Article from Esquire Magazine…
Historical
03
Feb 13
Some Nostalgia…
Duwamish School, circa 1920
There was one room for each grade. First and second grades were in the basement. Third grade was on the ground floor on the right, fourth on the left, fifth on the upper right and sixth on the upper left. The principal’s office between the fifth and sixth grade classrooms.
I started there in 1956 in the third grade after attending first grade in Wichita, KA, second grade in Moses Lake, WA and Lake Meridian Elementary in Kent, WA. Dad worked for Boeing and kept getting transferred around, but finally settled at Boeing Field in South Seattle.
27
Nov 12
The Three Graces… Joy, Charm, Beauty
The Three Graces, by Antonio Canova
The Graces presided over banquets, dances, and all other pleasurable social events, and brought joy and goodwill to both gods and mortals. They were the special attendants of the divinities of love, Aphrodite and Eros, and together with companions, the Muses, they sang to the gods on Mount Olympus, and danced to beautiful music that the god Apollo made upon his lyre.
In some legends Aglaia was wed to Hephaestus, the craftsman among the gods. Their marriage explains the traditional association of the Graces with the arts; like the Muses, they were believed to endow artists and poets with the ability to create beautiful works of art. The Graces were rarely treated as individuals, but always together as a kind of triple embodiment of grace and beauty.
In art they are usually represented as lithe young maidens, dancing in a circle.
05
Nov 12
Americana
American Gothic, painted by Grant Wood in 1930, is one of the most iconic and recognized works of 19th century Americana. Here is a great photo of the models for American Gothic, Nan Wood Graham and Byron McKeeby. The photo was shot in 1930. Wonderful!
12
Jul 12
Live via Satellite…
Fifty years ago today, July 12, 1962, the first live television signal was transmitted across the Atlantic Ocean via the diminutive Telstar 1 satellite. Launched from Cape Canaveral just two days prior, Telstar 1 heralded a new age in global communication. Measuring a mere 34.5 inches and weighing in at 170 pounds, it’s size was limited by what would fit into one of NASA’s Delta rockets.
The viewers able to watch the images were treated to twenty minutes of the Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower photos, words from John F. Kennedy, and shots of a Phillies versus Cubs baseball game. Telstar circled the globe in 2.5 hour non-geosynchronous orbits, affording twenty minute windows for broadcasting between Andover, Maine, Goonhilly Downs in southwest England, and Pleumeur-Bodou in northwestern France as it passed over the Atlantic.
Telstar 1 relayed many broadcasts, telephone calls, and photos over it’s short four month life. Prior to the launch, the Cold War efforts of both the US and USSR performed high-altitude nuclear tests which left residual radiation in the orbiting Telstar 1 wake. That, combined with cosmic radiation from the sun, destroyed the delicate transistor circuitry in the history making satellite.
But Telstar 1 had made it’s mark. Several more Telstars were launched in the following months which led to the instant global communications we enjoy today.
Happy 50th Anniversary Telstar 1!
23
Apr 12
Maya, Hindu Goddess of Illusion
She is Maya
An illusion; She hides truth from the unaware
A shadow; She reveals but a hint of truth, what is real
A glimpse; She teases with a brief look at truth, the true beauty of reality
A perception; She joys in teasing the senses, creates thirst for truth
A vision; She allows a fleeting awareness of truth’s loveliness
I long for Her reality, Her true beauty, seeking what She hides.
She opens her veil to me, my untrained eyes catching a hint of the truth She covers.
Oh, for the fog to clear from my eyes, to reveal all that is reality,
To know Her secrets, to penetrate Her enigma, to savor the reality She enshrouds.
She is Maya
~Written by James Milstid
I happened upon an article a few months ago about reality. I’m not Hindu, nor to I pretend to be at all knowledgeable about the Hindu beliefs, but the article mentioned the goddess Maya and it piqued my interest and prompted me to write the poetry above
Maya is the goddess of illusion, or as some would put it, delusion. Each of us perceive reality in a different way by putting our own spin on it. Our perceptions cloud what we see and think. Hindus strive to see the true reality, without the veil of human perception. Maya is all that we “put on” the true reality. Seeking Maya’s secrets and knowing of her allow us to see through our perceptions.
We shroud true reality every day. It’s simply a part of our nature. It’s interesting that the ancient Hindus understood this and strive to see through Maya’s veil.
