Emilogue

The sun sets on Emilogue

2007-11-03T14:26:00.000-07:00

Please slip into something less comfortable and step this way.

Jacques Barzun in Time

2007-10-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

This 1956 cover story was mentioned in Arthur Krystal's recent New Yorker profile of Barzun. Krystal's piece is way better.

Richard K. Betts in Foreign Affairs

2007-10-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

How compelling it would be to imagine this is what Donald Rumsfeld once meant by a "smart, lean" and efficient U.S. military. The facts, however, show he didn't mean this at all.

H.L. Mencken on Lincoln's atheism

2007-10-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a particularly extraordinary take on Abraham Lincoln - even for H.L. Mencken, who built a legacy on such 'contrarian positions.' I'll be absolutely clear about this: I am a big admirer of both Mssrs Lincoln and Mencken, so to see the two mix with such a satisfying result is a real treat.

Louis Goddard on Amis's 'Dead Babies'

2007-10-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to link to this great review Louis Goddard wrote for Flak a few weeks ago. Finally, the strength of my wi-fi connection and openness of schedule collude to make it happen.

The BBC Radiophonic Workshop

2007-09-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

For over a year I've been craving music made by electronic means which doesn't fit into the "electronica" (Varese->Kraftwerk->Bambaataa->Phuture->etc) lineage. Something not reliant on pseudo-futurism. Something which sounds like it was made with hands but put out of reach of our imagination's tendency to picture musicians when listening to music. This is partly why the Books have gotten a lot of play in my apartment this year. But I recently saw this documentary on the BBC Radiophonic Workshop which did the trick. My favorite thing about this film is that it tells a story of electronic music (musique concrete, to be specific) which climaxes in the late '60's and falls with the rise in popularity of the Moog synthesizer. Imagine that: the Moog 'killing' electronic music (or a certain tradition of)! Now we're surveying the landscape! Ladies and gentleman ... let us proceed from here!

Peter Sis recommends Saul Steinberg

2007-09-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

This interview with Peter Sis, the extraordinary illustrator, makes glowing mention of the late Saul Steinberg. The New Yorker, where Steinberg gained his reputation from the 1940's on, hosts a large online gallery of his covers.

Emilogue gets an agenda

2007-09-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

I've been on hiatus with this blog as the pace of my activity picked up around the beginning of the summer. After a few weeks of deepening confusion of priorities, including two false starts at new articles, it re-occured to me what this blog was set up to do in the first place and what its user (I/me) has recently been lacking. Emilogue helps me sort out pieces of information or ideas which attract my attention before I seriously consider them as subjects to take on for potential articles. I want to extend this use to take on subjects in micro form that I'm sure I won't have the actual time or inclination to follow through with outside a hundred word or so blurb. So there it is - Emilogue has an agenda.

Chris Marker's Second Century

2007-08-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

Today Flak Magazine publishes a piece I put together on Chris Marker. The article was edited by Mr. Sean Weitner, the longtime Flak film and games editor. Here's Mr. Weitner's awesome look at Spielberg film endings. You can find the Marker piece here.

The Clumsy Globalist

2007-07-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

Today Flak Magazine publishes my piece on Ryszard Kapuscinski. Once again, the editor was Louis Goddard who does a great job here; as he did on the Reagan piece last month. Here's a piece Louis recently wrote for the Morning News.

Record-Head no. 7

2007-07-13T01:14:00.000-07:00

The record in my head is . . .

'Blame it on Disco', a track from Cristina's album Doll in the Box released by the immortal ZE Records in 01979.

In the Washington Post

2007-07-13T00:53:00.000-07:00

Bob Woodward writes this overview of the Bush administration's conflicting statements to the Iraq Study Group last autumn.

"The government is unable to govern." Interesting insight.

China Development Brief in danger

2007-07-13T00:35:00.000-07:00

Beijing authorities have ordered the essential NGO to shutdown. Read the editor's letter for a run-down.

Ryszard Kapuscinski on Charlie Rose

2007-07-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

The recently passed Polish journalist's two appearances on the PBS talk show in 02000 and 02001.

China's Green numbers scandal at the World Bank

2007-07-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

The story was broken by the Financial Times.

Before the China-bashing begins, however, be reminded of the US's own manipulation of information in official Green reports.

Even without the figures published in FT, the report is rather damning.

Shi Guorui's photography

2007-07-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

An image of Shanghai, captured through a hotel room the Beijing artist converted into a camera obscura (02004).

Record-Head no. 6

2007-06-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

The record in my head is . . .

"Move On" a track from David Bowie's 01979 LP, Lodger.

Featuring a backwards tape-loop from Bowie's own recording of "All the Young Dudes" and a Cyprus place-name-check.

Margaret Sullavan in Bright Lights

2007-06-26T23:22:00.000-07:00

I was delighted to find this brilliant piece in Bright Lights Film Journal on one of my favorite actors, Margaret Sullavan. Sullavan's most famous role is as the romantic opposite to James Stewart in The Shop Around the Corner (01940, remade in 01998 as You've Got Mail). Other notable Sullavan performances - Little Man, What Now? (01934) and The Good Fairy (01935). Though I've never seen a Sullavan film that didn't quickly take a prominent place in my imagination.

The writer of the perceptive piece is Dan Callahan.

Death on television in Germany

2007-06-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

EosTV, a new 24-hour channel in Germany will devote its airtime to death and mourning. From der Spiegel.

Death with woodcut in England

The first flat disc audio record

2007-06-25T00:14:00.000-07:00

From a website collecting information about SelectaVision VideoDiscs, a dead media format introduced by RCA in the early '80's to compete with Laserdiscs.

The scribbled note reads, 'This phonogram was made Nov 8th 01881 -S.T. (Sumner Tainter).'

From Gaza, with Love

2007-06-24T23:42:00.000-07:00

Dr. Mona El-Farra, a Palestinian physician and Human Rights activist, maintains this blog. Though El-Farra has been in the States fulfilling public speaking obligations, she just posted her first entry since last week's bloody takeover by Hamas.

Sir Salman

2007-06-24T22:54:00.000-07:00

The most recent chapter in The Rushdie Affair continues. Why there aren't more public intellectuals in the West at work dismantling the Islamist argument on this, I'm not sure. Maybe it's not an appealing call to answer - sticking up for Britain's own irrationally exclusive institution.

Record-Head no. 5

2007-06-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

The record in my head is . . .

'Messages' from the first Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark lp, released in 01980.

Sure they're naff. I mean, a synthpop star with Albert Brooks's hair! But what can you do?

Antony in the Independent

2007-06-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

on the occasion of Antony and the Johnson's show in Cork. Birthplace, incidentally, of my friend Marian.

Film, film, film

2007-06-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

This Soviet cartoon from 01968 made my day - perhaps my week. It's directed by Fyodor Khitruk.

Dick Cheney in the Washington Post

2007-06-24T09:27:00.000-07:00

A four-part series investigates 'the most influential man ever to hold the office' of Vice President in the U.S. An introduction and part one are published today.

With President Ford, as Deputy Chief of Staff, November 17th, 01975.

Ronald Reagan's Ghost Train

2007-06-21T04:34:00.000-07:00

Today Flak Magazine, a truly exceptional web site I've been reading for years, publishes my review of The Reagan Diaries.

I owe a huge debt of gratitiude to Louis Goddard, the primary editor for this piece. It's a shame he didn't get a more prominent credit on the site, an omission I'm trying to restore here.

Louis is a wonderful writer from Suffolk, UK (birthplace of Brian Eno!). Here's an especially interesting piece he did on circuit bending and music.

You can read my review here.

A beautiful illustration

2007-06-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

The longest scroll in China

2007-06-19T07:21:00.000-07:00

From Paul Burns's essential Precinema site.

This is a thumbnail of the scroll.

And here's a closeup of the entire scroll

The city through which the rivers run is Bian Liang, one of the seven ancient capitals of China. Today, we call this city and provence, Keifeng.

Bian Liang, a thousand years later.

Record-Head no. 4

2007-06-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

The record in my head is . . .

an imaginary mash-up of the song 'Mother', by John Lennon sung as a duet with Christina Aguilera.

John Lennon's original is the lead-off track from 01970's Plastic Ono Band.
'X-tina's' version is taken from the new charity compilation for Darfur, Instant Karma.

Mel Brooks on The Dick Cavett Show

2007-06-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

April 6th, 01970. Fantastic.

Beijing, 02007, no. 5

2007-06-12T23:36:00.000-07:00

From the Economist, a piece on the government's plans to wipe out Chinese slums in time for next year's Olympic games.

Record-Head no. 3

2007-06-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

The record in my head is . . .

'The Eight Seasons of Chromolox', an Industrial Musical recorded for the purpose of selling air conditioners.

Fascinating.

A trip to Urville

2007-06-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

An imaginary city constructed by Gilles Tehin.

I was at Anthropologie this weekend

2007-06-11T23:14:00.000-07:00

when I saw an amazing dress.

The Face of Lincoln

2007-06-10T23:48:00.000-07:00

This is about the coolest thing I've run into in a while. Beware clockwatchers: it's a video.

01967-242-02007-6

2007-06-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

The Six-Day War is not over . . .

I'd like to use the last post in this series to draw special attention to Jonathan Freedland's piece last month in the Guardian. Thanks for bearing with me on this.

Record-Head no. 2

2007-06-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

The record in my head is . . .

'Swinglargo', a track from the 02004 album Abridged Too Far by People Like Us.

People Like Us is the name of a multi-media project Vicki Bennett started in 01990. The focus of this work is sound collage and her records can be placed somewhere between Negativland and Prince Paul in how they display Ms. Bennett's ability to combine unlikely sources to a sharp, witty effect.

01967-242-02007-5

2007-06-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

Land for peace: 'secure and recognized boundaries' . . .

Most debate regarding 242 surrounds a phrase found in the first operative clause of the resolution requiring a 'withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict'

The absence of the definite article 'the' placed before the word 'territories' creates the clearest split in interpretation of 242's purpose. The Palestinian side produced a slew of legal, semantic, and logical arguments explaining how the missing word does not alter Israel's obligation under 242 to withdraw to the pre-Six-Day War borders. But when asked to illuminate their intentions regarding the controversial omission, every drafter and relevant diplomat has supported two points: 1) that the ambiguity of the phrasing was entirely deliberate and 2) that the pre-Six-Day War borders were considered neither sufficient nor permanent.

In effect, the clause implicitly urges the conflicting parties to negotiate their own borders, thus, their own peace. Which leads directly to the next part of 242's first operative clause:

'(ii)Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force'

With the evolving complexity of terrorist networks and the prospect of a nuclear Iran, the phrase 'secure and recognized boundaries' is perhaps in need of a radical reassessment. The notion, like the one voiced by Ronald Reagan below that Israel requires a certain amount of territory simply to protect itself from outside aggressors is being turned on its head:

'In the pre-1967 borders Israel was barely 10 miles wide at its narrowest point. The bulk of Israel's population lived within artillery range of hostile Arab armies. I am not about to ask Israel to live that way again.'

In 2007 such a view appears maudlin and completely at odds with the nature of today's threats. 'Secure and recognized' has never seemed so redundant a phrase as it does now.

Three Faces of the Mirror

2007-06-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

An extraordinary silent (this version adds English narration) directed by Jean Epstein in 01927. This film is an early example of the kind of time-bending narrative structure that became popular in the 01950's and '60's with such filmmakers as Akira Kurasowa and Alain Resnais. Jean Epstein's film theory particularly sweated over the notion of the machine as a component to filmmaking. Much of his writing is collected and translated in Richard Abel's two-volume anthology of early French Film Theory.

01967-242-02007-4

2007-06-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

Land for peace: 'the acquisition of territory by war' . . .

It wasn't inevitable that Resolution 242 would remain a central reference point in Arab-Israeli negotiations for nearly forty years. More than anything else, the 'land for peace' formula is what earns 242 this place. But what relevance remains in the document is also due in part to the recognition by its drafters' that they couldn't appear to award land outright to any party. So while the Arab states and Palestinians demanded Israel to draw its borders back to their pre-June '67 lines, 242 sought to acknowledge this debt without actually crediting it.

'Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security . . .' -UNSC 242

'The inadmissibility of the acquisition by war'. By placing this phrase in the preamble of 242 the Security Council muddied their own insistance against imposing a weak peace on the situation. But when considering these intentions, the drafters' seem to have given the idea of the 'aquisition of territory by war' too much prominence. Adopting 242 under Chapter VII would have made the resolution enforcable by a variety of sanctions - and the clause quoted above much hotter than it in fact was. The Security Council chose not to do that. 242 was adopted under Chapter VI, which only allows UN mediation and investigation.

This important detail is often overlooked or ignored by those who attempt to make the case that 242 stipulates Israel's return to the 01967 borders. More objective voices have criticized 242's seeming cross purposes. Yet, if the UN, the Security Council, and the British mission are to blame for anything, it's for an apparent nievete in being unable to observe and foresee the cluster of forces at work in the Middle East that have the least to gain by reconciliation.

Rudy Giuliani

2007-06-07T07:42:00.000-07:00

Dunce.

01967-242-02007-3

2007-06-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

Towards 242 at the UN . . .

By autumn 01967, it was clear that the situation in the Middle East had only grown more precarious since the previous summer's war. Though there was talk for months about the need for a UN Resolution on the matter, it wasn't until the first week of November that the opportunity opened up when Egypt pressed the Security Council for immediate meetings.

Several days into those sessions, a resolution draft composed by India and co-submitted with Mali and Nigeria hung over the negotiations. It was considered by nearly everyone in the Council that the Indian draft's explicit demand for Israel to withdraw to the pre-Six Day War borders would prove unacceptable to the Jewish state and would destabilize further negotiations. The United States was the the first to propose an alternative resolution softening the demand. This draft also died quickly, an event mostly due to Cold War alliances working against a compromise initiated by the Super Power.

The United States draft, which never reached the floor for an official vote but proved influential on the approved draft, reads thusly:

'The Security Council;

Emphasizing the urgency of reducing tensions and bringing about a just and lasting peace in which every state in the area can live in security,
Emphasizing further that all member states in their acceptance of the Charter of the UN have undertaken a commitment to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter,

1. Affirms that the fulfillment of the above Charter principles requires the achievement of a state of just and lasting peace in the Middle East embracing withdrawal of armed forces from occupied territories, termination of claims or states of belligerence, and mutual recognition and respect for the right of every state in the area to sovereign existence, territorial integrity, political independence, secure and recognized boundaries, and freedom from the threat or use of force:

2. Affirms further the necessity
A. For guaranteeing freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area;
B. For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem;
C. For guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and political independence of every state in the area, through measures including the establishment of demilitarized zones;
D. For achieving a limitation of the wasteful and destructive arms race in the area;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to designate a special representative to proceed to the ME to establish and maintain contacts with the states concerned with a view to assisting them in the working out of solutions in accordance with the purposes of this resolution and in creating a just and lasting peace in the area;
4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the SC on the progress of the efforts of the special representative as soon as possible.'

Lord Caradon and the British mission at the UN drafted a proposal that combined the essential elements of the various drafts that had already been put on the table or were rumored to be on their way. The main elements of the British draft were the 'land for peace' arrangement expressed in the Indian draft and a linguistic structure that would seek to frame further negotiations by the Jewish and Arab states instead of imposing such sanction-bound requirements as re-defined boundaries and withdrawal timelines:

'The Security Council;
Expressing its continuing concern with the grave situation in the Middle East,

Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war and the need to work for a just and lasting peace in which every State in the area can live in security,

Emphasizing further that all Member States in their acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations have undertaken a commitment to act in accordance with Article 2 of the Charter,

1. Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:
(i) Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;
(ii)Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force;

2. Affirms further the necessity
(a) For guaranteeing freedom of navigation through international waterways in the area;
(b) For achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem;
(c) For guaranteeing the territorial inviolability and political independence of every State in the area, through measures including the establishment of demilitarized zones;

3. Requests the Secretary General to designate a Special Representative to proceed to the Middle East to establish and maintain contacts with the States concerned in order to promote agreement and assist efforts to achieve a peaceful and accepted settlement in accordance with the provisions and principles in this resolution;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Security Council on the progress of the efforts of the Special Representative as soon as possible.'

This is the only draft of the four submitted (the Soviet Union's being the last) that had an official vote, by which it passed unanimously on November 22, 01967.

01967-242-02007-2

2007-06-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

Six-Day War and background . . .

The release of tension must have been extraordinary when in early June 01967, Radio Cairo broadcast dispatches from the new war that had seemed inevitable for months. Egypt and its allies, Jordan and Syria, were defeating Israel even after the opening pre-emptive air strikes took out the formidable Egyptian Air Force. Anwar Sadat, who was then the President of the National Assembly in Egypt took a late night walk through the capital's celebrations fully aware of the come down that would soon hit his nation. The Radio reports were false - at worst propagandistic, at best merely presumptuous. By week's end, the victors of the Six Day War, as an emboldened Israeli leadership would quickly brand the campaign, would be too plain to deny. The war's outcome, however, would take decades to fully materialize.

Why was Israel's victory immediately recognized as so monumental? There was, of course, the significant boundary changes; twenty-six thousand square miles of territory gained by the Israelis. This included the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula (from Egypt), the Golan Heights (from Syria), and most convincingly for those who sought to argue for the divinity inherent in the War's outcome, East Jerusalem (from Jordan). This, the 'center of the world', came with the acquisition of the West Bank.

But it's after the Six-Day War that Israel, for the first time since the Jewish state's creation in 01948 and only twenty-two years after the defeat of the Nazis, was recognized as the primary regional military power. Israel's might and the question of its necessity (and legitimacy, in the most radical anti-Israeli quarters) was the Geo-political development that would frame much of the Middle-East debate for the next several decades.

Record-Head no. 1

2007-06-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

The record in my head is . . .

'Shy', a track off the new Matthew Dear album, Asa Breed.

Matthew Dear is an artist on Ann Arbor's Ghostly International label. His earlier work displayed a more obvious Minimal techno influence though this listener has always detected a fair amount of Bowie/Eno in his lineage too. The new album sounds a bit like a conscious raiding of post-punk influences - from Joy Division chill to the Pop Group/Slits world music faction with a hint of New Pop throughout. It's actually a pretty bold album from an artist who works within the rigid electronic music network.

01967-242-02007-1

2007-06-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

Introduction . . .

Today is the fortieth anniversary of the air strikes that started the Six Day War. If you've seen even a sampling of the journalism that's being published to mark this occasion then you've likely come to understand that, in the Agnostic West at least, Israel's 01967 victory is increasingly viewed as a tragic one. Today, less than a year after Israel's Lebanon defeat and twenty years past the First Intifada, Israel is arguably at its lowest point in how the rest of the world views its role in the conflict.

But the 'roadmap to peace' in the Middle East appears as ever without a compass. Just as the current negotiation terms of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were largely introduced in 01967, in many ways so were the obstacles to an honest considration of those terms. One major snag came in the form of UN Security Council Resolution 242, adopted unanimously on November 22, 01967 as a direct result of the Six Day War. For this web log's own recognition of the Six Day War's fortieth anniversary, I've chosen to gather a broad collection of reports, documents, and analysis regarding 242.

I've chosen 242 because I think it's a good point of incision for anyone, such as myself, who is geographically removed from the conflict yet would like to peak beyond the animus - which is already well broadcast. Considered in the black and white in which it was inked, 242 exposes the cumbersome terms of negotiation each side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict brings to the table. If we live to see a peaceful end to this horrific struggle, it's these terms that will have to be satisfied.

So, to this aim, it seems neccessary to understand 242 within the divide of its drafters' considerations and intentions on one side - and the document's interpretations and consequences on the other. By no means am I saying the drafter's intentions are the terms by which the document should be applied. I simply don't know if that's true.

Ironically, though, atomizing 242 in the way I propose should place it more firmly in the context of the conflict's History - thereby clarifying the ways in which the resolution has been used to undermine its own purpose.

Thanks to the polemicist's science of semantics, 242 is most commonly used as a convienient tool in aiding all conceivable positions on the essential land dispute it takes on. In other words, 242 is a Diplomat's black hole and a zealot's refuge. To avoid this mess, the two questions I hope to answer for myself over the course of these six posts are:

1)Why, in November 01967, was the UN compelled to draft 242?

2)How has 242 helped and/or hurt the cause towards the resolution's stated goal, 'the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East'?

Simple enough? We'll see.

The next two posts mind the first question and until the fourth post I will take care to keep my eye on that particular ball.

That said, we begin tomorrow by looking at the Six Day War and its background in summary. Please remember that my text is meant to be explored via its hyperlinks. My assumed role in this analysis is that of an editor and for the sake of objectivity, I've taken pains not to state anything that isn't well supported by key Western media sources such as The Economist, the Guardian, the International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, der Spiegel, and others.

The Consolation of Best Sellers

2007-06-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

This past week, it's been a real treat to read in parallel two books that have recently stirred separate but indirectly related swirls of attention. One is journalist Christopher Hitchens's 'god is not Great'. The other, 'The Reagan Diaries'. Interestingly, when deciding between a journalist that Gore Vidal officially endorsed as his 'heir' (whatever that means) and a President who was, to put it gently, an intellectual lightweight - the more thought-provoking for me is the lightweight's volume. This is perhaps because I pretty well agree with Hitchens's view, so reading his argument is a kind of 3/4 victory lap. (Only a few divergences of opinion for this reader.) For the curious.

A candid moment between acts of divinity.

Andy Warhol on Jasper Johns

2007-06-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

A slag, a dodge, or just another profane illumination?

'Careful, Emilogue!'

Modern Art, never chaste

2007-06-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

Or so suggests this exhibition at BA-CA Kunstforum in Vienna (of course).

Look around you . . .

2007-06-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

. . . just Look Around You!

(Have you worked out what they're looking for?)

Beijing, 02007, no. 4

2007-06-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

The 70th issue of Colors offers another extraordinary public service.

It's edited by and features the photography of Peng and Chen.

Please Madame Chancellor . . .

2007-06-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

. . . do not give an inch.

Kind Regards,
Emilogue
USA

The Death of Latin American Art

2007-06-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

Lyle Rexer has a thoughtful essay about the artist Gego, a recent fixation, in the new Art on Paper. Thanks, Lyle!

Barack Obama in Foreign Affairs

2007-06-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

An essay on his own vision for a US foreign policy.

Mitt Romney has his say as well.

'Edison's Eve' by Gaby Wood

2007-05-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

As I've spent a lot of time off-line lately, it's neccessary that I post a second miniature book report for today's entry. This one was originally published in the UK as 'Living Dolls' and is subtitled 'A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life'.

Some books are a challenge to get through because they sugggest so many interesting images and ideas that are easy to follow through in your own head when you should be paying attention to the text. This was true for my experience with this anecdote-filled book. Beginning around the time of Descartes in the 17th Century and winding up sometime around the talkie revolution in Hollywood, Ms Wood's micro-history of automated dolls entertains too well to feel like a substantial read. Yet, in the days since I last put it down I'm more convinced that it is a neccessary book - especially if you're interested in the development of humans' understanding of the senses, which is a theme more suggested at than actually taken on by the author.

For this reader, it's when Ms. Wood links her history of automated puppets to the pre-history of the cinema in the late 19th Century and motion-perception that the book leaps into a higher frame of intrigue. But like so many micro-history books, Wood's breezy essaic style turns too purposeful in the last chapter - about a troupe of little people called The Doll Family (the principle actors in Tod Browning's singular 01932 film 'Freaks') - where the author tries to shoehorn some broad thesis about the Twentieth Century that I either couldn't follow or seemed too obtuse for me to believe such an intelligent writer was trying to make. Anyway, the book was a treat. It made me want to design and make really cool toys.

'The Art of Making Dances' by Doris Humphrey

2007-05-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

Over the long weekend I had a chance to catch up on some reading. The book I couldn't put down once I started was Doris Humphrey's 'The Art of Making Dances' which is an early and very erudite example of choreography theory. In retrospect, it may not have been the best source for a person (me) who was hoping to find an introduction to the subject. I couldn't help but think two things throughout my reading: 1)Ms. Humphrey has a very particular view of choreography that incorporates little of what came before her yet 2)her break with the past isn't so complete as to anticipate our present. A transitional figure in 20th Century Choreography.

The charm of the book is in the passion with which Ms. Humphrey explains herself. She has a very engaging voice which superficially reminds me of another classic performance theory text, Richard Boleslawski's 'Acting: the First Six Lessons'.

'Look around you . . .

2007-05-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

. . . just Look Around You!'

(Have you worked out what they're looking for?)

Beijing, 02007, no. 3

2007-05-27T12:01:00.001-07:00

This post focuses on reports of the Olympic-spurred organized effort by Chinese officials to modify behavior on the street, in the sky, and among the agents who will effect these changes.

'Xiexie!'

The Lure of Letterpress

2007-05-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a walk where I finally checked out Oblation, 'an old-world letterpress print shop' that has a strong reputation among designers-I-like. I was so overwhelmed I only stayed for ten minutes. In that time I did manage to make several tense laps around the store, fearing I was about to spend deeply into June's rent money. As the employees likely predicted upon spotting me, I left the store with nothing. A win for 'Wallet & Will' in their ongoing tag team war against 'Apartment & Senses'.

01967-242-02007

2007-05-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

This week the Economist explores the state of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in light of the Six Day War's forteith anniversary.

Beginning on June 5th, this blog will begin a six-post analysis of UN Security Council Resolution 242, the document adopted by the International diplomatic community as a direct result of the 01967 conflict - thus, deepening my blogging commitment to a new and completely ridiculous level.

3-2-1 Contact and Suzanne Ciani

2007-05-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

I believe that behind all of my recurring dreams about work and Popeye-endorsed Spinach Soda hide much cooler dreams looking and sounding a lot like this.

Ciani is profiled in the July 21, 01974 New York Times.

Eggs

2007-05-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

That's all.

To Dziga, with Love

2007-05-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

A conversation with a friend today regarding the Chris Marker DVD prompted this post about Dziga Vertov, the Soviet documentarian for whom Marker composed the following poem. Thanks, Friend.

'Let us praise Dziga Vertov
for if I had to choose the Ten Best Documentaries of All Time
i'd call it preposterous
but if there's ONE to choose:
"A SIXTH OF THE WORLD"
Because this moment of our history, this palingenesis,
this dawn, this birth of our memory,
this first draft of what was due our world,
good and bad,
Paustovsky made us think of it
Eisenstein made us dream of it
but only one man made us SEE it
DZIGA VERTOV'

Chris Marker

Chris Marker on Criterion

2007-05-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Next month the Criterion Collection will release a two-dvd set combining Le Jette and Sans soleil by the inimitable multi-media artist Chris Marker. This news got me searching for an interview that was first published in 02003 and is now considered a treasure by those who follow the work of the reclusive Marker.

'Look around you . . .

2007-05-20T17:27:00.000-07:00

. . . just Look Around You!'

(Have you worked out what they're looking for?)

'. . . bearded.'

2007-05-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

It usually pays to read the last paragraph of an Economist article.

'With all due respect, Mr. Hannity, there is a very important distinction to make between civil unions and . . .'

Beijing, 02007, no. 2

2007-05-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

An example of the Green public face China's government and business community acknowledge they must show for their Olympic city.

The winners.

Alfred Stieglitz's 291

2007-05-20T02:47:00.000-07:00

issue 5-6, New York, Summer 01915.

Francis Picabia's 391

2007-05-20T02:23:00.000-07:00

Issue No.5, New York, Summer 01917.

Colleen plays a viol

2007-05-18T22:30:00.001-07:00

among other instruments on the new album.

Marin Marais and appendage, c. 01686.

Steam subsidies anyone?

2007-05-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

A view from the year 01889 provided by the wonderful Paleo-Future blog.

Avoiding an enormous waste of fuel before it became a civilization-wide crisis must have seemed like a charming enough idea at the time. But this 19th Century optimist failed to tap into the same shallow well of zen wisdom as the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders - asking 'the most important question in economics: "And then what?'"

A Petrol Political debate

2007-05-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

The moderator.

J'accuse!

Our hands are clean, 'to our knowldege'.

Q: Why am I using five-digit dates in these posts?

2007-05-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

A: To express my enthusiastic solidarity with The Long Now Foundation.

Beijing, 02007, no. 1

2007-05-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

The 02008 Summer Olympics will be in Beijing. The event is being described as the 'coming out party to the world' for post-Revolution China. This is the first in what I hope will be a series of links and images showing how the preparation for this global spectacle is impacting Beijing's citizens. Watch this space to see if I follow through on this intention.

On the eve of Cannes

2007-05-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

a preview from the International Herald Tribune.

Opening the festival's 'second stage' is the Hou Hsiao Hsien remake of Albert Lamorrise's The Red Balloon, starring Juliette Binoche. (I wonder if she's taken the role of the boy or the balloon.)

Gego at the Drawing Center in New York

2007-05-15T05:20:00.000-07:00

Extraordinary.

Holland Cotter of the New York Times wrote a review.

Voice-Over Narration: an online symposium

2007-05-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

curated by the folks at Criterion.

If you think these stills are cool, you should hear the voice-overs.

From Cyrano de Bergerac's trip to the moon

2007-05-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

Two illustrations of Cyrano's first solution to the problem of liftoff . . .

Viles of dew.

Marjorie Hope Nicolson beautifully retold Cyrano's tale in her classic study of lunar imagination, Voyages to the Moon.

Jimmy Carter, condensed

2007-05-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here's an interview with the People's Daily in Beijing covering a broad range of topics. Carter's defence of Peace Not Apartheid is quite effective here.

'People's Daily: Can you tell me your impression of Deng Xiaoping (from) his visit to the White House and your later meetings with him in China?

Carter: He was a strong man. He was a great and wise man. He was courageous. And he was very honest and frank.'

People's Daily: Also a very heavy smoker?

Carter: He was that. That's one thing that I didn't like.'

Stylized photos of people sleeping

2007-05-14T02:23:00.000-07:00

from the delightfully named National Sleep Foundation.

And at Sleep for Kids, they prefer cartoons (of course).

Gardeners on the Vines

2007-05-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

A Rayonist book designed by poet Sergei Bobrov and the movement's co-founder Natalia Goncharovain 01913.

Capsule explanations of Rayonism (also known as Rayism and, most tellingly, Cubo-Futurism) . . .

The Tate online glossary: 'Rayonism, or Rayism, was an early form of abstract art, based on landscape and consisting of dynamically interacting linear forms ultimately derived from rays of light.'

Wikipedia: 'The Rayonists sought an art that floated beyond abstraction, outside of time and space, and to break the barriers between the artist and the public. They derived the name from the use of dynamic rays of contrasting color, representing lines of reflected light — crossing of reflected rays from various objects.'

Rollins College online gallery: 'Rayonism was described as naturally encompassing all existing styles and forms of the art of the past, as they, like life, are simply points of departure for a Rayonist perception and construction of a picture.'

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts website compellingly explains Gardeners on the Vines this way: 'The 10 inserted double-page blue and brown plates are Goncharova's only colored Rayist lithographs and were conceived independently of the author's text. . . . Bobrov, himself an illustrator and especially interested in book design, concludes his texts with a short article proclaiming that "Rayism was the only proper form of book illustration because it did not attempt to add anything to the poet's conception but enabled the artist to use an analogous metaphor."'

If you like Prada's brand ID

2007-05-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

then you might enjoy this. (It's defintely worth the ten to twenty seconds it takes to load.)

'Q: How would you describe your work?'

'Miuccia Prada: To have to express in a simple, banal object a great complexity about women, aesthetics, and current times.'

Walkpersons . . .

2007-05-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

. . . courtesy of Saints Jay and Paul, the missionaries from Pocket Calculator.

Secretary Rice: 'Nice Art.'

2007-05-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

Iranian Artists:
'Wish we could say the same for your diplomacy.'

BBC.com has gallery of selected works.

More Spiegel

2007-05-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

In bed with Kissinger or just his book? An unfortunate coincidence with no baring on my politics or lovelife.

News from last century

2007-05-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Der Spiegel:

'The Idea in the Brush and the Brush in the Idea'

2007-05-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

Selected from the article by Ching Ying and originally published in Phyllis Johnson's legendary Aspen Magazine (No. 10, 01971) . . .

'The essence of beauty in calligraphy is movement — the brush strokes stretch and sweep, crouch and spring, ink tones swell and diminish, shapes expand and contract. "Line after line should have a way of giving life, character after character should seek for life-movement," an anonymous calligrapher once wrote.' . . . 'Every tiny stroke of a piece of calligraphy has the energy of a living thing. Every stroke after it has fallen from the brush, must lie on the paper without correction; touching up would destroy its life. There is a saying that a stroke should be started with a force great enough to move a mountain and end with some of it still left.' . . . 'The speed of the stroke is another important factor — every stroke is composed of alternating quick and slow movements. As Li Si, in what is attributed to be the earliest writing on technique, described the correct use of the brush: "Give it a quick turn first and then bring it down swiftly like a hawk after a bird. Let it proceed naturally and do not work it over. The advance of the brush is as free as a swimming fish in water, and the swing of it, as rising clouds over a great mountain."
As he indicates, the beauty is of plastic movement, not of designed and motionless space. Each character should have a stable stance with a gesture of movement and the center of gravity falls upon the base. One side may be larger or denser but the whole still must not overbalance. An asymmetrical balance is sought since it possesses more movement. This is achieved by the imaginary plotting of the character upon a nine-fold square, invented by some ingenious writer of the Yang dynasty. If the square were divided in half or in fours, the result would be symmetrical, but the nine-fold square permits balanced asymmetry.'

Morton Bartlett

2007-05-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

From Marion Harris's official Bartlett page: 'Although educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard, Morton Bartlett (01909-01992) worked in a variety of undemanding fields in order to focus on his self-taught skills as a sculptor and photographer. Orphaned at age seven and never married, Morton Bartlett created his own fantasy family. With staggering precision, he meticulously sculpted fifteen figures, each taking over a year to complete, clothing them in lovingly constructed outfits he personally made for them, from hand-knitted cardigans to embroidered jackets and hats.'

Magic Lanterns in use

2007-05-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

Magic Lanterns - components

2007-05-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

Magic Lanterns

2007-05-12T13:03:00.000-07:00