Friday, January 30, 2004
so i went to the MFA. it was amazing. they have art exhibits from what feels like every major culture and every major time period. after a while my head was just sort of spinning, and i couldn't really take any specific pieces in. it was amazing. think i will have to go a few times.
one thing that really got me was these two sarcofagi from Etruscan Italy. tops of both showed husband and wife lying in bed together, pretty much naked, lower halves politely hidden by a blanket, with their arms wrapped around each other, stroking each others' hair. (i know this must sound a little Arundel Tombsy - sorry about that - bear with me)
there were other exhibits too - egyptian sculptures of beautiful women, african art showing naked lovers, the standard ancient greek porno plates and water jugs. it was this bizarre combination that just exhuded love in history. i know this sounds a bit silly, but it was such a beautiful moment - just to REALLY feel that as well as your standard sex, prostitutes, peversions, slavery, war, death - Lovers have been a part of human existence before we even had words to say so - with the most tender connotations of "Lovers" you can envisage. (if you believe in evolution of course - scary story about a kid's book i'll tell you another day) it was a wonderful moment. in the midst of all these statues of people, busts of the rich and famous trying to preserve themselves somehow - these glassy faced dead - oh well anyway, no point repeating myself. you get the gist of what i'm spilling...
it also, rather inevitably i'm afraid, made me think about poetry. and what kind of "art" that is, if it is. poetry isn't a solid thing (unless you have dreams about ducks where your poems are so big they need moving by car) - if you make a poem into a solid physical object, you're altering what a poem essentially is - words that communicate something. how does that fit in to the idea of eternity - creating something that is a part of human activity in the largest sense?
this could be a long night.
this isn't an argument or a theory - just some thoughts that my brain threw up this afternoon. if i wasn't here, i'd be trying to explain exactly what the buggering hell i mean to you in the pub, with a cigarette and numerous pints of lager. eesh. will have to think some more about this...
one thing that really got me was these two sarcofagi from Etruscan Italy. tops of both showed husband and wife lying in bed together, pretty much naked, lower halves politely hidden by a blanket, with their arms wrapped around each other, stroking each others' hair. (i know this must sound a little Arundel Tombsy - sorry about that - bear with me)
there were other exhibits too - egyptian sculptures of beautiful women, african art showing naked lovers, the standard ancient greek porno plates and water jugs. it was this bizarre combination that just exhuded love in history. i know this sounds a bit silly, but it was such a beautiful moment - just to REALLY feel that as well as your standard sex, prostitutes, peversions, slavery, war, death - Lovers have been a part of human existence before we even had words to say so - with the most tender connotations of "Lovers" you can envisage. (if you believe in evolution of course - scary story about a kid's book i'll tell you another day) it was a wonderful moment. in the midst of all these statues of people, busts of the rich and famous trying to preserve themselves somehow - these glassy faced dead - oh well anyway, no point repeating myself. you get the gist of what i'm spilling...
it also, rather inevitably i'm afraid, made me think about poetry. and what kind of "art" that is, if it is. poetry isn't a solid thing (unless you have dreams about ducks where your poems are so big they need moving by car) - if you make a poem into a solid physical object, you're altering what a poem essentially is - words that communicate something. how does that fit in to the idea of eternity - creating something that is a part of human activity in the largest sense?
this could be a long night.
this isn't an argument or a theory - just some thoughts that my brain threw up this afternoon. if i wasn't here, i'd be trying to explain exactly what the buggering hell i mean to you in the pub, with a cigarette and numerous pints of lager. eesh. will have to think some more about this...
