Synesthesia - Tasting Sound

Synesthesia - is a weird scientific term I first heard two years ago. In regard to our 5 senses - it is the odd instance where the sense of sound/ hearing somehow triggers a taste response in addition. It is almost like a short circuit of your senses where an external response, a word or even a sound, unleashes a natural response and you notice a quick reflex of taste in your mouth. Sometimes it is merely a thought of a certain taste in your brain. Nonetheless, it is a scientific phenomenon where a stimulus triggers the wrong sense in your brain.

I bring this post up right now for two reasons. I know I do not exhibit Synesthesia, but my morning coffee has recently been tasting like soap. Possibly in the same way some people get that response from cilantro. Something is misfiring. It could be that my Keurig needs a good vinegar rinse. Or maybe our dish soap is extremely pervasive.

A second thought on my brain are the concepts of current drum corps shows this summer. Totally Disconnected. But the marching community loves to come up with bizarre concepts based on a weird word association, so they create these non-words, that are supposed to create some magical response just like the Synthesia noted above. However, it is usually lost on the other 99% of the population that remains perplexed at said concept. For example this year we have In Absintheia, symbio.sys, Exogenesis and others. In drum corps, sometimes there is an aesthetic approach to a show design instead of something either logical or emotional. In these cases, there is also the risk that they are so far off base that the audiences are not in on the gig. It becomes a Master's Thesis project the staffs are left pandering to the judges in hopes of being rewarded. You can guess how I feel about most of these designs.

But back to the concept at hand. Synesthesia affects a mere percentage of the population and is hardly a quantifiable science. It comes in countless forms. It can arise from hearing words that trigger a taste. It can come from a word/ taste association going back to your childhood. (Much like a certain song can trigger a time sensitive memory from your past.) Some people state it doesn't come as a taste, but a feeling of a texture in your mouth. This one seems hard for me to fathom. Others maintain it is not words, but specific sounds from the environment that bring it on. Some of us might remember that when we were young and forced to eat a food we did not like. if you plugged your nose while chewing, supposedly it diminished the taste in your mouth. I do not doubt that all our main senses are somehow correlated. I also have always wondered about vision - if what I see is blue is the same color sensation as you would see it.

The scientific reality is that the taste buds on the tip of our tongue are highly sensitive and organized into different groups of sweet, bitter, acid et al. And with all the circuitry of our neurology, it is easy to see how misfiring could happen in 1% of the population. All of this means absolutely nothing in the big picture. It is just one of those thoughts that popped up in my mind again today, Inquiring Minds Want to Know.

Synesthesia; Wikipedia

Danny Fitzgerald - the Brooklyn Boys

For Pride month, I wanted to script a few blog posts that are connected, but also their own small detours from the chosen features we usually see in the media. We are in an era of incessant cancel culture over everything Gay Pride, So I found this artist takes us out of the present and into something that is more nostaligia.

Johnny New York 1962

Even then, in the 1960's, there has always been tension between what is creative photography vs. what is perceived as erotic art. It goes back centuries! What is the distinction between a naked Greek statue in marble vs. a Black & White photo capturing a silhouette in an alluring pose? We can all argue over the term "tasteful", but it still remains a creative art form. It just becomes a matter of if you are willing to buy or appreciate.

Danny Fitzgerald was a New York City photographer who captured the streets of the city in much the same way that Vivian Maier did. She has become renowned in the last decade; Fitzgerald remains more of a casualty that is dismissed. His genre were the street gang punks and cruisers of Brooklyn. He called them his "demi-gods." He started by capturing their images on the streets and parks of Brooklyn, New Jersey and even in the nearby woods of PA. Over time he "upgraded" and persuaded them into his studio space in Carroll Gardens which he dubbed Le Demi Dieux. There was also his sexy and younger partner, Richard Bennett, they would entice the young men into settings that were more glamorous and pushed them towards more erotic poses. No one is aware that sexual favors were exchanged, but the gushing over their sensuality certainly made a dent in their blue-collar egos. At the time in the early 1960's it was considered Beefcake vintage and only appeared in seedy rags like Muscles a Go Go and The Young Physique. It has taken a full 50 years to resurface and be viewed in an entirely different light.

Stef, New York 1963

Somehow photos were found and curated for a first-time exhibition by Steven Kasher Gallery in New York back in 2014. It sounds as if enough interest came of it that they are also published into a coffee table book of full-page photographs.

Tommy, 1964

I find that the pictures have both an innocence and an inherent sensuality. I am guessing most of the models were late teens and maybe early 20s, but not much older than that. In spite of being street toughs, I assume most of them are only discovering whatever their sexuality is. None of it feels manufactured. It's as if the boys from West Side Story were given a magazine feature in Life! Fascinating.

