Buckminster Fuller at the Whitney

Buckminster Fuller was an inventor, a visionary, and above all an eccentric. Fuller invented many fantastic things and most of them were totally impossible, but also awesome and patentable. His triumph was the geodesic dome, of which “Spaceship Earth” (a term Fuller coined) at Epcot is based on. I recently went to see a comprehensive exhibit on ol’ Bucky at the Whitney in Manhattan.

As a choice of subject for a modern and contemporary American art museum, Fuller is perfect. Fuller came from a wealthy New England family but never finished college. Instead, he began prolifically inventing in what he called “4D” and later “Dymaxion.” Fuller came up with some crazy shit, but some things like the Dymaxion Map (pictured folded together above) seem genius to me.

The exhibit gushes on Fuller’s tremendous innovation, but a concurrent New Yorker article by Elizabeth Kolbert is more quick to criticize. It seems that while Fuller’s inspiration is immeasurable, his track record is not that impressive. Geodesic domes have even been known to leak. However, I have a hard time caring. Fuller is a fountain of sci-fi inspiration and was known to have a pop culture knack. Placed at the beginning of the exhibit is a chart Fuller made of his own accomplishments. He charts them against major political events as well as popular dances throughout the twentieth century. Dude knew what was up.

Photo courtesy of flickr user super-structure.

In Defense of References and Casanova Quinn

To me, one of the greatest pleasures in reading a book, watching a movie/television show, or listening to a song is realizing that there is a hidden allusion. Often, this is no more than a reference to another work, but it can even be a larger thematic or stylistic reference. You know what I mean. This is what makes “Family Guy” funny, (well, as funny as it can be) “Ulysses” daunting, and Quentin Tarantino, well, a director. So imagine my sheer delight when I saw this picture in a comics review over on Pretty Fakes:

Squint if you can’t see it: someone is saying “Be ready and be brave,” a line from the Mountain Goats’ “Magpie,” from inside a robot! And there are crows (Magpies and crows are both in the corvidae family) circling outside! Why “Casanova” might possibly be the best comic ever, a paper I wrote in high school, and the reason I’m linking a lot of punctuation after the jump.

La Isola Tiberina

Rome has such a complicated and multi-layered history, that besides the ancient architecture and the seat of Catholicism, there are bound to be some things that are just plain weird. One of my current favorites is called la Isola Tiberina in Italian and Tiber Island in English. According to ancient legend, either Tarquinius Superbus, or his son, Sextus Tarquinius—whose rape of Lucretia undid the both of them—was thrown into the Tiber (the river that runs through Rome) and silt built up on the body until there was an island. Continuing in the myth, from then (around 500 BC) to about 300 BC, the island was a cursed place. According to Wikipedia:

Accounts say that in 293 BC, there was a great plague in Rome. Upon consulting the Sibyl, the Roman Senate was instructed to build a temple to Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing, and sent a delegation to Epidauros obtain a statue of the deity. The Romans obtained a snake from the temple, which curled around the ship’s mast as soon as it is aboard, deemed as a good sign. Upon its return trip up the Tiber river, the snake slithered off the ship and swimming onto the island. This was seen as the god’s own choice for his temple’s location, and the temple was built on the island, thus ending the plague.

There are a number of mythical stories in various cultures where animals engage in some specific act and are taken as a powerful sign that something should be built. Whether it be an island or a capital city, I like these stories very much. Nowadays, the island is a nice place to spend an hour or two on a sunny afternoon. There’s not much except a basilica and hospital, both predating 1000 AD. But its ship-like embankments provide a sunny, albeit stony, place to lay for a while.

The Italian Open-Air Market

Food works differently here in Italy. OK, you know this already, it’s practically a stereotype. But it’s not just because everyone cooks in the garlic-rich style imitated by Olive Garden. Italy is lucky, it’s almost completely surrounded by seas and also full of farmable land; you can grow almost everything. Oranges grow along some streets here in Rome, and for that reason, you can buy two kilos of blood oranges for 1 euro at the open-air market.

We have one of these sprawling markets about 10-15 minutes away on foot, or maybe two or three stops on the tram (that no one seems to pay for). I’ve been to American farmer’s markets before, even green markets, but nothing I’ve seen compares to this. Bustling with little old ladies, the market is open 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day except Sunday. This itself is worth noting, because the D.C. farmer’s market is only open on Sunday! Of course there are supermarkets and corner salumerias (kind of like delis), but food at the market assumed to be cheaper and fresher than anywhere.

Of course, the result of this something completely the opposite of the US: food is a priority. Eating healthily is assumed, and preservatives and seen as unnecessary and counterintuitive. I spent a few days looking for tubberware tupperware and then gave up; Italians cook when they want to eat and save little. America is getting there, but its still more cost effective to get fat, and it will be a long before that changes.

Back At Home: Organizing Comics

So, I’m back home, and I finally did what I’ve wanted to do for a really long time, organize all of my comics. Several times I thought I had finished, only to realize that some were still noticeably absent, forcing me to tear through my room looking for another magazine box. In all, there were about 35 titles, from seven magazine boxes.

Also, I loved seeing all the covers again. I’m always shocked I have so much Green Lantern. (That’s the huge pile). My Dad grew up helping at his dad’s newspaper stand, reading all the comics for free. He was talking about one today he couldn’t remember the name of, featuring a little girl “who always had to wear polka dots.” Anyone have any clue? Anyway, my scanner at home is pretty good, so I thought I’d post some of my favorite covers. Click on any for a bigger view.

“Luke Cage, Hero For Hire” was a Marvel comic at the height of blaxploitation. It’s really hilarious and self-aware. Also, I love how characters talk to each other on old covers. Pretty good. Whatever happened to Luke Cage? Looks pretty intense here.

War Machine is kind of like Marvel’s version of Steel. Instead of being the main hero (in this case Iron Man), a black man uses a metal suit to enhance himself. What’s cool about this issue is that Jim Rhodes is using the War Machine armor on behalf of his “Worldwatch,” which is basically an NGO that exposes human rights violations. Pretty tight.

This is kind of a departure from the two above comics with Black superheroes. Fables operates that all fairy tale characters had to leave their homelands because of a terrible emperor taking over and as a result…they all live in NYC secretly. It’s pretty great, and the covers are always amazing. Here’s the North Wind. I mean, this illustration and type treatment are pretty hard to beat.

Anyway, do any of them look particularly interesting? If anyone wants, I’ll scan in the whole thing.

Microcredit Through Kiva.org

Here’s an except of an email I wrote to family and friends back in March:

“I have discovered something really great. Perhaps you’ve heard or read about microfinance or microcredit. Organizations like the Grameen bank give small loans, maybe $50, maybe $2000, to someone (usually a woman because they are more reliable) looking to start a basic business in a third-world environment. It’s almost always a flat loan with no interest and short, easy terms of payment. The rate of return is usually tremendously high because people take their loans super seriously.

“Sorry if you knew all of that. Anyway, some smart Americans have taken note and put together a website (I’m sure they aren’t the only ones, but this one’s great) called kiva.org where anyone can help create these loans. It’s wonderful, you can just browse through and if one catches your eye, you contribute $25 or more and that’s that. And then you wait, and you get paid back, and you can either get your money back or reinvest in someone else.”

That very day, I invested in Juliet Grace Edepi, a butcher in rural Kenya. A high school dropout and widow with five children in secondary school, Edepi stood out to me as unusually determined, but a look around Kiva reveals many hardworking people in need of an economic boost. The loan was distributed to her in April, and collected in October. I was one of ten investors and helped this woman better her life, with only $25.

Well, I got my money back. Now Kiva has grown substantially. This time I’m loaning the twenty-five bucks to Proeung Neang of Cambodia (photo above with husband). This loan is a little bit bigger, $1,100 over a year. She is better off than most, with a steady income, a husband, and kids that can work, but her motorcycle/sea food lifestyle intrigues me. That’s the beauty of Kiva, you get to choose where your money goes, and then it comes back to you.

Photo courtesy of kiva.org. I doubt they would mind, especially if someone invests because of it.