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Busy busy weekend cut-tagged for your convenience.
Friday night D. and I went to see Iron Man.
I really enjoyed it, one of the best comic book movies I've seen. Although I don't know a thing about the comic D. kept leaning over and mentioning things so seemed to pass the geek test. Robert Downey Jr. made the character both sleezy and likeable. Obediah was really, really awesome. They gave Pepper Potts something to work with (I'm assuming there wasn't much in the source material). There was cool stuff and nifty fight and/or flight scenes. And it was funny! I wasn't bored once. Oh, and D. was very excited about the Nick Fury thing which I totally get credit for because he said we could leave and I said she should say. (Although I did hear his name initially as McFury and thought he was some sort of weird McDonald's Ad Campaign superhero, which Samuel L. Jackson could still totally pull off, but D. corrected me).
Saturday I decided to drive to New Haven.
Back in 2004 I interned for a curator at WCMA who was working on a show about Gerald and Sarah Murphy. They were a wealthy American couple who entertained a lot of famous artists and authors in France during the 20s (think Hemingway, the Picassos, Dos Passos, Dorothy Parker, Fernand Leger, the Fitzgeralds). They inspired characters (the Divers in Tender is the Night) and created a social convivial atmosphere that seemed incredibly awesome (until they lost a bunch of money in '29 and their 2 sons died). Gerald was a modern painter (imagine Picasso giving you painting tips) and his 7 surviving canvases were brought together for this show.
The exhibition opened last fall in Williamstown. I missed it, but I knew it was coming to Yale this spring before going to Dallas this summer. Well Sunday was its last day at Yale and since it seemed unlikely I'd make it to Dallas I decided to drive up to New Haven.
D. didn't want to spend his weekend in the car so it was just me and a few CDs. The drive up was a little long (7 hours) because I hit traffic in Delaware and around NYC. Luckily D. booked me a "fancy" (read business class not economy) hotelroom.
Awesome things about the hotel:
-big room with king sized bed, full sized couch, and large desk
-beautiful view of New England hills (I got a little homesick)
-super nice linen, the coverlet was sooo soft not that nasty plasticky stuff
-5 pillows that were all more comfortable than my pillows at home
-bathroom towels were substantial and stacked in a pretty basket
-nifty toiletries with a "grain" theme, quinoa shampoo, can't remember the conditioner, and yummy quince lotion
-bathtub with jets (also hotel pool but I didn't have my suit)
-delicious roomservice (dinner) and a very nice breakfast buffet complete with cute guy who made me an omlette
Awesome things about traveling alone:
-I get to drive the car and it goes as fast or slow as I want and doesn't change lanes aggressively
-The temperature in the car was pleasant not freezing
-I could listen to music (no NPR!), and sing along to the CDs as loudly and "on key" as I pleased
-the other side of the bed did not snore
-instead of being relegated to "far left" I could start out the night on "far right" and move to "right center" and maybe even a little onto the "left center" portion of the bed
-all the covers belong to me
-could do "gross" things (fart, burp, pee with bathroom door open, wear ugly but comfy night clothes) without complaint or feeling self conscious
-given the tv movie choices of "X Men" "Laura Croft Tomb Raider" and "40 Year Old Virgin" could chose the one that I wanted to see
-could mind my own schedule
-could spend as much time in the art exhibit as I wanted, even double back to some bits and totally skip others
-two days without having to raise the energy to make conversation although I'm not sure I would want to do it for that much longer
Sunday I headed into New Haven. The Yale University Art Gallery didn't open until 1pm but the Yale Center for British Art opened at noon so I went there first.
Awesome things about YCBA:
-the Louis I. Kahn building
-the dude playing music outside that you could hear though much of the museum
-the exhibition A New World: England's First View of America which showed drawings of North American people, plants, and animals as well as maps by English explorers. It was really facinating.
-guards who handed me brochures without me asking and who were v. funny discussing why one of the video pieces would repeat
-the permanent collection was top notch, English art isn't one of my areas of interest but I liked the thematic arrangement and many of the pieces
-particularly enjoyed their Joseph Wright of Darby stuff (too lazy to link try wiki, his pictures usually have dramatic lighting, like from a candle or lantern where the actual source is covered, and he painted several pictures with science themes)
-also a fantastic Turner "Dort, or Dordrecht, the Dort Packet-boat from Rotterdam Becalmed" which is hung beautifully next to a large window showing the college
-found the lead statue on the way to the bathrooms kind of fantastic as well
A little after 1pm headed across the street to the Yale University Art Gallery to see the exhibition Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy
Awesome things about the exhibition:
-OMG all of 7 extant Gerald Murphy paintings were there all hung together!!!
