What we know of the Elizabethan theater world is largely due to Philip Henslowe‘s diaries. He was owner of the Rose in partnership with the greatest actor of the period Edward Alleyn. We don’t know when Henslowe was born, even the exact year. But we know when he died and it was today in 1616.
On this day in 1412, Joan of Arc was most likely born. To me, she’s a cautionary tale. Strong belief in God is dangerous. And it is especially when he starts telling you to do things. Given her age, I assume she was suffering from schizophrenia. She was of that age, as I will discuss more in a bit. But whatever the sources, they got her involved in the conflict between England and France. She supported France regaining its independence. This ended with her being put on trial for heresy by a the Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon, who supported the British. She was found guilty as people pretty much always were. It’s kind of like being accused of “Gribble temporal trending folk bottles.” What do you say in your defense? So she was burned at the stake at the age of 19. Just so you understand: she was a Catholic and she was killed by part of the Catholic Church. Twenty-five years later, the Pope looked at her case and found her innocent. If you are a Christian and believe all its dogma, then that might mean something to you. To me, a young woman was tortured to death because she was born in the wrong country.
Heinrich Schliemann was born in 1822. He was one of the most important archaeologist of all time. In particular, he was the first person to dig at Hissarlik, which later archaeologists were able to prove was the actual site of the Trojan War, which by the 19th century was thought to be pure myth. Schliemann also, unfortunately, destroyed much of the site because of his belief that old sites had to be deep. And it turned out that seven main cities had been built on top of the site dating from about a thousand years before Troy. The whole story is amazing, and I highly recommend watching In Search of the Trojan War, which you can find links to in my article, Jesus and Troy. For any Homer fan (And Schliemann was definitely that!) it is a joy.
E L Doctorow is 83 today. He is known for his historical fiction in the best sense of that phrase. His books are expansive, even epic. But I have to admit, I’ve only read Ragtime. It’s interesting. Milos Forman made a great film based upon the book. But he only used a tiny slice of the novel. And the movie is pretty complex. So that ought to give you some idea. Both the book and the movie are recommended. I really should read more of Doctorow’s books. There is so little time!
Other birthdays: co-inventor of the hot air balloon Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier (1745); the great French painter and engraver Gustave Dore (1832); the great Romanian painter Stefan Luchian (1868); poet Carl Sandburg (1878); suprematism painter Aleksandra Ekster (1882); actor Danny Thomas (1912); actor Loretta Young (1913); musician Earl Scruggs (1924); actor Vic Tayback (1930); and comedian Rowan Atkinson (59).
The day, however, belongs to Syd Barrett who was born on this day in 1946. He was, of course, the founder of the band Pink Floyd. He is probably best known for going crazy and having to leave the band. I’m not going to go into it much here, because I discussed it in some length in, Cause We’re the Fishes. But there is a general belief that Barrett became schizophrenic because of his use of the drug LSD. I don’t think that’s true. Barrett, just like Joan of Arc, developed the disease at the age when people develop it: the late teens and early twenties. I just found this very short video of a television interview where Barrett shows himself to be extremely wellspoken and intelligent. Regardless, if you want to know more about him, read the other article. For now, enjoy one of his many great songs of The Madcap Laughs, kind of the title track, “Octopus” (note: a couple of the images are of Pink Floyd without Syd, but mostly they are correct):
Happy birthday Syd Barrett!
I’ve got my mojo back a bit. And so I’m very eager to write three long and involved articles that need to get done today. But there is so much else to write about. Paul Krugman went on vacation from writing columns for the last week. As I result, I stopped checking his blog. I shouldn’t have. He’s an addict. He just can’t help himself. Anyway, on Friday, he wrote an amazing short post, 
Krugman asks what I think is an honest question, “I do wonder exactly what model Laffer was using.” I think I have an answer for that. Laffer may have at one time been a real economist. But for decades, all he’s been has been a conservative apologist. I don’t think Laffer had any economic model that predicted that inflation was going to soar. It is just that everyone on the right knew that interest rates were going to soar. Think about all the stuff from Alberto Alesina and Reinhart-Rogoff about how economic austerity would cause growth (or at least stop stagnation). Most conservatives (even the economists) just grabbed onto a plausible sounding excuse to justify what they wanted to believe. Look at 
Last night I watched the first segment of 60 Minutes. It looked like they were going to do a hit job on the clean energy industry. And I was not disappointed. After all that we’ve been through the last couple of months with the show, I am now convinced that someone is in charge who has a real conservative ax to grind. First we had 
I just had a thought about Duck Dynasty. Remember last October when Phil Robertson was complaining that the “editors” of the show were putting in random bleeps to make it sound like the clan was made up of a bunch of foul-mouthed hicks? I wrote about it, 
As I made some mention of back a few weeks ago, I had entered into a depressive phase. I always say that I am lucky because in general, my manic-depressive cycle is minor compared to many people who suffer greatly from it. And I also claim that my depressive phases tend to be short. All of that is true, but it isn’t always true. I think my writing of the last few weeks shows that I’m not that into it. I keep hoping that this ends, but I’m afraid it is seeping out in my normal relationships. Yesterday, my older sister was grilling me about signs she has seen of my depression. I denied it all. There’s nothing so tiresome as talk about all that. Writing about it, however… Given that things are more anonymous and that generally, most people didn’t think I’d last this long, I have the opportunity of being more honest. I’m not the suicide type, but I have been fantasizing about dying recently. I rather think it will come to pass. The idea that I might live another 30 years is unthinkable. Of course, just imagine my living to be 100. It would be the ultimate proof of an evil God. What could I possibly have done that is so bad as to justify such punishment? Anyway, I tell you all this as an apology and a reminder. I’m sorry if my writing of late has been uninspired. But remember (you and me, both): soon I will be feeling better and have more to say that is worth listening to. Until then, here is another (Insert: exhausted yawn) birthday post!
Martin Longman wrote an interesting article over at Booman Tribune yesterday, 
I’m no fan of David Brooks. A couple of days ago, I wrote, 
But David Brooks isn’t the only clueless person around. Our last three presidents have all committed drug felonies. Two of those three were Democrats. Our most recent president was paid millions of dollars to write about how he not only smoked pot, but also did cocaine from time to time. None of these men seem to care that the lives of young people today are being destroyed by those very same laws that they managed to avoid getting applied to them.
Exactly 130 years ago, the 
I know not to feed the trolls, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. Yesterday, over on a