Date: 15 November 1982 17:15 mst From: Lippard.DSOP (James J. Lippard) Subject: Miscellaneous Digest V1 #31 Reply-To: misc To: (Miscellaneous Mailing List) Miscellaneous Digest Volume 1 : Issue 31 Today's topics: Bears --------------------------------------------------------------------- Redistributed-Date: 15 November 1982 17:07 mst Redistributed-By: Hartogs.Scouting at M.PCO.LISD.HIS Redistributed-To: {mbx >udd>sct>jjl>misc} at M.PCO.LISD.HIS Return-Path: <@M.PCO.LISD.HIS,@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA:BSG@SCRC-TENEX> Received: from MIT-MULTICS.ARPA by M.PCO.LISD.HIS dial; 15-Nov-1982 12:23:32-mst Date: Monday, 15 November 1982, 14:20-EST From: Bernard S. Greenberg Subject: [Mailer at SCRC-TENEX: Message of 15-Nov-82 12:01:41] To: mdh.sct%PCO-Multics at MIT-Multics, dlw at SCRC-TENEX Forwarded, due to header screwup. Date: Monday, 15 November 1982, 12:04-EST From: Bernard S. Greenberg Subject: Significance of Bears To: Hartogs.Scouting%PCO-Multics at MIT-MULTICS Cc: mdh.sct%PCO-Multics, dlw at SCRC-TENEX, marg at mit-oz, rsl at SCRC-TENEX, bsg at SCRC-TENEX, Bongiovanni.m at MIT-Multics, May.G8ARCH%PCO-Multics at MIT-Multics In-reply-to: The message of 14 Nov 82 19:40-EST from Mike D. Hartogs Date: 14 November 1982 17:40 mst From: Hartogs.Scouting at M.PCO.LISD.HIS (Mike D. Hartogs) Can you tell me the significanse of a picture of a bear playing a violin, and a line through the picture? I know it doesn't mean, no bears playing violins allowed. This is a long and complex story. God, where to begin...? First off, it's not a violin, it's a CELLO. And in fact, it DOES mean no bears playing cello allowed (or, perhaps, "bears are not permitted to play Cello here"). This concept (usually referred to by its original label, "Non Ursus Violoncellus") refers to a blackboard-and-chalk picture which was drawn by James R. Davis some time in early 1979 on Eleanor Donner's blackboard at CISL. Neither Mr. Davis, Ms. Donner, nor myself are currently employed at by Honeywell. The origin of Non Ursus is traceable to two artistic influences that were influencing Mr. Davis at the time: 1) People at Mr. Davis' residence ("the loft") in Chinatown, Boston, at that time, were making clever and interesting "No" (i.e., prohibition, red-circle-with slash) signs as a humor form, for instance, A backwards E in a red-circle-with-slash, meaning "No existence", or solipsism (a backwards E is the logician's symbol for "there exists") 2) A road sign parody which appeared in a National Lampoon article on parodied road signs some time in 1977 or 1978. The particular road sign concerned stated "Bears Playing Cello next 8 kilometers" (as in "warning, deer on road, etc.") and had a silhouette of a bear, indeed, playing a Cello. These trends inspired Mr. Davis to create "Non Ursus" in early 1979. Mr. Davis portrayed, on Ms. Donner's blackboard, a very loveable, human-like bear, beatifically poised, playing a Cello, in a circle-with-slash sign. I labelled it "Non Ursus Violoncellus" (mock-latin for "no bears playing cello) soon after. Non Ursus acquired instantaneous popularity, due to the loveable, cute quality of the figure portrayed. One could almost hear the strains of the opening of Bach's G major Suite, or something equally tranquil and at peace with itself. Due to the instant popularity of Non Ursus, Mr. Davis, a skilled illustrator and cartoonist, within the succeeding weeks evolved other ursine illustrations, usually involving "prohibition signs". Now at this time Doug Hofstadter's "Godel, Escher, Bach, an Eternal Golden Braid" had just hit the stands. This breathtaking work (with which you should be familiar, if you are not) dealt largely with the notions of self-reference, paradox, recursion, inconsistency, jumping out the system, self-shaving barbers, and things of this sort. This book and its notions inspired Mr. Davis to portray a cute bear very similar to Non Ursus, PAINTING HIMSELF INTO A PROHIBITION SIGN, STILL INCOMPLETE. This amazing work meant: No bears painting