Where Is Gandhi When You Need Him?

(AP Photo/A. Mahesh Kumar)

Bush is headed to India on Wednesday for a 3 day visit. Guess he's looking for allies wherever he can find them now that virtually the whole world is against him. Well, they're ready for his ass. Dozens of protests have been planned by Islamic leaders and communist politicians.

"Bush is terrorist No. 1, and it is an insult to Indian Muslims that he is coming to India as a guest of the government," said Mohammed Saeed Noori of the Bombay-based Muslim organization Raza Academy. "Bush first destroyed Afghanistan, then Iraq. He should be stopped from entering India."

Would you like some catsup with your Baigan Ka Bharta, Mr. Bush?

Eye Candy

This specimen of the extremely difficult to grow Begonia 'Midnight Sun' earned a much-deserved Best Of Show at one of the recent ABS conventions. It was most likely a Texas or California convention. Apologies to the grower and the photographer, because I didn't save the info. The striking foliage is fantastically variegated, with bright pink, pale pink, dark green and red coloration mixed throughout. Who needs flowers when the leaves are so colorful? The photo is from the wonderfully informative Yahoo group on Begonias.

Orientalist Art

By chance, I saw a clipping from a magazine on the wall of a photographer's darkroom of a painting, which depicted a scene in what appeared to be North Africa. It had a photographic sharpness and detail, mystery and intrigue, and a mesmerizing appeal. Without the name of the artist or the painting, I did a little sleuthing and discovered the world of Orientalist Art.


'The Bath' by Jean-Leon Gerome


After Napoleon marched into Egypt in 1798, a torrent of westerners flooded into the Near and Middle East. The writers who wrote about their experiences and the artists who painted what they saw became known as the Orientalists. They traveled through Turkey, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Arabia and North Africa. With time this became an art movement and today it is called Orientalist art.

According to Orientalist Art,

This movement spanned over a century and included hundreds of known artists. Many of them were giants of the art world and created beautiful paintings that seem almost photographic in detail. Many of them took incredible risks and endured considerable hardship. Disease was the greatest hazard and gun battles with bandits were commonplace. At other times they were received with the greatest kindness and made lasting friendships.

They came from all over the world: from England, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Russia, America, and Australia. Some of them specialized in landscapes, in archeological themes, or in people. Some of them were very religious and created biblical scenes, some specialized in military history. Others recorded the flora and fauna of the Near and Middle East. Encompassing many different painting styles and political leanings, the only generalization that can be made about them is that they were extremely diverse.

'Complicity' by Jean-Leon Gerome

Of all the paintings I found online, my favorites were painted by the French artist, Jean-Leon Gerome. According to the Orientalist Art Web site, he is the most renowned of the Orientalists. While I never found the painting that originally intrigued me in the photographer's darkroom, I think it may have been one of Gerome's works.


'Arnaut Smoking', Jean-Leon Gerome

The detail is incredible, and you just want to enter the picture and explore that mysterious world.


'An Almeh with pipe' by Jean-Leon Gerome, French. Oil, 1873.

Prostitutes were a favorite subject, but it took some street smarts and some help from the locals to pull it off. It wasn't exactly the best part of town.

Check out Orientalist Art for more paintings and fascinating commentary.

Ray Barretto (1929 -2006)

The world of music lost one of its greats today. Ray Barretto died today in a New Jersey hospital. He had had two heart surgeries within the last month. For nearly 40 years, conguero and bandleader Ray Barretto was one of the leading forces in Latin jazz. In 1957 he replaced Mongo Santamaria in Tito Puente's band and performed with them for four years. He performed and recorded with many jazz greats, such as Max Roach, Charlie Parker, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley , Freddie Hubbard, Cal Tjader, Dizzy Gillespie, and others.

This makes me sad.

Happy Valentine's Day!

(Reuters)

Two elephants spooning in Thailand.

The Smell of Moondust

NASA has made the Apollo Chronicles available on its Web site. Installment three goes into detail about the sensory delights of moondust.

"I wish I could send you some," says Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan. Just a thimbleful scooped fresh off the lunar surface. "It's amazing stuff."

Feel it—it's soft like snow, yet strangely abrasive.

Taste it—"not half bad," according to Apollo 16 astronaut John Young.

Sniff it—"it smells like spent gunpowder," says Cernan.

How do you sniff moondust?

Gene Cernan looks a lot like Keven Federline. Just as clean, too.