Friday, December 06, 2002    12:25 am

Saint Nicholas
Versus the Volcano

Just the facts:

Today, December 6, is the feast of Saint Nicholas. Saints are generally commemorated on the date of their death.  On this date in 1949, Huddie Ledbetter ("Leadbelly") died.  On this date in 1989, forty years later, actor John Payne ("Miracle on 34th Street") died.

The facts with some trimmings:

An entry in yesterday's journal was based on a page in the web site of Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church.  This suggests the following illustration:

Picture from a "Lord of the Rings" website

This in turn suggests the following, which might be retitled "Leadbelly Under the Volcano" --

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 Kylie on Tequila From a web page on Kylie Minogue: Turns out she's a party girl who loves Tequila: "Time disappears with Tequila. It goes elastic, then vanishes." From a web page on Malcolm Lowry's classic novel Under the Volcano:  The day begins with Yvonne’s arrival at the Bella Vista bar in Quauhnahuac. From outside she hears Geoffrey’s familiar voice shouting a drunken lecture this time on the topic of the rule of the Mexican railway that requires that  "A corpse will be transported by express!" (Lowry, Volcano, p. 43). Kylie Finney   Well if you want to ride you gotta ride it like you find it. Get your ticket at the station of the Rock Island Line. -- Lonnie Donegan (d. Nov. 3) and others     The Rock Island Line's namesake depot  in Rock Island, Illinois

The reflections of Kylie Minogue on the nature of time in turn suggest the following passage from Under the Volcano, Ch. VI:

For the thoughts on time of another famous man, from Mexico, see the Nobel Prize acceptance speech of Octavio Paz, "In Search of the Present."

See also my notes Shining Forth and Plato, Pegasus, and the Evening Star.

As a concluding visual image, here is a scene from "Miracle on 34th Street" with St. John Payne at left.