Daily Archives: February 27, 2020

IF YOURE under 40 reading this article, youre probably not going to die unless you get a nasty disease.

Those are the words of esteemed futurologist Dr Ian Pearson, who believes humans are very close to achieving immortality the ability to never die, reports The Sun.

Humans have been trying to find a way to dodge death for years.

Ancient Greek alchemists tried to create a philosophers stone that would let people live forever, but humans have yet to beat death.

However, Dr Pearson tells The Sun that there are a number of different ways we could live forever as long as you can make it to the year 2050.

If you kick the bucket before then, you might be part of the last generation of humans to die of old age.

METHOD #1: RENEWING YOUR BODY PARTS

There are quite a lot of people interested in living forever, explains Dr Pearson. There always has been, but the difference now is tech is improving so quickly, lots of people believe they can actually do it.

He reveals that one way to extend life would be to use biotechnologies and medicine to keep renewing the body, and rejuvenating it.

No one wants to live forever at 95 years old, but if you could rejuvenate the body to 29 or 30, you might want to do that.

This could be done in several ways, including genetic engineering that prevents (or reverses) the ageing of cells.

Alternatively, you could replace vital body organs with new parts.

Many scientists around the world are working on creating human organs using 3D printers loaded with living cells, which could one day make human organ donors redundant.

METHOD #2: LIVING IN ANDROID BODIES

But Dr Pearson thinks its much more likely that well extend our lives a different way: robots.

A long time before we get to fix our bodies and rejuvenate it every time we feel like, well be able to link our minds to the machine world so well, well effectively be living in the cloud, he explains.

The mind will basically be in the cloud, and be able to use any android that you feel like to inhabit the real world.

He says that in 50 years time, we might be able to hire an android anywhere in the world just like a hire car, and upload your consciousness into it.

If you wanted to spend the evening in Australia, going to the Sydney Opera House, you could use an android.

This means that even when your original bodies dies, youd still be able to use your digital mind stored on a computer and live in the world using highly realistic robot bodies.

The current state of sex dolls are starting to look quite human-like. Give them another 30 years of development and theyll be extremely human-like, Dr Pearson reveals.

You can take any android body and they will look human-like, and download whatever mind you want. You could share one with someone else, or have one yourself, or own dozens of them.

You might even have ones of different genders and different ages, some old, young, female, male there might be new genders by 2050 as well, so several other ones you can pick too.

He explains that well have to wait until around 2045, 2050 before well be able to create these strong brain-to-machine links, and says the cost will be very high initially.

The first people to use robot bodies to become immortal will be the rich, but then the price will gradually come down.

One day your body dies maybe you get hit by a bus or a nasty disease but it doesnt matter, because your mind will still be there. Youll be able to use an android body instead of the organic one you just lost.

For normal people on everyday salaries, its more likely that youll have to wait a little longer.

IMMORTALITY ON BRITAINS NHS

By 2060, people like you or I will be able to buy it, and by 2070 people in poor countries on modest incomes will be able to buy it.

Everyone will have a chance to have immortality, a sort of electronic immortality.

After 10, 15, 20 years, the price comes down to hundreds of pounds, rather than millions.

It could be provided as part of the NHS (National Health Service). You might be able to buy premium offerings on a private subscription, or you might get a basic presence on a network and be allowed to use an android body.

Dr Pearson says well have to limit the number of android bodies people can own, however.

You might be given one free on the NHS, but you might be limited to no more than two or three.

Rich people that can afford it would probably want to have loads of different bodies, and if your mind is online, theres nothing to stop them replicating it millions of times over.

You wouldnt want to live in a world where there are millions of Kardashians walking around, where they can afford to do it and nobody else can.

We would need to limit the number of bodies for environmental impact.

Imaging taking everybody in the UK. Once the economics allows everyone to have 10 bodies each, there would be 600 million people living here.

METHOD #3: LIVING IN A VIRTUAL WORLD

But if our minds are online, do we even need robot bodies? We could all just live in a computer simulation quite happily, according to Dr Pearson.

