BirchLane.net

June 2003

Friday 27--Sunday July 6

Vacation. The Outer Banks, Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. (no computer)

Thursday 26

What

Sometimes lying on the hillside with the eyes of the body shut as in sleep I could see valleys and hills,lustrous as a jewel, where all was self-shining,the colors brighter and purer ,yet making a softer harmony together than the colors of the world I know. The winds sparkled as they blew hither and thither yet the far distances were clear through the glowing air. I saw fountains as of luminous mist jetting from some hidden heart of power and shining folk who passed into these fountains and inhaled them and drew life from the magical air..their perfectness was like the perfectness of a flower, a beauty which had never been broken by an act of individualized will, which makes possible a choice between good and evil. More beautiful than we they seemed yet less than human and I surmised I had more thoughts in a moment than they through many of their days... ~A.E. George Russell

Wednesday 25

Radio Paradise. Listen. And this poem from The Writer's Almanac brings a tear to my eye:

"The Summer-Camp Bus Pulls Away from the Curb,"

by Sharon Olds from Blood, Tin, Straw 

Whatever he needs, he has or doesn't
have by now.
Whatever the world is going to do to him
it has started to do. With a pencil and two
Hardy Boys and a peanut butter sandwich and
grapes he is on his way, there is nothing
more we can do for him. Whatever is
stored in his heart, he can use, now.
Whatever he has laid up in his mind
he can call on. What he does not have
he can lack. The bus gets smaller and smaller, as one
folds a flag at the end of a ceremony,
onto itself, and onto itself, until
only a heavy wedge remains.
Whatever his exuberant soul
can do for him, it is doing right now.
Whatever his arrogance can do
it is doing to him. Everything
that's been done to him, he will now do.
Everything that's been placed in him
will come out, now, the contents of a trunk
unpacked and lined up on a bunk in the underpine light.

 Tuesday 24

Change.

To change one's life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions. ~William James

Monday 23

Stormy Monday. I drove for miles and miles, looking at the storm clouds in the sky ahead of me; I was heading north on Route 8 in Connecticut, toward Massachusetts where I knew I would stop at Colebrook Lake Reservoir to watch the storm clouds form and fall toward the water below.

Sunday 22

Stormy Sunday.

Saturday 21

Stormy Saturday

Friday

Dance. And Life. I think the following quote is a wise life lesson.

"...move with a generosity of spirit." -- Juilliard Summer Dance Intensive webpage

Thursday 19

Into The Light.

Wednesday 18

News of the Universe.

1. The seat of the soul is where the inner world and the outer world meet. Where they overlap, it is in every point of the overlap. 2. Self-expression is the source of all abasement, just as, contrariwise, it is the basis for all true elevation. The first step is introspection - exclusive contemplation of the self. But whoever stops there goes only half way. The second step must be genuine observation outward - spontaneous, sober observation of the external world. 3. The more personal, local, temporal, particularized a poem is, the nearer it stands to the centrum of poetry. A poem must be completely inexhaustible, like a human being or a good proverb. 4. There is only one temple in the world and that is the human body. Nothing is more sacred than that noble form. 5. A man will never achieve anything excellent in the way of representation so long as he wishes to represent nothing more than his own experiences, his own favorite objects, so long as he cannot bring himself to study with diligence and to represent at his leisure an object wholly foreign and wholly uninteresting to him. 6. Man is a sun and his senses are the planets. NOVALIS/1798 from Pollen and Fragments translated by Charles E. Passage

Tuesday 17

Clowning and Art.

