Pre-Ramble:  So, four things happen pretty much every year around the end of October that signal that the fall season has officially arrived:

1. tons of acorns fall into the backyard until you feel like you’re walking around on marbles; 
2. the local bakery rolls out its seasonal frosted pumpkin cookies (unbelievably yummy);
3. the classic animation, “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown“ is on at 7:00 on a school night;
4. the closing story on the local news is some rural yahoo hurling pumpkins 500 feet through the air with one of those medieval homemade catapults as cheering bystanders watch them crash to smithereens in an adjacent corn field. 

Yep, it’s officially fall in the upper Midwest.

It’s that fourth indicator that I’d like to discuss — the catapult, or trebuchet (pronounced treb-yoo-shet). According to our experts at Wikipedia, a trebuchet works by “using the mechanical advantage principle of leverage, releasing a sling and arm mechanism to propel a stone or other projectile towards a target with great force.” The trebuchet was used in the Middle Ages (and in the Broadway play “Spamalot“) to smash into masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them. Recorded flings could apparently send “350 lb+ projectiles at high speeds into enemy fortifications.” (Caution: skip this next part if you’re squeamish or eating breakfast.) “On occasion, disease-infected corpses were flung into cities in an attempt to infect or terrorize the people under siege – a medieval form of biological warfare.” (Eeeeeoww!)

Over the past decade, the sport of “pumpkin chucking” has become somewhat popular, with the annual World Championship Punkin’ Chuckin’ Contest held in Sussex County Delaware bringing a variety of launching machines, including the trebuchet, to the fore.  The record-holding toss in the competitive 8 pound pumpkin event is the Yankee Siege, a 51 foot tall, 55,000 pound apparatus developed by former dentist Steve Seigars. Owing to the miracle that is constantly updated, open-sourced information, “as of October 2009 (which would basically be now), the trebuchet has unofficially broken the 2,000 foot mark, with a possible throw of up to 2,300 feet.”

Boys will be boys -  Well, so, there are these four guys in Minnesota who have designed and constructed a trebuchet in one of the guys mother’s backyard. We’re not talking about Beaver Cleaver and a group of Cub Scouts messing around with sticks and rubberbands (”Wash up for dinner, boys!” … ), these guys are in their mid-thirties and presumably have day jobs. 

In the spring of 2008 they began construction on their machine using reclaimed materials like construction lumber, landscape timbers, slabs of aluminum, old garage-door parts (”stuff you can get at any Menards … “), and a 265-gallon fuel tank that they found on Craigslist.  The initial goal was to launch old bowling balls into the nearby field, but after a few ”successful” attempts, they began to branch out. “The trebuchet team is now testing the flight and crash-landing characteristics of obsolete consumer electronics” including old televisions, computers and clothes dryers.  This could be ”David Letterman, the Rural Edition.”

William Gurstelle, author of “Backyard Ballistics,” suggests that,

Most people who build stuff like giant catapults are doing what they’re doing because they’re seeking a challenge — the challenge of creating something big and wonderful in a physical, tangible way.”

The Take-Away:  Great! Never mind the trauma that would be visited upon Linus and the gang should they have cause to witness their much beloved pumpkins subjected to the vaulting/smashing exercise, the homemade trebuchet is appealing for a number of reasons. It is inventive, over-sized and somewhat whimsical; it uses recycled materials; incorporates movement; invites anticipation; and ultimately, it provides an oddly simple, down-to-earth form of entertainment. While I’m not generally a fan of wrecking stuff, anything that facilitates and celebrates the creation of “something big and wonderful” is a potential personal growth opportunity and worth a second look.

Post-Note: I wonder how far a fully-loaded golf bag would go?

Pre-Ramble:  I promised myself that I would not, under any circumstances, write about the “balloon boy” incident.  That saga, while for a few fleeting moments had all the makings of fantastical folklore, quickly degenerated into a series of fraudulent, pathetic missteps.  The nanosecond the words “wife swap” came up in the back story, this scenario clicked into a whole different category. 

The thing is, while it is easy to dismiss the balloon boy incident as a lot of worthless hot air, it becomes more than a foolish attention-getting ploy when you consider its impact on the three young boys who were involuntarily drawn into the deception.

This is not your delightful, Little House on the Prairie, home-school environment where children thrive on first-hand experience grown out of curiosity and freedom. Young Falcon was not indulging a keen interest in meteorology or passion for flight.  This isn’t a couple of folks getting carried away with a silly idea either. This is something else.  This is two pathetic people who put their kids “out there” and at risk in a desperate and pitiful play for attention, fame, riches, whatever.  These are parents who are seriously, and in this case I believe criminally, misguided. 

