Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, September 13, 2020
through
Saturday, September 19, 2020
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It’s Saturday, September 19, 2020
Welcome to the 889th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Painting of the Piazza Della Signoria and Loggia Dei Lanzi, 1830 by Carlo Canella
Carolo Canella - File:Carlo canella, veduta di piazza della signoria dalla loggia dei lanzi, 1830, 01.jpg on Wikimedia Commons
derivative of existing Wikimedia Commons File:Carlo canella, veduta di piazza della signoria dalla loggia dei lanzi, 1830, 01.jpg
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2.0 Commentary
Two polls reported this morning.
One has Biden leading.
The other has the bottom dropping out of the Trump campaign.
Pick the one that suits you and quote it in your arguments.
Will the real Slim Shady please stand up,
Please stand up,
Please stand up, aka
Will the oft-injured Gordon Hayward return for Game Three?
The summer is over.
It’s a sad moment.
But remember, I tell myself, the fall is not so bad.
In fact, all the way to Thanksgiving is not so bad.
I can still walk.
But, except for the nights I go lifting, I will not venture out at night for a summer stroll.
So I lose an important part of my walking regimen.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
On Thursday I scouted out the Bargello Museum and the Loggia dei Lanzi.
The Bargello is a pleasant museum, not terribly crowded and houses masterpieces by
Michelangelo, such as his Bacchus, Pitti Tondo (or Madonna and Child), Brutus and David-Apollo.
And Donatello's David and St. George Tabernacle,
Vincenzo Gemito's Pescatore ("fisherboy"),
Jacopo Sansovino's Bacchus,
Giambologna's Architecture and his Mercury
and many works from the Della Robbia family.
Benvenuto Cellini is represented with his bronze bust of Cosimo I.
There are a few works from the Baroque period, notably
Gianlorenzo Bernini's 1636-7 Bust of Costanza Bonarelli.
And its list of works goes on and on.
I’ve allotted only ninety minutes to this museum, selecting the most highly-acclaimed works about which to write notes to read while standing in front of the masterpiece.
The Loggia dei Lanzi is an open-air walk-through under which is a
wonderful collection of works, mostly statuary.
although small, its collection is fine, with the most outstanding piece, on the far right, the manneristic group, Rape of the Sabine Women by the Flemish artist Jean de Boulogne,
better known by his Italianized name Giambologna.
This impressive work was made from one imperfect block of white marble, the largest block ever transported to Florence.
Giambologna wanted to create a composition with the figura serpentina, an upward snakelike spiral movement to be examined from all sides.
This is the first group representing more than a single figure in European sculptural history to be conceived without a dominant viewpoint. It can be equally admired from all sides.
Thirty minutes estimated: no lines, no entrance: it’s open.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
Einstein's relativity work is a magnificent mathematical garb which
fascinates, dazzles and makes people blind to the underlying errors.
The theory is like a beggar clothed in purple whom ignorant people take for a king...
its exponents are brilliant men but
they are metaphysicists rather than scientists.
~Nikola Tesla
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Thursday night I broiled/seared a piece of swordfish and
roasted an eggplant.
The eggplant I mixed with garlic olive oil, salt, freshly-ground pepper, a touch of pepper flakes, and a squeeze of lemon.
Since they were on sale, I prepared a pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, breaded and fried.
I wanted to try it done properly.
I kind of messed it up a couple of days ago.
Note that I slow roasted both the fish and chicken together for 30 min in total which made finishing them both very quick.
I used one yolk and two whites of eggs, and 1 TB of milk, the extra white and milk making the bath a little thinner.
So dip the chicken in cake flour, then in the egg wash, and then in the corn meal like last time.
All done carefully.
Then fried in hot oil.
Both the chicken and the swordfish liked a squeeze of lemon before serving.
Delicious.
All.
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The Loggia dei Lanzi, also called the Loggia della Signoria, is a building on a corner of the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, adjoining the Uffizi Gallery.
It consists of wide arches open to the street.
The arches rest on clustered pilasters with Corinthian capitals.
The wide arches appealed so much to the Florentines that
Michelangelo proposed that they should be continued all around the Piazza della Signoria.
The vivacious construction of the Loggia is in stark contrast with the severe architecture of the Palazzo Vecchio. It is effectively an open-air sculpture gallery of antique and Renaissance art.
The name Loggia dei Lanzi dates back to the reign of Grand Duke Cosimo I,
when it was used to house his formidable landsknechts (In Italian: "Lanzichenecchi", corrupted to Lanzi), or German mercenary pikemen.
After the construction of the Uffizi at the rear of the Loggia,
the Loggia's roof was modified by Bernardo Buontalenti and
became a terrace from which the Medici princes could watch ceremonies in the piazza.
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It’s Friday, September 18, 2020
Welcome to the 888th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Vale in 1965.
GAC-General Artist Corporation (management) - eBay item photo front photo back
Publicity photo of singer Jerry Vale.
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2.0 Commentary
Guess what I’m using for a smart phone?
The brand spanking new Surface Duo.
My friend Tucker from Microsoft visited me on Wednesday afternoon and
got the phone operational.
The size of a smart phone, the device is a flip-over that
combines the functions of a computer with a cell phone within a
thin, elegant case no larger than a smart phone.
Like any new device, it will take a little getting used to.
But to have a generous keyboard driving a device
with so much functionality,
that fits into the same space as my former smart phone,
with connectivity as easy and omnipresent as major phone carriers,
and looks enviable,
well that’s pretty terrific.
Worth the learning curve.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Continued work on the Calendar for the Tuscany trip.
Fleshing it out.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
My brain is only a receiver,
in the Universe there is a core from which we
obtain knowledge, strength and inspiration.
I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, but
I know that it exists.
~Nikola Tesla
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5.0 Mail
Tucker and I spent an hour gushing over the Surface Duo.
Read the Commentary: that’s what we talked about.
And Lauren and I spent time talking about her new relationship.
Rob is a nice guy.
So happy for her.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
For dinner we went out to Fugakyu, after twenty years, still my favorite sushi dinner.
We had a great variety.
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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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Jerry Vale (born Genaro Louis Vitaliano; July 8, 1930 – May 18, 2014) was
an American singer and actor.
During the 1950s and 1960s, he reached the top of the pop charts with his interpretations of
romantic ballads, including a cover of the Eddy Arnold hit
"You Don't Know Me" (1956) and
"Have You Looked into Your Heart" (1964).
Vale, who was of Italian descent, sang numerous songs in Italian,
many of which were used in soundtracks by films of Martin Scorsese.
Vale showed his love of Italian music with his albums,
I Have But One Heart (1962) and
Arrivederci, Roma (1963), full of Italian standards such as
"Amore, Scusami", "Ciao, Ciao, Bambina", "Arrivederci, Roma", and "O Sole Mio".
His renditions of "Volare", "Innamorata (Sweetheart)", and "Al di là" became classic Italian-American songs.
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It’s Thursday, September 17, 2020
Welcome to the 887th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
EdmundBurke1771
Studio of Joshua Reynolds - National Portrait Gallery: NPG 655
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2.0 Commentary
Wow!
A routine breaker.
It’s Wednesday morning and I have a noon appointment at my apartment.
A techie/friend/contributor to blog is arriving to
change my simcard and get my new MS Surface Duo (the combo smart phone and mini laptop) in operation.
Major.
But to get that visit in and retain my daily walk to the Café
I figured to skip morning coffee at my apartment and walk out at 6.30am.
Have morning coffee at Thinking Cup.
Thinking Cup doesn’t open until 7.00am.
So here I am typing my commentary at 7.48am looking out the café window (too cold now to sit for a prolonged time) waiting for their morning pastries to arrive.
8.30am I am told.
When I’ve had enough of laptop work I’ll walk to Prudential and wish Joanna a happy birthday.
Am taking her out for dinner on Tuesday night, her first available.
Having coffee at 6 or 7am instead of 4.30 or 5.00am will be how my days will go if I ever get to Tuscany.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Tuesday I finished my reading on the Museo Nazionale di San Francisco.
Just for their collection of Fra Angelico works this is a must visit.
When and how much time TBD.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
The Fate of good men who refuse to become involved in politics is to be
ruled by evil men.
~Edmund Burke
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
This from my basketball friends.
Loving the amazing entertainment the Celtics are providing their fans.
Watching the progress of Gordon Hayward’s fitness to return to the floor.
Wishing the Celtics had won the first game against the Heat.
Blog Meister responds: Me, too.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Tuesday night my friends Tsaega and Kaleab visited to watch the Celtics while we ate.
Dinner was London Broil (slow-roasted and seared) with an assortment of vegetables preceded by Pasta Pesto.
Food was very good.
Game was excellent entertainment.
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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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Edmund Burke (12 January [NS] 1729 – 9 July 1797) was an
Irish statesman and philosopher.
Born in Dublin, Burke served as a member of parliament (MP) between 1766 and 1794 in the House of Commons of Great Britain with the
Whig Party after moving to London in 1750.
Burke was a proponent of
underpinning virtues with manners in society and of the
importance of religious institutions for the moral stability and good of the state.
These views were expressed in his A Vindication of Natural Society.
He criticized the actions of the British government towards the American colonies,
including its taxation policies.
Burke also supported the rights of the colonists to resist metropolitan authority,
although he opposed the attempt to achieve independence.
He is remembered for his support for Catholic emancipation,
the impeachment of Warren Hastings from the East India Company, and his
staunch opposition to the French Revolution.
In his Reflections on the Revolution in France,
Burke asserted that the revolution was destroying the fabric of good society and
traditional institutions of state and society and
condemned the persecution of the Catholic Church that resulted from it.
This led to his becoming the leading figure within the conservative faction of the Whig Party which he dubbed the Old Whigs as opposed to the
pro-French Revolution New Whigs led by Charles James Fox.
In the 19th century, Burke was praised by both conservatives and liberals.
Subsequently in the 20th century, he became widely regarded as the
philosophical founder of modern conservatism.
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It’s Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Welcome to the 886th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Photograph of Nikola Tesla, a slender, moustachioed man with a thin face and pointed chin.
Unknown author - Downloaded from: https://historyrat.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/lighting-the-1893-worlds-fair-the-race-to-light-the-world/
A photograph of Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) at age 40.
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2.0 Commentary
I spend a good deal of time in my kitchen.
Here’s a classic Minestrone Soup recipe.
Note that it hinges on a homemade chicken stock.
Let’s assume that’s done.
Use an 18-cup stock pot
Heat some delicious-tasting fat or a combination:
1TB duck fat
1TB bacon, say one strip
Add small or medium dice, 2oz ea of:
zucchini
carrots
onion
celery
green beans
red bell pepper
plus 3 cloves of garlic chopped fine
plus some chili pepper to taste.
Add 1t salt and
1t oregano
3TB tomato paste
1 cup of chopped fresh Italian parsley
Cover and soften the veggies in the fat.
When almost there, add 2oz of chopped fresh tomato and
5oz of chopped fresh spinach or other suitable leafy green.
Cook for several minutes.
Add liquids:
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
1 cup water
1 14oz can of small tomatoes, through a food chopper
and add a can of beans of choice (I use chick peas).
I also put half the can through the food chopper to add a little body to the soup.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes
Boil a favorite soup pasta to al dentissimo [keeping the pasta very firm]
and chill it under cold water.
Serve the pasta on the side to retain its integrity.
Diners will add it to their hot soup.
Season with Pesto Sauce or grated Parmigiana cheese
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
I studied a bit on the Museo Nazionale di San Marco, in Florence.
Guessing at how much time we should allocate for a visit.
The museum has a lot of fine quality art, if not the highest level as the Uffizi boasts,
nonetheless fine quality.
The issue is how much time we have to visit the museums of Florence,
(we do want to walk around, drink coffee, absorb the feel, eat ice cream, dine).
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
It will soon be possible to
transmit wireless messages around the world so simply that
any individual can carry and operate his own apparatus.
