The Third Carol Reed

Posted on 30 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

Carol Reed We have a big day for music today. But ultimately, the day belongs to a filmmaker.

On this day in 1853, the great French composer Andre Messager was born. He wrote very lively and lyrical compositions like Solo de concours, which we hear here:

Rock music innovator Bo Diddley was born in 1928. He was one of the most important people responsible from changing the blues into rock music. Here he is doing his signature song “Bo Diddley”:

The singer-songwriter Patti Smith is 67 today. Here she is back in 1976 doing “Horses” and Billy Roberts’ “Hey Joe”:

Other birthdays: painter Louis-Jean-Francois Lagrenee (1724); Miss America host Bert Parks (1914); singer-songwriter Del Shannon (1934); bluegrass musician John Hartford (1937); singer Davy Jones (1945); comedian Tracey Ullman (54); and golfer Tiger Woods (38).

The day, however, belongs to the great film director Carol Reed who was born in 1906. He is known for films such as Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol, and the musical Oliver! But I mostly know him for having directed one of my very favorite films, The Third Man.

Here is the trailer for The Third Man. It is absolutely terrible. “He’ll have you in a dither with his zither”? Oh my God! But the film really is great. Like The Fallen Idol, it was written by Graham Greene. If you have never seen it, you really must. And if you have, it is worth watching again. It is always even better than you remember:

Happy birthday Carol Reed!

Friendship, Character, and Jon Polito

Posted on 29 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

Jon Polito On this day in 1800, Charles Goodyear was born. He was an inventor of processes for the manufacture of rubber—especially vulcanize rubber. What I think is most interesting about him is the fact that the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was named after him. But the company was founded by another inventor Frank Seiberling. And he did it almost 40 years after Goodyear died.

The great Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros was born in 1896. I love his work. But he was a Stalinist who was actually part of a plot of assassinate Leon Trotsky. That does kind of spoil things a bit for me. I’m not a great admire of Trotsky, but he at least maintained many of the ideals of the Russian Revolution. Mary Tyler Moore Stalin was nothing but a ruthless dictator. Nothing but the Russian Hitler. And a man responsible for many millions of deaths of his own countrymen. I understand that people on the outside didn’t have all the facts, but I think it is was clear by the early 1920s that Stalin was a bad guy. Siqueiros’ support of him in 1940 does not speak well of him.

The actor Mary Tyler Moore is 77 today. She is best known for the television shows The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran for five seasons, and then The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which ran for seven. I loved both of those shows, but it was mostly just because they were both so well written. I rather prefer Moore in serious roles. She was amazing in Ordinary People, and even more in The Gin Game. She added a level of fear to the part that was totally absent from Jessica Tandy’s performance of it. I can’t find a clip of that, so here she is in Ordinary People:

The actor Jude Law is 41. By the standards of British actors, I would have to say that Law is not very good. Passable, but that’s about it. The reason I bring him up is that Wikipedia lists him as, “actor, film producer and director.” This is standard practice for Wikipedia and I think it is wrong. Law’s directing credits consist of the “Bird in the Hand, A” segment of Tube Tales. So he directed one-ninth of an 84 minute film. As for producing, he was one of seven who produced the horrible remake of Sleuth and one of ten who produced Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Note that he starred in both the films he “produced,” so the extent of his producing was probably just that his acting contract required that he be given producing credit. Look, I understand. There are actors who really are writers of enough merit to be listed in Wikipedia. For example, Kirk Douglas. But Jude Law is an actor, and a very successful one at that. But he is not a director and he is not a producer. At least, he isn’t either of those things to the level that Wikipedia would list him for them if he weren’t a famous actor. So can we stop pretending? It turns out that Jude Law is also a rock climber. Why not mention that? “Jude Law is an actor, producer, director, and rock climber.” It would make as much sense. And it would be as insulting to professional rock climbers as it is to professional film producers and directors.

