The Taranto Dance-Off: Pole Dancing Gets Pole-litcal in Italy

 While the "pole-tax" remains a hot topic in Texas, the mayor's race in Taranto, Italy is really heating up.  Amandha Fox and Luana Borgia are two candidates for mayor and they have decided to forgo debates and go straight to the dance floor to see who is the better stripper.  They have scheduled a public pole-dancing competition as a venue to show off their pole-itical assets.  Ms. Fox and Ms. Borgia are both professional adult entertainers.

Lost in Translation: Prohibition

Suppose you do not understand the language or the culture, what would propaganda posters mean to you?  Here are a couple of my favorite "translations" at SloshSpot.

"A bottle of wine is precious, like a child."

Hurry, get the cap off before he starts crying.

"Alcohol should be consumed daily."

Happy Birthday Lord Byron: 224 years young today

Lord Byron, Thomas Philips 1835

As with all of us, Lord Byron owed much to his mother, Catherine "Golden Dolly" Gordon.  Catherine, a woman known for her lack of judgment, matched only by her lack of self control, was the second wife of Captain "Mad Jack" Gordon, the 5th Baron Byron.  Mad Jack had his own shortcomings.  He was known as a womanizer and murderer.   But, his mother's love of reading and liquor laid the foundation for the young Byron's tortured path to success.

Lord Byron wrote the following poem about his 33rd birthday. 

Through life's dull road, so dim and dirty,

I have dragg'd to three-and-thirty.

What have these years left to me?

Nothing--except thirty-three.

---

My 41st is much happier.

Pictures in Legal Opinions: It Is About Time

Legal opinions are painful to read for several reasons.  First, the format is rigid and formulaic.  The playful formatting of e.e. cummings is, as they say, "bad precedent." Second, legal opinions are the bullhorns of an already self-proud group of writers.  What I write is the law, and the law is what I write.  Fortunately, this is tempered by the ridged and formulaic formatting.  Third, there are no pictures -- until Judge Richard Posner, of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, found the "Save Image As" option on his web browser.

From Zazzle

In the Gonzalez-Servin v. Ford Motor Co. opinion, Judge Posner included two illustrations taken from the Internet.  The images were inserted in the opinion to illustrate the point that an appellate attorney cannot ignore dispositive precedent.  "The ostrich is a noble animal, but not a proper model for an appellate advocate."  The acerbic tone of a judge is only made more poignant by the inclusion of photos of an ostrich and an attorney, each with its head in the sand.  Hopefully this is the start of a new trend in American Jurisprudence.  At least Judge Posner is continuing this legal precedent.  In Grayson v. Schuler, he included an image of Bob Marley to illustrate dreadlocks.

Trials of Monkey King: self-improvement and the mentor relationship

    An odd aspect of "Journey to the West / Monkey King" is that it is a story about Tripitaka's pilgrimage, yet the first 7 chapters are about Monkey.  The initial connection the reader forms with Monkey inevitably shapes the later story, like the theme in a Wagnerian opera.  Monkey's theme is desire and failure.

Evil Monkey

    At the end of chapter 7, Monkey was finally trapped by Buddha under Five Elements Mountain.  Monkey returns to the story in Chapter 14 when he meets Tripitaka.  Monkey beseeches Tripitaka to release him from his prison.  "Buddha promised me that if I amend my ways and faithfully protect the pilgrim along his journey, I was to be released, and afterwards would finally find salvation."  Shortly after being released, Monkey returned to his old ways and abandoned his new master. To assist in Monkey's self-improvement, Tripitaka implemented a magical form of corporal punishment.  Eventually, Monkey was "reformed" and achieved enlightenment.

Baylor Monkey

   The mentor/mentee relationship, like that between Tripitaka and Monkey, is often imposed in large organizations to help new recruits adjust and succeed in a new environment.  Such programs are used at Baylor University for both new students and new faculty.  What do you think are key characteristic of a successful mentor/mentee relationship?  Is punishment necessary for self-improvement?  If "yes", what types of punishment?  If "no," why not?

Foggy Morning at Pecan Bottoms

Gears... So logical, so mesmerizing.

Sunrise to Sunset

Not bad for Waco, Texas

Goodbye to the Rodeo Prison: "The Wildest Show Behind Bars"

The Mad Cow Scramble at the Texas Prison Rodeo

The Texas Prison Rodeo started in 1931 at the Huntsville State Prison.  In addition to the standard rodeo events, the Prison Rodeo included wild cow milking and bull dogging.  One of the most popular events was "Hard Money."  A sack of money was tied to the horns of a wild (and angry) bull.  Forty inmates were then placed in the ring with the bull and told "go get it."

The Texas Prison Rodeo ended in 1986.  With the demolition of the arena last week, story of the Texas Prison Rodeo has ended.

Happy Birthday "Texas" Guinan

Mary "Texas" Guinan"

Mary Louise Cecilia Guinan was born January 12, 1884 in Waco, Texas.  She became an actress and, later, the proprietor of the "300 Club" in New York City.  The prohibition era speakeasy was the hot spot for socialites and actors.   Entertainment included fan dancers and impromptu performances by George Gershwin.  Texas Guinan, as she was known, died in 1933 while traveling in Vancouver, Canada.  Learn more about Texas at Jazzbabies.  Texas scandals.  Raid on the 300 Club.

Success in Sin: St. Augustine's Confessions and the Son of Sam Law (Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of NY State Crime Victims Bd., 1991)

St. Augustine, Michael Pacher (1483)

Thou shalt not profit from your sin, especially serial killing.  The Son of Sam Law was passed in 1977 in New York with the purpose of preventing criminals from capitalizing on their crimes.  This asset forfeiture law specified that monies earned from autobiographies of criminals shall first be made available to the victims of the crimes.  The notorious Son of Sam (David Berkowitz) murdered 6 people and wounded 7 others in New York City.  Because of speculation that book publishers were offering Berkowitz large sums of money to publish his story, the New York Legislature quickly drafted and passed the Son of Sam Law to prevent a seeming injustice that Berkowitz could become rich from the retelling the story of his crimes.

The law New York passed (many states passed similar laws) defined "criminal" very, very broadly.  That definition was challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court case Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of NY State Crime Victims Bd., 502 US 105, (1991).  The law defined "criminal" as follows:
[a] person convicted of a crime" to include "any person convicted of a crime in this state either by entry of a plea of guilty or by conviction after trial and any person who has voluntarily and intelligently admitted the commission of a crime for which such person is not prosecuted.

The definition includes anyone who has confessed to a crime, yet was not prosecuted for that crime.  As Justice O'Connor noted, such a broad definition would include Henry David Thoreau, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King,  and St. Augustine.  "[The law] would have escrowed payment for such works as... the Confessions of Saint Augustine, in which the author laments 'my past foulness and the carnal corruptions of my soul,' one instance of which involved the theft of pears from a neighboring vineyard."  Simon & Schuster, 502 U.S. at 121. 

For this reason, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court, ruling that the New York Son of Sam Law encroached on speech protected under the First Amendment.  The law was not narrowly tailored to advance the legitimate government interest in compensating victims from financial fruits of the crime. Simon & Schuster, 502 U.S. at 123.

The image is from an altar panel by Michael Pacher, a Northern Renaissance painter, and depicts an apocryphal scene in which St. Augustine met a young boy playing with water and a spoon.  St. Augustine, perplexed by this meaningless form of play, asked the boy what he was doing.  The boy replied, "My game is as pointless as your efforts to understand the Holy Trinity with a rational mind."  As St. Augustine acknowledged in his Confessions, "We are too weak to discover Truth by reason alone." (Bk. IV, Chap. 5)

Voina: Noze Brothers of the Russian Art World

"Beyond Art" police car burning.

Voina, without the Nozes.

In celebration of New Years, the Russian street art group Voina burned a police car.  The group acknowledges that their performances are not "ART" per se.  Instead, they argue, their work is "beyond art."  The "Beyond Art" school of "Art" is problematic.  When you do not know where "art" is in the first place, it is hard to say when you have passed it; when you have gone "beyond art."  The other problem with "beyond art" is that if you approach "art from the opposite direction," what was once "beyond art" is now "not quite to art."  Perhaps the semantic solution for this dilemma is to say that the performances of Voina are "near art."  But in order to find out just how "near" or "far away" one is from "art," we will have to wait for the iPhone app.

Hang Your Own Artwork in a Museum, Banksy Style

Sobeipan at the National Museum in Poland

Why wait for the "art world" to discover you, go to it, but bring your own hammer and nail.  Following in the footsteps of Banksy, a Polish art student by the name of Sobiepan took his artwork to the National Museum in Poland, found a blank spot on the wall, and hung his painting.  

In 2005, Banksy "self-exhibited" his work in the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History.  

The fun with this style of performance art is seeing how long it takes the museum to recognize that there is something amiss.

"Lady in Gas mask," Banksy 2005

Banksy at the Metropolitan

Mysteries of La Belle: Roman Coin, Figa, and French ownership

La Belle hull in situ.

La Belle was a small French ship that sank off the coast of Texas in 1687.  The location of the wreck was mapped by the Spanish in 1689.  The ship sank in Matagorda Bay, just North of the barrier island protecting the bay.  For the next 300 years, the ship lay undisturbed in the sandy bed of the bay.  In 1995, archaeologists with the Texas Historic Commission located La Belle and began the arduous task of excavating the sunken and silted wreck.  (link to an Internet tour of the La Belle)

Intermixed with the detritus of the 17th century wreck was a Roman denarius dating to 69 A.D.  Hmm.  Strange.  If not evidence of time travelers or Atlantis, this odd artifact shows that humans have always been fascinated with history.  A sailor must travel light, thus a small silver coin tucked in one's pocket might be a perfect memory of home.  Perhaps the forgotten sailor picked the coin as a child working the fields of his childhood home France.  The discovery of the coin may have been a longed for omen telling him to leave the hills of France and seek work in the dockyards.

1689 Spanish Map.

Another talisman discovered in the wreck was a glass figa.  Such an object might have been carried as a protective charm, warding off evil.

Glass figa.

Despite resting in the territorial waters of Texas (U.S.) since the beginning of its nationhood, the French government immediately claimed ownership of La Belle and the ship's content.  An agreement was reached that the U.S. would have the right of possession of the ship and all within, but the French government would be recognized as the owner.  Despite this arrangement (or because of it), the skeleton of a crew member discovered in the forward hold was buried in Austin.

What do George Santayana and Tax Court Have In Common?

Daniel M. Cory and the publication of Persons and Places, the autobiography of George Santayana.  Cory v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 23 T.C. 775 (1955).

Cover of Time, Feb. 3 1936, George Santayana

Mr. Cory, a philosopher in his own right, was a close friend and assistant to George Santayana.  In an effort to provide some compensation for the services of Cory, Santayana bequeathed unto Cory the publishing rights for his autobiography, Persons and Places.  The autobiography was published in 1944, eight years before his death.  At the time of his death, Santayana was an internationally admired figure in the field of philosophy.  So, rights to the royalties were of significant value.

The issue raised by the IRS was how to classify the income from the publication.  Cory reported the payments from the publisher as long term capital gains from the sale of the book.  The IRS objected, arguing that the income should be treated as ordinary income, thus taxed at a higher rate.  For tax attorneys, the intrigue in the case comes from two issues.  First, was the gift of the license completed before the publication of the book and, second, are proceeds from the publishing contract treated as ordinary income or capital gains?

Waco Farmer's Market - Downtown Renaissance

A cold, but beautiful morning... A fabulous day for a visit to the Waco Downtown Farmers Market.

This market is a great example of the positive change occurring in Waco.  The market is behind the Waco Fire Department on University Parks Drive, next to the Waco Drill Tower.  

Richardson Farms

Mill-King Dairy

Diary Meadow Soaps

How Much Is Your Tuna Worth? $736,000?

Vintage blue fin tuna caught off Nova Scotia

Mr. Kimura grinning over his 3/4 million dollar fish.

Un-canned tuna fish (guaranteed dolphin free) can be very, very expensive.  A new record price has been reached for blue fin tuna.  At the Tsukiji fish market's auction yesterday, Kiyoshi Kimura purchased the 593 lb. fish for $736,000.00.  Mr. Kimura is the president of Sushi-Zanmai, a popular chain of sushi restaurants.  A single piece of sushi from the best part of a blue fin tuna can cost up to $24.00.  Mr. Kimura sold pieces of his record fish for $5.45 a piece.  That is quite a deal considering that at cost, each bite sized serving would cost $96.00. 

David Hockney: Title, "No." Fancy necklace, "Yes."

Order of Merit

In 1990, David Hockney was offered an Order of Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth.  Following a tradition of a-noble intellectuals and artists, Hockney turned down the title of "Sir."  Alan Bennett, David Bowie, Michael Faraday, Stephen Hawkins, and George B. Shaw are a few who declined an offer to be an English Knight.

But, David Hockney has accepted an appointment to the Order of Merit, a more selective honor bestowed on a citizen of the commonwealth by the monarch.  There can only be 24 living OM recipients at any given time.  No title goes with the appointment, but the recipient receives a cool red and blue medal and the right to say "OMmmm" after being addressed.

Self-portrait, 1999.  David Hockney, OMmmm 

Check out David Hockney, OMmm's self portraits at Poul Webb's art blog.

In 2012 Dockwise Vanguard will displace MV Blue Marlin

MV Blue Marlin carrying the USS Cole from Yemen

2012 promises to be a BIG year.

The largest heavy lift ship is the MV Blue Marlin, famous for carrying the damage USS Cole from Yemen to the US for repairs.  2012 looks forward to the launch of the Dockwise Vanguard which will have  a deck area 12,000 sq. m. larger than the MV Blue Marlin.  (Dockwise Vanguard website) These giant transports partially submerge allowing it to float under the cargo.  Once the cargo is in place, the ballast is pumped out, thereby raising the cargo out of water.

Rendition of Dockwise Vanguard.