Wednesday: Hili dialogue

July 10, 2019 • 6:45 am

It’s Wednesday, July 10, 2019, and National Pina Colada Day. It’s also Nikola Tesla Day, honoring the great man’s birthday in 1856, as well as Silence Day for followers of Meher Baba, the guru who didn’t speak for the last 43½ years of his life. (Followers are suppose to shut up for 24 hours today.)

Things that happened on this day in history include:

  • 138 – Emperor Hadrian dies of heart failure at Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina.
  • 1212 – The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground.
  • 1553 – Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England.

She was queen for exactly nine days, and was executed seven months later.

  • 1584 – William I of Orange is assassinated in his home in Delft, Holland, by Balthasar Gérard.
  • 1913 – The temperature in Death Valley, California, hits 134 °F (57 °C), the highest temperature ever to be recorded on Earth.

The linked page on temperature extremes makes for fascinating reading.

I’ve been in the high-record location—Furnace Creek in Death Valley, where I used to do fly work—when the temperature was above 120° F (49° C). It was unbearable, even with low humidity. Needless to say, I couldn’t find any Drosophila there. And I had to rent a motel room with air conditioning, as I was collecting through the night. Yet, in this desert oasis, fifty miles from nowhere, flies miraculously appear each spring. This is what made me conclude (and subsequently confirm) that fruit flies can fly enormous distances, at least in the desert.

  • 1925 – Meher Baba begins his silence of 44 years. His followers observe Silence Day on this date in commemoration.
  • 1925 – Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called “Monkey Trial” begins of John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act.

Fun fact: Tennessee’s Butler act forbade the teaching not of evolution, but of human evolution. Apparently the good citizens of that state had a bigger problem with evolution in our species than in other species.

  • 1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah is recommended as the first Governor-General of Pakistan by the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee.
  • 1962 – Telstar, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched into orbit.
  • 1985 – The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents, killing Fernando Pereira.

The French government was clearly behind this, but those who did the deed were barely punished. France did have to pay Greenpeace 8.1 million dollars, though.

  • 1991 – Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia.
  • 1992 – In Miami, former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations.
  • 1997 – In London, scientists report the findings of the DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton which supports the “out of Africa theory” of human evolution, placing an “African Eve” at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.

I can’t be arsed to check the above for accuracy.

  • 1999 – In women’s association football, the United States defeated China in a penalty shoot-out at the Rose Bowl near Los Angeles to win the final match of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The final was watched by 90,185 spectators, which set a new world record for attendance at a women’s sporting event.
  • 2017 – Iraqi Civil War: Mosul is declared fully liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Notables born on this day include:

  • 1638 – David Teniers III, Flemish painter (d. 1685)

Here’s a nice Teniers: “Cat concert” (1635). Flemish and Dutch painters did know how to draw cats! The conductor, however, appears to be an owl. And there’s an ape on the recorder.

  • 1830 – Camille Pissarro, Danish-French painter (d. 1903)
  • 1856 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist and engineer (d. 1943)
  • 1871 – Marcel Proust, French novelist, critic, and essayist (d. 1922)
  • 1882 – Ima Hogg, American society leader, philanthropist, patron and collector of the arts (d. 1975)

More on the “first lady of Texas” from Wikipedia:

Hogg was the daughter of Sarah Ann “Sallie” Stinson and James Stephen “Big Jim” Hogg, later attorney general and governor of the state. Ima Hogg’s first name was taken from The Fate of Marvin, an epic poem written by her uncle Thomas Hogg. She endeavored to downplay her unusual name by signing her first name illegibly and having her stationery printed with “I. Hogg” or “Miss Hogg”. Although it was rumored that Hogg had a sister named “Ura Hogg”, she had only brothers.

Here’s Ima Hogg, who is not a bit hoglike:

  • 1895 – Carl Orff, German composer and educator (d. 1982)
  • 1897 – Legs Diamond, American gangster (d. 1931)
  • 1911 – Cootie Williams, American trumpeter and bandleader (d. 1985)
  • 1920 – David Brinkley, American journalist (d. 2003)
  • 1939 – Mavis Staples, American singer
  • 1943 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player and journalist (d. 1993)
  • 1947 – Arlo Guthrie, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
  • 1972 – Sofía Vergara, Colombian-American actress and producer

Those who bit the dust on this day include:

Here’s a lovely Stubbs painting, “Miss Anne White’s Kitten” (1790):

  • 1851 – Louis Daguerre, French photographer and physicist, invented the daguerreotype (b. 1787).

Here’s one of his earliest photos, and the first known to depict a human. From Wikipedia:

“Boulevard du Temple“, taken by Daguerre in 1838 in Paris, includes the earliest known photograph of a person. The image shows a busy street, but because the exposure had to continue for several minutes the moving traffic is not visible. At the lower right, however, a man apparently having his boots polished, and the bootblack polishing them, were motionless enough for their images to be captured.

