Barack Hussein Obama and Ronald Reagan squaring off from their speeches on whether government or free enterprise is the best solution to our countries problems.
Tag: George Washington
Creating Icons
The values and attitudes of every generation are reflected in its art. This generation is definitely no exception. There is a battle being waged between world views which are diametrically opposed to one another. This polarization is visible in politics, entertainment and culture. In today’s post-modern world, God has been removed and secularism seeks to fill the void. Once God is out of the equation, all objective truths are out with him. Any standard of beauty or aesthetic value is gone. Once objective standards are lost there is no longer any definition of what constitutes art. Historically art ennobles and seeks to reflect a greater good, but today’s art reveals something much darker. The post-modern world is seeking to discredit and destroy any truths which it thinks inconvenient. A small minority of intellectual elitist are attempting to force a sometimes unwilling public to accept it’s hopeless and demented world view as the norm. Many today who want to be accepted by this clique only consider artwork which is cynical and negative to be important. I have chosen uncomplicated subjects such as historical icons because they are something we all have in common. Each of these subjects has meanings which are imprinted in the back of our minds. By manipulating these images, I hope to bring the viewer into a new way of seeing familiar subjects. In today’s world we have a tendency towards deconstruction. Today’s heroes seem small and insignificant compared with those of the past. There is no question that many icons of our culture are less than perfect. But there are plenty of other outlets in art and culture to expose their real or imagined weaknesses. I would rather search for the ideal in these subjects and if possible give them a new dignity. These paintings are not documentaries of their respective subjects per se, but simply representations of the common bonds we all share with them. These formal and sometimes stoic images are a great contrast with bright colors and expressionistic brush strokes. And, hopefully this will give familiar subjects new life.
George Washington’s Beer Recipe
George Washington was a lot of things — general, statesman, farmer — but at the end of the day he just wanted to put his feet up, pop out his apocryphal wooden teeth and enjoy a good brew. And now, thanks to the New York Public Library, the world can share in George’s personal beer recipe.
And soon, Washington will join the ranks of King Tut as a famous leaders to have an anachronistic beer produced in their honor as the Coney Island Brewery takes up the challenge of reproducing his beer. The Coney Island Brewing Company has christened it the Fortitude’s Founding Father Brew, and its based off the original hand-written recipe below.
To Make Small Beer
Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste. Boil these 3 hours then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler put in 3 Gall[ons] Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Melasses (sic) into the cooler & St[r]ain the Beer on it while boiling Hot. let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm then put in a quart of Yea[s]t if the Weather is very Cold cover it over with a Blank[et] & let it Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask—leave the bung open till it is almost don[e] Working—Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed.
Though a bit silly, the Library has a stake in this beer as well, hoping to draw attention to the amazing trove of documents avaialble to the public. That may be so, but unfortunately there are no plans to sell the beer to the public. If you want to get a taste, you’ll have to have tickets to the library’s centennial gala later this month. For those lucky folks in the NYC area, there will be a public tasting on May 18 at Rattle N Hum, at 14 E. 33rd Street in Manhattan.
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