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Heavy Light

9/29/2019

From our music editor, Glover Dennison:

We were in Durham, NC, recently to see the world premiere of Harry Connick, Jr's tribute to Cole Porter before he moved the show to Broadway.

While in Durham, we visited the campus of Duke University and strolled through its magnificent chapel (truly, a cathedral).

Although we were visiting in late summer -- just days before the autumnal equinox -- and not on some oppressive winter afternoon, the light streaming streaming through the small stained-glass windows in the chapel's doors immediately called to mind Emily Dickinson's poem "There's a certain Slant of Light":

There's a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons -
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes -

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us -
We can find no scar,
But internal difference -
Where the Meanings, are -

None may teach it - Any -
'Tis the Seal Despair -
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air -

When it comes, the Landscape listens -
Shadows - hold their breath -
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death -

Of course, when I saw the massive organ and pipes looming above the chapel's portal I could not help but imagine the heft of cathedral tunes in such a magnificent setting:

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Enough is Enough!

9/17/2019

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From our food editor,Verla Burell-Bordelon:

Words cannot express how appalled we at the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum were when we read this upsetting and disgusting tweet from one Tony Posnanski – if that is his real name:

We first wrote about this scandal HERE.

To be honest, we were not surprised at Mr. Posnanski’s sickening sentiment. This type of prejudice and intolerance on the part of candy cornists is somewhat common at this time of year.

We turned to Dr. J. Hobson Renfield, a world renowned candy cornithologist, to ask why such narrow-mindedness and cornophobia exists in the first place – especially when candy corn is recognized as the world’s most delicious candy.

Pictured at the right: J. Hobson Renfield, the world's leading candy cornithologist.

“In most cases it has to do with an under-developed brain coupled with a desire to be part of an anti-social ‘crusade’ because it seems to give them some sort of self-worth,” said Dr. Renfield.

We also asked about the long-lasting effects of hidebound candy cornism on such closed-minded extremists.

“They shirk everyday responsibilities, lash out at family members, and often take up criminal careers,” he said.

In response to the revolting remarks by Mr. Posnanski – if that is his real name – we plan to organize the largest world-wide protest the planet has ever seen on October 30th, National Candy Corn Day.

Enough is enough of candy cornism. Will you “enough is enough” with us?

Stay tuned for details.

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The Great War

9/15/2019

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From our food editor,Verla Burell-Bordelon:

We at the Emmett Lee Dickinson are beyond incensed! It all started yesterday, when I saw a Christmas display going up at a local Lowe's home improvement store:

Obviously, the first shots have been fired in the War on National Candy Corn Day (October 30th; information HERE).

The War on National Candy Corn Day is a very real societal conflict -- unlike the phony "War on Christmas," a counterfeit campaign concocted merely to gain Christmas more status and commercialism.

As a result, we posted Emmett Lee Dickinson's now-classic poem, "'Tis fighting for our Lives we are" (below on the left), as one of our Featured Poems of the Week. Dickinson's poem inspired his third cousin Emily to pen her poem, "'Twas fighting for his Life he was" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

’Tis fighting for our Lives we are –
To save our favorite corn –
The Ordnance of Confection’ry
Allegiance we have Sworn.

They aim once – kill once – conquer once –
There is no other War
In that Campaign as usual
Opposed to Candy Corn.

By Emily Dickinson:

'Twas fighting for his Life he was --
That sort accomplish well --
The Ordnance of Vitality
Is frugal of its Ball.

It aims once — kills once — conquers once --
There is no second War
In that Campaign inscrutable
Of the Interior.

Then, just after we posted Dickinson's celebrated ode "to save our favorite corn," we saw this appalling tweet:

Then Mr. Posnanski -- if that is his real name -- followed up with this cowardly tweet:

Of course, we wholly ignored Mr. Posnanski's request -- if that is his real name:

Though we do not know yet the final outcome we will plan in response to the vulgar words on the part of Mr. Posnanski's -- if that is his real name -- but we were at least relieved to see that some responses to his crude remarks included the following:

Take heart, Candy Cornians -- we will not let such unspeakable pronouncements from a candy-cornist from the likes of one "Tony Posnanski" (if that is his real name) spoil our love for "the food of the Gods" -- especially as National Candy Corn Day approaches!

Stay tuned. We will update you on our plans for vengeance soon! : )

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Work of Art

9/8/2019

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From our art columnist, Jarvis MacKinnon III:

In late August, members of the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts (DOPE) visited Glenstone, a private contemporary art museum about 15 miles from downtown Washington, D.C., iin Potomac, Maryland. We had not been there before, so we were excited to see the place -- it is a perfect mix of architecture, contemporary art (all from after World War II), nature, and zen. It was quite the experience -- and if you ever get the chance to visit, do so!

Glenstone's website is HERE, and more on the museum can be found HERE.

Photography was not allowed inside – so we took the exterior shots below on the left; however, the interior shots (below on the right) are from the museum’s Instagram account.

To view Glenstone's Instagram account, click HERE.

