Atala au Tombeau (Funeral of Atala)

“Atala” is my favourite painting. It’s at the High Museum of Art here in Atlanta, but it’s listed as a Louvre piece, so I assume it’s on loan. It’s been at the High for years.

Funeral of Atala
Funeral of Atala

There was an article in the AJC yesterday about this piece, which is why I’m thinking about it this morning. The artist is Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, a French painter who began the Romantic movement. His style is very classical and precise and his use of light is amazing. He did many portraits – particularly of the Bonapartes.

The story of Atala is told in the novella by Chateaubriand called The Loves of Two Savages in the Desert. The trekearth.com site has a very good description of the work as well as the story behind it. It’s interesting to note that Chateaubriand is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature as well as a contemporary of Girodet. The portrait you’ll typically see of Chateaubriand was done by Girodet.

I should have been an art major…

Blades in the Wall

Welcome Googlers! I see this post is getting many clicks for some reason. It’s a fun story, I hope you enjoy it! -Angela

This is why I LOVE having an old house. We have a medicine cabinet from when the house was built in 1951:

ca. 1951 medicine cabinet
ca. 1951 medicine cabinet

When replacing the old medicine cabinet today, we found this in the wall:

Pile of used razor blades!

Yes, that would be razor blades. LOTS of them. We were shocked! So, why were there razors in the wall you ask? Well, let me tell you! Apparently, it was common practice to put razor disposal slots in medicine cabinets back in the day. Yes, that’s right, a special SLOT for blades that would deposit them conveniently into your walls. Yah. I am NOT making this up! (I wondered what that slot was for!) LOOK:

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So, yes, we pulled out our old ass medicine cabinet today to find a pile of old razors. About 625 of the golden Gillettes (pictured below) and 25 miscellaneous ones – YES, I counted them!!

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My question is this: Who in the blue fuck thought this was a reasonable solution? WHY? WHY? WHY? OMG WTF were these men thinking? That the house would never ever be refurbed? That people would automatically know to look out for hundreds (some people find thousands!!) of old rusty razors in the wall?? WTF??

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We are gobsmacked. I did a Google search and this is apparently very common – well, seeing as how the cabinets were MARKETED with “Razor Disposal Slots”. ::shakes head::

From a random board:
“In high school (1953-57) I helped my stepdad remodel houses. In those days, EVERY medicine cabinet had a razor disposal slot, which was needed—for example, Schick Inject blades came in a cartridge of 20 blades, with no used-blade disposal compartment. The used blades put through the medicine cabinet slot just dropped down between the studs to land on a 2×4. They tended to be rusted together in a mass-…”

I can attest that these paper thin blades did indeed glob together when they rusted. But STILL! Damn! If anyone needs 625 rusty Gillette blades, please give me a call, would you? (!!)

These are the same people that think that burying nuclear waste and other poisonous materials is a good idea, no doubt.

OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND! LA LA LA!!

Just damn. It’s a miracle we’ve survived as a species with such rampant stupidity. Darwin, please HELP!!

Change? Really?

So, all you 20 somethings who thought that Obama was beyond reproach, what do you think of him now? I’m guessing nothing since you probably are not following what’s going on with the economy and such.** The editorial entitled “That thud you heard? Obama falling to Earth” by C Krauthammer this week is bang on. He’s generally a Republican lap dog, but he certainly tells it like it is in this article.

The opening quote from the Messiah himself pretty much sets the tone:

“A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe.” – President Obama, Feb 4, 2009

So, Obama’s administration will stop the fearmongering and bring hope, will it? Hmm, that quote sounds pretty scary to me. He is using fear to rush this bill just as Bush and every other politician have always done to get their way. It’s classic. Notice the RUSH to get it passed, like NOW, before more scrutiny can happen? Yah. Business as usual.

“An ostentatious executive order banning lobbyists was immediately followed by the nomination of at least a dozen current or former lobbyists to high position.” – C Krauthammer in article cited above

And of course the spending bill… Yah, nothing new there, either:

[Obama promised] “…a new politics where the moneyed pork-barreling and corrupt logrolling of the past would give way to a bottom-up, grass-roots participatory democracy. That is what made Obama so dazzling and new. Turns out the “fierce urgency of now” includes $150 million for livestock insurance.” – C Krauthammer article

I was really hoping for at least a few months of honeymoon, with Obama still shining Messiah-like and doting upon his followers… Nah, we got 2.5 weeks.

Turns out that Messiah Obama is indeed only a mere mortal. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

I direct these posts to the Obama-as-Superman T Shirt wearing 20 somethings simply because they are the ones who crowed the loudest upon the Messiah’s victory and now they are suspiciously quiet. Look, kids, it takes more than casting a vote, you know? You’ve got to PARTICIPATE in your government. Which would include being able to talk about the issues, btw.

So, get out there and discuss. Write letters to your Reps. Make sure to hold this administration to the promises it made. That is what participation is all about.

**In your defence, 20 somethings, I had no idea what was going on in my 20s, either. I had no idea that unemployment was over 10% in 1982, for instance. [Clarification: I was 17 in late 1982. What I meant was that I didn’t know about the recession in the 80s (or much of anything else) when I was in my 20s.] I direct my comments towards this group very pointedly because of all the snotty attitude I put up with (even being called CONSERVATIVE!!!) during the election when I was pointing out these very things that are happening now and getting shit for it. Shadowblind, I’m looking at YOU. :-)

Batman: The Brave and the Bold

Wow! What an awesome show! It’s on Cartoon Network and it’s really funny. It’s a cross between the 60s Batman and The Tick!

Thanks go to Wil Wheaton for getting me to watch it at all. He did the episode “Fall of the Blue Beetle” as Ted Kord and we set up the TiVo pass to record them all so we’ve been watching them. Really great stuff!

Yay me for finally being cool enough to like something on Cartoon Network besides Robot Chicken! :-)