Things eyed too closely.

I'm reading "A Georgia O’Keeffe painting found hidden in a closet could fetch $3 million" (WaPo). That makes it sound as if something had been forgotten or its value not understood, but no:

This year, the painting’s owner invited her niece to help sort through belongings at her East Village apartment, according to Christie’s. The woman casually told her niece she had an original painting by Georgia O’Keeffe — one of the best-known American modernists — in her front closet, behind dozens of coats. The owner received the painting as a gift from her mother, who bought it from a Manhattan art dealer for $3,800 in 1963, Christie’s said in a statement. The woman displayed the work in her home until the mid-1980s, when she became suspicious that a guest at a bridge game she hosted was “eyeing it a bit too closely,” Christie’s said. She placed it in its original wooden box and left it in the closet until her niece found it.

The woman knew what she had! Spare me the "casually told her niece" and "until her niece found it." That's the niece's point of view. The woman knew it was valuable and deliberately hid it and was able to say exactly where it was. The niece didn't find it, she dug it out from a place that was chosen carefully to protect it and was never forgotten. I'll bet she quietly enjoyed the niece's emotional journey. 

"Say you wake up in a hotel room in Wichita and look out the window. A little girl is walking along the train tracks dragging a big statue of Buddha in a wooden wagon..."

"... with a three-legged dog following behind. Do you reach for your guitar or your drawing pad?"

Bill Flanagan asked Bob Dylan, in 2009.

Dylan answered: "Oh wow. It would depend on a lot of things. The environment mostly; like what kind of day is it. Is it a cloudless blue-gray sky or does it look like rain? A little girl dragging a wagon with a statue in it? I’d probably put that in last. The three-legged dog – what type? A spaniel, a bulldog, a retriever? That would make a difference. I’d have to think about that. Depends what angle I’m seeing it all from. Second floor, third floor, eighth floor. I don’t know. Maybe I’d want to go down there. The train tracks too. I’d have to find a way to connect it all up. I guess I would be thinking about if this was an omen or a harbinger of something."

The reason I'm reading that this morning is I just searched bobdylan.com to see if Bob had ever used the word "wow." And that interview was the only thing. You know, "wow" is a pretty interesting word. It's one of those sounds people made, in amazement or surprise, that caught on and came to be regarded as words, things like "oh" and "ooh" and "ah."

"Wow" got started in Scotland.

"He's surrounded by demons who want him out and want him just destroyed. That's his staff... all completely compromised...."

"They were sending around a memo, a CIA manual about how to be a bad bureaucrat and subvert an institution from within. That's like sent around by all the career officials. They hate President Trump.... How to be a bad bureaucrat and subvert from within by being incompetent.... So.. it's kind of crazy, right? It's like: What the hell do I do? This is an unruly government.... I do think it's possible for [Trump] to recognize that there's frustration over the past two years of not aggressively moving on the policies that he ran on that are widely popular that there's been a severe consolidation of power using the fact he's very busy to slow many policies down.... There's opportunity in the fact that the president ran on saying the same thing that people on the left are saying, which are actually not partisan. There's actually there is an opportunity to get some things done that are not partisan, but but but anti-institution like like like like reform the institution...."

Said Calley Means, on the new episode of Joe Rogan, which you can watch here (scroll back to the beginning if you want):

Or read about what he had to say in the Politico article: "Top RFK Jr. ally bashes Trump admin after quitting/Calley Means blasted top White House staff in a Friday interview on the 'Joe Rogan Experience' podcast."

"People close to Mr. Miller said he had shown no interest in compromising with congressional Democrats and was ready for a fight over subpoenas and investigations..."

"... that are expected to emanate from the Hill. His top priority, they said, is rebuilding the fractured MAGA coalition and pursuing policies that will energize the voters who elected Mr. Trump in 2024. 'Stephen is and always has been the eternal flame of the MAGA movement — putting the president’s words and policy into action,' Hunter Morgen, who worked as a deputy to Mr. Miller during the president’s first term and is now a lobbyist at Ballard Partners, wrote in a text message."

From "In Elevating Stephen Miller, Trump Doubles Down on Hard-Line Agenda/The new White House chief of staff is responsible for some of the most provocative policies of President Trump’s second term, as well as an aggressive approach to executive power" (NYT).