The Take-Away:  As I indicated at the start, I am not going to dignify this incident with any discussion, except to express my deep dismay and concern over the plight of the three children who have been subjected to the incorrigible charade. Even with two feet on the ground, it is clear that little Falcon lives in as much danger every day as he would have experienced aimlessly drifting thousands of feet up inside a weather balloon.

Pre-Ramble: Hi, it’s me Daisy – I pitched this great story idea at our weekly editorial meeting and Mom said if I was really inspired, I should go for it (writing up the story, not digging a giant hole in the family room). 

This goes in the “I could totally do that” category … an art installation (shown right) created in 2007 by Swiss artist, Urs Fischer, for Gavin Brown’s New Museum space in New York City’s West Village. The piece is a 38-foot-by-30-foot hole, eight feet deep, that extends almost to the walls of the gallery, surrounded by a fourteen-inch ledge of jagged concrete flooring that serves as a viewing platform. The pit/art, titled You, took ten days to build and cost around $250,000  (talk about throwing your money down a hole). 

New York Magazine’s Jerry Saltz gives a pretty accurate characterization of the effort:

A gallerist has got to have a lot of faith in an artist to let him rip through the concrete, upend pipes, and fill the space with a huge open trench of dirt and debris.”

Open trench? … Dirt and debris? … (and I’m pretty sure I saw some bits of rawhide in there too) … This is my kind of art!  

Minimalist yet surreal – I thought it might be useful to consider other interpretations of Fischer’s work. Here is more of what Jerry Saltz had to say about it:

Fischer’s extraordinary installation touches on the tradition of indoor earthworks that includes pieces from the sixties and seventies by Gordon Matta-Clark, Robert Smithson, … and others, while also bringing together many of his ongoing themes of transparency, transformation, disruption, and destruction.”

‘You’ simultaneously attacks and fetishizes the attributes of galleries, the qualities that the critic Brian O’Doherty has described as ’something of the sacredness of churches, the austerity of courtrooms, the mysteriousness of research laboratories, something that, together with stylish designs, makes them unique cultic places of the aesthetic.’”

In a very minimalist yet surreal and expressionistic way, ‘You’ makes space palpable. Initially the chasm dominates your vision and takes over the room …” (duh) …

Experientially rich, buzzing with energy and entropy, crammed with chaos and contradiction, and topped off with the saga of subversion that is central both to the history of the empty-gallery-as-a-work-of-art, but also to the Gavin Brown experience itself, this work is brimming with meaning and mojo… a Herculean project.”

‘You’ is less a Deconstructivist avant-garde gesture or a parodic work of anti-art than it is an inversion machine. To be in it is to be above and below at the same time. You are indoors and outdoors; there are the perfect white walls of the gallery and this red-brown New York earth.”

This is an amazing sight that warps psychic space. It’s a bold act that brings on claustrophobia and agoraphobia at the same time, makes you look at galleries in a new way, and serves as a bracing palate cleanser.”

Here, here! … I know I’ll never look at a gallery the same way again! And, I’m sure I’ve braced my palate with the likes of the gritty fare on display here.

A brief chat with Urs – In closing, I thought it would be super interesting to get a better sense of Mr. Fischer as an artist.  The following is a clip from a recent conversation between Urs and New Museum gallery owner, Gavin Brown for Interview Magazine:

GAVIN BROWN: In our day-to-day activities there are a lot of things I don’t ask you.

URS FISCHER: Likewise.

GB: Like, I didn’t know until recently that you hadn’t gone to art school. That’s getting rarer these days. It actually makes me think that to be an artist, maybe you shouldn’t go to art school anymore.

UF: I think it’s about different generations. Many artists who don’t go off to art school come to New York. It’s about what you learn when you’re here.

GB: So where did you learn about art?

UF: I don’t know. Everywhere.

GB: Did you learn more, say, when you were 16 than you did when you were 26? Does what you learned apply better now?

UF: You basically only discover a new thing once. Actually, I’m only starting to learn about art art now.

GB: What’s art art?

UF: Art, like in the historical sense.

GB: Are you learning about that from books?

UF: Yeah. Sculpture from 2,000 or 3,000 years ago or more has similar concerns as it does now.

GB: Like what?

UF: Maybe an artist’s position in society is different today because it’s more individualistic. Maybe you’re not a direct servant anymore to the patron-you’re an indirect servant, or a servant with a choice, or maybe you could not even serve. That doesn’t matter. What I mean is, it’s the same. It’s the way you make something. Take a relief. You draw it, you carve it out. Later you build it up from a flat surface. There is no other way to do a sculpture-you either add or you subtract. There are only two choices, and it’s the same today.

The Take-Away:  There are tons of fascinating, wild, creative, odd things going on in the world all the time – sometimes right under your feet. All you have to do is dig around a little.

Post-Note:  I just hope Urs got all the mud off his paws before going back in the house.

Pre-Ramble: Whether you’re for him or against him, one thing that most folks can pretty much agree on (except for Rush Limbaugh, who doesn’t agree with anyone on anything) is that the recent award of the Nobel Peace Prize to American President Barack Obama is a puzzlement. Before now, who would have ever thought that the response to such news would be such a resounding, “Huh?!”

“So soon? Too early. He hasn’t had the time to do anything yet.”  — Lech Walensa, former Polish president, 1983 Nobel winner

“The real question Americans are asking is, “What has President Obama actually accomplished? It is unfortunate that the president’s star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights.”  — Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee

“A bold statement of international support for his vision.”  — Former president Jimmy Carter, 2002 Nobel winner

“I join my fellow Americans in expressing pride in our president on this occasion.”  — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., 2008 Republican presidential nominee

“Very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for the future.”  — Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland

I have a hard time imagining that the president’s own reaction to the wake-up scenario was anything short of, “Are you kidding me!?” (or words to that effect). In fact, it took him several hours to craft a response to the honor which included this qualifying statement:

“Let me be clear, I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations … I will accept this award as a call to action.”

How frustrating must that be?  To be honored with one of, if not the most, prestigious awards in the world, and have to curb your enthusiasm in such a profound and carefully calculated way. I’m pretty sure there were no moments of unbridled jubilation, jumping up and down, or celebratory fist pumps … One gets the sense that everyone in the White House, including the president and first lady, were stunned into slack-jawed, take-a-moment-of-silence, disbelief.  How quickly do you think the communications staff shifted into full spin mode? You can almost hear the shit hitting the wheel wells.

The Take-Away:  To his credit, Barack Obama gets it.  He gets that the Nobel Peace Prize is an extraordinary honor. And he gets that it is an honor conferred upon a group of outstanding and deserving individuals, often in recognition of an exemplary achievement or lifetime of service.  Barack Obama gets that in this case, the Nobel award is a really tricky tribute (read: unfounded and premature).  I also think that President Obama is honestly and audaciously hopeful that he can earn this rare distinction retrocatively over the course of his life’s work. For the time being, I would like to hope that the parting shot on this episode echoes the sentiment of Israeli President, Shimon Peres,

“Under [his] leadership, peace became a real and original agenda. And from Jerusalem, I am sure all the bells of engagement and understanding will ring again. [He] gave us a license to dream and act in a noble direction.” 

Pre-Ramble: Truth be told, I am not much of a baseball fan.  The games are too long, the uniforms are goofy, and the players are always spitting.  Tonight however, I found myself rallied in the family room with my family (duh) watching the hometown Minnesota Twins battle the Detroit Tigers in extra innings for the American League Central championship.

The game was supposed to be a big deal for a bunch of reasons … the Tigers had been on top for most of the season, … the Twins had been back in the standings coming into the series, … blah, blah …  It was also likely to be the very last game that the Twins played in the hideous indoor Metrodome before taking up residence in the sparkling new Target Field stadium next season. 

Well, so, the game was crawling along … pitching, catching, foul tips, more pitching and catching … and without going into a total play-by-play, the teams had leap-frogged themselves into a 12th inning overtime situation and even I was on the edge of my seat … finally:

Alexi Casilla singled Carlos Gomez home for the winning run with one out in the 12th inning and the Twins rallied for a 6-5 victory to complete a colossal collapse for the Tigers.”

Well, phew!! … Wow!! … Quite the exciting finish.  And actually, quite an exciting coincidence as well. Several months ago, I bought a piece of children’s artwork that had been created in a partnership activity with the Minnesota Twins players to support local children’s charitable organization, Free Arts Minnesota. (Free Arts brings art and adult mentorship to abused and at-risk children.) Part of the partnership activity between Free Arts and the Twins was that the kids got to go on a field trip to a batting practice (and see the players close up), go to an actual baseball game (a first for many of them), and the kids’ artwork (that was inspired by the whole baseball experience) was signed by the various Twins’ players.

