Flashback Friday: Astonishing and Creative Ways of Marking or Keeping Time

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Time it was, and what a time it was, it was 
A time of innocence, 
A time of confidences 
Long ago, it must be, 
I have a photograph 
Preserve your memories; 
They're all that's left you
--Bookends Theme, Paul Simon


Based on how often I've played it over the years, Tell Tale Signs must be one of my favorite Dylan albums. And one of my favorite songs on that double CD is Born In Time which I wrote about here in 2018:
"Born In Time" and Other Dylan Songs About Being Born

You can find the lyrics to "Born In Time" here.

Time is a concept that philosophers and thinking people have mulled over since the beginning time. Or at least since humans first appeared here. Poets and songwriters have been inspired by it, fascinated by the various ways we experience it, as too short, too long, too little and too much. 

Eve: Any idea what time it is?
Adam: Good question. Based on the angle of the sun I'd say it was after noon.

Or...

Gork: I killed another one of these things. After we skin it and build a fire it will be dinner time.
Glam: Oh good. I was getting tired of leftovers.

As life became more organized and sophisticated, so did our means of keeping time. When I took piano lessons as a boy I was given a metronome, which one can set to various speeds. It helps keep you from speeding up your pace when playing, something we often do when nervous.

If you go to see a live orchestra performance -- nowadays you can watch them on YouTube -- you'll notice how the conductor uses his baton to set the tempo.

During my years in advertising I wrote quite a few scripts for radio advertising. I would utilize an Online Stopwatch to time these scripts so that they fit the radio station's time constraints. Today, I use that same Online Stopwatch to time my speeches for Toastmasters.

Photo courtesy @aronvisuals on Unsplash

The film Back to the Future had much to do with time. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) figures out a solution to being stuck in the past when he realizes that the Hill Valley clock tower will be struck by lightning on a specific moment in time...

Back to the Future is just one of many films that had time travel as a central theme. Others include 12 Monkeys, the Terminator films and Peggy Sue Got Married.

When I was a little tyke we used to watch a cartoon called Mr. Peabody's Improbable History that was on the Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. Mr. Peabody was the smartest being on earth and one of his inventions was the WABAC (Way-Back) machine. A central feature of the cartoon series was going back in time to teach Sherman about various people throughout history, from Napoleon and Lord Nelson to Jesse James and Sir Isaac Newton.

When I was in college I had a philosophy professor who introduced us to Husserl's On the Phenomenology of the Consciousness of Internal Time.  The book is a foundational phenomenological investigation into how we experience time not as objective clock-time, but as it appears within consciousness itself.

The central insight is that time-consciousness is not a mere succession of isolated “now” moments. Instead, every present moment of awareness has a thick, structured “living present” composed of three inseparable elements: primal impression (the immediate now), retention (the immediate just-past, which we still hold onto directly much like the eye briefly retains an after-image), and protention (the anticipation of the immediate future). Of this idea, much more could be said, if I had more time.

All these thoughts about time were stimulated by this fascinating web page titled Astonishing and Creative Ways of Marking Time, Keeping Time. I found it so interesting I wanted to. share it... and if you have time to explore, you will enjoy it, too.

Meantime, whatever is on your agenda for the weekend, have a good time. 

Originally published in May 2020 when many of us had a lot of time because of the lockdowns.

The Sinking of the Lusitania Has Lessons for Today

At a "book exchage" several weeks ago I obtained a copy of Colin Simpson’s The Lusitania (1972), a provocative examination of the 1915 sinking of the RMS Lusitania, which killed 1,198 people — including 94 children — and helped tilt America toward entering World War I.

Simpson’s book peels back the official narrative to reveal a more complex and disturbing picture. Far from a simple case of unprovoked German aggression against a civilian liner, the Lusitania was carrying significant quantities of munitions and other contraband destined for the British war effort. British authorities, Simpson argues, were aware of the risks yet failed to provide adequate protection, while the ship’s rapid sinking was accelerated by both its unstable design and explosive cargo. The result was a human catastrophe which was then exploited with ruthless efficiency by Allied propaganda.