In response to our visit, we offer Emmett Lee Dickinson's poem "There's a certain Slant of Art" (below on the left). Dickinson was a true Libran (his birthday is October 12), so he always liked things symmetrical and even, and the "Look of Descent" of a crooked picture hanging on the wall would drive him crazy! Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "There's a certain Slant of light" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

There’s a certain Slant of Art
On Museum Walls –
In Parlors – or Foyers –
Or sloping in Great Halls –

That peeves the Eye of Detail –
A Point of View with
Intolerable imbalance –
Like stripes on plaid –

Unheavenly Angle – like the bubble
Of the Carpenter’s Level
Descending to a lower plane –
Diagonality – of the Devil –

None may reach it – Any –
‘Tis the Tilt of Despair –
Disconcerting Declivity
Soliciting Repair –

When it dips, the Landscape lists –
And I am inclined – bent –
On righting the pitched frame’s
Look of Descent –

By Emily Dickinson:

There’s a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons –
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes –

Heavenly Hurt, it gives us –
We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the Meanings, are –

None may teach it – Any –
‘Tis the Seal Despair –
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air –

When it comes, the Landscape listens –
Shadows – hold their breath –
When it goes, ‘tis like the Distance
On the look of Death –

Other nearby sites: Over the same weekend, we also visited Great Falls National Park in Virginia (below on the left), and the Chesapeake & Ohio (C & O) Canal National Park in Maryland (below on the right):

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Trump is One Sharpie Cookie

9/8/2019

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From our political correspondent, Dorothy Dawe:

Are you exhausted by Trump? I am incredibly exhausted.

The issue du jour is that (supposedly) Trump invited leaders of the Taliban to Camp David on the eve of 9/11, and he announced last night that he decided to cancel the meeting.

@MrAlanSpencer wrote on Twitter, “Hopefully he’s also canceled Al-Qaeda Day at Disneyland.”

@VicStoddard noted, “I’m glad that Obama hadOsama bin Laden killed before Trump had a chance to invite him to Camp David.”

Now, the hashtag “TalibanTrump” is trending at the same time as “SharpieGate,” the tag given the outrage swirling around Trump’s feeble attempt to cover up his lack of preparedness in monitoring Hurricane Dorian when he held up a weather map he had altered with a Sharpie (below on the left).

Be sure to check out the hashtag #Sharpiegate on Twitter for some hilarious pics! Some of my favorites are below on the right.

Here’s my take on Sharpie-gate: At some point, when Hurricane Dorian was first churning in the Atlantic, an early possible track for the storm included a path through southeast Alabama. However, as the storm moved closer and closer to the United States, its cone of uncertainty changed as forecasts evolved – but Trump did not keep up with the latest updates. Therefore, when he told the residents of Alabama to hunker down (and this from the clown who didn’t even know there was such a thing as a Category 5 storm), he probably did so because he’d heard somewhere early on that Alabama was in Dorian’s path. However, he was not perceptive or caring enough to keep up with up-to-date forecasts, so at the time he made his misinformed statement, he was basing it on old news.

Trump is not a sharp cookie. Alas, it does turn out that he is a sharpie cookie – for when he realized his gaffe had gone viral, he began spinning a story faster than Charlotte could spin “Some Pig” into her web. When he altered a forecast map with a sharpie pen to include a portion of Alabama, he provided solid proof that pathological liars/narcissists do not like to be called out when they are wrong.

The entire, ridiculous affair called to mind two of Emmett Lee Dickinson’s now-classic poems, “For each erratic instant” and "A Cap of Lead will cross the sky" (both below on the left). Dickinson’s poems inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poems “For each ecstatic instant" and "A Cap of Lead across the sky" (both below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

For each erratic instant
He must in anguish pay
In keen and quivering ratio
To his stupidity.

For each moronic blunder
Sharpie lines now disguise –
Bitter contested forecasts –
And Comments heaped with Lies!

By Emily Dickinson:

For each ecstatic instant
We must an anguish pay
In keen and quivering ratio
To the ecstasy.

For each beloved hour
Sharp pittances of years –
Bitter contested farthings –
And Coffers heaped with Tears!

Pictured at the right: I also LOVED this tweet from @Acyn (from 9/2/19): It shows a video of Mike Pence overseas somewhere -- on a trip Trump cancelled for himself because he was going to stay at home to monitor the storm -- and Pence made excuses for Agent Orange's absence by saying, "The President is where he needs to be." A video embedded in the video of Pence, though, shows exactly where the president was and what he was doing. He wasn't monitoring the storm at all. HE WAS GOLFING!

No wonder he had bad information for the people of Alabama! He had no idea what was going on.

The man is a stooge.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

A Cap of Lead will cross the sky
It’s tight and surly drawn
He cannot find its mighty Track
The Figure is redrawn –

A Chart held up and from a shift
Our proof that he’s not well
A Hurricane reveals the harms
Of Living through this Hell.