Here is a link to the original blog article where I found them:

Alain Truong: Photography

Richard Bennet, Danny's partner 1962

Anthony, 1963

Orest, New York 1960

Peeps Factory

I know I am one of a small fan club when it comes to Easter Peeps. They are pure sugar and colors not usually found in a food spectrum. This is nothing to speak of the continual chain of bizarre flavors like Dill Pickle, Sour Watermelon and Cake Batter among others. There was a time in my late youth and the beginning of microwaves that we got the biggest kick out of putting them in for 45 seconds and watching them implode into a ball of white goo. My family also makes an annual trek to a Peeps contest in Maryland where they attempt to build mini creations out of them as if they were a Lego entry in the State Fair. But I defy anyone to not give them credit when toasted over a campfire/ fire pit and smooshed in the middle a high-quality S'more! With that creme center and the burnt sugar coating, they are a mere step away from a fine creme brulee.

So, it was only fitting that the NY Times just published an inside tour on the conveyor belt process of bringing these sweet marshmallow treats to the masses. If I remember correctly a few years back, during the pandemic there was an outage of Peeps stock along with toilet paper, eggs and other grocery products. The Peeps Factory in Bethlehem PA pumps out 5.5 million of these candies a day. Take a moment to process that! The article credits family member Bob Born, who just died at age 98, with inventing the incredible factory line that uses hoses & spray jets to go from sugar to chick in a short 6 minutes.

Please read the article if you are able to which has great images that show the evolution in block steps:

• 1: Preparing the Sugar - where it is tumbled and sprayed with jets into those bright colors.
• 2: Cooking the Marshmallow - sugar, water & corn syrup are heated into what is called a "bob" and then stiffened with gelatin that needs to be just the exact temperature to set.
• 3: Shaping the Chicks (or Bunnies) - the candy is pumped and whipped into shape before being dropped onto the conveyor belt.
• 4: Sugar Shower - compressed air comes at the chicks from all angles creating a sugar storm which coats them while still soft.
• 5: Adding Eyes - two small drops of "carnauba wax" are calibrated and shot at them for eyes.
• 6: Final Inspection - they have a lengthy route on the belt allowing them to cool, there is quality control and eventual packing while they are still slightly warm.

A Trip to the Peeps Factory 

Kitty Superheroes

It is Spring. It is the change of seasons and a time of new growth. We often think of our gardens, seedlings and bulb blooms in April. But it is also notorious for litters of kittens, bunnies and the like. I can vouch that our Humane Society shelter kittens continue to be adopted out quickly, as it seems no one can pass up the face of a sweet feline with a pink tongue.

I am pairing these Cute Kitties up in a post that again begs the question of AI created artwork. The world of computer-generated photos is beyond me other than simple photo editing of images I have taken. And I do love the ReFace app for silly takes imposing my face onto vintage pictures or epic film clips. As is the case/ argument for this new realm of "creative arts," there is plenty of material floating out there in virtual space, but not a ton of license showing who created the content or even where it was generated from.

I have found a collection of photos rendering kittens as Marvel characters, Harry Potter characters, or other notable personalities. I am only sharing because they are CUTE. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of any of them nor give credit to the creative aspect of them. I am not even sharing a link for them as they are just out there in virtual space on Tik-Tok, Reddit or others. I just felt like sharing some sweet kittens for Spring!

Michael Urie; the Boy-Next-Door Crush

The concept of the Boy Next Door is an archaic notion that goes back to the days of Judy Garland, Mystery Date board game and Archie Andrews from the comics. It implies wholesomeness and charm without pushing the "sexy" quotient too far. He would be the vanilla date who doesn't over step. The one you could bring home to meet the parents. But then also, the one most likely to be your buddy and friend instead of the one to sneak off into the backseat with.

 

Michael Urie would be That Guy for me. Not oozing the sexuality of a Jake Gyllenhaal or the leading man image of a Chris Evans. But I defy anyone to deny that he is aging like a fine wine and comes up aces in everything he sets out to conquer.

I was first amused by him in Ugly Betty as the eccentric Marc St. James. He had incredible chemistry with Vanessa Williams and Becki Newton. He was witty, had an impeccable fashion sense and spitfire comic timing. I am 20 years older than him, but I assume he became somewhat of a role model for young teens that were itching to see where they registered in terms of their sexuality.

I became aware that he was next seen on Broadway in the revival of How To Succeed In Business in a supporting role. I thought maybe it was "star" turn until I realized the stage was where he had really planted his roots. Being a Julliard grad gives him strong pedigree. He succeeds in any genre he takes on. He was riveting in both the revival of Torch Song Trilogy as well as the title role in Hamlet with the Shakespeare Theater Co. I was gobsmacked watching his backstage antics where he recited Hamlet dressing room speeches in costume & character as Arnold from Torch Song. A maniacal mash-up. During the pandemic, I was also astounding when he recreated his role in Buyer and Cellar, a one man show about tending to Barbra Streisand's menagerie of collectables. He dazzled in a live stream filmed entirely in his own studio apartment. Filmed exclusively by his amazing partner Ryan, it was a highlight of that very dark time.

He continues to push boundaries on stage in new works and also demands change in our social norms of what is "normal" for an openly gay male. Single All the Way on Netflix may not have been groundbreaking material. But it was a sincere story that was authentically told. Watching it a second time this holiday season a year later, I was still as smitten with him.

