life imitates art

The other day as I was driving home from work I noticed that traffic was slowing down on the opposite lane. It was weird because I couldn't see why, but then I looked down and there was a mamma duck and three or four little ducklings trying to cross the road, possibly trying to get to the river close by. It was really cute, I'm sure the drivers were a little upset over having to stop, but I hope they were able to cross the road. I would have taken a picture if I wasn't driving. It was just like one of my favorite childhood books, "Make Way for Ducklings."

sing

Since my trip to Europe I have been more interested in the happenings in England, especially since it's such a crackin' year for them. Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee (60 years!) and the 2012 Summer Olympics. And since I've been there I am familiar with the places they show and mention in the media. A few weeks ago the Queen had a huge celebratory concert outside Buckingham Palace. It was quite the event and the whole shebang was headed up by my man, Gary Barlow, of Take That. There were some pretty high profile names that got to perform for HRH including Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Stevie Wonder (you're welcome). No other monarch has reigned for 60 years except Queen Victoria. Elizabeth had to take over at age 26 after hearing her father passed away and has gone through a lot over the years. From what I've learned, she's pretty involved with things and stays up to date on current events and things happening in parliament. 

Gary was also asked to write a song to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee-he's a brilliant songwriter. So, he teamed up with Andrew Lloyd Webber to write an anthem of sorts dedicated to the Queen. What I thought was cool was how Gary actually visited different nations of the Commonwealth to include musicians and singers from all over the realm. More about the story here. I think it would be quite the task to write a song that pays homage to the Queen, is easy for people to learn and perform, and is still awesome to listen to. "Sing" is the title of the song they wrote. I think the song they wrote turned out great and it instilled a bit of British pride in me (hey, it's kind of my motherland...). From military wives in England, Slum Drummers in Kenya, Aboriginal singer in Australia and many more-it's pretty sweet to see the people who came together to create this song. Also, for his efforts in music and charity Gary got made an OBE last week-his song and concert planning probably helped this out...

Here it is:

Can't wait for the Olympics, Team USA, Team Great Britain, and world pride!!

cathedrals

One of my favorite things I did on my trip to Europe was go to six of the most famous churches in the world. We don't have anything similar to them out west in America so this was a new thing for me. It was fascinating to enter each church, feel the special spirit there, learn about the culture, history and people that brought about these beautiful structures. I was so much in awe of the dedication worshipers had to build these buildings without modern technology, sometimes they took several hundred years to get to the size and state they are today. It made me think that the people starting the construction probably wouldn't see anything close to a finished project but did it because of their faith and because they wanted to worship God and build tributes to other great church figures. I was in awe of the history and events that happened in these places. I learned a lot about the different religious sects and how they compared to my own religion. The architecture was also something to behold. You may not expect to get all of that from going to a church, art, history, culture, religion (obviously), technology, architecture, etc, but these places were and are integral in the shaping of these countries and the world.

Westminister Abbey-London, England
This was my first church and for some reason my more favorite of the two in London. Jillian will say her's is St. Paul's. This place is actually an abbey, not a cathedral, I learned that there is only one "official" cathedral in each area/city, and in London that would be St. Paul's Cathedral. I really enjoyed this place. It's where all the British coronations happen and tons of monarchs are buried there. Including plaques or memorials for famous poets, artists, scientists, etc. I learned a lot about the British Monarchy and straightened things out in my head a bit. It is jam packed with tombs/sarcoghogi? of tons of people. It also has the coronation chair that every British monarch (except 2 I think) has sat upon during their coronation. Will and Kate got married there. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is there. Lots of important government/monarchy/Britishy things go down there. I also saw the replicas of the crown jewels-they use them in the run-throughs of the ceremonies. Queen Elizabeth certainly has some nice jewelry. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside so I only have outside pics. To learn more read the wikipedia link.

St. Paul's Cathedral-London, England
Cathedral for the Church of England. We reenacted the "feed the birds" from Mary Poppins on the front steps. This place was really sweet as well. It has a very large dome with sweet acoustics. The altarpiece was large and ornate. We climbed up to the dome and had a great view of the city skyline. This is where Chuck and Diana got married. Important British Stuff happens here too. Towards the end of while we were there a church service was starting and they basically shut down except for worshipers. I remember it had a very large baptism font. I couldn't take pictures here either, but got some good ones of the outside. To learn more read this wikipedia link.

Basilique du Sacre Cour-Paris, France
Roman Catholic-Means "sacred heart." Basilica to the "sacred heart" of Jesus. Didn't learn too much about the history of this place, but caught a bit of Mass which was my first experience with that. The structure is interesting because it looks a bit like a middle eastern palace because of the minarets. A lot of people go here because it's on a hilltop called Montmartre and you get a great view of the city. We got harassed a bit by souvenir hawkers and there wasn't an official tour so we didn't stay long. Wiki

Notre Dame-Paris, France
Roman Catholic Cathedral. I loved, loved, loved this place. The Gothic architecture was so cool. I saw the two original stained glass windows. It's older than the London churches. I loved seeing the statue they had of Sainte Jeanne de'Arc, (Joan of Arc) and of the Virgin Mary. Jillian and I listened to "God Help the Outcasts" from the Hunchback of Notre Dame movie and I pretty much cried. They had one of the old chandeliers, not currently in use. I noticed they had a lot of statues surrounding the altarpiece, and the main piece was of the Virgin Mary, obvs. We also climbed the bell tower and got lots of views of the city again. I got to see the famous gargoyles up close and I learned that the gargoyles were just for water drainage, the other animals, called chimera, were for warding off evil spirits. I saw Emmanuel the big bell and other structural elements of the top of the church. Jillian was pretty stoked to see the flying buttresses. There were pretty gardens behind the church and it's actually on an island in the middle of the Seine. Wiki

The Duomo-Florence, Italy
Roman Catholic Cathedral. Full title is the Basilica del Santa Maria del Fiore-Saint Mary of the Flower. It's the official cathedral of Florence. The dome is very large and what inspired Michelangelo to put a dome on St. Peter's. The outside is covered in white, pink (red) and green marble and it's very unique and beautiful. I thought it was interesting that they built the bell tower and baptistry as separate buildings from the church. It didn't have much in the way of treasures or cool stuff on the inside, but it's a very beautiful church that is situated in a very important Renaissance city. Wiki

