 |
| Click any image to ernlarge |
The eggs have been decorated, the Easter Bunny has hidden them away, if you're of the mind you've gone to Church, and an Easter meal awaits. Below, in keeping with my habit of posting artwork on Sunday, I offer a small sample of lily paintings.
Happy Easter all.
|
| Click any image to enlarge |
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.
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.
|
| Click any image to enlarge |
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 |
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.
|
| Click any image to enlarge |
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 |
Richard Trevithick (1771-1833), an English engineer, is credited with building the first functioning steam locomotive. He started as a mining engineer where low pressure steam engines were used to power pumps and elevators. After an acquaintance built a model of a steam powered car he got interested in the idea and decided to use a more dangerous high power steam engine to build a working prototype.
In 1801 he built his first steam carriage. Eventually, for use in the mines, he built a locomotive that ran on tracks for delivering heavy material to and from the mines. Although he had success selling his steam engines, he was poor businessman and ended up destitute.
The video below is of a replica of his locomotive in action.
|
| Click any image to enlarge |
Some of my regulars who are daft enough to reside in snow country ice fish on lakes during the winter. However, with March waning for the rest of us the sane season for visiting lakes for relaxation and refreshment approaches. Here are some lake views to tide you over until the weather warms.
The above video is from a site named Essen Recipes, which would indicate it is coming from Germany. Plus, the bottom captions are in German. Still, when I watched it, I thought it had Slavic touches to the cooking. It turns out I was partially right; in reading the comments the cook is a Ukrainian woman. Still, the dishes she whips up are tasty looking.
|
| Click any image to enlarge |
Wilhelm Bendz (1804-1832) was a Danish painter who, along with portraits and landscapes, frequently painted his fellow artists at work and in leisure. His painting style is very crisp and technically accomplished.
|
| Wilhelm Bendz self portrait |
Ok, my post title is a bit click-baity, but the video creator calls the Osaka Airin District, the area he stays in, a slum and the hotel he stays in is dirt cheap so, flophouse it is. That said, from reading the comments it is probably more accurate to call it a poor working-class neighborhood than a slum.
The room is small, but clean. There are communal bathrooms, showers, laundry machines, and a cooking station. All of the areas are clean and well kept. The streets are a bit litter strewn, and there is graffiti all about which is never a good sign.
There are also a lot of vending machines. In an American slum those would have been smashed to bits in a matter of minutes, but they seem to be left alone. I suppose the crime in the area is of a different nature.
|
| Click any image to enlarge |
Maurycy Minkowski (1881-1930) was a Jewish Polish artist. At a young age he had an accident which left him deaf. In the early 20th Century, he was caught in the events of the Polish revolution and the pogroms of the era. He fled to western Europe eventually settling in Paris. He traveled extensively and died in Argentina when he was struck by a taxi he could not hear approaching.
|
| Maurycy Minkowski |
 |
| Click image to enlarge |
If You Forget Me - Pablo Neruda
I want you to know
one thing.
You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.
Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.
If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.
If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.
But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.
|
| Click any image to enlarge |
Pinballs are machines that are loud and bombastic, with steel balls bouncing around, lights flashing and flippers flipping. For a modest amount of money they provide a hit of dopamine. Naturally their artwork is over the top as well, bright backlit colors, exaggerated graphics and plenty of blinking lights. Here is a small sample of that artwork.
