Herakleitos 13 -- Odilon Redon 1881 (The Eye)

13.

Eyes and ears are poor informers to the barbarian mind.

No Spiders Are Insects (No Spider Logic)

m] Spiders can’t be insects because they are eight-legged.


n]   All spiders are eight-legged.
     No insects are eight-legged.
     No spiders are insects.   

 Key:

1.  Top:  Odilon Redon, SmilingSpider, 1891.

2.  Bottom:  Odilon Redon,Crying Spider, 1881.

3.  Textexcerpted from:  Logic by Wesley Salmon (Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall,1973).

Halloween 3: Hitchcock On Eggs

Alfred Hitchcock, known for his terrifying movies, had oneunusual fear: "I'm frightened of eggs," he once said. "Worsethan frightened—they revolt me. That white round thing without any holes—haveyou ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spillingits yellow liquid?"

MIRACLE (REVERDY)

Hanging head 

 

              Eyelashes curled 

Mouth silent 

The lights go on 

There is nothing there but a name 

                   Which has been forgotten 

If the door opens 

I won’t dare go in 

              Everything happens back there 

They talk 
 

         And I listen 
 

My fate is at stake in the nextroom 

Tête penchée

               Cilsrecourbés

Bouche muette

Les lampes sont allumées

Il n’y a plus qu’un nom

                     Quel’on a oublié

La porte se serait ouverte

Et je n’oserais pas entrer

                 Toutce qui se passe derrière

On parle

              Etje peux écouter

Mon sort était en jeu dans la pièceà côté

NOTE:  When I was in high school in Washington, Connecticut, waking up to all sorts of literature and visual art, principally through the lens of Cubism, I discovered the poetry of Pierre Reverdy, which has stayed with me as a touchstone.  I knew French well enough by that time to be able to read the original poetry, but I also read Reverdy in translation, initially in Kenneth Rexroth's book, Pierre Reverdy, Selected Poems, which, as I recall, had a Juan Gris guitar drawing on its cover. This poem, Miracle, haunted me back then.  When I spent the summer in France in 1971, wandering around bookstores and art galleries much of the time, and I first experienced Reverdy in situ, it affected me strongly and gave me the feeling that my thoughts were real and actually connected up to an external reality.  The three illustrations included here, Portrait of Violette Heymann (1910), The Cyclops (1914), and Self-Portrait (1880), are by Odilon Redon. 

Magic 2 -- The Rose

 

      Whilst religious wars incarnadined the world, secret illuministic associations, which were nothing but theurgic and magical schools, were incorporated in Germany. The most ancient of these seems to have been that of the  Rosicrucians, whose symbols go back to the times of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, as we see by the allegories in the poem of Dante and by the emblem in the Romance of the Rose.

      The rose, which from all times has been the type of beauty, life, love and pleasure, expressed mystically the secret thought of all protests manifested at the Renaissance.  It was the flesh in rebellion against the oppression of spirit; it was Nature testifying that, like grace, she was a daughter of God;  it was love refusing to be stifled by the celibate; it was life in revolt against sterility;  it was humanity aspiring towards natural religion, full of reason and love, founded on the revelations of the harmony of being, of which the rose, for initiates was the living floral symbol.  It is in truth a pantacle; the form is circular, the leaves of the corolla are heart-shaped and rest harmoniously on one another;  its tint offers the most harmonious shades of primitive colours; its calyx is of purple and gold.

From Eliphas Levi, The History of Magic, Chapter V, Some Famous Sorcerers and Magicians

Top:  Odilon Redon, Pegasus Captive, 1889, lithograph, Chicago Institute of Art

Center:  Blue Rose

Bottom: Paul Ranson, Nabis Landscape, 1890, oil on canvas, Private Collection

Arancini di Riso (Little Oranges Of Rice)

I love arancini di riso, and what could be more beautiful?

Giadia De Laurentiis’ recipe below seems very good and logical.  

However, her “degree of difficulty” description reminds me of that old Senor Wences wisecrack, “easy for you, difficult for me.”  I love cooking most "normal" rice preparations (from a variety of cultures), but whenever I've tried to fashion arancini or sushi, I end up with hands that look like rice gloves.  Onward and upward, I say.  I intend to get the hang of this someday because the arancini offered for sale at most commercial establishments tend to be bland, overcooked, heavy and starchy.  Properly prepared, they are heavenly, a sort of riso or risi e bisi apotheosis.

Arancini Di Riso

Vincent Van Gogh, Still Life With Oranges, Lemons and Blue Gloves, 1889, Oil on Canvas

Arancini di Riso (Giada De Laurentiis)

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Level: Easy

Serves:  about 20 servings

Ingredients

• Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• 2 large eggs, beaten to blend
• 2 cups Risotto with Mushrooms and Peas, recipe follows, cooled
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 1/2 cups dried Italian-style bread crumbs
• 2 ounces mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• Salt

Directions

Pour enough oil in a heavy large saucepan to reach the depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F.

Stir the eggs, risotto, Parmesan, and 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs in a large bowl to combine. Place the remaining breadcrumbs in a medium bowl. Using about 2 tablespoons of the risotto mixture for each, form the risotto mixture into 1 3/4-inch-diameter balls. Insert 1 cube of mozzarella into the center of each ball. Roll the balls in the bread crumbs to coat.

Working in batches, add the rice balls to the hot oil and cook until brown and heated through, turning them as necessary, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the rice balls to paper towels to drain. Season with salt. Let rest 2 minutes. Serve hot.

Mushroom Risotto with Peas:

• 8 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1/2-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups finely chopped onions
• 10 ounces white mushrooms, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or short-grain white rice
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, optional

Bring the broth to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Add the porcini mushrooms. Set aside until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. Keep the broth warm over very low heat.

Melt the butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the white mushrooms and garlic. 

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the porcini mushrooms to a cutting board. Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the saucepan. Saute until the mushrooms are tender and the juices evaporate, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and let it toast for a few minutes. 

Add the wine; cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of hot broth; simmer over medium-low heat until the liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 3 minutes. 

Continue to cook until the rice is just tender and the mixture is creamy, adding more broth by cupfuls and stirring often, about 28 minutes (the rice will absorb 6 to 8 cups of broth). 

Stir in the peas. Mix in the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Vincent Van Gogh, Still Life: Vase With Fifteen Sunflowers, 1888, Oil on canvas

Odilon Redon, Ophelia, 1900-5, Pastel on paper mounted on board

Arancini Di Riso