Thursday, January 29, 2004
today my housemate mark and a friend pete and i all went to the museum of science. it's pretty cool. we watched a film about tigers in one of those big domey imax-type cinemas. lots of aerial shots of india going over cliffs and stuff. bit freaky at times (random vertigo thing) but good.
saw lightning indoors. that was good. only we had to leave early to go and watch the show at the planetarium. question: we don't have planetariums in the uk, do we? at least, i've never been to one. my only frames of reference for planetariums are james dean mooing in Rebel Without A Cause and some random episode of the Wonder Years. but when i said that we don't have them, it sounded wrong. we don't have them, do we?
i'm not being a very good tourist. i just can't be arsed. i'd rather just hang out and get to know people. will probably go to the museum of fine art tomorrow, but then i think i'll hang up my guidebook for good. i've had to do things like buy winter jackets and shoes. it kinda saps the tourism out of me, whatever little there was anyway.
it'll be cool once i get photos up and running, then i can show you more random things. there's a house down the road with full christmas decorations still up, with the centerpiece of a nativity scene which lights up in the dark. i have yet to actually see mary, joseph and jesus lit up, but i always walk that way in the dark just in case... maybe they'll light it for the second coming...
saw lightning indoors. that was good. only we had to leave early to go and watch the show at the planetarium. question: we don't have planetariums in the uk, do we? at least, i've never been to one. my only frames of reference for planetariums are james dean mooing in Rebel Without A Cause and some random episode of the Wonder Years. but when i said that we don't have them, it sounded wrong. we don't have them, do we?
i'm not being a very good tourist. i just can't be arsed. i'd rather just hang out and get to know people. will probably go to the museum of fine art tomorrow, but then i think i'll hang up my guidebook for good. i've had to do things like buy winter jackets and shoes. it kinda saps the tourism out of me, whatever little there was anyway.
it'll be cool once i get photos up and running, then i can show you more random things. there's a house down the road with full christmas decorations still up, with the centerpiece of a nativity scene which lights up in the dark. i have yet to actually see mary, joseph and jesus lit up, but i always walk that way in the dark just in case... maybe they'll light it for the second coming...
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
okay. telly advertisements.
to start with, for every three hours tv there's something like 52 minutes of adverts.
second. there's this Verizon thing, some internet provider, with the TACKIEST adverts in the world. james earl jones does cosby jazz dancing for them, plus he has SUCH grey hair now. i know that he's done lots of random things. and he's no role model, and plus he didn't even play darth vader's body, BUT: it feels like darth vader is now advertising tacky broadband by tap-dancing. very. very. wrong.
the other crazy ad thing is that jennifer lopez does these community ads about self-esteem. "do you worry you're unattractive, that you're fat, that your butt's too big?" well j-lo - maybe yes. your butt is TOO big and that's why ben left really. eesh. i wonder if bill gates does ads about whether people are ever scared that they don't have enough money and can't pay their bills and are being plotted against by the entire world.
dear lord.
but even BETTER... my housemate told me that after september 11th, they put out anti-pot ads (as per usual) but that this time the basic tag line was "if you smoke pot, you're supporting terrorism." i think my housemate then expressed it nicely - "no - if you smoke pot then you're supporting some tired hippy in canada."
to quote alec, "ye gods, people..."
to start with, for every three hours tv there's something like 52 minutes of adverts.
second. there's this Verizon thing, some internet provider, with the TACKIEST adverts in the world. james earl jones does cosby jazz dancing for them, plus he has SUCH grey hair now. i know that he's done lots of random things. and he's no role model, and plus he didn't even play darth vader's body, BUT: it feels like darth vader is now advertising tacky broadband by tap-dancing. very. very. wrong.
the other crazy ad thing is that jennifer lopez does these community ads about self-esteem. "do you worry you're unattractive, that you're fat, that your butt's too big?" well j-lo - maybe yes. your butt is TOO big and that's why ben left really. eesh. i wonder if bill gates does ads about whether people are ever scared that they don't have enough money and can't pay their bills and are being plotted against by the entire world.
dear lord.
but even BETTER... my housemate told me that after september 11th, they put out anti-pot ads (as per usual) but that this time the basic tag line was "if you smoke pot, you're supporting terrorism." i think my housemate then expressed it nicely - "no - if you smoke pot then you're supporting some tired hippy in canada."
to quote alec, "ye gods, people..."
