To Arms Fellow Citizens of Earth!

This is a message from Flash Gordon. Dale and I

have intercepted a communique from the evil Emperor Ming of the planet Mongo.

Ming intends to enslave earth!

Call the Hawkmen!

And prepare yourself for battel!

Fight fellow earthmen, fight to your last breath! Let Ming know we will not let the Isle of Mann fall into his evil clutches.

Notes from The Thames Theatre Show 07/18

"Hunt illustrates the climax of Keats's "Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil," which comes after the heroine's cruel brothers murder Lorenzo, the poor clerk whom she loves. Discovering in a vision where they have buried her beloved's body, Isabella removes Lorenzo's head from the corpse and hides it in a pot of basil, which then becomes a gruesome shrine of love. Puzzling why their sister "sat drooping by the basil green,/ And why it flourished, as by magic touch," the brothers steal the pot of basil and, after discovering Lorenzo's head, flee to avoid arrest for his murder. Deprived of her basil, the insane Isabella dies. Hunt's painting specifically illustrates the fifty-third stanza, which relates how the young woman withdraws from life and lives only to water the plant with her tears."

The Awakening Conscience, William Holman Hunt 1851-53, Oil on canvas, 29 1/4 x 21 5/8 inches

"The Awakening Conscience is the most explicitly Hogarthian of his early works, in part because it makes extensive use of texts on the frame and within the picture itself. Furthermore, this painting, which may derive directly from a work by Hogarth, also depicts a contemporary moral subject, and it employs a pervasive integrated symbolism in imitation of the earlier master. Equally important, at least part of its complex intention is to view contemporary mores from the vantage point of satire. What so complicates our reaction to this companion to The Light of the World is that, although it links religious and satirical themes, it does not merge them as did The Hireling Shepherd, which is a religious satire. Instead, at the same time that it presents the young woman's moment of illumination, it satirizes her wealthy seducer."

Hunh. I did not see that. I thought she was having a good time. How typical of me to miss the boat so completely.

London is Dull

Let's see, what did I tick off my "Things To Do" list in the last three hours?

Wander through the dark...

Check.

Accost a writer about his view of elitism as it relates to the AGO and 19th-century Pre-Raphaelites painters...

Check.

Discuss the finer points of how EPCOT has lost its way since its promising start in 1982...

Check.

Make fun of the Germans and their insensitivity towards the First Nations as it pertains to their representation in Smurf figures, both resin and furry...

Check.

Upset a pregnant lady...

Check.

Another dull night in the Forest City. What did you do?