McCoy Grecian Pottery and Holiday Greens

In this pots and plants series entry, we have a two McCoy Grecian pieces with holiday greens. We take out the McCoy Grecian pottery around Christmas time. Its swags of embossed greenery and gold crackled finish seem Christmas-y without being over the top. Here, they are pictured with some purchased holiday greens (holly, spruce, pine, etc.) and yet more Skimmia foremanii. (See Weller Claywood and Skimmia foremanii for more information about Skimmia.) From the McCoy Potttery Collectors’ Society site, it says that Grecian line was introduced in 1957: “Ivory, with Green decoration and 24k Gold networking.”

Panettone 2011

Panettone seems to have exploded on the American market in the last few years. One can scarcely step into the local grocery store without being greeted with a floor-to-ceiling stack of panettone. Our beef is that many panettone for sale both have goofy flavors and endorsements that seem wrong. (Bauducco features it is made with Hershey. That's enough to make us go running and screaming in the other direction.) Or, when you buy the panettone and take it home it is dry and disappointing. So we decided this year, snobs that we are, to make panettone ourselves. Fatto in casa… as they say. See all those years of Italian language lessons have paid off.

The origin of panettone is not exactly known and it isn’t just an Italian holiday treat as many other countries have either adopted this sweet bread or have a variation that is very similar. However in our minds, panettone and Italy are forever intertwined terms. We spent the days before Christmas one year in Positano and the site of people hustling and bustling about carrying their panettone was memorable to say the least.

The panettone recipe we followed was out of the December 2011 issue of La Cucina Italiana - a recipe from the Tartine Bakery (recipe here). The recipe played out over three days. Day 1: Refresh our starter (we already had a sourdough starter). Day 2: Make the poolish (pre-ferment). Day 3: Follow the rest of the recipe. We used the Fingered Citron or Buddha’s Hand (Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis) as the lemon zest called for in the recipe. See the post Annashaab Vase with Buddha’s Hand for a picture of this citron.

Panettone with Buddha’s Hand Citron

Panettone Waiting to go in the Oven

Panettone with a Slice Missing – Couldn’t Resist

Weller Claywood and Skimmia foremanii

In this pots and plants series entry, we have a two small Weller Claywood pots with Skimmia foremanii looking very festive with its red berries.

Weller Pottery (1872 - 1948) of Zanesville, Ohio was a prolific pottery company that created pieces ranging from high-end art ware to functional commercial ware. 1910 generally marks the beginning of Weller's middle period, and the pottery's chief designer at this time was Austrian native Rudolph Lorber, who created some of Weller's most recognized lines, among them Claywood. Introduced circa 1910, Claywood, along with the related Burntwood line, features naturalistic design motifs primarily of flora and fauna, with the scenes divided into panels on the Claywood line. The Weller Claywood pieces shown here are smaller pieces, less than four inches high. For examples of more Weller Claywood pottery see the images from the 2001 Wisconsin Pottery Association and Show & Sale feature Weller Pottery.

Featured with the Weller pieces is Skimmia foremanii. Skimmia is a genus of a few evergreen shrubs and small trees in the Rutaceae (citrus) family. S. foremanii has been in our yard for about ten or more years. It isn’t watered but by natural sources and is in a shady location. The leaves are smallish and slightly waxy. The bright holly-like berries appear in the late Fall. We find sprigs (with berries) of the Skimmia scattered around our yard. Some animal or bird snips the end off and drags the berries off but occasionally leaves them for us to find. In our notes we recorded that we purchased both a male and female so we get the berries, but currently, the two look like one plant. S. foremanii is a dwarf.

The genus name Skimmia comes from a Latinization of part of the Japanese name for Skimmia japonica. The species name foremanii is named after one Mr. Foreman of Dalkreith, Scotland sometime in the late 1800s. Mr. Foreman exhibited the S. foremanii (a hybrid between S. japonica and S. reevesiana) in 1881 in Edinburgh. More details can be found in Journal of the Arnold Arboretum, Volume III, April, 1922, Number 4. The journal entry is titled:
New Species, Varieties and Combinations from the Herbarium and the Collections of the Arnold Arboretum, by Alfred Rehder. The article is on page 211.


In the mantle photo,the painting in the center is Padre e figlio (1997) by Alessandro Gambetti, an Italian artist. To the left is a piece by AJ Power, a Seattle artist.

