Blog Archives

Art Restoration

3/30/2020

From Jarvis MacKinnon III:

Alas, many art museums around the world are closed these days due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Many, though, are hosting virtual tours of their galleries and/or they are posting their great works on Instagram. Below, we have updated many classic works for your enjoyment.

American Pandemic

Mask and Pedernal

The Savior of Man

Corona Lisa

Worry, Worry Night

The Birth of a Hero

Self-Quarantine

I Just Want to Scream

The Great Tsunami

Lysol Spray

The Girl in the Ventilator Mask

Warhol 2020

Closed for the Night

Whistler's Nursing Home

Hope

Corona Landscape

Social Distancing

Untitled (Virus 1)

Untitled (Virus 2)

The Salvation

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Trumpy the Clown -- Part 2

3/28/2020

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From Emerson Nettles:

Trumpy the Clown and the producers of "Sick d'So What" announced a new world-wide sensation is in the works, and it is set to open on Easter: Trumpy the Clown in "Corona."

"Sick d'So What's CORONA is a masterpiece, from its ravishing costumes to its stunning choreography and amazing feats. And let’s not forget Trumpy the Clown!"

"CORONA is a magnificent fairy tale filled with lying contortionists and a kaleidoscope of fiction and fibs created through the outstanding effort and performance by the world's leading clown, Trumpy the Clown."

The Sick d'So What creators who worked on CORONA admit that it is very different from some of their past shows -- "it's a bit darker with a greater focus on death, despair, and isolation."

"Anyone looking for a relaxing night out would do well to avoid seeing CORONA. The latest Sick d'So What show to hit our shores is often an anxiety inducing experience. Petrified gasps regularly ripple through the crowd during the never-ending show, as Trumpy the Clown defies logic and the physical limits of his pudgy body."

The recent Sick d'So What press conference called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "The Clowns their Sides together lied" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "The Clouds their Backs together laid" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The Clowns their Sides together lied
The Press began to push
The Truth was buried till more died
The Number surged in rush

The Whitewash crumbled like a stuff
As more were laid in Tombs
The Public’s Temper can’t endure
When leadership’s a ruse

By Emily Dickinson:

The Clouds their Backs together laid
The North begun to push
The Forests galloped till they fell
The Lightning played like mice

The Thunder crumbled like a stuff
How good to be in Tombs
Where Nature's Temper cannot reach
Nor vengeance ever comes

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Death Watch

3/28/2020

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Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) was quite a visionary, and perhaps no other poem sums up the 2020 coronavirus pandemic than his classic poem "Because he could not stop the Virus" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Because I could not stop for Death" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Because he could not stop the Virus –
The Virus stopped for him –
The Carnage brought on by himself –
And pure Absurdity.

He slowly moved – He knew no haste
For he had put away
His labor and his rallies too,
For Incivility –

We closed the Schools, sent
Children home
A Recess – with no Food –
We closed the Shops and Cafés too –
We sat in Solitude –

Steadily – Time passed by –
The Days now Quarantine and Chill –
For only Netflix, my Pal –
My Diet – is Surreal –

We gasped as all the ERs saw
A Swelling of the Crowd –
Their Masks were scarcely visible –
Their Service – was Profound –

Since then – ’tis Daily now – we get
A Briefing of the Day
They’ve televised the Horse’s Ass
And his Insanity –

By Emily Dickinson:

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –

We passed the School, where
Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed Us –
The Dews drew quivering and Chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity –

A Few Notes from Donald Trump:

* The corona virus, this is there new hoax.

* We have it totally under control. It's going to be just fine.

* Just stay calm. It will go away.

* Some of the doctors say it will wash through, it will flow through.

* I like the numbers being where they are. I don't need to have the numbers double because of one ship that wasn't our fault .

* It's just one person coming in from China.

* One day, it's like a miracle. It will disappear.

* The virus will miraculously go away.

* By April, during the month of April, the heat generally kills this kind of virus, so that would be a good thing

* When we have 15 people and within a couple of days it will be close to zero.

* We really think we've done a great job in keeping it down to a minimum.

