09/09/09

Today is all about nines… a fine whole number indeed, as elucidated here.

 Painting: Apollo and the Nine Muses (c. 1599?) by Flemish mannerist painter Hendrik van Balen.

Another prophetic sign…

Kaunas, Lithuania

Emma Goldman, a political activist who played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist philosophy in the first half of the twentieth century, was born 140 years ago in Kovno (now Kaunas). An outspoken writer and lecturer on anarchist philosophy, women’s rights, and social issues, Goldman was imprisoned several times after emigrating to the U.S. for “inciting to riot,” illegally distributing information about birth control, and for conspiring to “induce persons not to register” for the newly instated draft (in 1917). Eventually she was deported to Russia (where she initially supported the Bolshevik revolution—later she opposed the Soviet use of violence and repression of individual voices), and then lived in England, Canada, and France.

During her life, Goldman was lionized as a free-thinking “rebel woman” by admirers, and derided by critics as an advocate of politically motivated violence and anarchistic revolution. Her writing and lectures spanned a wide variety of issues, including prisons, atheism, freedom of speech, militarism, capitalism, marriage, free love, homosexuality, and gender politics. Following decades of obscurity, Goldman’s iconic status was revived in the 1970s, when feminist and anarchist scholars rekindled popular interest in her life.

Some quotables she left us with:

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Before we can forgive one another, we have to understand one another.

No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure.

All claims of education notwithstanding,
the pupil will accept only that which his mind craves.

Every daring attempt to make a great change in existing conditions, every lofty vision of new possibilities for the human race, has been labeled Utopian.

Idealists are foolish enough to throw caution to the winds.
They have advanced mankind and have enriched the world. 

The strongest bulwark of authority is uniformity;
the least divergence from it is the greatest crime.

The individual whose vision encompasses the whole world often feels nowhere so hedged in and out of touch with his surroundings as in his native land.

Heaven must be an awfully dull place if the poor in spirit live there.

Puritanism, in whatever expression, is a poisonous germ. On the surface everything may look strong and vigorous; yet the poison works its way persistently, until the entire fabric is doomed.

When we can’t dream any longer, we die.

Someone has said that it requires less mental effort
to condemn than to think.

The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of thought.

The most violent element in society is ignorance.

If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.

If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.

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Images: from archival police mug-shots of Emma Goldman taken in Philadelphia (1893) and Chicago (1901).

From the land of (don’t just) Nod…

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The best teacher I ever had

Mr. Whitson taught sixth-grade science. On the first day of class, he gave us a lecture about a creature called the cattywampus, an ill-adapted nocturnal animal that was wiped out during the Ice Age. He passed around a skull as he talked. We all took notes and later had a quiz.

When he returned my paper, I was shocked. There was a big red X through each of my answers. I had failed. There had to be some mistake! I had written down exactly what Mr. Whitson said. Then I realized that everyone in the class had failed. What had happened?

Very simple, Mr. Whitson explained. He had made up all the stuff about the cattywampus. There had never been any such animal. The information in our notes was, therefore, incorrect. Did we expect credit for incorrect answers?

Needless to say, we were outraged. What kind of test was this? And what kind of teacher?

We should have figured it out, Mr. Whitson said. After all, at the very moment he was passing around the cattywampus skull (in truth, a cat’s), hadn’t he been telling us that no trace of the animal remained? He had described its amazing night vision, the color of its fur and any number of other facts he couldn’t have known. He had given the animal a ridiculous name, and we still hadn’t been suspicious. The zeroes on our papers would be recorded in his grade book, he said. And they were.

Mr. Whitson said he hoped we would learn something from this experience. Teachers and textbooks are not infallable. In fact, no one is. He told us not to let our minds go to sleep, and to speak up if we ever thought he or the textbook was wrong.