-Watch is so awesome in person, also a big fan of Wasp and Pear and Razor
-The summer I worked on the exhibition I spent mostly going through archive boxes, looking at their family photo albums, reading personal letters, finding family heirlooms like Sara's wedding shoes, and a lot of that stuff made it into the exhibition. There is the cigar box which Gerald copied the lid for for a painting, there are the matchbox and razor that inspired "Razor" and his pocket watches that inspired "Watch"
-Deborah put together a movie made up of family movies, photos, her voice over, excerpts from an audiotaped interview with the Murphys, and clips from interviews with their surviving daughter and family friends
-the movie was incredible, it told the story of their life and really gave a sense of how they lived and how that effected others (eg when Gerald would mix up a drink and someone would ask what it was he would say "the juice from a few flowers" this line ended up in A Philadelphia Story and we have pieces of paper with Gerald's drink recipes and family menus and things like that)
-I was thanked at the end of the film in the list of research assistant (she also thanked me in the catalog although she got the accent in my last name wrong).
-I remember writing letters to these people in France asking for a loan of 3 Leger paintings that he made for their home in France Villa America. It was rough going, but Deborah got the loan! They were in the show along with a Picasso inspired by Sara.
Awesome things about the Yale University Art Gallery
-pretty entry area (I guess the building had recently been renovated)
-amazing modern/contemporary art collection!
-they have Van Gogh's Night Cafe!!! (Again too lazy for link but google image it, you know this one, that in itself is worth a trip to New Haven)
-admission (even to special exhibitions) is free (YCBA was also free)
-also Morris felt thing, some nifty Beuys, a nice Kiefer, a really cool Bill Viola and a bunch of other stuff
-African art section was very cool, lots of "greatest hits" would love to let my 101 kids run wild
-lots more to see, after an hour at the YCBA and over an hour at the exhibition I was getting close to the end of my museum energy and didn't spend near enough time there
Left New Haven a little before 3:30, I had to stop for gas, but made it home by 9, 5 1/2 hours was pretty good time.
Unrelated, but also I've been watching Angel (for the first time) the last few months. I had seen Season 1 a while ago, season 2 was good (I didn't realize how much I had missed the characters). Season 3 was really, really awesome but the ending was sooo, sooo sad. Season 4 was fuck, fuckity, fucked up, and I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. (yay Firefly actors, I loved Summer Glau's episode, and Gina Torres was amazing as well.) I should be starting season 5 soon, D. got way into it when I was out of town this weekend.
Misc. awesome things:
-met with my adviser today, his notes on my latest dissertation proposal draft were more editing than anything else so I should be able to turn the final into my committee tomorrow
-finally have my proposal defense schedule (with a room and a projector and everything) for next week
-found a fellowship to apply for to study in Romania next spring (cross your fingers for me)
-making enchiladas for the first time, smells good so far, we'll see
-going to MCR concert in Philly tomorrow with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bayleaf and friends!!
-bellydance class tonight
Friday night D. and I went to see Iron Man.
I really enjoyed it, one of the best comic book movies I've seen. Although I don't know a thing about the comic D. kept leaning over and mentioning things so seemed to pass the geek test. Robert Downey Jr. made the character both sleezy and likeable. Obediah was really, really awesome. They gave Pepper Potts something to work with (I'm assuming there wasn't much in the source material). There was cool stuff and nifty fight and/or flight scenes. And it was funny! I wasn't bored once. Oh, and D. was very excited about the Nick Fury thing which I totally get credit for because he said we could leave and I said she should say. (Although I did hear his name initially as McFury and thought he was some sort of weird McDonald's Ad Campaign superhero, which Samuel L. Jackson could still totally pull off, but D. corrected me).
Saturday I decided to drive to New Haven.
Back in 2004 I interned for a curator at WCMA who was working on a show about Gerald and Sarah Murphy. They were a wealthy American couple who entertained a lot of famous artists and authors in France during the 20s (think Hemingway, the Picassos, Dos Passos, Dorothy Parker, Fernand Leger, the Fitzgeralds). They inspired characters (the Divers in Tender is the Night) and created a social convivial atmosphere that seemed incredibly awesome (until they lost a bunch of money in '29 and their 2 sons died). Gerald was a modern painter (imagine Picasso giving you painting tips) and his 7 surviving canvases were brought together for this show.
The exhibition opened last fall in Williamstown. I missed it, but I knew it was coming to Yale this spring before going to Dallas this summer. Well Sunday was its last day at Yale and since it seemed unlikely I'd make it to Dallas I decided to drive up to New Haven.
D. didn't want to spend his weekend in the car so it was just me and a few CDs. The drive up was a little long (7 hours) because I hit traffic in Delaware and around NYC. Luckily D. booked me a "fancy" (read business class not economy) hotelroom.
