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Famed Civil War Statues: Visit Before Vandalized


We’re all aware of the current angry trend of tearing down statues, especially those of Confederate generals. Many that have stood the test of time for more than 150 years will end up as piles of rocks due to politically-correct rioters.

Consider visiting these while still standing, if they actually survive the current destruction craze:
National Statuary Hall, Capitol Hill, Washington DC: 100 statues, 12 of them Confederates.
J.E.B. Stuart, Richmond VA
Robert E. Lee, New Orleans LA
Stonewall Jackson and Lee Statues, Baltimore MD
Stone Mountain Memorial, Georgia: The massive carving on the mountainside will require lots of angry axes to destroy.
Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC: Already hit by spray paint. Hey, rioters. Abe was one of your good guys.

Finally, let’s consider a memorial poem about the Gettysburg Cemetery. The sad words by Francis Finch are typical of how most Americans feel about the terrible sacrifices on both sides during the Civil War:
No more shall the war cry sever,
Or the winding rivers be red;
They banish our anger forever
When they laurel the graves of our dead!
Under the sod and the dew,
Waiting the judgment-day,
Love and tears for the Blue,
Tears and love for the Gray.

Cruise ship auctions: Honest or rip-offs? PDF Print E-mail

Mona Lisa w/sunglasses

Q: On several recent sailings we’ve wandered into the scheduled art auctions that seem to be a feature of every cruise. The art displayed is usually very colorful and splashy, often obvious copies of the styles of Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse and other impressionists. From education (BFA, Philly Museum College of Art) and experience, we’re a bit suspicious of the deals. Are those shipboard auctions OK or a bad deal? A: If you attend any of those auctions, you’ll feel the pumped-up excitement of the bidding and the come-on spiels of the sales people. If you win an auction round, you may pay more for a copycat painting that resembles a Renoir than you should. However, while there’s something of a used-car-lot hoopla in the sales, there’s nothing dishonest about them.

As you wrote, the merchandise is very colorful, and if a passenger buys a painting just because it will look good in the living room, who’s to say there’s anything wrong with the sale? If you do attend a shipboard auction, just keep your cool and bid only on artworks you believe will fit in with your decor or as a gift. If the bidding seems to be getting too high, let it go on without you.

 
 
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