Calvery's Ode To Tobacco
(Written at Cambridge in 1862)
A tribute to this firm*
Thou, who when fears attack
Bidst them avaunt, and Black
Care, at the horseman's back
Perching, unseatest;
Sweet, when the morn is grey;
Sweet, when they've cleared away
Lunch; and at close of day
Possibly sweetest:
I have a liking old
For thee, though manifold
Stories, I know, are told
Not to thy credit;
How one (or two at most)
Drops make a cat a ghost, -
Useless, except to roast -
Doctors have said it:
How they who use fusees
All grow by slow degrees
Brainless as chimpanzees,
Meagre as lizards;
Go mad, and beat their wives;
Plunge (after shocking lives)
Razors and carving-knives
Into their gizzards.
Confound such knavish tricks!
Yet know I five or six
Smokers who freely mix
Still with their neighbours;
Jones - (who, I'm glad to say,
Asked leave of Mrs. J - )
Daily absorbs a clay
After his labours.
Cats may have had their goose
Cooked by tobacco-juice;
Still, why deny its use
Thoughtfully taken?
We're not as tabbies are;
Smith, take a fresh cigar!
Jones, the tobacco jar!
Here's to thee, Bacon!
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*On the corner of Market Street and Rose Crescent, the shop used to be a tobacconist called Bacon. There is a plaque on the wall in Rose Crescent with a light-hearted poem in praise of tobacco, mentioning Bacon. This was written by Charles Stuart Calverley (1831-1884). He came to Christs College, Cambridge after being expelled from Oxford.
"Black care" is an echo of the Latin poet Horace, Odes 3.1.41: post equitem sedet atra Cura (black care sits behind the horseman). A 'fusee' is a match that stays alight even in a strong wind. A 'clay' is 'a clay pipe. It is tempting to say that "Confound such knavish tricks" is an echo from the second verse of the National Anthem (1745) "Confound their politics, Frustrate their knavish tricks".
Take a moment to give thanks for our nation's freedom.
Because of the Declaration of Independence we are not Canadians and don't have to eat poutine.
(Poutine (
/puːˈtiːn/; Quebec French pronunciation : [put͡sɪn] (
listen)) is a French Canadian dish of French fries, topped with brown gravy and cheese curds.)
/puːˈtiːn/; Quebec French pronunciation : [put͡sɪn] ( listen)) is a French Canadian dish of French fries, topped with brown gravy and cheese curds.)"By 1970, Horowitz's chief claim to eminence on the Left was as co-editor of Ramparts magazine with Peter Collier. Ramparts, based in San Francisco, was a politically engaged publication of the sort that was too pure to ever actually turn a profit. It depended on a series of financial angels and the fundraising skills of its managers. Collier and Horowitz took it over in a coup made possible by the fact that the angels of the East Coast could not be bothered to come to a board of directors meeting in San Francisco to discuss the latest financial crisis. Once in control, they attempted for a while to institute a regime of Maoist equality. Everyone got the same salary, all major decisions were made by collective agreement, even the names on the masthead were arranged alphabetically to avoid the taint of hierarchy.
One thing that this experiment proved was that hierarchy is an instrument of kindness. Without it, every dispute must be personalized and decided in public. Ordinary staff meetings became day-long struggle-sessions that not only wasted time, but envenomed personal relations. And behind it all, of course, was the fact it was a fraud. Collier and Horowitz actually ran the magazine as long as they had the angels on their side. It followed the policy they set, and their most unfortunate policy was to promote the Black Panther Party as a revolutionary vanguard."
http://www.johnreilly.info/index.html
and the previous entry on this journal.
American security is a function of the state of the world. It does not depend on the state of American culture or the competitiveness of the American economy. Such things may determine our ability to do what we have to do. However, the domestic life of America does not define our international needs. Naturally, just because we need to do something, it does not follow that we will be able to do it. One can conceive of a world so hostile or chaotic that no level of American mobilization would make us physically safe and let our society flourish. In such a case, some commentators might be tempted to speak of an America that had turned its attention homeward. The reality would be an America that had ceased to be a subject of history and had become an object. The "state of the world" is not like the state of the weather. It is defined by physical and cultural geography, and it changes far more slowly than daily newKspaper readers are apt to think. The fundamental reality is that Earth is Eurasia. The important parts of Eurasia are its extremities. The rest of the world's territory is important only as it relates to the ancient civilizations that exist on the supercontinent's eastern and western ends. America is endangered if either of these peripheries becomes aggressive, or falls under the control of a hostile power of the interior. Preventing these things from happening is what American statecraft and armed forces exist to do. Everything else, absolutely everything else, is optional....
