What's That You Shui?

 

With an increasing Asian population in Metropolitan Washington, I've been noticing for some time that the yard statuary of the past has taken on new forms. Lawn jockeys have given way to Buddahs and St. Francis has transformed into Fu Dogs.




There is one house I stumbled across in suburban Maryland that takes it's Feng Shui seriously. It started with a pair of oversized Fu Dogs then other embellishments appeared over time.





.....Fu dogs at the Imperial Palace, Forbidden City, Bejing

Fu (or Foo) Dogs are guardian lions considered mythical protetectors thathave traditionally stood in front of Chinese imperial palaces and emperors' tombs since the Han Dynasty of 206 B.C. The lions are presented in pairs. To the intruder's right is the male lion, with his right paw on a globe, representing his "feeling the pulse of the earth." To the intruder's left is the female lion, essentially identical in appearance, but playing with her cub at her law paw. The male of the pair is said to guard the structure, while the female protects those inside. Following the beliefs of Feng Shui, these dogs draw wealth and prosperity.  Quan Yin (or Kwan Yin) is a Goodess of Prosperity as well.  She is also a protector of mothers and children.




...small Fu dogs at the door. Two overscaled Quan Yin to the right.



I expect to see the Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol pulling up any day now with a door-sized check. If they don't? Fu YOU, Ed McMahon.

The Key To Aubrey Beardsley, Salomé & Me

 

I was driving home from work this evening, and I glanced down at my key ring, eyeing the skeleton key to the back door of my childhood home. I always get asked about this key due to it's size and obvious antiquity. When my parent's sold the first house I knew, the house I learned to walk in, I took the duplicate key to have a memento of my past. The writer Vladimir Nabokov wrote a book of his childhood memories called Speak, Memory. Later he was to say that while he told everything about himself in the book, it wasn't a very pleasant portrait. "All that chess and those butterflies. Not very interesting." Nabokov was haunted by his past. "The act of vividly recalling a patch of the past is something that I seem to have been performing with the utmost zest all of my life."

Staring at the key, remembering words I had written the other day about my upbringing and the strictness imposed by my parents (as opposed to my friends and their lives), the next thought in my head was "my bedroom door." How could I have forgotten that door? When I was 16 years old, I first learned of Aubrey Beardsley. I found a book about Art Nouveau in the library with a huge section devoted to Beardsley, his work and his life. I was immediately smitten with his black and white drawings with their sensuous lines and subject matter.

Beardsley did the bulk of the work that earned him fame in his early twenties. By age 25, he was dead of a lifelong struggle with tuberculosis. Aubrey Beardsley  Through work he did in art publications, he came to the attention of Oscar Wilde, and at age 21 he was asked to illustrate Wilde's Salomé, a joint venture that proved scandalous and almost became his profession ruin.

One day I returned home from school: it was autumn, and I remember retrieving a piece of lime green poster board that I had on hand, sitting down with a felt marker, and drawing Beardsley's "The Climax," from the Salomé book, with no pencilling in or guide.  In retrospect, it's bizzare that I wouldn't wait until I could purchase white paper, but the lime green was all that I had available, and the image had to come out.  I had this overwhelming feeling that I could draw it.  No doubts.  My hand was steady.  I worked without a net.

In retrospect how odd for a Washington, D.C. school girl to have such a strong reaction to these fin de siècle images, that I could reproduce one without reference or outline. It was almost as if I were channeling this coughing aesthete. It is moments like this that drive people to analyze the creative process. Where did it come from? I only remember this overwhelming understanding of technique and knowing I could do it. It went beyond knowing I could do it, into knowing I had to do it. Obviously the work had sounded something deep inside me, to the point I knew these drawings with my entire being. The drawing was a success. My friends demanded that I show the school art teachers. Within a day or two of completing the drawing, I stopped at an art supply store on my way home, bought black enamel paint in small bottles and several finely feathered sable brushes.

This part stands out in time. I arrived home, changed clothes, and I began painting this same image of Salomé onto my bedroom door. I did not discuss it with my parents. I did not seek permission. I just painted. I remember this very distinctly, as well. If you study the image, I can tell you I began painting from the upper left corner, which was highly stylized clouds, and I worked down the painting from an angle, always working from an angle, into the southeast portion of the picture. You can't see the detail from the image I secured, but there are many tiny dots around Salomé's head, and many minute hatch marks along the edge of water that curves into the sky. It took me about two weeks, all told, to complete the work. It wasn't easy. It was the first time I had ever had to paint upright, and the door wasn't coming off it's hinges. It couldn't be tilted at an angle to ease the control of the brush. I had to contort my body to adapt to the work. I didn't even think to remove the door, to be honest. I told my friends about my project, they came by, then they told other friends, and it became a pilgrimage for people to be knocking on the door asking if they could see the work in progress. During all of this time my parents never uttered one negative word about what I was up to. Given the subject matter, Salomé holding John the Baptist's head, in my very religious parent's home, I can't believe they reacted the way that they did. Parents can surprise you. The painting remained and wasn't even painted over when the house was shown for sale. The house stands. I am sure the painting is long gone, but the memory isn't.



....The Climax, from Salomé by Aubrey Beardsley

 

 

 

 

***  Remember:  You can also find Washington Cube at:

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Kickin' Wit Da Peeps

This past weekend, I introduced a new acquaintance to a group of my friends. During the course of general conversation, where he was being given a mishmash of friendship history, the word "peeps" came up, and one of my friends said "Have you told him about "The Peeps?" Uh...no I had not, but I did. This isn't exactly the kind of thing you want to dump on someone new, but he was amused and asked to hear more.

I suppose it began one Spring when I asked my brother to drop by with his chainsaw as I had a dead dogwood branch that needed taking out. I had made up an Easter basket, and with the other candies I had tucked (for tradition's sake) some Peeps. If you don't know what a Peep is, it is that tiny pastel colored chick made of marshmallow, and it's the kind of thing that begs to be tossed, batted, mangled or tortured...anything but consumed.

         MARSHMALLOW PEEPS®: Welcome to the official website of   MARSHMALLOW PEEPS®

             

 

                 

After having successfully defined "peeps", The Peeps  research "peep show."

A pink Peeps went outside with us, and I took a picture of my brother chainsawing it. I left another one in a tree where the squirrels ignored it until time and weather finally had their way with it.

           

When I showed my friends the picture of the chainsawed Peeps, they loved it, and Peep fever took over.  Shortly after this, our group was invited to another friend's wedding in Philadelphia and Peeps went with us.  Peeps visited the Liberty Bell, Freedom Plaza, Rodin's statue of "The Thinker," and they even went in a bar where they drank martinis and got drunk.  Right behind this, my friend Tony went to Key West and yes, Peeps were packed for their holiday in the sun. Beach, more booze and birds:

 

 

           

 

 

 

     

 

 

   "I got so wasted on Duval Street. I kept doing Chicken Drops all

   night."  (part Jager, part peach schnapps, part orange juice)

For a while I went off on a real trail of weirdness and did experiments with Peeps which mainly consisted of me blowing them up in the microwave:


                     

Others have taken it much further:

 

http://www.peepresearch.org/vacuum.html    Peeps, Smoking & Alcohol

               

                          Peeps kicking ash

I suppose it's true of any group of friends--you'll go off on weird little tangents, do playful things, have little inside jokes. Frankly, until they were mentioned the other night, I had forgotten all about Peeps. Luckily, our newest group member had a good sense of humor, and he enjoyed the stories and even begged for some pictures. So new peep....and Peeps...this page is for you:

                  

                   ...and you thoughtI'd forgotten about you.

 

 

 

***  Remember:  You can also find Washington Cube at:

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I Pledge Allegiance To The PA System

Guest Blogger:  T-Square      

 

 

  

     The Little Boy, Second From The Left, Needs To Work On It. 

                              It Is Not:  Left-Hand, Throat.

 

 We know that there has been a controversy over the Pledge of Allegiance since the added changes back in 1954. The words "under God" were included to distance ourselves from the Communist nations at that time, in particular, Russia. We also know that those two words have since become a dividing point in the Nation regarding separation of Church and State, but now I have something new to add to the mix.

First, some background: I work in a Washington, D.C. public elementary school, and it has a wonderful racial and cultural blend in the student population and the faculty. Every school morning after all of the students have settled down in their homerooms, the daily announcements are read over the Public Address (PA) system. The procedure is to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with all of the students in the class standing up, facing the flag, with their right hand over their heart. The announcer leads the school in the recitation of the Pledge, and when they come to the end "...with liberty and justice for all," the announcer then says "Please sit down." At that point, my first grade class invariably follows along in unison, and without fail they say "Please sit down," too.

As these students go through life, will they forever believe that "Please sit down" is part of the Pledge of Allegiance?

 

 

 

***  Remember:  You can also find Washington Cube at:

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Lonely Guy Night At Local 16

        

         Is It Proper For A Gentleman To Ask A Lady If She Blogs???

 

 

An acquaintance of mine answered the call to all wallflowers made by KathrynOn, to attend a blogger Happy Hour at Local 16 last night. He told me he searched the crowd for the D.C. scene, but all he saw was a large group from Amnesty International having some kind of "whoop-dee-do." He also said he scanned the crowd and checked out the rooftop, but no Kathryn to be found. He had a beer, put his tail between his legs, and left.

"I could have asked people "Are you a blogger," but I didn't. "I did approach one group of women who walked by, but I'm sure they thought I was hitting on them." I said, "Are you bloggers?" (How's that for a pickup line?)" ... I told him I thought it made him sound like a pervert.

 

 

 

 

 

***  Remember:  You can also find Washington Cube at:

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Conversation With Drew: Fender Schematics, Siberian Throat Singers, Porn, Absinthe & Blogs

I was talking in instant message to my friend Drew* the other day, and I realized later what an odd turn our conversations usually took. I've been told I'm "eclectic," (I call it "polymathic"), and I am starting to see how this reflects back in my writing and conversations. I had asked for his help a few days earlier when I was trying to print out a schematic for a Fender Vibro-Champ amp:

              

http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/schem/champ_vibro_aa764_schem.gif

This was an end of the workday thing, and Drew came through in record time with producing what I needed. In gratitude, I wanted to send him a small thank you gift for his troubles, and I remembered an earlier conversation we had when I told him about the Siberian throat singers, in particular a punk band called Yat Kha from the Siberian province of Tuva.

Yat-kha, Albert Kuvezin Tuvan throat singing punk band. New 2005 Album "Re-Covers" released June 13th


               

Drew immediatedly grokked their music, and he was particularly taken with the song "Chorumal Bodum" on the cd Aldyn Dashka. There are mp3 soundbites on the link above if your ears are up to it. I spent the next day at Tower Records looking for this cd, but none were to be had. When I got home and started a Amazon search for it, I learned it's not available and probably out of print, so I sent him my copy, then I turned around and ordered a used copy for myself.** They've got a new cd out now with covers by groups like Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks" (timely), and "Orgasmatron," by Motorhead.

When I asked Drew today if he had received the cd, he said "Indeed! I'm ripping it now, so I can put it in my cell phone. Can you imagine the ringer?" He told me he had one friend that he couldn't wait to play it for: an acoustic engineer and audio savant...which lead to how this guy could find anything...which lead to absinthe. Drew has been fixated on the whole culture and history behind absinthe for about a year now. Last year at Christmas I gave him an absinthe spoon in preparation for his indulging in the liquor. For those few who don't know, the drinking of absinthe is almost as ritualistic as a Japanese tea ceremony. There are special implements which are used in the melting of the sugar cube over the glass with a slotted spoon to allow the sugar to drip into the drink, altering it's appearance. absinthe history: Absinthe Buyers Guide

People actively seek out as collectibles the different styles of glasses and spoons that were popular in France during the height of the absinthe drinking craze. Absinthe is green in color, it's nickname is L'Heure Verte, or The Green Hour, and it's been illegal in this country for some time. When water is added over the sugar cube, the mixture becomes an opalescent white with a tint of green, and this effect is called "louche." As I said, the spoons have become collector's items, and they have their own names and styles. I gave Drew the more traditional Feuille spoon. He had been trying to acquire a bottle of absinthe via a friend in the Czech Republic, but his friend received a notice back via the postal authorities that basically said "tsk, tsk...that's illegal." *** Drew's efforts continue. The "Feuille" spoon:

           


I told him if he ever did go to Europe and acquire a bottle, to bring me a bottle of Creme de Violette which is equally hard to obtain. This is basically a liqueur made of violets, colored purple, and for some reason extremely popular during the height of the cocktail age in the 1920's and '30's. I only learned of it when I was talking to another friend (thank you, Kathy) about a cocktail book she had inherited that dated from 1937 where Creme de Violette recipes abounded. One of the better known cocktails using this ingredient is the Blue Moon which consists of 2 ounces of gin, 1/2 ounce of creme de violette and 1/4 ounce of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Another popular cocktail is the Jupiter which is 1 teaspoon of orange juice, 1 teaspoon of Creme de Violette, 3/4 ounces of vermouth and 1 1/2 ounces of gin. I've been meaning to check with Pearson's to see if they can import a bottle, as they once tracked down a bottle of honey liqueur from Germany for me. Benoit Serres


                                 

Drew told me he was multi-tasking: listening to Yat Kha, chatting with me, reading my blog comments, watching soft porn strippers and loading the cd into his phone...then he added "Oh yeah--and defragmenting my hard drive." (I let the obvious go when I didn't add a comeback for his hard drive and the soft porn.) Then he told me a joke: "How many ADD children does it take to change a light bulb?" Answer: "Wanna go ride bikes?" I later told this joke to a friend of mine in San Francisco, and he said "How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?" Answer: "That's not funny."

Drew then added, "You GOTTA love a website that streams porn score audio. Just the music. None of the grunts. Bow chica wow wow." fluffertraX premium adult sound

Which lead me to speculate if there is such a career as a "text fluffer." Drew told me once he was in a crowded airport lobby when he heard "Shut Your Fucking Face, Uncle Fuckah," from the South Park movie, as an instrumental-only ringer coming from someone's phone. "I glanced up quickly when I realized what the song was and caught the same hysterical expression that I must have made on the faces of about 12 other people who also recognized it and were both shocked and amused. Imagine hearing that in an airport." I told him about the time I heard "Electric Aunt Jemima", a Frank Zappa composition, in a grocery store musak system.

Drew started critiquing the porn he was viewing. "Some of these hotties are da bomb, but others? Ummm...can't you like...I dunno...eat a salad or two first?" He wondered what quirk would attract men to view women who tan on bottom, but have tan lines up top. He thought it was too random and weird. I told him of my contention that there was a fetish for everything and immediately found him a website devoted to just that type of tanning. He said "Now THAT makes me giggle."

All of the music talk had lead me to ask him how you would drop music into a blog site, and he found this very interesting tutorial which I'm passing on to you:

Embedding Sound in Web Pages, Part I: The EMBED Tag - Doc JavaScript

Today I received a nice email from Drew showing me another link that discusses additional elements to consider such as radio, RSS feeds, etc., and here is the link on "Building a Better Blog," courtesy of Drew: eLink-In Focus-Issue 80

He finished off by telling me about a powdered drink called "Ginger Drink" at the World Market out in Bethesda. It's from Indonesia, and Drew thought it would aid my cold and sore throat. So you see...we went full circle...from Siberian throat singers to sore throats.****

_________________________

* Drew, Hooters Lunch, 8/17/05

** Drew has since told me the cd is available at Yat Kha's website, and he has ordered other copies.

*** Addendum on the absinthe shipment from his friend: His friend says, "The package is now sitting on my desk in Prague. It made it all the way to Phoenix, where some imbecile decided that since it's against (company's name omitted) policy to deliver alcohol, that instead they would send it to me, internationally." His friend says he now has to come to Prague to get it, and Drew said, "I promised when I flew over, that we would drink so much, that we'd both be able to fly home first class, for only a little more than the price of a legendary hangover."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

***  Remember:  You can also find Washington Cube at:

Washington Cube     http://washingtoncube.blogspot.com/

 

Somewhere In D.C.

When I was out photographing another D.C. oddity, I saw this in my peripheral vision, did a u-turn and swerved around to capture it. I have a certain fascination with the little tributes people establish in their yards.

Studying this grotto combining the Virgin Mary with Santa Claus and candy canes, I couldn't decide if the owners were: 1) incredibly lazy (why take it down and put it up again for the holidays?); 2) they were somehow honoring the Virgin Birth with the more secular aspects of Christmas; or 3) they are way ahead of the curve.

P.S. They also have two flanking pink flamingos with a row of tulips, so who knows what base that covers.

 

      

 

 

 

***  Remember:  You can also find Washington Cube at:

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