Global things

Science, art, and the New York Stock Exchange (photographed during the blog's visit on March 10, 2010).

Spring 2010 in Ashley Forest

Such sights in Susan's neighborhood induce a strong need in the blog to quote Paul Krugman. Maybe a lot of her neighbors will be moving to Costa Rica? Although it still seems to be a tough time to sell real estate in Winston-Salem. Here's Paul:

On the eve of the big vote, Republican members of Congress warned that “freedom dies a little bit today” and accused Democrats of “totalitarian tactics,” which I believe means the process known as “voting.”

"Rows of eyes, disguised as windows..."

...or so says Grandmaster Flash in his description of apartment buildings in his classic rap "New York New York." This is across the street from the Hudson Hotel in New York. Not sure why, but I've become a bit obsessed with the leafless trees in Jon's photograph.

Why it's better to have low expectations...

The blog and many other members of the Demon Deacon community greatly enjoyed Wake Forest's overtime victory over the Texas Longhorns last Thursday in the NCAA tournament. Saturday's loss to Kentucky was predictable, but just thinking of the Deacons being there was fun. Nate fell asleep during the second half on Thursday night (we were all up past our bedtime), but we woke him up to see the Deacons win on Ish Smith's jump shot with only 1.3 seconds left to play.

Things that must be noted before the blog moves on

The corned beef dinner at Susan's, and the sign on Maggie Christman's home office door.

Nate celebrates

More proof that school is more fun NOW than it was back THEN. Nate at Summit School on St. Patrick's Day.

The patriot of incorruptible integrity

The blog found Alexander Hamilton's monument in the Trinity Church graveyard in New York City, and then read this very recent post on Paul Krugman's blog. Despite the passage of centuries, the founders still retain their grip on the American psyche, although it is likely only very few have read their actual words...

St. Patrick's Day

The blog ate its corned beef and cabbage on Sunday, as it generally doesn't have time to do more than boil water for pasta in the middle of the week. But a good way for anyone who stumbles across this blog to celebrate the day would be to buy tickets to see Geraldine Hughes in a future performance of Belfast Blues at the Barrow Street Theatre in NYC.

At the Dakota: Homage to Jo Mielziner

From a brief history of the Wake Forest Fine Arts Center, by Harold C. Tedford: a link between Wake Forest and the Dakota apartment building in Manhattan.

Tedford then replied to Mielziner's letter requesting a late January interview with Mielziner in New York. The interview was scheduled to take place at noon on January 28, 1970 in his studio in the Dakota on Central Park West. This date fell during the semester break and Tedford traveled to New York by train with a group of students intent on seeing plays...On the morning of January 28, Tedford walked over to the University Club where President Scales was staying and they took a taxi to the impressive Dakota. They were told by the doorman how to find the first floor studio and walked through the mahogany-paneled halls to the door. They were...ushered into his studio. On the walls of the studio were designs of some of Broadway's most successful shows and Mr. Mielziner sat at his drafting table working. A gracious and civilized man, Mielziner welcomed them and they talked about the dream that had brought them to New York. After a half-hour they went up to Mielziner's second floor apartment for a lunch prepared by his Irish maid and cook.

Read an interesting account of life at the Dakota that references Mielziner from the Reading Eagle, October 8, 1979 (use the hand tool to read the entire article). Jon, note that the Wikipedia entry on the Dakota does not list Mielziner among its "famous residents." I think you should edit the Wikipedia page to add his name. It is a historical curiosity that both Jo Mielziner and John Lennon died at the entrance to the Dakota.

A famous Pennsylvanian who is not buried in Pennsylvania

The blog was extremely surprised to encounter Robert Fulton's monument in the graveyard of Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. It seems quite reasonable to have supposed that this native of Lancaster County would have been interred a bit closer to home. If the blog were cleverer it could work in a mention of the Fulton Opera House, where the hard-working Jon was once employed...but all the blog can recall from its schoolgirl days of studying Pennsylvania history is a delightful story of the delegates to the constitutional convention taking a break to watch one of Fulton's inventions on the Delaware River...surely all present at that event must have delighted in the thought of the wonders the machine age would bring.

Terror on Wall Street

The blog spent much of its Spring Break in New York City. It was a busy time, but on a Wednesday morning visit to the New York Stock Exchange the blog learned a little history: the events that occurred at noon on Thursday, September 16, 1920. Wall Street ran red with blood. A single horse leg was splayed across the steps of one building. A woman's head, still wearing a hat, was stuck to the wall of another. A fatally wounded messenger pleaded for someone to deliver his securities. Thirty people were killed instantly: messengers, stenographers, clerks and brokers. Thomas Joyce, the chief Morgan clerk, died at his desk. Three hundred more were injured, among them Junius Morgan, Jack Morgan's son.A bell rang out on the floor of the exchange, which halted trading -- the first time trading had ever been halted by violence. This passage is from a vivid account by Daniel Gross published in TheStreet.com on September 20, 2001. The planners of the "applecart attack" (the dynamite was concealed in an applecart parked about 100 feet west of the intersection of Wall and Broad Streets) were never apprehended. The Exchange opened at the usual time the next morning. The blog refrains from drawing the obvious parallels between the events of 1920 and 2001. The photos show Jon standing at the famous intersection (in front of the New York Stock Exchange), the historical marker in front of the Morgan Building, and some of the damage caused by the dynamite.

March snow in North Carolina

The view from Susan's office window on Tuesday afternoon.

An obelisk extravaganza...

is being developed based on Jon's recent visit to New York. (I'm not sure that it ever snows in Egypt.)