Posts

The Comedy of Art

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The painting “Family of Saltimbanques,” by Pablo Picasso, now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., has a well-documented provenance going back to its creation in 1905. The painting was originally purchased directly from Picasso in 1908 by André Level, a Parisian lawyer and financier, for the collection La Peau de l'Ours. Six years later, in 1914, it was sold at Hôtel Drouot in Paris and acquired by the Thannhauser Galleries in Munich. Between November 1914 and June 1915, the painting was bought by Hertha Koenig, a German poet and art patron, and who was a close friend of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. The work then passed to the Valentine Gallery in New York, where it was sold in 1931 to Chester Dale, a New York banker and art collector. Dale, who amassed a significant collection of modern French art, bequeathed the painting to the National Gallery of Art upon his death in 1962, and it officially entered the museum’s collection in 1963. The painting has since become a ce...
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Breakfast Sound Bites

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... search the famous aria from i pagliacci The most iconic highlight from I Pagliacci must be the tragic aria "Vesti la giubba", sung by the protagonist Canio, as he prepares to perform as a clown -despite discovering his wife Nedda’s infidelity. This powerful tenor aria, expressing the anguish of the "tragic clown" who must smile through pain, is one of the most famous in opera history. The opera’s emotional climax occurs in the final act when Canio, overwhelmed by jealousy, kills both Nedda and her lover Silvio during the performance, blurring the line between the play and reality. The work, composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo in 1892, is a cornerstone of the verismo opera movement, drawing on real-life tragedy and the traditions of Commedia dell’arte.  ... is archive file available for the rice krispies tv commercial which used the aria vesti la giubba Yes, an archive file of the Kellogg's Rice Krispies TV commercial featuring the opera aria Vesti la giubba is a...
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Partly-Apocalyptic with a Chance of Rain

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Every day when I get started—before I check the news—I say, “Please let today not be an apocalypse day.” Bombshell news is always a distraction. That's just how it has to be. I watched the attack on the World Trade Center, as it happened, from my workplace window. I shall never be the same. Today—luckily—was not a day of apocalypse. That is to say—to be exact—it was not a totally apocalyptic day. It was more like an half-an-apocalypse day. It was even a mildly funny day. Amid the other dire events of the morning only one stood-out; the whole (media) world got a good look at Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the (late) Ayatollah Khamenei.  I am going by the photo on his Wikipedia page because I lost the initial story. At first I brushed it off as less than apocalyptic and, therefore, not worthy of concern. Never-the-less, if you know me, I can't sleep at night because of a random scandal reported in the day's news. My day got as far as lunch when I had to go back and re-read the morn...
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Talent Down The Drain

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As I write this, the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is winding-down. The most shocking revelations are behind us, with less than a trickle of undiscovered associations being "revealed" in the day's news. The public's secondary reaction has only just begun. What is meant by that analogy is the absence of pain felt immediately upon sustaining a serious injury or burn. The pain is felt in the long, healing process, ahead. So it is with the Epstein files. And, after the bandages are removed, the unsightly scars will be a lasting reminder of the whole episode: the legacy of trauma.  I was not directly affected; but, believe me when I say, as former President Bill Clinton made famous the saying, “I feel your pain.” Thus, I come not to praise Caesar, but to bury him; Jeffrey Epstein, I mean. The closest exposure I got was having visited—briefly—the famous performing arts academy Interlochen, where Epstein plied his trade in seducing young women and powerful men. Epstein's crime...
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Distract, Divert, and Deceive

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... Iran Bombing Fuels Six Figure gains and $6 Million Loss on Polymarket Polymarket saw extreme financial swings following U.S.-Israel airstrikes on Iran, resulting in six-figure gains for some traders and a $6.5 million loss for one major participant.  <anoin123>, a trader who had built over $2 million in profits by betting against military strikes over two months, suffered a $6.5 million wipeout when the attacks occurred.  His position became worthless, turning prior gains into a $4.5 million net loss.  Six newly created wallets collectively earned nearly $1 million by placing "yes" bets on a U.S. strike before the operation.  The largest single profit was $494,375, achieved by a wallet that turned a $60,816 bet into over $499,000.  <Vivaldi007> earned $385,000 after consistently betting on an attack since February 8, absorbing prior losses before capitalizing on the strike.  A wallet named <Roeyha2026> made $96,800 after funding its ac...
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My Broker Told Me

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... news headline states: "Machi Big Brother Hit With Repeated Liquidations" -what type of financial entity is Machi Big Brother? Machi Big Brother is a pseudonymous crypto trader and entrepreneur, widely known in digital asset markets.  His real name is Jeffrey Huang, a Taiwanese-American individual with a history in crypto startups, DeFi projects, and NFTs.  He is recognized as a highly leveraged trader, frequently taking aggressive long positions—especially on Ethereum (ETH)—using platforms like Hyperliquid.  His trading strategy, characterized by repeated use of extreme leverage (e.g., 25x or higher), has led to massive losses, including over $29 million in cumulative losses, culminating in full liquidation of his account in February 2026.  He has also been involved in launching meme coins (e.g., Boba Oppa) and has faced controversy over past project failures and allegations of fund mismanagement. ... published discussion of the individual reflects public controv...
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The Canary in the Coal Mine

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... search news quote: "Blue Owl, a private credit fund company and financier of data centers, (is) halting redemptions" Blue Owl Capital has permanently restricted investor withdrawals from its retail-focused private credit fund, Blue Owl Capital Corp II (OBDC II), reversing an earlier plan to resume quarterly redemptions.  The move, announced on February 20, 2026, means investors will no longer be able to redeem shares on a scheduled basis. Instead, the company will return capital through periodic distributions funded by loan repayments, asset sales, and strategic transactions.  The decision follows a $1.4 billion sale of credit assets across three of its funds, including $600 million from OBDC II, sold at 99.7% of par value. Blue Owl stated that this capital will be used to return 30% of the fund’s net asset value to investors by March 31, a significant increase compared to the previous 5% quarterly redemption cap.  While Blue Owl co-President Craig Packer emphasized t...
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