Looking down into the rotunda:
And off to the side in at the first floor level (one level up from the ground floor):
Way in the back there are some plastic toys on the floor. It seems to be some sort of grotesque play area.
March 5, 2011
In the Capitol this morning.
Photos by Meade. Looking up into the dome:
Looking down into the rotunda:
And off to the side in at the first floor level (one level up from the ground floor):
Way in the back there are some plastic toys on the floor. It seems to be some sort of grotesque play area.
Looking down into the rotunda:
And off to the side in at the first floor level (one level up from the ground floor):
Way in the back there are some plastic toys on the floor. It seems to be some sort of grotesque play area.
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85 comments:
Wisconsin got a purty dome. Real purty.
When are they going to take down the graffiti. Or is that going to be a permanent feature of the building.
Disgusting.
Way in the back there are some plastic toys on the floor. It seems to be some sort of grotesque play area.
The juice box and sippy cup brigade.
"This is what my play group looks like!"
Oh yeah, I'd drop my kid off with this dude.
Ann, I've got you linked up on a Howard Schweber post. He's a Huffington Post blogger, it turns out, blech!!
'Forced Collectivization'.
The inside of your capitol building looks like shit, like the corridor in a crappy public school. You would think that the squeaky clean white citizens of Wisconsin would do better.
photograph strange vegtables!
That's precisely what Meade's been doing, Trooper. ;)
Why exactly is Althouse stating the flickr link as text rather than as an actual link we could click on?
wv: drudgio
I still don't understand why people are allowed to tape their signs and posters up all over the building. If I tried that in our capitol I'd be arrested immediately for defacing property.
Is that a picture of Jim Morrison on the guy's book?
Enlarge the first photo and you can see three mylar balloons at about 12 and 4 o'clock. I guess they will eventually fall to the floor.
That guy has no shoes on..
What is going on in there?
What's hanging from the clothesline above the guy reading in the chair? Looks like laundry. Maybe drying some tube socks.
Well, most of the garbage has been cleaned out.
Kudos to the janitorial staff.
Michael McNeil said...
Why exactly is Althouse stating the flickr link as text rather than as an actual link we could click on?
Althouse may skate on water, but even she doesn't walk on it.
Yet.
Meade said...
Enlarge the first photo and you can see three mylar balloons at about 12 and 4 o'clock. I guess they will eventually fall to the floor.
It will take some time, but they will, and some young custodian will pick them up and wonder what idiot ever brought stupid balloons into such a lovely old building.
WV "masta" What Jesse Jackson has made several captains of industry call him.
Top picture saved for future quilt color combination idea...gorgeous.
What's the painting in at the top of the dome supposed to be? In the picture it looks like a plate of lasagna.
Ann, I am interested in your impressions of the current public opinion in WI. I fear the Democrats have been able to turn public opinion nationally and the prospects of getting the deficits under control have worsened.
@ deborah
HA!! I saved the photo of the floor of the rotunda for the very same reason..... a quilt idea and color combination. LOL
Ann, I am interested in your impressions of the current public opinion in WI. I fear the Democrats have been able to turn public opinion nationally and the prospects of getting the deficits under control have worsened.
It's true with the help of the slimebags in MSM American public opinion is solidly on the side of the unions.
It's gone now, apparently, but I'm still really curious why there was a California State Flag hung beside all the posters in the rotunda.
My first thought was of my college days, with the floor length beads hanging in a doorway. Obviously not it.
Line of demarcation? TSA checkpoint? EZ pass toll booth? Head lice applicator? I am clueless.
"It's true with the help of the slimebags in MSM American public opinion is solidly on the side of the unions."
I'd guess that they're "with the Unions" when talking to some earnest sounding push-poller on the phone (or when talking to their Unionized brother-in-law) but the ballot box will tell the tale.
It was the Dems/Unions that failed Wisconsin, not Gov. Walker. Smart people will recognize that.
The second photo shows where you go to pick out the color of your kitchen countertop. It's a very good idea.
It seems to be some sort of grotesque play area.
Nice grotto-esque play on words. Friedrich Krupp would approve. If you know what I mean.
Caprisce?
Trooper, that's some carrot you got there lol.
lol DBQ, too cool.
A vivid worldly illustration that there is far more peace looking up than down.
Well, it DOES appear kotex-free.
