Poem: “lead, follow, or get out of the way”

Following can go either way. . .
Depending upon whom you elect to follow.

If you're an individual contributor
Playing follow the leader,

You may just be wisely holding back,
Allowing the boss

To receive the first barrage
Of arrows and fusillades.
---o0o---

Painting: Hira & Todd

click to enlarge

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Photo: jack brummet in the hoosegow

click to enlarge

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President's Day -- Poppa George and Lanky Link: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln built the (now demonized) Republican Party into a strong national organization and brought the northern Democrats into the Union fold. With little choice, he went to war against his own countrymen.

In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves in the Confederacy. In reality, that would take a while, and many people think we're still working at it. He made a few jokes about his face, and truth be told, in many of those daguerreotypes he looks like he is carrying the weight of the world.

The contemporary painter Mark Ryden often includes an image of Lincoln in his paintings. Abe never got to fully preside over the peace, because he was assassinated on April 14, 1865, by a deranged actor and supreme P.O.S., John Wilkes Boothe.



More nonsense has been written about Washington than any other President (except the conspiracy theories around Jack Kennedy and LBJ, about whom more even gibberish has been written because his murder, and LBJ's alleged role in the "conspiracy" literally sparked an industry of conspiracy theorists.

Did young George chop down the cherry tree? Was he lying when he said "Father, I cannot tell a lie," which may be the biggest whopper of all time? "Father, I cannot tell a lie. I cut the tree," George says when asked by his father. This story elevated him into the pantheon and onto Rushmore. It is also bunk, bogus, hokum, flim-flam::::::::::100% ca-ca. Parson Mason Locke Weems concocted the story in a biography of Washington. In The Moral Washington: Construction of a Legend Weems wanted to humanize Washington after a less than flattering earlier biography of him as 'cold and colorless." Weems book was very popular with the public and they equated Washington with honesty.

Did he wear wooden teeth? No. He actually had hippopotamus teeth--from rarely visited Africa. How they became his teeth is a mystery.

His tight-lipped grimace is often attributed to the wooden teeth. We do know that his false teeth has springs that made them adhere in place, but that is not the reason for the tight-lipped grin.

The raconteur, humorist, and radio legend Jean Shepherd talked about Washington on his Washington birthday show on February 22, 1973. Shep tried to bust a few of the myths around The General. In particular, some of the notions that have arisen from Gilbert Stuart's portraits.

We remember President Washington as tight lipped and aloof because as Gilbert Stuart wrote "When I painted him, he had just had a set of false teeth inserted, which accounts for the constrained expression so noticeable about the mouth and lower part of the face." However, we now know that Stuart disliked George Washington and many people speculate this led to the tight lipped portrait, as well as the air of aloofness we sense in Washington. Stuart also wrote that when he would sit for him: "an apathy seemed to seize him, and a vacuity spread over his countenance, most appalling to paint."

Thanks to the portraits, we also think of him as a dandified man, wearing flouncy shirts, an ornate doublet and knickers. We think of his hair as being bright white. As was the fashion at the time, that was a powdered wig!

We tend to also think of him as a genteel and gentle man of restraint (again, partly due to the portraits). However, he was a man of large appetites who enjoyed copious flagons of Madeira wine (and would have no doubt enoyed bourbon, had it been invented yet). He was not afraid to take a another officer out for a round of fisticuffs, and usually won. Martha Washington indicated in more than one letter to friends that "George is at it again," which some have speculated refers to extramarital affairs.

George was a big man. In that time, the average height of a Continental Army soldier was five foot six inches. George Washington stood six foot, two inches. He was literally a giant among men.

Washington was also an incredible horseman, by all accounts, both in peace- and in war-time. He was a strong man, and tough as nails, as he showed in the war, living under-equipped in the appalling climate of Valley Forge and the other battles of the revolution.

Washington State is the only state named for a President. When I grew up in the 50's and 60's, Washington's birthday was still a state holiday (before that abomination known as President's Day). On February 22, in celebration of the event, cherry pies were on sale in the stores and at bake sales by the Rotary, the Civitan Club, Kiwanis, and others.
---o0o---

Poem: Chasing the ghosts

1
I cheer the scenery whizzing by.
Every day it accelerates;

Every day, I slow it down
And watch the show unravel

Into a multi-colored, quadrophonic
Parade of flora and fauna

Spinning Venn Diagrams
Around each other.

