[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message]

Re: OT: Frank Lloyd Wright (was Re: limits of the ge

• To: xml-dev@l...
• Subject: Re: OT: Frank Lloyd Wright (was Re: limits of the generic)
• From: Uche Ogbuji <uche.ogbuji@f...>
• Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2002 20:57:59 -0600
• In-reply-to: Message from Matt Gushee <mgushee@h...> of "Sat, 28 Sep 2002 20:06:26 MDT." <20020929020626.GE913@swordfish>
• Sender: uche.ogbuji@f...

> On Sat, Sep 28, 2002 at 02:05:46PM -0600, Uche Ogbuji wrote:
> > 
> > I can't help musing: Jonathan called XPath 1.0 Baroque.  I actually would call 
> > it Attic, and one of the most Attic technologies I've used lately (even more 
> > so than Python, which lies between Doric and Ionic).  The situation I see with 
> > xs:duration is not even baroque or byzantine, nor is it saracen.  These would 
> > imply order even in the complexity.  It's more Surrealistic.  Maybe inspired 
> > by Frank Lloyd Wright?  (I hope no one from Michigan is lurking about  ;-) )
> 
> Uche, I'm shocked that someone of your considerable erudition would make
> such an egregious error. Michigan? Nonsense! Wright lived and did much
> of his work in Spring Green, Wisconsin--not so very far from your alma
> mater. And as an old Wisconsinite, a former architecture student, and a
> great admirer of Wright, I should take you to task for the slanderous
> gist of your remark. But I'm tired and pressed for time, so I'll let you
> off the hook for now.
> 
> Do I really need to append this annoying little mark :-) ?

That's OK.  I think I'm perfectly happy being proven ignorant of the life and 
works of FLW  :-)

My comment was because I visited the headquarters of Kellogg at Battle Creek 
Michigan once, and they are absolutely nutty about Wright.  It almost feels 
like a cult.  Apparently the whole town and a good portion of the state is 
that way.  I don't know what Wright's supposed connection to Michigan may be, 
but I never heard a quarter as much about the man while I was in Wisconsin.

And the many plaques they had of his work come easily to mind when I think of 
XQuery  <duck :-) >


> P.S.: What does it mean for a technology to be 'Attic'?

Simple and graceful.  Just as Spartan is just simple.  Full stop.  Attica was 
the state of which Athens was the capital in ancient Greek.  They were known 
for understated elegance, as you can imagine.

As usual, I can't help an approximate quote of Pound:

The age demanded an image of its accelerated grimace
Someting for the modern stage.  Not, at any rate, the Attic grace

--from early on in Hugh Selwyn Mauberley


-- 
Uche Ogbuji                                    Fourthought, Inc.
http://uche.ogbuji.net    http://4Suite.org    http://fourthought.com
Apache 2.0 API - http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-apache/
Python&XML column: Tour of Python/XML - http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/09/18/py.html
Python/Web Services column: xmlrpclib - http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/library/ws-pyth10.html 

• Follow-Ups:
  • Way OT
    • From: Uche Ogbuji <uche.ogbuji@f...>

• References:
  • OT: Frank Lloyd Wright (was Re: limits of the generic)
    • From: Matt Gushee <mgushee@h...>

• Prev by Date: RE: Off Topic: Frank Lloyd Wright
• Next by Date: Re: limits of the generic
• Previous by thread: RE: Off Topic: Frank Lloyd Wright
• Next by thread: Way OT
• Index(es):
  • Date
  • Thread