Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (June16, 2012)

Time the Almighty

Time will bring to light whatever is hidden; it will cover up and conceal what is now shining in splendor.

… Horace

From the Trivia File

The southernmost bridge in New York state is the Outerbridge Crossing. Most people think it got its name from its location, but it was really named after Eugenius H. Outerbridge, the first chairman of the Port of New York Authority. The word “crossing” was used so it wouldn’t be the Outerbridge Bridge. The Outerbridge family were prominent members of the Staten Island community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Michelangelo’s Revenge

When Michelangelo Buonarroti had almost completed his painting of “The Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel, loud protests against the nude figures were raised by Biagio da Cesena, social director for Pope Paul III. The pope, who was fond of Michelangelo, brushed the objections aside, but Michelangelo, upon hearing of the protests, grew furious with anger, not only because of the complaints, but also because Biagio had dared criticize his exquisite painting before it was finished. Michelangelo’s revenge was swift and devastating. He added a nude figure in Biagio’s image, portraying him beset and tormented by the devils of hell.

Once again, Biagio returned to Pope Paul to voice his outrage. “I have never been so insulted in my life,” he stormed. “Michelangelo is completely immoral. How dare he paint me naked, and present me as suffering in hell!”

“Just what would you have me do about it? Ask him to paint a fig leaf over your private place?” inquired the Pope, suppressing an urge to laugh aloud. “You would indeed look peculiar as the only modest figure in hell.”

“But, surely, Your Holiness,” persisted Biago, “you can at least use your influence to see that I am taken out of that place entirely.”

“My dear Biagio, I am sorry to say that your request is beyond my power,” observed the Pope, calmly. “My authority is limited to heaven and earth. I have no jurisdiction in hell.”

… Lodovico Domenichi

What’s in a Name ?

Boursalian revisited: Boursa or Bursa is presumed to be Greek, not Turkish, in origin.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

CK Garabed

Weekly Columnist

C.K. Garabed (a.k.a. Charles Kasbarian) has been active in the Armenian Church and Armenian community organizations all his life. As a writer and editor, he has been a keen observer of, and outspoken commentator on, political and social matters affecting Armenian Americans. He has been a regular contributor to the Armenian Reporter and the AGBU Literary Quarterly, “ARARAT.” For the last 30 years, Garabed has been a regular contributor to the Armenian Weekly. He produces a weekly column called “Uncle Garabed's Notebook,” in which he presents an assortment of tales, anecdotes, poems, riddles, and trivia; for the past 10 years, each column has contained a deconstruction of an Armenian surname. He believes his greatest accomplishment in life, and his contribution to the Armenian nation, has been the espousing of Aghavni, and the begetting of Antranig and Lucine.

Latest posts by CK Garabed (see all)

• A Reminiscence: John Najarian - February 19, 2020
• Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (Aug. 5, 2017) - August 7, 2017
• Uncle Garabed’s Notebook (July 22, 2017) - July 22, 2017