Theme Thursday - Triangle

Newport offers all kinds of architectural and sculptural triangles.

On to this week's videos... Most sails are triangular, so I went and found a version of Tab Hunter singing "Red Sails in the Sunset" with lots of gorgeous triangular sails. Ah, paradise!

Speaking of things maritime, and especially since I live in a place that's been a maritime center since its founding in 1638, the following song was the first thing I thought of when I learned that this week's theme was "triangle". It's the song "Molasses to Rum" from the musical 1776, and it describes the Triangle Trade, which traveled between New England, the West Coast of Africa, and the New World, trading slaves from Africa in the Caribbean for sugar cane and molasses, which was then taken to New England to be distilled into rum, which in turn was taken back to Africa to trade for slaves. The scene portrayed here recalls Edward Rutledge, one of South Carolina's delegates to the Continental Congress, objecting to one of Thomas Jefferson's phrases in the Declaration of Independence putting slavery in a negative light and paving the way for the institution's end. Rutledge points out that the most vociferous objectors - the delegates from New England - were the ones who benefited most, economically speaking, from the Triangle Trade. [Historical note: Rutledge was a slimy, rabidly racist scumbag who also tried to fight against independence; he was in favor of a more friendly and cooperative arrangement with Great Britain. He was a wealthy planter with aristocratic aspirations whose schemes would work better as a citizen of the British Empire than as a citizen of an independent America. He spent much of his time at the Continental Congress holding up the proceedings with trivialities and trying to drive a spike into the progress toward declaring independence. On the racial scene, he tried to have all African-Americans banned from joining the Continental Army. For all his physical charm (he was said to be handsome and was a real, foppish dandy) he was a truly ugly personality.] Anyhow, here's the scene from the movies version of 1776.

And finally, I found this gem, juggler Michael Moschen making use of a triangular frame to create a truly unique sight and sound experience. This is juggling taken to the next level. Enjoy!

Photos & text © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger