Category: Culture

Raiders Of The Lost Templars

Those perennial heroes of conspiracy theorists everywhere, the Knights Templar, have surfaced again. Now the Knights are claimed to be responsible for Renaissance paintings of the pregnant Madonna:

"A string of artists working from the middle of the 14th century near Florence painted the Virgin Mary as they imagined her to have been while she was pregnant. The best-known of these swelling Madonnas is by the great 15th century Tuscan artist Piero della Francesca. It shows an apparently dejected mother-to-be with one hand resting on the burgeoning front of her maternity gown.

[…]

"Carvings and sculptures of pregnant Marys have a longer history before and after the early Renaissance. But the painting of them by artists of stature is almost entirely confined to Tuscany in the 130 years ending around 1467, when Piero della Francesco is reckoned to have created the fresco at Monterchi.

"In a 40-page booklet published last month, Renzo Manetti, a Florentine architect and author of several works on symbolism in art, argues that this is no coincidence.

"’Florence was a major Templar centre and these Madonnas start to appear soon after the suppression of the knights in 1312,’ he told the Guardian this week. The first by a celebrated artist is attributed to Taddeo Gaddi and dated to between 1334 and 1338.

"In virgin and child paintings, the child symbolises wisdom, knowledge, truth. So what the pregnant Madonnas represent is a temporarily hidden truth,’ Mr. Manetti said."

GET THE STORY.

When Mr. Manetti has time for a sabbatical from architecture, I suggest a course in Logic 101. The attribution of one thing to its immediate predecessor simply because it happened afterward is known as the logical fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc (Latin, "after this, therefore because of this"). The article reports that an Italian priest has offered a far simpler explanation of the paintings of the pregnant Madonnas:

"In a 15-page article due to appear soon in the diocesan periodical, Father Giovanni Alpigiano argues for the traditional view that the expectant virgins represent the theological concept of incarnation. There is ‘no arcane secret’ attached to Gaddi’s Mary, he insists, despite her cryptic, knowing expression.

"’Great care needs to be taken in attempting to rewrite the history of art or literature solely with the help of esoteric clues,’ Fr. Alpigiano adds. An account of his counter-blast was splashed over the best part of a page in Avvenire, the national daily newspaper owned by the Italian bishops’ conference."

But, of course, simple explanations do not sell books or establish academic reputations so Fr. Alpigiano must be satisfied with being a Catholic apologist rather than an art "expert."

Christ Is Kewl

Hollywood may have been unwilling to honor Mel Gibson for his blockbuster The Passion of the Christ, but it is definitely willing to cash in on the success of his movie by scavaging religious imagery to plump up otherwise thoroughly secular films:

"In the summer blockbuster movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith, from 20th Century Fox, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie play godless suburbanites and professional assassins. But when they steal their neighbor’s car for an extended chase scene, a crucifix hangs conspicuously from the rear-view mirror, and in the next scene the actors wear borrowed jackets that read ‘Jesus Rocks’ as they go on the lam.

"’We decided to make the next-door neighbor, whose crucifix it is, be hip, young, cool Christians,’ explained the movie’s director, Doug Liman. ‘It’s literally in there for no other reason than I thought: This is cool.’

"Liman isn’t alone. Mainstream Hollywood, after decades of ignoring the pious — or occasionally defying them with the likes of Martin Scorsese’s revisionist Last Temptation of Christ and Kevin Smith’s profane parody Dogma — is adjusting to what it perceives to be a rising religiosity in American culture."

GET THE STORY.

Uh huh. Sure.

What these Hollywood types don’t seem to understand is that Mel Gibson’s movie succeeded because it was sincere. It wasn’t aimed at milking the presumed "religiosity" of a target audience. (Had it been so crassly targeted it would have been far less overtly Catholic in its appeal to an overwhelmingly Evangelical Christian audience.) But draping a crucifix on a mirror and stuffing pop icons into "Jesus Rocks" jackets is so patently patronizing as to be immediately scorned by the audience whose bucks Hollywood wants.

Christians, in the eyes of Hollywood studios, are handy milch cows but are not worth taking seriously.

Harry Potter 6

Down yonder, a reader writes:

Read it myself.