Lifejacket from Lusitania

The parallels to events in our own era--Gaza, Ukraine, Iran--are striking. In 1915, as today, ordinary people struggled to discern truth amid conflicting government statements and sensational media coverage. British and American newspapers amplified heartbreaking images of drowned children and grieving families, framing the disaster as proof of German barbarity. German sources, meanwhile, insisted the ship was a legitimate target. Public trust in institutions eroded as citizens sensed they were being fed selective facts to serve larger geopolitical aims. 

Sound familiar?

The emotional focus on innocent victims — especially children — proved devastatingly effective. Posters showing mothers and babies sinking beneath the waves stirred outrage far more powerfully than dry debates over maritime law or secret cargo manifests. Simpson shows how tragedy was transformed into a potent propaganda weapon, much as civilian casualties and graphic imagery dominate today’s information wars.

In an age of contested narratives and weaponized empathy, Simpson’s account reminds us that the Lusitania was not merely a maritime disaster — it was a masterclass in how governments, media, and public emotion intersect during crisis. Nearly 110 years later, its lessons about skepticism, hidden agendas, and the strategic use of innocent suffering remain painfully relevant.  

What especially sad (or disturbing) is how the truth is buried beneath a sea of noise, and facts about what's really happened don't come to light till decades later.  

After the latest attempt on the president's life someone said to me, "I don't know what to believe any more." I knew what he was referring to. Every action now has a groundswell of conspiracy theories in its wake, propelled by unrestrained social media. Charlie Kirk, Butler, October 7, JFK--and the beat goes on.

Great Lakes Atelier of Fine Art’s 2026 Student/Instructor Exhibition: What You Missed Last Weekend

It started with an idea. It became a world class art school attracting dedicated students from across the country to Duluth. This past weekend the school hosted its ninth annual Student/Instructor exhibition. 

The church, St. Peter’s, was on its way to demolition before the Larsons purchased it and turned it into a fine arts academy. It’s a staple of traditional training in Classical Realism and it’s the only place like it in the Northland, and among only a handful of its caliber in the nation. The four-year program is modeled after the traditional European Atelier system of training. The focus of the Atelier is to train individuals in Classical Impressionism. On day one, the student starts with pencil in hand, and over the course of the apprenticeship will systematically work their way through the program at their own pace, eight hours a day, five days a week.

There were examples of full-time student work, part time student work, instructor work, and children’s class student work on display. Here are some things we saw:

Patrick Glander, one of the school's first grads, is now an instructor.

 

Related Links

A Visit with Jeffrey T. Larson, Founder of the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art

Rewarding Insights About "Seeing" from a Dialogue at the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art

Weekend Open House Shows Why the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art Is a Gift to Our Community

More on Jeffrey T. Larson here: http://jeffreytlarson.com/

The Atelier’s website: http://greatlakesatelieroffineart.com

Background on Jeffrey T. Larson: Jeffrey T. Larson was born in 1962 in Two Harbors, MN and grew up in the Twin Cities. Jeffrey has been trained in the manner of the Old Masters at the prestigious Atelier Lack, a studio/school whose traditions and training methods reach back through impressionism and the 19th century French Academies. He followed his four-year formal training with museum study in the US and Europe and has been painting full time for over 30 years. Jeff recently won the Draper Grand Prize honored by the Portrait Society of America, the country’s most prestigious portrait painting competition. 

Cinco de Mayo--How the Celebration Got Started

El General Zaragoza

Uno, dos, tres, quattro, cinco, seis.... Even if you don't understand Spansh, you're likely familiar. with these numerals from one to six. Cinco is the word for number 5. 

The significance of the day, May 5, hearkens back to 1862. 

Cinco de May celebrates the 1862 Battle of Puebla, where Mexican forces defeated a superior French army. While a significant morale boost, it was not the end of the French intervention in the affairs of Mexico.

It's surprising how few Americans remember that during the U.S. Civil War, France invaded Mexico, overthrew the Mexican government and installed Austrian Archduke Maximillian as Emperor of Mexico. Maximilian's rise to the throne of Mexico was a complex and controversial chapter in Mexican history, which I learned about years ago through an insightful book titled Maximillian and Carlotta. By means of this book I learned much about the interwoven monarchies of Europe and why World War I became as devastating as it was.

It's interesting how the Monroe Doctrine, an 1823 foreign policy declaration issued by our fifth president, continues to have the force that it does here in the 21st century two hundred years later. The doctrine states that any intervention in American affairs by European powers would be viewed as a hostile act.

Nevertheless, France ignored that cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy because in 1862 Americans were engaged in a full-scale civil war. 

The story of how France, under Napoleon III, conquered Mexico began on a beach near Vera Cruz. The French had come to Mexico to collect debts that France was owed by the Mexican government. For reasons I do not recall, there was an incident on the beach in which seven French soldiers were killed. (Probably initiated by Mexican who said, "You're not welcome here." In response, France decided to invade Mexico. "We'll teach them a lesson they'll never forget. We'll just take 'em over."

Landing their army on the shores of Vera Cruz was easy, but having driven that route I can tell you it presents a pretty rugged terrain from the Gulf of Mexico up through the mountains to Mexico City, uphill all the way.

The French army must have been exhausted when the reached the crest of Puebla. Though they were better-trained, a poorly equipped Mexican army led by Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the French, thereby buying time for the army and peoples in Mexico City to prepare for the upcoming attack.

Ultimately, the French achieved their ambitions, but Cinco de Mayo marked this battle as a demonstration of Mexican courage and valor that deserved to be remembered.

The Battle of Puebla did not, however, alter the final outcome of this French invasion. It only delayed it. Mexico was itself in political disarray, but as the saying goes, when you take over you own it. NOW what is the plan?

Well, the European royalty chatted it up, weighing out who was available and willing to fill an Emperor role across the pond. It was decided hat Austrian Archduke Maximillian's older brother Franz Joseph had been placed on the throne there and young Max, with nothing better to do, just might enjoy wearing a crown as Emperor of Mexico.

Things ultimately didn't work out as planned, and in 1867 Maximillian was executed by firing squad in Querétaro along with two of his generals. Carlotta, the queen, had fortunately fled back to Europe before things fell apart.

Related Links

The Hero Of Cinco De Mayo Was A Texan

The story of Maximillian and Carlotta

Trivia: The population of Puebla today is near seven million.

Trivia: In 1967, it Volkswagen founded a vehicle manufacturing plant which is now one of its largest in the world, producing models like the Jetta, Tiguan, and Taos.

Vaclav Smil on Nuclear Power Micro Reactors

I can't recall whether it was Doomberg or Robert Bryce who first drew my attention to Vaclav Smil.

Vaclav Smil educates the reader by explaining how interwoven the use of fossil fuels is with the functioning of modern society. He adeptly discusses the challenges with replacing fossil energy with the current generation of renewables (such as PV, wind, the out-of-favor nuclear, and nearly tapped out hydro) due to the scope of the existing infrastructure. This infrastructure cannot be replaced in a decade or two.
--C. Haynam

This author gives in his book what are the four pillars of our civilisation: concrete, steel, ammonia and plastic. It explains in concrete terms the reasons for that. Also, it demonstrate these four pillars depend heavily on fossil fuel. 
--MathEnthusiast

Václav Smil is a prominent Canadian scientist and policy analyst who has written extensively on various topics, including energy, environment, and technological change. His views on nuclear energy are nuanced and reflect a balanced perspective on its potential and challenges. Here are some of the key points he makes on this important topic.

Potential for Clean Energy

Smil acknowledges that nuclear energy has the potential to provide a significant amount of low-carbon energy, which is crucial for mitigating climate change. He notes that nuclear power generates electricity with minimal direct emissions of greenhouse gases compared to fossil fuels.

Technological and Economic Challenges

Smil points out the substantial challenges associated with nuclear energy, including the high costs of building and maintaining nuclear power plants. He emphasizes the economic difficulties, such as cost overruns and long construction times, which have plagued the industry.

Role in the Energy Transition

Smil sees nuclear energy as part of a broader mix of solutions needed for a sustainable energy future. He argues that while nuclear power alone cannot solve the global energy challenge, it can complement other renewable energy sources like wind and solar to provide a more stable and reliable energy supply.

Here is Professor Smil's website. vaclavsmil.com

He's someone with something to say, and he's saying it. 51 books, 500 papers and more. 

Related Links

Vaclav Smil's Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing Is A Humbling Warning

Things People Don't Realize About Wind Energy and Why We Can't Shut Down Oil Production

Small Reactors, Big Potential Impact: NANO Nuclear Microreactors Shaping the Future of Energy Infrastructure

 

The "300 Wins" Club and Other Miscellaneous Baseball Notes

For some reason baseball has been on my mind this weekend. I suspect that something caused me to think about Nolan Ryan, the Astros hurler whose fastball was clocked at 108 miles per hour. That's little more than the blink of an eye when you're in the batter's box. 

One of the amazing things about Nolan Ryan was his longevity. He was still throwing overpowering fastballs in his forties, retiring at age 46. In addition to being a Hall of Famer with 5714 strikeouts, he was also a member of the "300-win club," a distinction reached by only 24 pitchers in Major League Baseball history. (Ryan retired with 324 wins.)

Reading that stat brought to mind memories of a couple other members of that elite club whom I actually saw pitch, Early Wynn and Tom Seaver. I saw Wynn in Cleveland in 1963 as he was chasing his 300th win. I was 10 going on 11. We had box seats a stone's throw from the Cleveland dugout. It was a sunny afternoon, the stadium packed in hopes of witnessing hisory and the grass was very green. I remember thinking he looked old and a bit stocky, not like the lean younger players I'd seen. The Indians lost that day but Wynn captured he's 300th in Kansas City within weeks and hung up his cleats. He'd achieved his milestone.

Tom Seaver of the New York Mets was another member of the 300-win club whom I saw. The Mets were one of the new expansion teams created in the Sixties, notoriously inept in their first years, but loved by their fans. I remember painting a banner for one of their many Banner Days. Their transformation from a comic opera to World Series Champions by the end of the decade was quite stunning. Tom Seaver was a major factor in the Mets' success with 25 wins and a 2.21 ERA, which is pretty much golden.

The game I saw him pitch was a double-header against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates were a favorite team of mine due to the fact that their rightfielder, Roberto Clemente, was my favorite player. The Puerto Rican Clemente was an exceptional man as well as an exceptional ballplayer, and the tickets we purchased for the game were intentionally down the right field line so Clemente could be in my direct line of sight. But since we're talking about pitchers, I seem to have digressed.

Tom Seaver pitched the first game, going head-to-head with Bob Veale of the Pirates, who was himself a formidable pitcher. Standing 6'6" Veale was one of the National League's strikeout leaders in the 60s, and top dog in strikeouts in 1964. Needless to say it was a boring game as far as action goes, and the home team won one to nothing. No problem with that. It was a double-header and the second game was full of action. Final score: 11-9.

Other pitching greats coming to mind now include Cy Young, Sam McDowell and Catfish Hunter. Cy Young's stats defy comprehension. Each year the Baseball Writers' Association of America select one pitcher from each league (American and National) to receive the Cy Young Award in honor of Young, who pitched from 1890 to 1911 and racked up an insurmountable pile of winning games during his 21 year career, 511 in all.

Today, starting pitchers seldom go beyond the 7th inning. Decisions are made by pitch counts. In baseball's early years hurlers would keep pitching till the game was over, which might take 15 or 20 innings. In 1920, Joe Oeschger of the Braves and Leon Cadre of Brooklyn pitched 26 innings before leaving a 1-1 tie on the scoreboard. They didn't have lights light today, so when it was too dark to see they had to call it. It was the longest game ever. 

The Cleveland Indians were a team with many pitching greats, among them Hall of Famers Bob Lemon and Bob Feller. When "Sudden Sam" McDowell joined the Indians in 1961 expectations ran high. He was a 6'5" fireballer who in high school pitched 9 no-hitters and once struck out all 27 batters he faced in a single game. He was precisely what the bumbling Indians needed to recover a measure of dignity and hope for fans. Unfortunately it was too weighty of a load for the young "potential" star. As we all know, when expectations run high, not everyone can handle the pressure, and in McDowell's case he succumbed to alcoholism. An unfortunate injury also contributed to his failure to live up to expectations. On one occasion he was pitching a fastball so hard that he cracked three ribs. (You have to know a little about the mechanics of pitching to understand how that could happen.) At the time of his retirement, his strikeout rate of 8.86 per nine innings was bested by only two pitchers: Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax.   

Jim "Catfish" Hunter will be the last pitcher in my spotlight today. A Hall of Famer, and Cy Young Award winner with a stellar career, he was the only pitcher since 1915 to win 200 games by age 31. He has the distinction of being baseball's first "big money" free agent. At 33 his career was shortened by arm troubles. In 1987, after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) he died within a year. Bob Dylan wrote a tribute song to Catfish that still lives on.

Related Link
It Happens Every Spring: Baseball and Duluth Dylan Fest 2026

The Individual and the Crowd: Nietzsche's Take

When I was in college studying philosophy, I purchased a copy of Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil. When I got home I noticed something unusual about the book. It began on page 16, then went to pages 15, 14, 13 etc to the Title Page. It was a most unusual way to read a book, I thought. 

Several years later I worked briefly in a printshop that published books and discovered how that error occurred. The way books are assembled involves printing sheets of paper with 12, 16, 24 or 32 pages on a sheet (with printing on both sides) which is then folded into what are called signatures. These are then collated so that they can be assembled in their proper order by another machine which stitches them together after which they are trimmed and boxed. 

For whatever reason, the publishing house somehow got the first signature backward, thereby creating a "memorable moment" with regards to Nietzsche.

I am in no way going to agree with everything Nietzsche wrote, or what has been attributed to him, but he's certainly been an acute observer of human nature. He also wrote with a keen wit and pointed pen. I say this as a preface to a few comments he made on individuals and crowds.

There is a tension that runs through human history, one that never quite goes away. It is the tension between the individual and the crowd. Because we live in social relationships with others, what happens when our private beliefs are out of sync with the dominant belief systems?

Nietzsche saw it clearly. In Beyond Good and Evil, he wrote, “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.” It is a simple observation, but one that carries more truth than we might like to admit.

As social creatures, we long to belong. The pull of the group—whether it be political, cultural, or ideological—is powerful. It offers identity, approval, and a ready-made way of seeing the world. To stand apart can be costly, especially today.

Nietzsche presses the point further: “Madness is rare in individuals—but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the rule.” Fifty years later the world experienced global tremors as a result of the national madness of the Third Reich. 

Crowds do not merely amplify ideas; they intensify them. They simplify, reduce, and often distort. What might seem unreasonable to a lone person can, in the momentum of a group, begin to feel not only acceptable, but necessary. 

This is where the work of Gustave Le Bon comes into play which I wrote about earlier this past month. In that particular blog post I was addressing crowd behavior, especially mobs. But there is a subtler aspect to crowd pressures on individuals. That is, the expectations of peers. In high school you may have been expected to go to college. As a result, many go who really aren't ready or aren't even college material. Their reward is not career success but rather the handicap of college debt. 

And today, peer pressure can come from people we've never met other than through their handles on social media. 

Expectations driven by peer pressure can cloud one's thinking. When we make life decisions based on what others expect of us, we can spend a lot of time kicking ourselves afterwards.

Nietzsche makes another observation that can be unsettling: “He who cannot obey himself will be commanded.” Self-mastery is not a popular idea. It requires discipline, reflection, and a willingness to stand alone when necessary. And a willingness to be misunderstood.

Without a sense of calling or purpose, we become susceptible—open to being shaped by whatever voice speaks the loudest or the most persuasively. Hint: God speaks in a still, small voice.*

The crowd isn't always wrong, but it is rarely careful. To live thoughtfully requires a kind of resistance—not rebellion for its own sake, but the quiet work of examining what we believe and why. It means holding fast to conscience, even when it is inconvenient.

In the end, the question is not whether we will be influenced. We all are. The question is whether we will be governed from within… or from without. 

*1 Kings 19:11-13