~Nikola Tesla
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Sally C:
Dear Dom,
Agreed: to a large degree, arguing about recipes is fruitless.
My gingerbread recipe may be vastly different from yours, but they both produce gingerbread.
(Hmmm ... gingerbread ... I think it's time to make some.)
Of course, my recipe is the best one, even though I can't claim any authority over or for it.
I got it from my mother, who got it from
Confidential Chat in the Boston Globe in the 1950s,
where the woman who posted it stated that the recipe was her grandmother's.
Who knows how far back beyond the grandmother it goes.
So it's an old recipe, likely pre-dating 1900.
No matter, it's good - thick, moist, cake-like texture, and divine with a tangy lemon sauce spooned over it hot.
This rambling reminds me of the argument I have had with my husband about Mexican food (American-style Mexican, which I recognize as having little resemblance to authentic Mexican food).
He likes Mexican food and I don't (half the ingredients I can't have, the other half I don't like), and I don't do "hot."
Anyway, the discussion was about the difference between (if I remember correctly) enchiladas and burritos.
Phillip said that they are distinctly different menu items,
Then I pointed out that the fillings for them have all the same ingredients.
But, he replied, one is wrapped in a corn tortilla and the other in a wheat tortilla.
He didn't have an answer for me when I asked if
a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made with rye bread should be called something else than when it's made with white bread.
It's curious how we so often obsess over stuff that is really quite
insignificant in both the short run and the long run.
As long as the recipe produces a delicious dish, who cares what recipe one uses?
Heee heee heee heee.
Sally
Blog Meister responds: If that’s your idea of a bruising argument with Phillip, God Bless, I say.
Your gingerbread is definitely the best.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
I blended
5oz of yogurt with
5oz of fresh, peeled cucumber and
1 watermelon popsicle (or equivalent),
seasoning the food chopper with salt and a touch of cumin.
Delicious.
Monday night I made a Minestrone Soup and fried some chicken wings and drumsticks.
Lauren joined me to give me details of her weekend with her boyfriend, Rob.
Her weekend great.
The Minestrone Soup an instant classic.
The fried chicken, hopeful.
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Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was a
Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, and
futurist best known for
his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.
Born and raised in the Austrian Empire,
Tesla studied engineering and physics in the 1870s without receiving a degree,
gaining practical experience in the early 1880s working in
telephony and at Continental Edison in the new electric power industry.
In 1884 he emigrated to the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen.
He worked for a short time at the Edison Machine Works in New York City before
he struck out on his own.
With the help of partners to finance and market his ideas,
Tesla set up laboratories and companies in New York to develop a range of electrical and mechanical devices.
His alternating current (AC) induction motor and related polyphase AC patents,
licensed by Westinghouse Electric in 1888,
earned him a considerable amount of money and
became the cornerstone of the polyphase system which that company eventually marketed.
Attempting to develop inventions he could patent and market,
Tesla conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging.
He also built a wireless-controlled boat, one of the first ever exhibited.
Tesla became well known as an inventor and
demonstrated his achievements to celebrities and wealthy patrons at his lab, and
was noted for his showmanship at public lectures.
Throughout the 1890s, Tesla pursued his ideas for
wireless lighting and worldwide wireless electric power distribution in
his high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments in New York and Colorado Springs.
In 1893, he made pronouncements on the possibility of wireless communication with his devices.
Tesla tried to put these ideas to practical use in his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project, an intercontinental wireless communication and power transmitter, but
ran out of funding before he could complete it.
After Wardenclyffe, Tesla experimented with a series of inventions in the 1910s and 1920s with varying degrees of success.
Having spent most of his money, Tesla lived in a series of New York hotels,
leaving behind unpaid bills.
He died in New York City in January 1943.
Tesla's work fell into relative obscurity following his death, until 1960, when
the General Conference on Weights and Measures named the SI unit of magnetic flux density
the tesla in his honor.
There has been a resurgence in popular interest in Tesla since the 1990s.
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It’s Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Welcome to the 885th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Romanesque portal of Moissac Abbey
a classic example of what is meant by "monumental sculpture" in ancient and medieval art history.