You could spend most of your time online in the virtual world, of course anywhere in the world on any computer.

If youre online all the time, you could have a fantastic life online. It would be all virtual, so you could have anything you want. 72 virgins if thats what drives you; all of that, because its totally imaginary.

You could make as much fun as you could possibly imagine online. You might still want to come into the real world.

You could link your mind to millions of other minds, and have unlimited intelligence, and be in multiple places at once.

THE CUT-OFF HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE

The tricky bit is surviving until the technology becomes widely available.

By 2050, it will only really be for the rich and famous, Dr Pearson said.

Most people on middle-class incomes and reasonable working-class incomes can probably afford this in the 2060s. So anyone 90 or under by 2060.

If you were born sometime in 1970 onwards, that would make you 48 this year. So anybody under 50 has got a good chance of it, and anyone under 40 almost definitely will have access to this.

Most of your readers are probably going to live forever, Dr Pearson tells us.

This story first appeared in The Sun and has been republished here with permission.

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Immortality by 2050: Humans very close to everlasting life

(Editor's note: This is the fourth in a four-part series on the Tinkle family. For Part 1 on Joslyn and Elle Tinkle, click the link here. For Part 2 on Lisa Tinkle, click here. For Part 3 on Wayne Tinkle, click here. )

CORVALLIS, OR - Wayne Tinkle remembers it like yesterday.

Back in 2016, the Oregon State Beavers were practicing the night before taking on the USC Trojans in Los Angeles, their second-to-last regular season game of the year.

Tinkle was drawing up the practice plan, and had a rebounding drill on the list. But for some reason, after writing it down, he crossed it off.

But then, he changed his mind again, and re-added the drill, knowing full well he didn't want his team to get soft on the boards.

"At the start of that practice, we're doing the drill, and (Tres Tinkle) went for a hard box out and his foot stepped on top of his teammate's and he went down," Wanye recalled. "I thought initially it was a tweak of the ankle and he gave me a look like something was wrong."

And it was. Upon a further X-ray, Tres found out he broke his foot on that drill, ending a promising true freshman season with the Beavers. He missed the final five games as OSU went on to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1990.

A challenging and tearful ending to something the younger Tinkle had dreamed about his entire life.

It would be the first of numerous physical and emotional challenges Tres would be forced to overcome during his college basketball career. And now, four years later, Tinkle sits just 20 points away from breaking Gary Payton's all-time scoring record at OSU.

"It's been an awesome place to play and just mature as a person and develop. But things like the scoring title here are all great things to look back on and see that you had especially when you're passing a player like Gary Payton," Tinkle told MTN Sports. "That's very special but for me it's about winning and trying to turn the program around because I don't think there's really been a winning team since he was here in 30-plus years so just want to leave my legacy as my dad's first recruiting class just to get this place going in the right direction and to turn Oregon State into a winning program where it once was and then just kind of leave it at that."

Sitting in Gill Coliseum on Feb. 6, just two days before OSU topped rival Oregon, Tinkle took a moment to reflect on just how far he'd come in his basketball life.

He was a prep star almost from the start at Missoula Hellgate High School. As a sophomore in 2013, he led the Knights to a state championship, a game in which he knocked down a challenging layup just seconds before the buzzer to send the game into overtime. He ultimately became Hellgate's all-time leading scorer, until current Knight senior Rollie Worster surpassed him just a few weeks ago.

Then, he took his talents to Corvallis to play for his father. And though the injury derailed his freshman year, he was ready to take the Pac-12 by storm as a sophomore.

Until injury struck again.

After playing in the first six games, Tinkle broke his wrist and missed the rest of that season. It was then, he said he considered giving up the sport altogether.

"I remember being in the car with my mom and telling her I want to quit," Tinkle said. "Just whats the point of me putting everything I have into this game and then just getting hurt and not even playing. And shes always told me thats not me, thats not what our family is about.

"I think nothing worth having comes easy. So I just kind of kept my head down and just kept working and it's gotten me to some pretty unique places."

