p.p.s. I also really liked the comments on Edward Ryder... I hadn't really considered the effects of depression and grief on his person.
If we're archetyping folks, I always saw Ryder the elder as the last Victorian... compared to Marchmain (who ought to be a near peer in age) as among the first "modern men" an Edwardian broken by WWI.
I thoroughly enjoyed the autobiographical contemplation of the Brideshead aesthetic... but then I would, wouldn't I?
A couple thoughts.
First, a pity you encountered such a Catholic in Chicago; by rule we're a credulous lot; but we go through periods where miracles seem an embracing burden we must explain away to make ourselves presentable. As if such a thing were possible with our outrageous Marian claims, the perambulations of decapitated saints, and, well, the daily claims of the Mass. Chicago in the 70's-90's was such a place.
I've always had a soft-spot for Lutheran's who at least thought to maintain two of the seven sacraments; I can give one cheer for Luther famously pounding the table with "HOC EST... HOC EST...Hoc est Corpus meum" against the nominalists looking to strip away even that sacrament. The apocryphal(?) origin of Hocus Pocus, so I'm told.
On the matter of Brideshead and aesthetics, I certainly take your point that a besetting sin of a certain sort of traditionalism might be nostalgia; but the line between nostalgia and inheritance can be blurry. Sometimes I think people on the outside (of anything) wrongly attribute nostalgia for a dead thing to people building anew on a living tradition... it's a natural error, I should think.
For example the Chapel you cite in Brideshead isn't Baroque... Charles isn't seduced into the Baroque... it is a "monument of art nouveau." The aesthetic of suffering in Brideshead *is* Arts and Crafts.
"The whole interior had been gutted, elaborately refurnished and redecorated in the arts-and-crafts style of the last decade of the nineteenth century. Angels in printed cotton smocks, rambler-roses, flower-spangled meadows, frisking lambs, texts in Celtic script, saints in armour, covered the walls in an intricate patter of clear, bright colours. There was a triptych of pale oak, carved so as to give it the peculiar property of seeming to have been moulded in Plasticine. The sanctuary lamp and all the metal furniture were of bronze, hand-beaten to the patina of a pock-marked skin; the altar steps had a carpet of grass-green, strewn with white and gold daisies."
The Flytes, you see, are Moderns. They are we. Charles paints the old pile at Brideshead in his modern style. If there's a gothic sensibility it belongs to Anthony... who is bemused by Charles' "pictures" knowing them to be 'trendy'.
The flight of the Flytes is to modernity; and the entire 'tragedy' plays out before "a small red flame--a beaten-copper lamp of deplorable design" an artifact of the English Arts and Crafts artistic movement of the late 19th century.
I don't point this out specifically to gainsay your personal experience or underlying point... possibly the thoroughly modern (long suffering and insufferable) satirical author Waugh was more aligned with what you're suggesting?
Growing up I used to work in the field for the family business ... we were painting contractors of the industrial/professional sort: office buildings, commercial properties, warehouses, etc. (i.e. no houses) ... one thing that really impressed me was the genius (it can't really be described as anything else) of our long-time German foreman.
Everything back then had an ethnic component... most of the union guys were Poles, Germans, Greeks, Irish and in the later years, Hispanic... we had a run where a couple Romanian brothers joined from the local... and for a few years had an all Romanian team... and then there was Jimmy - he was an American from Tennessee, but he was the unusual one. I have more Jimmy stories than anyone else because he was fearless and painted the parts no-one thought was possible. One time, painting some facia on the peak of a sloped roof he slipped, slid down the roof - we all thought he was gonna die - and caught himself jamming his boots into the gutter; the slightest panic would have sent him over the edge, but fearless Jimmy figured he'd stick the gutter. Anyhow, back to the German Foreman.
Conrad, that was his name naturally, had an eye for estimating exactly how long it would take for any given job based on the talent on hand, like a coach selecting line match-ups in hockey. He managed to keep the family business solvent with little tricks like this: he'd know that the work he needed accomplished to keep the job on schedule would take about 9-10 hrs with the crew on site - going at the usual rate - BUT, if everyone focused, cut-out the ordinary time-wasters and each watched over the other we could get it done in about 7 hrs... or worst case 8... but 8 is what he needed. So he'd make the devil's bargain that we could all go home when this section/task was finished ... and darned if it didn't always work. Sometimes we won by finishing in 6.5 hrs ... sometimes he won with us needing 7.5 hrs... but always we got 'some' time back for free. If he tried to run the field that way everyday it would have led to mutiny, but used judiciously for the greater good of the project and with a fair bet for all involved? It made him a virtuoso leader of men.
That's not a tenet of Monotheism. Many monotheists openly speculate about what extra-terrestrial beings/life might be like... heck stodgy old CS Lewis wrote an entire trilogy about it.
I'm not sure "Contact" is a reliable source of Monotheistic belief.
Somewhat tongue in cheek... I'm not sure Mormons are Monotheistic...but they certainly are multi-celestial.
I'm sure we could find some monotheists somewhere who hold the belief dogmatically, but, alas, we can find monotheists who hold just about any belief dogmatically.
Back in December I thought it would be helpful to caution the family that while things are looking up, February/March will probably be tough months in-between pandemic lockdowns and winter lockdowns/blahs.
And while correct, I can report that the advanced cautioning was not in fact helpful. We've no choice but to double to rations of grog.
All good points... I don't know... one thing we've learned though, is that school districts are good at planning for and executing on unexpected contingencies.
I think you're right... barring some a radical change in Covid rates/vaccinations/strains... they will be open or, as you say, a big reckoning. Which is to say, the current trends are seen as perfectly adequate levels of risk to proceed at that point.
"A solar powered well pump? Seems easy enough to do, what’s the difficulty?"
I know, right? Haven't been able to find someone with the skills/equipment willing to do the work... plumbers won't do it, electricians won't do it, and solar guys won't do it. Solar guys don't like the plumbing, plumbers don't like the electric/solar and Electric don't like the plumbing/solar. Like the Bermuda triangle of trades.
I kinda gave up after a bunch of calls... there's probably someone somewhere, but sometimes you can only build what people in your area know how to build.
I think it has to do with the fact that no-one would *ever* buy solar if it was 100% back-up power... and if it doesn't tie into the grid to at least offset the usage without having to pick one or the other at any given moment... then no-one would buy it. So the Electric companies say, fine... but no way we're cohabitating without getting married. Or something like that.
Yeah, On-Grid = OK, off-Grid = OK, Hybrid = Well, you have to understand.
I'm monitoring the Battery tech... but my design spec isn't for a temporary outage but for one-week+ outage after a hurricane... we've had friends with longer outages - it's all a matter of where the tree falls on which segment of which line that determines the length. All I really need is water... then the animals won't die.
Mostly I was just hoping you'd say, "Don't worry March, I've got some time off and I'll build you that 30kwh hybrid system and damn the regulations..."
I take your point... partly I'm just pointing out how close Fairfax County seems to be to defecting... on the stipulation that if you lose Fairfax, the game is officially changed.
Regionally and locally? I hope it plays out a thousand ways with a thousand new alternatives.
But, conversely, once Fairfax (and the other 'key' districts) fall back in line, the full weight of the Dept. of Ed will come down like a freight train on how bad alternative education is for children... after all, look at the terrible job *we* did, and *we're* the experts.
I'm all for redundant systems and renewable resources... ironically one of the reasons I've never pulled the trigger on Solar for our property is because in Virginia once the grid goes down, your solar shuts off.
Now, I get the reason... since we're back-feeding in ordinary circumstances, it has to for safety reasons. My engineering question was why couldn't we fail-over - even manually - to a separate panel a'la a generator (or batteries)... to which the installers replied: laws.
Batteries destroy the cost curve, and don't really provide a reserve more than a day... a lot less than a propane generator - esp. with an existing 1000 gal tank.
So in concurrence... it's more than just subsidies, it's engineering specs and dealing with the political fall-out of Electric companies and their interests (and frankly the franchise Solar companies who don't want to engineer solutions... just install panels).
Certainly it could... for example the family wanted one of the kids to 'opt-out' of an online *zoom study period* since it was, well, kids on zoom reading or doing their own homework.
They were, of course, told, No you can't 'opt out' but not only that, the *way* they were told really irked them.
They are opting-out of whatever they can... but, and this is the big question, will they defect? Maybe, they certainly could... but then the Fairfax schools - when they are functioning - are quite good (from their worldview), convenient, and bought/paid-for by Fairfax county taxes.
And, when the time comes for schools to start up... the foretaste of attempting to opt-out of study-hall will be nothing like the backlash against those who try alternatives. Sure, you can always send you kid to Exeter, but even Exeter has a limit.
For my policy preferences I'd like to see that... but my current guess is that while the brink is near, it will all be patched up by August.
I can all but guaranty there will be in-person schooling in August... the idea that there won't be (or that it will require the levels of vaccinations of children being bandied about?) is the sort of nonsense up with which these people will not put.
Of course, schools and districts are local and have different challenges/approaches successes and failures, but I'm watching Fairfax County, VA... as I mentioned my daughter is working for a family there; a family that would be representative of the sort of folks who know people who know how things are done and shaped.
Solidarity with Teachers and Public Schools right now is teetering. Not so much in the 'end-all-public-schools' sort of way, but in the 'do these people know what their jobs are and who calls the shots' kinda way. Bumped to the front of the line for Vaccinations... special treatment and thumbs on scales for them specifically (vs. Rando teachers)... hiring 'docents' to sit in the 'hot zones' while they are remote?
Clearly we're seeing this playing out real-time in Psaki feeds... but as Fairfax goes, so goes policy.
That's a good way to put it... I have the same memory issue when it comes to re-reading. I can re-read Austen, Waugh and yes, Chesterton.
I've read (most?) everything by Chesterton including a sizable chunk of his ILN columns; I prefer him as an essayist rather than an 'author'... but if we're honest most of his books are really just strung together essays. His novels strike me as great ideas that he lost interest in mid-way through writing them. But, we should be so lucky as to have such deficiencies of genius.
I lean towards a bullet dodged rather than an oppty missed... one day an adventure makes. A year?
My little brother had adventures like that... just seemed to have things happen to him. He'd come home and tell us that he went with his girlfriend to a black tie event, but didn't know it was black tie so just wore his t-shirt and jeans... the t-shirt that the Bull's players signed because it was that kind of event, and they thought it was cool that this dumb kid was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Pippen and Horace Grant were nice to hang with.
Stations are a good practice... spiritual reading has always been tough for me... besides being Devotionally Challenged my other dad joke is that I'm Religious, not Spiritual. I can do Religious Philosophy and Literature, but that's about it.
On “Aesthetics Revisited: A Lutheran, Catholic School, and Brideshead”
p.p.s. I also really liked the comments on Edward Ryder... I hadn't really considered the effects of depression and grief on his person.
If we're archetyping folks, I always saw Ryder the elder as the last Victorian... compared to Marchmain (who ought to be a near peer in age) as among the first "modern men" an Edwardian broken by WWI.
"
p.s. I feel obliged to point out that I may be contributing to the misspelling of Marchmain into Marchmaine.
In my defense, I added the 'e' for purely aesthetic reasons; and to distinguish my use from the use of those justly entitled to it.
"
I thoroughly enjoyed the autobiographical contemplation of the Brideshead aesthetic... but then I would, wouldn't I?
A couple thoughts.