Asabengurtza - Own work
Le portail sud de l'ancienne abbaye Saint-Pierre de Moissac (Tarn-et-Garonne). Tympan et porche romans du début du XIIe siècle.
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2.0 Commentary
First game without TB12 in decades.
Cam Newton ran for more yardage than TB12 ran in two seasons combined.
Patriots played a solid game in all phases.
Not so Brady.
Dan Shaughnessy writes in the Globe:
We are only one week into a 16-game season, but
Belichick on Sunday took an early lead in the silent, subliminal spitting contest regarding
who was most responsible for the greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century.
I am a homer.
Brady is in my rear view mirror.
I want to talk Cam.
What is the negative impulse in me that gloats when Tampa Bay Brady throws an interception?
I don’t like it.
I’m old enough to wish everyone well.
Mature enough.
Brady followed his own impulses.
Respect him.
And remember that this is not a zero sum game.
We can all do well.
For the most part.
I’m not going to watch any more Brady games.
I’m going to read about him in the Sports section and
nod well-wishes when he does well; not react at all when he doesn’t.
I’m going to take full comfort in Belichick’s being the greatest coach of all time.
I’m going to relish an entirely new-look qb: (new look to Pats’ fans anyway) and
take great pleasure in Newton’s success here.
He has put life back into watching the Patriots.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Today I fleshed out the calendar for our stay in Florence.
Fun.
I also learned more about sculpture, defining relief and monumental reliefs.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
I failed my way to success.
~Thomas A. Edison
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
A knowledgeable friend shared information on Rouille that contradicted what I wrote
when I discussed Bouillabaisse.
His ideas were spot on but I stand by what I wrote because
I learned Bouillabaisse in Sanary, France, on the southern coast.
Rouille there was what I repeated in these posts.
And is much simpler than my friend’s version.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Sunday night I had a world’s-best burger.
Compliments of existentialautotrip.com here’s the recipe for a single humungus burger.
Is there another kind?
Buy a roll that has a solid crust so it will stay integral for the entire meal.
Ordinary hamburger rolls are too soft for a big burger: they fall apart half way through dinner.
I always use with ciabatta square cut made by Iggy’s.
Into a ss bowl add the following:
small egg
s/freshly-ground pepper
bits of habanero
onion powder
oregano
Romano cheese
Beat with a fork
Mix with 8oz 90% lean ground beef
Use a press (or hands) to form it into a patty
Prepare the garnish:
Toss thick slices of an heirloom tomato, thin slices of red onion, and leaves of lettuce
with olive oil, lemon juice and s/freshly-ground pepper.
Sear the patty on one side for four minutes
turn and
top with cheese.
Sear the second side for another four minutes, longer if you like it well done.
Set the burger on the bottom of the ciabatta roll.
Top with the garnish and cover.
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The term monumental sculpture is often used in art history and criticism,
but not always consistently.
It combines two concepts,
one of function, and
one of size, and may include
an element of a third more subjective concept.
It is often used for all sculptures that are large.
Human figures that are perhaps half life-size or above would usually be considered monumental in this sense by art historians,
although in contemporary art a rather larger overall scale is implied.
Monumental sculpture is therefore distinguished from small portable figurines,
small metal or ivory reliefs, diptychs and the like.
It is also used for sculpture that is architectural in function, especially
if used to create or form part of a monument of some sort, and therefore
capitals and reliefs attached to buildings will be included, even if small in size.
Typical functions of monuments are as
grave markers, tomb monuments or memorials, and
expressions of the power of a ruler or community,
to which churches and so religious statues are added by convention,
although in some contexts monumental sculpture may specifically mean just funerary sculpture for church monuments.
The third concept that may be involved when the term is used is not specific to sculpture, as the other two essentially are.
The entry for "Monumental" in A Dictionary of Art and Artists by Peter and Linda Murray describes it as:
“The most overworked word in current art history and criticism.
It is intended to convey the idea that a particular work of art, or part of such a work, is
grand, noble, elevated in idea, simple in conception and execution, without any excess of virtuousity, and having something of the enduring, stable, and timeless nature of great architecture.