So he stuck with it, and achieved first-team All-Pac-12 honors the following season. He replicated that a year ago, and is on track for a third straight honor this season as well. Recently, he also broke OSU's record for consecutive games scoring in double digits as well.

"The biggest thing for me is just Montana tough is always in the back of my head so I just try to take what Ive done and hopefully be a platform for others to follow their dreams as well," Tres said.

But what has also has made Tinkle's career unique is just how long he's been under the microscope as a player. His father's head coaching career began in 2006 at Montana while his two older sisters, Joslyn and Elle, each were standout prep players themselves before embarking on college careers at Stanford and Gonzaga, respectively. His mother, Lisa, is in the Grizzly athletics hall of fame after a decorated career with the Lady Griz.

So as the youngest in such a prominent hoops family, expectations were high and the scrutiny close when he was the standout high school player whose father was the Grizzlies coach to now being the star who plays for his dad at a Power 5 university.

The one thing is he hasnt let the pressure get to him," Wayne said. "Hes still been very true to himself. Theres times when I know that its probably felt like that weight of the world on his shoulders. Hes very headstrong and that makes me proud because thats not a trait I had. Wish I had. But to see how hes kind of juggled being under the microscope or in the spotlight here on campus, being the head coaches kid, having the success hes had, and not letting it take away from who he really is really warms our heart.

I feel like Im a person that thrives off pressure," Tres added. "I love it because I love a challenge. I want to do what people say I cant do and prove them wrong and kind of make them eat their words. Its how Ive always been with sports or school. A puzzle, like I want to finish it. The biggest thing for me is just Montana tough is always in the back of my head so I just try to take what Ive done and hopefully be a platform for others to follow their dreams as well.

Basketball was never forced upon the Tinkle children and Tres even said Wayne wanted him to play baseball as a kid. But Tres ultimately fell in love with basketball and followed in the footsteps of his siblings and parents.

"Just seeing the success my sisters had I didn't want to be the weak link," Tres said. "So that's what really drove my work ethic. So never any pressure because I accepted the challenge and I knew what it took because I had some great role models."

But there were still challenges now for both Tinkle men who now had to find the delicate balance between a player and coach relationship to their normal father and son one. And there was growth to be had there, too.

"It just shows you what perseverance and resilience he's all about," Wayne said. "There were a lot of emotional nights. Even before the injuries just our relationship as player-coach, father-son. And we've had to work through that. He had to get a lot tougher and grow up and I had to learn that, if I was going to criticize him as much as everybody else, I had to praise him as much as I did the others and I wasn't doing that in the first couple of years."

"He saw dad's criticism coming from dad instead of a coach's aspect," Lisa added. "So getting through that was hard and they're in such a good place right now. Wayne is able to coach him hard and Tres is able to listen and take that coaching and use it as constructive criticism. They've both matured in different areas.

"Im really proud of him. Tres has never been one to shy away from hard work and I think thats what I admire about him most. Even as a young kid if he had a goal he would do anything he could do to achieve it and his expectations are high and he demands a lot of himself and he just never shies away from hard work so I feel like hes deserved everything hes gotten.

While his college career now winds to a close, it's not just bittersweet for Tres, but for those in his inner circle as well. Especially those who know just how challenging some of those moments were.

But in reflection, his parents gush with stories about his character and the kindness he showed to others as a kid. For his sisters, they said watching him mature as an adult and a player has been special to watch after seeing everything he's done and gone through to get to this point in his life.

Tinkle will likely find a career in basketball after the buzzer sounds in his final game with Oregon State, but that won't make that moment any less emotional for those who have been there every step of the way.

"We were just talking to somebody not too long ago about what the feeling is going to be like when its his last home game and the buzzer goes off," Elle said. "I think all of us get choked up. How are we figuring out how to get him a sixth year? Its going to be totally bittersweet because obviously we hope and were pretty confident that hell have a successful career maybe after this but just getting to be present at almost every single game over the past five years has been so special."

