ONEIDA LAKE EYE CANDY

Photo by Peter Spartano

WHAT IF?

WHAT IF ?

These last few weeks have marked the 40th anniversary of the launch of two unmanned space probes from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 left Earth in 1977 between the end of August and the first week of September. Their missions were to head to Saturn and Jupiter where they would be captured by the gravitational pull of the giant planets, shoot video and photos, collect all sorts of gravitational, magnetic and plasma data and beam the information back to Earth. The missions were timed because of the unique way the planets were lined up. The setup gave scientists a window of opportunity for the launches and a successful potential outcome - a rare alignment of the outer planets which occurs once in 175 years. 

                                                            

THE MISSION WAS A SUCCESS

It took Voyager 1 about two to three years to reach the planets. It took Voyager 2 about three to four years for its mission. Voyager 1 was actually launched weeks after Voyager 2 but arrived first because the space probes had different trajectories. NASA scientists built the spacecrafts to last about five years so the missions were expected to expire around 1982.

THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN

Gravitational bounce and whip from the giant planets hurled both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 beyond Jupiter and Saturn to the outer reaches of our solar system past Uranus and Neptune. Over the years, scientists have been able to upload new technology to the Voyagers to aid their data gathering, up to a point. And each space probe continues to send back new data on its journey. 

                                                             

          STILL OUT THERE

As of 2017, the Voyagers are exiting an area referred to as the heliopause of our solar system –  the boundary between the end of the Sun’s solar wind dominance and entering the fringes of interstellar space. That's akin to jumping into the deep end of the space pool.

VOYAGER INTERSTELLAR MISSION

The missions have now been renamed the 

Voyager Interstellar Mission.

Scientists estimate the spacecrafts have enough electrical power to last until 2020.  What then?  Communication will be lost.  Each Voyager will continue to travel at the rate of millions of miles each year.  Each will likely continue its journey, perhaps throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, perhaps beyond. Perhaps forever. Where they will end up is an unknown.

MEANWHILE BACK ON EARTH

Around 1969, a film project began developing well in advance of the NASA Voyager Mission. The film was released to the public at around the same time the first Voyager was approaching Jupiter eight years later.  Star Trek: The Motion Picture became the first theatrical film based on the television series Star Trek.  The fictional plot of the film revolves around a dangerous and powerful alien energy force on a trajectory headed towards Earth.

THE FILM IS SET IN 2271

With respect to not giving away the rest of the plot of the film, suffice it to say the story is prescient. It crosses the line from real to unreal and back again - long before the Voyager Mission and long before reality, fiction and time unfolded together – perhaps even addressing the question, what if?

Photos and Images Courtesy NASA

Sources:

National Aeronautics Space Administration

NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Star Trek.com

IMDB

THE MISTRAL WIND - Excerpt

THE MISTRAL WIND Amazon Books

Act Three

Scene Two

THE FOLLOWING SUMMER, IN AUVERS-SUR-OISE, JUST NORTH OF PARIS.

A SERIES OF PAINTINGS IS PROJECTED ON THE SCREEN IN FRONT OF THE STAGE.

The Pieta (after Delacroix)

Self Portrait (Dedicated-Paul Gauguin)

First Steps (after Millet)

Blossoming Almond Tree

Wheat Field with Crows

***Wheat Field with Crows (also background flat)

THE MUSIC OF, Richard Wagner, Lohengren Prelude, ACCOMPANIES THE PAINTINGS.

THE MUSIC FADES AS THE SCREEN IS LIFTED AWAY REVEALING A PASTORAL SETTING.  

THE LARGE BACKGROUND FLAT IS THE PAINTING, Wheat Field with Crows.

VINCENT IS DRESSED IN A JAPANESE ROBE, HIS HEAD IS SHAVED, HE IS AT HIS EASEL PAINTING.

VINCENT

The air is so clean and refreshing.

(UKIYO enters and looks at VINCENT but doesn’t speak)

The wind is blowing but it’s blowing softly.  It’s not bothersome like before...it’s almost like…almost like…caressing me.

UKIYO

Vincent?

VINCENT

(continues painting but doesn’t look up)

Yes?

(Vincent looks around distracted, continues painting and the finally looks up)

You again?

UKIYO

You again?  You were saying?

VINCENT

I was talking about this wind.  It’s so kind … it’s nothing like the Mistral that sweeps through Arles.  It’s so brutal there.  The trees there bend to its will.  As did everything.

(Vincent pauses and paints, pauses again and puts his hands in his lap)

And I suppose I bent too - didn’t I, Ukiyo?

UKIYO

Yes, you did, Vincent. You did.  But the question remains, did you break?

VINCENT

Well, I broke down in Arles, that’s a fact.  And then again…and then at Saint-Remy.  But I got back up.  And for me, it was a trial - a very difficult time. But yet, a fight worth fighting.  I’ve come to know who I am.

UKIYO

And who are you, Vincent.

VINCENT

I am the monk. I’m the ascetic, the artist.

(Vincent becomes distracted)

The light here in the North is not as bright and yellow as near Arles.  But it is lovely, isn’t it?  This could be heaven, I think I have arrived.

(distracted again)

Theo sent me a photograph of Jo and my little nephew.  I copied a work of Millet’s and put all three, Jo and Theo and little Vincent in the new painting.  I call it First Steps, maybe you’ll see it someday.  It’s sweet, it touches my heart.

UKIYO

You’ve studied a lot of Jean-Francois’s work since I’ve known you.

VINCENT

You know he painted common people like us - working in these fields - outdoors with their hands in the earth - reflections of the great harmony and balance around us.  There is a certain grace in nature isn’t there?  There’s an unspoken understanding - there’s a beginning and an end and the cycle continues.  There’s comfort in knowing that.  You know it wasn’t until Jean-Francois died that the art world took notice of his contribution.  And I take notice of that as well.

UKIYO

Take notice of what?

VINCENT

That there is some kind of sick preference out there for the work of a dead artist.  It’s like mining for gold in cold bones - as if the art is somehow separate from the man.  But how can it be?  Dead painters, dead poets, dead novelists - how can they be failures in life and geniuses in death.  It’s a perversion. But it’s a fact - and not gone unnoticed.

UKIYO

Some things just can’t be explained. They are what they are.

VINCENT

You always say things like that.  Now I have a question for you.  What do you say about this new tower in Paris?  It was built while I was away in Arles and at Saint-Remy.  Theo took me to see it when I came back - this Eiffel Tower.  Is this art to you?

UKIYO

Is it art to you?

VINCENT

(agitated)

Don’t I know you so well?  I knew you would answer like that. You never engage me. You play word games. Well I’ll tell you what it is.  It’s a metallic monstrosity.  Who would dig up the earth to plant such a thing.  If this is an example of what our modern technology is capable of bringing us, then God help us. We are losing touch with what nurture’s our souls.

UKIYO

And what nurtures you, Vincent?

VINCENT

The days spent painting, regardless of how much of a toll it takes.  This is what nurtures me.  And of course, the Japanese artists.  They bring life and art together.  I hope I have come to such a place in my art as well.  And of course, my loving brother Theo, who has nurtured me in many ways over the years.  If not for Theo – well, I just don’t know.

UKIYO

Yes, Theo has been your benefactor. He has blind faith in you.

VINCENT

But as in nature, all things pass away.  It’s only natural - to find peace for myself and for Theo.

UKIYO

What are you saying?

VINCENT

You know, you know what I’m saying.  I’ve made my decision, my peace.  My mind is clear as is my conscience.  I haven’t felt so crystal clear in a long time.

UKIYO

Vincent, this is wrong.  You know this is wrong.

VINCENT

It is what it is.  Now that sounds like something you would say but it’s true.  Perhaps it’s just wrong to you - not to me.

UKIYO

If it’s wrong to me, it’s wrong to you.

VINCENT

But things need to change.  All things need change.  Don’t you see how this will change things?

UKIYO

Change things?  Yes, you’ll be dead.  That’s how things will change.

VINCENT

No, you don’t see it.  Theo will be out from under this burden he has endured for so long - this burden of supporting me.  I have been a failure as an artist from the beginning.  I still am, yet he still sends me money to support my work.

UKIYO

Theo has an undying faith in you.  You should honor that.

