Welcome Back (Again) John Greenleaf Whittier

A rather extraordinary individual, in addition to being a tremendous poet, John Greenleaf Whittier seems to have sadly disappeared from the public school curriculum. (Full disclosure: Though to be fair, I am unclear as to how significant a part of it he ever was.) Despite being beloved by a who's who of American poets (as evidenced by guest list of attendees at his seventieth birthday dinner in 1877: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mark Twain, and Oliver Wendell Holmes), the poet's name draws only blank stares from students when asked about his works, though I would venture to guess in the New England region he is much more well-regarded (and remembered).

My introduction to the works of Whittier was through an assignment given to my students last year. Each student was assigned an American literary movement and genre. Along with general information such as relative dates, each student was also supplied with the names of relatively familiar representative authors. For those assigned the Fireside Poets, a Northeast regional sub-genre, Whittier was one of those suggested starting point for research. Wikipedia notes that while Whittier was "[H]ighly regarded in his lifetime and for a period thereafter, he is now remembered for his poem 'Snow-Bound'..." I vividly recall students' having a difficult time finding much background information that was not clearly form a single source. I had asked students to used resources from the library as well, and while our school librarians were more than willing to assist in digging through the meager collection of poetry books available ion site, the actual hard cover sources where limited to a dusty anthology which included a single poem.

Just as his spirit was briefly conjured in my upstate New York classroom a number of year's ago, Thanksgiving gives me an opportunity to all on John Greenleaf Whittier once again. Given the subject matter, Whittier's popular poem, "The Pumpkin," lacks the political bent of his more renowned abolitionist works, but through its simple, accessible images of comfirting pumpkin pie shares with "Snow-Bound" the purpose of showing how the idyllic past can be brought briefly to the present.


Sources:
Poets.org
Poemhunter.com
Wikipedia

Holiday Flick: Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

My introduction to the world of Rare Exports came two years ago when I  happened upon a film short entitled Rare Exports Inc. (2003), and its sequel Rare Exports: The Official Safety Instructions (2005). Produced and directed by Norwegian filmmakers Jalmari and Juuso Helander, both were produced as faux documentaries, and collaboratively contributed to developing a mythos around the exportation "distinguished, extremely rare products" to faraway countries from the wilds of Lapland (Finland).

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) is the full-length fantasy film directed by Jalmari Helander that takes elements from both and develops them into a singular  origin story of sorts for the company's product about whom the earlier two "infomercials" are made. Set near the Korvatunturi mountain, Rare Exports tells of a young boy who inadvertently discovers the secret behind the "real" Santa Claus.

The film focuses on a group of local reindeer herders whose Christmas is disturbed by excavations on the mountain. A scientist has ordered a team of workers to dig open what he calls "the largest burial mound in the world". An explosive used by the team uncovers what is referred to as a "sacred grave". However, the occupant of the grave is still alive. Soon, the reindeer important to the local people are mysteriously killed, and children and supplies begin to disappear from the town. It emerges that the occupant is the source of the original Santa Claus myth; a supernatural being who, rather than rewarding good children, punishes the naughty. One family, however, manages to catch the culprit in a trap, and plans to sell it to the scientist to cover the losses caused by his excavation.

Jorma Tommila and Onni Tommila.

Tonally, the film deftly shifts from being a tale of a hard-working community suffering through financial times in the holiday season to a horror-noir. The soundtrack by Juri Seppä and Miska Seppä provides subtle auditory transitions, while never jerking the viewer out of the film experience. If the marketing of the film weren't so holiday-themed, the surprises and twists (of which there are a few) might carry even greater impact. The beautiful cinematography by Mika Orasmaa, as well as the superb performances by Jorma Tommila and Onni Tommila, as the father and son, respectively, at the center of the story, lend this movie an eerie mid-Eighties Spielberg-Carpenter vibe. Touching, scary, and beautifully rendered, this holiday-horror-fantasy does something extremely unique (at least in my experience) in recent film: it begs to be re-watched.

In a more discerning world, Rare Exports would find its way to becoming a cult-Christmas favorite, so help get that ball rolling by watching it on direct stream via Amazon Prime this holiday season!

Never a good idea to tease "Santa" with a gingerbread man cookie!

Sources:
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale Wikipedia Entry

Roadie: Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC

Arriving before the crowds, we quickly gained entrance. (8/31/14)

Last weekend, while returning my stepson to Columbia University for  his sophomore year, my wife and I found ourselves with some free time and used it to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Anne and I went into the experience fully aware that we would be hard pressed to see even a portion part of the museum's extensive collections in the 3 hours we had set aside to tour. The weather in New York City that day was especially humid, and with the building being air conditioned, we also recognized the likelihood of many others seeking to be both nourished by the art and to escape the heat. These factors (time and attendance did nothing to hamper our enjoyment f the pieces we did get to see, and further increased our desire to return for some other exhibits when we go back for Parents' Weekend in October.

The wide array of requires that each person's tour of the museum to be an individualized one--it would be impossible to meaningfully walk the entirety of the Met in a single walk through. For today's trip, in addition to the Delaware painting, I hoped to see the collection of European armor as well as whatever else we could take in.

As artistic movements reflect the development of cultures as well as the ebb and flow of history, the Met is as much what one would think of as a historical museum as an art one. Despite being on a mission to see Washington Crossing the Delaware, much of our time was spent wandering exhibits that, while influential on the development of the United States and Americans, could not rightly be considered the products of either. What follows are some pictures we took of just a small portion of what we had a chance to see on our first trip to the Met. In many cases, rather than try to capture the image on film, we chose to simply take it in. Once again, much of the factual information is from Wikipedia.

No admission is required a $25 donation is suggested; the donation cost is well worth it.

The Temple of Dendur. (8/31/14)

The Temple of Dendur is an Egyptian temple that was built by the Roman governor of Egypt, Petronius, around 15 BC and dedicated to Isis, Osiris, as well as two deified sons of a local Nubian chieftain, Pediese ("he whom Isis has given") and Pihor ("he who belongs to Horus"). The temple was commissioned by Emperor Augustus of Rome and has been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1978.

The Temple of Dendur interior. (8/31/14)

From the Arms and Armor collection. (8/31/14)

From the Arms and Armor collection. (8/31/14)

From the Arms and Armor collection. (8/31/14)

Sallet in the shape of a lion's head.(8/31/14)

The sallet was a war helmet that replaced the bascinet in Italy, western and northern Europe and Hungary during the mid-15th century. In Italy, France and England the armet helmet was also popular, but in Germany the sallet became almost universal.

The eggplant samurai helmet from the Arms and Armor collection.(8/31/14)

The statuary at the entrance to the American Wing. (8/31/14)

Part of The American West in Bronze collection. (8/31/14)

Part of The American West in Bronze collection. (8/31/14)

Part of The American West in Bronze collection. (8/31/14)

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View of NYC across Central Park from the Roof Garden. (8/31/14)

Close-up of Hercules with Beard. (8/31/14)

After a fantastic tour through just a floor-and-a-half of only the Northern half of the building(!), we look forward to returning soon to check out more.

Roadie: Lower Manhattan, NYC

The East Coast Memorial in Battery Park, New York. (8/29/14)

Delivering my stepson back to Columbia University for his sophomore year created a great opportunity for my wife and I to check out some touristy, historic locales in lower Manhattan. As often proves to be the case, my wife Anne was very knowledgeable about the historical significance and background of many of the places, all of which I had not previously been to.

Granite pylons bearing names of fallen
American soldiers. (8/29/14)

Except where otherwise noted, the details and information included in this post are pulled directly from Wikipedia entries. Fortunately, while we were touring, Anne shared many of these historical anecdotes and stories to make the visit more meaningful. My inability to properly capture what she shared (as well as my desire not to be inaccurate) lead me to use Wikipedia.

The East Coast Memorial, pictured above and below, is a World War II war memorial in Battery Park, New York City. The memorial commemorates U.S. servicemen who died in coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean during World War II. A total of 4,609 names are inscribed on both sides of eight 19-foot-tall granite pylons. The pylons are arranged in two rows of four each. Between the two rows stands a bronze statue of an eagle, erected on a black granite pedestal. The eagle faces the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor.

The eagle statue was created by Albino Manca, an Italian-born sculptor. (8/29/14)

Another of the impressive statues in Battery Park is The Immigrants by Luis Sanguino. The sculpture is located at the south end of the Eisenhower Mall in Battery Park near Castle Clinton, which served as a processing facility for newly arrived immigrants from 1855 to 1890, when construction began on a larger, more remote facility at nearby Ellis Island.

The Immigrants in Battery Park. (8/29/14)

Sculptor Luis Sanguino (b. 1934) celebrates the diversity of New York City and the struggle of immigrants in this heroic-sized bronze figural group. The sculpture depicts figures of various ethnic groups and eras, including an Eastern European Jew, a freed African slave, a priest, and a worker. The figures’ expressive poses emphasize the struggle and toil inherent in the experience of the immigrant or dislocated person. (Credit: NYC Battery Park Website)

Close-up from front of The Immigrants in Battery Park. (8/29/14)

Bowling Green is a small public park in Lower Manhattan at the foot of Broadway next to the site of the original Dutch fort of New Amsterdam. Built in 1733, originally including a bowling green, it is the oldest public park in New York City and is surrounded by its original 18th century fence. Bowling Green Fence and Park is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

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New York Landmark signage at Bowling Green fence. (8/29/14)

In 1773, the city passed an anti-graffiti and anti-desecration law to counter vandalism against the monument. A protective cast-iron fence, which still stands, was built along the perimeter of the park. On July 9, 1776, after the Declaration of Independence was read to Washington's troops at the current site of City Hall, local Sons of Liberty rushed down Broadway to Bowling Green, where they toppled the statue. The fence post finials of cast-iron crowns on the protective fence were sawed off, with the saw marks still visible today. The event is one of the most enduring images in the city's history.

It is still possible to feel the grooves where the cast iron
crowns were sawed off! (8/29/14)

The iconic New York Stock Exchange facade... 'nuff said! (8/29/14)

Trinity Church, at 75 Broadway in lower Manhattan, is a historic, active, well-endowed parish church in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Trinity Church is near the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway, in New York City, New York.

Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. (8/29/14)

Trinity Church. (8/29/14)

Trinity Church has three sets of impressive bronze doors conceived by Richard Morris Hunt. These date from 1893 and were produced by Karl Bitter(east door), J. Massey Rhind (south door) and Charles Henry Niehaus (north door). The doors were a gift from William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astorin memory of John Jacob Astor III. The north and east door each consist of six panels from Church history or the Bible and the south door depicts the history of New York in its six panels.

The North Door of Trinity Church. (8/29/14)

One of three burial grounds closely associated with Trinity Church. The Trinity Churchyard, at Wall Street and Broadway, in which Alexander Hamilton, Robert Fulton, ands John Watts, among others, are buried.

The Trinity Churchyard. (8/29/14)

The final resting place of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. (8/29/14)

Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757 – July 12, 1804) was a founding father of the United States, chief of staff to General George Washington, one of the most influential interpreters and promoters of the U.S. Constitution, the founder of the nation's financial system, and the founder of the first American political party.

The tomb of Robert Fulton. (8/29/14)

Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was a colonial American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat. In 1800, he was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to design the Nautilus, which was the first practical submarine in history. He is also credited with inventing some of the world's earliest naval torpedoes for use by the British Royal Navy.

John Watts grave at Trinity Churchyard. (8/29/14)

John Watts (August 27, 1749 New York City - September 3, 1836) was an American lawyer and politician from New York City who represented New York in the U.S. House.

Anne, Queen of Great Britain, increased the parish's land holdings to 215 acres (870,000 m2) in 1705. Later, in 1709, William Huddleston founded Trinity School as the Charity School of the church, and classes were originally held in the steeple of the church. In 1754, King's College (now Columbia University) was chartered by King George II of Great Britain and instruction began with eight students in a school building near the church.

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Ironically, we conclude our tour of lower Manhattan with a nod to where our day began: at the original site of what would become the Columbia University where we left Gregory to acquaint himself with his new dorm room just a few hours earlier.

