Deborah Lipp

It’s Tuesday…you have to get your trivia fix. I understand. So while I don’t have one of Deborah’s carefully crafted quizzes on hand, I do know that there must be trivia on Tuesday.

So this week we’ll do something a little different: a Whedonverse trivia open thread.

Here’s how it works: I post a trivia question (related to Buffy, Angel, or Firefly); whoever answers correctly gets to post another one; and so on, for as long as people want to keep it going. If you’re certain of your answer, go ahead and post the question; if not, let someone confirm first. If you don’t have a good question to hand, you can waive, and then it’s open to the first person to post a question.

So here’s a not-too-difficult starting question: What distinction do Angel and Harmony (and only Angel and Harmony) share?

You’ve doubtless heard by now that Tammy Faye Messner has died. Melissa McEwen reposts a sweet, moving tribute (from a couple of years ago) that I think is the best eulogy I’ve seen. Here’s a taste (then go read the rest):

Even though her husband, and many of their PTL associates, seemed like insincere rabble, just out for the last dimes in the handbags of little old ladies, Tammy always struck me as the genuine article—a woman who was filled with boundless faith and love. She also seemed like someone with whom I’d really enjoy sitting and having a long conversation, diametrically different as we are, because she was interesting and thoughtful, and most of all, very funny….

Tammy Faye proved herself to be the genuine article after all, ignoring the increasingly vitriolic anti-gay noise from much of the evangelical community, and becoming an out-spoken gay rights advocate, even penning a gay youth advice column, raising awareness about the disproportionate incidences of teen suicide among gay teens, criticizing the church for not welcoming gays, and celebrating pride festivities with her new legions of gay fans. Tammy Faye had been a drag icon for years (it’s all about the make-up!), but her activism wasn’t motivated by a realization there was a community she could cynically exploit for a comeback; instead she was moved by a desire to make sure that desperate gay teens knew they were loved, too. Even if their churches, their friends, or even their parents didn’t…she did.

Tammy Faye Messner proved Fitzgerald wrong with a second act that redeemed the grotesque farce of her first. She will be missed.

A long time ago, my friend Cindy sent me a beautiful card. I loved it so much I displayed it in the kitchen, where it has proceeded to get splashed and misshapen from being too close to the sink. At one point I did some ‘net searching, hoping to find a nice print of the image, but came up empty.

Since I recently repainted, I have taken down—and must rehang—all my posters, and while talking about my artwork, this particular print came up in conversation. It reminded me, I said, of Flaming June by Frederic Leighton.

So this morning I decided to try again. And what I found was that I had searched for the wrong name before. (I searched for the name of the card company. d’Oh!) What I was looking for was Dolce Far Niente, by John William Godward.

So I found it! And having found Godward, I found I was quite taken with a lot of his work. I looked at a lot, and some of it reminded me of something.

Maybe fifteen years ago (maybe more), the back cover of Gnosis Magazine had this painting that I loved so much I pulled it off and had it framed. It was the Oracle of Delphi, but in a style that struck me as incongruous, and yet compelling. The Godward paintings reminded me of that, so I did more searching, and you guessed it, it’s a Godward.

This just blows my mind. Here is a painter that I never heard of, and that no one I know has ever mentioned, although he is at least as ripe with Pagan overtones as Waterhouse or Rosetti (another favorite of mine), and yet, I had managed to come across, and save, two different Godward paintings, without even realizing they were by the same artist!

And hey? Here’s the first line of the “Works” section in Wikipedia:

Godward was a Victorian Neo-classicist, and therefore a follower in theory of Frederic Leighton.

You remember Leighton, right? He started this whole train of thought by painting Flaming June.

So all of this teaches me something about the nature of taste, about being drawn to certain things without knowing why, but perhaps that’s a subject for another post.

Dolce Far Niente below the fold. » Read more..