cataloging

mending

collection development

acquistions

administration

IT

serials

archiving

and actually two library directors, who also dabble in tech services work.

Granted I do or have done nearly everything on that list at some point, but it's really amazing to me when you hear that the work done by your entire department (and a few people elsewhere in the library) is done by a single person at another library (who has my sympathy).  I don't think I'm going to complain about being overworked ever again.

KOREAN CONTEMPORARY ART ACQUISITIONS AND SHOW IN US MUSEUM TO DEC 7 2008
Inspired Simplicity: Contemporary Art from Korea
July 19-December 7, 2008

Traditional Moon Jars inspire 3 contemporary Korean Artists at Seattle Asian Art Museum

This exhibition showcases the work of three contemporary Korean artists who are new to SAM's permanent collection and illustrates their ties to that country's past.

Each of these artists is continuing and re-interpreting an aesthetic developed during the Choson period (1392-1910), a time when Korea embraced Neo-Confucianism. Followers of Neo-Confucianism sought to cultivate self-control and humility.

White was a supremely important color, signifying integrity, innocence and purity. A variety of whites, often set in beautiful contrast with cobalt blue, are displayed on porcelain works from the 17th to the 19th century.

 Contemporary ceramics artist Park Young-sook (born 1947) is revising the elegant shape and snowy-white color of the "moon jar," regarded as the epitome of the Choson sensibility.

Another ceramicist, Kim Yik-yung (born 1935), explores a forceful beauty through sculpture inspired by traditional ritual containers.

In Four Admonishments by Cheng Yi, calligrapher Son Man-jin (born in 1964) refers to four practices that Neo-Confucianism considered essential to perfect virtue (Look, Listen, Speak and Act), expressing them in abstract form with powerful brushwork.

Also on view are oil paintings by Chun Sung-woo, inspired by blue and white porcelain, and photographs of ancient Korean porcelain vessels, taken by Koo Bohnchang.

See (in new window)

• video of artists talking about the exhibits
• Seattle Asian Art Museum site
• more contemporary Korean art news

If you enjoyed this post, why not subscribe to Art Radar Asia.

Plus: Jandek/You Walk Alone [a glorious album, thanks M.]

Das dürfte es gewesen sein im Übernahmepoker um Conti:

Wie die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung aus Aufsichtsratskreisen erfahren hat, wollen die Franken 75 Euro je Aktie bezahlen statt der bislang gebotenen 70,12 Euro.

...

Auch Schaeffler-Chef Jürgen Geißinger hat dem Conti-Aufsichtsrat nach F.A.Z.-Informationen schriftlich bestätigt, dass Schaeffler bereit sei, 75 Euro zu zahlen.

Update: eben meldet SpOn, dass Conti das Übernahmeangebot erneut abgelehnt hat. Allerdings auf Basis der 70,12 Euro, und der Vorstand soll weiter mit der Schaeffler-Gruppe verhandeln.

Update 2: Carsten Knop in der FAZ mit einem Kommentar, der aus meiner Sicht ziemlich ins Schwarze trifft:

...

Die Nachricht ist vielmehr, dass die Investmentbanken, die Conti zu seiner Verteidigung gegen die zu Beginn unerwünschte Offerte engagiert hat, keine überzeugende Alternative zu Verhandlungen gefunden haben.

...

Die Regie wurde die ganze Zeit am Schaeffler-Stammsitz in Herzogenaurach geführt.

...

Aber in Herzogenaurach werden sie sich – eher im Stillen – auf die Schenkel klopfen, sind die Schaefflers doch dank guten Timings unglaublich günstig an ein tolles deutsches Unternehmen gekommen.

One of my latest acquisitions from Anthro is a set of these brass paperweights which have been tickling my fancy for awhile now! But memorializing my initials in brass seemed so predictable ... and staid.  So I went with the inkling of mischief that had bubbled into mind every time I saw these, and now Messrs. Q, E and D (quod erat demonstratum) hold court on my desk.

• Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821-1861, by Raul A. Ramos.
• Claiming Their Land: Women Homesteaders in Texas, by Florence C. Gould.
• Jerry Bywaters, Interpreter of the Southwest, edited by Sam DeShong Ratcliffe.
• Wings Over San Antonio: Images of Aviation, by Mel Brown.