This is all you absolutely have to know to keep American foreign policy on-track. Still, there are some other points you might want to keep in mind. For instance, be wary about trying to whittle down U.S. defense commitments to "vital interests." A vital interest is something that, if you don't have it, you are likely to die. A country that will fight only when its vital interests are at stake will only fight when it is fighting for its life. This is not a good idea.
'Permanent Interests' 1996,
Victorian attitudes toward sex varied, though Ms. Himmelfarb is careful to debunk some of the extreme anecdotes on the subject as later satires. (Victorian matrons did not really put little skirts around the bottoms of their pianos to cover the legs. I, for one, am disappointed.)
Review of The Demoralization of Society From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values by Gertrude Himmelfarb 1997
You might think that control of the FAA would rank in importance with the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve or the directorship of the FBI in terms of the attention it receives from Congress and the President. It is a job that deals with life and death issues in an industry that just about everybody has contact with at least a few times a year. This sort of job needs incumbents who serve for long terms so they can attend to long-term policy. This is not the case with the Administrator of the FAA. Since the Administrator who began the Advanced Automation System project left office in 1984 until the current Administrator, David Hinson, killed it two years ago, the office has had three other occupants. It was also vacant for twenty months. This is the sort of indifference that make-weight jobs like Surgeon General get.Downsizing Is Easy; Government Is Hard, 1997
I have posted a brief and entirely inadequate tribute to Mr Reilly on my Live Journal site; joetexx at livejournal dot com. I would like to do a little to help keep the memory of this talented man alive.
I urge everyone with an interest in the philosophy of history, religion, science fiction and cultural history to look at it. The great majority of his writings may be found on the website homepage under his name. His blog, 'The Long View', and his bulletin board forum, to which a variety of interesting folks contributed over the years, are archived at the site.
http://www.johnreilly.info/index.htmlI ran across Mr John J. Reilly's website in the late 1990's searching for references to the philosopher of history Oswald Spengler. Within about a week I had read every essay and review on his site, as well as his (then) only published book, Spengler's Future. I wrote him a fan letter and received a gracious and funny reply; I have followed his work ever since and learned a great deal about topics as diverse as airline regulation, esoteric fascism and traditionalism, the zombie apocalypse, evolutionary science, and of course, Oswald Spengler.
The homepage is not hard to navigate but his writings are grouped by subject matter (politics, eschatology, science) rather than type (fiction, essays, reviews) so the interested reader will want to browse a little on the separate pages.
His books are:
The Perfection of the West
Apocalypse & Future
The Perennial Apocalypse
Spengler's Future (a Basic computer program to predict the future of Western
Civilization; the last Emperor of the West will die in his sleep in A.D. 2601
and no successor will be elected).
Amusing short fiction and alternate history:
President H. P. Lovecraft
Cthulluism and the Cold War
The Irish Empire
C. S. Lewis: An Alternative Obituary
The Stopping Problem (Alan Turing and the end of the world)
If Jesus Had Never Been Born
The Hour of the Laity (lycanthropy in upstate New York)
I believe I played some role in prodding Mr. Reilly to write his review of Kim Stanley Robinson's alternate history "The Years of Rice and Salt", where the Black Death reduces Western Christianity to an obscure sect.
I am planning to gather a collection of quotes from John Reilly's essays and reviews that have struck me over the years.
