will, Kat, and I will have NY Eve dinner at Rochambeau.
Friday, New Year’s Day: we’ll decide in a couple of days.
Note that within the twenty days following New Year’s Day Georgia will elect two senators, Congress will accept the vote of the electors, and Joe Biden will be sworn in.
And more importantly than any of these, Donald Trump will no longer be welcomed at the White House.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Today we did some research on Raphael’s Portrait of Pope Leo and Two Cardinals, one of the masterpieces in the Uffizi.
It is one of Raffaello’s last works, and one of the few he himself designed and painted in his last years.
One of those quietly revolutionary works that make the Uffizi worth exploring. Raphael eschews the idealism of his time to show the Pope as he must have been in reality – a ‘warts and all’ approach that would not become prominent for at least another century.
Furthermore, the master has filled the painting with references to contemporary events that mean the work has a new detail to offer on every single viewing.
One of the most famous families with myopia was the de’ Medici of the Florentine Renaissance. The de’ Medici produced a long line of bankers, statesmen, and cardinals, as well as four popes: Leo X, Clement VII, Pius IV, and Leo XI. One of these popes, Leo X (born Giovanni di Lorenzo de’ Medici, December 11, 1475–December 1, 1521), is of particular interest because of the famous painting by Raffaello Pope Leo X and Two Cardinals at the Uffizi, that provides a visual example of high myopia.
While it might appear that what Pope Leo is holding is a magnifying lens, it is not. Magnifying lenses are convex in shape and create an enlargement of images behind them. There is no enlargement of Leo’s thumb beneath it; in fact, the tip of the thumb is slightly smaller than it is in reality. This minification is characteristic of lenses for myopia. The Pope’s handheld lens still exists, and is displayed in the Museo di Galileo (formerly the Museo Storia della Scienza di Firenze). The lens has been measured at -12 diopters (minus signs before diopter numbers represent myopia, plus signs represent hyperopia or presbyopia), proof that Pope Leo X was myopic, indeed highly myopic.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
Help the weak ones that cry for help,
help the prosecuted and the victim...
they are the comrades that fight and fall...
for the conquest of the joy of freedom for all the poor workers.
In this struggle for life you will find more love and you will be loved.
~Bartolomeo Vanzetti
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5.0 Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Conversations turn to what we ate and with whom we spent the day.
Blog meister responds: For myself, I grazed as detailed in yesterday’s post, and I spent the day alone.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
On Saturday night Will, Kat, and I had roast turkey and a platter of tripe.
Everything was great and since both were leftovers, took almost no time to prepare.
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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
The Arg-e Bam is the largest adobe building in the world, located in Bam, a city in Kerman Province of southeastern Iran. It is listed by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage Site "Bam and its Cultural Landscape". The origin of this enormous citadel on the Silk Road can be traced back to the Achaemenid Empire (sixth to fourth centuries BC) and even beyond.
The heyday of the citadel was from the seventh to eleventh centuries, when it was at the crossroads of important trade routes and known for the production of silk and cotton garments.
The entire building was a large fortress containing the citadel, but because of the impressive look of the citadel, which forms the highest point, the entire fortress is named the Bam Citadel.
On December 26, 2003, the Citadel was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake, along with much of the rest of Bam and its environs. A few days after the earthquake, the President of Iran, Mohammad Khatami, announced that the Citadel would be rebuilt.
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It’s Sunday, December 27, 2020
Welcome to the 980th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
“There’s no story here.…just a couple of Wops in a jam”
It would appear there was indeed a story emanating from the trial and execution of the two men.
Estimates vary from 200,000 on up, but, after one of the most publicized unjust trials in the history of the United States, the largest assemblage in Boston’s history (until the first superbowl parade, nearly 100 years) turned out to accompany Sacco and Vanzetti to their graves.
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2.0 Commentary
Alone on Christmas.
Lovely.
Peaceful.
Watch what and when I want.
Do what and when I want.
Raining out.
Very heavy at times.
Adds to feeling of isolation.
Liking it.
At least for a change.
While at my computer I watched:
David Copperfield, 1935, George Cukor director.
35 minutes of Wonder Woman, 1984, a new release movie. Not my cup of tea.
A bit of news. Too depressing to have on for long.
Perry Mason, recent TV series. Liked it.