I think we need a spoiler warning thread or we will all burst.

Your wish is my command.

One spoiler-warning thread coming up.

Abandon all right to complain about spoilers, ye who enter here.

SPOILER WARNING ON THE COMBOX!

UPDATE: Comments on this one are still going strong, so I’m bumping it up in the stack so folks who want to interact won’t have to scroll so far down to get to it.

Midnight Madness

For laffs and for lack of anything better to do that evening, I decided to try and pick up my pre-ordered copy of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince at the “Midnight Magic” party my local bookstore was throwing to celebrate the release.  By the end of the evening, I wasn’t laffing and I was wishing I’d found something better to do with my time.  The only perk was actually getting the book.

The procedure called for picking up wristbands to claim your spot in line at 6 PM.  By the time I got there after work, people were already queuing up.  The bookstore’s café offered itty-bitty samples of Starbucks-esque coffee to the hot and cranky crowd, which was nice.  I nearly choked on my vanilla frappacino when a small boy of about eleven said solemnly to the brother he’d been roughhousing with, “Violence is never the answer…. Except in virtual reality, where violence is definitely the answer.”

Worried about parking hassles if I waited too long to come back to the store, I returned to the store around eight, figuring I’d grab one of the comfy armchairs and spend the evening reading.  With the exception of being continually distracted by hordes of screaming children running around the store in capes, Potter glasses, and homemade wands, I managed to get a lot of reading done.  About a half-hour before the sale, my eyes were drooping, so I decided to cruise around the store checking out the games and crafts stations.  The crowds made it impossible to see what was going on at those stations, of course.

Around fifteen minutes to midnight, I noticed a large group of people starting to crowd around the registers.  Interrogation of individuals in the crowd yielded the information that this was how we were expected to get the books.  Despite assurances that wristbands would be checked, it became obvious that the wristbands were a polite fiction.  I could have cruised into the store at 11:45, told the clerk distributing wristbands that I had pre-ordered, and then worked my way through the crowd to the register to present myself as first in line.  Fortunately for me and for the store, I was out within ten minutes with my copy, so there was no need to complain about the situation.  Next time though, when Year 7 is released, I’ll go the next day to pick up my copy.

This past weekend was spent reading Year 6.  All in all, very good.  I’m still bleary-eyed from the last couple of late-night reading marathons.  Despite the frustrations with the "Midnight Magic" brouhaha, the new Harry Potter book was well worth the wait.  It’s difficult to discuss my specific thoughts about the book without revealing huge, honking spoilers that would disappoint those who haven’t yet read the book, so that post will have to await a future date when more people have had a chance to finish the book themselves.  In the meantime, all I can say is that the climax is problematic, but I am hopeful that Rowling can play it out in Year 7 without destroying one well-loved character and another character for whom I’ve always had a grudging admiration.

Just Like a Fine Wine

RedhatAs an artist, I feel an obligation to look for beauty in the world and draw attention to it. Beauty deserves praise, and people benefit from giving praise where it is due.

To that end, I would like to call your attention to the man in the red hat. No, that is not the late Gene Scott, and no, this is not the beauty that I spoke of earlier. The man in the red hat is Gerry Rafferty, and it is his music to which I would like to call your attention.

Let me back up a bit… 1978. Disco was all over the radio, and punk had fought back, kicking and gouging. The New Wave had not yet broken. I had my favorite songs, like everyone, but there was one song that could turn me in to a road hazard every time I heard it on the car radio: Gerry Rafferty’s "Baker Street", which sported the most arresting hook and spine-tingling sax line ever devised in pop music. I often pulled over just to listen to it (ah, to be 17 again…). It was completely unique, and sheer genius.

So a couple days ago I’m poking around on Google, playing a round of "Whatever Happened To…" when I thought of Rafferty and decided to see what he’s been up to lately. Fortunately he has been making music, and his skills have not dulled, but matured. His new release, Another World, is a masterpiece. You want to talk about melodic structure? Vocal harmony? Spiritual depth? You don’t listen to this music, it just washes over you. But I’m gushing.

