August 27, 2009

Today I learned that my father and the late Ted Kennedy were born in the same year (1932), some months apart.

Today I also learned that the symbols in van Eyck's "Arnolfini Wedding" may indicate that the wife was actually dead at the time the painting was finished or even before it was commissioned (The lit candle on his side and the snubbed candles on hers; The Passions of Christ, the ones during His life on the side of the groom while Christ's posthumous acts lay on the side of the bride; The pregnant looking belly that could indicate a death in childbirth...). It's a very interestign explanation for the mystery of the painting though I suppose we may never know.
(I may have heard this theory before but today was the first time I heard it fully explained).


In other news, you might have noticed I haven't quite got the hang of updating everyday. I'm going to try to work on that.

August 23, 2009

Today I learned various things about the depression era public enemies/romantic heroes, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. This afternoon I finally got to see the movie Bonnie and Clyde, which I'd been wanting to finish after watching the first 15 minutes in one of my classes last fall. I really enjoyed it and wanted to know more so afterward I was off to ye olde Wikipedia! I learned that the movie deviated quite a bit from the true story (or at least what's known of the truth):
In the movie Bonnie wields a gun loads of times but even after her death most witnesses claimed that they had never seen her shoot (except for one witness who said she might have "once or twice"). Also, two members of the Barrow gang (as Bonnie and Clyde's group was called) were merged into one character, "C.W. Moss," which wasn't the real name of either of them. The movie makes it seem like none of the group ever got to see their families except for Bonnie who freaks out when she realizes she may never see her mother again. In reality many of the gang members got to visit their families a number of times after choosing their life of crime. The gang traveled around the edges of states so that if the cops came after them they were never far from state lines and out of the cops' jurisdiction (the movie did show this, in a pretty awesome car chase scene). However, after a while the cops picked up on this technique and figured out a pattern based on it and the gang's desire to visit their families, ultimately leading to the gang's downfall.
I also learned that Warren Beatty (who played a rather dreamy Clyde in the movie) approached Blache Barrow - the real-life wife of Clyde's brother, Buck Barrow - before filming on the movie started to request her permission to use her name in the film. She accepted but was later unhappy with her portrayal (I seriously don't blame her: Blanche is such an annoying character. I ended up yelling "shut up!" at my t.v. pretty much everytime she was on screen. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah). Surprisingly, though, she and Beatty remained good friends.
Another thing I learned that was included in the movie was the fact that Bonnie Parker wrote poetry. I read some of it here. The wikipedia page referred to it as doggerel but I disagree. Parker's poetry has plenty of merit! It's beautiful! The style is far from academic but that's what I like about it. She told her amazing story as well of the stories of others, giving an insiteful perspective on life in the depression, using the common language to paint a gritty picture of life (and death) in hard times.

By the way, I also learned the definition of doggerel, which I could tell when I read it was derogatory but wanted to know more about. After reading the doggerel wiki page I followed a link to William McGonagall, who sounds just so awesome! He's often referred to as one of the worst poets of the english language. Totally my kind of guy! I really want to read some of his poetry now. Also, I learned today that J. K. Rowling gave Professor McGonagall of the Harry Potter series her name because she knew about William McGonagall and loved the surname.

Okay, that was a lot for today, though I think it's kind of lame that all my information came from online. I'd love to read a biography on Bonnie and Clyde sometime if there's ever a time when I don't have library fines :P.

August 21, 2009

Today I learned that there is a small Christian sect of people who practice snake handling during their services. They refer to it as "Taking up serpents" after a passage in The Bible. The practice began when a man was reading this particular passage while on a walk in the woods and then came across a snake. He felt that it was a heavenly sign and bent to pick up the snake (which I believe was poisonous) and went away unscathed. After that he started a church based entirely on a literal interpretation of The Bible and incorporating snake handling that spread out all over the American Appalachians. Of course eventually someone had to be scathed. Many someones, actually (though not as many as you might think, though I don't remember the exact statistic), to the point that the law came into it and ended up making the practice illegal in most states with former congregations. Today, West Virginia is the only state where it is legal to take up serpents.

(I learned this by watching a History Channel documentary called Hillbilly: The Real Story. It's pretty interesting though the facts are a little hazy in my mind due to the fact that I was watching the doc at the same time as I was surfing online.)


I also just learned that the line "When I was young and full of grace/And spirited a rattlesnake" in R.E.M.'s song "I Believe" is in reference to Christian snake handling. I've probably heard that song hundreds of times since I bought that album (Life's Rich Pageant) when I was 15, and yet I never knew.

Hmm.