Please remember me when shopping online and use my affiliate links. US HERE – WHY? This helps to pay for health insurance, utilities, groceries, and now also my late mother’s place (which needs a roof). At no extra cost, you provide help for which I am grateful.
This is too good not to share. As it turns out I’ve seen almost all of these paintings. More about the title, below.
|
Hello, friend. So many boring months Mambo of the oil paint, Mambo of the canvas, Whether I weep, whether I sweat, The painter gave us form, Mambo of the oil paint, Mambo of the canvas, If you grow dizzy, dance. Mambo of the oil paint, It breathes Mambo of the canvas, Thank you, friend. |
Hola, amigo. Tantos meses aburridos Mambo del oreo, Mambo de lienzo, Que si lloro, que si sudo, El pintor nos dio la forma, Mambo del doreo, Mambo el lienzo, Si te baleas, baila. Mambo del odio, De respirar Mambo de lienzo, Gracias, amigo. |
The “Stendahl” thing. What’s up with that? Stendahl (+1842) is best known for his books The Charterhouse of Parma and, especially, The Red and the Black. Every seminarian and every young priest should read The Red and the Black.
I think the video is referring to something Stendahl experienced in Florence in the Church of Santa Croce. He related in a book of travels, a common genre then:
As I emerged from the porch of Santa Croce, I was seized with a fierce palpitation of the heart (that same symptom which, in Berlin, is referred to as an attack of the nerves); the well-spring of life was dried up within me, and I walked in constant fear of falling to the ground.
Every seminarian and every young priest should read this book.
Stendahl was in Rome. The photo at the top shows where he stayed, now the prestigious Hotel della Minerva, recently redone inside… wow. On the street, you can see the inscription:
Black to move and mate in 4.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
“The other day I shot an elephant with an obelisk. How I managed to maneuver the obelisk I’ll never know.”
But seriously folks. The elephant was much admired in antiquity, for good reason. Pliny says:
“Maximum est elephans proximumque humanis sensibus, quippe intellectus illis sermonis patrii et imperiorum obedientia, officiorum quae didicere memoria, amoris et gloriae voluptas, immo vero, quae etiam in homine rara, probitas, prudentia, aequitas, religio quoque siderum solisque ac lunae veneratio.”
Most of that seems plausible, although I’m interested to see now whether elephants venerate the sun, moon, and stars.
Black to move and mate in 4
This is a complicated one! Eight variations with 7 leading to mate in 4 and 1 to mate in 2. Most of the complexity comes from white having 5 different options to escape check in the 3rd move. In fact, I have to wonder if there’s a simpler approach that avoids most of the difficulties. Also wonder whether there might be a missed line that blows up the solution below.
I used labels beginning with an asterisk (e.g. *A1, *B2, etc) to tie things together and make it easier to follow the variations – at least for me.
The key here seemed to be making good use of black’s b7 pawn by getting it out of the way of the d7 rook while keeping white in difficulties.
Anyway, here goes…
1. …Ra4+
2. Kxa4 {or *A1 Kb3,*A2 Kc3} b5+
3. cxb5+ {or *B1 Ka5,*B2 Ka3,*B3 Kb4,*B4 Kb3} Qxb5+
4. Ka3 {forced} Ra7# mate in 4
If *B1
3. Ka5 Ra7+
4. Kb4 {forced} Qxc4# mate in 4
If *B2
3. Ka3 Ra7+
4. Kb3 {or *C1 Kb4} Qxc4# mate in 4
If *C1
4. Kb4 Qxc4# mate in 4
If *B3
3. Kb4 Qxc4+
4. Ka3 {forced} Ra7# mate in 4
If *B4
3. Kb3 Qxc4+
4. Ka3 {forced} Ra7# mate in 4
If *A1
2. Kb3 Qxc4# mate in 2
If *A2
2. Kc3 Qxc4+
3. Kd2 {forced} Re2+
4. Kd1 {forced} Qc2# mate in 4
Being an art history junkie I can’t explain what this youtube did to me. It was, in itself, a masterpiece. I wish I was still a teacher.
I think I’ll be watching for a very long time.