Monday, December 22, 2008

Murray Rembrandt?

A comment on one of the “Talking Heads” programs this weekend there was a stupid comment (no surprise there) that even if it were important would have made no sense. Democratic Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York, made the following comment (basically saying that the “Camelot” dreams of the kennedy’s should be allowed to die).

"Everyone knows who she is, but we're not sure what she is," he said. "You know, they're Kennedys. They're all boats, but is she a sailboat when we need a battleship?"

He accused her handlers of protecting her (a la Sarah Palin's campaign staff) from reporters. "They're kind of building a mystique and an industry around her, when we need somebody to fight.

"She has a very famous name and she's a very attractive candidate. Those are good things in politics. But it's not an entitlement. You know, one of the things that we have to observe is that DNA, in this business, can take you just so far. You know, Rembrandt was a great artist. His brother Murray, on the other hand, Murray Rembrandt wouldn't paint a house."

I guess it is a funny line in a way, but Rembrandt’s brother would have been “Murray van Rijn” (or more likely what ever the Dutch translation of Murray would be); Rembrandt was the painter’s first name! Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. If you get to Amsterdam I highly recommend the Rijksmuseum; the Rembrandt exhibition is something not to miss.

As to the idea of Camelot and Kennedy dynasty, I don’t really care, it’s better than some dynasties I can think of… Remember: There are other Bushes out there! (Isn’t that enough to give you nightmares!)

Wherever you are today, I hope that you will have a great day!

Don Bergquist – December 22, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

No idea which Van Rijn Ackerman was thinking about. I looked into Rembrandt's genealogy (?) and came up with this (http://www.mijnstambomen.nl/leiden/rembrandt.htm):

From marriage between Harmen Gerrits Van Rijn, millner, born ca 1568 in Leiden and Neeltje Willemsdr Van Zuijdtbrouck, daughter of baker, born ca 1568 in Leiden:

1. Gerrit Van Rijn (m)
2. Adriaan Harmens Van Rijn (m)
3. Machtelt Van Rijn (f)
4. Cornelis Van Rijn (m)
5. Willem Van Rijn (m)
6. Rembrandt Van Rijn
7. Elisabeth Van Rijn (f)

No Murrays here. Nor between Rembrandt's own children:

1. Rumbartus Van Rijn (m)
2. Cornelia Van Rijn (f)
3. Cornelia Van Rijn (f)
4. Titus Van Rijn (m)
5. Cornelia Van Rijn (f)

(The first three children died shortly after birth, hence the three Cornelias. Cornelia III is from his second marriage)

Unknown said...

Many thanks, Anonymous!

It was a bit more research than I was up to doing for the piece; Basically, I heard the reference to Murray Rembrandt and knew that Rembrandt was the first name so that the speaker was exposing his own ignorance in an attempt at humor.

Many thanks for your research and your note. Happy Holidays!

djb

PS: I note that you sent the same message twice so I have deleted one of them. Cheers!

Don