Other birthdays: mathematician Thomas Joannes Stieltjes (1856); father of libertarian environmentalism, which is interesting but wrong, Ronald Coase (1910); very interesting physicist and traitor Klaus Fuchs (1911); Bengali painter Zainul Abedin (1914); the great Australian painter Albert Tucker (1914); chicken “nugget” inventor Robert C Baker (1921); actor Ed Flanders (1934); actor Jon Voight (75); musician Rick Danko (1942); actor Ted Danson (66); screenwriter Paul Rudnick (56); actor Jennifer Ehle (44); and actor Danny McBride (37).

The day, however, belongs to Jon Polito who is 63 today. He is one of my all time favorite character actors. He is probably best known for being in various Coen Brothers films. He absolutely steals Miller’s Crossing in the part of Johnny Caspar, the psychopathic gangster with a strong sense of ethics. He is so perfect in that part, because he really doesn’t want to be a crime boss. He just wants the level of respect that is owed to him. And even though he’s the “bad guy” in the film, he’s right. If Leo acted properly, there never would have been a problem with Caspar. And it is sad when he meets his end.

I first saw him in the role of Willy’s boss Howard in the Dustin Hoffman Death of a Salesman. And he’s great. But I would so love to see Polito play the part of Willy Loman. It’s almost like he was born to play it. He would kill the role. The thing is that the role is all subtext—what isn’t said. And Polito is the king of that. Unfortunately, great actors like Jon Polito are generally relegated to supporting cast. And so he’ll likely never get the chance to play the really great roles like Willy Loman or Juror #3 in 12 Angry Men. But as a result, he probably has a better life. He is famous enough for it to be flattering but not so much it is annoying. And he works all the time doing a lot of different stuff. But as a viewer, I miss out. Still, it is a great pleasure to watch him work, regardless of what he does.

Happy birthday Jon Polito!

John von Nsoferatu

Posted on 28 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

John von Neumann The day is almost over and I am finally getting to the birthday post. As you will see, the main person today is difficult. And it isn’t much of a day for birthdays. That’s fine. My perfect day is one where there are two or three people who I have something interesting to talk about. The worst days are the ones where I have ten or more people like that, because most of them are just going to get piled in with the “other birthdays.” If all I did was the birthday post each day, I could make it really interesting. As it is, I think what I do is better than what most people do. At least this is personalized.

On this day in 1888, the great silent film director F W Murnau was born. He died very young, in a car accident while he was at the peak of his career. He will always be remembered, however, for his filmed version of Dracula, Nosferatu. Of course, he made the film without getting the rights and by a court ruling, all the prints of the film were supposed to be destroyed. All but one was. Here is a little taste of it:

Other birthdays: composer Johann Krieger (1651); astronomer Thomas Henderson (1798); chemist Carl Remigius Fresenius (1818); science writer Arthur Eddington (1882); the most over-rated man in comic book history Stan Lee (91); actor Martin Milner (82); actor Maggie Smith (79); musician Edgar Winter (67); humorist Charlie Pierce (60); and actor Denzel Washington (59).

The day, however, belongs to the great mathematician John von Neumann who was born on this day in 1903. It is hard to classify him because he did such varied work: pure math, applied math, and even physics. I know him especially because of his work with fluid dynamics. But his work has also had applications in economics and computer science. You really need to read a biography of him to get a good idea of the breadth of his importance. You may remember how Neil deGrasse Tyson went on about all the different things that Newton did. Well, Neumann makes Newton seem like a slacker. And Neumann only lived to be 53. He died of some kind of cancer. But what Godel was in his very narrow field of interest, Neumann was in his broad fields of interest.

Happy birthday John von Neumann!

Wordy Sarah Vowell

Posted on 27 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

Sarah Vowell On this day in 1571, the great Johannes Kepler was born. He is perhaps the greatest theoretical astronomer of all time. He’s the guy who made Copernicus’ idea work. It was fine to put the sun in the center of the solar system. But the truth was that it still didn’t work to predict the orbits of the planets. That’s because the planets don’t orbit in circles. Working with Tycho Brahe’s data, Kepler was able to show that the planets orbited in ellipses. And that made all the difference. Later, Newton figured out why that was and today we are able to send spacecraft to all the planets!

What a day for scientists! The great biologist Louis Pasteur was born in 1822. I’m sure you know about pasteurization: the process of heating and then cooling food to greatly limit the number of pathogens that are in it. You may well be alive today because of it. But Pasteur did much more than that. He discovered the principles of vaccination and microbial fermentation. He was a brilliant man, or as Michele Bachmann refers to him, “The Antichrist!”

The great actor and singer Marlene Dietrich was born in 1901. You could tell she was something special even in her early silent films. And that continued all through her career. I still mostly associate her with Touch of Evil. But there’s also this song:

Let me say something about not being grateful. This applies to a lot of actors who I actually like, but today, we’re going to talk about Gerard Depardieu. So he didn’t like paying taxes to the country that made him a star. Boo hoo! I hope he ends up in jail in Russia. I might be inclined to apologize for him if I thought he actually had any talent, but I’ve never seen the appeal of the man. He’s 65 today, so hopefully we will see him in no more films and will just die quietly in Russia.

Other birthdays: one of the most important aeronautical engineers ever, George Cayley (1773); actor Sydney Greenstreet (1879); one of my very favorite poets Charles Olson (1910); creepy sex researcher William Masters (1915); and useless journalist Cokie Roberts (70).

The day, however, belongs to the writer Sarah Vowell who is 44 today. She always has an interesting take on whatever she writes about. Basically, she writes history that is so personal that it reads more like personal essay. It is always fun to read. You should really listen to her live performance essay about “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” If you don’t know her work, it will give you a good idea of why she is on my long and ever lengthening list of crushes.

Happy birthday Sarah Vowell!

Elisha Cook and Henry Miller

Posted on 26 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

Elisha Cook Jr You wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had. I’m exhausted and angry. I doubt I will write more today after this very late birthday post.

On this day in 1891, the great novelist Henry Miller was born. I’ve never especially liked his work, but he really did revolutionize the novel. Not that anyone really followed in his footsteps—maybe the Beats and Burroughs. I think a lot could be done with his approach to the novel without his various annoying habits and obsessions. I’ve often thought that this approach might work well for me. Anyway, he’s an important guy and well worth reading. His novels were apparently banned in the United States until 1961, although I really can’t tell you why. They seem tame even by the standards of the 1950s. But America has never been as free a nation as people have claimed. And that is especially true from about 1820 onward.

Other birthdays: English poet Thomas Gray (1716); science writer Mary Somerville (1780); inventor Charles Babbage (1791); American novelist E D E N Southworth (1819); Irish poet Dion Boucicault (1820); French playwright Rene Bazin (1853); French cityscape painter Maurice Utrillo (1883); novelist Jean Toomer (1894); Russian painter Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan (1902); comedian Steve Allen (1921); comedian Alan King (1927); music producer and possible murderer Phil Spector (74); and comedian Tony Rosato (59).

The day, however, belongs to one of my favorite character actors Elisha Cook Jr who was born on this day in 1903. I liked him most in Shane and House on Haunted Hill. He’s also great in The Big Sleep. He had a great and varied career. If you were going to be an actor, his is the kind of career you would want to have.

Happy birthday Elisha Cook Jr!

Joseph Smith and the LDS Ossification

Posted on 23 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

Joseph Smith Would I be allowed to just skip the birthday post today? I think so. It’s just horrible. Really. But what am I gonna do? I would be so upset if I missed a day. So we grind. We grind along. We grind another birthday post out, even though I really need to get to the grocery store and start cooking for Christmas. Yes, I know: Christmas is two days away. You know what I really need? I really need to uncork that Louis Jadot Beaujolais. But I’m saving it for Christmas. All right, enough chitchat. On with this really sucky birthday post.

The poet Robert Bly is 87 today. I’m not that into him. But I remember my friend James Haining used to make fun of him, saying his poetry always seemed like this:

The white house
Next to the black pond.

It’s totally unfair. But very funny.

The great guitar player Adrian Belew is 64 today. The following isn’t a great video, but listen to him play!

