2016 January 24

The cover of Objects of Fantasy (discogs) made me think to use strangers’ faces from my photographs as artistic elements.

No EHSQ. A full fast day, only broth and multivitamin.

Photos: Snow on my block (1760–61). Moon over Bruson (1762–65). Hatted customer through the Food Dynasty window (1766). Obstructed 76th St. (1767). Obstructed 78th St. (1768–69).

My block is closed to through traffic due to accumulated snow. Went out shopping the day after the blizzard and nearly every place was open despite the obstructive snow everyplace. I was jumping and running on the sidewalk and pavement snow and probably enjoying myself more than I should have been. I was not quick enough to photograph a cute East Asian man kneeling to photograph a female friend who was kneeling in an odd snow alcove on the curb in front of Z & M Laundromat. I photographed the floor work going on in DM, and the worker or manager or owner standing in the photos was the same one shouting unreasonably loudly into his mobile at another point. I bought rubbing alcohol, light bulbs, a flashlight and a magnifying glass. (I already own a flashlight but couldn’t find it anywhere.)

Photos: Blurry men shoveling snow between 77th and 78th streets who stopped doing anything interesting right when I started taking pictures, and it was too cold to wait for more (1770). Paper‐plate art on the wall of Mario’s Pizzeria, 77‒09 (1771–72). More of obstructed 76th St. (1773–74). Gaggle of slender attractive gay men passing the Bruson Building, one of whom slipped but didn’t fall (1775–76). Somewhat handsome man in front of DR (1777–78). More moody snow photos on my block (1779–82).

Post

🌳 A picture of an almond tree in the Land of Israel, in honor of the Jewish New Year of the Trees (ראש השנה לאילנות‎). …

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Commentary thereon

– The caption is simply “Almond. Amygdalus communis.” It doesn’t specify what specific place in the Land of Israel is being depicted in the woodcut. (→)

– No, in 1841, it was part of Damascus Eyalet, which was subdivided into sanjaks of Jerusalem, Safet, Gaza etc. (→)

– I have my share of ailments, but nothing modern medicine and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act can’t handle. 🙂

– Alan, please don’t use my pretty illustration to spread misinformation about Israel that originates with fanatically religious right‐wing Islamists who want to see Israel eradicated. There is no ethnic cleansing, there are no concentration camps. Life can be a bit tough with the checkpoints and all, but Israel must protect her citizens against terror. Before the barrier wall went up, there were bus bombings every few weeks. The Palestinian Arabs can get an independent sovereign country for the first time in world history if only Israel had a partner with whom to negotiate, because Ḥamas refuse to negotiate and Fataḥ reward and praise terrorists.

– Oh, and I see you’re mean too.

– The caption is simply “Almond. Amygdalus communis.” It doesn’t specify what spot in the Land of Israel is being depicted in the woodcut. The artist isn’t even credited and I’m curious to know who it was.

Commentary

(on a photo in a closed group) – The resemblance is more striking when the headphone photo is rotated and flipped.

(on Julie Thomas’ link in Atheist Jews) – Mmm, shrimp and homosexuality are both delicious. Who could abstain?

(on a public‐domain illustration I posted in a closed group) – The caption is simply “Almond. Amygdalus communis.” It doesn’t specify what specific place in the Land of Israel is being depicted in the woodcut. (→)

– No, in 1841, it was part of Damascus Eyalet, which was subdivided into sanjaks of Jerusalem, Safet, Gaza etc. (→)

Wiki activity

(“Jack Frost,” Public Domain Super Heroes) Added multiple literary appearances, origin information and a note about conflation with other characters.

… is a personification of frost and cold weather that …

A number of public‐domain stories depict Jack Frost as being responsible for the change of leaf color in autumn. He dispatches fairies to transport a precious gift, but they waste time along the way, and so the gold and gems, which the fairies had left in the treetops, accidentally melt in the sun and change the colors of the leaves to browns, golds and reds.Jack likes the result so much he decides to do it annually.

• “The Frost,” Poems, by Hannah Flagg Gould, 1832. (Internet Archive)

• “The Cultivator Thus Speaks of the Change of Color,” Student and Schoolmate, vol. 25, no. 2, Feb. 1870. Mentions the belief that Jack Frost changes leaf colors. (Internet Archive)

• “The Frost Fairies,” Birdie and His Fairy Friends: A Book for Little Children, by Margaret T. Canby, 1873. Jack Frost is a king who, one autumn, dispatches his “frost fairies” to bring a gift of gold and gems to Santa Claus, but the fairies waste too much time playing along the way, and so the gold and gems, which had been left in the treetops, melt in the sun and change the colors of the leaves. Jack likes the result so much he decides to do it every year. (Reproduced online)

• … vol. 1, no. 2, … (Internet Archive) …

• “The Frost King,” by Helen Keller, The Mentor, vol. 2, no. 1, Jan. 1892. In a retelling of Canby’s story (above), Jack is a king (“King Frost”) whose household fairies allow his gift of gems to accidentally melt in the sun and thus inspire him to change the color of leaves every autumn. (Internet Archive)

• “Editorial Notes” (on the plagiarism controversy), The Mentor, vol. 2, no. 3, Mar. 1892. (Internet Archive)

• “The Pretty Pictures,” The Prize Poetical Speaker …, 1901. (Internet Archive) …

• “Another Santa Claus,” by Emma Bolenius, American Motherhood, vol. 35, no. 6, Dec. 1912. (Google Books)

• Mrs. Santa Claus, Militant: A Christmas Comedy, by Bell Elliott Palmer, 1914. After Mrs. Santa Claus steals Mr. Santa Claus’ sleigh one Christmas Eve, he catches up to her by getting a ride in Jack Frost’s airplane! (Google Books) …

Note

L. Frank Baum portrays Jack Frost, the Frost King and Santa Claus as three clearly separate and distinct characters, and other writers similarly maintain distinctions between pairs of them, including having them interact with one another, but some writers conflate and combine them. For example, a number of public‐domain stories portray Jack Frost as a king with a palace and refer to him as King Frost. Also, Frost, or Morozko, is a Slavic god or demon who served as an antecedent to Ded Moroz, the Slavic Santa Claus, but is often portrayed as being much more like Jack Frost.