Wired on the Bloch

In case you haven't seen it yet, Wired magazine features the the new Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in its June issue.

Sonia Zjawinski gives a two paragraph overview of the challenge of the design and the solutions that architect Stephen Holl came up with.

Of course, burying a gallery under 8 inches of sod could make for a dark, dungeon-like environment. So Holl came up with an innovative skylight system: five giant cubes of glass that jut above ground, channeling natural light into the 840-foot-long gallery (equivalent to a 70-story skyscraper laid on its side). These light boxes, along with strategically placed partitions and computer-controlled window screens, ensure the 220 permanent pieces look their best — and are unharmed by UV rays and the greenhouse effect. Jackson Pollock's paintings are drippy enough.

For those who haven't been in, or seen pictures of the interiors, there is a good illustration of the way the shape of the interior walls redirect natural light to the galleries below.

You can also review pictures I have previously posted. Also, the opening of the new building is only about two weeks away. Check out the schedule of planned activities at the museum's blog.

tagged: Nelson-Atkins, museum, art, Bloch Building, Stephen Holl, architecture, Kansas City, culture

Priceless works of art

I have become the proud owner of this latest work by my absolute favorite local artist.

"Friendly Alien" 2005

I'll leave it to more sophisticated art critics than myself to do a detailed critical analysis of this piece. But just try to tell me that this doesn't have echos of a budding Picassoesque genius.

tagged: art, Picasso, family, kids, drawing

some revelation

I've had some of these phrases stuck in my head since The Sopranos took a stab (pun) at artsy-fartsiness last Sunday.

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all convictions, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all around it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

-W. B. Yeats

I don't really have much to add in terms of commentary. I don't mean to be maudlin. Certainly I'm more upbeat about the future than Bill B. Yeats was after World War I.

I think the phrase that's sticking with me in particular is "The best lack all convictions, while the worst/Are full of passionate intensity." That seems to be particularly descriptive of bloggers, no?

tagged: poetry, William Butler Yeats, World War I, The Sopranos, culture

3 A.M. Poll: Your favorite Shakespearean insult

I thought I'd take a stab and a little marketing research and ask the two or three readers here for a some polling data.

Hopefully I'll make this a regular thing. Hell, it might even be fun.

We're going to get this started with today's question: What is your favorite Shakespearean insult?

If it's not on this list, choose the last option and add your favorite as a comment.

Got an idea for a future poll question? Email it to me and I'll post it next week. And remember, it's all in good fun.

P.S. -- The entries for today's poll were all taken from actual Shakespearean plays. Anyone care to take a stab at naming them?

tagged: poll, Shakespearean insult, humor, fun, marketing research

Is that a frog in your pocket?

Professor Paul has posted this week's Kansas Guild of Bloggers carnival over at The force that through...

This is a great roundup of what's going on in the Kansas blogworld over the past week and really showcases a diversity of views. Go read it and then consider submitting a post for next week's carnival, which will be hosted by John B. at Blog Meridian.

tagged: Kansas, blog, blogger, carnival, KGB

YouTube Tuesday: I held out as long as I could

If there's any program that is consistently successfully satirical as The Simpsons, I don't know what it is.

The show has been around for 20 years and they haven't lost their edge.


tagged: movies, YouTube, video, TV, Simpsons, Kent Brockman, satire, media, government

Monday Bloody Monday

"Concrete steps and faces don't mix too well," said Dr. Obvious.

It was the summation of a series of events that had started about an hour earlier as I was rinsing the shampoo out of my hair. My Supermodel wife had excitedly burst into the bathroom holding a 4-year-old with a mouth gushing blood.

In the bustle of a Monday morning routine, the 4-year-old had followed her mother to the basement where fresh clothes hung ready for the work week. Clothes retrieved, the mother had asked repeatedly for the child to come upstairs and get ready for school

The final, most urgent "request" got the 4-year-old to react. But the hurried footsteps slipped, or tripped, sending the child mouth-first into the concrete steps.

