Slogging through the blogging

After several months of sitting in a chair and staring, I'm back for another blog entry. I went to see the Chihuly exhibition at the De Young Museum a couple of weeks ago, and hooked on to a docent-led tour group making its way through the galleries. One thing the docent said that stuck with me was, "Chihuly had to fight to get his work to be considered as fine art, if you can believe that! Some want to label it as craft!" My thought was, what's wrong with craft? What is 'fine art' anyway? And who says it is superior to craft? It's a misguided snobbish notion. Emerson once said, "I like a man who likes to see a fine barn as well as a good tragedy." So do I. And I have to say, the Chihuly exhibit is one of the most enjoyable I've ever seen in a museum. There is an undeniable beauty in the colorful and sensual glass forms that he has created. Whether this work is exhibited in a fine arts museum or a crafts museum is immaterial to me.

Il Gatto Inesistente

I have long searched for meaning in the comic strip Garfield. Finally it has arrived in the most brilliant and unexpected way at garfield minus garfield. (Thanks to Rick Monaco for turning me on to this.)

Shaking the (family) tree

Ever heard of Wells, Nevada? It's a small town in the northeastern part of the state. I know of it because my mother grew up there. My great-grandfather, Sebastiano Quilici, came to Wells from Lucca, Italy, back in the early 1900s, and he brought with him his two sons, Gino (my grandfather) and Leone. At some point they established a general store on the town's main street, and called it S. Quilici & Sons. Sebastiano went back to Italy, but the two sons ran the store for many years, and kept that name. The store has been vacant for some time, but it still has the name on the storefront, and exists as part of a historic row of facades on what used to be a busy street. I was surprised to see Wells in the news this morning as the victim of an earthquake, and even more surprised to see a photo accompanying the story showing my grandfather's old store. It looks like it fared a little better than its neighbors. I read that the historic 140-year-old brothel across the railroad tracks was especially hit hard. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. (Photo credit: AP Photo/Elko Daily Free Press, Ross Anderson)

Play ball!

It's one of the first signs of spring. Pitchers and catchers reported today for most teams. Spring training is under way. The Giants will feature a new look this year, the sans-Barry look. The possible opening day lineup:

1-Raja Davis LF
2-Ray Durham 2B
3-Randy Winn RF
4-Dan Ortmeier 1B
5-Aaron Rowand CF
6-Benji Molina C
7-Omar Vizquel SS
8-Kevin Fransden 3B
9-Barry Zito P

Just looking at it makes me want to take a nap. Anything is possible, though. Maybe, with Barry gone, some kind of magical team chemistry will emerge, and along with it a winning spirit. This team could go all the way! Don't put money on it, though.

New Product Review

If you ever walk thru Walgreens, and walk down the junkfood aisle, and spot a new Nabisco product called Oreo Cakesters, just keep walking. In a weak moment, I stopped walking, and picked up said product, then said to myself, "I gotta try these." To make matters worse, I brought them home, turned on the TV, and ate the Oreo Cakesters while watching "Two and a Half Men." It doesn't get lower than that.

The Oreo Cakesters are billed as a "soft snack cake." This is where I should have questioned the basic premise of the product. Oreos have always been about the hard cookie and soft centers. When both the cookie and the center are soft, you really don't have an Oreo at all, but something closer to a Ding Dong. So what we really have here is one company, Nabisco, trying to horn in on the business of another company, Hostess. I would have to rate the Ding Dong superior to the Oreo Cakester. Hostess has been making Ding Dongs for as long as I can remember. It's a product that has stood the test of time. Nice try, Nabisco.

Spell it right

There's someone out there who is even more of a stickler for correct spelling than I am. I got a good laugh out of this website:

www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com

The Sistine Ceiling is also of interest

I bought a new scanner, and have started scanning old slides from my 1992 stay in Rome. I was an architecture student back then, and went to Rome as part of a quarter abroad program at the University of Washington. I found some slides I took of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, so I thought I would post those here. (Unfortunately, I entirely ignored the floor.) Back then it had just been restored, and no photography was allowed, but what was the harm in taking a couple pictures for my private enjoyment? I stuck my camera bag on the floor with the camera in it concealed from view, and hit the self timer. That's my shot of the creation scene above.