Other birthdays: actor James Gregory (1911); trumpet player Chet Baker (1929); bowling icon Dick Weber (1929); co-inventor of TCP and IP Bob Kahn (75); mathematician Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov (70); comedian Harry Shearer (70); soap opera legend Susan Lucci (67); comedy writer Reinhold Weege (1949); and a musician who isn’t even worth mentioning, Eddie Vedder (49).

The day, however, belongs to the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement—the Mormons—Joseph Smith, who was born on this day in 1805. Was he a religious visionary or a charlatan? You know, I really think that he was both. And I think that’s true of most religious leaders. Of course, that’s the best way that I can put it. A less charitable person would say, he bought his own bullshit. I mean, his story is amazing with golden plates and the “seer stones” and all that. But I suspect that if he told the truth—he had a mystical or at least creative experience—no one would have cared. It probably didn’t hurt that he told men they could have multiple wives. (I’ve never quite gotten that myself; I always though one wife was too much; I’d be more into a wife that just spends Tuesdays with me.)

And that name! Could there be a more white bread name for a white bread religion? Why, yes; yes there could: John Smith. But still: it’s second in line. But you gotta give the man credit; he was continuing to expand the religion to the end. And if there is one thing that religious people don’t like it’s uncertainty. And that really did lead to his death. And like most of the founders of religions, death was a great career move. I doubt very seriously that the Mormon Church would have become the colossus that it is today.

There is no doubting that he is a very important figure in the history of the United States. In general, I would say he’s been a net harm. But I’m not sure that’s true during his lifetime. That period of spiritual awakening in America was authentic. It is sad to see how religions like the LDS and the JW have ossified into what they are today. Certainly their founders didn’t want that.

Happy birthday Joseph Smith!

Mathematics in a Vacuum

Posted on 22 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

Srinivasa Ramanujan On this day in 1915, actor Barbara Billingsley was born. She only died a couple of years ago at the age of 94. Best remembered as the mother on Leave It to Beaver, she is the ultimate symbol of 1950s domesticity. Never exactly a hottie (she only started acting at the age of 30), she exuded what we all wanted mothers to be. And I don’t mean that in an entirely neutral way. She was meant to be sexy. She was 42 when she started the series. The original MILF.

The British broadcaster James Burke is 77 today. He is best known for his BBC science series Connections and then the later (and better) The Day the Universe Changed. They were basically science history. I think he was pretty loose with his causality. But it was always fun. The following video is from the very end of the latter series. At the time, I didn’t really believe this specific bit. He makes the case for religious belief—at least non-dogmatic religious belief. This goes entirely against what he’d been saying throughout the rest of the series. But I’ve come to be far more agnostic on that topic. But there’s no way I’m giving up indoor plumbing and center heating. And neither is Burke! “If the universe is what you say it is, then say!” (BTW: that was in 1985—two years before I got on the internet.)

Other birthdays: composer Carl Friedrich Abel (1723); mathematician Pierre Ossian Bonnet (1819); baseball manager Connie Mack (1862); mathematician Dmitri Egorov (1869); American poet Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869); tragic (I really don’t think he was a Nazi) composer Franz Schmidt (1874); actor Hector Elizondo (77); American traitor Paul Wolfowitz (70); mediocre journalist Diane Sawyer (68); and actor Ralph Fiennes (51).

The day, however, belongs to… Wait. In India, it is National Mathematics Day. This is in recognition of today’s birthday winner, Srinivasa Ramanujan who was born on this day in 1887. He was born into the Indian middle class—basically a caste of teachers. And so he was educated, but poor. He showed amazing mathematical ability at a very young age. And he mostly taught himself. But because he was isolated from Europe, he worked independently. He rediscovered many theorems and developed entirely new areas of mathematical research. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 32, at least partially as a result of malnutrition. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest mathematical minds ever, on the order of Gauss. But it just shows what nonsense are ideas of “equality of opportunity.” Ramanujan is not a household name because he was born in the wrong place. Still, his influence is felt to this day and will continue as long as humans continue the study of mathematics.

Happy birthday Srinivasa Ramanujan!