It has been said that "in entertainment there is nothing new, everything has been done before." That line is often quoted by people who want to justify stealing ideas. Somebody once excused stealing one of my ideas by telling their alley, "this is one of Charlie's routines. I'm sure he won't mind if I steal it, because he probably stole it himself." They were wrong. It was my original creation, and I didn't like them stealing it. I have released many of my routines for use by other clowns, but that particular routine was a bit that has become one of my trademarks so I reserve it for my own use. Unethical Behavior This defense of unethical behavior is not new. In 1916, Charles Amador changed his name to Charlie Aplin, copied Chaplin's appearance, and tried to reproduce Chaplin's routines in his own movies. When Chaplin sued him, his defense was that Chaplin's appearance was composed of things Chaplin had copied from others so it could be copied. His lawyers listed every element of Chaplin's costume and the name of somebody who had used it previously. For example, George Beban had used the brush mustache in 1890. The Nibble Brothers had used a flexible cane by the turn of the century. The judge ruled that while the elements had been previously used, the "costume en ensemble" had been created by Chaplin, and combined with his name was his exclusive property protected under the law of unfair competition. Using the same standard for clown routines means that even though each separate element may have been used before, the combination is a creation belonging to the originator and shouldn't be copied. Cheating Yourself When you copy another clown you are cheating yourself. A copy is always inferior. When Dick Van Dyke imitated his friend Stan Laurel on The Dick Van Dyke Show, he was careful to get everything just right. When he called Stan for his reaction, Stan said, "it was just fine Dicky, except..." Stan spent the next twenty minutes telling Dick what he had done wrong. While you can't do what others do as well as they do, there is something you can do better then anybody else. Copying others prevents you from doing what you could do best. It blocks you from reaching your full potential. If you gain a reputation for stealing ideas, you hurt yourself because you cut off the flow of ideas available to you. I know of one alley that has several people who steal ideas. As part of their educational program the alley wanted people to perform part of their birthday party shows. They had difficulty getting volunteers because everyone knew anything performed would be copied. If people are afraid you will steal their ideas, they become secretive. When you copy ideas, you take without giving anything back. People resent that. They soon exclude you from the flow of ideas. Harm To Clowning As A Creative Art As a group, clowns tend to condemn people who steal another clown's make up and costume, but think nothing of people who steal another clown's ideas. Yet Paul Jung said, "the plagiarism of ideas hurts clowning more then copying make up and costuming." How does plagiarism hurt clowning in general? When ideas can be freely copied we discourage people from making the effort to create new routines. There is little incentive to try to be unique if everybody is going to immediately copy what you do so you are no longer unique. The art as a whole then stagnates. Nothing takes the joy out of creation sooner then to hear, "oh, we just saw somebody else do that." (This happens too often in clown alleys. I've seen it happen in parades, where a clown sees somebody else do a bit they like so they copy it and move ten feet in front of the originator.) It takes time and effort to create something new. It may also require a financial investment in failed prototypes. The people who work to be creative deserve to benefit from their investment. When you steal their idea you are also stealing what they invested in developing it. If clowns are discouraged from creating new ideas because those ideas will be stolen, we lose more then just the ideas they would have created. We lose the additional ideas that would have been inspired in others. A group of people working together to inspire each other will generate many more ideas then each person working on their own. When stealing makes people reluctant to share ideas, the source of inspiration for more ideas ends, and everyone suffers. Distinction Between Stealing and Inspiration How do we distinguish between stealing and being inspired by something? There is a fine line between the two. If you change it, improve it, adapt it in some way, you were inspired by the idea. If you take one element out of a routine, and use it with elements from other sources to create a unique combination you were inspired. If you try to copy an entire routine the way somebody else performed it you are stealing it. Perhaps the definition of plagiarism in writing can help us. The copyright law says that while an idea can be used, the expression of that idea is the property of the originator. Also, it allows you to use a portion of another work. There is a debate on how much you can use, for example some people advise that you quote no more then 50 words from another work. The legal benchmark though is does your use detract from the originator's ability to benefit from their creation. The originator has the right to all possible benefits from the work involved in their creation. To steal from a written work is stealing from the legal property owned by another. Translating that into clown terms, you can use the basic idea behind a routine, but the specific way the routine was performed is the property of the originator. You can use a bit out of a routine, but not the whole routine. You can not detract from their ability to benefit from what they have created. Public Domain To confuse things there is something called "public domain." These are items that are no longer considered the property of an individual, often because of the length of time that has passed since they were originated. They are owned by the public in general. It is permissible to copy from anything that is in the public domain. You can copy it, but it isn't ethical to claim that you are the originator. How do you know if something you see performed is an original creation or part of the public domain and available for everyone to use? If it is something you have seen many clowns perform, it is probably part of the public domain. If in doubt, the easiest way to be sure is to ask the entertainer you saw use it. Class Room Examples If an instructor teaches a routine in a class you can assume they are granting you the rights to perform it. If it is their original creation though, you don't have the right to teach it yourself because that detracts from their ability to earn income by teaching others how to perform it. Also, if a routine is performed as part of a demonstration show at a convention or workshop, instead of taught in a class, you should consider it like any other show and not copy bits that you see. Conclusion Clowns, as a group, should begin considering copying another person's idea what it really is, stealing property that belongs to them. Intellectual property is just as real as physical property. When we justify people stealing ideas we are allowing the art of clowning in general to stagnate and deteriorate. On the other hand when we encourage and support creativity we allow the art of clowning to grow and thrive. If you are tempted to steal another person's idea, remember you are hurting yourself and clowning in general. © Copyright 1998 by Bruce Johnson. All rights reserved. Originally published in the Nov/Dec 1998 issue of The New Calliope

Monday 16

Relationship Building. 

Sunday 15

Father's Day. Betsy, Daryl and I spent the day cutting down trees in our wooded areas.

