Hi Indy, It was my wife’s birthday and she makes beautiful cards. I am no match for that. And commercial cards are all too much the same. I call this a verbal birthday card.  Thanks, JR         Lindalee this is your 74th Birthday, to me it is far more than that. It […]

It’s Payday in the Rabbit Hole! Ryan Deiss of DigitalMarketer.com fame came to the campus last Friday to speculate, postulate, and make predictions about “The New Normal” post-covid with the Wizard of Ads, and what it is likely to mean to business owners. It wasn’t long before the wizard said, “This would make a great […]

“There is not enough time to do all of the nothing we want to do.”– Calvin and Hobbes, sent to us by our pal, Shawn Frey

Independent sculptures of Adam and Eve were meant to stand on each side of The Gates of Hell  but Rodin found he couldn’t get Eve’s figure right. Consequently, several figures of Eve were made, none of which were used, and all of them were later sold.

Kneeling Female Faun  is found on the left side of The Thinker in the tympanum, in front of the bas-reliefs which form the background.

As you would expect, Despair is found on both the left and right doors of The Gates of Hell.

Eternal Springtime in bronze and in marble at the Rodin Museum in Paris. Photo by Ad Meskens.

Meditation began as a small figure of a condemned woman appearing on the rightmost part of the tympanum of The Gates of Hell. It was subsequently used in the monument honoring Victor Hugo and later enlarged into a separate sculpture.

Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone is based on the figure at the top of the left pilaster. Around 1881 Rodin enlarged her and gave her a stone.

The Three Shades standing on top the Gates are 98 cm high. The larger-than-life-size group was initially made of three independent figures. Later on, Rodin replaced one hand in the figures to fuse them together, the same as in the smaller version (below.) The figures originally pointed to the phrase “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate” (“Abandon all […]

The Thinker is located above the door panels. Some people think it represents Dante looking down to the characters in the Inferno. Some believe it is Adam, contemplating the destruction brought upon mankind because of his transgression. Others believe it is Rodin himself contemplating his composition.

The Kiss was originally in The Gates along with other figures of Paolo and Francesca da Rimini. Rodin wanted to represent their initial joy as well as their final damnation. He removed the figure that became known as The Kiss because it seemed to conflict with the other suffering figures.

The Three Shades on the Gates are 98 cm high. The larger-than-life-size group was initially made of three independent figures. Later on, Rodin replaced one hand in the figures to fuse them together, the same as in the smaller version. The figures originally pointed to the phrase “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate” (“Abandon all hope, ye who […]

Fleeting Love is located on the right door pane, one of several figures of lovers that represent Paolo and Francesca da Rimini. The male figure is also called The Prodigal.

The Old Courtesan is an aged, naked female body. It is also called She Who Was Once the Helmet-Maker’s Beautiful Wife, taken from a poem by François Villon.

William “Dingley Tariff” McKinley served as President during the Spanish-American War of 1898, during which his successor, the colorful and compassionate Teddy Roosevelt, made his name. Teddy returned from Cuba to be elected Governor of New York in 1898, then became McKinley’s running mate for a second term when Vice President Garret Hobart died in […]

Peter Nevland, the baby brother of Dave Nevland who has been producing all the wizard’s radio ads AND the audio version of the Monday Morning Memo for the past 19 years, graciously accepted a pair of the shoes and promised to wear them during the next Wizard of Ads partner meeting. (I will definitely be […]

A Neologism is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not yet been fully accepted into mainstream language. The word surry is a neologism created by songwriter Laura Nyro; its meaning is unclear. The verb surry is spelled differently from the noun surrey (an old-time carriage). When asked […]

Indy,   In a recent MMM the Wizard shared a conversation that the Wizard, Ryan and myself were having regarding some of the challenges that owners face when selling their business.  Especially, at the moment of the close, when many professional buyers drop the price.  And the business owner feels they need to accept this […]

Invictus by William Ernest Henley,a personal friend fo Robert Louis Stevensonwho modeled Treasure Island’s Long John Silver after him Out of the night that covers me,     Black as the Pit from pole to pole,   I thank whatever gods may be     For my unconquerable soul.    In the fell clutch of circumstance   I have […]

2002-08-25 Encourager of Others The Monday Morning Sequel to Last Week’s Memo, “Eddie’s Song” The world’s most widely recognized sculpture, The Thinker, would probably never have come into existence had Rodin not received encouragement from a poor Scottish lad named William Henley. The son of an obscure bookseller, William was afflicted with tuberculosis of the […]

In September 1940, the Polish soldier Witold Pilecki used faked identity documents to be arrested and sent to Auschwitz, which he planned to infiltrate and destroy from within. Boldly, Pilecki organized a resistance movement inside Auschwitz, hoping that one day friends from outside would liberate the camp. When no help from outside came, he decided […]

Muad’Dib is the Fremen name of Paul Atreides, a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Muad’Dib has a lexicon all his own. When anyone else would say “I am dangerous,” Muad’Dib says, “My name is a killing word.” You and I might say, “I have won.” But Muad’Dib says, “He who […]

How to Teach Your Dog to Talk The wizard was sitting in his big leather chair, so I hopped into his lap and wedged myself into the space alongside his leg and closed my eyes for a nap. I have been doing this since I was a puppy. I was almost asleep when I heard […]

Hey Indy, As so often happens, I find things in Roy’s Monday Morning Memo and in your rabbit hole that directly relate to aspects of my life.   In this case you included the Egyptian Queen’s Face Fragment, which has long been one of my favorite pieces at the Met.   Here is a picture […]

Hey, Indy Ramses II is pretty upset you talking to his Great Wife Nefertari without talking to him, so you better step into this picture and pay your respects.   Don’t forget, Egypt is my stomping ground.   Your fellow trailseeker,   Steve in Egypt wundernegypt@gmail.com

Knowing that Indy is a fan of Ukranian artists, Kyle Caldwell sent this image of Sylphide to our attention. Kyle is Wizard of Ads partner.

Jan, the two ravens are a mated pair. Hugin is the male on the left. Munin is the female on the right. She sometimes calls him “Rafters.” They were speaking accented English mixed with Swedish. I didn’t understand all the words, but Hugin seemed to be complaining about not wanting to be “ärende löpare för Odin,” […]

In the run-up to the last election 37% of Americans were unabashed about telling pollsters they flat out wouldn’t vote for someone over 70. Is there anything more piss-ignorant than not using old people as a resource, not taking advantage of their accumulated knowledge? Everywhere else in the world elders are sought for guidance. In […]

George, Marlene and Me by Ray Bradbury, from Life Magazine, July 1991.  I began to write short stories when I was 12, on a toy dial typewriter, in Tucson Ariz. When I was 13 my family moved to Los Angeles so my dad and my older brother, Skip, could look for work during the Great Depression. […]

The Poodle and the Vamp, Aug 24, 2009 Billy, Tom, and Ted Go Viral, Feb 3, 2014 To find every instance of vamp in the MMMemo and the rabbit hole, type the following into the Google search prompt…“vamp” site:https://www.mondaymorningmemo.com

To find every instance of vamp in the MMMemo and the rabbit hole, copy and paste the following into the Google search prompt…“vamp” site:https://www.mondaymorningmemo.comBrad Whittington says you’ll find 10 results. – Indy

“The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.” – Carl Jung