Richard Dawkins and The Magic of Reality

The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True is a book by Richard Dawkins with illustrations by Dave McKean. The book poses and answers twelve common questions about everyday life. First, possible answers to each question are given from myths and then, the real answer in the form of an engaging scientific explanation follows. The idea is that the scientific explanation is not only real but much more magical. You can experience the book as a book, as an audiobook or (magically?) as a digital book / application on an iPad - which is what we review here.

The Message

The message of the book is that science has it’s own magic and that magic is reality. Mythology - of all color and stripe - is not necessary to explain reality when you have science. The book’s message is targeted at an audience from early teens onward who are interested in science and understanding some fundamental questions like What are Things Made Of? (Chapter 4), What is the Sun? (Chapter 6), Are we Alone? (Chapter 9), or What is an Earthquake? (Chapter 10). The book tackles twelve basic questions about reality, answering them in an easy to understand language that uses analogies and illustrations, and audio and video in the iPad application.

Even though the purpose of the book is to dispel of myths in favor of science, the descriptions of myths turns out to be somewhat, shall we say, endearing. Yes, Dawkins dispatches with them as not necessary to explain the phenomena in question, but the presentation of them works both in word and illustration. The illustrations, some of them animated, are engaging and complimentary of the myths. Overall, experiencing the imagery and text woven together is quite effective. Maybe Dawkins and McKean should work on a book of myths. It could be interesting.

 
Image from Chapter 12 – Dave Hume

Unfortunately, the mention of Richard Dawkins is enough to raise the hackles of a good number of people and I’m sure he could care less. Richard Dawkins is, among other things, an atheist. To quote a recent study, Atheists As “Other”: Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society (AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW, 2006, VOL. 71 (April:211–234)), that a friend sent us: “[u]sing new national survey data, it [the study] shows atheists are less likely to be accepted, publicly and privately, than any others from a long list of ethnic, religious, and other minority groups.” So Dawkins’ outspokenness in his atheism automatically brings with it condemnation of any work from him, no matter how worthy. It’s a shame, because for readers who don’t invoke a higher power for describing events like rainbows or earthquakes, much of the book is informative and entertaining. Granted, for creationists or believers in miracles, the book will be hard to read. And speaking of miracles, they are covered (really, dispatched with) in the concluding chapter What is a Miracle? In this chapter, Dawkins discusses among other topics, the maxim from the Scottish thinker David Hume (1711 - 1776) regarding testimony and miracles is discussed. The maxim states “[t]hat no testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavors to establish.” It’s a handy maxim to keep in mind for many things.

Overall, the content of the the Magic of Reality is going to be of interest to a young science-inclined reader or even an adult reader who might be embarrassed about his grasp of basic questions covered in this book.

The Medium

Image from Chapter 6 – Egyptian Legend for the Sun and Moon Cycle

The medium is the message is the famous phrase by Marshall McLuhan and we didn’t want the medium is the distraction to be the case with this book. Assuming that there is some base level of learning to extract from an effort like The Magic of Reality, we don’t know if “experiencing” the application on the iPad was better than if we had read the book or listened to the audiobook. (What is the right consumption verb for a digital book/application? ) Learning in our experience is quite situational and dependent on which combination of senses you get the most lit up on. The Magic of Reality application hits on the visual, aural, and tactile senses (taste and smell we’ll have to wait on) and so as conventional thinking goes it engages more senses, so has a greater opportunity for impact. The challenge is that the iPad is a medium that we typically used for fractured, asynchronous tasks like a little browsing, a little communicating, a little gaming, a little reading. Fractured tasks work against the immersive experience that a good learning experience requires. However, these temptations can be overcome with some discipline. Turn off the push notifications and resist the urge to play the next word in Words with Friends.

The iPad application blurs the boundary of what a book is as it naturally leverages interactive features (touch), audio, and video of the iPad. Images on the iPad can be especially vibrant, and in this respect the digital book/application works well because of the fantastic illustrations by David McKean. Some of the illustrations are static and some are “dynamic” in that they flutter or grow, weaving in and around the text.

Most chapters have some interactive part as well that is either a demonstration or a game to help drive home the chapters main question. Some of the games work, some don’t and we thought a few were not necessary. For example, in Chapter 3 (evolution) you are presented with a game to get some floating iguanas to shore by imitating the wind and blowing into the microphone. It felt a little silly. In Chapter 7 (rainbows), the game initially crashed the application. (It was later fixed with an update.) Can you crash a real book? It’s like every time you turned to a certain page in a real book it flopped out of your hands and on to the floor and you had to reach down and pick it up. Overall, the less successful interactive parts don’t distract from the text and imagery which really is the heart of the book.

Example Image from Chapter 7 Showing Navigation

Annashaab Vase with Buddha’s Hand

In this installment of the pots and plants series we have an Annashaab vase with a Buddha’s Hand. The Annashaab vase was made in Lervarefabrikken Annashaab and was likely designed by Eiler Løndal (1887 - 1971) who came to Annashaab after the closing of Danico (another pottery maker) in 1929 - as described by Starkeld.com where we purchased the vase. The Annashaab Pottery existed between 1891-1958. This vase is stamped with an L in a A and Denmark and is incised 618.

The Buddha’s Hand is also called a Fingered Citron and has the scientific name Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis. The variety name derives comes from sarco, from the Greek sarx or sarkos meaning flesh, and dactylis, from the Greek daktylos for finger. Sarcodactylis refers to the unusual shape of this member of the citrus family: it looks like many plump fingers. The visual aspect of it caught our eye first in the local grocery store, but it is the subtle and intoxicating smell that sealed the deal. It turns out that scenting rooms is one of the ways people use this citron. And so the Buddha’s Hand sits in an Annashaab vase in an area we pass by frequently so we catch a whiff. So far we’ve only been enjoying the visual and olfactory aspects of the Buddha’s Hand and haven’t tried it in a culinary setting.

When you look at the imagery of Buddha, pay attention to the hand gestures or mudras. Each mudra has a meaning like gesture of warning, greeting, or reassurance. What is our Buddha Hand saying to us?

Annashaab Vase with Buddha’s Hand

Annashaab Vase Bottom Stamp and Incision

Kähler and Miscanthus sinensis ‘Zebrinus’

 In today’s pots and plants series, Kähler meets Miscanthus sinensis ‘Variegata’. This Kähler vase we picked up a while back not knowing much about it, but the stylized leaves and glossy finish were, and still are, very appealing. For more on the history of Kähler, see this post: Kähler and Colchicum. The bottom is incised HAK and Danmark.

The zebra grass, Miscanthus sinensis ‘Variegata’ is been a favorite in the yard for years. Unfortunately, its position isn’t the greatest - north side of the house with limited sun - so it struggles a bit. Miscanthus is from the Greek mischos (“stalk”) and anthos (“flower”) referring to the spikelets [from Calfora.net]. The genus name refers to the fact that this grass is native to eastern Asia; sinesis is Latin for “of or from China”. The cultivar ‘Zebrinus’ refers to the conspicuous yellow spots on the leaves and stalks reminiscent of a zebra. An Asian grass with an African twist meets a Danish pot?

Curious Naturalists

The Curious Naturalist is a book by Niko Tinbergen (1907 - 1988) that was first published in 1958. The edition discussed here is a reprint of the revised 1973 text. The book covers the time period from the late 1920s to the 1950s during which Tinbergen became an eminent Dutch ethologist (one who studies animal behavior) and ornithologist (one who studies birds). Tinbergen was a co-winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. His prize speech of December 12, 1973 is interesting because in it, he credits observation - the central theme of Curious Naturalists and really of Tinbergen’s career - as a critical factor for winning the prize. The speech starts off talking about the “unconventional decision” to choose three men (Tinbergen, Konrad Lorenz, Karl von Frisch shared the prize) who were, in some sense, outside the field and whose work was that as “mere animal watchers”. He argues in the speech that observation can in fact bring a lot to bear in physiology (citing the then still relatively new ideas that became the Alexander Technique) and medicine (observations on autism). It’s not clear how the observations have held up in time.

So what is a naturalist? A naturalist conducts scientific research of plants and animals with observation being his main research tool. That doesn’t mean that the naturalist doesn’t experiment and test things, just that a strong emphasis is placed on observation. In fact in the book, the typical pattern of the research that Tinbergen presents starts with an observation period of an animal, followed by some rather simple, yet ingenious experiment or alteration to the animal’s environment, and further observation of the animal with the new environment. A typical example is the work he describes on the Beewolf, Philanthus triangulatum, in the first few chapters. At first, Philanthus is observed to understand the basics: each female Beewolf wasp has one burrow and returns with bees for the larvae inside. But how does Philanthus find its burrow entrance? Landmarks seem to be the key, so different aspects of Philanthus’s homing skills (finding their way back to their burrow) are tested by placing different objects (landmarks) around burrow entrances. The tests become more elaborate and the response of the insects is watched. In a few tests, all the natural landmarks near burrow entrances are move elsewhere to mislead the Beewolf and it works. Tinbergen writes “[a]t the end of such a series of tests I replaced the landmarks in their original position, and this finally enabled the wasp to return to her home. Thus the test always had a happy ending - for both of us. This was not pure altruism on my part - I could now use the wasp for another test if I wished.”

