HB, TJ

Happy birthday, Mr. Jefferson!

At the University of Virginia (U.Va.), today is called “Founder’s Day.”

At the same time that I temper my admiration for him with the knowledge that he kept people in bondage, bought and sold them, and abided their maltreatment, I also want to remember that Mr. Jefferson was among the principal architects—if not the lead author—of many socio-cultural, governmental, and philosophical constructs that I hold dear:

• Writing “A Bill For establishing religious freedom,” Bill number 82 of 1779, adopted in 1785 by the Virginia General Assembly and now commonly referred to as the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.
• Drafting the Declaration of Independence.
• Founding of U.Va.
• Commissioning the Corps of Volunteers for North West Discovery, led by M. Lewis and W. Clark.
• Designing U.Va., Monticello, and many other buildings, as well as special features in them.

The  list could continue….And I very much appreciate these contributions to the commonweal. So, it’s a b’day worthy of celebration.

 

Vi Hart’s superb analysis of “Happy B’day”

At the beginning of her analysis of the lyrics and music of of the familiar song, Vi Hart refers to recent news by saying, “So you might have heard that you can sing ‘Happy Birthday’ without getting sued….” That’s just the beginning. Click here to watch the video and learn a lot.

The image is linked, but if you’d prefer, here is a direct link.

Wavy wonder works

Beacon Marquee

For fun this past weekend, Pat and I attended the New York City version of Wavy Gravy’s 75th birthday celebration. It was just a gossamer disguise for yet another fund-raiser for the Seva Foundation, an organization that does and has been doing lots of good deeds hither and yon. Seva has worked with the World Health Organization and leading international ophthalmology people to prevent and treat blindness, promoted health and literacy for girls and women, created healthy water management systems for indigenous people, developed innovative ways to address diabetes in Native American communities, and completed many other successful projects.

Those dang TJ muzzles must be here somewhere

O.K. I hope I’ve set this up correctly so that this delightful image by artist Sam Welty is linked to the page that will show the TJ Center muzzles when they are announced on Mr. Jefferson’s B’day, 13 April 2011.

HB, Mr. Jefferson. Thanks for thinking about things.

HB Niels Bohr

It seems sort of fitting that in this season of the announcements of the Nobel prizes, it’s the birth day of a Nobel Laureate, Niels Bohr. Born in 1885 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Niels Henrik David Bohr became a professor and director of an institute of theoretical physics by age 33. Professor Bohr received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 “for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them” (Nobel Prize citation). He was also the first recipient of another award because, in the judgment of the trustees of a foundation established to administer the Atoms for Peace Award, he was “among the world’s scientists, engineers, and others who… had made the greatest contribution to the development of peaceful uses of atomic energy” (Guide to Atoms for Peace Award Records). According to the Wikipedia entry about him, Professor Bohr was apparently a pretty fair footballer (soccer player) too. Professor Bohr’s son, Aage N. Bohr, also was a Nobel Laureate in Physics (1975).

Moving pictures!

Today is a great anniversary for the movies. Not only can we celebrate the 1889 demonstration attributed to Thomas Edison of the first motion picture (though William Lincoln’s “zoopraxiscope” predated it and Louis Lumiere “Cinematographe” really got the show rolling), but also we can raise a glass to the 1927 release of “The Jazz Singer,” the first of the feature-length “talkies” that people still seem to enjoy.

Amazing how things have changed. And, I wonder what it cost to get a ticket to see Al Jolson…anyone know? Answers.com says $0.25, but I recall paying that much in the 1950s, so it sounds a bit high. Maybe it was a nickel matinee in the 50s? Later this week we’ll pay many ones of dollars to see a matinee of the current release, “Social Network.”

HB SHG, RIP TF

While passing a belated b-day shout out to my fave, I’m wondering, has it really been a year since Transcendental Floss stopped publishing? Sheesh.