Author Archives: laurn larson

Paul Revere Rides

18 April 2024 By in History, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

On the evening of the 18th of April 1775 Paul Revere galloped through the countryside of Massachusetts to warn the populace that British were coming by water: one if by land, two if by water.

The next day the British, after crossing the Charles River from the Boston side, marched on Concord to try and capture colonial military supplies that had been stored there. The patriots knew of the British plans and moved most of their military equipment elsewhere.

The British had to pass through Lexington as they marched their way to Concord. The first shots between the British and Americans were fired at sunrise at Lexington, signaling the beginning of the Revolutionary War. After a minor skirmish in Lexington the British continued on their way to Concord.

The British marched to Concord with 700 troops and the Americans were eventually able to muster about 3500 militiamen although they only had about 77 at Lexington. During the Battles of Lexington and Concord on that day the British suffered 273 losses and the Americans 95.

Source: History.com and “The Many Rides of Paul Revere” by James Giblin published 2007. Photo of a painting showing Paul Rever’s Midnight Ride by Office of War Information http://www.archives.gov.

Hey Joe

16 April 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

It’s that time of the year when guitarists and Jimi Hendrix fans everywhere trek to Poland for the annual “Thanks Jimi Festival”; a yearly guitar freakout where thousands from Poland and elsewhere gather to try and set a record for number of people playing Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” simultaneously.

The gig’s history goes back to a Blues Express workshop in 1997 where Leszek Cichonski, a Polish blues guitarist, found himself on stage with 17 other guitarists playing “Hey Joe” thus providing the incentive to answer the theological question of how many guitarists can fit into Wroclaw, Poland’s Main Market Square on the first day in May every year. Below is a list of the records, which, apparently, always need to be broken because the theological limit hasn’t been reached yet.

  • In 2003 “Hey Joe” was played by 588 guitarists.
  • In 2004 the number expanded to 916.
  • In 2005 it went up to 1201.
  • In 2006, 1581.
  • In 2012, 7273. The musicians were led by Jimi Hendrix’s brother, Leon Hendrix.
  • In 2019, 7423.
  • In 2020, because of Fauci cruelty and madness, the event was held online, and 7998 guitarists strummed and boomed out the five chords of “Hey Joe”.
  • In 2023, 7967 guitarists played.

The “Thanks Jimi Festival” will go live again for another record on 1 May 2024.  At this year’s festival thousands will join in and play 10 songs:

  1. Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix, released as a single in 1966
  2. Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix, released on the album “Are You Experienced? in 1967
  3. Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix, released on the album “Electric Ladyland” in 1968
  4. Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple, released on the DP album “Machine Head” in 1972. Added to the festival lineup in 2009. The song was written in December 1971. Jimi died on 18 September 1970
  5. Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix, released on the album “Axis: Bold as Love” in 1967
  6. Wild Thing by the Troggs, released in 1966. Jimi played this song live at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 aka The Summer of Love
  7. Red House Blues by Jimi Hendrix, released on the British version of “Are You Experience” in 1967
  8. Thanks Jimmi, by Leszek Cichonski
  9. Kiedy byłem małym chłopcem (When I was a little boy), Composition by Tadeusz Nalepa
  10. Like a Rolling Stone, by Bob Dylan. This song was usually performed at Hendrix’s live shows

Long live Jimi.

Source: Everything you need to know about the Guitar World Record (https://heyjoe.pl/summary/). Photo of Wroclaw, Poland’s Main Market Square during the “Thanks Jimi Festival.” Photo of Hendrix in Sweden, 1967. Public domain.

Clap for the Wolfman

14 April 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Robert “Bob” Weston Smith, born in New York in 1938 recreated himself as Wolfman Jack while working as a DJ at a country music radio station in Shreveport Louisianna in 1962.

Looking for something different, where he could make big money, he headed to Mexico to broadcast on the 250,000-watt monster: XERF. The station was so strong that it could reach most of the continental U.S.

He initially went down to Mexico to work as a DJ but when he arrived, allegedly, he found that the radio station was in receivership, and he eventually gained control. In 1970 the Mexican government took control of XERF, and the Wolfman was out of a job.

In 1972 he bounced back co-hosting NBC’s late night music series; “The Midnight Special.” In 1973 George Lucas, a fan of his radio programs, offered him a part, as himself, in the hit classic film “American Graffiti.” Shortly after the success of the film, with his fame in the stratosphere, he began to distribute “The Wolfman Jack Radio Show”, eventually reaching over 2000 stations in 53 countries. He appeared in 87 TV shows and films and was the subject of at least five records including the “The Guess Who’s-Clap for the Wolfman.”

On July 1, 1995, Wolfman Jack died of a heart attack at his home in Belvidere, North Carolina, but “The Wolfman Jack Radio Show” is still on the air, every night, somewhere in the world.

Source: https://bighits981.com/on-air/wolfman-jack

Teen Picasso

11 April 2024 By in Art, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Picasso was recognized as a child prodigy at a very young age. He began to paint with oils when he was eight and by the time he was thirteen he was selling his work. At the age of fourteen, he was admitted to the prestigious Barcelona art school: La Lonja. At the age of fifteen he made his official entry into the professional art world, presenting the painting, “The First Communion” shown to the right, at the Third Exhibition of Fine Arts and Artistic Industries in Barcelona.

“Science and Charity” shown to the left is one of Picasso’s most accessible paintings. He painted it in 1897 at the age of 15. This painting was the culmination of his academic studies and he soon after abandoned this style in pursuit of a more personal, albeit inscrutable, approach to art.

Source: Picasso by Carsten-Peter Warncke. Published 2001. Original publication 1998.

Space Elevators

2 April 2024 By in Books Fiction, Novel Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Arthur C. Clarke in his 1979 sci-fi novel, The Fountains of Paradise, builds a space elevator on Earth as a solution to the monetary and technical expense of Earth-based rockets.

A space elevator is a conceptual solution for a low-cost, low energy planet-to-space transportation system. The challenge to building the elevator is finding a material strong enough to withstand the immense compressional and tensional forces that with a counterweight balance, would be 44,490 miles long (71,600 km). Carbon nanotubes offer a possible solution but currently they are only strong enough to work on Mars or the moon.

This is not Clarke’s best novel, but he thoroughly explains the concept of a space elevator and a lot of the engineering problems that would need to be solved to build one. The solutions to all the problems are solved by the book’s protagonist, Dr. Vannevar Morgan, a thinly veiled character that likely refers to himself as Arthur C. Clarke when he is among friends.

As an aside, both within the book and as a reader, he spends 5-6 pages harping on his belief there is no God. Why he does so is a mystery since it adds nothing to his story and in the end, it is a pointless, garrulous, one-sided debate.

Bodegas Juan Gil Silver Label 2019

1 April 2024 By in Red Wine Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Mourvedre from Jumilla, Spain

Purchased price $15.99

Rankings: Robert Parker 93. ElsBob 90-91.

ABV: 15.0%

The grapes are harvested from, on average, 52-year-old vines growing in crappy soils. A medium ruby wine in color with notes of black fruits. Full bodied, high in tannins with a medium finish. Pairs well with beef and pasta.

This is an outstanding wine at a good price.

Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy 2020

28 March 2024 By in Red Wine Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Syrah/Shiraz from McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia.

Purchased price $106.00 (Restaurant).

Generally priced ~$60.00 retail.

Rankings: Wine Spectator 93. Robert Parker 93. Me 93.

ABV: 16.5%

A full-bodied, bold, deep-reddish purple wine with scents of plums and chocolate. Enjoyed it with a medium-cooked tenderloin. Wonderful.

This is an outstanding wine but a little on the pricey side for its ranking.

Don’t forget the “Mollydooker Shake”.

Anna Karenina

27 March 2024 By in Novel, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , 4 Comments

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” So begins Leo Tolstoy’s epic 19th century Russian novel, Anna Karenina. A beginning line that is not only one of literature’s great openings, but it indubitably stages an existential story that transcends time, culture, and humanity: a diegesis of love and misery.