* This is a very contagious -- this is a very contagious virus. It's incredible. But it's something that we have tremendous control of.

* We're very close to a vaccine.

* You take a solid flu vaccine --you don’t think that would have an impact or much of an impact on corona?

* I don’t think it’s inevitable. It probably will. It possibly will. It could be at a very small level, or it could be at a larger level. Whatever happens, we’re totally prepared.

* This is a flu. This is like a flu.

* I didn’t know people died from the flu.

* I think the 3.4 percent (death rate) is really a false number. Now, this is just my hunch, and — but based on a lot of conversations with a lot of people that do this.

* Anybody that wants a test can get a test.

* This blindsided the world. And I think we've handled it very, very well.

* And taking early intense action, we have seen dramatically fewer cases of the virus in the United States than are now present in Europe.

* This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history.

* We have a problem that a month ago nobody ever thought about.

* I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.

* I don't believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators.

* I think we're doing very well. But, you know, it's a two-way street. They (governors) have to treat us well, also. They can't say, "Oh gee, we should get this, we should get that."

* The federal government is not supposed to be out there buying vast amounts of items and then shipping. You know, we're not a shipping clerk.

* I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.

* Easter is a very special day for me. So I think Easter Sunday you'll have packed churches all over our country—I think it will be a beautiful time. And it's just about the timeline that I think is right.

* I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it.

* I don't take responsibility at all.

* I alone can fix things.

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Trumpy The Clown -- Part 1

3/27/2020

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From Dorothy Dawe:

There are happy clowns and sad clowns. Angry clowns and scary clowns. Loud clowns and quiet clowns. Clowns on bikes and clowns in cars. Circus clowns and birthday party clowns.

Now, we have a new type of clown -- the irrelevant clown -- introduced to the world by Donald Trump.

Meet Trumpy, the Irrelevant Clown:

Just today, though, Trumpy the Clown announced that he is going to change his name to Corona the Clown. Corona the Clown started his one-man coronavirus schtick by dubbing the crisis a hoax. He said, "stay calm." He promised that "it will all go away" and "it will wash through." He said, "we have it under control." He proclaimed that it was nothing more than the common cold (although at times he confused it with the flu), and he urged sick people to keep going to work. He did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to prepare the country for the coming pandemic -- even though he later claimed that he knew it would be a pandemic. As a matter of fact, he said he knew it would be a pandemic before anyone else knew it would be a pandemic -- BUT HE DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO PROTECT OR PREPARE OUR COUNTRY.

Once the crisis started building, Trumpy the Clown (now Corona the Clown) still refused to act. He actually said, "I take no responsibility." Mayors and governors took up the void and donned the mantle of leadership. Trump the Clown had become irrelevant.

Below left: A popular advertisement detailing Trump the Clown's act. Below right: Tumpy the Clown had other clowns in the car with him.

As stated above, Trumpy the Clown's introduction to the coronavirus pandemic was his always popular con, "It's a hoax."

Trumpy's Muslim Ban was a hoax. Stormy Daniels was a hoax. 20-plus women accused him of sexual assault -- hoax, hoax, hoax, hoax. His friendship with Jeffrey Epstein -- a hoax. Emolument clause violations -- a hoax. The Mueller report -- a hoax. His impeachment -- a hoax.

Now the Coronavirus was a hoax.

While it is true that Trumpy knows more than every scientist on the planet, the reviews for his "hoax" act have not been favorable. No, his misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and miscalculations surrounding the pandemics have been pathetically pitiable and sad -- all of which calls to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "'Hoax' is his strange deception" (below on the left) Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "Hope is a strange invention" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

“Hoax” is his strange deception –
A Pretense of a Clown –
An unremitting action
Yet never wearing out –

Of his pathetic Adjuncts
No facts involved are known
But his unique subversion
Embellished for his core –

By Emily Dickinson:

Hope is a strange invention –
A Patent of the Heart –
In unremitting action
Yet never wearing out –

Of this electric Adjunct
Not anything is known
But its unique momentum
Embellish all we own –

Turns out that Trumpy the Clown's schtick about the virus being a hoax -- was nothing more than a hoax! Still, it did not top Trumpy's number one hoax of all time:

"All Americans will have cheaper, better health care as of Day One of my administration.”