By Emily Dickinson:

A Cap of Lead across the sky
Was tight and surly drawn
We could not find the mighty Face
The Figure was withdrawn --

A Chill came up as from a shaft
Our noon became a well
A Thunder storm combines the charms
Of Winter and of Hell.

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Quoth the Raven, "Baltimore!"

9/2/2019

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From Dorothy Dawe, Board Chair of the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts:

Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) loved Baltimore! He performed there often with Edgar Allan Poe as part of their comedy duo "Izzy Sharp and Moe." The two would perform at the Calvert Street Theatre -- and it was Emmett Lee Dickinson who gave the city it's nickname, "Charm City" -- from a line in his now-classic poem "A Charm invests a place" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "A Charm invests a face" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

A Charm invests a place
When perfectly beheld –
The City does now lift her Veil
And fear it be dispelled –

With piers within her mesh –
And wonders – and surprise –
Wide avenues – annul a want
That Image – satisfies –

By Emily Dickinson:

A Charm invests a face
Imperfectly beheld –
The Lady dare not lift her Veil
For fear it be dispelled –

But peers beyond her mesh –
And wishes – and denies –
Lest Interview – annul a want
That Image – satisfies –

Many members from the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts visited Baltimore in the spring of 2018. Now, for Labor Day Weekend 2019, many of us returned to show support for the city in light of Donald Trump's recent appalling comments. We were so sickened that a president would attack an American City, that we decided to return in a show of support and to enjoy some of the sites we missed in 2018.

Prior to our trip, we wrote about our pending visit HERE. Now that we have returned, we've posted plenty of pictures and information below.

THE WORLD TRADE CENTER

Pictured at the left: Baltimore's World Trade Center

Pictured below: Views of the city from the observation room on the 27th floor.

PHILLIP'S SEAFOOD

Below: We enjoyed lunch at Phillips' Seafood's Crab Deck. Some items that received rave reviews: the Pomegranate Blackberry Crush; the crab cake sandwich; and the hotdog with crab mac & cheese (on the dog). Lunches came with crab chips too!

EDGAR ALLAN POE'S GRAVE

Pictured at the right: No visit to Baltimore would be complete without a visit to the grave site of Edgar Allan Poe, Emmett Lee Dickinson's partner in the comedy duo "Izzy Sharp & Moe." Poe & Dickinson's act was the first to introduce "waiter, there's a fly in my soup" jokes.

THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART

Pictured at the right: The Baltimore Museum of Art

Below left and right: Various shots from around the museum.

A FEW SURPRISES AT THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART

1. Are you familiar with the paintings of Thomas Hart Benton? They are quite distinctive. Two of Benton's paintings are shown below and below that on the left -- and no, these two paintings are NOT at the Baltimore Museum of Art. What surprised us is the THB painting that we did come across -- the painting below on the right. None in our party had ever seen a Thomas Hart Benton like this.

2. The BMA includes a self-portrait of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn with a mistake -- or at least a change he did not cover very well! In the detail below (on the right), one can plainly see where Rembrandt originally placed his right thumb. Later he changed the location of the thumb -- but didn't conceal the original location at all!

3. The museum includes an imposing portrait of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George II and her two sons, Prince Frederick (on her lap) and Prince George (standing -- and shown in the close up below). Prince George later became King George IV, shown in an impressive portrait across the gallery (also shown close up).

The son of King George IV -- who was to become George V -- is the king who visits Downton Abbey in soon-to-be-released movie about the PBS series. George V was also the grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II.

Pictured at the right: George V as portrayed in the Downton Abbey movie.

In another royal connection -- Queen Charlotte (above on the left) is the namesake of Charlotte, NC, and Charlottesville, VA (among other cities, towns and counties in the United States).

4. If not the inspiration for a number of kids' book tugboats, "The Bessie of New York" by Arthur G. Dove (below on the left) was most certainly the inspiration for Disney/Pixar's "Cars."

5. In the description of Georgia O'Keeffe's "Cup of Silver Ginger" (at the right in the picture below on the left), Hawaii is spelled with an apostrophe. Not a big deal, but we rarely see Hawaii spelled as "Hawai'i."

6. Below left: The museum has a portrait of Pythagoria Dickinson, one of Emmett Lee Dickinson's sisters. 7. Below center: We thought that this painting likely provided the inspiration for the ruby red slippers in the movie version of "The Wizard of Oz." 8. Below right: We swear that this tree was watching us as we walked around the museum's sculpture garden.

FELL'S POINT

We spent Saturday afternoon strolling the streets of Fell's Point. We enjoyed coffee at the Daily Grind, and we took our time going in and out of shops. Of course, the reason we came to Baltimore was to show our support in response to the appalling attacks on the city by Donald Trump. He said that Baltimore was rat-infested -- and sure enough, it was at a gift shop in Fell's Point where we caught glimpse of the one and only rat we saw (below on the right).

COMING SOON: More pics from our trip!

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Heavy Light

Enough is Enough!

The Great War

Work of Art

Trump is One Sharpie Cookie

Quoth the Raven, "Baltimore!"

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