Link to obituary below:
http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/jerseyjou
JOHN J. REILLY JERSEY CITY John J. Reilly of Jersey City, 58, passed away on May 30, 2012. Beloved son of Jean Reilly (nee Harkins) and the late John Reilly, dear brother of Donna Reilly (Dennis Goonan), Mary Spence (Jack Spence), Nancy Reilly Zollo (Louis Zollo) and Nora Reilly, and uncle to David, Jennifer, Elizabeth, Kathryn and Michael, he was also cherished by many compassionate friends, especially those with whom he worshiped at Holy Rosary Church. After graduating from St. Peter's College and earning his law degree from Georgetown University, he embarked upon a career as a writer, editor and attorney. His keen intellect and wry sense of humor resulted in many publications and a world-wide network of correspondents. His intellectual pre-occupations ranged from theology and in particular eschatology to politics, cultural history, and the philosophy of science and literature. He published four books including Apocalypse and Future, Notes on the Cultural History of the 21st Century. John regularly appeared in First Things, Kirkus Review, and had been an editor at Culture Wars before he with-drew in protest to a drift toward anti-Semitism which he publi-cally denounced. John also maintained a blog, The Long View, where John serenely surveyed the world and opined that, indeed, everything is going to be ok. John's intellectual interests also expressed themselves in various societies in which he was active including The International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations, the Center for Millennial Studies, the Simplified Spelling Society, and American Literacy Counsel. A man of breathtakingly ecu-menical feeling, he was without compromise a true and devout Catholic. It must have been his faith and his character formed by it and by his loving family that made him without a doubt the most optimistic expert on apocalyptic movements and dys-topias. John explained himself thusly: After long thought, I realized that the most important thing in life is to be helpful. So, I have taken to explaining things, carefully and empathetically, and often at very great length 'Spengler with a Smile' is how I usually characterize the organizing principle. The loss of John's self effacing cheerful genius has left the world a darker place and for those who were privileged to share his company, a son, brother and friend whose absence will always be felt. A wake will be held on Friday, June 1, from 4 - 8PM at McLaughlin's Funeral Home, Jersey City. A requiem mass will be held at 10AM on Saturday, June 2, at Holy Rosary Church followed by interment at Holy Cross Ceme-tery in North Arlington. In lieu of flowers, John would have appreciated donations to Holy Rosary Church. .McLaughlin Funeral Home 625 Pavonia Avenue Jersey City, NJ
Friends and admirers of John Reilly may wish to visit Man of the West, the homepage of Matt Beck. Mr Beck and other frequenters of the Long View forum are looking into ways of continuing the forum and the legacy of John Reilly archived there
.
http://www.manofthewest2000.blogspot.com/2.
I am planning to gather a collection of quotes from John Reilly's essays and reviews that have struck me over the years.
I'll start off with:
Victorian attitudes toward sex varied, though Ms. Himmelfarb is careful to debunk some of the extreme anecdotes on the subject as later satires. (Victorian matrons did not really put little skirts around the bottoms of their pianos to cover the legs. I, for one, am disappointed.)
Review of The Demoralization of Society From Victorian Virtues to Modern Values by Gertrude Himmelfarb 1997
Link to obituary below:
http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/jerseyjou
JOHN J. REILLY JERSEY CITY John J. Reilly of Jersey City, 58, passed away on May 30, 2012. Beloved son of Jean Reilly (nee Harkins) and the late John Reilly, dear brother of Donna Reilly (Dennis Goonan), Mary Spence (Jack Spence), Nancy Reilly Zollo (Louis Zollo) and Nora Reilly, and uncle to David, Jennifer, Elizabeth, Kathryn and Michael, he was also cherished by many compassionate friends, especially those with whom he worshiped at Holy Rosary Church. After graduating from St. Peter's College and earning his law degree from Georgetown University, he embarked upon a career as a writer, editor and attorney. His keen intellect and wry sense of humor resulted in many publications and a world-wide network of correspondents. His intellectual pre-occupations ranged from theology and in particular eschatology to politics, cultural history, and the philosophy of science and literature. He published four books including Apocalypse and Future, Notes on the Cultural History of the 21st Century. John regularly appeared in First Things, Kirkus Review, and had been an editor at Culture Wars before he with-drew in protest to a drift toward anti-Semitism which he publi-cally denounced. John also maintained a blog, The Long View, where John serenely surveyed the world and opined that, indeed, everything is going to be ok. John's intellectual interests also expressed themselves in various societies in which he was active including The International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations, the Center for Millennial Studies, the Simplified Spelling Society, and American Literacy Counsel. A man of breathtakingly ecu-menical feeling, he was without compromise a true and devout Catholic. It must have been his faith and his character formed by it and by his loving family that made him without a doubt the most optimistic expert on apocalyptic movements and dys-topias. John explained himself thusly: After long thought, I realized that the most important thing in life is to be helpful. So, I have taken to explaining things, carefully and empathetically, and often at very great length 'Spengler with a Smile' is how I usually characterize the organizing principle. The loss of John's self effacing cheerful genius has left the world a darker place and for those who were privileged to share his company, a son, brother and friend whose absence will always be felt. A wake will be held on Friday, June 1, from 4 - 8PM at McLaughlin's Funeral Home, Jersey City. A requiem mass will be held at 10AM on Saturday, June 2, at Holy Rosary Church followed by interment at Holy Cross Ceme-tery in North Arlington. In lieu of flowers, John would have appreciated donations to Holy Rosary Church. .McLaughlin Funeral Home 625 Pavonia Avenue Jersey City, NJ
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History of Eastern Christianity by Aziz S. Atiya (1968).