Pride and Prejudice, Lawrence Olivier.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting its essence
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
If it had not been for this thing, I might have lived out my life talking at street corners to scorning men. I might have died unmarked, unknown, a failure. Now we are not a failure. This is our career and our triumph. Never in our full life could we hope to do such work for tolerance, for justice, for man's understanding of man, as now we do by accident.
~Bartolomeo Vanzetti
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
Holiday greetings from all.
Blog Meister responds: And holiday greetings back.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
I woke too early: alone at Christmas.
I ate a sticky bun at 2.30am.
A small plate of tripe at 3.30am.
A small plate of Chinese food at 9.00am
A small chocolate at 9.30am.
A small ice cream at 10.30am.
A turkey drumstick, peas, and gravy at 1.00pm.
A double espresso with a scoop of chocolate ice cream at 3.00pm.
A turkey wing @ 6.00pm
A handful of raisins and nuts @ 8.00pm
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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 Thumbnails
The trial of Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, charged with the robbery and murder of a paymaster and his guard in April 1920, initially drew little attention. As one wag put it: “There’s no story in it … just a couple of Wops in a jam.” But in the years between their capital convictions in July 1921 and sentencing in April 1927, the case went from the margins to the mainstream, eventually becoming an international cause célèbre.
Judge Webster Thayer, who had vowed before the trial to ensure the defendants “got what they deserved,” repeatedly dismissed defense motions for a retrial, even after another convicted murderer came forth with a confession that arguably merited consideration. In a withering critique of the trial and subsequent proceedings in The Atlantic Monthly, future justice Felix Frankfurter argued that with Thayer’s connivance, the DA had exploited the postwar Red Scare and jurors’ nativist impulses, thereby invoking a “riot of political passion and patriotic sentiment” that all but precluded a fair trial.
Frankfurter’s intervention and countless pleas from the likes of Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann and Jane Addams went unheeded, and on Aug. 23, 1927, Sacco and Vanzetti were executed amid mass protests at home and abroad.
Nicola Sacco(April 22, 1891 – August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (June 11, 1888 – August 23, 1927) were two Italian immigrant anarchists who were erroneously convicted of murdering a guard and a paymaster during the April 15, 1920, armed robbery of the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company in Braintree, Massachusetts, United States. Seven years later, they were electrocuted in the electric chair at Charlestown State Prison.
After a few hours' deliberation on July 14, 1921, the jury convicted Sacco and Vanzetti of first-degree murder and they were sentenced to death by the trial judge. Anti-Italianism, anti-immigrant, and anti-Anarchist bias were suspected as having heavily influenced the verdict. A series of appeals followed, funded largely by the private Sacco and Vanzetti Defense Committee. The appeals were based on recanted testimony, conflicting ballistics evidence, a prejudicial pretrial statement by the jury foreman, and a confession by an alleged participant in the robbery. All appeals were denied by trial judge Webster Thayer and also later denied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. By 1926, the case had drawn worldwide attention. As details of the trial and the men's suspected innocence became known, Sacco and Vanzetti became the center of one of the largest causes célèbres in modern history. In 1927, protests on their behalf were held in every major city in North America and Europe, as well as in Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Montevideo, Johannesburg, and Auckland.
Celebrated writers, artists, and academics pleaded for their pardon or for a new trial. Harvard law professor and future Supreme Court justice Felix Frankfurter argued for their innocence in a widely read Atlantic Monthly article that was later published in book form. The two were scheduled to die in April 1927, accelerating the outcry. Responding to a massive influx of telegrams urging their pardon, Massachusetts governor Alvan T. Fuller appointed a three-man commission to investigate the case. After weeks of secret deliberation that included interviews with the judge, lawyers, and several witnesses, the commission upheld the verdict. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in the electric chair just after midnight on August 23, 1927.[2] Subsequent riots destroyed property in Paris, London, and other cities.
Investigations in the aftermath of the executions continued throughout the 1930s and 1940s. The publication of the men's letters, containing eloquent professions of innocence, intensified belief in their wrongful execution. Additional ballistics tests and incriminating statements by the men's acquaintances have clouded the case. On August 23, 1977—the 50th anniversary of the executions—Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried and convicted and that "any disgrace should be forever removed from their names".
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