2
I think about the Chinese poets
who left some words for me--

A joke or fine riposte
Drunkenly dashed off--

On a piece of frayed silk
With a bamboo brush and ink.

3
I don't chase ghosts any more
But every once in a while,

On a walk along the sound's tideflats,
Or on a street in Istanbul or California,

I look over my shoulder
And catch one following me.

I see a face in the crowd,
With a sad smile and a halo.
---o0o---

Valentine Dinner one night early at Poppy in Seattle

Photo of a different, but very similar "Thali" meal at Poppy

We went on our Valentine's Day one day early, at Poppy on Broadway on Capitol Hill - "eat. drink. herb. spice. "

Poppy opened in September, as a highly-anticipated new restaurant from the longtime (17 years!) Herbfarm chef Jerry Traunfeld. Poppy sort of fuses the Indian culinary tradition of "thali"—a platter featuring about ten small dishes— focused on his big love of fresh herbs and spices. And the herbing and spicing stood out in every single dish. Here's what I had (Keelin had a subset of this, with vegetarian dishes substituted for the pork and scallops):

Salt cod fritters with smoked paprika aioli - excellent. I think the soaked cod was blended with potato and some herbs. . .I think it was mainly sorel?

Nettle dill soup - was a little salty and a little bland, and any dill was either cooked away or forgotten in the first place. That being said, it was good enough that I finished it.

A blood orange, endive, and taggia olive salad - perfect, maybe my favorite of the cold ones. It was a tiny salad, and as I was eating it I kept thinking "This is about three tablespoonfuls of salad, and it's one of the best I've ever had. Mas! Mas!"

Celery root remoulade with hazelnuts - celery root--or this particular one--has no taste! it was dressed nicely and the hazelnuts were nicely roasted. The dressing was very nice.

Qualicum scallops with beet-wasabi sauce and burdock root - Perfectly cooked scallops, but the sauce is a little too sweet. And burdock root doesn't have a lot of flavor. The beet-wasabi would have been perfect if it was more savory and less sweet. I devoured the two plump scallops in six bites, if you are keeping track.

Berkshire pork short rib with salt caramelized pear - Nice. The pear was awesomely roasted. The rib was nicely done, and seemed more like pork belly than a rib. . .it was that good. . .nicely charred, tender, and tasty.

Braised red cabbage with pomegranate - Nice, and refreshingly unchallenging. . .almost a palate break in between the other dishes.

Saffron risotto fritter in a yogurt sauce. Nice, but I couldn't taste much saffron. The one small fritter was just the right amount.

Cauliflower gratin - Possibly the best-realized dish. It was the most magnificent treatment of cauliflower I have ever had. And I love cauliflower.

Carrot ribbon pickle - Excellent, and one of the few things with no trace of sweetness. I could identify coriander, but there were other things going on. I also couldn't figure out what the acid was (thinned vinegar probably...there didn't seem to be lemon). I could eat a bucket of this stuff. I must learn the secret. It was sparkling and refreshing.

Nigella naan - a very nice piece of naan, charred at the edges.

And, of course, a couple glasses of red Rioja.

---o0o---

Painting: Adolph Hitler

click to enlarge

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Poem: The Trouble With Flying

The trouble begins,
and usually ends,

When you make an unplanned transition
From an initial flying state

To a subsequent not flying state.
Falling per se is OK.

The hitch comes the moment
Falling becomes not falling,

Or, what the pros call
The uncontrolled landing problem.
---o0o---

Poem: A Touch of Evil

Darkness, after having been eliminated,
furtively obtrudes again.

Does the wind blow over the earth
or does it blow under heaven?
---o0o---

It may not really be nifty to be fifty, but Flight 1549's crew know how to land a plane--American heroes Sullenberger, Skiles,Dail, Welsh, Dent

These crew of that U.S. Airways Flight 1549 that crashed into the Hudson are, so far, my heroes of the century. And they average on the downhill side of 50 except for the one youngster, who was 49. From the crew and passenger's facebook page:

• Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger, III, age 58, joined US Airways (PSA Airlines) in 1980. He has a total of 19,663 flight hours.


• First officer Jeffrey B. Skiles, age 49, joined US Airways (USAir) in 1986. He has a total of 15,643 flight hours.


• Flight Attendant Sheila Dail, age 57, joined US Airways (Piedmont Airlines) in 1980 and has more than 28 years experience with the airline.


• Flight Attendant Doreen Welsh, age 58, joined US Airways (Allegheny Airlines) in 1970 and has more than 38 years experience with the airline.


• Flight Attendant Donna Dent, age 51, was hired by US Airways (Piedmont Airlines) in 1982 and has more than 26 years with the airline.

---o0o---

Song: Unbroken Chain by The Grateful Dead with lyrics

Unbroken Chain [1] is one of my favorite Dead songs. It was written by their bass player and occasional singer Phil Lesh (check out his autobiography Searching For The Sound, whose title comes from this tune) and his friend Bobby Peterson. They never performed the song live until their last few months on the road--21 years after recording it. [2]



[1] The concept of an "unbroken chain" usually applies to the theory of transmission of authority down across the generations, often used in the sense of religious authority, which fits in well with the song. Religious scholars speak of the "unbroken chain of Moses, Jesus, Paul, Augustine, etc..." (Tenywa, Francis: The Hebraic Tradition.... [dissertation]). An essay on the concept of authority in Dictionary of the History of Ideas: studies of Selected Pivotal Ideas states "The idea of church authority...juxtaposed ideas of authorized power, ... of unbroken binding tradition..." (v. 1, p. 147)

[2]
From chill@omni.voicenet.com
Date: Mon, 20 MAR 1995 07:22:18 -0500
From: Craig Hillwig World Wide Web: http://www.voicenet.com/voicenet/homepages/chill/index.html Subject: Unbroken Chain - How it went down

I thought I'd try to fill you in on how the UC went down. NOT trying to rub it in or anything. I don't usually review shows because I find it's subjective. But for those who missed it:
[Some stuff deleted...]

Don't Ease was also a surprise -- 5th song into the set at about 0:35 into it. I thought, "Man!! Short set. I'll be pissed if they walk off the stage after this."

The band stayed on the stage with the lights down after the Don't Ease, and then we knew that SOMETHING was going to happen. All of the band members were looking at each other somewhat anxiously.

Then the opening chords started wafting through quietly, a nervousness and heightened sense of urgency started rushing through the crowd. Isolated shouts of "Unbroken Chain!" could be heard, and then everyone looked at each other as if, "Can it be?" The cheers became louder, swelling as more and more heads realized what was happening, and by the time the first verse rolled around, the place was going absolutely nuts -- bolts of energy flying through the Spectrum.

Band pulls out of the intro, and all four (non-drummers) step up to the mikes, "Blue light rain" Phil with the spotlight, "whoa unbroken chain . . . ." Devastating -- people just screaming their heads off for about 6 seconds, until, almost simultaneously, everyone decided to quiet down and listen.

The jamming part of the song was the highlight, with Jerry all over the fretboard.

Put it this way. It certainly could have been played better, and it will get better with some playing. But you always remember your first.

Of course, the band left the stage to an extended standing ovation. When the house lights went up, everyone sorta looked at each other and then, in a moment of mutual recognition, the whole placed erupted again, lotsa cheering, hugging.

When the band came out for the second set, Phil did a sweeping bow, and of course, the place erupted once again.

Well, that kinda captures it, I think.

_________________________________

Unbroken Chain

Lyrics: Bobby Petersen
Music: Phil Lesh

Copyright 1974 by Ice Nine Publishing.

Blue light rain, whoa unbroken chain,
Looking for familiar faces in an empty window pane.

Listening for the secret, searching for the sound
But I could only hear the preacher and the baying of his hounds.

Willow sky, whoa, I walk and wonder why,
They say love your brother, but you will catch it when you try.

Roll you down the line boy, drop you for a loss,
Ride you out on a cold railroad and nail you to a cross.

November and more, as I wait for the score,
They're telling me forgiveness is the key to every door.
A slow winter day a night like forever,
Sink like a stone, float like a feather.

(guitar break)

Lilac rain, unbroken chain, song of the sawhet owl.
Out on the mountain, it'll drive you insane, listening to the winds howl

Unbroken chain of sorrow and pearls, unbroken chain of sky and sea.
---o0o---

John Coltrane's snappy retort to Miles Davis and a performance of So What?

Miles: "How come you play so long?"
'Trane: "Takes that long to get it all in."


---o0o---