Army Day

Analysis of Army Day:

Symbolic Process

There is in Army Day a Symbolic Attributive process in which the gluteus of the soldier in the foreground is the Symbolic Attribute and the company of soldiers are the Carrier. The characteristics that establish the gluteus as Symbolic Attribute include its placement in the foreground of the picture, the way in which it is
spotlighted relative to the other parts of the soldier’s body and to the rest of the picture, and the way in which it is underlined by the top, straight line of the text banner.

These combined elements draw the viewers’ focus; and this drawing of attention compels viewers to ask themselves why this object is featured in the picture. After all, there is no immediately apparent reason to present it in this scene. It serves no purpose as far as furthering a narrative or analytical process. Without this feature the picture would be a very different picture, but it would still be about soldiers taking a bath. As Symbolic Attribute, the gluteus of the soldier conveys a sense of vulnerability, exposure to danger, and to some extent abandonment. This sense of vulnerability is further supported by the text in the banner underlining the gluteus: crocodiles are not friendly, cuddly animals, and the exposed soldier(s) is in danger of being “bitten in the ass”.

However, there is a tension in the picture resulting from the Carrier being seemingly oblivious to, or willfully ignorant of, its Symbolic Attribute. This is conveyed in the carefree attitude of the soldiers: the posture of the men in general, the playfulness of the men surrounding the soldier whose back is turned toward the viewer. For example, a soldier on the far left of the picture appears to be tossing something in the air; a soldier in the middle of the picture seems to be swinging his encircled arms in the water; a soldier on the right is spouting water onto another soldier. Out of the water, three soldiers lounge on the trunk of a tree, the curved lines of their bodies conveying a sense of relaxation and self-containment. Another soldier stands and dries himself with a towel, the curved lines of his body suggesting an arching of his back, an enjoyment of physical wellness. This tension between exposure to danger and self-contained wellness is further supported by the playful phrasing of the text in the banner, which brings to mind the prototypical sign on a boy’s bedroom door. Using this tension, the picture makes an ironic statement along the lines of “death takes a holiday”.

Transactional Processes

On another level, Army Day depicts one major transactional process and a couple of minor transactional processes. The major transactional process involves the company of soldiers as Actor and the bath as Goal. This process is established by the vectors formed by the lines of the men’s bodies, by the lines of glistnening light on their backs and arms, by the lines of the tree trunk, and by the lines of the two nets. There are also two minor transactional processes: one between the two men bathing at the far right of the picture, which is represented by the vector formed by the line of the water projected from the lower man’s mouth; and one among the three men positioned on the tree trunk. In the former, the man projecting the water is the Actor and the man being projected upon is the Goal. In the latter, identification of Actor and Goal is less clear cut, perhaps the three men are Actor and the towels beneath them are Goal.

The foliage in the background and the uniforms (or parts of uniforms) donned by a few of the soldiers depict Locative Circumstances. The foliage suggests jungle terrain. The accoutrements of military uniforms indicate the men in the army, an idea that is further supported by the dominant olive green color of the background.
On yet another level, Army Day depicts a mental process in which the woman in the bottom right is the Senser and the soldiers are the Phenomenon. This part of the picture describes a mental process in which the woman, who is somehow connected to a subordinate of this group, comforts herself by contemplating a positive image of them.

Classificational Process

A Covert Taxonomy (conceptual and classificational) is expressed in the circular grouping of the soldiers against a largely uniform background. They are Subordinates of the class “American soldiers of World War II”.

Summary

Army Day is a complex representation of states of being, concepts, and relationships, which manages to eloquently express existential and relational ideas and processes. Ignoring for the time being important aspects of the picture that affect its message (such as interactive relations, modality, and principles of composition), the meaning of the picture could be transcoded in such a manner:

“Subordinates of the class ‘American soldiers during World War II’ who are in grave danger experience a temporary reprieve from their exposure to danger by enjoying the self-contained pleasure of bathing, sunning, and physical banter. A woman who simultaneously worries about and feels abandoned by such a subordinate comforts herself with contemplation of such a scene.”

Besotto voce

From the days before the inception of political correctness in our country, a wise-crack from a lush (albeit, a lush who was and who remains, revered in the field).

"If every hermaphrodite were a schizophrene, which half would you take?"

From gazeta.ru

translated by tristein

German pilot states that he shot down the plane of Antoine de Saint Exupéry

Former Luftwaffe pilot Horst Rippert states that he, possibly, shot down the plane of Antoine de Saint Exupéry in 1944.

The 88-year old German writes about this in his forthcoming book. The author of "The Little Prince" died in uncertain circumstances while on a reconnaissance mission near Marseille. His body was never found.

Rippert states how he did not see the face of the pilot of the downed plane, but, most likely, it was Saint Exupéry. The German pilot regrets the act and hopes that he indeed was not the cause of the French writer's death, reports the journal Le Figaro.

http://www.gazeta.ru/news/culture/2008/03/17/n_1193474.shtml

From Pravda, "Homer was a castrato"

excerpt translated by tristein

As evidence that Homer was a castrato, the Austrian academic cites three factors. First, the author of the Iliad perseverated almost too emphatically on normal sexuality, limiting the definition of the sexual act to that occurring between a man and a woman, depicting male fantasies about captive female slaves, and presenting motherly advice on why the bedding of females is good. From this contemporary investigator emerges an image of the author as a supreme homebody poring over scrolls on botany, or else a druid-like priest and, possibly, a eunuch. Second, such a deduction is consistent with the prevailing Assyrian tradition to appoint eunuchs as governors of Cilicia. No full beard appeared on the high-ranking sovereign writer, only a barely discernible fluff on his cheeks, which likely confirmed the poor fellow's castration.

Lastly, inherent to castrati is a physically agonizing bulimia, also intrinsic to the hero of the Iliad.

http://www.pravda.ru/culture/literature/news/258509-0/

The Choice That God Left to Chance

You bring your work home with you, yet the solution
Remains elusive; tunneling underground
Back to the office, or the lab (whatever we're calling it at the time).
Unsure whither you come in the morning, go at night,
Chained to a chair, belly over belt,
You're commissioned with lassoing fire (even as they've stolen the sun).

Up on Mount Olympus, no such pain to be had
When the kids need crayons; dinosaurs
Roam the land while we pretend every day is Christmas;
Our minds are elsewhere, heavy loads are not for Gods
But beasts of burden to carry.

You had to create us, did you not, ye Gods!
How else to achieve immortality but to transfer this mortal fear,
Fixation with death, and the concomitant's struggle to eradicate it,
As I disintegrate before your eyes.