Some of the species discussed include:

- Beewolf wasp, Philanthus triangulatum, the spark that really got Tinbergen started.
- Sand wasp, Ammophila campestris
- Moths, Ennomos alniaria and Ennomos quercinaria
- Moths, Biston betularia betularia and the difference between morpha typica and carbonaria
- Grayling moth, Eumenis semele (Hipparchia semele)
- Black-headed Gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus,
- (Black-legged) Kittiwake, Rissa brevirostris

It’s interesting to note that Tinbergen didn’t title the book Curious Naturalist, singular, and instead used the plural, Naturalists. I think it points to his desire that this book isn’t so much about him, singularly, but about us, plural, and that we could all benefit from being a curious naturalist. And upon reading this book, it would strike me as odd if you didn’t approach observation of your surroundings - be they an urban lot or deep-woods - a little differently and with a little more respect. But, I suppose if you pick up this book, you are already bent this way and Tinbergen just pushes you a bit more.

One fun aspects of the book are the many photos and illustrations. The photos aren’t glamourized, just naturalists poking around in the field. The illustrations often involve some form of abstracted field observation, observation setup, or results and are engaging to look at. Here is an example where two of Tinbergen’s students study the homing behavior of the sand wasp, Ammophila campestris, which climbs shrubs or small trees, takes a survey, and then jumps in the direction of her nest with prey (a caterpillar) in its grasp. The illustration below shows paths home for one wasp and that a strong learned “long” path.

 

Connections

I decided to read the Curious Naturalists after reading an excerpt of it in The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing (2008) edited by Richard Dawkins, who incidentally was a student of Tinbergen. While reading the Naturalists I kept thinking of a bike ride on the Waterland route from Amsterdam to Marken we took in 2004. I remember being struck by the beauty of the polders, waterways, farms, and wooden houses. The route is across Zuider Zee where, on the south end (in Hulshorst) Tinbergen studied Philanthus.

Another point of connection is that I started the Curious Naturalists before taking a trip on the Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk and finished it when I returned. Chapters 7 - 9 are set in Ravenglass, in Cumbria. Ravenglass is just a few kilometers south from St. Bees where we started our walk.

After I finished the book it struck me how much room for improvement I have for making good observations. I went on the Wainwright walk with the goal of identifying plants (one a day) and while I was able to do that (see western botanical guide and eastern botanical guide), there were many cases that I didn’t do basic things like count petals, examine leaves, make notes on the surroundings and, in general, just take the time to observe.

On a related note, while on the Wainwright walk I saw many rabbits that succumbed to myxomatosis. Tinbergen mentions the disease in Chapter 7 in regard to the vegetation of the dunes of Ravenglass which seemed to be recovering because of the reduced rabbit (“undiscriminating vegetarian”) population - killed by myxomatosis.

Kähler and Yucca gloriosa ‘Variegata’

In today’s pots and plants series we have Kähler meets Yucca gloriosa ‘Variegata’. We’ve had these three yucca in the ground for about 15 years now. Each year we trim off the bottom leaves and over time the yucca are now a foot or two off the ground and the trunks are visible. Yucca gloriosa has the common name of Spanish Dagger. If you ever have worked around these plants, you’ll know that dagger is apt. While trimming the leaves shown above, we got pierced several times. The daggers are sharp and quick, like a needle – when they pierce your skin. Another common name for this plan is Moundlily because it grows in mounds along the sand dunes along the coast and barrier islands of the southeastern USA (distribution map). In some of the pictures here bloom spikes can be seen.

This year’s trimmed off leaves are shown in - we believe - a Kähler pot created some time in the first half of the 20^th century. (Someday, we are going to buy a book that tells us what the true dates are…) The vase has is mostly tan with a green leaf motif. It has a mark that looks like HAK, but the mark is hard to make out. For more on Kähler, see Kähler and Colchicum.

Yucca gloriosa ‘variegata’ – Seattle

Java, Apache Ant and Hello World

This post discusses the following tasks:

• Task 1: How to create a simple Hello World Java application and run it from the command line
• Task 2: How to build a JAR and use the JAR to run the Hello World application
• Task 3: How to use Apache Ant to create a build file for the Hello World application
• Task 4: How to build a Hello World application, using an external library (log4j), at the command line
• Task 5: How to create an Apache Ant build file for a Hello World application that uses an external library
• Task 6: How to pass arguments into the Hello World application using the build file

We must say that scarcely 4 months ago, this was all Greek to us. And through a recent job change, I was plunged into the world of Ant and Java. We are mostly documenting this because it was amazing how long it took to get these basics straightened out and we want a place to come back to and use as a cheat sheet!

