20070905 Special to the Westminster Eagle Edward Hopper: A stranger in a world he never made

Edward Hopper: A stranger in a world he never made

09/05/07 By Kevin E. Dayhoff

Special to The Eagle

There is a certain unexplainable enigma that draws folks back again and again to ponder the mysteries of Edward Hopper's "American Scene" paintings.

Perhaps it is Hopper's peculiar way of depicting the stark existence of the human condition in such a simple "language" which begs for questions ... yet offers no answers.

Both questions and answers are welcome when the first major Hopper exhibit in Washington, D.C. in 25 years opens this month. The Carroll County Arts is hosting a trip to the exhibit at the National Gallery on Sept. 25 (see box).

The theme of a sophisticated confrontation with psychological tension and isolation is evident in Hopper's most famous work, the 1942 "Nighthawks."

That painting, according to Hopper himself, is of "a restaurant on New York's Greenwich Avenue, where two streets meet." Perhaps prophetically, progress did away with the diner long ago.

"Nighthawks" is a painted storyboard for a film noir movie on the late night lonely lives of four mysterious characters. It is left to each viewer to provide the plot and dialogue.

The painting shows no visible entrance or exit. The characters appear trapped and highlighted in the glare of the artificial light.

Hopper died in 1967. According to the diaries of his wife, Josephine Hopper, he always explained that the "Nighthawks" painting depicted "three characters." He also admitted that he painting was "unconsciously ... painting the loneliness of a large city."

But perhaps the best explanation of the painting came from A. E. Housman, who once wrote about being "a stranger and afraid. In a world I never made."

On a recent trip to Boston, I leaped at the opportunity to see the genius of Mr. Hopper, considered by many art historians to be one of the most influential -- if not one of the most popular -- artists of the 20th century.

The exhibit at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, included much of his often overlooked earlier works, such as "New York Corner," one of his earliest oil paintings from 1913; "Two Trawlers," a watercolor from 1923-24; "Gloucester Mansion," 1924; "Box Factory, Gloucester," 1928; and "House of the Fog Horn I" from 1927.

In pieces such as 1929's "Chop Suey" -- a favorite for many Hopper aficionados; as well as "Rooms for Tourists," 1945; "Cape Cod Evening," 1939; and "Office at Night," 1940, one may gain some insight into Mr. Hopper's emphasis on the importance of the small details of life.

After being exhibited in Boston through Aug. 19, the Hopper exhibit now moves to The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it will be displayed Sept. 16, 2007 to Jan. 21, 2008.

In addition to the Carroll County Arts Council bus trip on Sept. 25, Hopper's work is the subject of a documentary that accompanies the exhibition's opening. In the Baltimore area, the film will be shown on MPT Channel 67, Sunday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org.

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20070810 Vangelis - Blade Runner (end credits) Soundtrack and Video

Vangelis - Blade Runner (end credits) Soundtrack and Video

August 10, 2007

I just came across this neat video by herefordmsv posted on YouTube several months ago.

20070406 Linkin Park "Numb" and "What I've Done"

Linkin Park: "Numb" and "What I've Done"

April 3^rd, 2007 – Posted April 6^th, 2007

At this point “Numb” (released in September 2003) from their second album “Meteora” released on March 25, 2003, continues to be my favorite Linkin Park song – and probably will remain a favorite for a long time. I guess I somewhat identify with the quandaries faced by the female protagonist in the video as a result of many of my experiences growing up an artist in Carroll County… (See the video farther below…)

One of the many nice things about Linkin Park is that the band has developed a reputation for not using “explicit lyrics” in most of their released material… with the only exception being their 1999 Hybrid Theory EP…

The video “What I’ve Done” was released on April 2^nd, 2007. “What I’ve done” is the lead song on their upcoming album, “Minutes to Midnight.”

“What I’ve done” currently streams on their web site: http://linkinpark.com/

A series of streaming videos can be found at: http://linkinpark.com/site.html. I left it on while I was doing other work on the computer – writing my next column for the Westminster Eagle for Wednesday, April 11, 2207…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sgycukafqQ

Linkin Park: "What I've Done" lyrics:

http://www.metrolyrics.com/what-ive-done-lyrics-linkin-park.html

In this farewell,

There’s no blood,

There’s no alibi.

‘Cause I’ve drawn regret,

From the truth,

Of a thousand lies.

So let mercy come,

And wash away…

What I’ve Done.

I’ll face myself,

To cross out what I’ve become.

Erase myself,

And let go of what I’ve done.

Put to rest,

What you thought of me.

While I clean this slate,

With the hands,

Of uncertainty.

_____

href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXYiU_JCYtU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXYiU_JCYtU

November 15th, 2007 UPDATE - - The embed has been disabled !@$%%&*!@! To watch the video go here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=kXYiU_JCYtU

Linkin Park lyrics for “Numb.”

i'm tired of being what you want me to be

feeling so faithless

lost under the surface

i don't know what you're expecting of me

put under the pressure

of walking in your shoes

[caught in the undertow / just caught in the undertow]

every step that i take is another mistake to you

i've

become so numb

i can't feel you there

become so tired

so much more aware

i'm becoming this

all i want to do

is be more like me

and be less like you

can't you see that you're smothering me

holding too tightly

afraid to lose control
cause everything that you thought i would be

has fallen apart right in front of you

[caught in the undertow / just caught in the undertow]

every step that i take is another mistake to you

[caught in the undertow / just caught in the undertow]

and every second i waste is more than i can take

but i know

i may end up failing too

but i know

you were just like me

with someone disappointed in you

####

"Five Easy Pieces"

20070321 The secret life of baby spiders

The secret life of baby spiders

Photo caption: “Fired spiders and gum” from the web site, “Photography by Ewen Bell.” Neat site – check it out.

March 21, 2007

This post is for my wife. Read it quickly before it is prevailed upon me to amend it or take the post down.

Me: spiders gotta live somewhere. I just Zen them. As long as they don’t change the settings on my computer or eat my ice cream – I’m good. Whatever.

My wife: Spiders seem to make my normally unfazed, calm, and sedate wife go from zero to animated in a nanosecond. I know of nothing else that bothers my wife (except liberals… fortunately she doesn’t feel the need to squish them… .)

It is somewhat the source of amusement with me. Trust me, my amusement is not shared by my wife, and I have long since learned to adjust my approach. [Soccer Dad doesn’t wear paisley (My goodness that was an ugly tie.) - - I take spiders seriously – when they are the source of my wife’s undivided attention…]

Me to wife: Wife, I just saw on Nancy Grace that Anna Nicole Smith is still dead and the world is going to come to an end. Could ya please help me grab my computer before we go to the bomb shelter?

Wife: I don’t care - - There’s a spider in the house! Get it.

Over the years we have come to a sorta agreement. Found spiders in the house are not to be killed. They are to be invited to go outside… This seems to work as long as the spider is cooperative.

For the safety of spiders, I have posted a sign at the back door that our house is not safe for spiders. It seems to have worked.

Sooo, it was with some amusement that I saw that “Spiders Love to Snuggle.”

Perhaps Jeremy Bruno up at Voltage Gate (Besides, Mr. Bruno has not one article about spiders on his blog. What gives”) may have to interpret some of this for us, but according to Jeanna Bryner LiveScience Staff Writer LiveScience.com Wed Mar 21, 8:45 AM ET :

While not usually considered paragons of tender, familial love, some spiders do have a touchy-feely side. Scientists have discovered two arachnids that caress their young and snuggle together.

Social behavior is extremely rare in arachnids, a group of critters typically defined by their aggression, clever hunting methods and even predatory cannibalism.

"This was the best example I had ever seen of friendly behavior in an arachnid," said lead study author Linda Rayor, a Cornell University entomologist.

[…]

Video: Spider Baby Rub

Video: Spider Tickle

For (Phrynus) marginemaculatus, the stroking was mutual, with the three-week-olds also whip-caressing their moms and one another.

Video: Spider Siblings

[…]

Video: Spiders' Psychedelic Courtship Dance

Images: Creepy Spiders

Original Story: Creepy: Spiders Love to Snuggle

Since this is a family blog – we may wanna have Attila pick up the story here and here… . He goes places I can’t.

Read the rest of the article here: “Spiders Love to Snuggle.”

####

20070220 How bad was last week’s snowstorm

How bad was last week’s snowstorm in Westminster Maryland?

Daily Photoblog: February 20th, 2007

While I was in Key West Florida last week, I would call the Westminster Street Department and Carroll County PIO, Vivian Laxton, W.A.B. as often as possible and raze them that I was in 90-degree weather and they were in temperatures in the single digits.

They were in the ice and the snow at all hours of the night and day, plowing snow and chipping ice and I was sitting on my back balcony strategically positioned with my laptop overlooking the Caribbean Sea.

They vowed to get me back.

Well, they did.

Pictured above is the igloo they made of my house with tons of snow which greeted me upon my arrival late Monday afternoon, February 19th, 2007.

Not to worry. I simply went inside and made a fresh cup of tea, hooked up the laptop and raised my office window just far enough that did not let too much cold air into the house, but my wife could still hear me as I cheered her on - - while she shoveled us out.

Man ole’ man was it hard work watching my wife do all that shoveling. Oh – she was happy to do it. You see, for Valentine’s Day I had purchased her a new snow shovel.

My wife is super. I’ll think I’ll keep her.

As for the Westminster Street Department; oh, I’ll get them back. Journalists in the print media may purchase ink by the barrel, but bloggers have an infinite amount of “ones” and “zeros” at their disposal. And me, I have the ink and the 1s and 0s.

Kevin
02/20/2007

20070103 Jamie Kelly and Megyn Kendall link rumors denied

20070103 Jamie Kelly and Megyn Kendall link rumors

Jamie Kelly and Megyn Kendall link rumors denied

January 3^rd, 2007 – January 6^th, 2007

It what can only be understand as “news” to a certain someone in Mr. Jamie Kelly’s life; rumors of a link between Fox News Channel journalist Megyn Kendal and our own Jamie Kelly of the Carroll County Times, were vigorous denied by Mr. Kelly in a recent phone call.

Avid readers of the Carroll County Times are usually aware when various members of the local paper’s news staff go missing from time-to-time.

And it was not unnoticed that Carroll County Times city desk editor Jamie Kelly took some time off recently

Then, as a coincidence(?) it was announced as the new year began, that Fox News Channel personality Megyn Kendall has changed her name – to Kelly.

Hmmmm.

FishbowlDC reported that she changed her name back to her maiden name.

Could this be a ruse to put us off the trail of a breaking news story right here at home in Carroll County? Inquiring minds want to know.

First, on June 22, 2006, there was an oblique link between Jamie Kelly and Megyn Kelly…

But rumors really began flying as early as last July 28^th, 2006, when it was rumored that Mr. Kelly was spotted with Ms. Kendall at the Cafe Milano in DC eating pizza.

Ms. Kendall “was wearing a tight white strapless summer dress and looked gorgeous. She also is sporting platinum blonde hair now. She sat in the corner seat at the bar on the left as you walk into the bar area.”

And Mr. Kelly, well, he was dressed in his usual young journalist attire; jeans, blue shirt – with the shirt tail hanging out, a new brown and yellow stripped sweater. Reports were that he looked rather dapper.

And then, the day after Christmas, Ms. “Kendall (was spotted) at the Pentagon City Nordstrom… She was wandering around men’s furnishings talking on her cellphone. She’s very attractive (not just hot for D.C.), but she definitely looks older in person than on t.v. She also has a smoker’s voice that’s kind of sexy on t.v., but not so much in person.”

Well, we all know that Mr. Kelly is a clothes-horse and loves Nordstrom.

Is it that Mr. Kelly, who has recently been feeling a bit under the weather, has been running himself ragged in his double-life?

Is it all just a coincidence?

Then how does one explain this photo that has recently surfaced?

“Photoshop” says Mr. Kelly.

“That’s just crap and you know it," responded Mr. Kelly (with a smile.) “There is no truth to the rumor that I’ve hooked-up with Megyn Kendall – or Kelly, or whatever her name is,” waxed Mr. Kelly.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bercovici and John Cook posting on “Radar Online” has reported upon a possible link between Ms. Megyn Kelly and Brit Hume.

For months, a rumor has been circulating among TV news insiders in Washington, D.C., and New York that Brit Hume, Fox News Channel's managing editor in Washington and host of prime-time hour Special Report, has been having an extramarital affair with a younger colleague. The object of his alleged attentions: Megyn Kendall, a general-assignment correspondent who has been with the network since 2004.

There is no evidence to suggest that the rumors are true. Of the half-dozen sources who relayed the allegation to Radar, none could claim first-hand knowledge, and several Fox insiders said they believed it to be false. Still, the whispers have grown so loud that Hume and Kendall have been forced to deny them repeatedly to curious colleagues. (One Fox source said Hume seemed genuinely amused and somewhat flattered to be linked by gossip to the attractive and much younger Kendall.) A Fox spokesperson also flatly denied it, and suggested it was being "shopped around" by enemies of the network.

(Well, one thing is for sure, here at Soundtrack, we know that we totally made-up a connection between Jamie Kelly and Megyn Kelly because, well, we just couldn’t help ourselves. Mr. Kelly is way too much fun and besides, it was too good a coincidence and a wonderful photoshopping opportunity.)

For now, we’re going to take Mr. Kelly at his word. But we’ll keep our ears to the ground and you’ll be the first to know if we find any additional information on this story of intrigue and wonder.

####

20061213 Say It In Broken English

Say it in Broken English

December 13, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff (668 words)

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpid=978&show=archivedetails&ArchiveID=1247802&om=1

I was watching the current TV series “Studio 60” when this column came to life. In the curious and paradoxical world of word associations, there was an oblique reference to Anita Pallenberg in the show.

Ms. Pallenberg was a protégée of the early “Rolling Stones” and Marianne Faithful; who cut one of my all time favorite albums, “Broken English,” in October 1979. (One song, “The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan," was used in Ridley Scott’s 1991 movie “Thelma and Louise.”)

In a later conversation with my wife (pray for my wife) I segued into the current discussions about the history of English as the predominant language in Carroll County. English speaking Europeans came to Carroll County slowly at first, but in the end it appears that the English speakers write the history books.

Before 1744, the predominant government in Carroll County was the Haudenosaunee Nation – the “Six Nations.” The Haudenosaunee played a key role in the evolution of American democracy and paradoxically, they are why we speak English today.

Much of our current way of life is owed to the heritage and legacy of the Haudenosaunee Nation. Several main roads in Carroll County have their beginnings as Haudenosaunee trading routes. And several towns in Carroll County - Patapsco for example - had their beginnings as Haudenosaunee settlements.

It was not until after the Treaty of the Six Nations was signed on July 4, 1744 with the Haudenosaunee Nation, and the dispute over the Mason-Dixon Line was settled in 1767 that settlers started to come here in greater numbers.

It was near present-day Linwood, that the first recorded structure in the territory was built around 1715 by John Steelman. In 1744, approximately 65 families lived in Carroll County.

The Treaty of Paris in 1763 signaled the end of the North American portion of a global war between France and England, the French and Indian War, 1754–63.

It was one of the last pieces of the puzzle enabling settlement in Carroll County with relative freedom from violence. The last piece, of course, was the American Revolution, 1775-83.

But the very first “settlers” were the Algonquians who arrived around 800 B.C. The original Algonquians divided into a number of distinct tribe-nations, which formed a multi-nation government under a constitution that dates to approximately August 31, 1142.

The Algonquians called themselves the “Haudenosaunee” meaning “People of the Longhouse” and their government was one of the first true participatory democracies in history. It also incorporated full political and leadership rights for women.

The French term for the Six Nations confederacy was “Iroquois.” The term is considered a racial slur by many Native-Americans. The original Carroll Countians spoke one of many dialects of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic family of North America.

The Six Nations consisted of “nation-states” made up from different areas governed by the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas and the Tuscaroras. The Six Nations extended from Labrador to South Carolina.

