Chushingura (The Story of the Loyal Retainers)

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Chushingura, or the 47 Rōnin, is a popular Japanese story. It has been told and retold, in various media and with various interpretations. It is about the samurai honor, duty and revenge.

It is based on a true incident in 18th century Japan. In the Shogun's court two functionaries, Kira and Asano, got into a dispute and one of them, Asano, attacked the other. Because drawing a weapon was forbidden in the Shogun's palace, justice was swift. The fight was in the morning, and by the afternoon the offender was condemned and sentenced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). 

At Asano's death his followers became Ronin, which were unaffiliated samurai. Living in poverty, they plotted for two years and eventually invaded Kira's mansion to avenge their lord. Kira was killed, but the 47 Ronin also sealed their fates with the attack. The Shogun had outlawed their revenge, and so when the raid was over, they turned themselves in and, by imperial edict, had to commit seppuku themselves.

Shortly after the raid plays were written about it. In these plays the Ronin were portrayed as honorable men who had upheld their honor by avenging their leader's death. As the linked article states:

The reason why the tale of the 47 Ronin created such a fuss at that time and became so valued and important in modern Japan is because, according to Benedict, the Japanese have a great appetite for stories of relentless heroes who settle debts by choosing death as the solution. In the West, this type of narrative would be considered resignation to a cruel fate. 

In Japan, however, they are chronicles of initiative and unyielding determination in which the heroes exert all their efforts to fulfill an obligation that is incumbent upon them and, in doing so, they redeem themselves from another. The sympathy for the selfless hero comes from the fact that he fulfilled his duty at all costs without anything – helplessness, illness, pain or death – diverting him from his path.

Ain’t That A Shame

Get ready for a geezerized weekend with The Old Boys.

 

16th century ship that an explorer would have used

The above video shows what a 16th century explorer's ship would a have looked like, from its hull construction to its rigging. Such ships were small, with a shallow draft so they could work closer to coastlines. As you can see, while not having cargo space like a merchant would have, it was heavily armed if it needed to fight. It looks like the living conditions would have been miserable.

 

Maximilien Luce

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Maximilien Luce (1858–1941) was a French neo-impressionist painter who also experimented heavily with pointillism. He painted landscapes, portraits, workers, WWI soldiers, scenes of the industrial revolution, and everyday activities.

In his younger years he was an active anarchist. In 1894 he was arrested upon suspicion that he was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate the French president. However, he was acquitted and released after 42 days. Later in his life he drifted away from active participation in politics.

Maximilien Luce self-portrait

Los Ejes de mi Carreta

Get ready for a superfluous damsel weekend with El Septeto Santiaguero.

 

Fred and Betsy Warren prepare for WWIII

Fred and his wife decide to build a fallout shelter in their basement to protect their family in case WWIII breaks out. It ends up being a fairly small concrete block room in the corner. It looks awfully small for 4 people for 2 weeks, but I guess it will have to do. 

They stock it with supplies, although I didn't see any guns. Have they not watched any sci-fi TV shows about nuclear war? How do they plan on driving off their panicking neighbors when the big one drops and they try to break in?  And that's not even covering how to handle the raiders and mutants when they exit the shelter. Seems like sloppy planning to me. 

 

Aristarkh Lentulov

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Aristarkh Lentulov (1882 - 1943) was a Russian avant-garde painter. His main influence was cubism, but he also used the colorful palette of fauvism and mixed in other influences as he evolved. He painted a lot of cityscapes.

He supported the October Revolution and for a while after it he was heavily involved in the Russian art scene: he painted murals, did set design, and taught art. However, when Stalin embraced the Soviet Heroic Man style of art for propaganda Lentulov's influence waned. Although he was never caught up in the purges, he faded into relative obscurity.

Aristarkh Lentulov self-portrait