The Bear Chronicles

The Bear Does the Obvious Thing at Four Corners Monument

Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, 2006.

Flag Friday XXI

Flag Friday is a periodic discussion of the world's national flags; the project is explained and indexed here.

These discussions are about graphic design, and perhaps about nationalism and national symbolism in general. They should not be taken as critical of the countries, ideals, cultures, or people that the flags represent.

Lebanon

Parsons: Disliking "graven images," he gives it a "C", 55/100.

Michael5000: Parsons and I share a healthy dislike of the kind of elaborate-national-seal-on-a-flag frimframery that stinks up some national flags (and a great many U.S. state flags).  I can't hold with him when he calls simple one-color shapes "graven images," though.  The Lebanese flag is a red-white-red tricolor with a wide center stripe and a green shape in the center; it passes the Betsy Ross test with (to use the unintentional pun for about the thousandth time) flying colors.  It's simple, dignified, and in the top ranks of recognizability.  I like it.

Grade: A-


Lesotho

Parsons: Disliking the "weapons" on Lesotho's flag, he gives it a "D", 55/100.

Michael5000: So I started out by thinking, "huh, I really like Lesotho's flag, I wonder why I haven't noticed it more before."  Then I read Parson's comment, and I was all like "'weapons?'  WTF?" But THEN I realized that Lesotho had a relatively recent flag change.  2006, in fact.  Here's a reminder of the old flag:

I think the change was a good idea.  The old flag was perhaps a bit more distinctive, but the new one has that classic tricolor charm.  The switch from brown to black was good.  As for the change of symbols, it's a nice gesture.  Quoth the BBC (Oct. 4, 2006):

The small mountain kingdom of Lesotho is marking its 40th anniversary of independence from the United Kingdom by flying a new more peaceful flag.
The military emblem of a shield, spear and knobkerrie is replaced by a traditional cone-shaped hat on the blue, white and green flag.
The hat worn by indigenous Basotho people was on the first independence flag but was replaced after a coup.
Lesotho says its new flag shows it "at peace with itself and its neighbours".

Probably they took Parsons' criticism to heart.  We flag critics have a lot of clout.

Grade (for the current flag): A-


Liberia

Parsons: It's "too busy" and represents "plagiarism," but "at least an improvement on the US flag."  He gives it a "B", 74/100.

Michael5000: Hmm, "plagiarism."  Y'all know about Liberia, right?  American abolitionists buy the freedom of a bunch of slaves and literally send them back to Africa, thus dislocating not only the freedmen from their North American homeland but also the African folks who happened to be living on the territory chosen for the project.  Good thinking, guys!  The repercussions are still in full swing.

So, "Liberia," liberty, freed slaves.  Capital: Monrovia, after U.S. President Monroe, under whose tenure the whole scheme was hatched.  And the flag is, yes derived from the United States'.  Under the circumstances, "plagiarism" seems a little hard.

At least an improvement on the US flag?  Hard to argue with that.

Grade: B+


Libya

Parsons: Asks "did you even try?" but calls it "original" and "simple" and gives it a "B", 70/100.

Michael5000: Green!  The color of Islam!  And Libya is not shy about announcing itself as an Islamic country.

If you're like me -- which seems unlikely -- you've always wondered what this simplest of flags really looks like in actual use.  Here it is on a ship:

And here's a bunch of them among some public buildings:

Kind of weird, isn't it.  They don't quite look like flags, but like a placeholder for some more conventional flag to be determined at a later date.  Which leads to the main problem with the Libyan flag: it's quite distinctive when you are looking at it on a table of "Flags of the World" or whatever.  Whereas, if you see it in real life, it's loses any sense of distinctiveness.  "Is that a flag, or just a piece of green fabric," you ask.  I have a set of sheets that are essentially Libyan flags, but no inferences regarding my attitude toward the North African state should be made based on this fact.

Grade: C

Liechtenstein

Parsons: Without comment, he consigns it to a "C", 56/100.

Michael5000: Sure, the crown is a little fussy, but hats off to the Liechtensteiners for altering their flag when they realized that it was the same as one of the many iterations of the Haitian banner.  That was class.  Also, the crown is a just one- or two- color geometric element, depending on where you look, and therefore relatively inoffensive. Too, isn't a nice anachronistic crown pretty appropriate for a geopolitical relict as cute as a European microstate?  Tell me this isn't charming:

Viva Liechtenstein!

Grade: B+

Your Thursday Boring Postcard from Michael5000

All boring postcards are by definition awesome, of course.  

Postmarked September 9, 1946.  That Ganesh is hand-painted, ya'll.

Provenance: Gift of L&TM5K Ambassador-at-Large Heatherbee, October 2010.

The Wednesday Quiz Scatters All Before It

It's:

The new weekly game of knowledge, intuition, inductive reasoning, and willingness to risk public embarrassment in a friendly and moderately supportive environment!!

Ready?  Here goes!  Answers come out on Friday!

1. Who was the first Vice-President -- and perhaps more memorably, the second President -- of the United States of America?

2. Whose compositions include "On the Transmigration of Souls," "Short Ride in a Fast Machine," and "Nixon in China"?

3. What is this language?

4. What novel, published in serial form from 1873 to 1877, begins with the famous line "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"?

5. An Ethiopian princess is enslaved in Egypt. A military commander falls in love with her, thus spurning the Pharaoh's daughter. Princess and commander end up getting buried alive as a result, but, hey, that's the price you pay for true love. What opera are we talking about?

6.

About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters; how well, they understood
Its human position; how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood...

The poet?


7. What is this city?

8. What is the best known work of the immortal Virgil?

9. Here's a definition:

1. Exaltation to divine rank or stature; deification.
2. Elevation to a preeminent or transcendent position; glorification.
3. An exalted or glorified example.

What's the word?


10. This painting, made in 1533 by Hans Holbein the Younger, is famous for the trippy distorted skull at the feet of the two guys pictured. What is the painting's name?

----

The tie-breaker: Eight chemical elements have a symbol (you know, the letters) that begin with this week's letter. List as many as you can.


Give it a try, or you will have seven years of bad luck!  Put your answers in the comments!  

Song of the American Road -- Purple Mountains Majesty

VIEW FROM SUMMIT OF PIKES PEAK, COLORADO
Wonderful views may be had from top of this famous mountain.  Early morning scenes are especially interesting, when the surrounding low-hanging clouds make one feel "you are walking on a cloud."

7/28/70  Hi Folks, Thank you for good time you showed us while there.  Arlene and Jerry sure showed us a good time also.  Drove to top of Pikes Peak today.  Be here yet tomorrow and start home.  Write more soon.  Love Margaret, Aaron, and kids.


San Francisco Peaks seen from Williams-Flagstaff Road, U.S. Hwy 66., Arizona

Sun - Mar. 10 - 57  Dear Mrs. Schmitt, Thanks for writing me.  I had a card from Ruth Sat the 8th sure am sorry about it, you can write me any time you like.  These Peaks are 67 mile west of here.  I don't feel too good myself.  I am afraid Mrs. Nelson will have a hard time.  Love, Mrs. Agnew.  hope you are all Okay.


SHADOW MOUNTAIN LAKE ADJOINING GRAND LAKE, ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK, COLORADO

Dear Marian, Lester, and Jon.  Attended a youth Conference in Estes Park and are now on vacation here in the West.  Just love it. our cabin overlooked this lake and mountains.  Beautiful.  Love to everyone, Maria


NO. 54 CEREMONIAL CAVE, CAYON RITO DE LOS FRIJOLES, N.M. (LITTLE RIVER OF THE BEANS)
Scientists reconstructed view of community house and kiva, as used by the prehistoric dwellers of this once populous village of an unknown tribe of Indians.
Situated high up in the walls of the canyon under an overhanging cliff, 100 feet above the river, their only method of access was by hand and toe holds imbedded in the rock.

In Mexico at a Rest stop 10 minutes -- OK Honey  Bob

Michael5000 vs. Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing (Branagh, 1993)

The Play: Much Ado About Nothing
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh

Genre and Setting: Comedy with a dramatic edge, set on a Sicilian nobleman’s estate. Branaugh places the play in a idealized Italy of no particular era.

The Gist: A pair of sharp-tongued, witty frenemies need to be helped to realize that they are in love with each other. At the same time, a wedding is broken up through the treachery of a Bad Guy, and the estranged pair needs to be brought back together through an uncovering of the truth and some mild repentance.

The Adaptation: A big-budget feature movie produced by Kenneth Branagh, starring such household names as Ken himself (competent but sometimes a bit hammy), Emma Thompson and Denzel Washington (fabulous of course), Keanu Reeves (about what you’d expect), and Michael Keaton (a minor disaster).

Clocks In At: 111 minutes, quite a few of which are mostly scenery and spectacle. Judging it against my Pocket Guide to Shakespeare's Plays -- this is my first exposure to Much Ado, can you believe? -- it looks like the central plots were faithfully followed while some sub-plots were pruned and a few secondary characters were enhanced to make them a little more charismatic on the big screen.

Pros: Branagh makes this popular comedy a grand visual spectacle with the help of an all-star cast, a zillion enthusiastic extras, and a spectacular filming location in Tuscany. Emma Thompson is to die for. The craftsmanship of the film is exquisite (almost to the point of showing off, at times), and everyone seems to be having a good time. This is a movie that makes you want to move to Italy and go to lots of fabulous parties, because life is good and everything will work out in the end.

Cons: When spectacle goes too far you get bombast, and Branagh, who is not famous for restraint, sometimes presses right up against that line. The only really serious problem, though, is Keaton’s presence in the role Dogberry, the local constable. Given some of Shakespeare’s funniest comic dialog, he reprises his weird physical-comedy schtick from Beetlejuice. Also, nobody should try to do the “pretending to ride horses that aren’t really there” gag until at least a hundred years have passed since Monty Python took ownership of it. Seriously.

Prognosis: A fun, lively, and upbeat Shakespeare movie, easy to watch and easy on the eyes.

Your Sunday Boring Postcard from Michael5000

High Road, Ilford

Mailed from Ilford to France, August 15, 1963.

Provenance: Purchased by Mrs.5000 at an estate sale, October 2010.