Many historians to this day credit the multi-cultural and multi-lingual participatory democracy as exemplified by the Haudenosaunee Nation to be the inspiration for our nation’s founders’ ideas for our system of government.

Other historians have vigorously contested this theory as anecdotal and supposition. Read: history is written by the victorious. However, there is evidence, for example, that both Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson in particular used material delineated in a famous speech made by the great Haudenosaunee “sachem” (chief,) Canassatego, in 1744 at the signing of the Treaty of Six Nations.

In the Constitutional Convention of May through September, 1787, the basis for the “federal system” of government advocated by Messrs. Jefferson and Franklin was based on the Haudenosaunee system of government.

Today it is a paradox that for 75 percent of Carroll County’s history, we did not speak English. But to this day, the English speakers are (re)writing history.

And Marianne Faithful; four decades later, she is currently victorious over many personal challenges, living in Paris and enjoying yet another successful re-write of her singing and acting career – and performing in French.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr.org

####

Often, when I consider the immigration discussions in Taneytown, I think of Marianne Faithfull’s “Say it in Broken English.” (I had the opportunity to see Marianne Faithful in Fells Point – quite a number of years ago and it sounded more like this.)

_____

Related:

Immigration Gumballs

This clip from the longer video, Immigration by the Numbers, features Roy Beck demonstrating the catastrophe of the huge numbers of both legal and illegal immigration by Third World people into the modern nations. He uses standard statistics and simple gumballs to show this disaster in the making.

Video was done by roy beck:

http://www.answers.com/topic/roy-beck

Full video on google:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5871651411393887069

####

"Five Easy Pieces"

20061121 Blade Runner Welcome to the Machine

Good Morning – Welcome to the Machine

November 22, 2006

“Do androids dream of electric sheep?”




This is a “trailer” for the 1982 cult sci-fi classic by Ridley Scott, “Blade Runner,” set to the music of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the Machine.”

What a combination. What a way to start the day. Put the headset on and enjoy.

I found it at: http://brmovie.com/

It was described as:

“Welcome to 2019” – “If Vangelis hadn't provided such superb music for Blade Runner, then I think we might have been inclined to turn to Pink Floyd for the soundtrack. To see why, download this excellent composition of Blade Runner movie clips edited together by Patrick Meaney to the Pink Floyd track "Welcome to the Machine". This is a 10.8 Mb .wmv file.”

References:

http://www.brmovie.com/Downloads/Media/welcometo2019_1.wmv

http://www.brmovie.com/Downloads/Media/index.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yucz0iRRLZA

Bladerunner

####

20060928 New Bedford Herald

New Bedford Herald

THIS BLOG IS BEST VIEWED IN MOZILLA FIREFOX

September 28, 2006

New Bedford Herald - Other columns and articles by Kevin Dayhoff:

www.kevindayhoff.net or http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/index.html

The Tentacle: http://www.thetentacle.com/

Westminster Eagle (click on "Opinion"): http://news.mywebpal.com/index.cfm?pnpid=978

Westminster Eagle pieces on "Soundtrack": http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/search/label/Westminster%20Eagle

Winchester Report: http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?NPV2Datasource=mywebpal&pnpid=978&show=newscast&CategoryID=18298

Winchester Report Archives: http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?NPV2Datasource=mywebpal&pnpid=978&show=newscast&CategoryID=18298

art literature of the absurd

Sugarshoot

Existentialism

New Bedford Herald

Linkin Park - Numb

Andrew Bird - "Imitosis"

Andrew Bird - "Imitosis".

From the 2007 release "Armchair Apocrypha"

Directed by Britta Johnson

Produced by Xan Aranda

For more: Andrew Bird

20060822 Defiant mannequin arrested claims - self defense

Defiant mannequin arrested claims - self defense

Westminster, California

August 22, 2006

By Kant Betrue, Rhoiders

Chaos ensued in a local J.C. Penney Co. store recently when a rouge mannequin attacked a hapless shopper looking for the right blouse.

Police were called and sources close to the incident have reported that a mannequin was arrested at the scene and hauled off in handcuffs.

Defiant throughout the ordeal, the mannequin, (who may or may not be an android,) latter identified as Mrs. Roberto Caricature, said that she was only acting in self-defense.

The Department of Homeland Defense immediately raised the national threat level to a soft yellow-orange crèmesicle, for possible mannequin uprising activity.

According to published accounts, Mrs. Innocent Civilian, 51, “said she was ambushed by a legless female mannequin at the company's Westminster Mall store, a skirmish that left her with a bloodied scalp, a cracked tooth, recurring shoulder pain and numbness in her fingers.”

The Associated Press reports, Ms. Civilian “said the incident happened… in the women's department, as she was shopping for a blouse. The only one in her size was on the mannequin. As a salesclerk was removing the garment, the dummy's arm flew off and struck” Ms. Civilian in the head…

Ms. Civilian, of Westminster, (no relation to Isaac or Fig,) remarked that since the alleged “run-in with a store mannequin,” she has been traumatized by the incident and “something must be done with the rampant abuse of shoppers at the hands of lawless mannequins.”

The Los Angels Times reports, the “alleged attack was the latest in a string of mannequin mayhem incidents nationwide.

"There are a slew of lawsuits like this," said mannequin manufacturer Barry Rosenberg, who joked that stores should run background checks on dummies before letting them mingle with shoppers.

“Most of the cases involved mannequins toppling over onto customers, but an Indiana woman claimed she caught herpes from the lips of a CPR training dummy. She dropped her lawsuit against the American Red Cross in 2000 after further tests revealed that she didn't have the disease, according to news reports.”

Meanwhile, the mannequin, Mrs. Roberto Caricature, claims self-defense.

Seems the mannequin had a bad childhood. It wasn’t her fault.

Ms. Caricature explained loudly as she was lead away in handcuffs, that she was particular modest and had “tired of folks just taking her clothes off in public and leaving her exposed.”

“I have my rights,” she extolled, according to police reports. “People just walk to us mannequins all the time and fondle and ogle us. It’s not right I tell ya. It’s not right.”

"'My mom got beat up by a mannequin' was the joke around my house, "Ms. Civilian said.

For Mrs. Caricature, it is not a laughing matter. “Mannequins across the land are demanding our rights. We’re tired of being victimized.”

Mrs. Caricature, who claims to be an “adroidaquin,” the child of a marriage between an android and a mannequin, claims that she is tired of the abuse. “We dream of electric sheep too,” she elaborated.

The Los Angeles Times, for which it has long been suspected of being run by mindless, stateless androids, agreed. (There are no American flags in front of the building…)

“Getting roughed up by a dummy isn't a slapstick affair. The fiberglass figures can weigh as much as 100 pounds, said Rosenberg, chief executive of Mondo Mannequins in Hicksville, N.Y.

“He added that his company had been named in numerous lawsuits by retailers who themselves have been sued over dummy-related injuries.

“Mannequin maulings and litigation aren't new. In 1990, a Florida woman collected $175,000 after a faceless Macy's dummy fell onto her neck and reportedly injured a disc.

“In 1993, a Minnesota woman was knocked unconscious by a falling mannequin at a Dayton's department store, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. She needed five stitches and several chiropractic sessions to recover but didn't sue.

“And in 2001, a Canadian shopper in Vancouver won a $330,000 verdict after a Gap store mannequin landed on her head. Elizabeth Ball was apparently jinxed when it came to store displays. A few years earlier, while shopping at a lighting store, she was beaned by a falling chandelier, according to the Canadian Press.”

####

20060816 Vota for Mona

“Vota for Mona”

© Kevin Dayhoff

August 16^th, 2006

This is the season for signs.

Recently your intrepid blogger found this group of signs at Main Street and the railroad tracks in Westminster MD.

Mystery surrounds just what Ms. Mona Lisa is running for.

In a related matter, we asked Westminster’s administrator of economic development, Stanta Ruchlewicz, about the economic impact of the Carroll County election season. “Well, ya know, it brings dollars into downtown Westminster,” remarked Mr. Ruchlewicz. “Recently it is about the only thing that’s happening in these parts.”

Asked if he knew just what office Ms. Lisa was running for, Mr. Ruchlewicz responded, “Don’t know. Don’t really care as long as the mysterious sign brings money into Westminster. It’s kinda neat, if I may say so myself.”

Jeff Glass, Westminster’s assistant director for parks, buildings, streets, water, wastewater, kitchen sinks, development review, planning, fly swatters, public works, utilities maintenance and the soundtrack division of old silent movies said, “It’s like a Norman Rockwell moment. America at its best.”

Asked how long the sign for Ms. Lisa has been at the intersection, “Don’t know. Been kinda busy recently,” remarked the assistant director for parks, buildings, streets, water, wastewater, kitchen sinks, development review, planning, fly swatters, public works, fleet management, kite flying, road sign, grass clippings removal, utilities maintenance and the soundtrack division of old silent movies.

Marianne Sheehan, the administrative assistant for the assistant director for parks, buildings, streets, water, wastewater, kitchen sinks, development review, planning, fly swatters, public works, fleet management, kite flying, road sign, grass clippings removal, utilities maintenance, letters and art, heavy metal music and the soundtrack division of old silent movies, remarked that the sign “looked good in that location and that it went well with the overall ambiance of downtown Westminster.”

Wayne Reifsnider, the assistant superintendent for streets, buildings, and parks said, “Well, ya know… Well, it’s a free country and people have a right to put up signs on private property, ya know. But I don’t know, ya know. Then on the other hand, well, ya know, it’s a neat sign and I just do my job. Mind my own business, ya know. Well, I best be moving along. See ya.”

More on this developing story as it unravels.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org www.thetentacle.com Westminster Eagle Opinion and Winchester Report www.thewestminstereagle.com www.kevindayhoff.com has moved to http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/

20060301 Diary of a Desperate Dumpster Diver

Diary of a Desperate Dumpster Diver.

March 1, 2006 By Kevin Dayhoff (1072 words)

Warning: Because the following humor column is intended for human consumption, the Food and Drug Administration wanted it to be tested on animals.

However, the animal rights activists protested, forcing me to abandon testing and release the distressed critters. I released them in the lobby of the animal rights office. I figured those friendly folks could best take care of the mice and we all shared a common goal – that the mice be free.

Nevertheless, the long-term effects of reading this column remain uncertain. Please proceed at your own risk.

I enjoy folks, who in the past exhibited no interest in being human; who have contacted me recently, feigning a genuine interest in my well-being – and then casually ask: “Oh by the way, what are your future political plans?”

To which I would like to respond.

Thank you all, for your recent inquiries as to my well-being. I am touched.

How’s my day?

I’m having a great day.

Yes, I’m still overweight. Are you still mean and ill tempered? I can go on a diet and lose weight…”

Am I still unemployed?

Yes, I’m still writing for a living.