First, a pity you encountered such a Catholic in Chicago; by rule we're a credulous lot; but we go through periods where miracles seem an embracing burden we must explain away to make ourselves presentable. As if such a thing were possible with our outrageous Marian claims, the perambulations of decapitated saints, and, well, the daily claims of the Mass. Chicago in the 70's-90's was such a place.
I've always had a soft-spot for Lutheran's who at least thought to maintain two of the seven sacraments; I can give one cheer for Luther famously pounding the table with "HOC EST... HOC EST...Hoc est Corpus meum" against the nominalists looking to strip away even that sacrament. The apocryphal(?) origin of Hocus Pocus, so I'm told.
On the matter of Brideshead and aesthetics, I certainly take your point that a besetting sin of a certain sort of traditionalism might be nostalgia; but the line between nostalgia and inheritance can be blurry. Sometimes I think people on the outside (of anything) wrongly attribute nostalgia for a dead thing to people building anew on a living tradition... it's a natural error, I should think.
For example the Chapel you cite in Brideshead isn't Baroque... Charles isn't seduced into the Baroque... it is a "monument of art nouveau." The aesthetic of suffering in Brideshead *is* Arts and Crafts.
"The whole interior had been gutted, elaborately refurnished and redecorated in the arts-and-crafts style of the last decade of the nineteenth century. Angels in printed cotton smocks, rambler-roses, flower-spangled meadows, frisking lambs, texts in Celtic script, saints in armour, covered the walls in an intricate patter of clear, bright colours. There was a triptych of pale oak, carved so as to give it the peculiar property of seeming to have been moulded in Plasticine. The sanctuary lamp and all the metal furniture were of bronze, hand-beaten to the patina of a pock-marked skin; the altar steps had a carpet of grass-green, strewn with white and gold daisies."
Oh dear. Or, as Charles said, "Golly"
Here's a picture of the possible inspiration for the Chapel.
The Flytes, you see, are Moderns. They are we. Charles paints the old pile at Brideshead in his modern style. If there's a gothic sensibility it belongs to Anthony... who is bemused by Charles' "pictures" knowing them to be 'trendy'.
The flight of the Flytes is to modernity; and the entire 'tragedy' plays out before "a small red flame--a beaten-copper lamp of deplorable design" an artifact of the English Arts and Crafts artistic movement of the late 19th century.
I don't point this out specifically to gainsay your personal experience or underlying point... possibly the thoroughly modern (long suffering and insufferable) satirical author Waugh was more aligned with what you're suggesting?
On “Once You Finish, You Can Take The Rest of The Day Off”
Growing up I used to work in the field for the family business ... we were painting contractors of the industrial/professional sort: office buildings, commercial properties, warehouses, etc. (i.e. no houses) ... one thing that really impressed me was the genius (it can't really be described as anything else) of our long-time German foreman.
Everything back then had an ethnic component... most of the union guys were Poles, Germans, Greeks, Irish and in the later years, Hispanic... we had a run where a couple Romanian brothers joined from the local... and for a few years had an all Romanian team... and then there was Jimmy - he was an American from Tennessee, but he was the unusual one. I have more Jimmy stories than anyone else because he was fearless and painted the parts no-one thought was possible. One time, painting some facia on the peak of a sloped roof he slipped, slid down the roof - we all thought he was gonna die - and caught himself jamming his boots into the gutter; the slightest panic would have sent him over the edge, but fearless Jimmy figured he'd stick the gutter. Anyhow, back to the German Foreman.
Conrad, that was his name naturally, had an eye for estimating exactly how long it would take for any given job based on the talent on hand, like a coach selecting line match-ups in hockey. He managed to keep the family business solvent with little tricks like this: he'd know that the work he needed accomplished to keep the job on schedule would take about 9-10 hrs with the crew on site - going at the usual rate - BUT, if everyone focused, cut-out the ordinary time-wasters and each watched over the other we could get it done in about 7 hrs... or worst case 8... but 8 is what he needed. So he'd make the devil's bargain that we could all go home when this section/task was finished ... and darned if it didn't always work. Sometimes we won by finishing in 6.5 hrs ... sometimes he won with us needing 7.5 hrs... but always we got 'some' time back for free. If he tried to run the field that way everyday it would have led to mutiny, but used judiciously for the greater good of the project and with a fair bet for all involved? It made him a virtuoso leader of men.