Masaccio at the Vanishing Point

Posted on 21 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

The Expulsion - Masaccio On this day in 1890, the great geneticist Hermann Joseph Muller was born. He got the Nobel Prize for his work on the effects of radiation on biological systems and their genetics. But his most important work may have been his activism to promote the long-term negative effects of radiation, especially as a result of the nuclear testing that was going on like gangbusters at that time.

Paul Winchell was born in 1922. He was one of the greatest ventriloquists of all time. In the puppet and ventriloquist community, he is legend. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was huge on television. But he is probably best known today as the voice of Tigger in the Winnie-the-Pooh movies. As you will see in the video below, the puppet doesn’t just talk, it moves its arms around and does all kinds of stuff. He is using another puppeteer, which was unheard of then. Winchell was also a mechanical genius. He invented and the first artificial heart. Really! Anyway, here are two charming and funny bits with his two primary puppets, Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff:

Talk show host Phil Donahue is 78 today. He was important. He really did change the way that talk shows were produced. Of course, I haven’t really seen anything nearly as good since then. I love the following video clip from when Donahue went on The Factor with Bill O’Reilly. It isn’t the words that are spoken. The styles contrast so perfectly. Donahue is calm and thoughtful with a power that makes you think, “That’s how Thomas Paine must have been!” And O’Reilly is absolutely unhinged—clearly controlled by his inner rage. This isn’t to say that O’Reilly is stupid; he’s clearly a smart guy. But his rage really does take him out of contention for being anyone you would ever listen to. But the video also shows something you don’t often see from Bill O’Reilly: fear. He’s afraid of Donahue. And he should be! Donahue is a far greater man than O’Reilly is in his grandest dreams.

The great guitarist Frank Zappa was born in 1940. He has always been an under appreciated guitarist. And I’ll be honest: when I was younger, I didn’t really get it. Now I listen to him and I am blown away. To some extent, it is that he was too revolutionary. He goes way beyond rock fundamentals. I remember reading a quote from Eddie Van Halen (who is without question a great guitarist) saying that he rarely played anything outside the blues scale. And it is amazing how far that can take you. But Zappa really did go far outside that. Maybe it is more correct to call him a jazz guitarist, but really, he was a rock guy. Here he is doing “The Torture Never Stops” (the guitar playing starts around the 5:00 mark):

Other birthdays: German composer Hermann Raupach (1728); the most overrated person in the formation of this country Paul Revere (1734); the great French painter Thomas Couture (1815); composer Lorenzo Perosi (1872); evolutionary theorist Sewall Wright (1889); cartoonist John Severin (1921); actor Jane Fonda (76); guitarist Albert Lee (70); actor Samuel L Jackson (65); and comedian Andy Dick (48).

The day, however, belongs to the great Italian painter of the Italian Renaissance, Masaccio who was born on this day in 1401. In many ways, he was a first painter of the period. He truly was revolutionary—one of the first painters anywhere to use the vanishing point. If you know any of his work, it is probably his fresco, The Expulsion (see above), which shows Adam and Eve being banished from Eden. It is interesting in that until the 1980s, there were fig leaves covering their genitalia. But those were a later addition, so when the fresco was cleaned, they were removed. I find it fascinating how sexual mores change over time. People have this tendency to always think that the way things are is the way they have always been. Or that things just get more and more permissive. But that isn’t the way things work at all, and we would all be better off if we would just get over it. Regardless, Masaccio had a great influence on pretty much all painters that came after him. I don’t think it is an over-statement to say that without him, there would have been no Antonello da Messina or even probably Leonardo da Vinci. And he only lived to be 26 years old. It isn’t known how he died.

Here is his Holy Trinity where you can really see his use of the vanishing point:

Happy birthday Masaccio!

The Glory of Mike Watt

Posted on 20 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

Mike Watt Christmas preparations are already getting in the way of work. But it’s all food related, so at least it is stuff I enjoy. But that means I haven’t posted anything today for my many bored fans. And this birthday post ain’t gonna be great either. It’s just not a great day for birthdays, although there are some pretty interesting (And yes, Andrea: great!) people. But I don’t have a whole lot to say.

The great physicist David Bohm was born on this day in 1917. He made important contributions to quantum theory. He is best remembered today for his ontological beliefs. He believed that because of quantum effects, thinking was not localized in the brain. That may sound bizarre to you, but if you accept Richard Feynman’s work, you really can’t deny it. As we burrow down into the reality at its extremes (small, fast, high energy), we see more and more that reality is not what we think of as reality. And why would it be? It all leads me back to Schopenhauer and the idea that consciousness is just a trick. But I don’t see it as a trick that the Will plays on us, but rather a trick that we play on ourselves. But I’m not sure Schopenhauer would actually disagree with that. One could take a pantheistic approach to the Will and say it is just the sum total of all of us. Regardless, Bohm understood this kind of stuff. I would have loved to have known him. (Note, however: I get pretty tired of spiritual types talking to me about quantum mechanics. They pretty much never understand it. And they make the mistake of thinking that quantum mechanics defines some reality. It doesn’t. It’s just a bunch of tools. Philosophers have been trying to figure out what quantum mechanics “means” to the nature of the universe for a hundred years. As I note all the time: there are no answers to those questions—just better questions. God was once a clock maker based on Newton. Now “the eternal spirit” exists because of quantum mechanics. It’s all hogwash. The best you ever get is a great big existential, “Wow!”)

The great film director of my youth, George Roy Hill was born in 1921. He directed a number of films I enjoy to this day: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and (Keep your comments to yourself!) A Little Romance. All of his films are quite watchable. He comes from a tradition where directors just did their jobs—think of people like Edward Dmytryk. There was no buzz that he was some kind of creative genius. He was just great at his job, and a big part of that was working with a lot of other people who were great that their jobs.

Other birthdays: the great Dutch Golden Age painter Pieter de Hooch (1629); cricketer with unfortunate name Bill O’Reilly (1905); lyricists Paul Francis Webster (1907); actor John Hillerman (81); magician Uri Geller (67); and one of my favorite character actors Michael Badalucco (59).

The day, however, belongs to musician Mike Watt who is 56 today. He was more or less the leader of one of my very favorite bands, Minutemen. Since then, he’s gone one to do a lot of fine work, most notably with Minutemen drummer George Hurley in Firehose. But the death of D Boon, really did end a great thing. Here they are at their peak, doing “The Glory of Man” from Double Nickels on the Dime, probably my favorite of their albums:

Happy birthday Mike Watt!

Pas La Vie en Rose

Posted on 19 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

Edith Piaf I’m feeling a bit better today. And trends are all that really matter, you know? I mean, there is no such thing as absolute happiness; there is just relative happiness. And relative to the last couple of days, I’m flying high. And by that, I mean I don’t want to crawl under the bed. And that means, writing today’s birthday post is a lot more fun. Of course, the winner today (That’s her on the left; ain’t she cute?) is a singer of sad songs who had a sad life. But she is also one of my very favorite singers. So there’s that.

On this day in 1852, the great experimental physicist Albert Abraham Michelson was born. He was very important in the first modern light speed measurements. But he is best known for the Michelson–Morley experiment. Before that experiment, it was thought that light waves must move on a kind of structure, the way that waves move in water. No water, no waves. And this structure was thought to be the “ether.” Given that the earth is moving around the sun, and the sun around the galaxy, and the galaxy around the universe, the ether couldn’t be constantly static with regard to us. So if you sent out a light ray one direction, it ought to be at least slightly different in speed to one you sent out the other way. They showed this wasn’t the case. Eventually, Einstein would explain why. Anyway, the experiment was undoubtedly the most important one of the 19th century if not of the entire modern era.

The French writer Jean Genet was born in 1910. I’ve read a fair amount about him, but I don’t recall ever reading anything by him. I only bring him up here because of David Bowie’s song, “The Jean Genie,” which is a pun on his name. The song is not about him, however. I suspect Bowie knows as little as (or less than) I do of the man. Still, it’s a good excuse to listen to the song:

Other birthdays: Spanish playwright Manuel Breton de los Herreros (1796); women’s rights advocate Mary Livermore (1820); historian and founder of Black History Month, Carter Woodson (1875); inventor of an early fax-like machine Rudolf Hell (1901); blues (and so much more) musician Professor Longhair (1918); musical film songwriter Robert Sherman (1925); British actor James Booth (1927); actor Cicely Tyson (80); singer-songwriter Phil Ochs (1940); actor Tim Reid (69); actor Jennifer Beals (50); and everything that is wrong with modern magic in one person, Criss Angel (46).

