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August 22, 2006

Great dissertation (or other big papers) tips

Phew, after helping with a conference for a good part of the summer, it's time to get back into dissertation mode. Feeling a bit rusty, but I managed to get a couple of small tasks done today (identifying and labeling hymns within a symphonic work, reading a bit more of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men).

I just stumbled on some great dissertation advice here. Hopefully I can put it to good use.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 11:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 21, 2006

Paris Chronicles Four

Ahh...this time last year we were savoring our last few drops of Paris...

So, here goes another installment. Enjoy!

This time the Paris Chroniclers will take you to some artsy-fartsy stuff - the Musée d’Orsay, the Opera Garnier, and the Louvre. For you artsy-fartsy types out there, enjoy. For you Philistines who would just love to break the glass in front of the Mona Lisa painting and draw a handlebar mustache on her, the next few episodes will be more juicy (about street life and our adventures (and misadventures!) therein). Stay tuned! It will be worth it – Tim gets attacked!!!!!


All the art in the Musée d’Orsay was overwhelming. This is the place to see the Impressionists. We saw Degas’ ballet dancers, Pissarro’s scenes of the French countryside, Cézanne’s apples and oranges, Van Gogh’s self portraits, Gauguin’s Tahitians, Toulouse-Lautrec’s Moulin Rouge dancers (ooh-la-la!), Signac and Seurat’s pointillist masterpieces, Rodin’s statues, Corbet’s monster-sized paintings, Renoir’s luscious portraits, four of Monet’s paintings of Rouen Cathedral (our favorites!), and so much more. Some of Gustave Courbet’s paintings were so large that it made us wonder how they got the things inside the museum. A few of his paintings had to be at least 15 feet high by 30 feet wide!

Joanna used the clock to frame three places in Paris that we loved--the Sacre-Couer (up the street from our hotel), the Ferris Wheel in the Tuilerie Gardens (see Chronicles 3), and the Louvre.

The next day, we did a tour of the famous Opera Garnier which was finished in 1875.

We got the student discount (cool!) and basked in the over-the-top opulence of the place. We should have put on some sunglasses before we went in because everything about it was overwhelming to the eye—gold, marble, mirrors, flamboyant paintings—the building is more of a show than the ballets and operas performed inside!

Our favorite thing was the ceiling in the main auditorium painted by Marc Chagall. What a profusion of bright colors! Even though he painted the ceiling in 1964, 90 years and a staggering number of stylistic changes after the building was constructed, the brushstrokes of Chagall created a harmonious and complementary affinity with the red velvet seats and rococo décor of the auditorium. Joanna was in rapture staring up at this panoply of joy and color. Of the ballets and operas depicted, she was able to pick out The Firebird, Swan Lake, Fidelio, Tristan und Isolde, Pélleas et Mélisande, Carmen, Daphne and Chloe, Boris Godunov, and The Magic Flute.

We Metroed and found ourselves in front of this really big building.

There was a sign that said “Louvre”, so we surmised that we must be at the Louvre. Since we were there and had some time to kill, we decided to take a gander at what was inside. It was 6:15 pm so we had about three and a half hours to explore. We made first for the Sully wing and found the Venus de Milo and her big sister, the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Here was the height of Greek Hellenistic sculpture. There was a display cabinet near Venus with possible reconstructions by various experts – what the statue might have looked like before she was de-armed. The Winged Victory of Samothrace had part of her hand sitting by itself in a little display window several yards from the statue. It looked so lonely! She stands in the middle of a wide stairwell, at the top of a staircase, dominating all who stand below her. The surface is very rough, as if the statue has lived through a lot, but from a distance, she is radiant. By contrast, Venus is more smooth and seems to have met with less adversity in her 2300 years of existence – she only lost her arms, where the Winged Victory lost her arms and her head! Poor old girl!


The museum was crowded but not so much that it was a drag. When we got to the Mona Lisa, the crowds, of course were much more densely packed, a horde of camera-toting gawkers anxiously waiting to have an audience with that enigmatically smiling lady. It took me a few minutes to wedge my way to the front. Joanna stood off to the side and watched all the madness. The Mona Lisa was, well, the Mona Lisa! She looked bemused by the phalanx of tourists gazing at her. Looks as though she found her long lost family. Buon giorno, mi figlio! Buon giorno, mi marito!

We walked through several other areas marveling at all the beauty. Our feet were sore, our legs were tired, but it didn’t matter. We were doing the Louvre!

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August 17, 2006

Coffee Art--pretty!

Wow! Someone is incredibly creative!

Continue reading "Coffee Art--pretty!"

Posted by Tim and Jo at 8:48 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

August 16, 2006

Sleepless in Seattle vs. the Simpsons

So, we've watched a couple of chick flicks recently. Tim owes me for braving through Band of Brothers--just kidding! Every time we rewatch When Harry Met Sally, there's a new nuance we laugh at, maybe because it's a movie that completely revolves around interesting conversations.

Anyways, along the same vein--being on a slight Meg Ryan kick--we watched Sleepless in Seattle. I had watched it long ago and only had vague memories of it. Tim had never seen it before. I remembered the hype about it years ago, and remembered not thinking it was all that great, but was fine with trying it again.

Tim had a bad attack of allergies tonight and I was fighting off a cold so we both sniffled and tissued our way through the movie. I was struck by the fact that the main defect of Fiance #1 (played by Bill Pullman) was that he had bad allergies. Other than that, he was sweet, kind, thoughtful and generous.

I don't mind a good chick flick, it doesn't have to be terribly deep. But S in S was trite and smarmy. And the "message" was awful, just dressed up in fluffiness to look cute.

It was about an affair! Sure, Meg Ryan and Bill Pullman were only engaged, but they were living together and had promised to marry each other. So, when the going gets dull (or sniffly), follow your romantic inclinations, dump your partner, and find true love. We both would have been in trouble tonight--sniffle, sniffle, snort, snort, sneeze, sneeze. And your partner will practically say "go get 'em, Tiger" right after you dump him? And talking to your eight year old son about "getting laid" is cute?!?!?

I bet I know people who think this movie is oh-so-sweet, but would be scandalized by The Simpsons. And there are a few "oh my" moments where The Simpsons goes a bit too far. But I find them much more refreshing than the cotton candy coated junk we ingested tonight. Sure, I wouldn't let young kids watch it, but I think much of the time the "shocking" stuff in the Simpsons satires (and critiques!!) stuff out already out there.

I distinctly remember an episode where a younger, sexy singer who shares many of his interests (beer and eating, mainly) gets interested in Homer. And Homer turns her down because doltish as he seems sometimes, he's shown as having a heart of gold and being deeply committed to his family.

It seems to me in lasting love, that the "dull moments" are part of the romance, the threads that form the foundation for the sparkly moments woven in between, both coming together to create a strong and durable relationship.

I'll take a Duff over fluff any night!

Posted by Tim and Jo at 9:38 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

August 15, 2006

Back from vacazione

Here's a preview of the triple shot of cuteness that deluged us on our family vacation. More later!

Little twinsies

And big brother, luxuriating in the local handcrafted furniture. "A high quality, one-of-a-kind piece" he ruminates, "but will it enhance my decor?"

Posted by Tim and Jo at 4:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 4, 2006

Riding on a Streetcar Named Desire

Last weekend, we took a trip the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, Pa.

We saw a little film on the history of trolleys and streetcars and then got to see seven or eight streetcars from the early 20th century. The tour guide was really funny. He told us that streetcars used to take people to Kennywood Park in the 30s and 40s. So the kids would stuff their gobs with candy, pop and popcorn in the park all day and then all clamor onto the streetcar for the ride home. Now, a ride in a streetcar back then was not the smoothest ride you ever had. After the bumping and the swaying and the rocking, well…. you can imagine the scene!

Joanna got a real kick out of the vintage advertisements in the trolleys: from WWII time, Cold War time, and the good old days when Victrola made childhood happier.

Then we got to take a ride on the actual Streetcar Named Desire from New Orleans! It was a whistle blowing, bell clanging, Stella-yelling good time.

After we left the museum we found some blackberry patches along the road. We parked the car and picked some and got in touch with nature. Joanna was a bit more nostalgic for tramps through the woods and other suburbian "wish we lived in the country" almost redneck childhood outings, so she didn't mind the brambles quite as much. The shiny blackberries were merged with peaches and ice cream to form a reward for the scratched-up, weary adventurers.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 11:04 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack