Northern Attitude | Metropolitan Life Building | Roman Empire | YouTube Rabbithole
Hello @YouTheReader,
Today’s Tune is Northern Attitude by Nohan Kahan with Hozier. It came out last November.
The song opens up slowly with Kahan setting a scene of catching up with an old friend or significant other he hasn’t seen in a bit.
The first verse feels like he’s talking to somebody, I think the pre-chorus is his thoughts in this interaction. He’s a man who has been building something, but in doing so he seems to have lost some important things along the way. While setting into his routine, he questions how they are doing and what it all means.
The tempo of the song picks up…
…well, Week to Week Notes was first raised by drinking pints of Guinness in the freezing New York City nights last January…
…well, from the start of this, most of Week to Week Notes is written at night with little light…
Hozier, or Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, of County Wicklow, is class.
Here the tempo of the music again slows down and Hozier is describing distractions that come with life. Stuff that may feel nice in the moment, but not necessarily what’s important, as he is scared to try again.
The song slows down to its slowest part right before…
Northern Attitude here is a guy saying I am who I am. Sorta like forgive me if I sometimes may come across as an asshole or cold-hearted, but it’s from being raised out in the cold with little light.
On to some history…
Metropolitan Life Building
Last January on Friday the 13th, I was freezing my cajones off (forgive my Northern Attitude) while Stumblin’ Along drinking pints of Guinness in The City. That night I had fine pints at Peter Dillon’s on 36th, Slattery’s Pub, Captain’s Bar & Grill, and Olde City Cheesesteaks. I gotta head back to each spot this week. In my drunken stupor, I just so happened to take a picture of the Metropolitan Life Building because I thought it looked cool.
Located in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower was designed by Napoleon LeBrun with the help of his sons Pierre and Michel in 1905. Before designing the Met Life Co Tower, Napoleon LeBrun focused on churches in Philadelphia. Around the time of the Civil War, LeBrun moved his family from Philly to New York as LeBrun & Sons drew firehouse designs. Sadly, Napoleon would pass away before the building was built, but his Italian Renaissance Revival architectural vision remained.
It was completed in 1909 with the president of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, John Rogers Hegeman, commissioning the building’s expansion. On its completion, the tower was the largest building in the world from 1909 to 1913 before the Woolworth Building alphaed it. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company wanted it to stick out like a sore thumb as a way to advertise the company’s status as the largest insurer in the world. Right next to the tower was the original office building for MetLife, which was built in 1890 on the corner of Madison Ave and 23rd Street.
The tower was supposed to replicate the Campanile in Venice, Italy, which was originally built way back in the 12th century before being rebuilt in the 16th century. The Campanile’s tower then collapsed in 1902 so its reconstruction must’ve been hot in the streets and newspapers at the time. While I think MetLife Tower is nice, it’s tough for a life insurance building to compete with something as historical as a Roman Empire tower. That said, New York’s Campanile is twice the size, so we have that going for us. MetLife Tower has 49 floors, with the top of the roof reaching 700 feet. There are 4 clocks on each side of the building, each 3 stories up.
Not too much scandal to report on this building, however, American writer Murray Leinster wrote “The Runaway Skyscraper” based on the tower. In 1919, Leinster was stunned to see the clock’s hands going counterclockwise which inspired him enough to write a short story about how a seismic event caused the Tower to go back in time thousands of years ago. The protagonist of the story is Arthur Chamberlain, an engineer, who is responsible for getting the tower back in the present. He gets the girl at the end, sorry for spoiling it. The story was published in the Argosy magazine. (Source: KEW Management)
As MetLife continued to grow as a company, it eventually needed more office space as the tower wasn’t tall enough. In 1928, there were plans to renovate and build up the tower to 100 stories in height. That fell though thanks to the Great Depression. Eventually, MetLife decided that it was unprofitable as an office asset so it was sold to Marriot Hotel. It is now a 273-room luxury hotel known as the New York Edition Hotel. While it does have a lobby bar and a bar at the Clocktower, sadly, I have to report they don’t have Guinness on the menu. Real shame. (New York Edition)
This Week’s Bit on The Roman Empire
This week your quick bit on The Roman Empire brought to you by Week to Week Notes featuring Ancient Rome: The Exhibition in New York is on the Centurion.
A Centurion was a commander of the Roman military unit which they kept simple and called centuria. The centurion would be the 6th in the chain of command in the Roman Legion. While a legion was made of 6,000 soldiers, a centuria was made up of around 100 men. These commanding officers would need to have vast military knowledge as it was their responsibility to get their soldiers to quickly execute any military formation. They would also bear the responsibility of disciplining their unit.
The most senior and prestigious centurion was the Primus Pilus. These guys would lead their army from the front, often fighting alongside their soldiers. They were expected to be the first to engage the enemy. Pretty badass. All of the centurions would rock these helmets too and would get the best kind of armor. At first, these were very difficult positions of power to obtain that took a combination of skill, experience, and dedication to obtain. The rules to become such a high-ranking position in the Roman Empire eventually started to get relaxed as family relationships, favors, and money would corrupt the system. Through bribery, individuals could oftentimes shoot right up the ranks. (Source: UNRV)
While most Ancient Rome historians of their day went to great lengths to write about Roman battles and victories, most centurions were rarely ever mentioned by name. Spuris Ligustinus was built different. This centurion served in 5 major Roman wars and several other battles during a 32-year military career that spanned from 200-168 BC. Ligustinus received 6 Civic Crowns, which in their day was equivalent to the Medal of Honor in the US. 5 times during his career, Ligustinus was the primus pilus, and he earned the top spot of leading the soldiers to battle, rising through the ranks. He came from a poor family, enlisting in the Roman Army during the Second Macedonian War (200-197 BC). By the time that war was finished, he was promoted to a centurion rank, before attaining primus pilus status just 6 years into his military career. During his final campaign in the Third Macedonian War (171-168 BC), Ligustinus was 50 years old with 8 children, yet he still volunteered. According to the Roman historian Livy, he addressed the Roman senate assembly stating, “As long as anyone who is enrolling armies considers me fit for service. I will never beg off. Of what rank the military tribunes think me worthy is for them to decide; I shall see to it that no one in the army surpasses me in bravery.” After this address, he earned his 5th Primus Pilus appointment. This guy sounds like an absolute warrior. Sheesh.