The day, however and by a mile, belongs to Edith Piaf who was born on this day in 1915. I always think of her as a French Billie Holiday, both as an artist and as a person. It just goes to show that it is better to be French. Anyway, Piaf has a beautiful voice and has probably sung every French song you’ve ever heard that was sung by a woman. Although she only lived to be 47, her output was prodigious. Here she is the year before she died of liver cancer, singing one of her many hits, “Milord.” Wikipedia says that the song “recounts the feelings of a lower-class ‘girl of the port’ (perhaps a prostitute) who develops a crush on an elegantly attired apparent upper-class British traveller (or ‘milord’), whom she has seen walking the streets of the town several times (with a beautiful young woman on his arm), but who has not even noticed her. The singer feels that she is nothing more than a ‘shadow of the street.'” She perfectly captures the joy and sadness of young love. There is at least two minutes of standing ovation at the end of this video clip:

Happy birthday Edith Piaf!

Paul Klee and the Evolution of Talent

Posted on 18 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

Paul Klee Some people really hate these birthday posts and some really like them. Over time, I think I’ve won over some of the haters, probably because they are better than they used to be. As a result, I keep doing them. But I hate doing it. They take forever. And for the last three days I have been slipping into a depression. You never realize just how horrible they are until you are in them. When in a manic phase, that depressed person who wants to crawl away and die just seems like another person. And on the other side, that manic person not only seems foreign, he seems like a fool. But one thing is for sure, it is easy to write a birthday post when I’m feeling “up.” I still complain, because I feel rushed. But now I look at the birthdays and I think, “So what?” My years of science training have made me able to push through and do things I’m not all that happy about doing. So here goes.

On this day in 1870, the writer Hector Hugh Munro, better known by his pen name Saki, was born. He was one of the great short story writers of his time, particularly noted for his humor. In fact, he was a primary influence on P G Wodehouse. He’s easy to compare to Dorothy Parker, in that he is wonderfully quotable. He was gay and conservative, so there is more than a hint of misogyny in his writing. Take, for example, the clever line, “Romance at short notice was her specialty.” But this one totally sums up my life, “I’m living so far beyond my means that we may almost be said to be living apart.”

The great American inventor Edwin Armstrong was born in 1890. He is best known for the invention of FM radio. Of course, it didn’t go well. In Corporations are Rarely Creators, I wrote, “Lessig then goes on to talk about the fight between Edwin Howard Armstrong, inventor of FM radio, and RCA. RCA wanted to stop FM radio because they made so much money off AM radio. This all led to FM radio being delayed for decades and Armstrong killing himself.” Welcome to America, bitch!

Other birthdays: one of the worst human beings and best baseball players ever, Ty Cobb (1886); jazz composer Fletcher Henderson (1897); film director George Stevens (1904); actor Ossie Davis (1917); musician Keith Richards (70); political activist Steve Biko (1946); film director Steven Spielberg (57); actor Ray Liotta (59); and actor Brad Pitt (50).

Well, it had to happen. After comparing so many artists to him, and often not favorably. The day belongs to the great painter, Paul Klee, who was born on this day in 1879. When I was a teen, I was crazy for Klee. Now, not so much. But there is no doubting his brilliance. And it really does matter what period you are looking at. More than any other painter that I know of, Klee developed in a positive direction his whole life. His later work is by far his best. What’s especially interesting about this is that the work got more and more simple. But his vision became more and more clear. A good example is Insula dulcamara which means (maybe) something like, “Island of bittersweet nightshade.” His original title for it was, “Isle of Calypso,” but he thought that too concrete. It was painted just a couple of years before his death when he seems to have known the end was near. It hearkens back to his trip two and a half decades earlier to Tunisia. A lot has been written about it and its meaning, but I think the emotional core of the painting is clear. And the use of colors is just masterful.