Every class was an adventure with Mr. Whitson. I can still remember some science periods almost from beginning to end. One day he told us that his Volkswagon was a living organism. It took us two full days to put together a refutation he would accept. He didn’t let us off the hook until we had proved not only that we knew what an organism was but also that we had the fortitude to stand up for the truth.

We carried our brand-new skepticism into all our classes. This caused problems for the other teachers, who weren’t used to being challenged. Our history teacher would be lecturing about something, and then there would be clearings of the throat and someone would say “cattywampus.”

If I’m ever asked to propose a solution to the problems in our schools, it will be Mr. Whitson. I haven’t made any great scientific discoveries, but Mr. Whitson’s class gave me and my classmates something just as important: the courage to look people in the eye and tell them they are wrong. He also showed us that you can have fun doing it.

Not everyone sees the value in this. I once told an elementary school teacher about Mr. Whitson. The teacher was appalled. “He shouldn’t have tricked you like that,” he said. I looked that teacher right in the eye and told him that he was wrong.

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Thanks to Robert Nijssen for this retelling of a story by David Owen.

Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland

Tammy and bro-Phil have done it! Under perfect weather conditions (the dusting of snow from the night before had melted by the time they reached the 2000 meter plateau) all seven in their running group successfully finished the grueling Jungfrau Marathon. I had posted about the challenges of this spectacular race a week ago…

I guess maybe it’s time for me to start running again too… the last of the seven Marathons I have completed was in Melbourne, ten years ago this week. Is a decade long enough to rid the body of painful memories?  :-|

Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

It’s been a busy weekend for Ev and I, focused on the 8th WAVE Artists Studio Tour. The incredibly hot, sunny weather provided a perfect close to the summer, though was also likely responsible for the smaller-than-expected turnout of visitors (many no doubt chose the beach over art, given the dearth of hot days over the past few months in Manitoba). Feedback from the 130-or-so who did drop by Ev’s studio was enthusiastic and positive—the greatest value of this gig is the opportunity for personal interactions and garnering individual’s responses to the art.

Photo: the lovely Elfriede Richter (who once again served up platters of delectable dainties to all comers) with daughter Ev and The Vamp outside the What? studio on Saturday morning.

Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

There’s something about full-moon nights like this that make me oh-so-thankful to be living in such a wonderful place as Canada… if last night was a hint of things to come, our local coyotes will be serenading again (in exuberant, go-for-broke, multi-part harmony) around 03:00 or so…

Here’s a lovely tune by a truly fine Canadian chanteuse (finessing a piece written by the inimitable prairie-child, Joni Mitchell).

I guess that’s likely why this diagrammatic animation of a hyptotrochoid turns my crank… remember Denys Fisher’s spirograph?

France, and elsewhere…

Botanist Patrick Blanc builds engaging vertical forests and vegetal walls. I like the concept and the cooling effect in summer is undeniable (my own low-energy home in the woods has featured a vine-covered west-facing facade for nearly three decades—with strictly indigenous species however)… yet I’m not sure how practical and sustainable these would be in an urban setting. Still, I like what he’s doing and I do find it inspiring… see more here.

(thanks, Nola)

Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba

Ev has been busy preparing for the second round of the 8th WAVE Artists Studio Tour, a self-guided event that takes place this Saturday and Sunday (5 and 6 September). She’ll have a selection of recent sculptural works (like this, this, and this) on display, as well as new series of thrown vessels and assemblage jewelery. The Fishfly Gallery in Winnipeg Beach also has some of her works on display (like this and the piece shown above). If you are in Manitoba, please do drop by… if not, you can see more of Ev’s work at What? Clay Art & Curios.

Images above: Third Time Lucky (with detail), a figurative slab-built stoneware sculpture, finished with burnished steel low-fire glazes and iron oxide stain, with found porcelain hand and bifocal eyeglasses; 430mm x 230mm x 545mm high. Ev’s comment: “Beach safety is always top of mind when living in a lakeside community… combine this with the fear of myopic perspective and you have ready-made irony within reach.”