Laszlo Ispanky

Last year the Maximalist had the good fortune to attend an auction of the Ispanky Estate. There was more sculpture than you could shake a stick at. Bronzes, porcelains and artists proofs. The man was a talented and prolific sculptor. His work was chosen by Presidents as gifts from the American people to notables such as Anwar Sadat, Mao Tse Tung, and the Vatican. That was a gentler and more refined era when presidents felt that a state gift should be a treasure and not a personal vanity statement or a pack of DVDs. I assume that his work still graces the museums of these countries and is admired. Some of the proofs of these works were auctioned and smaller copies.

I had no idea that Ispanky was a painter too until I saw the auction preview. Much of the work had a 1960s post-war modernist style and the content was varied. Statement pieces against war were mixed with portraits, abstracts and a few Old Testament religious themes. The most spectacular was "Abraham and Isaac" a huge oil depicting the almost sacrifice of Isaac to God. The Angel is grasping Abraham's hand just as he is about to slay his son. There is a ram in the thicket. You know the story. The colors are breathtaking and the size of the piece makes it awe inspiring and brings the amazing momnet to life.

It is in a private collection now.

Stage Fright Michael Wilding with Marlena Dietrich and Jane Wyman

Another Hitchcock gem with my new favorite Michael Wilding. Jane Wyman sets out to protect a young man framed for murder by a grand singer, Dietrich. Michael plays the detective who sets out to find the killer and who is falling in love with Wyman.

Dietrich is Dietrich and Wyman's performance as a drama student is just fine. Michael plays the detective with an understated elegance which is the hallmark of his work, IMO. You are never tempted to say "Oh, there's Wilding acting again". I have read that means he's "bland" but I think being so recognizable that the audience sees an actor and not the character is a bad thing. He was equally believable as a detective, as the young aristocrat, or as a stuffy class conscious butler turned Army Major.

Nice surprise was Alistair Sims so very type cast as Scrooge. In this movie he was Jane's father, a sort of regular guy who incidentally has an issue or two with the police.

Suspenseful with very clever dialogue.

Dietrich sings.

Things I love today

Copper cookware! Especially at flea market prices. I bought a DeHillerin au gratin pan today and it is beautiful. It's a very heavy hammered copper pan with brass handles and it's marked E DeHillerin Paris Made in France. The tinning looks new though the pan looks old. It will polish up like a dream.

Also found an old Amaerican made pot and lid which was forged on Wooster Street in Manhattan. This one needs retinning but it is the heaviest copper I have ever encountered. Will be redone somewhere. Just lovely and if it has lasted this long (the shop went out duing the depression)it should last forever. Grand, huh?

Chinese filigree jewelry. I don't see a lot of this and I don't know the value but bought some today; a gorgeous butterfly set with turquoise and coral and an enameled rectangular brooch set with a carved white piece of jade or some sort of stone. These should be fun to wear and fun to research and I did not buy them for their weight. They're just pretty and maximalism does not have to be utilitarian. No, no no!

The Maximalist changes her mind on work

I work every weekend, twelve hours on Saturday and again on Sunday. For this effort, I maximalize my hourly rate. I get 150% of my official hourly rate so I work 24h and get paid for 36h. I also get five days off. A vacation every week, get considered full-time for benefits and the like. What's not to love?

Well, perhaps I am setting a bad example to all the other budding maximalisti out there who believe they should work less, too?

So as of today I will add at least one day per pay period and get paid for 40 hours a week. I will only have to work 28h/week to do this. Work 28h get paid for 40h. Still a nice deal. In the unlikely event I work 40h/week I would be paid for 52h. Nice arrangement any way you slice it and sets a better example, I think.

The garden is well underway and I have no pressing household matters to which I must attend. I will be adding time on an ad hoc basis, so I can always not augment my income.

Seems like "the right thing to do".

Your "make hay while the sun shines" Maximalist.

Have a glorious weekend!

Another weird musing on Sleeping Beauty Wakes

Well we have the evil fairy, but where was the good one who saved the day and turned the princess's death sentence into a long long nap? We miss her when we think about the story.

Also about this idea transplanted to the 21st century. If the girl was essentially comatose, the story makes no mention of nutrition or anything like that. True, it's a fairy tale transported, but if you're going to make dad look like Mr. Rogers you might want to deal with a few details.

Costuming advice; make dad look a bit older as the introduction of the fairy tale characters is a bit shaky. Who is that man? Dad or the Prince Charming whose princess failed to wake up completely? The man looked too youngish given the fact that he should have looked 50-60 years old. This should be easy. Also while I assume that he depleted his kingly savings he looks a bit too working class for a king.

Still minor quibbles about a fun show. I could say you got me thinking a bit and that is fun too, but the opening ambiguity could be solved with the statement that he's the father of the "patient", not just that the last name is "king" as the prince would have become a king too.

Sprout city!

My pea sprouts look fabulous and my lentils are just starting to take off today with little shoots forming. Why people insist on buying those anemic beige bean sprouts is anyone's guess when you can make prettier, tastier, fresher sprouts at a fraction of the cost on your own counter top. And you do not need an array of fancy devices to do this. A jar, a piece of cloth, a rubber band, water and seeds. That is all.

I personally love the taste of raw peas fresh from the vine. They are very green tasting and sweetish. The frozen peas just don't have this flavor going on at all, and cooked peas....well I've never had a positive experience with these. Now a freshly sprouted pea gives you the fresh taste without the fresh price and takes only a couple days as legumes are quick sprouters. And as I mentioned previously, the nutritional content changes and you no longer have a piece of green starch but a green vegetable. Amazing stuff and with green peas (no splits thank you) you get a large supply for 99 cents a bag. Now you can also allow the pea sprouts to grow larger with no dimunition of taste AND you can grow all the shoots you can eat in a simple pot or two in your home all year round. No pods, but no rabbits and no special season required. All is good.

PS:Check out the nutritional value of sprouts at NutritionData.com. The soy sprouts are excellent in every way!

The Maximalist wonders what survivalists think of this sprouting business. They are busy storing grains and dessicated red meat, but it seems the sprout could be overlooked. I suppose they plan to store multivitamins as well.

Goodness how delicious, eating sprouted peas!

Naturally

I am not happy that the price of silver is down a bit, but I believe it is temporary. This also affords the Maximalist time to buy more cheap silver ahead of the curve. Silver lining.

Another litte gardening note; do NOT waste your money on packaged gardening seeds if pea sprouts appeal to you. Use the bags put out by Goya or some store varieties. You can get 16oz bags for far less than the little gardener brands. I am not sure how these would work for those desiring raw peas or specialty varietals, but for sprouts, cheap is good. And yes, you can sprout other packaged seeds as well. Lentils make especially good sprouts. Cheap, wholesome and nutritious. Yes, sprouting alters the nutritional value. You sacrifice protein for vegetable nutrients, but the Maximalist recommends combining protein with vegetables anyway and tends to favor fish and chicken. I am rather a chicketarian.

Just in case you think I am just regurgitating info from other sites, I have been sprouting since 1977. I lived in a weird student co-op and chose KP over vacuuming or bathroom detail. One of the duties was making sprouts. Others were making yogurt and granola. Maximalist is an old hand at sprouts. And I have started fresh pea and lentil sprouts today. Sadly, the modern kitchen is not conducive to making yogurt. The co-op had an old pilot light stove. I made superb thick yogurt...mmmmm.