JFK

Hello internet sketchbook.  Sorry for the long breaks between posts.

This week, I've been listening to "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA."  It's been depressingly eye opening.  The sad sum of it is everything we learned in elementatry school history since WWII is crap.  JFK and Robert Kennedy suffer sullying of their respective images.  They are portrayed as political power-grabbers,willing to create any lie to maintain power.  

Ah well... I suppose there is no such thing as truth in history.  

As for the sketch, I got the eyes too dark, otherwise, I'm pleased with it, especially given the long breaks between sketches.

Jesus of Nazareth

As a Lutheran, the Jesus I was raised on is the lamb-hugging Jesus with the stylish 70s hair... as shown here.

I think its interesting how different eras depict Jesus. Most recently, I've seen renderings of him with his head thrown back, hair wild, laughing towards heaven. That's much different than the meek Jesus of the 70s or the reverent, eyes-raised-in-praise Jesus of the 50s.

Beyond the art, beyond the religion, it's hard to dispute the historical impact Jesus has had on the human race. Born penniless, he never owned a home. Never ruled an army. Never led a country. Never wrote a book. Never discovered anything or invented anything. But unquestionably, he has had more impact on human history than any other individual who ever lived.

Geronimo - Apache Leader

The name "Geronimo" is actually a name given to this Apache leader by the Mexicans he spent most of his life fighting. It's a reference to the Mexican pleas for Saint Jerome in a battle where Geronimo repeatedly attacked the Mexicans with a knife, ignoring a constant hail of bullets. Geronimo's Chiricahua Apache name is "Goyathlay."

Geronimo was a ruthless warrior, perhaps with good reason, as his entire family (wife, three children and mother) were murdered by Mexicans during a raid in 1851. For the next 25 years, he led ragged bands of Apaches in the mountains in the Arizona Territory until finally surrendering to US Calvary in 1886. He went on living in captivity, even appearing in Theodore Roosevelt's inaugural parade, until he died in 1909 at the age of 79. After his capture, he was never allowed to return to his homelands. He was to eventually take on most of the white man's ways, including a conversion to Christianity.

One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist. Geronimo (and most Apaches for that matter) weren't above the torture and killing of innocents themselves. If you have time, you should listen to Dan Carlin's excellent podcast "Apache Tears"- at http://www.dancarlin.com/hhpage1.asp Look for show number 19. Carlin calls the Apache the "tigers of the human species" with good reason.

The sketch above is from a widely available photo of Geronimo taken shortly after his surrender (1887). I don't know about the sketch, but the photo certainly shows Geronimo's ferociousness, madness... maybe even a hint of sadness or hopelessness. I hope I've captured at least a bit of that here.

Bill Gates

OK... some people would seriously cringe at having Bill Gates on the same page as intellectual giants like Nikola Tesla and Albert Einstein, but here's why he's here. No one can doubt his influence on the birth and life (thus far) of the computer. But perhaps more important to humanity will be the impact of his charitable organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

As of last year, the foundation had an endowment of $34 billion dollars, making it the largest transparently operated charity in the world. To maintain it's classification as a charity, it must give away at least 5% of its assets every year. It focuses its efforts on the eradication of disease and reaction to disasters on a global scale.

Say what you want about Bill G. and Microsoft Windows, but history will probably recognize him as the most important philanthropist that ever lived.

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla, an ethnic Serb born in Croatia, eventually became an American citizen and died in New York in 1943 at the age of 86. Despite a long and brilliant career, having several patents for inventing AC current, he's perhaps best known for getting screwed over by Thomas Edison, and dying heavily in debt.

In the early 1900s, he was in line for the Nobel prize at least twice. It is speculated that he refused the prize at least once because Edison and Westinghouse were also nominated; and they all had such dislike for another that they refused to share the prize. Tesla was also the original inventor of the radio, but the US Patent Office decided to rescind his patent and instead grant it to Marconi, who is now generally recognized as the inventor of the radio.

Recently Tesla has gotten the recognition he certainly deserves, being referred to as the "Father of the 20th Century".

Tesla is ultimately responsible for radio, radar, microwaves and electricity, all as we know them today.

As to the Edison screw-over, you should read the article "7 Great Men of History, and Why you should Hate Them" If you have more time and interest, you should read "Tesla: Man Out of Time" by by Margaret Cheney.

Albert Einstein

A physics giant and great man of history - Albert Einstein.

Born in Germany, Einstein won the Nobel prize for physics in 1921. There are a couple interesting facts about him that don't typically come up in conversations about his life.

His first wife, Mileva Marić was a Serb and was herself a physicist. He had three children with Mileva, one of whom (his son) had severe schizophrenia. His second wife, Elsa Löwenthal, was his first cousin on his mother's side. Even odder was that Elsa was ALSO his second cousin on his father's side of the family. They had no children together.

Einstein died in 1955 at the age of 76. Before being cremated, a pathologist removed Einstein's brain in hopes that future science might discover what made Einstein so intelligent. Controversy surrounds Einstein's brain because it is believed that it was removed without permission.

Einstein's brain is somewhat different than "average" brains, slightly smaller in some areas, but over all 15% wider. To this day, Einstein's brain is preserved for study.

Abraham Lincoln

Great men of history - Abraham Lincoln.

It's pretty hard to screw up a sketch of Abraham Lincoln, let's face it, he's a pretty unattractive individual. So if there is some asymmetry or proportion problems, it just fades in with the rest.

Sir Winston Churchill

.... from Lawrence of Arabia to Winston Churchill.

I had a minor in history in my undergraduate degree. One of the most fascinating parts of history to me was the "Great Man" period... the two World Wars. Winston Churchill was perhaps the greatest of great men from that period.

He had a fascinating life... son of a lord, war correspondent, more or less a political exile over his support for the king during the abdication crisis of 1936. (King Edward abdicated the throne for a twice divorced commoner... Mrs. Wallis Simpson, an American no less!)

Churchill returned to political life in triumph, became Britain's most well known Prime Minister. He is perhaps best known for his refusal to back down or in anyway appease the German war machine. At the dawn of WWII, he is quoted saying to the House of Commons (whom he saw as notorious spineless appeasers), "...you were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, and you will have war."

In his post political life, he was a prolific artist, painting landscapes in oils; as well as a writer. He won a Nobel prize for a six volume history on the Second World War. He also wrote a four volume set named "The History of the English Speaking Peoples."

In days when our leaders bend to the will of influential friends, party politics and weekly opinion polls; they don't come like Winston Churchill anymore.

Lawrence of Arabia

Maybe it's a white guy in a turban mood I'm in. But here's Lawrence of Arabia.

The 1960s movie was good (it did win like 7 Oscars), and led me to read "A Touch of Genius the Life of T.E. Lawrence" by Brown and then "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph" by T.E. Lawrence himself. He was a highly literate and well spoken individual and his writing, even though nearly a century old, is highly entertaining.