"Inmates can take part in educational and vocational training, with courses ranging from English, math and computer skills..."

"... to barbering, catering, bicycle repair, gardening, construction and radio production. Other activities include yoga, mindfulness, parenting skills, embroidery and choir. Brand will also have opportunities to maintain contact with his family, should they wish to keep in touch. The prison holds monthly family days, allowing inmates extra time with their children in a more relaxed setting, as well as a homework club where fathers can help with schoolwork."

From "Russell Brand’s jail hell revealed: Vermin-infested cells, violent inmates and drug searches" (NY Post).

Brand, 51, is the father of 3 children — 2 girls, 8 and 9, and 1 boy, age 3.

If the headline and the excerpted text don't seem to match very well, know that the headline appeared at the top of the article and the part I decided to quote was near the end. If you want to know one of my blogging secrets: Jump 2/3 of the way down in an article.

Frost, at 6:55 a.m.

Sunrise with moon.

"Gavin Newsom’s decision to empty his state’s death row is a truly remarkable moment in the US’s death penalty history."

"Not only will it free hundreds of people from the threat of execution, but coming from a politician seemingly looking to run for the presidency, it sends an important signal that America’s attachment to capital punishment is weakening, and opposing the death penalty is no longer a third rail in US politics."

Writes Austin Sarat, in "We’ve just seen a transformative moment in America’s death penalty history/Gavin Newsom’s decision to empty California’s death row saves hundreds of lives and signals a national shift" (The Guardian).

"The Tesla Cybertruck, a product that exists at the curious intersection of low-emissions global responsibility and red-pilled macho Trumpism, is done."

"Elon Musk says production will wind down around the middle of next year to make way for the future Cybercab, a putatively autonomous vehicle of much more conventional shape. Announced with a prototype in 2019, the truck became available for the 2023 model year, a timeframe that approximately parallels Musk’s public-image collapse, as he went from 'huckster with genuinely big ideas who is nonetheless annoying' to 'danger to the republic.' Everything about the Cybertruck was designed to provoke.... Like much in the Trumpist world, its styling was a smirking asshole’s answer to an actual, reasonable point of debate...."

From "So Long, Cybertruck" (New York Magazine).

"Stephen Miller to Replace Susie Wiles as Trump’s Chief of Staff."

The NYT reports.

Ms. Wiles’s departure and the ascent of Mr. Miller will fundamentally shift the circle of advisers around Mr. Trump as the White House absorbs the shock of the midterm elections.... The Republican wipeout has inflamed tensions within the administration, as officials brace for congressional investigations by Democrats and further turnover in the West Wing and the cabinet.... After the elections, Mr. Trump made it clear to some advisers that he was unhappy with Ms. Wiles and his political team, who persuaded him to sign off on his super PAC spending $400 million to help Republicans in the midterms....

As for Miller:

Stephen Miller, a deputy chief of staff, has been the architect of some of the most radical domestic policies in Trump’s second term, particularly on immigration. He has also served as a fiery surrogate for the president’s most divisive moves. Earlier this year, as Trump publicly toyed with the idea of invading Greenland, Miller laid out a vision of American imperialism in which the United States could freely overthrow national governments and take foreign territory and resources so long as it was deemed in the national interest.

"After careful consideration, we have reached the difficult decision that our publishing model is no longer sustainable."

Say the editors of Salon, in "Goodbye from Salon/It has been an extraordinary privilege."

It seems to me Salon had a gigantic head start in on line magazine. Why didn't it take advantage of that?

Thirty-one years is a remarkable run, but what matters most is what happened during those years: the journalism, the ideas, the voices, the conversations and the community that grew around them. Salon helped demonstrate what digital journalism could be and could become.

Helped demonstrate... how? By negative example? Why aren't you out in front, where you started? Who outdid you and why? 

"A federal judge late Thursday halted construction on President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot-tall triumphal arch..."

"... siding with military veterans and local government officials who had urged her to stop the project. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan blocked work on the arch for two weeks while the court considers challenges to its legality. Three Vietnam War veterans, a historic preservationist, the D.C. government and the Commonwealth of Virginia sued to halt construction.... Chutkan also criticized the Trump administration’s arguments, writing that officials’ recent assertion that the arch was necessary for national security was 'belated and unsupported.' And she mocked the administration’s central claim that Congress authorized Trump’s arch a century ago, when lawmakers approved a somewhat similar project that was never built."

