Comments on: An Image of Martial Discord

By: Lexington Green

Lexington Green — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 15:48:35 +0000

Scotus, I think Jonathan fixed the link. Good picture of the last moments of Col. Crocket's life. Agreed that the Germans wrote good war songs, a mixture of triumph and meloncholy is a good description. This exemplified by the song I linked to, the "Panzerlied", where the lyrics say "my tank will be my grave", etc. The same tune is used in the French Foreign Legion song "Kepi Blanc." Carl, if you spent half an hour looking at ABBA videos, you get it! Eric, I also visit the Irish Lion, in addition to some people I know in Bloomington. Also the used book stores. Don, agreed. Rorke's Drift was a stirring event. But Little Round Top was world-historic. Joshua Chamberlain was the Leonidas of American History. But for him, and his bayonet charge, the whole world might have gone down a different track.

By: Don

Don — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:43:24 +0000

From youth this scene from Zulu had the longest lasting impression of a stand in face of impossible odds. However, that impression would eventually be displaced by the significance to our world with far greater consequences of this scene from Gettysburg. Faced with an impossible situation, the choice by a professor of rhetoric, on 'sabbatical' from Bowdoin College, on that day still brings a tear to the eye when he barks the order "bayonets".

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:52:01 +0000

Another former denizen of Nick’s! Frankly, it is the only part of the IU scene that I miss or go back to when I pass thru B-ton. Cheers!

By: Carl from Chicago

Carl from Chicago — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:00:21 +0000

Uh, maybe I’ve had too many drinks tonight, but I don’t quite get it.

I did have a 1/2 hour detour looking at ABBA songs on you tube, which was quite enjoyable.

By: Scotus

Scotus — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:47:44 +0000

Regarding your first point, Lex, I’ve always thought the Germans have the best martial songs. (I make no suggestions as to why.) To speak the truth, I find the melody of the HORST-WESSEL-LIED (i.e. the Nazi “national anthem”), quite stirring, a typically German mixture of triumph and melancholy. Now, almost all music scholars believe Wessel stole the melody from a World War I German navy song, “Vorbei, vorbei sind all die schönen Stunden.” The lyrics, which Wessel did write, are, it goes without saying, totally repulsive, revolting, and evil. I find it providential that the German name of Wessel’s song forms a most appropriate sentence in English.

By: Scotus

Scotus — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:24:01 +0000

A couple of final points. While this painting may not be well known outside of Texas, it is famous within the Lone Star State. The man in the coon skin cap is, of course, Davey Crockett. He is using his flint lock as a club to fend off Santa Ana’s soldiers because the Alamo denfenders ran out of ammo.

By: Scotus

Scotus — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:21:11 +0000

Note being adept at HTML code, I screwed up the link in the previous post. The name of the painting to which the whole comment links is THE FALL OF THE ALAMO, and it was painted by Robert Jenkins Onderdonk.

By: Scotus

Scotus — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:18:52 +0000

by Robert Jenkins Onderdonk. This painting normally hangs in a hall of the Governor's Mansion in Austin, but it was put into storage for the Mansion's renovation. Thank goodness it was so that it was not lost in the last week's arson fire which nearly destroyed the Mansion.

By: Lexington Green

Lexington Green — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:07:12 +0000

The band was an undergraduage phenomenon, then it arose again in my late 20s.

Law school, after first year, I did some work, but also read about three history books a week. Other than the credit sink-hole, the words “good times, man” apply strongly to that era. But no band.

By: zenpundit

zenpundit — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:01:42 +0000

Lex,

Did the band intersect law school ? Or undergrad ?

By: Tatyana

Tatyana — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:53:58 +0000

Jonathan thought at first that the post said “marital discord”
Yep, me too.
I even started reading the post.

By: capitano

capitano — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:19:06 +0000

I drank my first legal beer for lunch at Nick’s between classes on my birthday in 1968 — another era of martial discord. The other stuff including marital discord would follow, but I have nothing but fond memories of Nick’s and Ruthie the waitress. Good times.

By: zenpundit

zenpundit — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:27:23 +0000

Marital and martial discord have a great deal of overlap, in my experience.

Ok, I’ll bite: Robert, what’s up with the “no comment” business ?