Lord Whimsy

May 18th at Observatory: Hidden River Expedition Presentation

Lord Whimsy — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:29:05 +0000

I’ve held this presentation in Philadelphia, but this is the first time I will be showing it in New York…In August of 2011, I left my house to embark on a three-day, forty-mile solo kayak trek from Mount Holly, NJ to Bartram’s Garden, in West Philadelphia. This Friday, May 18th, I will present a video that consists of footage shot from my kayak during this trek. I will also give a slideshow presentation, highlighting the strange history along these rivers I traversed: industrial ruins, fugitive slave enclaves, floating churches, post-industrial forests, Civil-War era submarines, and derelict aircraft carriers all await you. This expedition was a re-exploration of Philadelphia’s landscape, and an investigation of how its built and grown environments have affected each other over time.

453 Union St., Brooklyn. 8pm. Admission: $5. More information at the Observatory website.

Pines Film: In The Great Swamp

Lord Whimsy — Mon, 07 May 2012 01:32:42 +0000

Pines: Winter in the Great Swamp, part one from David S Kessler on Vimeo.

Vernal Wonder

Lord Whimsy — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:45:51 +0000

Stopped by my friends at Rarefind Nursery recently to drop off some cuttings of an especially fragrant Calycanthus bush that a friend of mine has had growing on his farm for nearly a century. Rarefind specializes in unusual native plants, and the photo to the left is a great example. This is the flower of a pitcher plant, Sarracenia Alata. None of the folks at Rarefind have seen a pitcher plant bloom quite like this one: the petals are cleft, like a goat’s hoof. It’s quite beautiful. We’re asking around to see if anyone else in the trade has ever sen one like this. If no one has, then it could be unique. Very exciting possibility.

Related: Rarefind Nursery’s peak blooming season is upon us! Now is an excellent time to visit them, as they have a huge collection of rhododendrons blooming in the shade of a pine forest. It’s quite a sight.

My New Plan

Lord Whimsy — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:45:41 +0000

I’m thinking of getting a job on a cruise ship singing Robert Palmer covers.

Summer Sprezz

Lord Whimsy — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:38:37 +0000

Yet another post in which I expect to be congratulated for putting on clothes…Dropped by one of my tailors who does alterations for me about a cheap OTR cotton summer jacket I recently acquired. He said shortening the sleeves will set me back 70 clams because he’d have to take the sleeves in at the armholes. Nuts to that. So it looks like I’ll have to make like a proper Milanese gent and roll up the cuffs a bit. You can get away with taking liberties with more casual summer jackets. Summer duds should be poised but laid back. A touch of sprezzatura will do.

Glass Ribbons

Lord Whimsy — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:38:07 +0000

Judith Schaechter has just completed her stained glass window project for the Eastern State Penitentiary.

Fate! Chance! Mystery!

Lord Whimsy — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 02:32:33 +0000

At this year’s Congress of Curious People: Lord Whimsy and Les the Mentalist will dazzle our audiences in their virtuosic return to the Coney Island Museum. In this hour-long presentation, they will give a historical overview of the topics of Fate and Chance with a nod to Culture and Folklore, while amazing the crowd with Mentalist effects and a phenomenal display of arcane knowledge. (Click here to purchase tickets!)

Confessions of a Natural History Interior Designer

Lord Whimsy — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:48:07 +0000

Recently, the good folk of Bartram’s Garden hired me to help design and furnish their new interpretive center, which they’ve aptly dubbed The Green Room. It’s an educational space that will inform visitors of what is afoot in the Garden: what’s in bloom, what artifacts have been found, what animals have been sighted, who will be visiting, etc. Terrariums fill the windows. Cork boards along the green wall are crammed with images, maps, and historical documents. I’ve just completed painting and labeling a collection of model bird eggs of species that visit the Garden: turkeys, orioles, cedar waxwings, blue herons, etc. My pride and joy is the old curio cabinet that I’ve repainted and stocked full of bird’s nests, feathers, and bones (this month’s theme is birds).

Incredibly, one of the nests in the case is woven out of fishing line, a material that is notorious for snaring and killing small birds. On a few occasions I’ve had to rescue cedar waxwings that have found themselves entangled in the awful stuff. Speaking of bird rescues: while I was finishing up a model of a turkey egg yesterday, Bartram’s head gardener Todd Greenberg came into the center, looking winded and carrying a bucket. Inside the bucket was a belted kingfisher that he had just rescued from the Schuylkill River’s deep bank of mud during low tide. Todd was nearly trapped out there himself, but he managed to get back with the kingfisher. We placed the kingfisher gently into a cardboard box, wrapped him in warm blankets, and covered the box with a sheet. I fought through an hour of rush hour traffic to reach the wildlife rehabilitation center before it closed. Sadly we found out this morning that the poor fellow’s injuries were too severe, and he didn’t make it through the night. A cat or some other sort of animal must have gotten to him, because he had injuries all along his side. So sad. Such brave, bright things, kingfishers. Wish we could have saved him.

My Favorite Nature Center

Lord Whimsy — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 23:54:36 +0000

Pines: Nature Center from David S Kessler on Vimeo.

The Wagner Free Institute: Saturday March 31

Lord Whimsy — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:40:46 +0000

In the last five years an epidemic called White-Nose Syndrome has killed more than 5.5 million bats in the northeast United States. It is said to be one of the most devastating diseases in the history of mammals and threatens some of North America’s most abundant bat species with extinction. Dr. Hazel Barton of the University of Akron, an expert on microbial life within caves and an avid spelunker, is uniquely suited to understand White-Nose Syndrome. Join us on Saturday March 31st at 1pm to hear about her latest research — she may be our best hope in the race to find a cure to save the bats. (“The Sky is Falling: White Nose Syndrome in Bats” at The Wagner Free Institute on Saturday, March 31st at 1pm. Free.)