Love and misery where mental and societal control is lost to emotional need. When Anna’s lover, Vronsky, pleads with her to respect her mother’s needs and his duty, she snaps, “Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be. And if you don’t love me anymore, it would be better and more honest to say so.” (chapter 24)

Anna Karenina through time has consistently ranked as one of the greatest novels ever written. Encyclopaedia Britannica lists it as the number one novel of all time.

Sources: Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, serialized in 1875, published in book form in 1878. Plath et al, The 100 Greatest Literary Characters, published in 2019. Enclyclopaedia Britannica, 12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”, by Jonathan Hogeback.

Aleksey Kolesov, “Portrait of a Young Woman” (Anna Karenina), 1885. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Mona Lisa Eyes

25 March 2024 By in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment 
Her hair is Harlow gold
Her lips sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She's got Bette Davis eyes

Bette Davis Eyes. By Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon

In 1503 Leonardo da Vinci ended his association with the murdering and duplicitous Cesare Borgia, meaning he was again without a patron or in today’s vernacular; unemployed and without income. Likely, through a paternal connection, familial duty, and the need for money, he agreed to take a commission from a silk merchant to paint his 24-year-old wife: Lisa del Giocondo nee Gherardini.

He posed her in a seated, half-length, unconventional three-quarter portrait view with a typical Leonardo background of winding rivers, mountains, and misty sky. Her enigmatic smile and follow-you-anywhere eyes are the subject of endless discussions and debates. He employed his now famous, delicate blending of colors with soft edges; “sfumato”, and his almost transparent layering to create what is now considered the archetypical Renaissance art form, and the world’s most famous and valuable painting. Some estimates place the value of the painting somewhere north of one billion dollars.

In predictable fashion, Leonardo never finished the painting. He began the painting in 1503, as confirmed by a margin note in a book dated to that year, and continued working on it until he died in France in 1519 at the age of 67. If you look closely at the painting, you will notice that Lisa does not have any eyebrows or eyelashes although modern science has detected them as being originally there. It is believed that they were removed over time by repeated cleanings, but it is just as likely Leonardo overpainted them with the intent of painting them back on at some later date.

The painting is now on display in the Louvre, having been purchased by the King of France, Francois I, Leonardo’s final patron, shortly after the painter’s death.

Source: Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. Published 2017.

Painting from Wikipedia. Public Domain

Salvator Mundi

24 March 2024 By in Art, Biography, Books Nonfiction, History Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Salvator Mundi, Savior of the World, is believed to have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci sometime between 1499 and 1510 which is considered by historians to be the beginning of the High Renaissance period. The painting was supposedly commissioned by King Louis XII of France and was later recorded in the possession of the English Kings Charles I and II. How the English acquired the painting is unknown. It was then passed onto the Duke of Buckingham in the 1600s after which his son sold it in 1763. The painting then disappeared for 137 years.

It reappeared in 1900, changing hands a few times without anyone realizing it may be an authentic Leonardo. In 2005 a consortium of art dealers and collectors purchased it with the intent to have it cleaned and restored all the while attempting to prove that it was indeed a Leonardo painting. In 2013 most experts agreed that it was an authentic Leonardo allowing it to be sold for $80 million to Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier which he quickly resold to the Russian Rybolovlev for $127.5 million. This sale quickly became a legal mess with the resolution not entirely clear.

Somehow the legal issues resolved themselves and the painting came to market again in 2017 selling for $450.3 million, making it the most expensive painting ever sold. After much wild and erroneous speculation, it was revealed that Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism bought the painting.  It is currently in storage awaiting the completion of the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

In 2020 the experts have struck again and attribution of the painting to Leonardo is in doubt. Experience says this debate will continue ad infinitum. Meanwhile an extremely expensive art piece supposedly by a gay painter of Jesus Christ resides in the Arab Middle East.

Sources: Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson published in 2017. Salvator Mundi by Christies published in 2017. Salvator Mundi by ArtNet published in 2020.