Theme Thursday - Palm

Seeing as how I only post my own photos, I had visions of being really stuck on this week's theme. After all, despite the recent heat and humidity we're still not really the tropics, so there aren't any Palm trees here. And there's only one palm reader, and even with two pics - one of the sign and one of the storefront - that's a pretty sparse Theme Thursday post, at least for me.

And then the lightbulb went off in my head. We have plenty of palm fronds here in Newport: in the graveyard! Yes, you read that right; there are plenty of palm fronds in Island Cemetery. Remember my post on all that marble in Island Cemetery? Well much of that carving was influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement when it migrated over the Big Pond from England to North America, and one of the themes emphasized in that movement was Neoclassicism. Much of the stylistic elements in A&C came from the Greco-Roman civilization, and some of the elements within that came from Classical Egypt. And that's where the palm fronds in Island Cemetery come from. There are a bunch of Egyptian-styled marble monuments there, and some of them have palms on them. Below are three of the best examples. Below left is a detail on Philander Shaw's stone - not only do we have a palm frond, but also a classical Greek laurel wreath. Talk about mixed metaphors! Below right is the sort-of obelisk marking John B. Newton's grave, complete with palm frond and the Egyptian-style column capital. But the bottom photo is the best of all - that exquisitely over-the-top Classical Egyptian monument over the remains of August Belmont, the perfect illustration for Shelley's Ozymandias.

And then of course there's the above-mentioned palm reader. I have no reports of her abilities; since I do my own Tarot and I Ching readings I really have no reason to visit her,and nobody I know has ever visited her, either. Nice sign, though. And she looks like she's made the best of a pretty old and beat-up building.

And now it's time for the theme-appropriate music videos! Since we ended up the photography section with a palm reader, let's get the videos started with a trip to 1962 in the Wayback Machine. This is the original version of "Fortune Teller", known to most as a song played by the Rolling Stones on their first live album, Got Live If You Want It. But the song is older than that; it was written by Allen Toussaint (under the pseudonym Naomi Neville) and first performed by New Orleans legend Benny Spellman.

The next song I found by entering "palms" in YouTube's search box; Robert Plant's "29 Palms" was near the top of the list. From 1993, it's about the town of 29 Palms, California, deep in the Mojave Desert, based on Canadian singer Alannah Myles, with whom he was touring at the time. I like the song, and the video fits the mood of the tune perfectly.

When I think of palm trees I think of tropical islands and steel drums and drinks with umbrellas in them. And Calypso music. The undisputed King of Kings of Calypso is The Mighty Sparrow, so I thought I'd finish up this week's Theme Thursday post with The King of Calypso singing "Congo Man" in concert. Enjoy!

Photos & text © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger