Frank Lloyd Wright - Genius

A while back I promised a re-visit to the campus of Florida Southern University, the core campus of which was designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  Probably like many of you, I know of Wright, have seen his books and photos of his works.  I even made it to Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona once only to find it closed for renovation.  But this visit to the Florida Southern campus with my buddy Punch a couple of weeks ago was the first time I have been able to immerse myself in one of his works.

It could hardly have been more perfect.  Early on a Sunday morning.  The campus to ourselves.  When we finally encountered a security guard, she stopped to tell us that the chapel was open and that we were welcome to go in.

I have to tell you, you cannot appreciate this man's genius until you visit one of his creations.  It takes control of your senses.  I found myself being lead as if through a ring in my nose... by my eyes.  Shadows and light.  Angles and focal points, all worked together to draw me ever deeper into the structures.  It was fascinating.

I have prepared a few photos (none of which do the place justice).  I hope you enjoy.

The main building.

Plazas, people spaces, beckon toward portals that promise enlightenment within.

The campus is connected by covered walks that, with their angles, overhang and ornate details, are a feast for the eyes as you walk about in a lush, green Florida environment.

Wright's trademark use of personal enclosure, tight dark spaces opening to bright, endless space is apparent everywhere.  The dynamics of space and light are amazing.  Sadly, the buildings are in need of serious repair, something the college is undertaking with limited funds.

Inside of the main chapel.  A riot of texture and light.

Are things as bad as they seem? Apparently not.

I remember, many years ago, standing in the middle of the great ball field at the Mayan ruins of Chitzen Itza, Mexico and trying to imagine being there in that time and place as those ancient warriors played a form of Lacrosse for their lives, literally, as the winning team's captain was sacrificed to the Gods, an honor for which they fought tooth and nail. 

I remember standing there, in that place, and musing on the brutality of sport in that time compared to the brutality of modern-day sports and how far mankind has progressed over the past three-thousand years or so.  Mind you, there are still plenty of barbaric sports around, even in Western society.  Football isn't all that sophisticated and Rugby seems to be only an excuse to fight legally in public.  Add to that a few other winners like boxing and hockey and the degradation of modern-day cage fighting and you have to wonder if things have changed all that much.



But then, there are some bright spots, like the banning in Spain of the most barbaric "sport" I have ever witnessed, bull fighting.

A spate of recent books, "including one by prominent Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker reveal dramatic reductions in war deaths, family violence, racism, rape, murder and all sorts of mayhem." according to an article in this morning's newspaper.

The facts seem to speak for themselves:  

• The number of people killed in battle - calculated per 100,000 population - has dropped by 1,000% over the centuries.  Before organized countries, battles killed on average 500 out of every 100,000 people.  In 19th century France, it was 70.  In the 20th century, with two world wars and a few genocides, it was 60.  Today, three-tenths of a person per 100,000.
• The rate of genocide deaths per world population was 1,400 times higher in 1942 than in 2008.
• Murder in European countries has fallen from 100 per 100,000 in the 14th and 15th centuries to about 1 per 100,000 now.

The reason given for this decline in violence?  Education!  Can you beat that?  Someone has finally figured out that the more educated people are the less likely they are to be violent.  The more educated they become the more tolerant they are, the more likely they are to be concerned about things like the environment and the betterment of mankind.

Damn, you learn something every day.

Post Cards from Mirror Lake. Wish you were here.

This past weekend was one of my semi-annual sojourns to God's Waiting Room and a visit with my old pal Punch.  The occasion of this journey was the Mirror Lake Classic, a concours/antique/new/hot-rod car and other stuff show in Lakeland, Florida.  I had never been to Lakeland, nor the Mirror Lake Classic, and was looking forward to a new adventure.  I wasn't disappointied.


The weather was perfect, the venue beautiful.

The show sprawls around the beautiful promenade of a small downtown lake, Mirror Lake, and spreads into downtown, taking up altogether, 14 city blocks.  Hundreds of cars are grouped by period and personality surrounded by a festival atmosphere.

Included is a small, but nice, classic boat show.

Did I mention there were cars at this show?

A bit of nostalgia.  A Triumph TR4, the car I drove while in college, only mine was red.  I was a married student with a child and we would place the kidling in a carry-all on a small shelf behind the seats.  If you did that today, you would be arrested and jailed for willfull neglect and child endangerment.

A prize winner.  Yankee great Honus Wagner's Chrysler 300.  The owner, in uniform, told me that the unrestored interior would remain that way because it has Honus' DNA in it.  I thought that was nice tribute from a true Yankee fan.

Downtown Lakeland was a beautiful venue.

A little pomp and circumstance as the hotel's waiters deliver lunch to the show's judges.  A nice touch, only I felt for the waiters who had to carry these trays about a half-mile from downtown, down the promenade, to the judges located on the lake.

Things that happen along the way.  An Hispanic coming-of-age ceremony in the gardens adjacent to the show.

On Sunday morning, we visited the campus of Florida Southern University, a  campus designed by world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  It was a spectacular complex that will be revisited in another post.

On the way back to Baja I encountered, in the middle of nowhere, one of those things that only happen in places like Florida, a menagerie of giant aluminum creatures of all sorts surrounded by thousands of pots, objects-de-art and bric-a-brac.  Lord, is my home state weird.

All-in-all a great weekend and a badly needed break.  The only thing that bothered me was that more and more, Punch and I no longer look out of place in God's Waiting Room.

Obama's Revenge

Yesterday I was in the doctor's office and happened to mention to the nurse that I was a guitarist. She asked, "Have you heard what happened to Gibson?" (Gibson Guitars, Inc.) "No, what?" I replied. "The IRS raided them and took all of their Rosewood," she said. "Why?" I asked. "Because they won't play ball with Obama," she elaborated. "They're a non-union shop and oppose his policies."

I let the subject drop for the moment but when I got home I Googled "Gibson" and "rosewood" to see what in the world she was talking about. It turns out that Gibson Guitars was raided by the government, but by the Justice Department, not the IRS. It seems that Gibson is guilty of buying protected Indian rosewood, the harvest and sale of which is illegal. The government claims that Gibson not only bought the endangered wood knowing it was illegal, but went so far as to send representatives to Madagascar to make arrangements for the illicit purchase with the unrecognized "government" who are harvesting and selling the wood in spite of international sanctions against it.

For those of you who may not know, rosewood is used in basically every guitar manufactured world-wide, as it's a favorite wood for use on fretboards and bridges. The other, even more rare, wood used is ebony. And you pay more for it.

You may ask yourself, as I did, how about the other guitar manufacturers? Why weren't they raided? The answer came from Charles Martin, Chair of Martin Guitar Co., who basically said they were offered the same deal by the Madagascans but refused because they knew it was illegal.

This is not the first time the Gibson factory has been raided. The first time was over two years ago, pre-Obama, during the Bush administration. So, I asked myself, where on earth did this woman get the idea that this event is somehow Obama's Revenge? How, or why, do people come up with this stuff?

A little more sleuthing and... you guessed it... Fox News. Fox News turned this whole thing into an editorial that laid the blame for this egregious violation of "Constitutional Rights" directly at the feet of Barak Obama.

Now here's the thing, Fox News is owned by... Rupert Murdoch, the demon butcher of Madison Avenue. Rupert Murdoch, an Australian, has done more to divide and harm our country than all of the Communist or Jihadist infiltrators combined.  

Why do we allow it?

0's and 1's still blow me away

Euthanasia... For Fun and Profit

Finally, a concept for humane euthanasia, the Euthanasia Coaster, a roller coaster designed to kill its passengers.

The perfect solution to the death penalty.  I'll bet they'll be lining up to go out with a bang!  And what a great spectator event.  Attendance to rival NASCAR.  Sensors could tell spectators the exact time of death and wagering would be intense, even more exciting than the horses.  The income from these babies could support the entire penal system, and it would be super-efficient.  Each client would be encapsulated in their own container that simply rolls off of the coaster and into the incinerator at the end of the run.  No muss, no fuss.  One less thug to terrorize society while providing their victims some entertainment to boot.  How can you beat that?

The Euthanasia Coaster was designed and made into a model by Julionas Urbonas, a PhD candidate at the Royal College of Art in London.  According to Urbonas, the concept is to take lives with, "elegance and euphoria."  The seven loops put the body under such stress that it causes the brain to be starved of oxygen so that everyone will go out euphoric and smiling.

I don't know about you, but I would die of fright after the first plunge.


Euthanasia Coaster from Julijonas Urbonas on Vimeo.

The Path To Success

What is 100%

MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:

 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:
H-A -R -D-W-O -R -K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

and 

K -N -O -W-L -E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5
= 96%

But ,

A-T -T -I -T -U -D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

And,

B -U -L -L -S -H-I -T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%

AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.

A-S -S -K -I -S-S -I -N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%
 

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty, that While Hard work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it’s Bullshit and Ass kissing that will put you over the top.