It is not a synonym for 'large'.”
However, this does not constitute an accurate or adequate description of the use of the term for sculpture, though many uses of the term that essentially mean either large or "used in a memorial" may involve this concept also, in ways that are hard to separate.
For example, when Meyer Schapiro, after a chapter analyzing the carved capitals at Moissac, says:
"in the tympanum of the south portal [(right)] the sculpture of Moissac becomes truly monumental.
It is placed above the level of the eye, and is so large as to
dominate the entire entrance.
It is a gigantic semi-circular relief ...",
size is certainly the dominant part of what he means by the word, and Schapiro's further comments suggest that a lack of
"excess of virtuousity" does not form part of what he intends to convey.
Nonetheless, parts of the Murray's concept ("grand, noble, elevated in idea") are included in his meaning, although "simple in conception and execution" hardly seems to apply.
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It’s Monday, September 14, 2020
Welcome to the 884th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Cam Newton
Carolina Panther quarterback,
Cam Newton, during a game against the Washington Redskins on December 20, 2016.
original: Keith Allison derivative: Diddykong1130 -
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2.0 Commentary
The very good news is that after six months of closure, the MFA is reopening.
Of course attendance will be different.
Attendees will buy or request timed tickets in advance.
Walking through the museum will be in lanes.
The museum will reopen in three phases.
We don’t know yet if or when their excellent restaurant will reopen.
We applaud the attempts and support them happily.
Would that the T would adopt new rules in station and car control.
On Sunday, the Pats open their first season in twenty years without Tom Brady at the quarterback spot.
Cam Newton will quarterback the team this year,
he being the first black quarterback in Patriot-franchise history to open a season.
Game starts at 1.00pm.
It’ll be so great for fans if Cam’s energy reinvigorates the team.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting an essence
Spent my trip planning time on the layout of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.
I have a better grasp of the visit now.
Spoke to cousin Lauren about the structure of the day:
Café breakfast; museum; lunch; more art, walking, café for espresso, prep for dinner.
She’s all in.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
I have not failed.
I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
~Thomas A. Edison
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
A friend of the Public Gardens reports that after 50 ducks died in the lagoon at the Public Garden
the lagoon was drained.
She witnessed crews scraping the soil/sand in the lagoon.
She was told it would be removed but
she never saw personnel carting the contaminated material away.
And the lagoon was refilled.
She shook her head wondering why the contaminated scrapings were left.
Blog Meister responds: We wondered too.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Saturday night I had Bouillabaisse for dinner.
Leftover from night before.
What made this meal special was that,
being alone this night,
I could finish off the lobster and crab bodies and parts that are clumsy to eat,
without anyone passing judgment on my table manners.
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Cameron Jerrell Newton (born May 11, 1989), also nicknamed Super Cam, is
an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL).
After starting his college football career as a backup to Tim Tebow at Florida,
Newton transferred to Blinn College.
He then joined Auburn, where he won the
Bowl Champion Series National Championship and
Heisman Trophy in 2010.
Newton was then drafted as the first overall pick by the Carolina Panthers in the 2011 NFL Draft.
In his rookie year, Newton broke all-time NFL records for
passing and rushing yards by a rookie quarterback and for
rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.
He became the first NFL quarterback to throw for 400 yards in his first game,
shattering Peyton Manning's record for a rookie debut by 120 yards and
Otto Graham's 61-year-old record for an NFL debut.
Newton went on to become the first rookie quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
Newton capped off the 2015 season by capturing the
NFL Most Valuable Player Award and
leading the Panthers to a 15–1 record and a trip to Super Bowl 50.
Newton was then the second African-American quarterback to win the NFL MVP award, after Steve McNair.
Over the next several seasons, Newton dealt with numerous injuries and was
released by Panthers following the 2019 season.
Newton signed a one-year deal with the New England Patriots in the 2020 off-season.
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It’s Sunday, September 13, 2020
Welcome to the 883rd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Side view of Lorenzo Ghiberti's cast gilt-bronze Gates of Paradise
at the Florence Baptistery in Florence, Italy, combining high-relief main figures with backgrounds mostly in low relief
I, Sailko
Abraham (Gates of Paradise)
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2.0 Commentary
A magnifying glass.