signs which prohibit bears from painting signs which prohibit bears from painting signs which prohibit bears from painting signs which prohibit bears from painting signs .... and so forth. Expressed roughly in Lisp (Sussman's SCHEME dialect), `(NO BEARS PAINTING SIGNS ,(LABELS (PROHIBITION-SIGN (LAMBDA () `(WHICH PROHIBIT BEARS FROM PAINTING SIGNS ,PROHIBITION-SIGN))) Some form of recursion operator is required to properly express or explain this wonderful and elegant sign. At once, the notion of self-reference became linked to bears. With some help from Mr. Davis, I began to indulge in Ursine art, and the two of us were soon drawing bears all over CISL. Ursine art became a symbol for self-reference and self-referential humor, as the Fish among the early Christians. Ms. Donner's blackboard was soon festooned with lesser Ursine portraits by Mr. Davis, in the manner of Bodhisattvas surrounding a Deity in the tradition of Tantric Thangkas. (Among these were Bears climbing New York's Empire State Building, participating in Zen, and other common activities). The Bear blackboard at CISL became a Shrine for Ursists of all categories. As a matter of fact, Doug Hofstadter, who was very impressed with the recursive-self-painting bear, came to CISL to see it (he was visiting Cambridge) in later 1979. Bear-drawing lasted through all of 1979 and into 1980. Dozens of elegant and witty bears were exchanged by myself and Mr. Davis. Bears graced many blackboards at CISL, and some are there to this day! Bears were portrayed in Self-referential art, Religious art, Technical and Political cartoons, playing the Harpsichord, as well as many other settings. The Davis Humanoid Bear had become a cult at CISL. To be fair, although most people loved the bears, some people thought it was all very silly. They are no longer employed by Honeywell. Non Ursus was vandalized at some time in 1980, destroyed wantonly by a vandal who has not come forth to this day. Fortunately, Non Ursus, and his surrounding bears, have been preserved by color photography. Now one must mention the "other" bears in those days: people also referred to "dead bears", and still do. This tradition (Schola Ursorum Mortuorum [the School of Dead Bears]) has another root, based on a vulgar expression of contempt at an inanimate thing or situation, "That ****s dead bears!" introduced to CISL by William York. This expression was often reduced to "Dead BEARS!" by people invoking it (for instance, when a process would go away, or a TYMNET line would hang up during some critical activity). Sure enough, the expression, principally under the guidance of Paul Smee (no longer employed by Honeywell) was reduced to simply "BEARS!". This latter guise of the Vulgar Expression caused great confusion for the aforementioned followers of the Schola Ursorum Viventium [School of Live Bears], which were all the Davis-derived bears of which I had been speaking. The Bears of the S. U. Mort. were negative, Wrathful deities, which were invoked as the cause of process crashes, ill designs, misfortune, etc. The Bears of the S. U. Viv. were positive, benificent, beings of a strong positive Karma. People in those days would pass each other in the hall and say "BEARS!" as a greeting, and it was not clear to which School they were referring. This caused great confusion, as well as disappointment among followers of the S. U. Viv. about the sullying of the image of Bears; followers of the S. U. Viv. NEVER portrayed Bears dead, or in sexual activity. Davis drew one picture as a concession to the S. U. Mort., which is believed to be still extant. It portrays a Bear at a music stand, (perhaps fatally) stabbed with what appears to be a Cello (or perhaps Double Bass) bow. It is labelled "And I MEANT *NO*!" The interpretation is obvious. Bear drawing has died as an art form. Yet these bears live in the hearts and minds of all those who had the pleasure to deal with them. Enough said. -------------------- End of Miscellaneous Digest ***************************