Now THAT was a hoax!

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S'ghouls In Session

3/26/2020

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From Burton Hendrickson:

College president and pool boy aficionado Jerry Falwell Jr. has ordered all Liberty University students to return to school -- so businesses in Lynchburg are back open and ready for business:

* Perish & Begone Memorials is offering deals "you'll die for" with their Back-to-School specials.
* The Coffin Warehouse is offering "deep discounts" for coffins and caskets.
* "Plot Your Afterlife" at Resurrection Cemetery. They, too, have a back-to-school sale going on.
* Dead, Death, and Beyond is offering ten to thirty percent off coffins, caskets, burial cases, robes and shrouds.

Historians and scholars all agree that Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) was quite a visionary. Certainly, at times, third cousin Emily possessed that same quality. Her poem "For Death -- or rather" seems to have captured rather concisely the essence of Mr. Falwell's decision to call back the students of Liberty University -- where "This" in the third line of her poem refers to his pronouncement because his ruling might very well have put away life's opportunity for his students.

What will death buy for the five-thousand-plus Liberty Eagles flying back to Lynchburg? Quite a bit now that the businesses above are offering bargain rates and back-to-school specials on coffins, caskets, burial cases, robes, shrouds, cemetery plots, and more.

By Emily Dickinson:

For Death – or rather
For the Things 'twould buy –
This – put away
Life's Opportunity –

The Things that Death will buy
Are Room –
Escape from Circumstances –
And a Name –

With Gifts of Life
How Death's Gifts may compare –
We know not –
For the Rates – lie Here –

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Cover Story

3/25/2020

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From Philo Remington:

Donald Trump keeps taking about "The Cure," and how he wants to throw caution (and our elders) to the wind and re-open America for business on Easter -- what Twitter tweeps are calling "Bloody Sunday" and the "Easter Massacre."

GOP members of congress and Fox talking heads are now barking about our senior citizens too -- proclaiming that they should be willing to die to protect our economy.

"If they are going to die," said Mitch McConnell, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

Now, to celebrate their new push to kill off the olds in order to protect the all mighty dollar, the GOP is offering a series of children's books called the "Donald Trump 'I CAN READ'" series to explain to our children why pop-pop and nana have go to go. Here's a sneak peek at some of the titles:

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CURE-ious

3/24/2020

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From Dorothy Dawe:

When it comes to the coronavirus global pandemic, we have no leadership at the Federal level. Trump is just too incompetent and greedy. He’s tried to put on a show during recent press briefings so that he can play "president -- although he sounds more like a doofus as he stumble over big words like “asymptomatic." Trump as "president" is all a sham.

As a result, state governors have had to take up the mantle of leadership. However, that comes with issues as they have to work against each other to obtain much needed testing kits and the necessary PPE for their own state’s doctors and nurses. There is no federal oversight. No one at the top is coordinating anything.

And now that Trump has realized that some of his hotels and golf courses have closed up shop (due to various governors’ orders), he’s tweeting out a new tune: “the cure” can’t be worse than the problem itself.

Now he’s desperate to “reopen” America. He and his Klan even have people clamoring that we should just let the coronavirus do its job – which would mean wiping out hundreds of thousands if not a million or more of our fellow citizens.

He’s even started screaming at us with all cap tweets:

Today he said he wanted America to reopen on Easter:

Why Easter?

“Easter is a very special day for me ... Easter Sunday,” said the man who cannot recite one verse from the Bible (although he is very familiar with two Corinthians), “and you'll have packed churches all over our country."

That line prompted the spread of a very apt and amusing hashtag on Twitter: #BloodySunday.

