Saturday, August 19, 2023

CLICK

 On our travels whilst in Europe we frequent museums, which for those robed readers under 40 who live on their phones, a museum is a place that acts as a depository of art and artifacts. In the art exhibits, the painting is displayed and many times a brief description of the artist and the provenance of the painting, along with some information about the painting, is displayed next to the painting. 

So for example, a Monet of a Bridge over a pond of Waterlilies might contain a brief description of Monet's garden and the specifics of this waterlily painting- Monet made many paintings of waterlilies. 

Monet's iconic bridge over waterlily

We have noticed a disturbing trend, mostly amongst Americans and Chinese females.  (NB- there is NOTHING politically incorrect to note that a particular race and sex seems to act in a certain way if the objective evidence backs up the observation. If you feel otherwise, stuff it.) *

They are racing from painting to painting, taking a picture of the painting with their phone, then taking a picture of the description, and then racing on to the next one. There is no quiet contemplation of the strokes in a Van Gogh haystack, or a Monet waterlily. There is no re-wiring of the brain; no soothing conversation of beta waves into alpha waves.  Just a race to record the art and the description on their phone- which you can get by buying any book in the gift store about the exhibit. 

It's sad. It's depressing. There's a miracle in Van Gogh's repeated painting of large cypress trees in Arles, or the satisfaction of discovering the reflection of a branch overhanging a pond in the water, in a Monet. 

So, if you find your way to a museum, something we sadly lack in South Florida, and Florida for that matter...relax. You don't need to take a picture of Starry Night. Everyone (robed readers excepted) knows the painting. We don't need to see it on your Snap-toc, or a selfie of you standing in front of it on IG. Look at the art; absorb it; let it soothe your soul (except for robed readers north of the border who have no soul); and if need be, invite a friend out for a glass of wine at a cafe and explain what it meant to gaze upon Starry Night, and how it moved you. 

Starry Night 


In other words, stop and smell the roses and gaze upon the haystacks and waterlilies.  It will do more for you than a well written response to a misbegotten 404b motion. 

HR, Esq.


* We get that there are racist stereotypes that are offensive and that in a general sense people do not all act in a certain way just because they are a member of a race or group. But we are here to tell you that over the course of three museums in one week, once we began to count, we noticed that of all the types of people in the galleries, women from China were at about a rate of more than 9 to 1 taking pictures of every picture and every description. Why? We have no idea. Maybe they are being nice and want to share it with their family back home.  But objectively, it was a noticeable trend. Just as it was that almost all Americans, regardless of sex, were doing the same thing. Now compare that to people who, based on the language we heard them speaking, were not Americans, who were simply looking at the art. Families with English accents were chatting about Van Gogh in Arles;  Germans were discussing the difference between Van Gogh's paintings of gardens that were composed of dabs of paint versus his strokes when painting the giant green cypress trees.  It is the difference between enjoying the moment, and needing to prove to the rest of the world where you were and what you did. We Americans have it all wrong. 

12 comments:

  1. Could someone please tell Mark Blumstein he is not a judge. While you are at it, remind him he is not a US Navy officer anymore too.

    This is what the Fla. Bar website says:
    Mark Blumstein
    Member of the Judiciary
    Mark Blumstein
    Bar Number:
    90700

    Mail Address:
    8926 Hawthorne Ave
    Surfside, FL 33154-3332

    Office: 786-514-1604

    Email:
    mbjag1996@gmail.com

    Personal Bar URL:
    https://www.floridabar.org/mybarprofile/90700

    vCard:

    County:
    Miami-Dade

    Circuit:
    11

    Admitted:
    10/03/1996

    Judicial Position:
    CC

    10-Year Discipline History:
    None

    Law School:
    Nova Southeastern University - Shepard Broad College of Law, 1996

    Languages:
    Italian

    Spanish

    State Courts:
    Florida

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  2. FACDL is blowing up again. Nancy Wear is at it again. This time she is upset that a certain well know lawyer with an Italian name (not Petruzzi) said he got an email from a prosecutor saying he had "2 fucking hours" to accept PTI or it was off the table. The email was sent on a Friday at 2:00pm. Wear is upset he said "fucking." The rest of FACDL wants to know what the fuck is wrong with Nancy Wear. Me too. The Italian lawyer countered with a simple reply. He said, how can Nancy be a member of FACDL when she hasn't handled a criminal case in about 10 years. Good point.

    Forget all of that bullshit. Why is Miami SAO all of a sudden on a mission to make deadlines to take deals that are absolute unreasonable?

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  3. Tate Gallery in London. Picasso’s, Dove of Peace (1949), inspired by Matisse. The emblem for the First International Peace Conference in Paris. The Smithsonian Magazine well articulates their friendship, “Matisse & Picasso” (Feb 2003), and is an inspiring read. May we all embrace our second life.

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  4. I have been a courthouse regular for about 15 years and have never seen this person, Nancy Wear. Who is she? Does she practice criminal law? Why is she constantly filling up my email box with her opinion on everything?

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  5. SAO had to act tough so KFR is suspended by Governor shitheaf

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  6. I wonder if he still does the Pledge of Allegiance in his pajamas in the morning. Not the most incompetent judge we ever had but in the top 10 of unqualified.

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  7. One simple answer to WHY? Leonard Thompson, Jr. is now head of Misdemeanor's.

    BTW: Am I the only one who finds the exchanges between Namcy Wear and the "Italian" reminiscent of the SNL skits between Jane Curtain and Dan Aykroyd. It's hilarious!

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  8. Nancy Wear is incredibly annoying and has been for years. I do think FACDL should kick her out, they should have done it when she criticized a respected federal lawyer (who actually practices criminal law, needless to say) for sharing details of Judge Cooke's illness and death with the bar on the FACDL listserv as asked by family or friends of Judge Cooke to do so.

    The problem with the SAO is more serious. Nearly every good senior prosecutor has retired or moved on. And every good junior prosecutor now leaves in 3 years or less. The big decisions are now entirely made by people who previously would have been one voice (saying no) on a panel made up mostly of people you could actually talk to. The defense bar will not be able to change this because there is literally nobody left to have a meaningful sit down to change it with.

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  9. As a child my parents took us to museum after museum in DC and around that geographical area. Why? Because they were free! And we were poor.
    But my parents knew art and instilled a love of all the arts in their children.
    Still, it drove us crazy as our father would linger over each painting, and each exhibit, reading every detail. We wouldn't get through more than two or three rooms. But we'd always come back some other weekend and finish.
    Now of course, I do the same.
    I'm not sure about the stereotyping Rumpole. It seems as if no one has time to see the brush strokes and understand the composition.
    Too bad.

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  10. Why do we all have to listen to Nancy Wear day after day. Answer, the board of FACDL is spineless.

    Enough already. Basta ya!

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  11. Rumpole, people might be on a tour and have to be on the bus in too little time or not get to go home. Maybe they will linger over the pictures they took later?
    Everyone else talking about other things, 9/9 of you don't know what a comment is. Comment as-tu fait ça? If I can now understand it in two languages, you can learn it in English.

    ReplyDelete