The Alchemy Of Athletic Events

All I need is a picket fence ...

If you follow a gripping major-tournament tennis match on Twitter, thereby seeing the online equivalent of a sports bar react to the same event you’re viewing on television, you are quite aware of the diversity of opinion which exists in the community of tennis fans. You’ve tasted this twice in a particularly potent way over the past 30 hours.

Many (though hardly all) fans of an elite tennis player alternately curse their own hero and rain invective upon the opponent who is making life so miserable for said hero. The fans of that elite player’s foremost rivals express the same sentiments toward the underdog who is trying to take down said elite player. Fans of players other than the elites? This group is blessed — FOOP (fans of other players, a term coined by Hannah Wilks, aka, the terrific @newballsplease on Twitter) are the ones who sit back, popcorn in…

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… seeing Picassos [3/3]

This is the finale to my seeing Picasso series. What follows is a mesh-mash of things. Hope you enjoyed it!

A random “artsy” shot of the museum.

this is the museum cafe (situated right outside the Picasso souvenir shop).

I was doodling along during my visit – so here is one of the quick studies. For my embarrassing comparison:

and then I started drawing random people.

I became attached to these miniature boats and wanted to document each one of them. bUt of course, I got shouted at by the security guard and had to restrain myself.

the level of detail is insaneeeee

photos of Picasso in the hallway leading to the exhibit.

After 3 hours of me going obsessive (my friend was pretty tired of the place by then) – we went to this quaint little French place for dinner.

they had these cute sketch collages on the walls – so appropriate after a night a the museum.

I had looked up the place before I left for the day and saw that they were big on mussels. At about 9pm, we got to the joint and the waiter told me they “ran out of” the damn things. Suffice to say, I was pretty disappointed. After much undecided looks at the menu, we got:

her dish

Believe it or not, we did not order the same dish – they just look identical. I had a very gamey (ugh) braised lamb shank, and my friend had some sort of beef ribs.

the sauce was a tad weird

All in all, I had a good great time (evident by the fact that I have been back to see the exhibit 3 times now). I realized that the brass sculptures I mentioned in part 2 are called THE BATHERS. So I’ll go back and update that post soon!

food it

yeah… I couldn’t think of a decent title. Any suggestions?

These photos are pretty self-explanatory. All photos are my own (even my neglect to rotate them).

Tomato Egg drop noodle soup

garlic and jalapeno

add greens

done!

just missing the 221B

creamy goodness with blueberry sauce on top!

winding down with a grilled chicken salad. weird sauce on top, forget what it was.

the round headed wonder

I was listening to one of my audio regulars when I realized Karl Pilkington is one of the obsessions I haven’t made remarks upon. It’s difficult to qualify him. He isn’t a comedian but he’s the funniest person I know. He isn’t educated but his observations make you stop and wonder why you haven’t thought of them before. He’s an enigma, and he has no clue why people are fascinated with him. It’s precisely this unconcerned, “un-celebratized” air that he has (seriously, he’s for real) that endears him to all his fans. Heck, he makes the current Ricky Gervais (one of his best pals) tolerable (when they are together)

My obsession started when I was searching for “english podcasts” on itunes. There were a ton of results, ranging from the Stephen Fry ones (which, of course, I already possessed) to grammar ones and, most importantly, this.

Now, you know I can’t turn down anything that has to do with the English – and seeing its outrageous high rating/popularity didn’t hurt. So I clicked – anticipating a quirky discussion on why the English are awesome. incredibly enough (and luckily enough) I had no idea that these were comedic podcasts – the description (from Audible) was  cute and whimsical:

Publisher’s Summary

• LENGTH
  56 mins
• AUDIBLE RELEASE DATE
  20/04/2009
• PUBLISHER
  Glyn Hughes

The Ricky Gervais Guide to… THE ENGLISH.

In celebration of St. George’s Day, this last episode in the present series focuses on the English – their culture, history, and how they are perceived internationally.

Join Ricky Gervais, Steve Merchant, and Karl Pilkington as they take tea, maintain a stiff upper lip and generally comport themselves as fine examples of the Bulldog Breed.

In this episode: Karl harks back to halcyon days; Ritzy crackers; the archetypal Englishman; weddings; Karl on cafe culture; help the aged; Ricky’s royal etiquette; dung beetles and dead badgers; fair play and the crossbow; dragon slaying and tongue-grabbing; Steve’s spectacles; and Ricky reads a Brooke.

For your listening pleasure: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/audio/2010/apr/23/ricky-gervais-podcast

So I listened. I was pretty confused why Ricky was so hostile towards this Karl dude (esp the infamous ORANGE HEAD intro), who seemed pretty laid back and was just taking all this crap. Maybe it’s because I am also somewhat of a self-professed weirdo, but I was sort of nodding my head with some of the stuff Karl was saying. Anyway, by the end, I was hooked – and I started to listen to Season One of the show (the guides happened after 5 seasons) – those were even better – my favorite segment till now has always been “KARL PILKINGTON’S DIARY”. It’s the combination of the funniest non-happenings, Steve’s dead-pan delivery, and Ricky’s screams of laughter that makes it hilarious.

As is per my habit, I devoured the podcasts in less than a week and began scouring for more. It wasn’t until I found the XFM (a London alternative music radio station) shows that I became a devotee. These are recordings of this weekly radio show that Ricky did immediately following the first season of The Office (oh, Tim). Karl was the producer (responsible for “pressin’ the buttons an- that”) and wasn’t even suppose to be on-air. But over time, Ricky became obsessed with Karl’s strange and fantastic outlook on life and began to drag him into the on-air conversations. The rest, of course, is history.

Most fans agree that the latter half of XFM Show 1 and the first half of XFM Show 2 are the funniest things they’ve ever heard. I have loved them for 2 years now and though I know every episode like the back of hand, they never fail to cheer me up.

It’s difficult to find just one clip to represent the trio is so amazing, so I am going to be self-indulgent and pick a few of the classics:

Karl’s Diary: the Inauguration

Suzanne’s (Karl’s longterm partner) Birthday!

The Worst Christmas Ever! 

Karl Predicts the Future

You Never See An Old Man Eatin’ A ___________

And we end with the Man himself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz0DKtWl-Eo

How about you guys? Any favorites?

… seeing Picassos [2/3]

Sorry guys! I know some of you have been waiting for the next installment – my schedule has been pretty pack recently and I only found time to get this down because I’m sick now (thus, no partying/sports allowed)

We last left off at Picasso‘s famed Portrait of Dora Marr – turning around the corner in the gallery, we arrived at his politically inclined pieces:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4mzenS3XO1qk38c7o1_1280.jpg

Massacre In Korea – Picasso was particularly sensitive to the increasingly violent nature of  international political disputes. This painting depicts a number of females (some pregnant) about to be gunned down by fearsome machine like creatures. There is an obvious divide in the landscape. The women and children are in front of a collection of green hills whilst the opposition is backed by a flat, graying tundra.

Another famous war-piece was commissioned by the Spanish Gov’t: Guernica (wiki: The bombing of Guernica (April 26, 1937) was an aerial attack on the Basque town of Guernica, Spain, causing widespread destruction and civilian deaths):

http://www.caribousmom.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/guernicamural.jpg

An extremely patriotic man, Picasso was especially dedicated to this project – which took about 40 days to complete (extremely fast for such a large piece) This mural extends 11 feet by 25.6 feet and was exhibited at the 1937 Word’s Fair in Paris. It helped raise awareness for the Spanish Civil War that was plaguing the country at the time.

I have been dismissive of Picasso’s sculptures of various instruments. They are brilliant, of course – but I failed to make personal connections with them. I did, however, marvel at this set of sculptures depicting beach goers (made from flat metal sheets Picasso scavenged) This is a case of a picture is worth a thousand words. For the life of me, I can’t find pictures of them on Google so it’s very difficult for me to talk about them w/out reference. I’ll try to find a photo and I’ll update this post then.

Here’s is Jacqueline, Picasso latter wife. I love the angles in the painting – she looks like Cleopatra!

I don’t have much to say about this one – I simply have this visceral reaction to it.

The last of this series should be up by the end of the week – Ciao~

 

NEW FEATURE: A CASE FOR WORDS

I’ve been getting emails asking me what I’ve read recently (I used to report this pretty often). To be honest, I usually have a couple of books going on at the same time so it’s hard to note any sort of pattern. I read a lot of non-fiction (I tend to stick to award-winning fiction). Currently, I’m one chapter into Wild (by Cheryl Strayed, who was “outed” as the beloved author of the incredible Dear Sugar column) and it’s heart-achingly fantastic chronicle of Cheryl’s physical and emotional journey as a young woman who lost her mother to disease to someone who becomes self-actualized and balanced.

Anyway, all these requests have inspired me to start a new feature: A CASE FOR WORDS – in which I shall show and do a review of whatever literature I read. Obviously, I won’t have time to write extensively about every work I come across, so I will take requests instead (or if I feel especially compelled to spazz about a certain work). Comment on the relevant post (or email me) to let me know which work you’d most like to read about and I shall do a write-up. I also welcome you all of you to discuss the books featured in these regular posts.

THIS WEEK:

The Unbearable Lightness of Being [Milan Kundera]

The Letters of Ernest Hemingway

Thinking Fast and Slow [Daniel Kahneman]

Londoners [Craig Taylor]

Sounds good? Request away!

a wrinkle in time

MUST STOP FROWNING!!!

(as per Garance’s advice: http://www.garancedore.fr/en/2012/06/14/readers-mailbox-stop-frowning/#more-29693)

PS. I have been practising my penmanship! and sketching now and again. But I need to keep up with my other resolutions too.

PPS. Gah – there’s a guy that’s eating a burger next door (at work) who SMACKS his lips when he chews. Ughhh

Rubens and Rodin

speechless. the lines are perfect and the I can’t even talk about the cross-shading.

For a closer look, go here.

I saw (more like stared) a couple of Rubens‘ original anatomic pencil sketches on Tuesday and I am still blown away. His predecessor was Leonardo Da Vinci, so I guess his work was always going to be pretty damn awe-inspiring. But man, this stuff is made of genius. I am going back to the museum so I can study these better. I mean, my sketches look so pitiful in comparison I don’t want to post them up anymore.

Here’s what I’ve been reading up on:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_artworks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Master

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_work

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thinker

on the wings of anticipation

I’m look at at the MoMA floor maps right now and I’m getting ridiculously pumped for my visit. The pal I’m going to NYC with has been there twice already, so I’ll be a lone rider at the museum. Thinking about it, that’s actually a good thing – I tend to linger in museums. I’m doing research now so I can plan my time wisely. Obviously, I have to go see the Monets, Cezannes, and Picassos (it’s a crime not to).

PS. This is random and completely fangirly – but Benedict Cumberbatch was just at the MoMA. Check this out. Someone on TWOP commented that (I’m paraphrasing here) “If there’s any actor who’d I would expect to visit a museum alone, it’s Benedict.”

National Theater: FRANKENSTEIN [Encore Screening] PART 1

After a needless but painful kerfuffle, I made my way to the local cinema to watch an encore screening of Frankenstein, a National Theater (UK) production directed by Danny Boyles (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) and led by Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller.I was not a great fan of the original novel Mary Shelley (published in 1818). I think I was too young, maybe pre-teens, and the story horrified me. Thus, I was a little apprehensive going into this theatrical revival.

One of the things that contributed to the play’s successful run in 2011 was that Benedict and Jonny actually alternated the roles of Victor and the Monster every other night. But the Monster is, without a doubt, the meatier role of the two. In this production, we don’t actually meet Frankenstein by name until 40 minutes into the play. Nonetheless, my recent history of appreciation upon rediscovering initially “balked at” works urged me to give Frankenstein a second chance.  And the lure of Benedict Cumberbatch (who plays the Monster in this case) helped too – so there goes my twenty bucks.

http://cumberbatchweb.tumblr.com/post/3128119983/benedict-cumberbatch-in-the-programme-for

Thinking back, it was more than worth it.  SPOILERS GALORE BELOW

The show began with a brief overview of how the production came together: the writing, the casting (Benedict only wanted the part because of the reversed roles), the direction, the acting (both actors took movement classes to hone their interpretation of the Monster’s manner of moving. Jonny, for instance, said that he became an infant in his turn as the Monster.)

 

http://frankensteinia.blogspot.ca/2011/02/national-theaters-frankenstein.html

 

After the few words from the writer (Nick Dear) and the director, the screen dimmed.

First, we see a circling shot of what seem to be a huge cluster of stars – the lens zoom to show us they are in fact, countless twinkling light bulbs dangling from the ceiling, lighting the stage.

http://fyeahsetsandprops.tumblr.com/post/24643878094

The stage is dark, safe for a strange upright womb-like sack. There is something within its semitransparent film and it’s pulsating with increasing intensity. After a good minute of struggle, the thing manages to get its legs out of the sack. An explosion of light from the ceiling signals another crack in the sack – and the thing, all contorted, slides onto the floor, trembling. This is our Monster.

http://calitreview.com/14682

It’s a human shaped creature, with a bald head and crude surgical stitches inches long all over its body.  Its limbs flail, shaking like mad. At first, he (obvious by the loincloth) tries to crawl. But like a baby zebra, can’t muster the energy to hold his arms straight. He falls to the floor again and again with loud thuds and grimaces, and still, he cannot support his own body. After many attempts, he finally manages to lift himself up. From then on, the progress is quicker, and easier – eventually rising unsteadily but triumphantly to his feet. Within moments, the Monster is galloping in circles, howling with delight.

I’m sorry I can’t remember where I got this photo from – but it’s everywhere on tumblr.

LINGERING THOUGHTS:

1. Benedict’s body is UNREAL. I recall someone commenting that it was akin to a boxer’s physic – and they are right. But gosh, going through that beat every night must have been torture.
2. The Monster does not speak (intelligibly) for at least 20min. It’s incredible how expressive and powerful body language can be. Like good old fashioned silent films, Benedict was able to convey a wealth of meaning through sheer physicality. 15min into the play, when the Monster first stands firmly on his feet, inwardly I was applauding him.
3. Initially, i was going to do just one post for the review – but that’s just not possible. The next post will conclude Act 1.