Esoterica But More Likely Ephemera 1

There is a box that I believe is in the closet of the upstairs library at my Dad's, not the downstairs one, the upstairs one. He's got a lot of books, and I am honoured that this particular box is in close proximity to his collection of Coleridge, Searle, and, I believe, Gorey. Why? Well, in red felt tip marker on the side of this lawyer's box is written "Christopher - Esoterica", or at least that is how I remember it. The contents of this box are bits and pieces of work that I did as a kid. Some art. Some writings. And these are not the pickings from all of my childhood school work. No. These are the assignments my Dad gave me. See, I was a bit of a lab rat for my Dad. Nothing like Deborah Skinner (though that story is apparently being questioned), but a bit of a lab rat. The only one that sticks in my mind was the "draw a black cat in a dark room" exercise. The box has a few of my approaches.

Why am I telling you this story?

Why not? It's raining, I feel like writing, but I have no idea what to say about my few weeks in Morocco thus far so I thought instead I would open up my little agenda, flip through the random memos on my phone, and talk about a few of the things that have come up over the past few months that I took note of but haven't addressed in the blog, all of which, like the box, have one thing in common. They're stuff I bothered to write down. Flotsam and jetsam. Dribs and drabs. Bits and pieces. Total and absolute utter crap. Or, as my Dad so exaultedly called it all many years ago: esoterica.

It may or may not be the right word. There are two ways to interpret that statement. It may not be the word my father wrote on the box, and/or, it may not be the right word to describe what is about to follow. My Dad can comment on the first, the rest of you can comment on the rest.

You know, I may have remembered this all wrong. Well, the word anyway. The word may actually have been Ephemera. I know there's at least one box with that written on it lurking somewhere at my Dad's. Whether it's the same box I don't know. My guess is that I'm right about the first box I mentioned, as my father would consider that esoteric. But that said, the following certainly is more befitting the category of ephemera rather than esoterica.

Man I love those words.

Whatever, here we go. No particular order.

David Cerny

This is the name of the sculptor that did all thos cool sculptures I saw in Prague. Here's the wikipedia entry for those interested. The page apparently has some issues, but I don't find that surprising given that I expect the artist has a few as well. He's known for being critical of the Czech Republic and creating pieces that voice that criticism rather well. I'd already shown you two of his works in The Frog in Prague posting: Peeing Statues, and Sigmund Freud (the hanging man). He's also responsible for this one.

Amanda Palmer - The Art of Asking

I have a memo on one of my phones (yes, I have two with me, don't ask) from July 14th, the day before Noah, Jake, and I flew to Iceland, that I should check out Amanda Palmer and The Art of Asking. My note is to get the book. I have not done so. In fact, and my apologies to whomever told me to look at this (extra apologies for now not remembering who), but I've just gotten around to watching the video in the past few minutes as I went to find out what the heck this note was about anyway.

Watch the video. It's a good lesson, one which I've unknowingly spent a fair amount of time putting into practice before and during these travels. I'm still not good at it. The discomfort that goes along with asking a relative stranger (or sometimes even a friend) for something is still palpable for me. That said, having just watched the video I'm gonna shut up, though perhaps I will come back to it later. It feels like it is relevant to what I'm experiencing here in Marrakech as I wander the streets constantly being asked to come into someone's shop to buy something. But I'm not sure yet, and if you think I ramble on as it is, just be thankful I'm not working this particular one out in front of you.

Canadian Open-Face Sandwich

I honestly have no idea what this one is about. I need to take better notes. You're likely thinking I need to do a better job of editing my posts.

The open-face sandwich thing on this trip started in Denmark with Jesper and his rules - you may recall that. It then carried on kinda in Sweden with my family there, though not as seriously. It didn't crop up in Helsinki, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

What I'm struggling to remember now is what the heck I meant by "Canadian". Perhaps I was trying to think of Canadian open-face sandwiches, or rules we might have for such things. Thing is, all I can think of is the bagel melt at 7 West, which I haven't had in I don't know how many years. Bagel with tomato and havarti cheese. I so miss cheese. Yet to find any good cheese in Marrakech. Happy Cow Brand - you know, those triangle wedges? Lots of those. Havarti? Um? No.