(Once we saw a boat called Hello World in Shilshole Bay Marina. When we asked the owners if they were programmers one said yes, mentioning that not many people get the name.)

So Java is a popular programming language. And Ant is, from the Apache Ant Project site: “…a Java library and command-line tool whose mission is to drive processes described in build files as targets and extension points dependent upon each other. The main known usage of Ant is the build of Java applications.” Using Ant to build a Java application is what we show here. The tasks shown here take their cue from the Hello World with Apache Ant instructions on the Apache Ant web site. We created this post because we felt there was more room for clarification.

Testing environment for this post:

• Windows 7
• Java 1.7 for x64 (download)
• Apache Ant (binaries, install instructions)
• Environment variables set as follows:
  • JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0
  • JRE_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0\jre
  • ANT_HOME=C:\tools\apache-ant-1.8.2
  • Path={your full path};C:\tools\apache-ant-1.8.2\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0\bin

After you have everything set up, you should be able to you open a command prompt and type

    ant –help

to get the help for Ant.

Task 1: How to create a simple Hello World Java application and run it from the command line

1. Create the following directory structure (where [basedir] is some directory you choose).

[basedir]\src\packagename
[basedir]\build\classes
[basedir]\build\jar

2. Create a file HelloWorld.java and put the following inside of [basedir]\src\packagename directory.

package packagename;
public class HelloWorld {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.println("Hello World");
    }
}

3. Compile and run the application using the following commands. Run the commands while in [basedir].

javac -d build\classes src\packagename\HelloWorld.java
java -classpath build\classes packagename.HelloWorld

The second statement runs the application by calling the class file. If you get an "Unsupported major.minor version" check that your java.exe and javac.exe are the same versions. For example, check "java -version" and "javac -version".

Task 2: How to build a JAR and use the JAR to run the Hello World application

It’s more realistic to build a Java Archive (JAR) file which makes it easily to distribute your awesome Hello World application.

1. Create a manifest file. The command below assumes you create the manifest file in [basedir].

    echo Main-Class: packagename.HelloWorld>myManifest

2. Create the JAR. (Don’t miss the “dot” at the end of the command.)

    jar cfm build\jar\HelloWorld.jar myManifest -C build\classes .

3. Run the application using the JAR.

    java -jar build\jar\HelloWorld.jar

Task 3: How to use Apache Ant to create a build file for the Hello World application

The following XML file is a build file. Copy the text below and put into a file called build.xml at the root of the HelloWorld application ([basedidr]). To invoke the build file, type “ant” at the command line. This runs the main target in the build file. A target in the build file is a container for tasks. To run other targets in the build file type “ant targetname” like “ant compile” to compile. Note that the project tag defines the default task as main. The main task in turn depends on the clean and run task. The run task in turns depends on the jar task. Finally, the jar task depends on the compile task. So the cascade of dependencies catches all the targets.

<project name="HelloWorld" basedir="." default="main">
  <property name="src.dir"     value="src"/>
  <property name="build.dir"   value="build"/>
  <property name="classes.dir" value="${build.dir}/classes"/>
  <property name="jar.dir"     value="${build.dir}/jar"/>
  <property name="main-class"  value="packagename.HelloWorld"/>

  <target name="clean">
    <delete dir="${build.dir}"/>
  </target>

  <target name="compile">
    <mkdir dir="${classes.dir}"/>
    <javac srcdir="${src.dir}" destdir="${classes.dir}"/>
  </target>

  <target name="jar" depends="compile">
    <mkdir dir="${jar.dir}"/>
    <jar destfile="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar" basedir="${classes.dir}">
      <manifest>
        <attribute name="Main-Class" value="${main-class}"/>
      </manifest>
    </jar>
  </target>

  <target name="run" depends="jar">
    <java jar="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar" fork="true"/>
  </target>

  <target name="clean-build" depends="clean,jar"/>
  <target name="main" depends="clean,run"/>

</project>

Task 4: How to build a Hello World application that takes an input argument and uses an external library (log4j), at the command line

Now let’s jump back to doing everything by hand and let’s suppose we want to introduce an external library, log4j. Log4j is a library that provides a flexible logging framework.

