An Occasional Interesting Person
November 16, 2008 - Polly Jean Harvey
PJ Harvey, Harvey's three piece band, released their first album, Dry, in 1992. It was a musical kidney punch. In a rock scene of angst-ridden but typical voices, Harvey's howl refreshed. Dry was edgy, energetic, relentless, feminine, and really, really good. I listened to it until my roommate threw it away - I resisted beating him senseless.
She followed with seven studio albums. In each she discarded what came before and invented a new sound and experience. Rid of Me refined her chunky, raw delivery with a little help from Steve Albini. To Bring You My Love popped and gave Harvey her first hit. Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea may be my favorite with its sweet, lush melodies. One listen is enough to stick it in your head. Her latest, White Chalk, is quiet and fragile.
In all of her albums, Harvey is credited with exploring the dark side of human experience. And that may be so... but in addition there are moments of incredible hope, yearning, and persistance. Even at her darkest, there's no sense that she's given up. Instead, she growls, shrieks, and moans until something better comes along.
Polly Jean Harvey wrote, performed, and occasionally recorded some of my favorite albums of all time.
On the web:
June 17, 2008 - Jacques de Vaucanson
Jacques de Vaucanson(February 24, 1709 - November 21, 1782) joined the Jesuits when he first left home. Beyond his duties with the order, he dabbled with simulating life in mechanical creatures. A visiting priest viewed one of Vaucanson's creations and was so horrified that the brothers dismantled his workshop. Vaucanson feigned illness to get out of the order and moved to Paris.
In 1737, he created what might be considered one of the world's first robots - a shepherd that played the flute. The shepherd played unassisted with an elaborate system of bellows and hands covered in real skin. The flute player sparked Europe's interest in automaton. The next year, Vaucanson delivered an extremely life-like duck that seemingly ate, flapped its wings, and defecated digested material. Not surprisingly, everything was not as it seemed. Still, the duck stirred imaginations and left us with Voltaire's quote/misquote: "Without the shitting duck, we would have nothing to remind us of the glory of France."
After his automatons, Vaucanson tried reforming France's silk industry. He argued for automating the manufacturing process and designed a mechanical loom a half century before the Jacquard loom. His efforts drew hatred from the silk laborers. He answered with a loomed that was "manned" by an ass.
On the web:
February 13, 2008 - Lester Hayes
My cousins and I invented a game using football cards and some dice. Offensive and defensive formations, a roll of the dice, and individual player stats combined to determine the outcome of each play. Lester Hayes worked like magic after I 'drafted' him for my team. Roll after roll he picked off passes, harassed receivers, and forced fumbles. My defense was feared family-wide. For an entire season, he filled me with pride while facing older cousins.
On the NFL field, Hayes was a real legend. He was a cornerback, #37, for the Oakland Raiders. Along with the rest of the Raiders defense, he was feared for being brutally efficient. He perfected bump-and-run pass coverage and retired with a total 39 interceptions - running four back for touchdowns. The notorious amount of StickUmTM he used made him shine in the Sunday sun. In fact, the NFL rule banning its use bears his name.
Hayes struggled with stuttering for the first part of his life and career. Despite his ferociousness on the field, he stayed quiet to avoid attracting attention to his speach. After beating the stutter, he opened up and became very approachable for his fans. Lester Hayes also has a shred of geek in him - he's a big Star Wars fan.
On the web:
November 6, 2007 - Hrant Dink
I first heard Hrant Dink as he responded to France's proposed law making the denial of the Armenian genocide in Turkey a criminal act. As an Armenian Turkish journalist, Dink had been writing about the Armenian genocide for years and spent time in Turkish jails because of it. Regardless, his response to the law was:
"I will go to France to protest against this madness and violate the [new] law if I see it necessary. And I will commit the crime to be prosecuted there so that these two irrational mentalities can race to put me into jail."
It struck me that this was an important example of a man holding strong beliefs without letting them poison his judgement - conviction without extremism. Maybe the only important rule is that no one should be silenced through law, fear, or violence.
On January 19 2007, Hrant Dink was shot dead in front of his office.
On the web:
September 14, 2007 - Fred Smith
Fred Smith was a lumberjack, farmer, husband, father, bar owner, fiddle player, and sculptor from Phillips, Wisconsin. He died in 1976 leaving behind several acres of strange, whimsical, and moving sculpture. His Wisconsin Concrete Park is now owned by Price County and maintained by the Friends of Fred Smith.
Smith started sculpting at the age of 65. He was completely self taught. His technique consisted of digging a form in the earth, building a frame of wood and wire, then filling the form and covering the frame with concrete. After it dried, he would enlist family and friends to erect the sculpture. He finished with broken glass and found objects.
His themes varied. If you visit the park, you'll see a giant Muskie pulled by horses, a scene from the movie Ben Hur, Sacajawea, the Budweiser Clydesdales, and much more.
Phillips, Wisconsin seems like a long way from everything but the opportunity to stand next to Fred Smith's sculptures makes the trip more than worth it.
On the web:
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Scatterbright is Corbin March's personal site. I'm a software developer from Saint Paul, MN who's interested in more things than he has time for.
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