Im just glad that he learned everything from me," Joslyn added with a laugh. "Its been so awesome. Were all very supportive and a pretty tight-knit group and I think the coolest thing for both of us but for me is seeing him achieve all these accolades and accomplishments but knowing whats gone into it behind the scenes. Hes just worked his tail off. He is the hardest worker I know.

"Weve been really fortunate to have him for five years and seasons and to watch that bond with our dad and brother and all of us be present in all of those moments. Its been really, really special."

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Sports Perseverance leads Tres Tinkle to cusp of Oregon State immortality Kyle Hansen 9:38 AM - KPAX-TV

Syracuse basketball is currently in the midst of its worst six year run ever under head coach Jim Boeheim.

If the Orange miss the NCAA Tournament this season (as theyre currently projected), this will be the first time this team has missed March Madness three times in a six year span ever under Boeheims reign.

Despite that fun fact, the Orange faithful have continued to make the loud house college basketballs best home court advantage.

Per Mike Waters of Syracuse.com, Syracuse hoops has clinched its second straight attendance title.

The Orange still have one more home game coming up on the last day of February vs North Carolina this Saturday. But this past weekend vs Georgia Tech, Syracuse had a crowd of nearly 27,000 which bumped SUs average attendance up to 21,256.

The next closest team is Kentucky who is currently batting second in the country in 2019-20. This season, through 16 regular season contests, have drawn an average of 20,114 fans per game.

While they still have two more home games on the docket vs Auburn and vs Tennessee respectively and both are expected to be near sell-outs, it still doesnt matter.

Rupp Arena, the home of the Kentucky Wildcats, has a full capacity of 20,545 which means its literally impossible with the games remaining for them to leap frog Syracuse.

This is the first time the Orange have won back-to-back attendance titles since the 2014-2015 seasons. Since the Carrier Dome opened in 1980, Syracuse has won the attendance crown 16 times including this season.

With Syracuse likely to miss the NCAA Tournament, outside of a crazy run in the ACC Tournament, this means this team is likely destined for the NIT. For those wondering, the loud house will not be available for the NIT due to construction. It is yet to be determined where Syracuse would host NIT games if they were invited in lieu of the dome.

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Syracuse basketball has clinched immortality for the 2nd straight season - Inside the Loud House

Talk about a rigged election. Willie Davis received a grand total of zero Hall of Fame votes, lifetime. Zip, zilch, nada.

Why? Because the Dodgers' great centerfielder never made it out of starting gate. There was no one-and-done, no opportunity to be rejected by the writers,no chance to be knocked off the ballot with fewer than 5 percent of the vote.

Why? Because the 3-Dog's name never appeared on a Cooperstown ballot, a snub which I find almost impossible to fathom. So after a recent and random search of Davis to gaze upon his accomplishments, during which I noticed the snub, I contacted new National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum President, Tim Mead, who I knew from his long tenure as communications director for the Angels, to inquire. He put me in touch with HOF Library Director, Jim Gates, who shared what he was able to find out about the 1985 election, which was Willie's first and only shot at immortality.

But first, a little appreciation for the Dodger great's statistics.

In 62 seasons dating to the Dodgers' arrival from Brooklyn in 1958, Davis is the Los Angeles career leader in -- are you ready? -- WAR position players (59.6), at bats (7495), runs (1004), hits (2091), total bases (3094), triples (110), extra base hits (585), power-speed # (211.0; franchise leader) and offensive WAR (41.3). And he's a franchise top 10 member -- that's New York and L.A. -- in 22 categories.

Lou Brock and Catfish Hunter were elected in their first year of eligibility in 1985. No argument here.

Here are other first-time candidates on the ballot:Jesus Alou,Rico Carty,Dock Ellis, Ken Holtzman, Don Kessinger,Ed Kranepool, Mickey Lolich, Jim Lonborg, Andy Messermith,George Scott,Bobby Tolan and Roy White.

Davis' 59.6 WAR beats every one of those first-year guys (for comparison, Alou managed a whopping 0.7; Kranepool a 4.4 and Kessenger a 9.0), and would've been fourth among the entire 41 players on the ballot, being eclipsed only by Ken Boyer (62.8) and the enshrined Ron Santo (70.5), Billy Williams (63.7).