1. Modify the Hello World application as follows:  

package packagename;
import org.apache.log4j.BasicConfigurator;
import org.apache.log4j.Logger;

public class HelloWorld {
 public static Logger log = Logger.getLogger(HelloWorld.class);
 public static void main(String[] args) {
  BasicConfigurator.configure();     
      log.debug("hi there from the logger");
      System.out.println("hello world " + args[0]);
 }
}

2. Add the log4j-1.2.16.jar (or whatever version you are using) to the \lib folder.

3. Compile and run the application using the following commands.

    javac -d build\classes src\packagename\HelloWorld.java
    Error. We need to specify the path to the log4j JAR.

    javac -classpath lib\* -d build\classes src\packagename\HelloWorld.java
    Successful compile.

    java -classpath build\classes packagename.HelloWorld
    Error. Again, we need to specify the path to the log4j library.

    java -classpath build\classes;lib\* packagename.HelloWorld tester
    Successful run.

The output is "hello world tester" and a logging message "hi there from the logger". Details about the command options for the java and the javac commands are on the Oracle Tool Doc site.

4. The directory should look like this after successful compilation.

[basedir]\build
[basedir]\build\classes
[basedir]\build\classes\packagename
[basedir]\build\classes\packagename\HelloWorld.class
[basedir]\build\jar\HelloWorld.jar
[basedir]\lib\log4j-1.2.16.jar
[basedir]\src
[basedir]\src\packagname
[basedir]\src\packagename\HelloWorld.java

5. Let’s now continue and suppose, like we did in Task 2, that we want to run the program using the .jar. In Task 2 it was easy since we had no external libraries. In this task we do and it adds a wrinkle. As discussed here mindprod.com, if we use "-jar" when using java.exe to invoke the jar,
the -classpath is ignored. In order to run the program using the jar we need to put a Class-Path entry in the manifest file. The Class-Path entry points to the external jar (log4j in this case).

a. Add the Class-Path line to the manifest file. You can reuse the manifest file from Task 2.  Note the “>>” in the echo command below which mean append the line to the manifest file.

echo Class-Path: ../../lib/log4j-1.2.15.jar>>myManifest

b. Create the JAR. (Don’t miss the “dot” at the end of the command.)

jar cfm build\jar\HelloWorld.jar myManifest -C build\classes .

c. Run the application using the JAR. (Don’t forget the input argument!)

java -jar build\jar\HelloWorld.jar tester

Task 5: How to create an Apache Ant build file for a Hello World application that uses an external library

The next tasks is how to modify the Apache Ant build file for the external library we added.

Changes from above:

• add property name lib.dir
  
  
  
• add path element for classpath to include jars in lib.dir
  
  
  
• in the compile target add classpathref to use the classpath which points to the extnernal library JAR. This corresponds to Successful compile above.
  
  
  
• modify run task (and this is the crux of the matter) so that it refers to both the main-class and finds the project jar and uses the classpath with the JARs in the library. This is very different than just a simple jar with no external libraries.This corresponds to Successful run above.

The revised build file:

<project name="HelloWorld2" basedir="." default="main">
    <property name="src.dir"     value="src"/>
    <property name="build.dir"   value="build"/>
    <property name="classes.dir" value="${build.dir}/classes"/>
    <property name="jar.dir"     value="${build.dir}/jar"/>
    <property name="lib.dir"     value="lib"/>
    <property name="main-class"  value="packagename.HelloWorld"/>
  
    <path id="classpath">
   <fileset dir="${lib.dir}" includes="**/*.jar"/>
    </path>
    <target name="clean">
        <delete dir="${build.dir}"/>
    </target>
    <target name="compile">
        <mkdir dir="${classes.dir}"/>
        <javac srcdir="${src.dir}" destdir="${classes.dir}" classpathref="classpath"/>
    </target>
    <target name="jar" depends="compile">
        <mkdir dir="${jar.dir}"/>
        <jar destfile="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar" basedir="${classes.dir}">
            <manifest>
                <attribute name="Main-Class" value="${main-class}"/>
            </manifest>
        </jar>
    </target>
    <target name="run" depends="jar">
        <java classname="${main-class}">
        <classpath>
         <path refid="classpath"/>
            <path location="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar"/>
        </classpath>
     </java>
    </target>
    <target name="clean-build" depends="clean,jar"/>
    <target name="main" depends="clean,run"/>
</project>

Details on the Java task page in the Ant documentation. Compare, just a project JAR run task:

<target name="run" depends="jar">
        <java jar="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar" fork="true"/>
</target>

With a run task using an external library:

<target name="run" depends="jar">
        <java classname="${main-class}">
            <classpath>
                <path refid="classpath"/>
                <path location="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar"/>
            </classpath>
        </java>
</target>

Task 6: How to pass arguments into the Hello World application using the build file

Suppose we change the HelloWorld program output line to include a passed in argument:

System.out.println("hello world :" + args[0]);

Compiling and running by the command line:

    javac -classpath lib\* -d build\classes src\packagename\HelloWorld.java
    Success.

    java -classpath build\classes;lib\* packagename.HelloWorld
    Error. We didn’t pass in an argument or catch the exception.

    java -classpath build\classes;lib\* packagename.HelloWorld "travelmarx"
    Success. We passed in an expected string “travelmarx” to give a value to args[0].

With the build file, we only need to change the run task and add an arg element.

<target name="run" depends="jar">
     <java classname="${main-class}" >
        <classpath>
        <path refid="classpath"/>
              <path location="${jar.dir}/${ant.project.name}.jar"/>
         </classpath>
         <arg value="travelmarx"/>
      </java>
</target>

Passing parameters from the the command line to a build file is mentioned in the FAQ on the Apache Ant site.

TugBoat Annie

This post is about the book Tugboat Annie by Norman Reilly Raine, a Dell Book copyright 1932, 1933, and 1934 and Dell 192. The book was loaned to us from a descendent of the real life inspiration for Tugboat Annie, Thea Christiansen Foss (1857 – 1927), the founder of Foss Maritime.

The Tugboat Annie Dell book is just a few stories from the series that was authored by Norman Reilly Raine (1894 – 1971). He wrote 60 Tugboat Annie stories which appeared serialized in the Saturday Evening Post starting on July 7, 1931 and continuing for a span of 30 years. (The essay that appears in The Pacific Northwest Forum, Vol.5, Number 2 says that there were 75 stories and the first story appeared on July 11, 1931.) Raine is also known for the 1937 biographical film The Life of Emile Zola (1937) and as the screenwriter for the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). Speaking of film, Tugboat Annie (1933) was a film based on the series. The movie was followed by Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940) with Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan, Captain Tugboat Annie (1945), and Tugboat Annie (1957) a Canadian TV Series. Who knew that public’s appetite for a “magnificent, blowsy, canny, raucous, hard-boiled, and heart-warming skipper” was so big? Tugboat Annie had quite a run, from the Great Depression and almost up to the hippies. We can see it now, Tugboat Annie Meets Timothy Leary: “ye furry-headed sprat!”

The Stories

The book contains six “Exciting” stories: No Cure, No Pay, Ol Mefoozelem, A Man of Few Words, When Greek Meets, Greek, The Last Laugh, and Iron John. Each story is between 20 and 30 pages. The two main characters we meet in these six stories are:

- Tugboat Annie Brennan, “blowsy, raucous, hard-boiled” senior captain at the Secoma Deep-Sea Towing and Salvage Company. Her tug is the Narcissus. Captain Terry Brennan is the deceased husband of Annie. She keeps a picture of him in a “plush-and-gold oval frame” above her bunk. She talks to the picture when she needs inspiration in her hijinks to outsmart Bullwinkle. Annie is “large of frame and solidly built, with rugged features and shrewd blue eyes under beetle brows. Her elephantine energy is galvanic, her language is sulphurous, her ways are tough – but her heart is as warm and as soft as butter.”

- Captain Horatio Bullwinkle, Annie’s rival. He is the captain of the Salamander. All the stories revolve around Annie’s successful attempts to beat back Bullwinkle’s tricks for taking business away from her. “He is a self-confident, swaggering, contemptuous, and scheming” man.

The supporting cast: Alec Severn, president of Annie’s company; Big Sam, engineer on the Narcissus; Old Mefoozelem, a crusty old land-locked captain; Murdoch McArdle, a shrewd lumber dealer; Captain Esau Leroy, Annie’s old friend who loves a good brawl; Mr. Levanway, a bland, scheming first officer of a large ship; and Iron John McGinnes, Annie’s old and diminutive friend who always gets the last word.

The Language

Annie is the master of mixed-metaphors and colorful one-liners often directed at Bullwinkle, her rival. He often is just as clever in the comebacks.

The comebacks and one-liners reminded us of the The Snark Handbook, Insult Edition: Comebacks, Taunts, and Effronteries by Lawrence Dorfman. Annie’s dialogue would fit in with the samples in the short chapter Smarts (Or Lack Thereof). For example:

“Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?”

“She doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘fear’, but then again, she doesn’t know the meaning of most words.”

“The twinkle in his eyes is actually the sun shining between his ears.”

Anyway, here are some samples from this TugBoat Annie book:

p. 10 The first meeting between Bullwinkle and Annie as they are racing their tugs.

“Think ye’ll know me again, horse face?” Tugboat Annie bawled, when she found she could not eye him down.

He nodded. “Once seen, never forgot, worse luck Anyways, I’ve seen ye before.”

“Where?” demanded Annie.

“In the Frisco’ zoo.” He grinned again, and added, charitably, “Though it might ha’ been only a near relation.”

p. 15 Annie, talking to her boss Alec Severn:

“That Bullwinkle carbuncle!” she exploded. “He’s takin’ jobs from us, right and left and hindways.”

p. 18 Annie to Bullwinkle on what he should do.

“Me? I’d recommend a faddom o’rope and a rafter, and I’m willin’ to kick away the chair!”

p. 22 Annie to Bullwinkle.

“When I look at you … I know why barmaids eats their young.”

p. 48 Morning greeting between Bullwinkle and Annie.

“How are ye this morning, Annie?”

“I was feelin’ swell up to a second ago,” Annie told him. “But now I got a nasty black spot afore me eyes.”

“You ain’t eggzackly a pick-me-up-yerself, Annie.”

p. 73 Annie passing Bullwinkle on a street in Secoma.

“Hi, there, Annie!” saluted the detested voice of Mr. Horatio Bullwinkle. “What are doin’ – trottin’ some o’ your fat off?”

“Seein’ you reminds me – I’m goin’ up to buy some dog biscuit!” she snapped.

“Doctor’s orders?” asked Mr. Bullwinkle with a grin. “We got a nice beef bone down on the Salamander. If it’s any good to ye, just bark!”

p. 87 Annie to Bullwinkle.

“Don’t drop over the side,” Annie told him. “Ye’d spile the sound for fishin’.”

p. 94 Annie to Murdoch McArdle a horse-faced lumber dealer after he threatens her.

“Sticks and stones butters no parsnips, McArdle. Ye’d best be civil.”

p. 99 Annie to herself.

“My goodness, I’m that hungry I could eat a horse and chase the driver…”

p. 102 Annie talking about a friend, Captain Esau Leroy.

“Trouble with Esau is, he’ll fight at the drop of a hat – and he ain’t so pa’tickler about the hat.”

Happy Days are Here Again

Annie’s “theme” song seems to be Happy Days are Here Again, written (or at least copyrighted) in 1929 by Milton Ager (music) and Jack Yellen (lyrics). The lyrics go like this: “Happy days are here again. They skies above are clear again. So let’s sing a song of cheer again. Happy days are here again.” Tugboat Annie’s version is: “Oh, happy days are here some more…. And, she roars it inharmoniously.

First Page of Tugboat Annie

The Thea Foss, A Motor Yacht.

The Bashing of Bullwinkle by Harold Von Schmidt [ref]

Tugboat Annie by Anton Otto Fischer – March 13, 1939 Saturday Evening Post [ref]

Roseville Mostique and Pears

We went through a Roseville phase – it must be admitted – and hadn’t thought much about these pieces for a while until a friend brought over some local pears – three varieties. (Sorry, we don’t have the variety names.) The pears called out to us to be photographed with Roseville Mostique. Really. Mostique is a Roseville pattern introduced sometime between 1915 or 1916 (1915 given by the Roseville Pottery Information Center site and 1916 by the Roseville Pottery Information and History site). Plus or minus a year, they are fun pieces. And, a big thanks to Kerri for the pears!

Pears are part of the rose family (Rosaceae) and have the genus name Pyrus. According to Wiktionary, Pyrus comes from the Latin pirus for “pear tree”.

The Aurora Bridge Mural – A Fresh Coat of Paint

A Fremont Resident Touching Up the Mural
When we last talked about the Aurora Bridge Mural (in Fremont) it was on a bit of a sour note. That was six months ago and the mural was accumulating lots of graffiti in the form of “tagging”. Well, some folks in the neighborhood are taking matters and paint brushes into their own hands and giving the mural a fresh coat. Thank you neighbors!

The 1982 Atlantic article Broken Windows: The police and neighborhood safety introduced the broken windows theory which put forward the idea that monitoring and maintaining an urban environment may prevent further vandalism and serious crime in that environment. From the article: “Social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken.” The theory has its defenders and detractors, but you can’t deny that a maintained environment certainly has a positive impact to those living there. In this case, seeing tagging on the Aurora Bridge Mural is ugly and depressing.

Before (left) / New Painting in Progress (right)


West End of the Aurora Bridge Mural

Before (left) / New Painting in Progress (right)

Before (left) / New Painting in Progress (right)

Organizing Volunteers

Waiting for the Bus at the Aurora Bridge Mural