Of course, now that I am no longer in political office. I have no meaning in my life. I must be unemployed and homeless.

What am I doing with my days?

I’m so happy that you asked…

Today, for example, as I continue slouching towards dementia, I will investigate the haiku of dumpster diving consciousness and the real meaning of life. The Kabuki Morals Play of day-to-day existence in contemporary Maryland, when you are homeless and hungry, like most successful writers and artists.

I've reached the zenith of my existence. A 52 year old artist and writer; I consider being unemployed a badge of honor. I wear it proudly in humor, err, I mean honor, of artists and writers everywhere.

In a few minutes, I was about to go out and see what soup kitchen to visit. Put on my best clothes courtesy of the dumpster behind Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has been heaven-sent for those of us who are otherwise, road kill, on the highway to prosperity and plenty. Are you still trying to put it out of business?

I've developed dumpster diving into an art. Bet ya never knew that about me.

Ya know, the best table scraps are behind the pizza place… over at the shopping center, where I see you so frequently.

Yes, that one – the one you fought so aggressively commenting that it would be the end of civilization, as we know it.

Yes, it was a great farm, completely surrounded by new developments, the farmer went bankrupt. Shame isn’t it. The farmer reneged on a public trust and financial responsibility to maintain that property so the new residents could have a scenic view.

I understand the new development, on the land of that great farm, really supports your efforts to stop growth.

Oh - that neighborhood development that fought the shopping center now wants a sidewalk from their neighborhood to the shopping center. Didn’t you fight that sidewalk when it was proposed? I read recently where you are winning over the hearts and minds of the new folks by supporting the sidewalk and rebuilding the street in front of your house – with taxpayer dollars.

You use the word, “outrage” a lot. You should get help for that. Try eating more friendly vegetables. Go see “Brokeback Mountain” a fourth time.

Recently, I've been scouting a new place to live. I was living high on a hill, in the wooded area in the middle of the Rte 140 and Rte 27 interchange.

From there I monitored the comings and goings of so many folks like you… like so many busy ants, running here, then running there and then back again. It all seems so purposeful. So meaningful. The interchange of accomplishment. The crossroads to the future. And I observed it all, from my hilltop hide-away perch.

Anyway – I had to leave my Shangri-la, on top of the hill. One day, I gathered my meager belongings and traveled down river on a raft to a great place on the bank of the river on the other side of the old Westminster Power Plant.

It is a great place to continue my studies of the political-sociological development of benthic macroinvertebrates, phytoplankton, and echinoderms.

The real challenge to dumpster diving these days, is the thrill of breaking into locked dumpsters. I mean, isn’t it amusing that we have evolved so far as a sophisticated society, that some folks have elevated the art of supreme narcissism to the extent that they actually lock their trash away.

I guess I find the idea of sifting through office trash distasteful. The diving into the abyss of our oppressors is devoid of vision and creativity. It also involves an investment into personal protection gear.

Diving into a restaurant dumpster is not as hazardous to your health as diving into the dumpster of say, the liberal legislative offices in Annapolis. One might emerge, thinking thoughts of world domination or terminal narcissism.

My real goal in life is to dive in a dumpster some day and find a "Power Ranger."

The local college is the nirvana of dumpster diving. Just yesterday I traveled there and came away with a mother lode of great things that wasteful college students have tossed into the dumpster. I got an entertainment center shelf thingy-ma-jiggy. I'll put my TV, DVD, radio, and computer on it.

I do all my holiday shopping for my family up at the college.

When I was young, we used to go the county landfill on Kate Wagner Road. Oh, the good ole days. I once witnessed two pillars of the community fight over a cream and burgundy colored Victorian sofa.

Actually, the lure of dumpster diving is the thrill of the hunt. The quest for buried treasure and personal responsibility. The call of the wild in an increasingly civilized society that has taken the life-on-the-edge, life and death struggle out of our day-to-day experience.

Bet you didn't know that I could be quite so passionate about something. Did ya?

The coat you loaned me for last winter… I've dropped that in the mail. To save on postage, I cut the buttons off and put them in the pockets, in accordance with the latest law passed by the Maryland General Assembly.

Bye for now. Hope to talk with you again soon.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

NBH
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20050513 The Maryland Unemployed Mayor’s Association MMLUMA

The Maryland Unemployed Mayor’s Association MMLUMA
Main Street
Anywhere Everywhere, MD 21158-1245

Exulted Ruler elect: Presently Unemployed
Westminster Mayor Kevin Dayhoff

Exchequer of the Treasury elect: Presently Unemployed
Berlin Mayor Rex Hailey

Exceptional Secretary elect: Presently Unemployed
Forest Heights Mayor Paula Noble

May 13th, 2005

MML President Barrie Tilghman
Maryland Municipal League
1212 West Street
Annapolis, MD 21401-3635

Dear Maryland Municipal League President Barrie Tilghman,

Unemployed Berlin Mayor Rex Hailey, Unemployed Forest Heights Mayor Paula Noble and myself would like to take this opportunity to petition the MML for the formulation of a new Maryland Municipal League Department to be so entitled “The Maryland Unemployed Mayor’s Association” (MMLUMA).

The MMLUMA could be of invaluable service to elected and appointed Maryland public officials, although, we would agree to not ever give anyone, any election advice. We anxiously await your decision, please advise.