OT:
Get ready for an oil shock.
Saudi Arabia drafts in up to 10,000 troops ahead of protests
Trooper, that's some carrot you got there
Joey Heatherton said that to him once, you know.
@Lemondog Who would have thought the Middle East would blow up from within? Other than the possibility of Iran - which the Community O-In-Chief refused to support.
I like how each photo becomes more pathetic:
The dome is gorgeous.
Then, below, you see some squatters.
Then comes,...what is that? An encampment is a subway tunnel?
Get 'em out of there and get back to work.
With these photos, Meadehouse do a good job at showing the juxtaposition between the profound and the profane.
crack said...I like how each photo becomes more pathetic:
Paradise, Purgatory, & Hell
I'm recalling a bar in Torino, Italy which had three floors, each differently themed accordingly.
@ Rick: I'm under the impression that Iran is the lynchpin of the ME, and a meltdown there would prove catastrophic. China depends on her oil, she is tied to and helping us manage Iraq, etc. There is a school of thought that Obama should 'go to Iran,' as Nixon went to China.
One day she will be the lion of the ME, and rightly so, I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSC3vWykK5I&feature=relmfu
Is he reading the Autobiography of Angela Davis? Oh boy...
chick, that reminds me of a good book by CS Lewis, The Great Divorce. It's an allegory about heaven and hell, where hell is a place where it rains all the time and there are no roofs on the houses. At any time you can take a bus up to heaven.
@Steven
You appear to be correct.
This does not come as a surprise.
wv - tuffinic
Way in the back there are some plastic toys on the floor.
Great Scott! They're not even sophisticated enough to play video games?
Paradise, Purgatory, & Hell
I'm recalling a bar in Torino, Italy which had three floors, each differently themed accordingly.
Interestingly enough, the sub-basement was christened "East St. Louis."
Looking at the photos, I couldn't help but think, from the sublime to the ridiculous...
Wake me when they start using power tools to amuse themselves.
@Deborah I watched the posted video. The theme of course, was the US should engage in a "grand bargain" with Iran because Iran has acted rationally in their foreign policy actions.
I would disagree on two fronts.
1) I would not consider Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be a rational individual (re: holocaust denier).
2) We had a grand bargain with the former Shah and that did not end well.
Israel is the true lynch pin of the ME.
the "grotesque play area" was the assembly chamber when walker was giving his speech...pathetic.
> "HA!! I saved the photo of the floor of the rotunda for the very same reason..... a quilt idea and color combination."
I bet the squares are all samples of native Wisconsin building stones, representing the mineral wealth of the state. Is that correct?
I wonder if that box of Cheerios belongs to that guy. I'm surprised that he'd support a corporation like General Mills; he looks more like the home made granola type.
There is a school of thought that Obama should 'go to Iran,' as Nixon went to China.
Nixon went to China in a superior bargaining position. What would be our bargaining position vis-a-vis Iran? We are broke and at the mercy of middle-east oil production.
"[Iran] is tied to and helping us manage Iraq..."
For some very unorthodox usage of the word 'manage', I suppose.
Besides, only Nixon could go to China. Obama doesn't fit the analogy.
@Deborah I watched the posted video. The theme of course, was the US should engage in a "grand bargain" with Iran because Iran has acted rationally in their foreign policy actions.
I would disagree on two fronts.
1) I would not consider Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be a rational individual (re: holocaust denier).
They're all nutz over there, including the Israelis. America has sanitized our slaughter of the Indians until fairly recently. If you're going to wait for perfection, you'll never get anywhere.
2) We had a grand bargain with the former Shah and that did not end well.
Apples and oranges.
Israel is the true lynch pin of the ME.
More like grenade pin, but that's a discussion for another day :)
We are broke and at the mercy of middle-east oil production.
One of the few good things we have right now is our oil supply is coming from Canada and Mexico. I would be happier of it was coming from ANWR and the Gulf coast, and oil is fungible so the price will go up for us, but we are in no real danger of being cut off.
Now, if somebody (I've given up on Obama) will build 100 pebble reactors for electricity and start drilling and fracking the Montana oil deposits, I would be almost comfortable.
Nixon went to China in a superior bargaining position. What would be our bargaining position vis-a-vis Iran?
That we won't blast them to kingom come? But that ship has sailed, hasn't it? They know we won't do it.
We are broke and at the mercy of middle-east oil production.All the more reason to make nice.
I'm not really sure what a "grotesque play area" is, but having visited the Capitol myself last week, I saw this area as well. At the time, it was labeled something like "Family Zone." The things hanging from the line are ribbons or streamers. I talked about this with a mother who had brought her children to the protests. Apparently it was just a quite space set aside for families with children, hence the toys. You can't see it in the picture, but there was also a rocking chair. This space was used in particular by families who brought their children to spend the night. Now that no one's spending the night, it appears to be in the process of being dismantled. I hope that answers some of the questions I see in the comment thread.
Dr. Althouse, I'm sure if you'd asked a few people in the Capitol what was going on, you would have been able to provide your readers with a more informative caption.
Paco, I'll try and hunt you up an article about what I mean.
Top picture saved for future quilt color combination idea...gorgeous.
I have a paisley tie with those colors. One of my favorites, always gets compliments. Goes well with almost anything.
That's a beautiful capitol, that's the thing I've been most impressed with the last few weeks as this pitiful saga played out. Shame it's filled with smelly hippies, but they'll be gone eventually. Too bad people up there don't appreciate it more, as evidenced by the way they've trashed and defaced the place.
They're all nutz over there, including the Israelis.
In what way are the Israelis "nuts"? Aside from the fact that they aren't doing everything they can to move someplace sensible like Australia or America.
Emil Blatz, that comment especially works with your Avatar picture.
The dome is truly amazing. Great photo.
Yes, beautiful shot of the dome, an inspiration. Then we are brought back to earth by the humans underneath. Best of times, worst of times.
lol Rev.
And finally, a single good use for the fish-eye lens!
Dr. Althouse, Medicine Woman.
(please don't tell Crack)
@Trooper York:
The profile on this blog says the writer is a professor. At my college campus, it was customary for people to refer to professors as "Dr." I know the culture is different at different campuses, but I just went with what I knew.
Is he hanging his socks in that picture? And he has a rocking chair?
Something tells me that when they talked about a building being public it wasn't their intent to allow people to hang laundry and lounge in rocking chairs.
And he's not even wearing shoes or socks in a public building? Come on!
@Deborah
Sorry for the delay, out of reach all afternoon.
Who would we make the grand bargain with? Mahmoud I'm-in-a-jihad? The latest Ayatollah? Not real appealing from my perspective.
The Iranians have improved their bargaining position considerably with their nuke technology. I would not want the Bamster as our negotiator in any way. Our positioned has been significantly weakened over the past 2 administrations. What would our position be? Give up their nukes. No chance.
Israel the grenade pin? It will not be Israel who pulls the pin.
I am not optimistic.
Technically, a law degree is juris doctor .
Sally Carroll said...
Dr. Althouse, I'm sure if you'd asked a few people in the Capitol what was going on, you would have been able to provide your readers with a more informative caption.
Sally Carroll,
I took a close look at the so-called Family Zone and I have to say "grotesque play area" is a perfectly apt concise description of the space.
Imagine being a toddler and having your parent leave you there in the care of whoever is sitting there. The darkness. The loud continuous echos of drumming and chanting. The strange off-putting odors of strange off-putting barefoot men. The hard cold marble floor. The scary unfamiliar diaper-changing station.
Borders on psychological child abuse.
... and the guy appears to be reading an Angela Davis book.
that is, "book."
Khamenei is pretty reasonable, and since he is the supreme leader, he's in charge of decisions. I-have-a-dinner-jacket is useful more as his foaming watchdog, I think.
Heh, I knew my grenade pin analogy was flawed, but I went with it anyway. I don't think the Summer '06 War and Operation Cast Lead were Israel's most constrained acts.
But we shall see, we shall see.
How many of you people have been to the capitol to see this in person? When I was there, there were over 70,000 people and amazingly the place was beautiful! Everyone there is respecting the building and grounds. I did see a Fox reporter drop something, but someone next to him picked it up and gave it back to him. The protesters go around and make sure that everything is picked up and that order is maintained. Believe it or not, you are more than welcome to join us! While we don't agree with your agenda or your point of view, we do respect your being there! Maybe you will learn the truth while you are there, if not oh well! As far as the family area, people were not leaving their children with strangers, they were together. And if you were in the building, you would know that down the hallways it is remarkably quiet when you get a little ways from the rotunda. As far as the estimate on damage to the marble, I put it at $10.00. That is just as good and accurate as any estimate by Walker's people. After all, he said the state was going to loose millions of dollars if his so called repair bill was not passed by 2 Fridays ago. Then it was by the 1st, now it is by the 20th. He said he was going to have to lay off 1500 people if it wasn't passed by the 1st of March, then he said that it would be 10,000. I don't know about you, but tend not to believe him! All he does is lie and threaten. He is doing to Wisconsin, what he did to Milwaukee! They are still paying for and cleaning up the mess he made there! Even the Tea Baggers that were there last week said that they were amazed at how clean it was! We had good visits with a lot of them (the 4 we talked to were from Virginia), and we agreed to respectfully disagree! You see there can be some civility in all of this. When you are there, talk to the groundskeepers and security forces. Find out for yourself how everything is. Don't believe me, or anyone else here! Just go there! After all, if you don't care enough to become involved, then don't complain! I have been there 3 times, and it is a 6 hour drive for me! And I am not a teacher, just a support staff member!
I did see a Fox reporter drop something, but someone next to him picked it up and gave it back to him
Excellent parody; even if unintentional.
wv:woolite; as in "the Tea Party used Woolite to gently clean away tape residue."
How many of you people have been to the capitol to see this in person?
Why should we, when your own Democratic representatives steadfastly refuse to do so...?
One of the few good things we have right now is our oil supply is coming from Canada and Mexico. I would be happier of it was coming from ANWR and the Gulf coast, and oil is fungible so the price will go up for us, but we are in no real danger of being cut off.
Now, if somebody (I've given up on Obama) will build 100 pebble reactors for electricity and start drilling and fracking the Montana oil deposits, I would be almost comfortable.
Mexico oil production is in rapid decline. re: fungible, China has been/is contracting with oil producing countries, taking oil off the world market.
Video on shale horizontal drilling and fracking
US Oil imports by country.
While Canada is a major supplier, it alone cannot meet US needs.
If you want more information, you can click on the link. That's blog style. I don't spell everything out. This is new media and I do things with photos, writing, and links that many readers enjoy. Not gonna change that. If you click the link, you'll get to an enlargement of the photo, and you can read the sign. As for interviewing the man, he was on the phone when Meade was there (I was home, sick.) Meade does a lot of interviews. So do I. But it's not according to journalistic conventions. This is blogging, and I'm all about inventing and developing this writing form that is blogging. If that unsettles you... Good!
@ andersonpaul
Wall of text.
Tea Baggers [...] You see there can be some civility in all of this.
Your pious finger-wagging and tut-tutting is ruinously undercut by your own unvarnished, unapologetic hypocrisy (see directly above). Go fuck yourself.
@ andersonpaul and @ meade:
I think we can all agree that leaving children unsupervised in a crowded public space would be an example of irresponsible parenting. But as andersonpaul confirmed, this was a "Family Zone," not a "Dump-your-kids-and-run Zone."
The merits of bringing kids to the events at the capitol are worth debating. Again, I spoke to some parents who saw a real opportunity for a civic education for their kids. Regardless of what side you're on in the face of current events, families did have a chance to talk to their kids about where we can see our elected officials at work and how they make decisions that affect our lives. The decision to stay overnight or participate in any of the recent protests is one belonging to the families themselves; they were free to do so and I think that they should not be labeled child abusers.
@ Ann Althouse:
Your response about the difference between a journalist and blogger makes sense in part. True, I can see by spending a little more time on this blog that this is a team effort, and I'm pretty familiar in general with the mix of images, links, and more that adds up to the personal commentary found on blogs. No, I don't expect what you produce on this blog to rival or replace the work of journalists.
What does concern me is that many commenters here were encouraged to speculate about what was going on in the picture you provided, and your caption directed these comments in a particular direction, without information or, as you confirm, your own eye-witness experience to justify that choice of direction. It seems that some of your readers are not in Madison themselves and are relying on you to characterize the scene in the capitol. Is calling it a "grotesque play area" really sufficient?
So you're right, I'm not looking for a cover article on "Kids in the Capitol," nor should I be on this site. What I am interested in is why you, a blogger, chose these terms to present a photo to your audience. What was your basis for providing this characterization in the absence of other commentary?
(Sorry for the length!)
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