The Washington Post reports in "Judge halts Trump’s arch after federal panel approves it/U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan blocked the planned 250-foot project, which opponents say is illegal and needs to be approved by the current Congress."

Trump needs to think through what he wants to do on his way out. It's crushingly clear that building the arch should not be one of those things. Finish the ballroom and do it well and in time to throw some dignified events before your term is up, but let the arch go. Leave it as an idea of something that could be done. If it's really worth doing, it will happen later. If it doesn't, it wasn't. 

The Criterion Channel is featuring Nicolas Cage this month, and though I've watched a few Nicolas Cage movies over the years, I'd never really...

... asked myself what is Nicolas Cage trying to do with his acting? It's extreme overacting but obviously a choice. Take a look:

"When we started working on Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson’s first scene in the hotel room, I did what I’d done when I had my 'first feel' as a teen-ager."

"I awkwardly and abruptly put my hand on Anne’s bra-covered breast, with absolutely no finesse or passion, without even making eye contact with her. Anne’s response was incredible: without missing a beat, she looked down at the sweater in her hands, noticed a stain, and paid it all of her attention, rubbing the fabric together and fussing with it, while I continued to hold her breast in my paw like a paralyzed animal. It was so funny that I had to walk away, trying to avoid bursting into laughter. That was the worst thing you could do: break character. I started knocking my head against the wall in an attempt to collect myself. Don’t break! Don’t break! Mike interpreted it as an artistic choice, and it cracked him up. When Mike was laughing, I felt he loved the character I was trying to create. It was the only time I knew I was doing something he was happy with....."

Writes Dustin Hoffman, in "Surviving 'The Graduate'/It was the film that made me famous. On set, all I could think about was how I was failing" (The New Yorker).

Most of the essay is about Hoffman and Nichols each coming to realize that Hoffman represented Nichols. That explains why Nichols chose Hoffman — when the character in the book was a tall blond WASP — and why he was so hostile to him. 

Anyway, I liked this part about Mike Nichols's wigs: "He had a collection of incredible wigs that started with what his fantasy hair would look like freshly cut; on each successive day, the wig would be a little longer, until it was time for a 'haircut.' Then he’d start the wig cycle again from the beginning."

"It came down hard: a 915-pound black drone with 12 rotors mounted on six arms, carrying a coffin-shaped capsule. "

"As soon as the rotors went quiet, he crawled to it.... 'I just held on,' he said, 'and off we went.'... SkyFall says it designed both the drone and its capsule specifically to evacuate the wounded. It built the capsule around a certified medical stretcher, and the drone can carry up to 330 pounds at speeds of up to 65 mph.... 'Twenty minutes and that’s it,' his commander told him. Asked whether he was up for it, [he] did not hesitate. 'Of course I agree... How could I not?... It could be shot down. It could crash.... But it’s a chance. Either you rot in that bunker, or you have a chance to get out.'"

From "In Ukraine, drones are death. Now they are rescuers, too. The new technology is making previously impossible evacuations possible, but they aren’t without risk" (WaPo)(gift link).

"Voters want normal people in charge, and they took their wrath out on otherwise normal Republicans who refused to push back..."

"... against the lunacy, corruption and incompetence within the G.O.P. Republicans have spent years warning that a party unwilling to confront its radicals will be defined by them. They meant the Democrats, and pointed in particular at the democratic socialists working to take over the Democratic Party from the inside.Now that warning applies to the G.O.P. The weirdo right will not stop in its attempt to take over the Republican Party, and party leadership must resist it or watch a group that openly declares its contempt for conservatism do to the G.O.P. what the democratic socialists are trying to do to the Democrats.... If Republicans want those voters back, the party’s leaders, beginning with the man who wants to lead it in 2028, will have to reject the demands of the weirdo right.... Until the G.O.P. rejects the weird, the fringe and the grievance hustlers, Democrats will happily remind voters whom the G.O.P. keeps around."

Writes Erick Erickson, in "I’m a Republican. We Have Let Too Many Weirdos Into Our Party" (NYT).

The top-rated comment over there (by a lot):