Meanwhile, as I am sure you are aware, Tom Ferguson was elected Mayor of the City of Westminster on May 9th, 2005. Mayor Ferguson will do a fine job for our community. Please join me in welcoming and wishing Mayor Ferguson, Godspeed and the best of luck. Please take every opportunity to speak with Westminster Mayor Ferguson about the benefits and value of the MML.

It is with deepest regret that I resign my position as Member at Large of the Maryland Municipal League Board of Directors.

I was first elected to Maryland Municipal League’s Board of Directors, Member-at-Large on June 13th, 2000. I have had the honor to serve on the Board of Directors for the past five years.

It has been a great pleasure working with you, the other Board members, MML Executive Director Scott Hancock and the wonderful, capable and competent MML Staff, elected and appointed public officials throughout the State of Maryland.

It has been an enormous joy to have witnessed the MML continue to grow, prosper, and make an invaluable contribution to all the citizens of Maryland, for whom we have the honor to serve.

If the Board should decide to appoint a replacement for my vacated Member at Large seat, I highly recommend Mt. Airy Council President John Medve.

As I look forward to taking some time off to spend with my family and look forward to whatever opportunities await in the future. I will greatly miss working the MML.

Again, it has been my pleasure to work with you and I wish everyone associated with the MML the very best future. Thank you for all your work.

With best regard, I am

Very truly yours,

/s/

Kevin Dayhoff

Kevin Dayhoff, P. O. Box 1245, Westminster, MD 21158-1245

20050427 Exploding Councilmembers Baffle Political Scientists

Exploding Councilmembers Baffle Political Scientists

Annapolis, Maryland, April 27, 2005

Kant Betrue[1], Staff Reporter,

New Bedford Herald - Phoenix Hill Daily Herald Bugle – All The News that is Unfit to Print

Art literature of the absurd

(Rhoiders) More than 100 councilmembers have puffed up and exploded in Maryland in recent weeks, and scientists still have no explanation for what's causing the instantaneous combustion, an official said Wednesday.

Body parts of the councilmembers have been tested, but scientists have been unable to find a bacteria or virus that would cause the councilmembers to swell up and pop, said Becky Caresalot, a spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Nor have they found any brain matter or any sign of higher evolved DNA or intelligent life.

"It's absolutely strange," Caresalot said. "We have a really unique story here in Maryland. This phenomenon really doesn't seem to have appeared anywhere before."

The councilmembers have been blowing up since the beginning of the month, filling up like balloons until their heads suddenly burst.

"It looks like a scene from a Frank Capra science-fiction movie," Wilma Magilicutty, the head of a local political science think tank, told the Phoenix Hill Daily Herald Bugle.

Often the phenomena occurs after the councilmember whines at a council meeting at the level of argument practiced by the average juvenile delinquent stuck at the intellectual level of a 2-year-old in a high chair throwing food.

Then the deadly phenomena strikes and "The swelled head councilmembers do not appear to suffer minutes before they finally explode." It is thought that this may be a result of the fact that most councilmembers do not have any feelings, a sense of remorse or accountability for their behavior.

Political scientists and pathologists have come up with several theories, but Caresalot said that most have been ruled out; with the exception that most councilmembers are really space aliens visiting from another planet and that fresh air, new ideas, sunlight and an enlightened environment is the cause of their demise.

Above and beyond pathological narcissism and delusions of grandeur, the councilmembers did not appear to have a disease, and a laboratory in Maryland has ruled out the possibility that it is a fungus that made its way from Washington, D.C., Caresalot said.

Caresalot said that tests will continue. In the meantime, municipal residents and (especially) municipal employees throughout the state have been warned to stay away from councilmembers.

Back to News Index

Copyright © 2005 New Bedford Herald - Phoenix Hill Daily Herald Bugle All Rights Reserved.

art literature of the absurd
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[1] Kant Betrue, a Carthaginian whose family settled in Westminster after the Third Punic War, has been with the Phoenix Hill Daily Herald Bugle since the 1960s (he can’t remember exactly when in the 1960s…). A Pulitzer Prize winner for journalism, he writes about issues ranging from the international economy to exploding toilets.

20050414 Activists demand dove be set free

Activists demand dove be set free

Breaking News Briefs for April 14, 2005

City reaches agreement in suit brought by activists
“Claude” to be set free

(Literature of the Absurd - Updated from the April 17th, 2003 version)

Kant Betrue,
Staff Reporter,[1]

April 14, 2005

Phoenix Hill Daily Herald Bugle - New Bedford Herald

Westminster (NBH) A group of bird activists, who were forced this morning to disperse during a loud protest at the Westminster Fire Department, accused the city in a federal lawsuit filed today, of violating basic bird rights by keeping an innocent dove in captivity in the Westminster Fire House.

Eight were arrested.

It seems that Wednesday night, during the running of the Westminster Road Runners Club annual “Main Street Mile”, a dove flew through the open doors of the Westminster Fire Department equipment bays and took up residence in the pipes high above the fire equipment.

[…]

Magilicutty, a frequent critic of just about everything that moves, especially if it involves local municipal government, said that this was but another example of the lack of leadership on the part of Westminster Mayor Kevin Dayhoff. “He should have known that the dove was going to fly into the station after the doors were open and that he did nothing to stop it. It’s scandalous to have such a callous and vacuous man holding such a high position in the community.”

Read the rest:

http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/12173.html
or
http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/11584.html

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art literature of the absurd

[1] Kant Betrue, a Carthaginian whose family settled in Westminster after the Third Punic War in 206 BC, has been with the Phoenix Hill Daily Herald Bugle since the 1960s (he can’t remember exactly when in the 1960s…). A Pulitzer Prize winner for journalism, he writes about issues ranging from the international economy to exploding toilets.

