Major Rathbone

My recent trip to our great nation's capitol revealed many interesting facts and stories. Few of them were as interesting as the story of Henry Reed Rathbone.

The Haunted Major, American Heritage Magazine
Henry Rathbone, Wikipedia

Fashion Trend Alert: The Monocle

Nothing says "I'm so important I only need to see out of one eye" like a monocle. Whether your out for a night at the opera, monopolizing an industry, debating astronomical nomenclature, or flying an airplane for the Royal Air Force, the monocle is the quintessential eye-wear of the modern gentleman. However, be careful when dining. If I had a nickel for every time I dropped my monocle in my soup after someone's preposterous remarks I would be marginally richer than I already am.


Sir Patrick in the Observatory With The Telescope

Movie (Re)Views

Recently viewed films alphabetized and rated using my patented 14.625 point grading scale. (Rounded to the nearest thousandth of course)

+ The 400 Blows 13.135
+ Dirty Harry 11.112
+ Doctor Zhivago 11.783
+ Legends of the Fall 10.601
+ Spaceballs 10.968

You are now welcome to proceed to your nearest DVD bootlegger post-haste.

The Things I Hate

Hate is such a strong word, which is why I use it as often as possible.
It's time once again to update the list of things I hate. While they may appear random, the following items have one thing in common. For often mysterious and unknown reasons the following things make me very, very angry.

+ World Music
+ Biting your tongue
+ People that yell "get in the hole" at golf tournaments.
+ Magicians / Illusionists
+ Window decals 1 | 2
+ All black outfits
+ Dr. Pepper
+ Mama's Family
+ Contemporary musicals
+ Whoopi Goldberg
+ Diamondplating
+ White collars on colored dress shirts

I'm certain that I am forgetting a few things. I'll try to muster up enough hateful recollection in time for Christmas. In the meantime feel free to add your very own petty annoyances and aggravations to the comments of this post.

What People Did Before The Internet

I've been called many things in my life; handsome, astute, charming, articulate, learned, dapper, but never have I been called Henry Darger. Darger, a prolific "outsider" artist and creator of several exhaustive graphic manuscripts, has been called many things, crazy and feeble-minded being among the most common.



In a tiny studio apartment on the north side of Chicago, just a few blocks north of my residence, he quietly created a vast collection of work that easily exceeds all other janitor/artists. His seminal work is the 15,145 page graphic-novel simply titled The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion. If you're looking for a shorter read, might I suggest The History of My Life. At 4,672 pages, you won't even notice that after page 206 that he abandons the story of his life in favor of a tale about a tornado named "Sweetie Pie". Like so many of us, he fancied himself an amateur meteorologist, compiling a ten-year journal of the inaccuracies of the local newspaper's weather reports.

His work was only discovered shortly before his death and has found its way to several museums around the world including both Chicago's Contemporary Museum of Art and Art Institue.
Watch: In the Realms of the Unreal - The Mystery of Henry Darger.
Read: Thank Heaven For Little Girls, Art In America

Parlez-vous Excellence?

Put down your monacle and dust off the beret you American swine. Today, the Baron salutes French culture in all it's excellence.

Watch: The 400 Blows (1959): A classic of French New Wave.
It will make you laugh, cry, and think twice about stealing a typewriter. Watch one of my favorite scenes here.

Listen: Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991): A poet, provocateur, modern bastard. Watch the video for Bonnie & Clyde

Absorb: Leg, An Agency: French graphic design with panache, pompe, and perhaps some circumstance! Huzzah!

Discover: Panoramiqu de Paris: The city of lights in all its panoramic glory.