 

These are all his accolades as a performer. But back to that Boy Next Door quality he possesses... Rather than vanilla, he comes full scale in all the colors of the rainbow. He is genuine, articulate, has great humor and boundless enthusiasm. I admire so much how he and his partner Ryan Spahn celebrate each other's work, collaborate together, and then at other times are just present for the other. Today Ryan had a post with pics of them "eventing." That is a true relationship. I am constantly amazed that the two of them almost always respond to a comment I have made on their social media. It shows that they both listen and are hardly swept up in the paparazzi of the great work they both continue to do. Michael speaks with wisdom and candor. And as for that "sexy"? This fabulous feature in this month's Photobook checks that box off the list as well. Still an impeccable fashion sense. Photos by Ben Cope.

 

Trans History Repeating Itself

Every once in a while I use this blog to dig into deeper issues than gardening, the arts or simple opinion pieces. Right now there is so much currency in cancel culture. The divides are getting vast, to the point that they are now impacting lives that had at one point been safe. The push and pull in our cultures seems to be ebbing much more into the past. This particular article really struck me in that we are not going back years or decades. Instead, this is exactly where we were as a civilization a century ago. These same stories were wiped away and erased. This makes us not only ignorant, but an absolutely cruel species.

 Magnus Hirschfeld was a doctor in Germany at the turn of last century. He was at an age watching the onset of Facism and the Holocaust in his country. He was also gay. He was pioneering the field of sexual identity before the 1920s and was documenting the concept of gender fluidity and noted that some people found themselves somewhere in the middle. He was aware of bisexuality, transgender and non binary as being "in accordance with their nature" for these patients. It was not sick or abnormal to him. These terms we are now struggling with, were the same terms he dignified back then.

 In 1919 he purchased a villa in Berlin and opened his Institute for Sexual Research. Its stated purpose was to be a place of "research, teaching, healing and refuge" that could "free the individual from physical ailments, psychological afflictions and social deprivation." It provided sex education and clinics on contraception. This is decades before our Planned Parenthood clinics. It became a safe haven for transvestites and female activists. By 1930 he was performing the world's first gender -affirmation surgeries. While groundbreaking in the medical sense, it still faced persecution from any sort of legal rights. This should sound very familiar to us 100 years later.

With the rise of the Nazi party by 1932, by 1933 Hitler was in power. Thus began the extermination of anything deemed unworthy of living or assimilation. Sadly, Hirschfeld's Institute was destroyed on May 6, 1933. He was out of the country by then. But sadly, his bust and a library of 20,000 books and journals were torched in the street in a huge bonfire. The loss was catastrophic.

But what makes it even more painful, Erwin Gohrbandt, who was Hirschfeld's colleague and premiere surgeon chose to stay with the Reich and later utilized those same skills on prison camp patients with operations of mutilation. Despite surviving, Hirschfeld and his partner Giese both soon died in Paris. Magnus of a stroke in 1935 and Giese by suicide soon after. His work has been given some nods in pop culture on the show Transparent and the film The Danish Girl who was an actual patient of his - but he is never credited for his work in the novel or the film. His legacy has effectively been erased.

So here we stand 100 years later. The same ugly fears and arguments rear their heads again. This should be science supported by history and data. And yet we fling proverbs and moral judgements of righteousness to bar progress from being made. Both in our families and in our medical communities. This is a human travesty and this history needs to be not only revisited, but broadcast. Please read this entire article which is amazingly documented from what ashes remain.

The Forgotten History of the World's 1st Trans Clinic

Polar Bear Playdate

Polar Bears are those magnificent giant creatures that represent winter in its full glory. Like so many other wild animals - cheetahs, zebras and even monkeys, they appear regal and jolly as if they pose no threat to humans at all. Even as that is not the case. I remember seeing them at zoos growing up or here in Minnesota where they splash around in a cold pool or slide on a bed of ice. Very amiable fellows. Possibly even with a sense of humor.

This is a photo essay by Dmitry Kokh published recently in the Guardian. He is a wildlife photographer who was en route to a session on Russia's Wrangel Island which is a UNESCO nature preserve. He describes it as the motherlode of all places to observe Polar Bears and notes it as a maternity ward for them. One day, due to bad weather and floating ice chunks, they took shore leave at a deserted weather station on Kolyuchin Island. Among the rocky shores and abandoned buildings, they noted a "sleuth" of bears had taken over the empty dwellings.

His pictures capture a very unusual atmosphere of content and curiosity with these bears taking full ownership of the village. Again, we have to be mindful they are a dangerous and giant animal. So, with the assistance of good drone photography, Dmitry was able to get some epic images of them without disrupting them. He notes that they were curious about the buzzing of the craft, but generally uninterested. 

The expedition noted they probably landed here because of the floating ice bergs and simply swam ashore as they neared. Polars apparently have an instinct to explore and play with doors, windows and latches. So, it is not uncommon for them to venture into these empty spaces. They are also now smart enough to realize they can be prey from hunters and take refuge in a safe shelters.

Enjoy the images and read the travelogue. This is exactly what a Polar Bear life should look like.

Polar Bears in Arctic weather Station: Guardian