Don’t forget to pack one.
Now that’s a random thought.
From time to time in a museum of art a magnifying glass is helpful.
That’s all.
Not every thought need be earthshaking.
Congratulations to the Celtics on their advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
That was a great series for basketball fans.
Two great teams competing wonderfully.
Our Saturday crew disassembled this week after a run of six consecutive weeks of fun.
I hope it was simply this week.
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3.0 Tuscany, extracting its essence
Working a bit more on Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel and on understanding relief sculpture.
See Lead picture and thumbnail.
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
Men and women are immigrants in each other's worlds.
~Yakov Smirnoff
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
Lots and lots of conversations regarding the arrival of MS’ Surface Duo.
The thing is stunning to look at.
[Technically, ‘the thing’ is a device.]
I’ll report on my experience.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Friday night I made a splendid Bouillabaisse,
using a small lobster and a rock crab and several clams and mussels still in their shells
as showpieces.
The broth, enhanced as it is in this blog’s recipe with a generous amount of garlicky-spicy Rouille [mashed potatoes] stirred into it was outstanding.
Bragging?
Perhaps.
But if you had been there…
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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
Relief is a sculptural technique where
the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material.
The term relief is from the Latin verb relevo, to raise.
To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that
the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane.
What is actually performed when a relief is cut in from a
flat surface of stone (relief sculpture) or
wood (relief carving)
is a lowering of the field,
leaving the unsculpted parts seemingly raised.
The technique involves considerable chiseling away of the background,
which is a time-consuming exercise.
On the other hand, a relief saves forming the rear of a subject, and is
less fragile and more securely fixed than a sculpture in the round,
especially one of a standing figure
where the ankles are a potential weak point, especially in stone.
In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster stucco, ceramics or papier-mâché
the form can be just added to or raised up from the background, and
monumental bronze reliefs are made by casting.
There are different degrees of relief
depending on the degree of projection of the sculpted form from the field,
for which the Italian and French terms are still sometimes used in English.
The full range includes
high relief (alto-rilievo, haut-relief) where more than 50% of the depth is shown and there may be undercut areas,
mid-relief (mezzo-rilievo),
low relief (basso-rilievo, or French: bas-relief, and
shallow-relief or rilievo schiacciato, where the plane is only very slightly lower than the sculpted elements.
There is also sunk relief, which was mainly restricted to Ancient Egypt.
However, the distinction between high relief and low relief is the clearest and most important, and these two are generally the only terms used to discuss most work.
The definition of these terms is somewhat variable, and
many works combine areas in more than one of them, sometimes sliding between them in a single figure;
accordingly some writers prefer to avoid all distinctions.
The opposite of relief sculpture is counter-relief, intaglio, or cavo-rilievo,
where the form is cut into the field or background rather than rising from it;
this is very rare in monumental sculpture.
Hyphens may or may not be used in all these terms.
Reliefs are common throughout the world on the walls of buildings and
a variety of smaller settings, and a
sequence of several panels or sections of relief may represent an extended narrative.
Relief is more suitable for depicting complicated subjects
with many figures and very active poses, such as battles,
than free-standing "sculpture in the round".
Most ancient architectural reliefs were originally painted, which helped to define forms in low relief.
The subject of reliefs is for convenient reference assumed in this article to be usually figures, but sculpture in relief often depicts decorative geometrical or foliage patterns,
as in the arabesques of Islamic art, and may be of any subject.
Rock reliefs are those carved into solid rock in the open air
(if inside caves, whether natural or man-made, they are more likely to be called "rock-cut").
This type is found in many cultures, in particular those of the Ancient Near East and Buddhist countries. A stele is a single standing stone; many of these carry reliefs.
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12.0 Diary of the Surrender of a Private Car
The surrender of my car continues to be a source of contentment for me.
Not only do I not miss mine, but
contributing to others who provide the car used on trips
helps them, albeit in a small way, in their ownership.