You can find out more about Mr. Rafferty and his music at his website, which features several free music downloads, including two traditional Christmas carols. If you have ever heard the National Anthem butchered by a showy vocalist (and who hasn’t?) you will appreciate his beautiful, understated harmonies.
Did I mention he also has a free download of his rendition of the Kyrie Eleison?

Enjoy…

I Need a Shower…

Berlusconi_200From our I Am Not Making This Up department, the Financial Times of London reports:

The Italian artist Gianni Motti has provided the latest scandal in the
name of art. His recent work “Mani Pulite” (”Clean Hands”) is a bar of
soap that he says is made from Italian prime minister Silvio
Berlusconi’s liposuctioned fat. After it was exhibited last month at
Art Basel, the world’s most influential art fair, a Swiss art collector
bought it for E15,000.

There is some doubt, however, as to whether this is really fat belonging to Berlusconi. The "artist" says he is open to DNA testing of the bath product in question.

Meanwhile, the Daily Planet reports that, in a recent development, Motti is working on designs for a candle made from the brain cells of the collector who purchased the Berlusconi piece.

He wasn’t using them, anyway.

GET THE STORY.

Didgeri – Do’s and Don’ts

Didgeridoo_1In a move that is sure to bring consternation to accomplished didgeridoo players the world over, Reuters has revealed the secret to getting the most from the enigmatic instrument.

It seems it’s all in the glottis, that little flap of skin at the back of the throat. According to a group of Australian scientists:

"We conclude that a major difference between a novice and an experienced player is a learned, but usually subconscious ability to
reduce the glottal opening…"

And all this time I thought it was all in the uvula! Ah, well… now I can take my trusty old didgeridoo out of mothballs and play my children to sleep as I have always dreamed of doing.

THE "SECRET" REVEALED!

JIMMY ADDS: Hmmmm. . . . As a result of practicing Semitic languages like Arabic, where glottal stops are considered a consonant, I’ve been practicing closing my glottis on command rather a lot. . . . Maybe I should take up the digeridoo.

Didgeri – Do's and Don'ts

In a move that is sure to bring consternation to accomplished didgeridoo players the world over, Reuters has revealed the secret to getting the most from the enigmatic instrument.

It seems it’s all in the glottis, that little flap of skin at the back of the throat. According to a group of Australian scientists:

"We conclude that a major difference between a novice and an experienced player is a learned, but usually subconscious ability to

reduce the glottal opening…"

And all this time I thought it was all in the uvula! Ah, well… now I can take my trusty old didgeridoo out of mothballs and play my children to sleep as I have always dreamed of doing.

THE "SECRET" REVEALED!

JIMMY ADDS: Hmmmm. . . . As a result of practicing Semitic languages like Arabic, where glottal stops are considered a consonant, I’ve been practicing closing my glottis on command rather a lot. . . . Maybe I should take up the digeridoo.

Peeking At Potter

Hpbritcover_1 Did you know that the latest installment in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince is on store shelves already?  Fourteen people managed to snag copies of The Half-Blood Prince before a Canadian store realized its mistake in selling before the July 16 release date and pulled the copies.

You’d think that this wouldn’t be an earth-shattering event.  After all, I’ve seen books sold in bookstores before their release date all the time.  It’s not kosher, but it’s routinely done.  Only if you’re a publishing industry superstar do you rate an iron-clad "no sale" prior to the official date.  When you’re J. K. Rowling, you rate a Canadian judge ordering the fourteen early-buyers to keep their mouths shut about the book’s contents:

"A handful of people in Canada got a sneak peak of the latest Harry Potter book, but a British Columbia Supreme Court judge ordered them to keep it a secret.

"The book was sold to 14 people who snagged a copy of J. K. Rowlings’ much anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when it landed on shelves last Thursday at a local grocery store.

"The book, officially set for release this coming Saturday, has been shrouded in secrecy and its debut has been highly orchestrated to enable everyone — readers, reviewers, even publishers — to crack it open all at once. It’s the sixth in Rowling’s seven-book fantasy series on the young wizard.

"But the store slipped up and sold 14 copies before realizing its mistake."

GET THE STORY.

The individuals involved should be grateful that all that happened was that they were legally gagged by a Muggle judge.  A Wizard court would probably have made them drink one of Snape’s potions.