His 1053 RBIs would'veled the first-timers too (Alou had 377; Tolan 497). He'd have been second to Brock (938) in steals with 398 (the next closest was White with 233). The .723 OPS, while not great, would've been fourth on the debut players list behind only Carty (.833), Scott (.767) and White (.764). And you want to tell me Davis wasn't worthy of a place on the ballot?

Here's the explanation via Gates from Cooperstown:

With respect to your inquiry about Willie Davis:

1. I can confirm that he did not appear on the HOF ballot in 1985, his first year of eligibility, nor did he appear on any BBWAA ballot thereafter. This is the list of other first time eligible who did not appear on the 1985 ballot: Darrel Chaney, Gene Clines, Joe Coleman, Frank Duffy, Ray Fosse, Ellie Hendricks, Steve Mingori, Bob Montgomery, Tom Murphy, Bob Robertson, Wayne Twitchell, and Bobby Valentine.

2. [Davis] does remain eligible for consideration by the appropriate Veterans Committee Era, but I find no record of his inclusion on any ballot. (As you are aware, these are closed room discussion, so I do not know if he was reviewed at any time.)

3. The 1985 ballot seems to be a bit of an anomaly as 11 players previously dropped were reinstated by a Special Committee. Those 11 were: Richie Allen, Ken Boyer, Clay Carroll, Ron Fairly, Curt Flood, Harvey Haddix, Denny McLain, Dave McNally, Vada Pinson, Ron Santo, and Wilbur Wood.

4. This reinstatement would seem to have taken up room on the ballot, thereby making it more difficult for the new names to be added. Unfortunately, there are precious few records kept from these meetings and Special Committees so there is minimal documentation of why these decisions were made. Additionally, all of the people who were involved in this process have passed away, so I cannot query them directly.

5. Finally, there are a few threads on the web which consider Davis to be the highest ranked player never to have appeared on the ballot. However, in my 25 years at the HOF, this is the first time I have been queried about his situation.

While it appears to have been meant as a diss, I'll wear that last sentence as a badge of honor, thank you very much.

To be clear, it's not that I think that Davis would've or should've been elected if given the chance. I don't, but the omission from the ballot bothers me. A lot. And look, I wouldn't expect a Hall of Fame employee to throw a possibly-deceased predecessor under the bus for a 35-year-old offense. And it is an offense.

But since I don't have someone to blame -- and for all I know the person will step forward to explain himself after reading this piece -- I don't feel as though I'm being unfair in saying this:Davis missed a chance to represent the Dodgers, to be rewarded with a certain number of votes accompanied by a percentage of those cast -- likely fewer than the 75 percent required, but better than most of his first-year peers -- because of a badly-constructed ballot. A less-than-fair election.

Best reason I can think of as to why this happened? Because someone in upstate New York in 1985 had a brain-freeze. And I understand it can get mighty cold up there in the winter.

And remember, glove conquers all.

Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.

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Why Dodgers' Great Willie Davis Received a Grand Total of Zero Hall of Fame Votes - Sports Illustrated

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) Wednesday, mothers in need at the Open Door Mission's Lydia House were treated to a baby shower--all organized by a mother who's mourning the loss of her 2-year-old son.

Car seats, strollers, pack and plays and so much more were unloaded and carted into the Lydia House Wednesday morning.

The women and children at Lydia House... they need support, said Tara Bowne, mother of two sons, Parker and Ryker.

Bowne organized the baby shower.

Ryker was a perfect, healthy, 2 -year-old little boy, said Bowne.

But the family's life turned upside down in 2018.

He went to bed that evening, said Bowne. The next morning, my husband went to wake him and he was non-responsive.

Rykers death was labeled a case of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC).

It was just pure disbelief, numbness, and just devastation, said Bowne.

Bowne said she and her husband had to come to terms with their new family unit to mourn the loss of Ryker but also, she said, in a way to mourn the childhood their now 10-year-old son, Parker, lost.

