The Phantom Scribbler

 I recently attended the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit .  I suggest not going.  It was something like $50 for about 45 min worth of actual content.  The content was well done and quite beautiful, but not $50 worth of beautiful.  Also, all the signs would say things like, "Gogh this way," except the "o" was a sunflower.  Just precious.  All of that said, it was almost worth it for one thing.   Everyone knows the most popular Van Gogh paintings.  Sunflowers, his self portrait, Starry Night, the one with the Dogwood looking tree ... but I saw one that I'd never seen before.  It may have made the entire exhibit worth it.  It's called "Prisoner's Round." The way it was displayed, I only saw part of it, but I immediately knew what it was.  It was prisoners walking in a circle.  And, sure enough, it's called " Prisoner's Round ."  It's patterned after this image by another one of my favorite artists, Gustav Dore.  Van Gogh painted

Once upon a time , I tried to write a new national anthem.  I don't like ours for several reasons.  A) It's about the flag more than the country and B) I don't like the melody.  So, I wrote one which was set to the tune of "Scots Wha Hae."  It was meant to be more about the people and the history and slightly more humble about our faults.  Including this verse: Americans, remember well The broken wing, the riven bell The common man who for you fell Do not forget their worth It's about the "riven bell" part I wanted to write this year.  My son and I talk a lot about flags.  I really don't like ours.  From a design aspect, there's just too much going on.  And after the January 6th Insurrection, I have little tolerance for the Green Mountain Boys and Sons of Liberty , the terrorist-lite entities/militias whose flags were combined to make our flag.   Design-wise, I would love something more simple.  Maybe a circle of stars like the EU flag.  Som