Awesome things about the hotel:
-big room with king sized bed, full sized couch, and large desk
-beautiful view of New England hills (I got a little homesick)
-super nice linen, the coverlet was sooo soft not that nasty plasticky stuff
-5 pillows that were all more comfortable than my pillows at home
-bathroom towels were substantial and stacked in a pretty basket
-nifty toiletries with a "grain" theme, quinoa shampoo, can't remember the conditioner, and yummy quince lotion
-bathtub with jets (also hotel pool but I didn't have my suit)
-delicious roomservice (dinner) and a very nice breakfast buffet complete with cute guy who made me an omlette
Awesome things about traveling alone:
-I get to drive the car and it goes as fast or slow as I want and doesn't change lanes aggressively
-The temperature in the car was pleasant not freezing
-I could listen to music (no NPR!), and sing along to the CDs as loudly and "on key" as I pleased
-the other side of the bed did not snore
-instead of being relegated to "far left" I could start out the night on "far right" and move to "right center" and maybe even a little onto the "left center" portion of the bed
-all the covers belong to me
-could do "gross" things (fart, burp, pee with bathroom door open, wear ugly but comfy night clothes) without complaint or feeling self conscious
-given the tv movie choices of "X Men" "Laura Croft Tomb Raider" and "40 Year Old Virgin" could chose the one that I wanted to see
-could mind my own schedule
-could spend as much time in the art exhibit as I wanted, even double back to some bits and totally skip others
-two days without having to raise the energy to make conversation although I'm not sure I would want to do it for that much longer
Sunday I headed into New Haven. The Yale University Art Gallery didn't open until 1pm but the Yale Center for British Art opened at noon so I went there first.
Awesome things about YCBA:
-the Louis I. Kahn building
-the dude playing music outside that you could hear though much of the museum
-the exhibition A New World: England's First View of America which showed drawings of North American people, plants, and animals as well as maps by English explorers. It was really facinating.
-guards who handed me brochures without me asking and who were v. funny discussing why one of the video pieces would repeat
-the permanent collection was top notch, English art isn't one of my areas of interest but I liked the thematic arrangement and many of the pieces
-particularly enjoyed their Joseph Wright of Darby stuff (too lazy to link try wiki, his pictures usually have dramatic lighting, like from a candle or lantern where the actual source is covered, and he painted several pictures with science themes)
-also a fantastic Turner "Dort, or Dordrecht, the Dort Packet-boat from Rotterdam Becalmed" which is hung beautifully next to a large window showing the college
-found the lead statue on the way to the bathrooms kind of fantastic as well
A little after 1pm headed across the street to the Yale University Art Gallery to see the exhibition Making It New: The Art and Style of Sara and Gerald Murphy
Awesome things about the exhibition:
-OMG all of 7 extant Gerald Murphy paintings were there all hung together!!!
-Watch is so awesome in person, also a big fan of Wasp and Pear and Razor
-The summer I worked on the exhibition I spent mostly going through archive boxes, looking at their family photo albums, reading personal letters, finding family heirlooms like Sara's wedding shoes, and a lot of that stuff made it into the exhibition. There is the cigar box which Gerald copied the lid for for a painting, there are the matchbox and razor that inspired "Razor" and his pocket watches that inspired "Watch"
-Deborah put together a movie made up of family movies, photos, her voice over, excerpts from an audiotaped interview with the Murphys, and clips from interviews with their surviving daughter and family friends
-the movie was incredible, it told the story of their life and really gave a sense of how they lived and how that effected others (eg when Gerald would mix up a drink and someone would ask what it was he would say "the juice from a few flowers" this line ended up in A Philadelphia Story and we have pieces of paper with Gerald's drink recipes and family menus and things like that)
-I was thanked at the end of the film in the list of research assistant (she also thanked me in the catalog although she got the accent in my last name wrong).
-I remember writing letters to these people in France asking for a loan of 3 Leger paintings that he made for their home in France Villa America. It was rough going, but Deborah got the loan! They were in the show along with a Picasso inspired by Sara.
Awesome things about the Yale University Art Gallery
-pretty entry area (I guess the building had recently been renovated)
-amazing modern/contemporary art collection!
-they have Van Gogh's Night Cafe!!! (Again too lazy for link but google image it, you know this one, that in itself is worth a trip to New Haven)
-admission (even to special exhibitions) is free (YCBA was also free)
-also Morris felt thing, some nifty Beuys, a nice Kiefer, a really cool Bill Viola and a bunch of other stuff
-African art section was very cool, lots of "greatest hits" would love to let my 101 kids run wild
-lots more to see, after an hour at the YCBA and over an hour at the exhibition I was getting close to the end of my museum energy and didn't spend near enough time there
Left New Haven a little before 3:30, I had to stop for gas, but made it home by 9, 5 1/2 hours was pretty good time.
Unrelated, but also I've been watching Angel (for the first time) the last few months. I had seen Season 1 a while ago, season 2 was good (I didn't realize how much I had missed the characters). Season 3 was really, really awesome but the ending was sooo, sooo sad. Season 4 was fuck, fuckity, fucked up, and I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. (yay Firefly actors, I loved Summer Glau's episode, and Gina Torres was amazing as well.) I should be starting season 5 soon, D. got way into it when I was out of town this weekend.
Misc. awesome things:
-met with my adviser today, his notes on my latest dissertation proposal draft were more editing than anything else so I should be able to turn the final into my committee tomorrow
-finally have my proposal defense schedule (with a room and a projector and everything) for next week
-found a fellowship to apply for to study in Romania next spring (cross your fingers for me)
-making enchiladas for the first time, smells good so far, we'll see
-going to MCR concert in Philly tomorrow with
bayleaf and friends!!-bellydance class tonight
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thank you
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