The life that my son Parker had known with Ryker and being a child and immortality and everything was different, said Bowne.

But their grief led them to an idea to spread kindness in Ryker's name.

His memory really started living on through these acts--I believe firmly there is healing in helping others in a way that I dont think anything else heals you, said Bowne.

The family created an Honoring Ryker Facebook page... and with help from people across the country, they put together events like a baby shower aimed at helping others in their time of need.

I know how important it is to have people rally around you that don't even know you and just love you unconditionally and that's why we chose to do this, said Bowne.

Spreading love and kindness while honoring a sweet little boy who's left an impact on so many.

The fact that my angel gets to help them and their children and be that blessing... there's just an overwhelming peace," said Browne.

A virtual baby shower will continue online through Saturday, you can find the registry of needed items here.

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Local News Mom spreads kindness to honor her young son who died in 2018 KMTV Staff - KMTV - 3 News Now

Takashi Kovacs may have a new sleeve, i.e., human body, when Altered Carbon returns, but many of the mercenary's same old problems will persist in Season 2 of Netflix's dystopian series, based on Richard K. Morgan's futuristic book series.

The last time viewers saw the violent and trigger-happy investigator Kovacs, he was preparing to leave his home planet to search for Quellcrist Falconer, the former renegade leader of the Envoys and the love of his life. Season 2 picks up 30 years later with Kovacs still on his mission to find Quell, but his task will bring him back to where he started: at home on Harlan's Worlda planet where people can achieve immortality if they have the money for it.

The good folks of Harlan's World are still transferring their consciousor rather "stacks" as it's referred to on Altered Carboninto sleeves. But the planet is on the verge of warfare as the government clashes with a group of domestic terrorists (or revolutionaries depending on whether or not you believe humans should live forever). In the midst of all this political upheaval, the founders of Harlan's World are being mysteriously executed, thus leading one insanely rich and terrified man to seek the protection of Kovacs, aka "The Last Envoy."

Naturally, Kovacs won't be interested in interrupting his own pursuits to help the man, but the lure of information on Quell's whereabouts and an upgraded sleeve is enough to convince him.

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When he wakes up in his new body, played by Anthony Mackie, Kovacs soon learns that his new mission and his quest to find Quell are more connected than he could have imagined. And it will lead him down a path that won't just cause him to question his own past, but also the history of the world in which he was born.

"The goal of Altered Carbon every season is to serve a new mystery and a new sleeve and a new planet. We were interested in exploring a more personal side of Kovacs in season two," showrunner Alison Schapker said of the series in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. "The fact that Quellcrist Falconer was part of the equation meant the mystery would be more personal, and by going to Harlan's World, the planet is more personal, too. We saw it as turning inward and a deepening of our understanding of Takeshi Kovacswho he is, and what's his history. What's his past, and how does that illuminate the present and the future?"

Mackie, who replaced Joel Kinnaman as Kovacs, isn't the only new sleeve to be introduced in Season 2. Simone Missick, Lela Loren and Torben Liebrecht will appear as Kovacs new immortal allies and enemies, while Dina Shihabi plays a new artificial intelligence in human form and friend of Kovac's trusty sidekick Po, reprised by Chris Conner. Rene Elise Goldsberry will also continue her role as Quell.

Altered Carbon's eight-episode Season 2 releases on Netflix on Friday at 3 a.m. ET.

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Everything You Need to Know to Watch 'Altered Carbon' Season 2 on Netflix - Newsweek

Alfred Jarry believed in books because he wanted to be God. For him, the printed volume was not merely the expression of an authors thought but an extension of the self and, beyond this, a means of subjugating others. His magnum opus, Ubu Roi, features a Grand Guignol Macbeth who dispatches friend and foe alike as he claws his way to the top; for Ubus creator, however, the path to power was not the sword but the tome, a vehicle of omnipotence and immortality. As Julien Schuh writes in the catalogue to Alfred Jarry: The Carnival of Being, Jarry considered the book a machine to disembrain his reader, a tool to transform minds and impose his will on them. Or as Jarry put it, God or myself created all possible worlds.