VINCENT

(VINCENT pulls a pistol from his robe, he holds it, looks at it and gently sets in on his easel)

I will honor him by offering up my life for him. You see, it will all work out. My work will sell after my death because of this unnatural perversion for dead artists. I know my work will sell - that’s what faith I have in my work.  It’s time - I have to die for my work to live on.

UKIYO

Vincent, no.

VINCENT

Look we both know I’m not well -in body or mind.  But Theo isn’t well either.  He’s sick and he has to work that much harder.  He has Jo to think of and my namesake, little Vincent. I can’t be a burden to them anymore.

(Vincent pauses, thinking of his family)

VINCENT

No – it’s enough.

(Vincent paces obviously agitated then stops suddenly and changes the subject)

Do you know I painted a Blossoming Almond Tree for little Vincent?  It’s very Japanese you know.

UKIYO

Yes, I know that.

VINCENT

I hope they’ll hang it in his bedroom.  Please see that he gets the painting.  I want him to remember his uncle that way.

UKIYO

You’ll have to give him the painting yourself.

VINCENT

Why won’t you?

UKIYO

I can’t - only you can.

VINCENT

Why not?  Why can’t you give it to him?

UKIYO

You know why.

VINCENT

Why?  Why are you always so evasive?  Why must you always fence with me this way?  It drives me insane.  Perhaps it’s you who has driven me to this.  Look it’s simple.  I’m a failed artist - a burden to his brother.  The life he has given me, I want to give back to him.

UKIYO

This is no sacrifice.  This is a selfish act -to take your life because you can’t bear it - it’s selfish. (UKIYO slowly walks backward away from VINCENT)

VINCENT

No, it’s not selfish. It is my ultimate sacrifice.  It’s my sacrifice to my brother and to my art. 

(UKIYO is now gone and can’t be seen on stage. VINCENT is alone.)

You see, I am a monk now.  And my life is not my own.  And all this time I didn’t know.  But now I do.  I know who I am.

THE MISTRAL WIND Amazon Books

Syracuse's Fill in the Blank War Memorial

COMMENTARY

The push is on to sell the naming rights for Syracuse, New York's, Onondaga County War Memorial. Is anyone fooled by this effort of politicians lobbying for private sponsorship of an honored public arena?

More than sixty-six years ago, the War Memorial was built and named to honor those who came before us - those who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedoms. Selling naming rights won't add value. Selling naming rights is nothing more than crass commercialization of a hallowed place. And in a world where cronyism is an art form, selling naming rights will mostly benefit friends of politicians looking for a sweetheart deal. And what's their rationale? We should not be surprised that politicians say, “more money is needed” to fix the problems. But that is a worn-out mantra.

A story in  syracuse.com  says the new name will be "(Fill in the Blank Arena) at War Memorial." Other cities have adopted a similar approach. But that is dishonored group-think at its worst. The story also claims unnamed veterans' groups have been kept in the loop as this process has unfolded. What veterans' groups have been kept in the loop?  The War Memorial is dedicated to veterans of World War One and World War Two. Sadly, their voices have mostly faded and cannot be polled anymore.

The Onondaga County War Memorial was completed in 1951. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. This whole notion of naming rights doesn’t pass the smell test. If somebody wants to put their name up there alongside this honored veterans' memorial, they should earn the right to do it, not buy the right to do it.

SINATRA SWINGS AGAIN

 American music artists come and go.  Few are able to touch multiple generations and make them move with their unique sound.  But if anyone was ever able to hold that sway, it was certainly Frank Sinatra.

You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet

If you think you’ve heard it all, if you think there’s nothing new, think again. The vault is open thanks to Sony Music and Smithsonian Media.

Sinatra’s earliest radio and studio sessions were recorded on 16-inch electric transcription discs.
The technology allowed for recording to a disc with a soft and fragile lacquer surface.

As a result, many of those delicate early recordings are deteriorating and in peril of being lost forever.
Some of the Sinatra recordings go back more than seventy years. They are now preserved.

Swing Session Supreme

On the new CD release you’ll hear Sinatra praise composer Jerome Kern and then join in with the remarkable Nat Cole Trio for a swing session.  THE QUALITY OF THE MUSIC will surprise even the pickiest listeners.