Skogavg - Skogalundsvagen

I have no clue what the heck this is referring to. If anyone I spent time with in Denmark, Sweden, or Helsinki wants to chime in I would be most grateful.

For fun though, if you want to do a google search on Skogalund, correct it to skoglund, and then look at related images, you'll be in for a treat. Lots of green cats. It's like Marrakech got irradiated or something.

I think it might be part of an address.

Don Quixote Tapestries

These were the big mystery for me in Stockholm when I visited the palace. And frankly they still are. Fun news though. If you do a google search on them my blog entry on Stockholm makes the first page.

So what else do I know?

Well. They're from the 18th century and are produced by the Gobelin factory. There were several sets of these tapestries produced, some of which were given as gifts to various monarchs France was wanting to keep on their good side, Russia being one, and Sweden apparently being another. In Russia's case the Seven Year war was well underway in 1758 and France needed Russia on their side. Sweden was also on the side of France, up until 1762, so the first five years or so. So I'm guessing they got gifted the tapestries for a similar reason. I still find the subject of the tapestries somewhat ironic, but I suppose it can be overlooked given that Cervantes' novel was super popular and therefore the subject of many works of art. Now, Louise XV was gifted an entire set of the tapestries (ten panels I think) and I believe the Royal Palace in Stockholm has only four or five panels, so perhaps he split his set and gave some to Russia and some to Sweden. I don't know. I just read a great article on the topic which you can find here, but it didn't actually talk about the ones in Sweden, so it's pretty much conjecture on my part.

I'm sorry I have no pictures to share on this one. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the palace.

Prince Mileager

All I've got are these two words, and given where they sit in the list, they're somehow related to Sweden. That said, doing a Google search results in nothing but mileage charts to Prince George BC, and I'm pretty sure that's not what it was about. I obviously do not know how to spell something important here.

Help?

The Paintings of Crown Princess Margaretha

Princess Margaret of Connaught married Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden in 1905. Amongst other things she did was paint. Look for copies of these paintings online and you're not likely to find them, or at least I couldn't. But they exist, and they once again fall under the category of stuff that I was not allowed to take a picture of and couldn't find on Google later. Why did I want to mention them? Well, her landscapes really reminded me of The Group of Seven, and I was wondering if there was any influence. Given that she died in 1920 and their official start date was 1920 I'm thinking not. Still, it's interesting to think of all the things Sweden and Canada have in common, and how each country does identify itself very much with it's landscape, and how similar Margaret's interpretation of her country are to that lauded group of Canadian artists.

Tudor Rose

I still have no idea how that bloody rose came to be engraved on that column.

Michael

Did I mention that one of the entertainers I spent a good time listening to while drinking really excellent stout on the ferry to Helsinki had won The Voice - Finland?

Well, now I have.

Ideological Disneyland

This was the term used by the person who was running the "Red Budapest" walk that I did that talked about Budapest under the Soviet Union. She used it to describe Freedom Square, as, well, the square has got all of these memorials that really reflect the different ideologies that have steered Hungary over the years. I liked the phrase, wrote it down, and have been meaning to share it for months but have kept forgetting to include it as an addendum or something to another post. Mischief managed.

Apologies

This has been a bit of a let down. Okay, a lot of a let down. I was so hoping when I was seeing these little notes here and there that I'd have an interesting entry to put together. Looking it over though, I'm not so sure. One of the Steves from work, who I am fortunate to call my friend, once said to me that he enjoyed modern dance, but recitals were often hit and miss. You see a few numbers in one evening, and some would work, and others not. They all had the saving grace though of being relatively short, and therefore survivable.

Perhaps it helps to think of this entry like that.

Or perhaps we can lean on the adage that you do not learn anything by being right, whereas you learn much from your mistakes. Yes, I could have learned my lesson without posting this, but then, how would you have learned yours?

Atonement

Reading through this before posting it I came to the conclusion that I should perhaps try and atone for the sin of putting you through this. I figure the easiest way to do that is to show you some kittens.

Better now?

Good.