Amer-OAR-can Gothic

Last week, I posted an example of a graphic "allusion" to my passion du jour, George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, in an Angie's List mailer. Upon further review, I believe I chose the incorrect term to suggest what was happening. While I claimed "allusion," the cover art can better be described as an example of "appropriation." This subtle distinction is... uh... appropriate as the source which was being referenced (an iconic image associated with the television show) was graphic, rather than textual, in nature.

According to Wikipedia: "Appropriation in art is the use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them... Appropriation can be understood as 'the use of borrowed elements in the creation of a new work.'" Armed with this new information, when I came across another example, one generated from a quip to my students and to be shared more formally on the next A Day, I am glad to have the correct language with which to explain.

Another Term of the Day I shared with my high school English classes recently was "Gothic." While a term they had been introduced earlier in the year while reading representative selections from both English and American literary movements, in an effort to find relevant grammar/literary terms for sharing on "G Days" (it's a somewhat complicated A through J school day rotation schedule), it seemed a more interesting class starter than "Gerund."

American Gothic (1930) by Grant Wood and cover to the 2013 Princeton 3-Mile Chase Regatta program.

In passing, the title to Grant Wood's familiar painting, American Gothic, came to me and I inquired if students were familiar with the painting. Though none could recall it by name, once I described the image of the rural American farmer in overalls with pitchfork and his dour-looking wife, more than a few hands went into the air. American Gothic by Grant Wood is one of the most familiar images in 20th-century American art. It has also been widely parodied and appropriated within American popular culture, earning I high level of visual recognition.

This past October, my stepson rowed in the Princeton 3-Mile Chase Regatta on Lake Carnegie in New Jersey. Unfortunately, work commitment precluded my going, but my wife did take the trip and returned with the event flyer. As fate would have it, the flyer featured an appropriation of American Gothic for it's cover. in  addition to a more minimalist depiction (and slightly more positive expressions on the two primaries' faces), the most signification (and appropriate) alteration was the replacement of the pitchfork with A Princeton Tigers "blade."

The layers of influence on our culture, whether "allusion" in novels, "appropriation" in art or even "sampling" in music, is dense and multi-layered. As always, however, the mantra I repeat to my students suggests how we can limit or open our analysis to observing these strategies at play: The more deeply and broadly you are read, the more these nods and influences will reveal themselves to you!

The "Mountain Dew" Mystery Exposed!

Last evening while correcting papers I was listening to my Bluegrass Station on Pandora and a tune performed by Roger Sprung, Hal Wylie and The Progressive Bluegrassers came on. Though I had not heard the song previously, upon hearing the chorus, synapses began crackling and dots started connecting and a few random thoughts came into focus. The song entitled "Mountain Dew" made me think immediately of the sugary sweet soda beverage favored by many of my students.

Some key lyrics were later found on the Scoutsongs.com Virtual Songbook:

They call it that good old mountan dew,
And them that refuse it are few.
I'll hush up my mug if you'll fill up my jug,
With that good old mountain dew.

Why in the world would the carbonated beverage share the same name as this old bluegrass classic (performed in the clip above by The Stanley Brothers)?

After listening intently to the song a second time, I recalled a recent visit to the local supermarket during which time I had taken note of  a soft drink display of recently released "throwback" cans. I further recollected that on the Mountain Dew throwback packaging was depicted what can best be described as a "hillbilly" holding a "moonshine" jug. As is often the case, Wikipedia filled in the gaps.

Come to find out that the name "mountain dew," first trademarked by Ally and Barney Hartman in the 1940s, was coined from a colloquial term for moonshine whiskey. That is why early bottles and signage carried the reference forward by showing a cartoon-stylized mountaineer or or, as I saw it, hillbilly. In recent years, the marketing has changed significantly to attract a younger, and presumably more spendthrift, demographic.

Now, what was previously deemed unhip (the hillbilly logo), is ironically cool again by virtue of his (its?) being old. In an age of affection for all things nostalgic, images, products and just plain "things" that are dubbed "throwbacks" (the same lingo applied to the reissue of out-of-date sports jerseys), are once again desireable--in a way, everything old really is new again.

Well, that and apparently there is not much of a market for non-alcoholic moonshine among most older mountain folk.