  • 1884 – Paul Morphy, American chess player (b. 1837)
  • 1941 – Jelly Roll Morton, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1890)
  • 1989 – Mel Blanc, American voice actor (b. 1908)

Mel Blanc, of course, was “The Man of a Thousand Voices”, including those of Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, and Porky Pig, with the last one inspiring Blanc’s tombstone inscription (yes, this is real):

This is a great interview of Blanc by David Letterman:

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili and Andrzej discuss philosophy:

Hili: There are things about which it’s easier to be silent than to talk.
A: I know, and it’s easier to be silent together.
In Polish:
Hili: Są sprawy, o których łatwiej milczeć niż rozmawiać.
Ja: Wiem, ale łatwiej milczeć razem.

A cartoon from reader Pliny the in Between:

A cartoon provided by reader Jon:

And something from Facebook:

A tweet with a reply from 7-Eleven:

A tweet Grania sent me in October of 2018, never used:

A tweet from Heather Hastie, sent in the same month (I’m rifling my inbox):

From Nilou: bedtime for kitty:

AntifaGull:

https://twitter.com/PersianRose1/status/1148575962675601408

Tweets from Matthew. The first one, and the linked article, suggests that there’s an alligator loose in a Chicago lagoon? How did it survive the winter, or was it recently dumped there? It’s a big one!

When photography was invented, there were still people around born in the 18th century. Here are four:

No choppers required! (I tried tripe exactly once: last fall in Paris. I will never try it again.) “Snoots” in the ad below are pig snouts (also very soft).

 

40 thoughts on “Wednesday: Hili dialogue”

  2. 1962 – Telstar, the world’s first communications satellite, is launched into orbit.

    I remember as a kid my grandmother taking me in the backyard at night to watch the Telstar satellite pass overhead. It was just a tiny, blinking white light in the night sky to me, but it was a big deal to my grandmother, who had been born four years before the Wright brothers made their first flight at Kitty Hawk.

    I also remember that Telstar inspired this eponymous instrumental tune that was the #1 hit on the radio that summer.

    Reply

    1. I remember when the Russians put Sputnik up. Just barely but I think you could see that one as well?

      The tornadoes – kind of a one hit wonder I guess.

      Reply

      1. I think the Tornadoes was an English band; don’t know if they had any other hits over there.

        I also recall that “Telstar” was covered by the American instrumental surf band the Ventures. I can still conjure a mental image of the album cover.

        Reply

        1. The Tornadoes were British & had FOUR top twenty UK hits in 1963, but they were only nominally a band for marketing purposes – it was really around fifteen rotating session musicians cobbled together for various purposes by the great JOE MEEK ~ the UK version of Phil Spector. Meek created all the songs although he couldn’t play any instruments, sing nor read/write music. A very important innovator in the recording studio, more important than Spector in my opinion.

          Reply

          1. 1963 — the same year the “British invasion” of the US music scene started, led by four lads from Liverpool, as I recall.

    2. Telstar, the music, was an insufferable ear worm. You might call it a large, silvery, bag of hot air. I remember the composer saying it represented the dawn of a new era in music inspired by the space age. I’m so glad he was wrong.

      Reply

    3. I can call ‘Telstar’ (the tune) to mind – and just did. And unlike Rickflick, I kinda like it.

      cr

      Reply

  4. So way back in 1999 the women’s soccer team had over 90 thousand show up to watch.

    I heard a good one the other day. The women’s team has been doing pretty well so the U.S. is thinking about getting a men’s team.

    Reply

  5. Re: the Scopes Trial

    My parents live near Dayton, TN and there is a brewpub there called Monkey Town Brewing. One of their offering is called “Evolution IPA” and it’s pretty good.

    Reply

  6. According to Wikipedia, Meher Baba was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, God in human form.
    A god in human form who shuts up for 44 years; I love it! My kind of god.

    Reply

  7. Death Valley is at 36.5 N latitude with a high temperature of 134 degrees F.

    Here in Idaho, we are at 43.6 N latitude and last summer had a temperature of 107 degrees F.

    7 degrees difference in latitude and 27 degree F difference in temperature. About 4 degrees F per degree latitude. How far into Canada do I have to move before I can no longer fry and egg on the sidewalk?

    Reply

    2. The Death Valley high was set in 1913. Funny that there hasn’t been a new high there after 100+ years of warming. The recent record highs are in northern latitude locations.

      Reply

      1. It is surprising, but not much. Many effects of global warming have to do with shifts in overall movement of air masses and increased humidity. Increases in storms are one result. There may actually be cooling in Death Valley because of some of these effects. Perhaps increased cloud cover.

        Reply

    3. It doesn’t work that way (as I’m sure you know).

      Look at a Mercator projection world map to see the anomalies in climate vs latitude.