Saturday 14

Robin's Nest. Outside our front door in the gutter:

Robin Facts from Mrs. Henry's Fifth Grade Class. And here from a fascinating site.

Friday 13

The Nutty Place. In Waterbury, Connecticut:

Thursday 12

Behind Closed Doors. In an old factory, Easthampton, Massachusetts.

Wednesday 11

More Words.

Thank you for reading me. I have come late in life to love art. You are a great artist I am honored to know you!

Tuesday 10

What People are Saying. I have been receiving the nicest comments from some people. Here are a few of them:

I just want you to know you have inspired me to ask my Mom for my Dad's old camera equipment, she will be sending soon. I've always been interested in photography but never had the money to invest in good equip. When D died my M offered his stuff to me but I never pressed her for a timeline. Now I'm ready. Thanks again!!! : ) i've only been a viewer of your livejournal for a few days, but i had naively thought that i had seen the best of your photos. i thought that everything to follow would at most equal what i had already seen. your photographs makes me feel like i have had no breath prior to seeing what you make us see through the eye of your lens (this one especially). this is the only way i can think to say what's in my head.

Monday 09

Blank Slate.

Sunday 08

Children's Sunday.

Saturday 07

THE WHITE BISON SPIRIT WOMAN A friend posted the following in his journal:

A very long time ago, they say, two scouts were out looking for bison; when they came to the top of a high hill and looked north, they saw something coming a long way off, and when it came closer they cried out, "It is a woman!" and it was. Then one of the scouts, being foolish, had bad thoughts and spoke them; the other said: "That is a sacred woman; throw all bad thoughts away." When she came still closer, they saw that she wore a fine white buckskin dress, that her hair was very long and that she was young and very beautiful. And she knew their thoughts and said in a voice that was like singing: "You do not know me, but if you want to do as you think, you may come." And the foolish one went; but just as he stood before her, there was a white cloud that came and covered them. And the beautiful young woman came out of the cloud, and when it blew away the foolish man was a skeleton covered with worms. Then the woman spoke to the one who was not foolish: "You shall go home and tell your people that I am coming and that a big tepee shall be built for me in the center of the nation." And the man, who was very much afraid, went quickly and told the people, who did at once as they were told; and there around the big tepee they waited for the sacred woman. And after a while she came, very beautiful and singing, and as she went into the tepee this is what she sang: With visible breath I am walking. A voice I am sending as I walk. In a sacred manner I am walking. With visible tracks I am walking. In a sacred manner I walk. And as she sang, there came from her mouth a white cloud that was good to smell. Then she gave something to the chief, and it was a pipe with a bison calf carved on one side to mean the earth that bears and feeds us, and with twelve eagle feathers hanging from the stem to mean the sky and the twelve moons, and these were tied with a grass that never breaks. "Behold!" she said. "With this you shall multiply and be a good nation. Nothing but good shall come from it. Only the hands of the good shall take care of it and the bad shall not even see it." Then she sang again and went out of the tepee; and as the people watched her going, suddenly it was a white bison galloping away and snorting, and soon it was gone. This they tell, and whether it happened so or not I do not know; but if you think about it, you can see that it is true.--Black Elk WE: UNDERSTANDING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ROMANTIC LOVE, by Robert A. Johnson

Friday 06

Thursday 05

Wednesday 04

New York City. The Empire Diner:

Tuesday 03

The Art of Dementia. In Time magazine I read about Jancy Chang:

Jancy Chang was a talented artist and teacher, and only in her 40s, when the symptoms of dementia began to appear. She had a rare form of progressive aphasia that would sap her language skills and force her to retire from teaching at 52. But even as she was losing the ability to make lesson plans, grade homework or remember the names of her students, her artistic vision seemed to be expanding. "Her painting became wilder and freer and more original as her language declined," says Dr. Bruce Miller, a neurologist at the University of California at San Francisco, who is the lead author of a report on Chang's case in the current issue of Neurology. Although the mechanism is not clear, it appears that in this type of dementia, language is not required for — and may even inhibit — certain types of visual creativity. "We typically don't think that something could be getting better," says Miller. Chang's experience underscores the fact that dementia is rarely a simple, one-dimensional disease. It also reminds us to treasure what is spared.

Monday 02

A Faithful Hand.

"Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, neither having to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them out, just as they are, chaff and grain alike; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away." ~George Eliot, Middlemarch

Sunday 01

Make The World a Better Place.

"All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; and there is hardly anything unconnected with any other thing. For things have been coordinated, and they combine to form the same universe. For there is one universe made up of all things, and one God who pervades all things, and one substance, and one law, common sense in all intelligent animals, and one truth. . ."  ~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 170 AD