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Japan, which kills about 60 rare Baird’s beaked whales per year, does so by arguing that they are small cetaceans, even though they can grow larger than minke whales. And like other fish and ocean mammals at the top of the food chain, they are dangerously high in mercury. And they are rare, perhaps endangered. But that doesn’t seem to mean shit to Japan. I’m kind of disappointed I’ve never come across this site CallMeIsamael.org before. It’s where blogger and musician Patrick Shea has endeavored to write a song about each chapter of Moby Dick. It looks like he’s been going at it since about October of last year. Patrick doesn’t seem to be releasing his songs in any particular order. Each tune is usually accompanied by a brief description of the chapter, Patrick’s interpretation of it’s meaning, the lyrics to the song, as well as an actual sound file. It looks like Patrick also performed at the recent Mystic Seaport Moby Dick-a-thon. Hate that I missed it. Today he released his lyrical and musical interpretation of Chapter 24: The Advocate. Go check it out – it’s everyone’s duty to support a man who loves Moby Dick so much he’ll write a song about every chapter. So, one or two Friday’s ago, I spent about 2-and-a-half hours traveling 20 miles on the LIE from the city to the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum. That’s about all I’ve got to say about that. During the height of the American 19th Century whaling industry, Cold Spring Harbor was but a minor player, ranked only 27th in size as a whaling port. And the town’s whaling museum seems commensurate that status; a couple rooms, some top level info on whales and whaling, and a handful of curiosities. There was also no shortage of loud, unruly, and ugly, ugly children. The first thing I did, though, was this test about whales. Most of the children there could barely even get one right.  I got an A+! Supposedly this hollowed-out ash tray was used by Native Americans to burn whale oil for light.  Whale oil burning Indian ashtray It’s good to know this sperm whale was killed before it got big enough to hunt humans (you can tell it’s a juvenile by the still-growing teeth).  This sperm whale was killed as a younster This is a bucket used to remove sperm oil from the head – or case – of the sperm whale.  Case oil bucket This is the worst…scrimshaw…ever. And that’s not an indictment of the museum, or even the scrimshander, but this dot-matrix attempt at a whale boat is just miserable. I also love how the guy that did it apparently felt compelled to initial his work, so that history would remember him. Full disclosure: I could not do something even this good.  I suppose this could be an example early minimalism On the other hand, this wood and whalebone watchtower is pretty rad.  Wood and Whalebone Watchtower And I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a piece of scrimshawed baleen before.  Scrimshawed baleen at the Cold Spring Harbor whaling museum Cold Spring Harbor not only contributed to the decline of the world’s whale populations, it also had a significant (negative) impact on the New York region’s local oyster population.  Canned oysters...yum! I could drink a whole gallon. And that’s pretty much it for the CSH whaling museum. Thus ends my summer of goofing around and doing some whaling-related stuff…kid was born on Monday, so we’re pretty much pre-occupied at the moment. Honestly, the traffic out to Cold Spring Harbor put me in a really shitty mood. The little downtown area didn’t seem to offer much in the way of a reason to go there, even in conjunction with a trip to the whaling museum. I’m sure the people who call it home love it. And there are some state and national parks nearby that I’d like to check out when I’ve got more time. The thing about ugly children is a Simpson’s reference, btw.  The tooth depicts two different images of the HMS Beagle (BNPS) A piece of scrimshaw decorated by a marine on board Charles Darwin‘s famous voyage to the Galapagos Islands is set to fetch nearly a hundred thousand dollars at auction. The carved tooth contains two images of the HMS Beagle; one of the ship at sea, the other of the ship getting repairs in Argentina. The scrimshander was a gentleman named James Adolphus Bute. The signed piece is a rare available item from one of the most influential voyages in history. The piece goes on sale September 16.  When it comes to whales, Michael Ian Black thinks it's us against them Blogger, tweeter, and comedian Michael Ian Black – who you might remember from Stella or Xtacles - has called for a return to commercial and sport whaling on his blog. According to MIB:
He goes on to add, “Let’s eliminate the threat before it eliminates us.” THIS film (about a whale watch in which a massacre occurs) is what’s going to save Iceland‘s economy.  Rockwell Kent's Moby Dick Nice post by Larry Weinberg at InteriorDesign.net that provides some interesting background on the working “relationship” between Herman Melville and Rockwell Kent. He argues that even though they never met and that Kent was 9 when Melville died, they were kindred spirits nonetheless. Both were New Yorkers, adventurers, and sailors. And they might have even shared some similar political and social views. Weinberg also points out that the 1930 publication of Moby Dick with Kent’s illustrations pushed Melville and his book back into the public’s consciousness and that, ironically, Moby Dick has endured while Kent’s notoriety has diminished a bit as art styles and tastes have evolved.  This must be the spirit spout? So this painter who lives in North Dakota named Steve Holmes basically has an entire whaling museum in his house. His great-great grandfather was the captain of five whaling ships out of New Bedford in the 1800′s, and his family has been passing their whaling-related artifacts from generation to generation ever since. I guess instead of donating it to a museum or something, he just invites people over a few times a year to look at it. And also his great-great grandfather was killed by a whale. I mean, seriously, I just got back from the Sag Harbor whaling museum and I’m pretty sure they don’t have as much whaling-related stuff as Dan Erdmann has in his house. And the Fernwood Tonight vibe of the newscast is pretty great as well. But it’s not as good as this: Modest Mouse just released an anti-whaling music video that was conceived and directed by Heath Ledger. In it, the tables are turned, and a boat full of whales hunts and harpoons swimming humans, and then they graphically remove the flesh from their bodies. According to the official Modest Mouse web sheet:
