२६ जानेवारी, २०२२

At the Gold Bird Café...

... you can talk all night.

That's titled "Bird Finial," and it's in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum. It's from the Zenú culture of the "5th-10th century." I ran across it today because I was searching for finials, after the icy, snowy weather formed what looked like finials on the railing posts of the deck. Something about the birds on the deck had me looking for bird finials, and I was delighted to find this gold ornament.

५० टिप्पण्या:

Flat Tire म्हणाले...

Such a jaunty bird.

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/teachers-union-taps-liberal-watchdog-to-help-students-identify-misinformation/
It has been done before - Germany 1933.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

Sharp!

Clyde म्हणाले...

I went to the Met as well as The Cloisters on a summer 2018 trip to New York to celebrate my father's 80th birthday. Almost all of my family was there, and we had a great time in those pre-COVID, pre-riot and pre-crime-wave days. Times have changed, and I wouldn't feel comfortable going back to New York these days, but it seemed safe enough then. Maybe that was an illusion.

Christy म्हणाले...

Funny, I've several styles of finials in my Amazon cart awaiting a much delayed final decision. Lucky I have no toddlers.

madAsHell म्हणाले...

The 91-year-old Buffett, however, has long sought to avoid conflict and at the time he left the divorce was becoming increasingly acrimonious. Unflattering reports emerged of Gates’s infidelity, ties to the dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and assertions that his money manager Michael Larson operated a toxic work environment.

Great name for a rock band.......The dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

farmgirl म्हणाले...

My daughter saw this little bird and quickly proclaimed it ugly. I think it’s cute.

Not that I want one.
It’s whimsical and silly and golden- kissed stately.

Another cold one in the Kingdom. -16 so far.

Narr म्हणाले...

Have you checked the Met's gift catalogue for repros? Or Amazon?

The diversity of cultures that flourished for centuries and then were forgotten in pre-Columbian America is impressive. Charles Mann's book 1491 opened my eyes to a lot.

I've been musing on fowl language lately. I used the term 'chickenhawk' and flushed some comments from people who who had no reason that I can see to think I meant them particularly, or even at all. The term by definition excludes actual combat or other veterans; I thought the common usage was clear--a shitbird like former veep and war criminal Cheney who connives his way into power and smirks while presiding over ill-conceived military adventures. If you put your hide on the line, I didn't mean you, whether I agree with you or not on the Ukraine.

I was going to eat some crow, but now that I've clarified, no. Anyone is welcome to call me a cold, heartless bastard (more than one woman has, starting with Mom) but I was only insulting loudmouth armchair Pattons, who remind me of HLM's quip: in wartime the heroes outnumber the soldiers ten to one.

Josephbleau म्हणाले...

That is interesting art work, the wing looks like it was soldered on (with gold?) and not polished smooth, but gold melts at what, 1000 Deg centigrade?

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

Is it a lamp final or a door knocker? The miracle is that the King of Spain did not melt it down. As soon as the Treasure Galleon docked.

Ceciliahere म्हणाले...

Even the wisest, most admired, and experienced judge will not be considered if that person happens to be a White male. White men have been ruled out of the running for the open seat on the Court. Biden will ONLY consider a Black female judge because he promised to do so during his campaign for President. Pandering to the female Black vote. What a transparent move on his part. But, what the hell I guess it worked.
WHITE MEN NEED NOT APPLY. So, glad that I don’t have a son in 2022 America.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Oh, dear. One of the consequences of the US losing our energy independence is that we now import oil from Russia. Not all that much, but we will miss it if it’s gone. And Putin knows that. Probably we can make up the shortfall if Putin closes the spigot, but it will take time and result in short term pain, and possibly the return for a while of Carteresque gas lines.

Increasing our troop strength in Ukraine to 8500 does not upgrade their status from “speed bump.” If we’re going to deter Putin, we need to send a whole division, at least, and a lot of F-22s, F-35s, and A-10s.

Michael म्हणाले...

Was unaware of this culture but have spent time in that part of Columbia. Thanks for this post.

FullMoon म्हणाले...

Pretty sure I have a hood ornament like that out in the garage.

William म्हणाले...

I don't know that much about Judge Breyer, but he certainly gave the impression of being a decent, thoughtful man. He looked and acted the way we would like Supreme Court Judges to act. We're definitely going to get a Black, female judge. I probably won't agree with her about much, and that's fine. My only hope is that she advance her views in such a way that is respectful of the Court and its traditions. Please no fire breathers. I was reading up on some of the likely candidates. They seem okay.....Sandra Day O'Connor, as I understand it, was no great legal scholar, but she did nothing to bring contempt upon the institution she served....Many institutions of late have lost respect among the people they serve, not so much because of what they say or do, but because of the self righteous way they go about making their point.

Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...

Somebody tried to get a subreddit called r/antiwork.

It didn't work.

Today I learned sea-turtles yawn.

Link to video

Narr म्हणाले...

"Toxic Work Environment" is an even better name for a band.

My wife lived in Manhattan for a few years in the 80s and we spent a lot of time in the Met and The Cloisters and the like--Mostly Mozart etc. Such a magnificent city then and through at least '96; I haven't been back since.

I predict a lot of sudden claims of B/black female identity among ambitious jurists. Why not?

Narr म्हणाले...

Taibbi's on fire on Twitter.

He and Greenwald and a few others keep the great American antiwar position alive on the Left, where most have turned into the conformist national-corporate zombies they accused Republicans of being for most of recorded history.

As with so-called #MeToo, the Left isn't really anti-war or anti-rape, only anti-Republican
(who pretend to be conservative in our clown system).

Gerda Sprinchorn म्हणाले...

In the Rogan/Peterson interview, Rogan comes up with a useful phrase: "recreational outrage".

Big Mike म्हणाले...

You know, maybe if we had had an Asian-American on the Supreme Court in 1942 our country would not be stained with putting Japanese-Americans into concentration camps. Just sayin’

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Anyone know what the holdup is on giving Kyle Rittenhouse his rifle back? Was he not acquitted of all charges?

Richard Dillman म्हणाले...

Your comment on the unplanned artistry of the ice and snow reminded me of this Emily Dickinson poem that examines the artistry of a snow storm. It not about finials, but the metaphors are clever, like your post.


It sifts from Leaden Sieves - (291)
BY EMILY DICKINSON


It sifts from Leaden Sieves -
It powders all the Wood.
It fills with Alabaster Wool
The Wrinkles of the Road -

It makes an even Face
Of Mountain, and of Plain -
Unbroken Forehead from the East
Unto the East again -

It reaches to the Fence -
It wraps it Rail by Rail
Till it is lost in Fleeces -
It deals Celestial Vail

To Stump, and Stack - and Stem -
A Summer’s empty Room -
Acres of Joints, where Harvests were,
Recordless, but for them -

It Ruffles Wrists of Posts
As Ankles of a Queen -
Then stills it’s Artisans - like Ghosts -
Denying they have been -

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Speaking of guns, I see that they tracked down and arrested the guy who sold a stolen gun to Malik Faisal Akram, the man who took hostages at the synagogue in Colleyville. Good.

Jaq म्हणाले...

"Taibbi's on fire on Twitter."

I call his feed "The Dunning-Kruger show"

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'My only hope is that she advance her views in such a way that is respectful of the Court and its traditions.'

All the liberal justices just make shit up to fit the desired outcome.

They start with the vote that pleases the socialists and work backwards from there to try and justify the idiotic decision.

Penumbras and emanations, etc.

Any Joe justice was going to be a left-wing hack.

Now she (presuming pronoun) will be a quota hire as well...

rcocean म्हणाले...

our country would not be stained with putting Japanese-Americans into concentration camps. Just sayin’

Our country isn't stained. Most of the adult Japanese were enemy aliens and they were not put in "concentration camps" - that's a phrase that applies to those who were at Dachau. They were at relocation camps. They got 3 good meals a day, etc.

And "the country" didn't do it. FDR did. No one else had a say.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Jeff Flake got his payoff for helping Biden steal Arizona. He's now Ambassador to Turkey. Cindy McCain is ambassador to Italy. Another payoff.

Flakey Flake goes full Turkey. How do the R's always manage to nominate such loers!

rcocean म्हणाले...

"gave the impression of being a decent, thoughtful man."

And the new Justice may not be "decent" Or "Thoughtful" but will vote just like him.

Jaq म्हणाले...

"Another cold one in the Kingdom. -16 so far."

I feel so guilty being in South Florida. But I think I will go back in mid Feb to do some ice fishing. We'll see how it goes. Family wants to visit here, so who knows.

I have this idea for doing small batch maple syrup making with a rice cooker, but you would probably have to finish it on the stovetop with a candy thermometer, I am guessing. The theory is that the rice cooker works by heating as long as the water is boiling, which keeps the temp around 212, but when the water is absorbed or boiled off, the temp starts to rise and the cooker shuts off. So I figure that it will shut off after boiling sap as the sugar content climbs, raising the boiling point of the sap. I probably need a rice cooker with an adjustable thermostat though. I guess I will make some rice and point my IR thermometer at it when it is done to see what the actual temp is when the thermostat pops. Anyway, I thought that if you could just pour the sap from a tree in your yard into it, and press the bar down, like a toaster, and have it pop up when it was done, it would be a fun thing, maybe I could make a YouTube video, or Rumble.

Or it might not work. Ideally if the rice cooker shut off at 219 degrees, it could work perfectly. There is a site called "cooking for engineers" which looks like it will be pretty helpful. It has a technique for turning your rice cooker into a sous vide with an inexpensive external thermostat, but now we are getting out of the "fun thing the kids can do if they are bored" territory.

Rosalyn C. म्हणाले...

Thanks to Associate Justice Breyer for announcing his retirement at this moment so Biden and the Democrats have an issue to unify their party. Coincidentally, an added bonus is that now Biden doesn't have to push the US into an absurd war with Russia over Ukraine to distract the public from ruminating on how catastrophic his administration is.

Josephbleau म्हणाले...

“Speaking of guns, I see that they tracked down and arrested the guy who sold a stolen gun to Malik Faisal Akram, the man who took hostages at the synagogue in Colleyville. Good.”

If they can find a shady stolen gun selling guy that fast why don’t they try catching them all and save some lives.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Our country isn't stained.

@rcocean, perhaps not in your eyes. Others of us possess a sense of fairness, and a belief in equal justice under the law.

Most of the adult Japanese were enemy aliens

Which I take as a concession that American citizens were among the internees.

and they were not put in "concentration camps"

They certainly were! A concentration camp does not necessarily need to be a death camp.

And "the country" didn't do it. FDR did.

With how much pushback from the judiciary?

farmgirl म्हणाले...

-26F gilbar…

farmgirl म्हणाले...

Idk how big a rice cooker is. You’ll need 40gallons of sap to boil down to a gallon of syrup- you’re going to be busier than a one-armed paper hanger. I’d like to see that:0) The Amish put up a small post and beam sugarhouse here Autumn before last. We tapped a little under 200. Last year’s crop was low across the region… but, my husband likes to say we made way more than the year before…(as it was our 1st time ever lol) He cracks me up!

Enjoy the warmth!

tim maguire म्हणाले...

Ceciliahere said...Even the wisest, most admired, and experienced judge will not be considered if that person happens to be a White male. White men have been ruled out of the running for the open seat on the Court.

Far more than just white men have been ruled out, including most of the most qualified candidates.

But then, “most qualified” is a bit of a floating term. You didn’t used to have to be an appellate judge to get nominated. You didn’t even used to have to be a judge or necessarily even a lawyer and I’m not sure we’re better for our current “higher” standards. We have a court whose members are very much like each other and very little like almost all Americans.

Humperdink म्हणाले...

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson removes all Covid restriction.

Meanwhile back in the land of "Give me liberty or give me death", the citizens have become subjects.

Love the irony.

gadfly म्हणाले...

The multinational "Five Eyes" intelligence organization released information likely gathered by the FBI and NSA that show that part of Russia’s current plans in Ukraine involves a plot to replace Volodymyr Zelensky with a pro-Kremlin functionary.

Four Ukranians named in the alleged plot had previous ties to Paul Manafort. They all held positions in the Ukrainian government and worked in proximity to Paul Manafort, former president Donald J. Trump’s campaign manager, when he worked as a political adviser to Ukraine’s former Russian-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych. After Yanukovych’s government fell in 2014, these "loyalists" fled to Russia.

When Manafort traded campaign strategy to Russia for relief from his debt to Oleg Deripaska on August 2, 2016, his cooperation in a series of similar efforts to install a Russian functionary to head Ukraine was part of the deal. Citing numerous documents obtained from Manafort’s devices, Bobby Three Sticks made public Paulie's participation in the effort. Mueller put him in jail in 2018.

Never mind! Nothing, especially collusion with Russia, to see here. Don't cha know? Fox says we love Putin more than Biden.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

Gadfly, do you even realize the amount of work being done by pure innuendo in your comment? As I contemplate the number of clarifications that would have to be made before I could even begin to explain to you why I don't care about your claims, I realize the best thing to do is shrug and move on.

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

A little jocularity Bird Style https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAhWbzYjM68

gilbar म्हणाले...

farmgirl said... -26F gilbar…

Now you're talking! if it aint 20 below, it aint cold

TiV: making maple syurp is mostly a process of making steam. If you're going to make ANY usable amounts, you don't want to do it in the house
(my dad was the sugar boss at the nature center in Cedar Rapids, i used to volunteer)
OUR sap takes 50 gallons to make a gallon of syrup. Vermont's is probably more sugary (like farmgirls)
So we'll use 40/1

Let's say you want a make just a cup (enough for a few pancakes)
1 pint = 2 cups
1 quart = 4 cups
So 10 quarts of sap would be (check my math) 40 cups, which would be 2 and a half gallons

That's a lot, maybe you only need HALF a cup? Then you'd only need a gallon and a quarter

So, yeah; you could make ONE BATCH of syurp in your kitchen, for fun, once
Do it once a week, and you're talking a LOT of steam

ps. The FIRST half of the sap boils off quite easily. The second takes a LOT longer
The finishing tank takes about a day

Jaq म्हणाले...

I am not thinking gallons, I am thinking a little project that a kid could do to make a quarter cup or so, just for fun, since it would be so easy. Like a science project. As a kid I remember making some in a frying pan, but all we got was a tablespoon, and it was mostly sugar, but it sure tasted good to us. There is no competing with the kind of industrial production that goes on now. When I saw a network of tubes coming out of acres of trees emptying into a tanker truck the size of the ones that deliver gasoline, I knew it had become a capital intensive business these days.

Jaq म्हणाले...

I remember walking my beloved Labrador in -26 and as tough as that guy was about the weather, he tried to only put three paws on the ground at a time. I was out there only a couple of minutes and my face hurt a little bit the whole next day.

Jaq म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Xmas म्हणाले...

That bird is an ibis. Ibises are assh*les.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

our country would not be stained with putting Japanese-Americans into concentration camps.

Canada, Mexico and some S. American countries did the same thing.

BTW, my grandfather died in a concentration camp.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

He got drunk and fell out of a guard tower.

If I was a good person I wouldn't like that joke.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

That bird is an ibis. Ibises are assh*les.

I think it's a hummingbird; its short legs and Huitzilopochtli.

gilbar म्हणाले...

tiv
Actually, it's pretty easy, the steam is the big draw back
As you saw, it's hard to not end up with sugar not syrup

Imho HERE'S WHAT TO DO
forget about 'syrup' just make "sap tea" (a word i just invented)
As i said the 1st half boil down is trivially easy, just boil as fast as you want
STOP RIGHT THERE!
a gallon of sap, boiled down to about a half gallon of "sap tea" tastes about as sweet as pepsi (yes, i've done taste comparisons). When we'd be boiling, i'd frequently fill my (now empty) pepsi can with the sap, and then place it by the window to cool
Then, slurp slurp, delicious "sap tea"

raw sap tastes just about like water (with the least possibly tasteable amount of sweetness... But "sap tea" (boiled down about 50%) is as sweet as pepsil as i said
Want it sweeter? boil it longer

The good thing about this is
It's simple,you're basically just boiling water
It's delicious

Jaq म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Narr म्हणाले...

The only American leader with any qualms about the Internment of Japanese and Japanese-Americans in 1942 was . . . J. Edgar Hoover, who asked if it was legal. Dems being Dems, they laughed and did what they wanted.

While the West Coast internments are well known, the USG also interned American citizens of Italian and German descent, though not in large numbers.

And the US worked with many Latin American governments to intern or move to the CONUS their own Axis-origin immigrants and citizens, while confiscating their property for redistribution to the more deserving.

Good one, Fernandinande.