On “Ordinary World: Missing President’s Day Edition”
Well put. The Solidarity Trap.
On “Perseverance Does the Impossible Again”
That's not a tenet of Monotheism. Many monotheists openly speculate about what extra-terrestrial beings/life might be like... heck stodgy old CS Lewis wrote an entire trilogy about it.
I'm not sure "Contact" is a reliable source of Monotheistic belief.
Somewhat tongue in cheek... I'm not sure Mormons are Monotheistic...but they certainly are multi-celestial.
I'm sure we could find some monotheists somewhere who hold the belief dogmatically, but, alas, we can find monotheists who hold just about any belief dogmatically.
On “Weekend Plans Post: Smack Dab In The Middle Of February”
Back in December I thought it would be helpful to caution the family that while things are looking up, February/March will probably be tough months in-between pandemic lockdowns and winter lockdowns/blahs.
And while correct, I can report that the advanced cautioning was not in fact helpful. We've no choice but to double to rations of grog.
On “Rep Ayanna Pressley Federal Jobs Guarantee Resolution: Read It For Yourself”
For the constituency that doesn't like work-for-welfare requirements, have I got a plan for you!
So much abuse this will see.
In the future memes will be written about 'if you could go back in time and kill *one* govt program, what would it be'
On “Thursday Throughput: Texas Power Outages Edition”
All good points... I don't know... one thing we've learned though, is that school districts are good at planning for and executing on unexpected contingencies.
"
I think you're right... barring some a radical change in Covid rates/vaccinations/strains... they will be open or, as you say, a big reckoning. Which is to say, the current trends are seen as perfectly adequate levels of risk to proceed at that point.
"
"A solar powered well pump? Seems easy enough to do, what’s the difficulty?"
I know, right? Haven't been able to find someone with the skills/equipment willing to do the work... plumbers won't do it, electricians won't do it, and solar guys won't do it. Solar guys don't like the plumbing, plumbers don't like the electric/solar and Electric don't like the plumbing/solar. Like the Bermuda triangle of trades.
I kinda gave up after a bunch of calls... there's probably someone somewhere, but sometimes you can only build what people in your area know how to build.
"
I think it has to do with the fact that no-one would *ever* buy solar if it was 100% back-up power... and if it doesn't tie into the grid to at least offset the usage without having to pick one or the other at any given moment... then no-one would buy it. So the Electric companies say, fine... but no way we're cohabitating without getting married. Or something like that.
So yer sayin' there's a chance?
https://www.rpssolarpumps.com/backup-water-systems/#1584320099948-90461073-7ddc
"
Yeah, On-Grid = OK, off-Grid = OK, Hybrid = Well, you have to understand.
I'm monitoring the Battery tech... but my design spec isn't for a temporary outage but for one-week+ outage after a hurricane... we've had friends with longer outages - it's all a matter of where the tree falls on which segment of which line that determines the length. All I really need is water... then the animals won't die.
Mostly I was just hoping you'd say, "Don't worry March, I've got some time off and I'll build you that 30kwh hybrid system and damn the regulations..."
Or this... come on out and engineer this for us. :-)
"
Eastern Loudon? Plenty of Schools. Western Loudon? I think you need a special use permit to have a child.
"
I take your point... partly I'm just pointing out how close Fairfax County seems to be to defecting... on the stipulation that if you lose Fairfax, the game is officially changed.
Regionally and locally? I hope it plays out a thousand ways with a thousand new alternatives.
But, conversely, once Fairfax (and the other 'key' districts) fall back in line, the full weight of the Dept. of Ed will come down like a freight train on how bad alternative education is for children... after all, look at the terrible job *we* did, and *we're* the experts.
"
I'm all for redundant systems and renewable resources... ironically one of the reasons I've never pulled the trigger on Solar for our property is because in Virginia once the grid goes down, your solar shuts off.
Now, I get the reason... since we're back-feeding in ordinary circumstances, it has to for safety reasons. My engineering question was why couldn't we fail-over - even manually - to a separate panel a'la a generator (or batteries)... to which the installers replied: laws.
Batteries destroy the cost curve, and don't really provide a reserve more than a day... a lot less than a propane generator - esp. with an existing 1000 gal tank.
So in concurrence... it's more than just subsidies, it's engineering specs and dealing with the political fall-out of Electric companies and their interests (and frankly the franchise Solar companies who don't want to engineer solutions... just install panels).
"
Certainly it could... for example the family wanted one of the kids to 'opt-out' of an online *zoom study period* since it was, well, kids on zoom reading or doing their own homework.
They were, of course, told, No you can't 'opt out' but not only that, the *way* they were told really irked them.
They are opting-out of whatever they can... but, and this is the big question, will they defect? Maybe, they certainly could... but then the Fairfax schools - when they are functioning - are quite good (from their worldview), convenient, and bought/paid-for by Fairfax county taxes.
And, when the time comes for schools to start up... the foretaste of attempting to opt-out of study-hall will be nothing like the backlash against those who try alternatives. Sure, you can always send you kid to Exeter, but even Exeter has a limit.
"
For my policy preferences I'd like to see that... but my current guess is that while the brink is near, it will all be patched up by August.
I can all but guaranty there will be in-person schooling in August... the idea that there won't be (or that it will require the levels of vaccinations of children being bandied about?) is the sort of nonsense up with which these people will not put.
"
Of course, schools and districts are local and have different challenges/approaches successes and failures, but I'm watching Fairfax County, VA... as I mentioned my daughter is working for a family there; a family that would be representative of the sort of folks who know people who know how things are done and shaped.
Solidarity with Teachers and Public Schools right now is teetering. Not so much in the 'end-all-public-schools' sort of way, but in the 'do these people know what their jobs are and who calls the shots' kinda way. Bumped to the front of the line for Vaccinations... special treatment and thumbs on scales for them specifically (vs. Rando teachers)... hiring 'docents' to sit in the 'hot zones' while they are remote?
Clearly we're seeing this playing out real-time in Psaki feeds... but as Fairfax goes, so goes policy.
"
The indifference is deafening.
"
Efficiency is a rich man's god.
On “Lent!”
That's a good way to put it... I have the same memory issue when it comes to re-reading. I can re-read Austen, Waugh and yes, Chesterton.
I've read (most?) everything by Chesterton including a sizable chunk of his ILN columns; I prefer him as an essayist rather than an 'author'... but if we're honest most of his books are really just strung together essays. His novels strike me as great ideas that he lost interest in mid-way through writing them. But, we should be so lucky as to have such deficiencies of genius.
On “ZZ Top and Me”
I lean towards a bullet dodged rather than an oppty missed... one day an adventure makes. A year?
My little brother had adventures like that... just seemed to have things happen to him. He'd come home and tell us that he went with his girlfriend to a black tie event, but didn't know it was black tie so just wore his t-shirt and jeans... the t-shirt that the Bull's players signed because it was that kind of event, and they thought it was cool that this dumb kid was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Pippen and Horace Grant were nice to hang with.
On “Lent!”
Stations are a good practice... spiritual reading has always been tough for me... besides being Devotionally Challenged my other dad joke is that I'm Religious, not Spiritual. I can do Religious Philosophy and Literature, but that's about it.
"
Metaphorically and penitentially... you could totally under butter your bread if that's something you do every day.