In order for the machine to function, Jarry felt that the written content must work in tandem with the physical package. The writer had not only to compose the words, but to oversee every aspect of the books manufacture, from paper choice to type design to binding stitches. The exhibition at the Morgan, which celebrates an important gift to the library, focuses on Jarrys fetishisation of the book, his close attention to its making, the innovations he brought to bibliographic arts, and the quixotic will to power underlying his productions.

Alfred Jarry (right) fencing with Felix Blaviel in Laval in 1906. Courtesy Morgan Library & Museum, New York

Jarry, who died in 1907 at the age of 34, occupies a special place in the pantheon of cult figures. The man whose brief career yielded both King Ubu and pataphysics, the science of imaginary solutions, has influenced nearly every member of the avant-garde star chamber, from James Joyce to John Cage. Today he is primarily remembered for the scandal that surrounded the premiere of Ubu Roiin 1896, and especially for its tyrannical antihero, the epitome of self-serving villainy. It has become a commonplace to see the rotund, green Ubu, with his cabal of sinister yes-men and his inclination to destroy even the ruins, as an avatar for any number of real-life autocrats, including a certain orange president.

Ubu Roi(1896), Alfred Jarry, publishedin Livre dArt no. 2 (April 1896). Courtesy the Morgan Library & Museum, New York

But what the Morgan show reveals is that Jarry, who famously affected Ubus obstreperous manner in public, also harboured a monkish devotion to the bibliographic arts, as well as a genius for turning the techniques of the past into something much more forward-looking. His mash-ups of disparate elements, which juxtapose his own original woodcuts with found imagery from various epochs, anticipate such modernist and postmodern mainstays as the collages of Max Ernst and the appropriation art of Sherrie Levine and Richard Prince. The rebus-like typography he employs on his title pages (legibility be damned!) predates Marinettis parole in libert and Tzaras Dada broadsides by nearly two decades.

Illustration in Les minutes de sable memorial (Paris: Mercure de France, 1894), Alfred Jarry. Photo: Janny Chiu; courtesy Morgan Library & Museum, New York

The display is a bibliophiles paradise of hand-decorated first editions, manuscripts, ephemera, and artwork, including some splendid pinal prints and works by the Pont-Aven artists (Gauguin, Charles Filiger) with whom Jarry rubbed shoulders. Among the many highlights are homages and responses to the man and his creations by Joan Mir, William Kentridge, Picasso, Pierre Bonnard, Ernst, Hockney, Dora Maar, and others. Most are works on paper, though Douanier Rousseaus canvas La Guerre(1894) from the Muse dOrsay a lithograph of which Jarry published in his magazine LYmagier enlivens one room, nearly overwhelming the display cases below it. There is also a stunning copy of Jarrys Les Minutes de sable mmorial, crafted by the author and printed on a rainbow of different-coloured papers, that in itself constitutes an argument for why the physical book will always have validity. (Its worth remembering that in Jarrys day, pundits were already predicting the demise of books owing to the advent of sound recording and film.) And though the show is small, the visitor can trace a fascinating evolution in Jarrys own visual output, from crudely executed religious icons to his more sophisticated frontispieces and theatre programmes.

Unfolded spread from LYmagier (Paris: Mercure de France, 18941896), Alfred Jarry. Photo: Janny Chiu; courtesy Morgan Library & Museum, New York

All that said, what really stand out in this show, and what make it such a powerful experience, are the obsessively reiterative portraits of Ubu, both by Jarry and by the many artists who have fallen under his sadistic charm. Jarrys despotic alter ego, with his spiral-emblazoned paunch, pear-shaped head and supercilious expression, remains a disquietingly hilarious embodiment not only of the French fin-de-sicle, but of our own benighted times as well. The many volumes he adorns, meanwhile, are a reminder that creating books is not the worst way to play God.

Alfred Jarry: The Carnival of Being is at the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, until 10 May.

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Alfred Jarry at the Morgan Library - Apollo Magazine