Happy birthday Paul Klee!

The Writer We Killed

Posted on 17 Dec 2013 by Frank Moraes

John Kennedy Toole It turns out that Joan Fontaine also died over the weekend. I’ve never much liked her, but I think that’s because of the kinds of roles she played. She was rather good in Suspicion, and generally later in career when she wasn’t typecast so much, like in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. It’s hard to be too sad that she has died, given that she was 96. But her older sister, Olivia de Havilland, is still kicking at 97.

The great Hindi poet Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana, better known as simply Rahim, was born on this day in 1556. Strangely, although he was Indian, his religion was Islam. He wrote a bit of poetry where he discussed how he gave money to beggars, “Sir, Why give alms like this? Where did you learn that? Your hands are as high as your eyes are low.” By this he means that he gives out charity with humility; he does not pretend that the act makes him superior. It is wisdom for all of us to take to heart. We should be grateful that we are able to give. It is a blessing.

The mathematician and physicist Emilie du Chatelet was born in 1706. She is best known for translating Newton’s Principia into French, which is still considered the standard translation. She also did much research, include work on fire that predicted the concept of infrared radiation. She was also very important in physics education of the 18th century. As I always note: she was a woman, which probably means she would be a household name if she had been born a man. Her lover Voltaire wrote that she was “a great man whose only fault was being a woman.”

It is a big day for scientists. The physicist Joseph Henry was born in 1797. He was basically the American Faraday. He did most of his work with electromagnetism. He discovered self-inductance, as well as mutual inductance, although Faraday published first and so gets the credit. He was also a great inventor, his work on the electromagnetic relay led pretty directly to the telegraph. The unit for inductance is named after him.

The great mathematician Mary Cartwright was born in 1990. She is best known for her work on chaos theory. She did this work with J E Littlewood, who coined the term, “The butterfly effect.” This is the idea that one couldn’t predict atmospheric dynamics perfectly, because a butterfly flapping its wings half a world away would have a large effect on the local dynamics. The atmosphere is a chaotic system. But don’t misunderstand. This is not the chaos theory that was all the rage in the 1980s. Cartwright was doing her work in the 1930s. I’ve never been too clear why more recently people have made a big deal of the study of highly non-linear systems. Physicists have been working on these problems for a very long time.

And Jorge Mario Bergoglio is 77 today. He is better known as Pope Francis and I’m sure you know a lot about him. He did not become a priest until the age of 33—I’m not sure how common that is. Before that, we worked as a nightclub bouncer. I’m curious to see what he does. Many people expect too much of him. But thus far, he has done a lot to improve the image of the Church. And that isn’t just marketing. He is the first Jesuit Pope, and that means a great deal. They are the most committed to interfaith dialog, for example. And they also profess poverty, something that has only barely been tolerated by the papacy for most of the history of the group.

Other birthdays: the great chemists Humphry Davy (1778); mathematician Sophus Lie (1842); post-impressionist painter Paul Cesar Helleu (1859); theater director Erwin Piscator (1893); actor Richard Long (1927); linguistics fan William Safire (1929); publisher Bob Guccione (1930); musician Art Neville (76); truly horrible human being and “journalist” Chris Matthews (68); comedian Eugene Levy (67); film editor Sally Menke (1953); and film director Peter Farrelly (57).

The day, however, belongs to the great writer John Kennedy Toole who was born on this day in 1937. Sadly, he killed himself in 1969, at the age of 31. He really only wrote one book, A Confederacy of Dunces. But it is such a great book. It’s impossible to say exactly why anyone kills himself, but it is certainly true that not being able to find a publisher for the book started his decline. It is hard to understand, because the book is brilliant from the first page. I like to think that he could have been our Cervantes. If you haven’t read the book, you really should. I mean: really. It is very humorous and wonderfully insightful. Most of all, it is a fun read. If you’ve read Life of Pi and not A Confederacy of Dunces, shame on you. Go now and read it! Toole clearly suffered for our benefit. Don’t ignore his sacrifice.

Happy birthday John Kennedy Toole!

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