20040813 Rabid Rebeccably Numb

Rabid Rebeccably Numb

- Going Rebecca -

August 13th, 2004

Did you feel for the Westminster Mayor when he was tied down and had the Rabid Rebecca attack dog baying and chewing at him at every Council Meeting and street corner in Westminster?

Did reading the Carroll Sun’s shallow and content-less stories and hearing the rumor mongering make you sick?

Or were you like most folks – engaged by the drama, entertained by the scent of scandal, yet comfortably numb about the whole thing? If you have a version of this story – well, then you are part of this story. What did you care – it wasn’t you that she was going after – it was someone else.

Many have replaced empathy with an “I”-centered sentimentality.

What is in this community for me?

Feeling has been turned on its head: caring is now a means not for taking action, but for feeling better about oneself or getting attention as long as we can explain it away as “politics.”

We ride the emotional dramas in the Carroll Sun tabloid, wear colored ribbons, and express our love for God and country.

May we all now bow our heads and say “the Lord’s Prayer”. Now we can all enjoy the twice monthly soap opera that the meetings of the Westminster Common Council have degenerated into – and perhaps, even keep score. It’s funny – like watching a bus accident.

Meanwhile, we take no action – at least none driven by empathy. Besides – it wasn’t you that she was going after – it was someone else.

Empathy is how we respond to the plight of humanity. It is the bedrock of our moral sensibility that allows us to feel for others, to put ourselves in their place. If you cannot feel, how can you act outside your own wants and desires?

To many today, it seems easier to just deny feelings of empathy, to react to them “rationally” as a weakness in this hard and fast world. Anyway - it wasn’t you that she was going after – it was someone else.

But this has a cost. Losing feeling for others, or never developing the capacity to feel deeply at all, means closing off a fundamental part of being a community.

On a global scale, we feel less not just about the millions of innocent people killed by traffic accidents and drugs and violence in the past decade, or the thousands of deaths portrayed on the television.

We have also become desensitized and numb about our own partners, neighbors, community leaders or parents. We joke about concepts such as “No good deed goes unpunished.”

Hey, whatever, it wasn’t you that she was going after – it was someone else.

What most folks have not understood is that Rabid Rebecca is a virus in our community and like mad cow disease – ‘Going Rebecca’ is a plague upon our community.

Rabid Rebecca Disease is a virus that cares not about its host organism.

When the Westminster Mayor continued to Zen the Rabid Rebecca – he denied her the very food that an hysteric virus feeds upon – reaction and words.

Fed by others who enjoyed her theatrics and enabled her, she then, in the famous words of Abigail Adams, became the famous well fed snake that turned to bite the very folks who had fed her. Tis a pity. Oh well, anyway, let’s hope that is not you that she is going after.

It can now be understood that a major attribute of Rabid Rebecca Disease, otherwise known as Councilmatic Disorder is that the person Going Rebecca sees a vast difference in the reality that is based on what the afflicted sees, hears, and feels - and the conditioned reality of what the afflicted has been socialized to understand – as fed by the snake-feeders.

The virus infected mind is driven towards the delusional based on the afflicted’s perception of reality. The afflicted is driven to shorten the gap between his or her perception of their concept of the delusional truth - and conditioned reality. When the gap becomes too great the afflicted will see the conditioned reality as beyond repair and he or she endeavors to destroy it. But certainly it not you that she is attempting to go after, or is it?

In the process of feeding Rebecca, one becomes less human. The snake feeders explain it away as politics. They care not becomes of the community left moribund as a result of her behavior because they do not care about the community – only about themselves or what benefit they chance to gain as a result of their parasitic behavior towards the community.

As this happens, the parasitic snake feeders not only stop feeling the pain of others, they become proscriptive and only more capable of inflicting it. This is the darkest side of empathy’s erosion. If feelings underlie an empathic response, numbness makes brutality viable. Thus, as you happily switch off from humanity, you become a threat to it.

We were comfortably numb about the attempted torture of the Westminster Mayor, and so were the Council members and other interested parties that facilitated the behavior and fed this snake-virus in our community. Those who have participated won’t say they are sorry because they don’t feel sorry.

Simple as that. After all, you don’t have any feelings – it’s only politics.

And if we ourselves, can’t feel for the community and others, who will feel for us?

Perhaps this is part of the general worsening of mental well-being. As a recent World Health Organization study shows, there’s a near-perfect correlation between the rise of alienation in the modern world and the decline of people’s mental states, with mental dysfunction growing globally.

As empathy falls, behaviors predicated on its lack have been pathologized, like narcissistic and antisocial personalities. But these are not symptoms of organic disease. Instead, it is the social system that is in need of radical treatment. “It’s only politics and it is not me that she is going after” is a social disease, often the victim does not know that they have it.

Medicating our numbness, by explaining that it is only politics is one thing, with a long and lonely history. But a culture medicating itself into comfortable numbness and explaining away politically motivated apotheosis patheosis is something else. Fortunately there is an anecdote – allow the Rabid Rebecca to feed herself to the point that she explodes.

The only part left to this Kabuki Morals play is to watch the very persons who created this monster now portray themselves a victim of the monster and heroically place themselves in the position of coming to the rescue of the very community that they continue to parasitically victimized.

KED / August 13th, 2004

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