Trump's all-cap rant called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "He screams -- it's not good he is screaming" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "We dream -- it is good we are dreaming" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

He screams – it’s not good he
is screaming –
It will hurt us – we are afraid –
And now he’s planning to – kill us,
And as he’s planning – shriek –

What harm? Men die – conveniently –
It is a truth – of Blood –
But we – are dying his Trauma –
His Trauma – is what we dread –

Cautious – We jar each other –
And keep watch – with open eyes –
Lest his Fascism – end in Mistake–
And in morbid Demise

Cast us to Shafts of Granite –
With just our Age – and Name –
And perhaps a phrase of Remembrance –
Connected to – his scream –

By Emily Dickinson:

We dream – it is good we
are dreaming –
It would hurt us – were we awake –
But since it is playing – kill us,
And we are playing – shriek –

What harm? Men die – externally –
It is a truth – of Blood –
But we – are dying in Drama –
And Drama – is never dead –

Cautious – We jar each other –
And either – open the eyes –
Lest the Phantasm – prove the Mistake–
And the livid Surprise

Cool us to Shafts of Granite –
With just an Age – and Name –
And perhaps a phrase in Egyptian –
It's prudenter – to dream –

But what of protecting our population?

Today on the Senate floor, as Mitch McConnell pushed for a billion dollar slush fund for Wall Street and corporate America, he spoke passionately about our elderly citizens, the ill and the immunocompromised.

"If they are going to die," said McConnell, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

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Pandemic the Musical

3/23/2020

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From quest contributor Bette Midler:

Week One of quarantine done. Fifty-two to go? One month more? Who knows -- but it certainly isn't going to be just 15 days like Agent Orange is tweeting.

One day this will all be over. What then? What will be left of our economy? Our society? Our musicals?

I saw this yesterday on Twitter:

No such luck, my young grasshopper. There are already dozens of titles in the works for Broadway (once the lights come back on). Check some of them out:

There are plenty more too -- including this farce about Trump's daily briefings:

There are even some revivals planned:

Read about "A Little Fright Music" HERE -- and "How To Fail At Every Business You Try" HERE.

Who knows -- maybe I'll have a starring role (or is it a starring roll, Ted Cruz?) in the upcoming musical "Hello Corona."

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Back to Nature

3/22/2020

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From Alvilda Blevins:

To help "flatten the curve" for the Trump virus pandemic, I practiced some social distancing amid the streams, birds, and trees in Dickinson State Park, and it felt good to get outside. The stroll called to mind Emmett Lee Dickinson's short poem about social distancing, "Not at Home to callers." He wrote two versions of this poem (below on the left), and one or both of them inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem with the same opening line (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

Not at Home to Callers
Social Distancing –
Might be home this April –
If we cure this thing –
(Version 1, 1878)

Not at Home to Callers
Viewing Nature’s Wealth –
Maybe try in April –
Wishing you Good Health –
(Version 2, 1879)

By Emily Dickinson:

Not at Home to Callers
Says the Naked Tree –
Jacket due in April –
Wishing you Good Day –

Below left and right: Scenes from Dickinson State Park in historic Washerst, PA -- the birthplace of Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request).

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Social Outcast

3/22/2020

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From Jarvis MacKinnon III:

Historians state that Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) conceived of the idea of social distancing during an outbreak of yellow fever in 1878. Others disagree. They claim that Emily Dickinson, the queen of social distancing, originated the idea much earlier when she took out a restraining order against her third cousin (one thing that all historians do agree on is that the relationship between Emily Dickinson and Emmett Lee Dickinson was quite volatile).

Below: A sliver of a painting of Emily Dickinson by Alaskan Raven Studio. You can see and read about the entire painting (and even purchase a print), HERE.

Of course, it may very well be true that Emily Dickinson invented social distancing because shortly after she obtained a restraining order in 1853, Emmett Lee Dickinson wrote his poem "That Distance that's between Us" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "That Distance was between Us" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

That Distance that’s between Us
That should be Six Feet or Ten –
The Space it is that situates –
Well-being – always then –

By Emily Dickinson:

That Distance was between Us
That is not of Mile or Main –
The Will it is that situates –
Equator – never can –

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Art Restoration

Trumpy the Clown -- Part 2

Death Watch

Trumpy The Clown -- Part 1

S'ghouls In Session

Cover Story

CURE-ious

Pandemic the Musical

Back to Nature

Social Outcast

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