Monday, January 26, 2004
well today i went to a mall. i bought cheap shoes then got home and the cat shat in my bedroom. i think the two events are unrelated. my bedroom door now stays firmly shut.
i've also tried persuading my housemate john (you'll be introduced to my housemates soon) to say "tracksuit bottoms" instead of "sweatpants". will keep you informed of my progress...
so today i was petula clarke and went downtown. walked in the park and watched a fucking huge falcony-hawky-type-thing swoop down, grab a squirrel and tear it entirely apart. i was going to take a photo too, until some random guy ran over and shooed the bird away. now. i know i'm a vegetarian, but surely big hawky birds are allowed to eat squirrels? i suspect the vegetarians over here may be more militant...
having flipped through the tv channels for a fair while, i've come to the conclusion that there is very little of any merit on tv over here (though it still beats "The Salon"). Fox is clearly evil and b&w dick van dyke shows should not be enjoyed on ANY level.
also seem to be able to get money out of the ATM machines okay, so guess i'm not going to be selling my ass for cash any time soon.
bummer
i've also tried persuading my housemate john (you'll be introduced to my housemates soon) to say "tracksuit bottoms" instead of "sweatpants". will keep you informed of my progress...
so today i was petula clarke and went downtown. walked in the park and watched a fucking huge falcony-hawky-type-thing swoop down, grab a squirrel and tear it entirely apart. i was going to take a photo too, until some random guy ran over and shooed the bird away. now. i know i'm a vegetarian, but surely big hawky birds are allowed to eat squirrels? i suspect the vegetarians over here may be more militant...
having flipped through the tv channels for a fair while, i've come to the conclusion that there is very little of any merit on tv over here (though it still beats "The Salon"). Fox is clearly evil and b&w dick van dyke shows should not be enjoyed on ANY level.
also seem to be able to get money out of the ATM machines okay, so guess i'm not going to be selling my ass for cash any time soon.
bummer
Sunday, January 25, 2004
this place is FUCKING amazing.
wow - what order to tell things in...
well. the plane didn't crash. so i guess all that planning for my funeral was a waste of time. oh well...
details. whilst queueing for the toilet i glanced at the buddhist monks sat in a nearby row, and watched two of them really getting into Bill and Ted's Bogus Adventure. excellent. the same monks later distracted immigration from hounding me as my officer had to go help another guy find "Nepal" on his database. for fuck's sake...
so america. the buildings in boston are taller than the ones in bath. no shit. it seems cool to me. housemates are great. very laidback, funny etc. i think i impressed them with my self-awareness of the english phrase "bloody hell". also cera (girl from downstairs) agrees that "wanker" sounds better in an english accent.
went to buy groceries today. bought some vegetarian corn-dogs. there's microwave instructions on the side of the box which specify times depending on how many dogs you cook at once. insert hilarious photo of dog in microwave. i'm thinking lassie. 6 to 6 and a half minutes.
i think though, that what really made it was getting to the house. tired. excited. bil showed me round. when we got to his room he played me a sleater-kinney track he downloaded after looking at my friendster profile. see friendster IS good for something. beautiful beautiful sleater-kinney. "ah" i thought, going downstairs and being handed a bottle of red wine, "i will do well here."
wow - what order to tell things in...
well. the plane didn't crash. so i guess all that planning for my funeral was a waste of time. oh well...
details. whilst queueing for the toilet i glanced at the buddhist monks sat in a nearby row, and watched two of them really getting into Bill and Ted's Bogus Adventure. excellent. the same monks later distracted immigration from hounding me as my officer had to go help another guy find "Nepal" on his database. for fuck's sake...
so america. the buildings in boston are taller than the ones in bath. no shit. it seems cool to me. housemates are great. very laidback, funny etc. i think i impressed them with my self-awareness of the english phrase "bloody hell". also cera (girl from downstairs) agrees that "wanker" sounds better in an english accent.
went to buy groceries today. bought some vegetarian corn-dogs. there's microwave instructions on the side of the box which specify times depending on how many dogs you cook at once. insert hilarious photo of dog in microwave. i'm thinking lassie. 6 to 6 and a half minutes.
i think though, that what really made it was getting to the house. tired. excited. bil showed me round. when we got to his room he played me a sleater-kinney track he downloaded after looking at my friendster profile. see friendster IS good for something. beautiful beautiful sleater-kinney. "ah" i thought, going downstairs and being handed a bottle of red wine, "i will do well here."
Thursday, January 22, 2004
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