NUBIAN CHRISTIANITY:THE NEGLECTED HERITAGE [pdf]
Medieval Nubia and Byzantium
Christian Nubia and its churches
The medieval kingdoms of Nubia: pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile
Makuria
possibly named from Merkurios (reigned 697 - ca. 722)?
there is even a RPG Makurian knights Broken Crescent!
possibly named from Merkurios (reigned 697 - ca. 722)?
there is even a RPG Makurian knights Broken Crescent!
Alodia or Alwa last Christian Nubian kingdom Muslims conquered AD 1504.
One wonders if the sense of identity and cultural self-awareness witnessed by this fusion contributes in
some part to the modern-day identity of the Christian peoples of southern Sudan who today are still struggling to maintain their faith, culture, and their independence.
Inspired by Ben Epsen and with time on my hands I decided to compile a list of my reading over the last few years. I'll start with a conveniently copied list of my interlibrary loan books,(most recently read first.) The list is light on fiction as I order little of that from ILL. It does not reflect my regular library borrowing or my purchases. I assure you I read a lot of trash. I have omitted books I checked out but read little of; save where noted I have read through everything on the list, which is not to say, alas, that I actually absorbed all or most of it.
| The diaries of Dawn Powell, Powell, Dawn Recommended by: Gore Vidal Powell's often harrowing and always funny life should make for great reading but somehow I couldnt get into it. I'll have to content myself with her brilliant post WWII novels, especially Wicked Pavilion |
| Willard Gibbs, Rukeyser, Muriel I was interested to see a poet tackle the biography of America's greatest mathematical physicist. Rukeyser wrote this when she was only 25. Alas I got only as far as her account of Gibb's father, the attorney for the slaves in the celebrated Amistad case, before I had to turn the book in. |
****************************************
I wuz robbed!
The witching hour; I was awakened by a sudden light shining under my closed bedroom door. This had happened before, due to my prowling tomcat triggering a lamp plugged into the surge supressor in the living room. I prepared to resume sleep; I'm a light sleeper and fall asleep easily as well. But I swiftly realized something was wrong with this picture.
My cat was sleeping right next to me, and the door, as noted was closed.
I was in my wheelchair in a trice, whatever a trice might be, and must have missed
\the thief by less than a minute, perhaps only by seconds. My burgular was as cat-footed as Bilbo Baggins; no dwarvish racket for him. The front door was already closed, and no one was visible in the street by the time I got there.
Totting up his swag, he got:
- Two (2) laptops, my working one and an older model I was planning to pass along to a friend.
- The Lexar thumb drive plugged into the working laptop for quick storage -so all my saved files are gone.
- The speakers attached to the laptop
- The traveling case
- Eight bucks and change that had reposed in an old hat, my substitute for a wallet.
My house has never been robbed, nor have any of my temporary hovels. Some 20 years ago a starter was stolen from my car in my driveway. My next-door neighbor was robbed of several items, including a pistol, some years later. I was the target of an attempted mugging in the Navy, but two companions, SEALs in training, were in shouting distance, which took care of<i>that</i> problem. Apart from these instances my life has been a crime-free zone.
I am told, especially by women who have had this experience, that it induces a strong sense of personal violation. I don't feel this, though doubtless my sentiments would be more correct if I did. I also had no physical fear at any time (more on this latter).
What I feel is a strong sense of <i> indignation</i>, that a basic principle of justice has been violated, and I just happen to the particular victim. No doubt I would have felt wrath and fear
had the theft seriously inconvenienced me, but it does not. I can replace the items easily, even the lost files will only cost me some little time to renew. My earnings are not jepordized.
I also feel no gratitude that I was not physically harmed; in fact, I am sorry I did not not get to confront my Bilbo in person. He almost certainly would simply have run, possibly dropping his ill gotten gains and saving me some trouble. I am in far greater physical danger from stroke, heart disease and blood dyscrasia than from this clown, whoever he may be, and I don't spend any psychic energy worrying about those conditions at all.
I carry a Spyderco folding knife on my person; my only weapon. I got rid of my firearms some years back; should I acquire another handgun? Have to think about it.
I probably would not have shot Bilbo, though if I had I would suffer no consequences save paperwork and cleaning up the floor. This is Texas, after all. But if I still had the firearm I would like to have confronted him with it. Dammit, anyone who violates a household needs to understand that he is taking his life in his hands.
The orange tabby aforementioned was considerably more disturbed by the incident than I was.
Perhaps he was disturbed that he had not dtected the intruder. He wandered around the house for two hours, meowing planitively. Robert Heinlein one said that no one understands <i>meus et tuus</i> better than a watchdog. Plainly this is also true of the domestick Catt.
Weirdly I feel exhilirated, 20 years younger in fact. My mild depression of the last weeks has lifted entirely!