I bought the picture (shown above) because I liked its composition and bright, Andy Warhol-esque blocks of color. I also bought it to support the Free Arts mission — to bring the unique healing power of art and mentorship to abused children:

I digress: There are no words to describe the profoundly tragic circumstances that some children are subjected to at the hands of the people who are supposed to love and protect them.  Some children have seen and experienced things that no child should ever have to.  The programs that Free Arts brings into homeless shelters and foster care facilities give these kids a chance to experience something else — something positive, creative, and even fun.  By providing adult mentors who care about them, who are there for them each and every week, without fail, Free Arts gives these children new hope and courage and re-establishes their capacity to trust. By providing interesting and challenging art activities, Free Arts give these children an opportunity to create something beautiful; to be recognized for their efforts and for their talents; to explore their imaginations and express themselves in a way that many of them have never been able to. The Free Arts program gives kids an opportunity to experience themselves and the world in new ways, and to see new possibilities for themselves and their lives … !

So, I have this delightful, meaningful piece of baseball artwork, and in looking a little closer after last night’s game, I realize that it is signed by Carlos Gomez — the guy who made the spectacular run across home plate to win the championship game!

The Take-Away:  Neat! … a win-win situation all around – for me, for Carlos, for the Twins, and also for the hundreds of children who are served by Free Arts.  I wonder if the kids were watching the game?

Pre-Ramble:  We interrupt this blog entry to bring you a breaking weather alert … (just when you thought that nothing new could possibly happen in that random wacky world of meteorology… ) … 

Hailed as the first newly reported cloud formation in more than 50 years, the ominous-looking undulatus asperatus (Latin for turbulent undulation and not it at right) has been sighted in the Scottish Highlands.  Characterized by a droopy “rolling wavy effect,” the “atmospheric anomaly” is being considered for induction into the International Cloud Atlas.

I know!!  Gavin Pretor-Pinney, president of the UK-based Cloud Appreciation Society couldn’t be more pleased:

The formation has probably been around for a long time, but it’s only now getting attention … before the Internet and digicams, people might have mentioned it to a few friends and that would be it… Once the news got out, I was inundated with emails [and photos].”

Powerful, universal and unpredictable, the weather is probably the most frequently used conversation starter on the planet … “How ’bout that weather?? … Hot enough for ‘ya??” … It’s no wonder then, why the Weather Channel, founded 30 years ago by Frank Batten Sr., who passed away earlier this month at the age of 82, continues to be such a hit. Rob Long describes its appeal in the Wall Street Journal (9/18/09):

Despite a widely held belief in the television industry that a channel devoted entirely to the weather would not and could not work, [Batten Sr.] started one. He called it, with refreshing and diabolical directness, the Weather Channel. … It was a pretty instant sensation. People, it turns out, absolutely love the weather. … The Weather Channel delivers its information in the most tedious way possible — through static grids and blurry maps — but, for some reason, we keep watching. Its dryness is a big part of its appeal … just cold fronts and high-pressure areas … just the constant regular clockwork of a planet, raining and snowing and shining with indifference on us all … “

Weather is all around us — temperature, humidity, rainfall, prevailing wind, dew point, snow storms, and hail the size of name your round object here.  Weather is constant, and constantly changing. It literally provides a backdrop for our days and adventures, and for our lives.  Memorable moments are imprinted with the ”atmosphere” of the weather conditions at the time.

More than just a show – weather is a constant presence, a universally held experience, and a rich text for observation and metaphor.  Ralph Waldo was certainly on to something … the power to be mined in the quiet pondering of one’s environment — billowy wisps that drift above our heads on lazy afternoons or the sparkling sunlight on a small pond. Equally, if not more valuable for us in this hectic new millennium, is the awareness of the weather’s mighty presence on busy days.

The Take-Away:  Putting your head in the clouds can be a powerful strategy for living. Checking in with the mood, movement and context of weather systems can lift you out of your daily issues, help you get your bearings, put things in perspective, and inspire you to look at things in new ways. It is on this plane, this free, open and random space, that new, creative ideas and solutions can roll in.

Post Note: Based on a whimsical children’s book by Judi and Ron Barrett, recently released animated movie, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” proves that the weather can inspire some pretty silly scenarios as well.

The general premise is that food falls benignly from the sky to feed the local townspeople (talk about the “five second rule”! … ).  Then the weather takes a turn for the worse — a sudden storm of giant pancakes (and downpour of maple syrup) that forces school closings, a salt and pepper wind (think of the sneezing), a tomato tornado (”seeds and pulp everywhere“), and of course, the headliner shower of meatballs — causing a whole bunch of problems. … Cute, … fun, … can’t wait to see the movie.  Excuse me while I head out to Perkins for a quick short stack.