Author Archive
October 25, 2015 by tomdalzell
Gabby’s Zabriskie Point Posters
Gabby has a certain fondness for cars of a certain era, cars that Neal Cassady was attracted to. So it is with the 1952 Buick Special with a straight-eight engine (the Fireball 8) that was a centerpiece of Zabriskie Point. “That was one full-size car!” he said. Gabby went to Savannah a few years ago […]
October 18, 2015 by tomdalzell
Miscellaneous #3
Yes, I know, miscellaneous posts are the last refuge of a scoundrel. Boswell tells us that Samuel Johnson told us that. I know. But, another way to think about this momentary escape from themed groupings and single-site focused posts is to say that for this moment I am ignoring my rational mind and just accepting […]
October 13, 2015 by tomdalzell
Working at the Dining Service
I entered the freshman class at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall of 1969. What a time! The War in Vietnam. Nixon. Kent State. The draft. It seemed like the world was spinning off its axis a lot of the time that I was there. I graduated in 1971 with a BA […]
October 10, 2015 by tomdalzell
Dave Mandel’s Hippie, Or, Like, There was More to the 60s Than That, Man!
For the most part, I stay in the present tense here. I dabble in the past, but my mission’s focus is the present. And I don’t advertise. More than not monetizing, I usually don’t point to a product or service. Let’s take those two general rules and throw them out the window. Dave Mandel’s […]
October 10, 2015 by tomdalzell
(Some of) Berkeley’s Best Buddhas
Let me be VERY clear about what I am not saying. I am not saying that Buddha is quirky. I am not saying that Buddhism is quirky. I am not saying that Buddhist iconography is quirky. I am not saying that all who display Buddhist iconography are Buddhists. The 2010 census for Berkeley […]
October 3, 2015 by tomdalzell
Sculpture – Modernish
I know almost nothing about sculpture. I am a functional illiterate when it comes to sculpture. I confess. I admit. I bemoan. If you are interested in an exercise in creative narcissism, you can look here to see the sum total, I think, of my life experience with sculpture. But, so, though, the point being, […]
September 27, 2015 by tomdalzell
Sculpture in My Life (It’s All About Me!)
The photos below show sculpture that has played a role, no matter how small, in my life. As a boy, I lived outside Boston from 1954 until 1959. My mother would take me to a toy store in Lexington. I remember the statue of the Minuteman, the Shot Heard ‘Round the World in Lexington. I […]
September 26, 2015 by tomdalzell
Gabby and Young Emily and Sculpture/Statues
In the early years of the love affair between our friends Gabby and Young Emily, they paid attention to sculpture. Here are excerpts from his journal, starting with a description of his final day in Philadelphia with Young Emily in August 1970. He wrote about driving from the United Farm Workers boycott house in North […]
September 26, 2015 by tomdalzell
Theseus and his Sinking Ship
I love grammar. I have my schoolboy Warriner’s grammar book next to my desk. Sometimes I pick it up and just browse. My friend loves ancient history. He his his copy of his schoolboy’s Breasted next to his desk. Sometimes he picks it up and just browses. A few weeks ago he got immersed […]
September 26, 2015 by tomdalzell