In addition, the library acquired two books on Mexican military strategy published in 1854:

• Tactica de artilleria de Montana, redactada en virtud de la suprema orden de 16 Febrero de 1854, written by Colonel Bruno Aguilar.
• Tratado teórico y practico de fortification pasajera, y del ataque y defensa de los puestos de campaña: con un resúmen de las pequeñas operaciones de la Guerra, para uso de los oficiales y sargentos del ejercito, written in French by Captain Ernest de Neuchèze and translated into Spanish by order of President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

• The buyer has his own agenda - Don’t listen to the buyer that says it would be a waste of your money for you to obtain representation.   Remember, it’s in the buyer’s interest to pay less and not more for your business.
• The buyer has done this before – You’re probably not the first company they have approached.  Private Equity Groups, strategic buyers and private investor groups have a long track record of buying businesses.
• Maximize Value – First and foremost, make sure there is competition in the deal!  Make sure you have done everything you can to “tune up” your company’s financial statement.
• No offense, but how often do you sell your business? - Most sellers have never sold a company and the first time on your own is not a good time to learn lessons.
• Get Representation – Transact Partners will negotiate with you & assist you through the process.  We want to help you get the maximum price for your business

Here are some criteria for the Strategic Partner decision that have been further tailored to match the needs of a fictional water filter company.  Note how the Must limits and Ideal values set by this company tune the generic criteria pattern to match the specific needs of this company.

The company has evaluated 2 alternatives using the Think It Through tool to better understand the relative merits of each potential partner.

The Tornado Chart can be used to highlight the advantages that make one alternative superior.

A Spider Chart presents the same information, but could be used to compare up to 5 alternatives at a time.

...this is a very, very big move.  the saints acquire ron fenwick to slide into the hole vacated by tony mansolino in both the lineup and the field, while adam hale provides some much needed depth and power in the outfield.  you sort of knew that george tsamis had something up his sleeve, but i was not thinking along these lines.  fenwick has never hit over .272 before in his career, but the kid is having a career year and the saints are getting him in his prime.  now, as sean aronson is saying on the air currently, the next step is to acquire an arm...

     The earliest and largest territorial acquisition made by the United States was the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. This area was considerably alluring to many powers including Spain and the French, the latter of which controlled the area for the majority of the colonial period up until 1763. Unfortunately, 1789-1799 was the heart of the French Revolution and weak after their defeat in the Seven Years' War, the bit of naval conflict in the Quasi Wars that lasted until 1800, and the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars with Britain, the Louisiana area changed hands quite a few times.

     After being in the hands of France for the majority of the 18th century Louisiana was yielded to Spain in 1763 following their vanquishment in the Seven Years' War.  This left the third president, Thomas Jefferson, in a sedated state of content, sure that the land will be ready for the taking in the future whenever American westward expansion was needed. What Jefferson did not know is that in May 1801 Spain had given Louisiana (in addition to New Orleans) back France which was then being run by Napoleon Bonaparte. This became evident when in 1802 New Orleans and everything south of the Mississippi closed their ports to American trade. Because the majority of westerners shipped products east through New Orleans, Americans were outraged and urged Jefferson to take action against the French. Fortunately the United States had friendly connections with the islands (such as Haiti) and they were supportive in keeping France off. This led to Napoleon offering Livingston and Monroe (the ambassador of France and a friend and ally of Jefferson) all of Louisiana AND New Orleans for $15 million. Napoleon needed the finances for the renewed war with Britain (Napoleonic War) and for three cents an acre and a peaceful agreement, the deal was one that the US could not refuse and the papers were signed on April 30th 1803. Although Jefferson, a man of the constitution, never held that the purchase was constitutional due to the timing and lack of a proper amendment addressing new territory, the Louisiana Purchase is thought to be one of the greatest achievements of his presidency. The need, whether based off of manifest destiny (the controversial philosophy that it was only natural that the inhabitants of the American lands were destined or fated to acquire the entire continent) to span sea to sea or the hopes of raw materials, the fur trade, agriculture prosperity or adequate defensible borders in addition to the urgent, expedited nature of the deal all justify the presidents' breaching of personal philosophy.

