Archive for May, 2011
Drawn Into the Art of John Singleton Copley
… Master artist J. S. Copley ( 1738 ~ 1815 ) is best known to those who study art as among the first American artists to utilize props in his portraits in order to better illustrate the subject’s personality. I am drawn into his painting by his use of light and shadow. I find myself […]
The Bureaucrat – according to Cicero (106 BC ~ 43 BC)
… “A bureaucrat is the most despicable of men, though he is needed as vultures are needed, but one hardly admires vultures whom bureaucrats so strangely resemble. I have yet to meet a bureaucrat who was not petty, dull, almost witless, crafty or stupid, an oppressor or a thief, a holder of little authority in […]
For Those Who Think They Know Everything – and for those who know they do not –
If you really need a nanny to take care of you and tell you what to do and change your diapers – that’s all fine and dandy. Go ahead with your bad self – but responsible adults should be left alone. Speaking of new discoveries – Cicero lived a long time ago. So did a […]
The Greatest Disney Short Ever Made
… When I entered middle school age, I had an opportunity to be an intern at the elementary school near my home during their summer school in the library. It was a lot of fun to be surrounded by books and media all day. I had a knack at being able to make the 16mm […]
Freedom as a State of Being
… ” Freedom is more a state of mind than a state of being. But without the condition of being free, the mind is burdened and fettered from thinking freely. If the mind cannot think freely, then it cannot achieve. Without achievement, there cannot be a free state of mind or being.” – Tony […]
Ayn Rand Interview with Tom Snyder
… Ayn Rand speaks on the individual, this life and beyond and that what Universities are ultimately destroying America and the prosperous civilization –
American Artist Henry Farny
Henry Farny (1847-1916) Born in Alsace, France in 1847, Henry Farny was a son of a political refugee to the United States who first emigrated to Pennsylvania when Henry was six years old. Young Henry became friends with a family group of Seneca Indians who lived near his home. This was the start of his […]
More Wisdom from Thomas Jefferson
… How is it that the words of Thomas Jefferson apply to us as if he had written them today? Was he a sorcerer? A soothsayer? A futurist? Did he posses a time machine? No. He stood on the shoulders of giants to see the past as well as the future. To quote Mr. Spock […]
The Serious, Sober Job of the Media Covering Elections
… (with a whiff of the sweet smell of satire) I love the people of the press. So very serious about their work. So industrious about their duty to inform the public. Especially when covering politics, government and the election process, While they hang out near the beer tent –
There Is Nothing New Under The Sun
~ Ezra Taft Benson ~ Born and raised on a farm U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for 8 years as appointed by President Eisenhower. Life long supporter of The Boy Scouts of America A very wise man …
Edward Curtis – Master American Photographer
… I have always been fascinated with Edward Curtis and his eye for light and composition. His work was a great influence on how I saw shadows and exposure. Monochromatic photography is very telling and unforgiving if exposure is not carefully considered. He did not have the choice of color in his day, but tinting […]
Those Who Appeal to the Baseness that Lies Deep
… From Marcus Tullius Cicero ( 106 BC ~ 43 BC ) A Roman Statesman, writer and Orator – “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the […]
What Was Really Cool Back Then
… There were a few times in a week when just about anyone knew where I could be found. They all involved a 19″ television. But the absolute coolest was FIREBALL XL5 !!! XL5 was all we talked about on the playground. That was before I had to start the first […]
An Essay about the Meaning of Words –
… “Revolution” An essay on circular motion by Tony Rollo “If you can sit by the river long enough, eventually the bodies of dead enemies will float by.” – Daoist Proverb Because I am a product of somewhere between a television screen and a government education, I’ve had to unlearn a few “facts” to […]