|
|
22.04.09
I hit the art gallery on the weekend; there were four shows I hadn’t seen. The first floor was a Canadian Impressionism thing. I covered that floor at a brisk walk and was done in under ten minutes. The second floor was far more interesting with art that didn’t all say the same thing. Highlights included 12,000 cut-out flower photos mounted to the wall in the shape of a skull, felt quilted together in the shape and colours of a TV test pattern, and a pile of take-out coffee cups (grande size) all made of copper. The third floor was a survey of abstraction, from the “my kid could do that” school of abstract expressionism, to the thankfully more cerebral conceptual and minimalist movements. The exhibit included contemporary work as well, with the “Hey, I know her!” surprise of encountering a piece by a former co-worker. The fourth floor was Carr, Hughes, Smith, and someone else (yes I could look her up in ten seconds, but why), in some paean to Canadian Landscape or other such thematic device. One of the more interesting features was the under-construction work in the rotunda, a chronological four-storey vertical stack of sectional views into life-size apartments from the 1950s to the present day. Construction workers walked through the galleries, tools were splayed out in the confined rotunda spaces, hammering, caulking, wiring and such went on. It was like home renovation as performance art.
Yesterday I found myself helping out in a grade 6/7 class field trip to UBC. We’re running a Biodiversity/Visual Arts program (why yes, that does sound like my undergrad career), and today was the first iteration. It’s run by grad students in Biology and Visual Arts, so I’ve been on the periphery. I prepped some specimens last week, and didn’t really know what was on the menu for me to do, besides me taking some photos. Their first activity was to draw the outline of a sea cucumber (kind of an elongate blob), and add adaptations to it using tracing paper over templates prepared by the MFA student. Not to reinforce gender stereotypes, but the girls tended to add on butterfly wings and bunny heads, while the guys put on snake heads and scorpion tails. It wasn’t a particularly strong trend, but interesting to see nonetheless. The kids got pretty into it, comparing theirs with their classmates and taking photos of the specimens we had out as well as their work with their digital cameras or phones (at eleven these kids are fully wired).
The first round was a free-for-all, the second round gave the kids a specific environment and had them add on adaptations which would aid survival in that environment. It reinforced the point of structures relating to function, however it also could be said to have made the point of a conscious creator doing better than random chance*. Um, whoops.
*That is if you had to come up with a finished organism out of the blue and plunk it down someplace, not if you had to start from scratch and develop a system by which life could diversify to suit every environment on the planet.
I’m refraining from excessive commentary on the recent FB fiasco, because what more can you say besides “SEE?!”
Happy Earth Day.
14.04.09
This might be completely screwy, or a result of my congestion clearing, but I feel like I had a heightened sense of smell today. In a biology building, this is not an advantage. The day didn’t start well either; I woke up with a headache and a rather insistent thirst. I gulped some water from the tap and hit the snooze button three times. It didn’t help much. I got up and popped a Tylenol, food was unappetizing, I sat drinking tea with my eyes closed, trying to block out all sensory stimulation. Eventually I garnered enough mental capability to get myself ready to go, when I realized I could smell the house and each room distinctly; usually you’re far too saturated to notice.
Public transit wasn’t as horrible as it could have been. On the bus in, I thought someone was eating a pork bun or beef jerky or something, but a covert glance around revealed nothing and I gave up tracking that particular scent. Even passing people outdoors I could pick up whiffs of generic commercial fragrance stuff, and I don’t think they were supersaturated. On Skytrain on the way back one woman smelled like light blue smelly felts; they should put that in a bottle and sell it.
13.04.09
Dear Political Parties,
If you’re going to run attack ads featuring clips of out-of-context quotes from your main opponent, at least pick clips that contain full statements. If all they say are three words, not a verb among them, it’s kind of hard to make your case and you come off looking a bit desperate, particularly if you repeat the clip over and over and over. Also, it’s annoying. Thank you, I’m not voting for you.
Me
12.04.09
I ate veal sweetbreads last week. That’s right, the thymus glands from baby cows. They looked kind of like little shelled walnuts. Veal sweetbreads and chanterelles with semolina gnocchi; tender, yes, like other organ meats lacking muscle fibers, not a ton of flavour, but the “mildness” is what veal is valued for. And really, are there different levels of being a carnivore (well, omnivore)? Since I'm already eating cows, does only consuming adult animals or only muscle tissue make you a better, more ethical predator?
Anyway the dish was delicious, even the starter salad was great (various lettuces, arugula, watercress, an intriguing dressing which went from mild to citrusy). The made-in-house bread was fantastic. Dessert was a bracingly tart lemon cream (I’m guessing a form of posset) with blood orange segments.
The restaurant was La Quercia on West 4th, near Alma. Tiny, seats less than 30 with the tables squished in together, they had to move the table out of the way for me to maneuver my considerable girth onto the banquette. You could easily eavesdrop on your neighbours’ conversation. The menu seemed small, but the daily specials outnumbered the items written down. Our waitress recited all but one from memory, after which we spent the next few minutes trying to remember what she said, before spying the blackboard that had it all laid out. They take good care of you, from the heavy curtain blocking drafts from the door, to re-folding your napkin if you get up from your table. It’s all very reasonably priced for what you get, and so I need someone who wants to go and get the five-course tasting menu; someone who can eat, and eat, and eat. Any takers?
11.04.09
I have to say it gives me great narcissistic joy to see my google ranking go from #2 to #1 (of 1.5 million). Apologies to the Chemist who shares the name and formerly held the #1 spot, if I ever run into you, I'll buy you a drink.
09.04.09
It was bound to happen. First, the weather, the lingering chill that refused to allow the cherry blossoms to bloom. A few days of warmth and the early and late cherries, magnolias, and forsythias are all vying for attention. The sidewalks are littered with spent catkins and stained with pollen. The grassy knoll was packed with students lounging in the sun. Shorts, bare arms and bare torsos (oh, the young) suddenly appeared on campus. And people’s allergies hit: hard.
I don’t even have allergies and I’m congested. It may also have been a cold lurking. It’s been a few weeks of intense work, lots of overtime, too little sleep. Last weekend involved some partying as well. So, to coincide with the bout of warm weather, I was down with a runny nose and general fatigue; this too was bound to happen. Still, I had a meeting I’ve been trying to schedule for six months, and another meeting that leads into a time-sensitive decision-making process. I went in late and came back early, popping vitamins and painkillers as needed.
Now it’s the long weekend of long weekends. Yes, I need to wrap up an outside project, yes there’s some real work I meant to get to weeks ago, and yes I have to do my taxes. I intend to sleep.
02.04.09
It's friggin' April and I wore a scarf, gloves, and a wool coat to work today. At least it stopped snowing.
|
|
©d.tan  |