     After the Louisiana Purchase and despite the Embargo Act flop, a failed attempt at neutrality in European affairs, the explorers of the United States continued to drudge on. Lewis and Clark documented their western findings and in 1805 Lieutenant Zebulon Pike began to probe the headwaters of the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers. After exploring the Arkansas Rivers source in what's now southern Colorado he for reasons unknown began exploring the desert and headwaters of the Rio Grande. He was soon caught by Spanish troops who returned him to the border. What's interesting about this is that the doctrine for the Louisiana Purchase wasn't extremely clear so there was a lot of speculation as to whether or not West Florida was part of the deal and respectively, part of the United States. What with borders swaying and portions of land changing hands several times before the final settlement the nations did not know to whom the land rightly belonged. Spain felt the Louisiana Purchase itself was illegal as Napoleon had told them it would not be sold so West Florida was worth a great deal to them and would not be given up easily; this led to an array of arguments and conspiracy ultimately ending in the Transcontinental Treaty stating that all of Florida would be American territory and in turn the United States would acknowledge Texas as ruled by Spain as of February 22, 1819.

     After the War of 1812, the expansion of the United States took off at a remarkable pace; between 1816 and 1821 Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine and Missouri all joined the union. With the ending of the war removing all foreign power in US territory, the Indians had little comfort in knowing that it was only in time that the Americans would take over their land without the protection of Britain. The majority of Indians including the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles surrendered their land in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida to the Americans however some did resist resulting in the Indian Removal Act in 1830 and a war with the Seminoles in Florida.

     Up until the 1840's Texas, New Mexico, California and Oregon were considered vast, unknown regions with claims of ownership disputable between the US and Britain. However the Texas annexation in 1845, the establishment of American title to Oregon Territory in 1846, the Mexican cession of 1848, the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico in 1853, the purchase of Alaska, and the annexation of Hawaii brought the land area of the United States to its present boundaries. The Oregon Territory was settled with The Oregon treaty with Great Britain, the Mexican Cession was a purchase from Mexico following the American-Mexican War ($15 million and $3.25 million in assumed claims) the Gadsden Purchase cost $10 million (paid to Mexico), Alaska was purchased in 1867 from Russia for $7.2 million but didn't achieve statehood until 1959 and the Hawaiian Islands were acquired in 1898 as an annexation of independent republic that received statehood in 1959 with Alaska. The new States were admitted into the Union by acts of Congress (usually) by petition of the citizens residing in the territories in question. The boundaries of these States were defined in the enabling acts (however for some States, notably Missouri and Texas, the boundaries were changed by subsequent legislation) as opposed to the thirteen original states that which were not defined by acts of ratification but rather established by the crown or by mutual agreement.

     The Texas annexation, Mexican cession and Gadsden Purchase were all rather complicated and shall be further elaborated on. The Texas annexation was a peculiar situation because it started directly after the Texas revolution ended with the freshly elected House president Houston (of the republic of Texas) almost pleading with Jackson to annex Texas as soon as possible... however it was near the end of Jacksons term, the self elected Van Buren was next in line (who was also opposed to slavery and Texas was still pre-abolition) and the economy was still in a steep downward fall. Jackson decided nay on the annexation but on March 2, 1837 he did sign a document officially recognizing it as a sovereign state. After dabbling a bit in Oregon and California, the independent Texas, along with portions of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming and Colorado were annexed and became part of the US. This led to controversy because Mexico barred the move illegal as they still felt Texas was part of Mexico rather than independent; subsequently this led to the Mexican-American War. Wilmot Proviso, who prohibited slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico, and President polk fought with Mexico all around the Rio Grande and throughout the rugged Mexican Terrain while dealing with the new settlers of California. The war ended with the Mexican cession in 1848 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and Polks reluctant compliance to taking all of California, Nevada, Utah, portions of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming ( also established was the Texas-Mexican border with the Rio Grande) instead of all that in addition to all of Mexico as some had hoped. America's Manifest Destiny, the long to span 'sea to sea' was fulfilled (at least for a short time.) The war with Mexico also served as a precursor to the full realization of America's strengths of being an industrialist nation and a technologically advanced country that would be revealed more later on in the Civil War. Another significant geographic event was the Gadsden Purchase. After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo tensions with Mexico were at an all time high because the US was trying to build a southern transcontinental railroad and needed the land of the present day states Arizona and New Mexico to do so. Fortunately after negotiation and some conflict with private companies, the land needed for the railroad was sold to the US under the condition that they would help with the native american attacks. 

     There were also many other smaller, often disputed acquisitions such as the islands claimed under the Guana Act of 1856 that included Baker Island, Howland Island, Navassa Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll and the Midway Islands. After 1877 the US continued to take on more islands such as Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, The Federated States of Micronesia... etc etc many of which are self governing, unincorporated or uninhabited.