The film was completed posthumously by a production company that Heath was affiliated with, and iTunes proceeds from the first month will go to the good people at Sea Shepherd. You know, no matter how many chances I give Modest Mouse, they never quite turn my crank. Them and Radiohead. Yeah, that’s right. I said I don’t like Radiohead. More precisely, I don’t love them. But this Modest Mouse song isn’t terrible, just like the rest of their work. And the video’s a little heavy-handed, but it hates whaling, and that’s all that matters! Don’t know why those whales aren’t harpooning human beings who are clearly and obviously Japanese, though.  The Sag Harbor Whaling Museum. Whaling Museum in the front. Secret Society party in the back. Next time you’re in the Hamptons, try to tear yourself away from the pool at Diddy’s place long enough to check out the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum. It only costs five bucks to get in. Eight dollars gets you a ticket to the Whaling Museum and to the Customs House museum next door.  The Sag Harbor Whaling Museum is open daily during Spring, Summer and Fall months. The jaw bone of a what’s left of a right whale welcomes visitors.  The jaw bone of a right whale says hello The building, designed by architect Minard Lafever, was built in 1845 for Benjamin Huntting II, one of the principals of the S. & B. Huntting whaling company. The building changed hands a few times over the years, serving as a home for Sag Harbor philanthropist Mrs. Russell Sage and as a masonic lodge before becoming a full time museum back in the 40′s. (The Masons do still meet upstairs there – I’m still waiting for someone to recruit me by the way, a lot of my people were Masons) Today, Sag Harbor‘s marina is full of ridiculously expensive yachts (and people trying to figure out who the yachts belong too), but in the 19th century, Sag harbor was an important part of America’s maritime commerce system, serving as an official port of entry into the United States and as the home of a significant whaling fleet. Native Americans on Long Island had been shore whaling and drift whaling for centuries, and not long after settlement, Europeans got in on the act. In 1761, the Europeans built a wharf with tryworks in Sag Harbor. The Hope, the first Sag Harbor ship to leave port with a tryworks and furnace on board, sailed in 1784 and made it as far south as Brazil. In 1789, Sag Harbor was named a port of entry by Congress, and it remained a port of entry until 1913. In 1848, James Fenimore Cooper, author of Last of the Mohicans, established a whaling company in Sag Harbor. And really, from about that time, Sag Harbor’s whaling industry went into decline, due mostly to the usual suspects and factors; the gold rush, the Civil War, depleted whale stocks, more competitive options to whale hunting, etc. If you were to ask me, “What did you learn today?” I would respond, “I learned that James Fenimore Cooper started a whaling company. Before today, I did not know that.” The interior of the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum sort of reminds me of the cluttered antique shops that you find throughout coastal cities in the northeast and New England, and it sort of works actually. It’s a hodgepodge of stuff, and probably only about half of it has anything to do with whaling, but there’s some pretty interesting stuff there. E.g., it’s not every day you get to see George Washington‘s autograph (they’ve got a few other presidents’ signatures as well, what with all the port of entry documents and certificates).  George Washington loved freedom (and didn't entirely hate slavery). I recall this room containing antique toys, a gun exhibit, a bunch of documents signed by dead presidents, some classroom-type information on whales, some natural curiosities (e.g., an ostrich egg), and some Indian artifacts.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen painted whale’s eardrums before.  Painted whale eardrums with scrimshaw and narwhal tusk Some daguerreotypes and an old Edison phonograph record.  Some stuff... I’m sorry but “table croquet” seems like the worst idea that anybody ever had, ever.  I think they are building a new Strawberry at 42 E. 14th Street right now I had no idea that hardtack was shaped like a giant saltine cracker. It actually looks better than I’d expected.  Eating too much hardtack - or not enough hardtack - gave sailors blurry vision You want implements? They got your implements right here.  Whaling implements And here’s something I’ve never seen before; a case containing different varieties and qualities of whale oils used by whale oil salesmen.  Samples of whale oils Those are transcripts of the museums documents on top of that case. Pretty cool. Easy to get sucked in for a few minutes.  That dude was checking me out the whole time I was in there... After checking out the whaling museum, I bailed on the custom’s house. I just don’t dig showing up at some old house and getting a one-on-one tour from some old lady, and that’s what I think was going to happen there. Instead, I bought this amazing antique wiener dog boot scraper at an antiques store.  Yes! I had lunch at a place called the Dock House. It’s basically a clam shack right on the water, but since I ate and drank huge the night before, I didn’t get anything fried, just some grilled scallops and a salad. Weak, I know. But I make up for it with this ice cream cone.  At this point, I'd eaten half. I know that I bought at least two other things; a marked-down piece of bean bag furniture, and something else that escapes me now. Actually, it was some locally produced honey. Sag Harbor seemed pretty cool to me. The little downtown/city center area has all the obligatory items; drugstore, market, antique shops, boutiques, and restaurants. Oh, and galleries. As an example, it’s neither the best nor the worst. It’s kind of like Cape Cod mixed with wine country. Right out of town there’s some farmland, produce stands, vineyards, etc. Actually, now that I think about it, it seemed a lot less crowded and busy than the Cape, even middle of the week during the summer. There’s definitely some Hamptons-trash spillover walking about, but I suppose I’d prefer French girls with gigantic sunglasses, high-heels and hot pants to packs of dudes in Red Sox caps any day. |
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