      For example Brighton (on the English south coast) is at the same latitude as Winnipeg, or Lake Baikal in Siberia. (The Gulf Stream has a lot to answer for). Spain is the same latitude as North Korea.
      And Miami is the same latitude as the middle of the Sahara.

      Continental land masses have a lot to do with it. The further from the sea you are, the more temperatures will go up and down (as an approximation).

      cr

      Reply

  8. The loudest, most live LIVE band in the world perform a nicely mental version of Baba O’Riley at Charlton Athletic FC [that’s south-east London] 18th May 1974. Watch for Pete’s footwork towards the end:

    Reply

    1. I was sure he’d trip and make a fool of himself (I would). They must practice choreography for hours.

      Reply

      1. That concert was the day before Townshend’s 29th birthday & he was in a funny-peculiar mood before he got on the stage – it crossed his mind that he was too old to Rock’n’Roll & thus he approached the whole gig with a ‘don’t give a fuck’ attitude [happened a lot].

        That’s how you don’t trip I guess & still be playing at 74.

        I wish both old bastards would sort out their back catalogue – I have exactly one of their studio tunes & will not get more until they stop all the bogus ‘remastered’ re-issues that form their pension plan. I’m waiting for a studio re-issue with proper sound – I have this theory that the respected old time sound engineers they use [two of them] don’t have ears any more, especially around this 126dB legendary band.

        Reply

        1. Hearing at the top end goes first. I bet they can’t even hear the piccolos, chimes, and some pianissimo violin passages. Time for the whole generation to retire.

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    1. Yes, two commenters pointed this out, and I’ve corrected it. I posted this last year, didn’t watch it this year, and “misremembered” it as Carson.

      Thanks for the heads up.

      Reply

  11. My bestie is a teaching chef at a culinary school. He makes tripe Italian-style, from an old family recipe. I love it, but maybe that’s because the first time I ate it at his parents’ home when we were kids I didn’t know what it was exactly.

    Reply

  12. Re the “Cat Concert” picture: I think the ape is playing a shawm–a double reed precursor of the oboe–not a recorder. The latter normally does not have a lower section that is flared to that extent.

    Reply

  13. So if there is so much evidence that Evolution is the way that the universe, solar system and earth with all the complexities that we call life and support life why is Evolution still called a theory ? Surely a theory isn’t is still looking to be validated before it can be called ‘fact’

    Reply

    1. I take you to be a creationist, but on the off chance that you really are looking for an honest answer, it’s this: evolution is both a theory and a fact—a true theory.
      I recommend that you read Steve Gould’s essay, “Evolution as Fact and Theory“, which contains this:

      Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world’s data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts do not go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein’s theory of gravitation replaced Newton’s, but apples did not suspend themselves in mid-air, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from apelike ancestors whether they did so by Darwin’s proposed mechanism or by some other, yet to be discovered.

      Moreover, “fact” does not mean “absolute certainty.” The final proofs of logic and mathematics flow deductively from stated premises and achieve certainty only because they are not about the empirical world. Evolutionists make no claim for perpetual truth, though creationists often do (and then attack us for a style of argument that they themselves favor). In science, “fact” can only mean “confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.” I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms.

      Evolutionists have been clear about this distinction between fact and theory from the very beginning, if only because we have always acknowledged how far we are from completely understanding the mechanisms (theory) by which evolution (fact) occurred. Darwin continually emphasized the difference between his two great and separate accomplishments: establishing the fact of evolution, and proposing a theory—natural selection—to explain the mechanism of evolution. He wrote in The Descent of Man: “I had two distinct objects in view; firstly, to show that species had not been separately created, and secondly, that natural selection had been the chief agent of change. . . . Hence if I have erred in . . . having exaggerated its [natural selection’s] power . . . I have at least, as I hope, done good service in aiding to overthrow the dogma of separate creations.”

      Reply

      1. I find it interesting, although you probably do not, that your questioner above covers almost totally the field of Astronomy yet pronounces evolution as his problem? I guess whatever the problem with science, the blame lies with evolution.

        Reply

  15. For people who listen to podcasts, I recommend the June 7 episode of Sound Opinions which featured an interview with Mavis Staples. She is on the birthday list above and turns 80 today. (And she just released a new album at the end of May!) One of the hosts of the show, Greg Kot, wrote a biography of Ms. Staples and her family, so it’s a very informed interview. I was really struck by how charming she is!

    Reply

  17. There was an interesting PBS show Secrets of the Dead about Baiae that I just watched, and recommend. Much of the Roman town sank when magma drained from the chamber beneath the area, so archaeology had to be carried out using scuba gear. The area has been rising again as magma is moving back below the town. Baiae was quite the Roman resort.

    Reply

  18. Would have LOVED to be backstage at Lettermen the he had Mel Blanc….
    And Hunter S Thompson.

    If I had a time machine, would go back and tell HST to hang on… guess who ‘wins’ in 2016?

    Reply

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