Saint Peter's Basilica-Vatican City
Roman Catholic, obs. Not a cathedral because some other church in the city of Rome has that title. If you didn't know, Vatican City is it's own country within Rome. They don't have an army so the Swiss Guards protect the place. I was overwhelmed to be at such an important spot to so many people of the world, being the center of the Catholic church. In the square I tried to imagine how they pack thousands and thousands of people in the square during Mass or even the funeral of the Pope. It's really not all that big. I really had respect for the churches in Italy because they made people cover up and look more modest out of respect for the church. Basically you had to have your shoulders covered and no super short shorts or skirts. I respected them for enforcing that. Before the basilica, we went to the Vatican Museum which was pretty sweet. Then we had to go back outside the walls and walk all the way around to the main entrance to St. Peter's Square. Side story-I had seen beggars other places during my trip but these ones broke my heart because they had physical deformities that you could see. I remember one that had a club foot that looked so painful and grotesque. It made me cry. It also reminded me of the story in the NT where the lame are sitting outside the temple in Jerusalem and the Pharisees (? IDK, some grouchy people) wanted them to leave because they were in the way. But Peter and his peeps taught them a lesson by healing the lame and the sick because they were to be blessed and not turned away. That was what these people were seeking and obviously hoping that people visiting such a religious place would take pity on them. Like I said, I saw other beggars before during this trip but they were panhandlers who were trying to take advantage of people. These people were different and it made me ponder and think. The first thng we did was climb to the top of the dome. It was a good climb in a narrow windy stairway but the view of the city was worth it. We first saw the inside of the dome, designed by Michelangelo, so beautiful with windows to let the gorgeous light in. All the words that Christ said to Peter in the NT are written around the church in huge gold letters in Latin. Some of these words were in the dome. It also allowed us a great view of the inside of the church, to see the huge brass canopy and other adornments of the church. Outside-Buildings are kept pretty short so nothing disrupts the skyline. It was also cool to peek into the Vatican gardens, which has all the other Vatican City buildings and where the Pope lives. The gardens were a lot more tropical than I thought they might be, But I guess it is the Mediterranean. I also enjoyed finding the wall that surrounds the perimeter designating the border. After climbing back down to the main roof we went into the little gift shop that was full of rosarys, pins, postcards etc. of famous popes and saints. They love Pope John Paul II and they love Mother Teresa. I bought a prayer card of St. Christopher from a little nun working in the shop. I don't know if it was just me or what, but all the nuns we saw were so little and short. I'm talking my height or shorter. They were so cute but it made me feel like I should become a nun. After that we went back down to the ground floor, and I do have to say that they had the widest stairwell of anything we climbed in Europe. Once we got back down we went inside the church.  The first thing my eyes were drawn to was the huge brass canopy that is all the way down at the far end of the nave. It is so large, but then again, the entire basilica is huge. We took a moment just to take it all in. Being the late afternoon the light was coming in through the windows in the dome at an angle and made the place look even more holy. Jillian and I had Rick Steve's audio tour on our iPods and were able to listen to him narrate our tour as we learned things. The brass canopy was constructed to fill up space essentially and make the church seem less huge. I also learned that the sculptures that line the nave were built with funky proportions so as to look correct when viewed from below-the statues were above our heads. The brass canopy is over the altar which is over the crypt which is where they believe they have the remains of Peter the apostle. I think most of the other popes are buried there as well. They have a beautiful apse with lots of gold. We didn't get too much time to look around because after a little bit they were kicking people out of that part of the church because they were getting ready for mass. So we weren't able to go down into the crypt. We looked at the other things they had there, I saw the Holy Door, which is cemented up and not used except for in holy years which I guess is every 25, so the next time they use it will be in 2025. I saw the resting place of Pope John Paul II. He was initially buried in the crypt but when Benedict XVI made John Paul II beatified, they brought him back upstairs and placed him in a side chapel so people could visit it. I remembered watching the funeral on tv very late at night and all the retrospectives they did on him when he died, so I thought it was cool to see that. Probably the best part is seeing the Pieta, which is a statue by Michelangelo of Mary holding Christ after he died on the cross. I had seen pictures before, but to see the actual thing is very spiritually moving and artistically marveling. It is behind glass now because a while ago a madman came in and started hacking at the statue and actually damaged some of it. They were able to repair it. Michelangelo signed his work (I think because people didn't think it was his) but later felt so ashamed at his pride and ego for needing to sign his work and to defile a sacred thing that he didn't sign anything else he painted or sculpted. Michelangelo may be known for his Sistine Chapel painting, but he was primarily a sculptor. I enjoyed seeing this piece which becomes even more impressive when you think about how one goes about sculpting something. I was very impressed with St. Peter's. Wiki.

I don't know if I could pick a favorite if asked. They are all unique, built in different times for different reasons. I learned so much by visiting these places and they were definately one of the highlights of my trip.

Pictures to come when I get a photoshop project done, then you can see what I'm talking about.

the light of summer nights

Last night was the first of those great summer nights. Where it's warm enough to run around in the grass barefoot but not so hot that it's unbearable. 9 days away from the summer solstice and the sun doesn't go down till late. The latitude I live at makes the light so magical on these kinds of nights. It gives everything a soft yellowy glow that softens visual perception, making things look relaxed and inviting rather than the suffering swelter the world looks through the blindingly bright noonday sun. It's nights like these that I could spend hours outside, near the river watching that precious light play on the water, or on a hilltop looking west towards an explosion of pink, yellow, purple, orange and blue as the sun goes down, the whole sky visible because no mountains block the path the light makes to the earth. And in the summer it's almost a guarantee that this kind of sunset will greet you every night. I live in a basin, a desert basin brought to life by a mighty river. Some scoff at our idea of natural beauty because it isn't green and lush. But it's nights like these in the summer, when, seen in the best light, nothing looks more beautiful to me.