Blood spewed (it always seems to spew in cases like this) from a gash inside the lower lip and the gums of the top incisors. It was all accompanied by howls of pain which we would learn is actually a good sign, an indication (along with no loss of consciousness) that there was no concussion.

We applied a cold press while I finished getting dressed. The dose of children's ibuprofen had kicked in by the time we arrived at the urgent care center.

The kiddo was a good patient and allowed multiple people to poke and prod and feel. The diagnosis was a "minor laceration" to the inside of the lip and a slight abrasion on the outside. No sutures needed.

The aforementioned incisor was loosened. The dentist later predicted that, while the tooth is fine, there will undoubtedly be some discoloring which will go away when the permanent teeth come in.

So how was you're morning?

tagged: family, crisis, bloody, teeth, accident, injury, Monday

I'm ok. You're ok. They're OK Jones

I like hanging out with really cool people.

As a lifelong square, I enjoy basking in their reflected hipness. So I wanted to send a quick thanks to the proprietor of Happy In Bag for hosting the get-together Saturday.

It was nice meeting people from the new neighborhood, especially people as cool as HIB. I also enjoyed talking with Spyder, whom I met for the first time at the blogger meetup last month. JDoubleP was also there with his wife and Awesome son.

As a music industry insider, HIB was able to use his considerable influence to get local trio OK Jones to play a great set in the living room. One of my favorite tunes was Besides Fall in Love (listen to it here, then buy it here) from their album Push/Pull.

I think a good time was had by all. The bag full of blues CD's from HIB's private collection given as party favors was a nice parting gift. I was sorry I had to leave so early.

tagged: music, band, OK Jones, party, weekend, Kansas City, Johnson County

Baby you can drive my Vespa

Dinner table conversation the other night brought up the topic of the price of gasoline.

I had remarked to my Supermodel Wife that the QuickTrip on the way home showed the price of $3.19 a gallon -- for the cheap 86 octane stuff.

"I don't get it," she said. "What has happened that the price is going up? What has changed."

My answer? Nothing has changed.

People are still driving, which means there is a demand. Drivers continue to be willing to pay the higher prices. Take us, for example. Even with the per gallon price north of $3, we're still planning an out-of-town trips. We went to a wedding last weekend and we'll be traveling to a graduation ceremony soon.

Our behavior isn't changing. Or is it?

This USA Today reported that for the first time since the early 1980s, drivers are cutting back on their miles.

The growth in miles driven has leveled off dramatically in the past 18 months after 25 years of steady climbs despite the addition of more than 1 million drivers to the nation's streets and highways since 2005. Miles driven in February declined 1.9% from February 2006 before rebounding slightly for a 0.3% year-over-year gain in March, data from the Federal Highway Administration show. That's in sharp contrast to the average annual growth rate of 2.7% recorded from 1980 through 2005.

The article points out that the price of gasoline is only part of the reason for lower miles driven. There are social and demographic causes as well, including a trend of upwardly mobile professionals moving into revitalized city centers and in increase in the use of public transportation.

So now it seems the rubber is meeting the road (or rather, not meeting it). The response by the petroleum industry will be interesting. Will there suddenly be a miraculous increase in gasoline production to increase supplies, stabilize prices and keep drivers driving? Do "they" think they have found the breaking point, and now want to stay as close as possible without going over?

Regardless, I don't think we'll see gas below $3.00 a gallon again.

But on the bright side, this information will help me make the case to my Supermodel Wife that I should start commuting to work on a new Vespa.

tagged: oil, gasoline, gas prices, peak oil, USAToday, drivers, Vespa

Friday Blogthing: Who wants to live forever

There's an old saying that nobody wants to live to be 100... until they're 99.

This survey says it looks "pretty likely" that I'll live to be 100. I'm not so sure 67% probability is likely enough for my taste. Maybe I'd better start working on that.

Chance You'll Live to 100: 67%

100 is looking pretty likely for you right now. You've made your health a priority. So kick back, keep doing what you're doing, and enjoy the great life you've made for yourself. And you might get to see what the world is like 70, 80, or even 90 years from now.

Will You Live to 100?

tagged: 100, survey, quiz, birthday, mortality, longevity