Origins of the Cuckoo Clock

It has come to my attention that Orson Welles was mistaken in his famous quote from "The Third Man" in which he states "In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed ~ but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they have brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace and what did the produce? The cuckoo clock.” The cuckoo clock did not originate in Switzerland. It actually originated in Schwarzwald, Germany, which is located in the Black Forest.

The Black Forest is situated in the southwest corner of Germany beside the Bavarian Forest and is the lowest low mountain range of Germany. Until the mid 17th century, sundials and hourglasses were the time keeping devices used in this part of the world. Around 1640 a peddler from the land of Bohmen (today’s Czech Republic) introduced a simple Bohemian clock to the inhabitants of this area. Due to the long, bitter cold Black Forest winters workmen had ample time on their hands to copy the clock, make the tools used to craft it and eventually improve it.

Franz Anton Ketterer, from the Village of Schonwald near Triberg, Germany is attributed to incorporating the cuckoo sound into the Black Forest clock during the mid 1700's. He had been inspired by the technology used at the time in church organs. It is typically a pendulum clock striking the hours using small bellows and whistles that imitate the call of the cuckoo bird and hit on a wire gong. The cuckoo clock developed into beautifully ornate, wood carved time keeping pieces that became coveted items for a bride’s wedding chest. The clocks were sold during the summer months by peddling "clock carriers" throughout Europe, Russia and Turkey.

Pain au Chocolat

According to the most recent Williams Sonoma catalog, pain au chocolat is an after school snack served to children in France. It is literally a chocolate sandwich; a chocolate bar placed between two slices of bread. This treat is also served to schoolchildren in Spain. The famous Barcelona tapa bars serve a scrumptious variation; they top a toasted bread slice with barely melted bittersweet chocolate, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. The Pain au chocolat tradition has not yet been imported to the U.S.

When I was growing up I was an extremely picky eater. It was difficult for my mother to get me to eat anything outside of my two favorite food groups; chocolate and snack chips. I refused to take part in my school's hot lunch program. Each day my mother packed my lunch, which consisted of a bologna sandwich, some type of hostess product (preferably of the chocolate variety) and a small bag of chips. Since I detested bologna sandwiches I always threw them away eating only the Suzy Q and bag of chips. One day I told my Mother that I disliked bologna sandwiches and not to bother packing them anymore. Well of course this was unacceptable and after much discussion I agreed to eat one half of a peanut butter sandwich each day. If only there had been pain au chocolat I would have been one happy little munchkin.

War and Peace

In, "The Third Man," Orson Welles observes, "In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed ~ but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they have brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace and what did the produce? The cuckoo clock."

Never Kissed a Frog Never Had Too

I received a fabulous vibrant pink t-shirt at a conference. The front has a picture of a frog and says, "Never kissed a frog" the back says, "Never had too". I absolutely love this shirt. This phrase encompasses everything I have always believed in. Unfortunately when people comment on my shirt I am usually embarrassed and say something like oh this old thing I'm getting low on t-shirts, or it was free, or I like the color. Monday night during my aerobic class, after just such an encounter, I couldn't help but think of Lily Bart.

Lily Bart is the main character in Edith Wharton's novel, "House of Mirth", which I am currently reading. Lily is a 29 year old beautiful socialite who doesn't have any money of her own. The only way she can maintain her social status is to marry wealthy. Lily truly believes she wants to be a permanent part of high society. Unfortunately she ruins her relationship with the rich, but dull Percy Gryce. Actually, every time she comes close to money or marriage she sabotages it. She just can't bring herself to kiss a frog. She does allow Lawrence Seldon to kiss her; he is the one man she truly cares about. He is not particularly wealthy; therefore, he will not make a suitable husband. The book ends on a sad note. Lily, after falling from her place in society, dies unmarried and penniless.

What is the moral of the story? The quest for money and power can cause more problems than it solves. Trust your heart. If Lily would have married Seldon she would have been fine and lived happily ever after. Be true to your feelings rather than play the societal game of money and power. Don't kiss any frogs. You don't have to.

And what about my embarrassment in wearing my frog shirt you may ask? I guess I am just not comfortable walking around with my beliefs displayed on my apparel. When approached I will probably continue giving my lame excuses for wearing it, but I will continue to wear it.

Chicklit

I have come across the controversial term chicklit several times over the past couple of years. For me the term conjures up visions of trashy beach novels written by Jackie Collins. To learn the actual definition and origin of the term I turned to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. They state chicklit is a term used to denote a genre of popular fiction written for and marketed to young women, especially single, working women in their twenties. The genre's creation was spurred on, if not exactly created, in the mid-1990s with the appearance of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones Diary and similar works; it continued to sell well in the 2000s, with chick-lit titles topping bestseller lists and the creation of imprints devoted entirely to chick-lit.

I found it amusing that the term includes a reference to Chicklet. Aside from its obvious source (chick is an American slang term for young woman and lit is short for "literature"), the term "chick-lit" includes a reference to Chicklets brand chewing gum, with the implication that readers of the genre are likely to be clichéd, unintellectual females who chew gum and avoid "serious" literature.

I also discovered that there is a similar term for male fiction ~ dicklit - The male equivalent, spearheaded by authors such as Ben Elton, Mike Gayle, and Nick Hornby, has sometimes been referred to as lad lit or dick lit.

After further research, I have concluded that the term which came into popularity with Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones Diary now seems to encompass all literature targeting a female audience including books written about single woman in their twenties that spend all there free time shopping for shoes. The dilemma is not necessarily what novels fall into the chicklit genre, the problem is that authors who write chicklit need to produce a better novel so that all chicklit is not dismissed as fluff.

To read the Wikipedia entry in its entirety please go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_lit.

Womenfolk

An article in last week’s Milwaukee Journal recommended a blog called Womenfolk . The blog was created by Robbie McCown and features female singer-songwriters. Many of the performers he highlights are "independent artists or obscure in U.S." If you are on a quest for new music check out this blog at http://womenfolk.net/.

Veronica

I just finished reading "Veronica" by Mary Gaitskill. I made the decision to read this book when I came across it on a list of books recommended to give as gifts for Xmas 2005. The article said that this is a book we should all give our daughters to read. "Veronica" is about Alison an aging beauty and former model who had worked in Paris and New York in her youth. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay area, has hepatitis C, and the only work she can find is cleaning the office including the toilet of a friend. The storyline flashes back over her life most notably recalling her friendship with Veronica a woman she met while temping in New York and who ultimately dies of Aids. The book is a complex, difficult read. The subject matter was dark and depressing. I found myself only able to read about twenty pages in one sitting. The characters were numerous, and because I only read a few pages at a time, I could not keep them all straight. This book requires very careful reading to understand all of the deep meanings Gaitskill has written into this book. I really think I would need to reread it to be able to appreciate it. Would I recommend “Veronica” to my teenage nieces, I don't think so. I rate it 3 out of 5.

Quest for new music leads to James McMurtry

My husband is a huge music buff whose collection of music would provide me with blog material for many years to come. He is constantly searching for good new music. His most recent discovery is James McMurtry's new release “Childish Things.” Last weekend he introduced me to the title song, “Childish Things” which piqued my interest. I then moved on to the next cut “We Can't Make it Here”, this song completely blew me away. It is very political and quite controversial. Stephen King calls it, "The best American protest song since (Dylan's) 'Masters of War'. You can listen to this song and learn more about McMurty at this website: http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/links/0,,466577,00.html#artist_name.

Amazon categorizes his work as Alt-Country and Americana. I find that his style is similar to Steve Earle and his storytelling ability reminds me of Bruce Springsteen.

It turns out McMurtry has been around for awhile. He was born in 1962. His father is the novelist Larry McMurtry who wrote “Lonesome Dove” ~ which just happens to be one of my favorite novels. He received his first guitar as a present from his father when he was seven. His mother taught him to play it. His early influences include Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. He began songwriting when he was 25 or 26. He received his biggest break when his father introduced his work to John Mellencamp. From there Mellencamp co-produced McMurtry's debut album in 1989 “Too Long in the Wasteland”. “Childish Things” is his seventh album and was released in the fall of 2005.

Atypical NY's resolution leads to creation of blog.

This year I am not making the typical New Year's resolution. In years past my resolutions have always revolved around food; not eating it (fats and carbs) or eating more of it (fruits and vegetables) ~ you get the picture. Most of these resolutions lasted a couple of weeks some not more than two or three days. So this year I decided to try something new; my New Year's resolution is to add a little bit of culture to my life. Each week I will attempt to learn something new or add a new cultural experience to my life. I will then document my discoveries and experiences on this blog.

How this idea came about:
I was a having a particularly harrowing day at work. It was December 21st, the day of my company's holiday luncheon. I had been responsible for organizing this little event. Now remember I am an accountant so party planning is not my usual forte. It didn't go smoothly from the beginning; while I was transporting the food a large puddle of gravy ended up on the front seat of my car. Then as I was setting up the food a particularly annoying coworker proceeded to tell everyone that I was ruining the meal. I was heating the food at all the wrong temperatures; I had too much water in the nesco and not enough water in the potatoes. He then told me that he thought the ornament exchange I had organized was hokey. In the midst of all of this I was greeting by an auditor who wanted just a few minutes of my time for a surprise audit. After much finagling I ended up getting rid of the auditor and got the party under control, as everyone was eating I escaped to my office for a little reprieve. I signed onto the internet and began searching for a website or blog that would provide me with an escape and perhaps a little bit of culture for a just a couple of minutes before I went back to my mundane office life. I was not successful. I then had a great idea. Since I couldn't find what I was looking for I would create my own blog; one that would provide just a little bit of culture for a few couple of minutes each day.

That is how this blog came about. Hopefully I will keep my resolution for 2006.