Notebook 39 Pg 24

-The Notes-

• Aghhh - apparently the twelve dollar 'entirely voluntary' entrance fee pays the cost of employing the person whose job it is to collect the twelve dollar entrance fee
• 60 Guilders duffel cloth kettles axes hoes and some wampum
• Caught myself waiting for the DVD to rewind
• Perpetual universal opulence lived in a state of compassion and wisdom emulating the divine.  Addendum 11/10/04 7:22 - Addended addendum 'why is the date and time of any relevance?'
• The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government
• The dissappointment of going underneath the United Nations
• Mother and daughter in matching Mink on 5th avenue

-The Commentary-

Aghhh  apparently the twelve dollar 'entirely voluntary' entry fee goes towards the cost of employing the person whose job it is to collect the twelve dollar entrance fee!
This was the entirely straight-faced answer given to me by a museum in New York when I questioned why they advertised it as free admission but had bulldog faced individuals at reception insisting on a voluntary donation. Turns out everything in there was second-hand anyway.



60 Guilders, duffel cloth, kettles, axes, hoes and some wampum.
My shopping lists do leave me wondering what I was up to that week.
This is really the price that the Dutch settlers paid to the Lenape native Americans in exchange for the island of Manhattan. Often known as the greatest real estate bargain in history, of course the Native Americans had no concept of land actually being owned by anyone so as far as they were concerned they were getting a load of free stuff and a piece of very, very thin wood with soot on it which the traders kept gleefully thrusting under their nose whilst jabbering gobbledegook. Still, a deals a deal as long as no one gets ripped off right?


Caught myself waiting for the DVD to rewind.
One is definitely of a certain age if one does this.



Perpetual universal opulence lived in a state of compassion and wisdom emulating the divine.  Addendum 11/10/04 7:22 
Addended addendum 'why is the date and time of any relevance?'
The first bit is fairly unambiguous - the hopes and aspirations for the Human race - though I spy ego in the necessity of putting in a time and date - which my addended addendum seems to imply I spotted and thus sparked off another internal brain spat.


The true administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government.'
Whenever you watch a film set in a court room in New York it will  inevitably include a shot of the court house steps.
Carved above those steps atop the huge Corinthian columns is this phrase as quoted by George Washington. Alas in 2009 it was discovered he didn't, well not exactly - the word 'true ' was in fact the word 'due' which goes to show that just because something is carved in twenty foot letters above the supreme court in one of the richest, most powerful places on Earth doesn't make it true (or due). Here endeth the lesson.



The disappointment of going underneath the United Nations 
To all those who honestly believe the UN is a really part of some huge conspiracy to rule the world  I offer you its very disappointing gift shop.  A brilliant example of our Human capacity for brilliance and rubbishness so often at the same time. The UN is a fine example  of Humankind in its striving for justice and equality for all. Its gift shop is a glowing testament to the global capacity to make tacky  cliched gimcrackery by the bucket.



Mother and  six year child in matching mink on 5th Avenue
Honestly, talk about Herod's wife and  daughter. The mum looked like mutton dressed as carrion and the daughter looked like a fat Shirley Temple being eating by a small bear. Horrible sight.