tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67812577626536661252024-03-14T01:18:20.853-05:00Bored Neoclassical GuyLike those in the 18th century who appreciated archaeological discoveries of classical antiquity, I try to make art using authentic materials and methods from the same time. Oh yeah, and sometimes I use humor.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.comBlogger138125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-59936305536756283692014-12-23T19:34:00.001-06:002014-12-23T23:12:45.902-06:00Cbep MondjehOk, I missed Cyber blog Monday... But I've been busy with life (my ridiculously beautiful and talented fiancee, work, gym, trips).
It is good to see those of you out there from the good ole (tm) days still keeping it blogtastic.
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Soooo... probably if I throw some videos at you, then all will be forgiven?
Don't laugh too much (a little bit of ridicule is acceptable if not expected).
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The first is an ancient typical cover song from a band which has a name that rhymes with 2 U <br><br>
<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2d8syh_interpretation-of-song-with-guitar-and-vocal_lifestyle"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VJMvvsxEG5QknS-O9vAmyBLnf7V2qoziVKU4JwzxQdN3m3R_m57w7ipTp96tlIh6YcBqzOO4ihKQANvyc-Tor5705FEW3M5jcaQq3UBUmdtifIp5fdDJgR5ERUL1mdbx0F6-vbR69L-e/s320/me_singing.png" /><br>My boring cover song, yawn...</a>
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The next is better musically, as it is an original arrangement and performance (by me) of an old Serbian standard 'Devojlko Mala' for my darling. Surf style... :) <br><br>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWsUVNMYMH0&sns=em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVEdGtS4DHPvPbJe2VUsQG7AiA0oeb9xaKnmBfNTd_h4EYacvKWgC6K4BMa552dxk46MVFzLokbHICypyfv0ihwzHg6zdhxJNmGuR8I-5zEcUsZ1MnPeEZsMNMTYYXcqnQIVxpdFVKUeD6/s320/moja_devojlko_mala.png" /><br>Devojlko Mala, my arrangement</a>
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This past year, I started really hitting the gym hard. I can finally run a sub 7 minute mile now, which I couldn't do even in high school. I do 600 crunches per day, and it totally sounds like I'm lying right now doesn't it? (I really am not) :)
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I hope this year finds everyone in good health and happiness.
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Hugs to all,
Eric 'Bored Neoclassical Guy'Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-47151263872532395722012-12-10T11:15:00.000-06:002012-12-10T11:15:57.450-06:00Ancients had Lasers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0iFmygqljfPqN05ZRs_Y69a0RCd5RApr6oufU-TULkn6ktnZjnU4PJKJ6Z_Mk0F87jqZFYEsZHrq9fGDw8MnT5Sq_gKP9mEBGUBW5gLrdC7Wbmtvl1fz_owpHAJ8XKHOVh6LtJp3gg8f/s1600/06lasershak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="151" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0iFmygqljfPqN05ZRs_Y69a0RCd5RApr6oufU-TULkn6ktnZjnU4PJKJ6Z_Mk0F87jqZFYEsZHrq9fGDw8MnT5Sq_gKP9mEBGUBW5gLrdC7Wbmtvl1fz_owpHAJ8XKHOVh6LtJp3gg8f/s320/06lasershak.jpg" /></a></div>
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The people of antiquity had lasers. More correctly, I should say they had a spice called 'laser', also known as silphium. It was a large stalked plant with flowers on the end. Ancient sources described it as being worth its weight in silver at the time. According to Pliny the Elder (Plin. Nat. 19.15), the best varieties were found in Cyrene (pretty much next to the modern site of Benghazi, Libya where the embassy was attacked). Sadly, it seems to have been harvested to extinction, but many related plants exist today.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9Ljm6og9ryszkOfFfEvpDJmQ9-mWQ9wnfdNQlB4M6xLbM52LwV9c3i_N4N21CRs8eaeGB6a9IxlybXpKJK082eqa-lXZFvESMHCQ3968q2fcEYUkqvUZRtsYqwgucjebin2TLMvHQMLu/s1600/Silphium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="164" width="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9Ljm6og9ryszkOfFfEvpDJmQ9-mWQ9wnfdNQlB4M6xLbM52LwV9c3i_N4N21CRs8eaeGB6a9IxlybXpKJK082eqa-lXZFvESMHCQ3968q2fcEYUkqvUZRtsYqwgucjebin2TLMvHQMLu/s320/Silphium.jpg" /></a></div>
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Bacchantes, the followers of the Dionysus cults, used the stalk of this plant capped with a pinecone to make the thyrus. These thyrus staves were almost always depicted in fresco and mosaics of the Bacchantes. This leads me to wonder about possible medicinal or psychoactive properties of the plant's resin. After all, the Maenads were described as wild women by Euripides, tearing apart Pentheus in a frenzy.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgflf34727-7DKa-_W7NV5T_ljvyZIV_dkZnNggCeDMYX_mho3q0Z7Wt-dO8LEleDLpGT_XLgE6ZI3TA38Yo7UopEExYD-sOUE3pX_Tehyphenhypheny3zrIAXeINbjfudd5bjKwPlfcm-zLjR4hG8Is/s1600/img_dionysos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgflf34727-7DKa-_W7NV5T_ljvyZIV_dkZnNggCeDMYX_mho3q0Z7Wt-dO8LEleDLpGT_XLgE6ZI3TA38Yo7UopEExYD-sOUE3pX_Tehyphenhypheny3zrIAXeINbjfudd5bjKwPlfcm-zLjR4hG8Is/s320/img_dionysos.jpg" /></a></div>
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Related botanical studies of plants similar in appearance to laser show that it might have had a contraceptive effect. In ancient times, maybe this property was noted and adopted by the cult. What if the Dionysus cults were the practical religions of brothel workers? If it had this use and was also a drug, was its extinction just a matter of commerce? Maybe it intentionally destroyed by an emperor who was either angered by the cult or maybe took an interest in the morality of the populace
like Augustus Caesar? Strabo said that barbarians were to blame, '...bordering upon Cyrenaica is the district which produces silphium, and the juice called Cyrenaic, which the silphium discharges from incisions made in it. The plant was once nearly lost, in consequence of a spiteful incursion of barbarians, who attempted to destroy all the roots. The inhabitants of this district are nomads.'
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDotp0XGrOEDSuAr7VBOjJyuLAKFCM4kiJCeftQ-elrlD7gNcVs0ZUoDPqDDcTD7XWHrBe4fdGGvotMVp_j7rOrCUkFsjZPWiGlcuhncgJ4QIwoleRc1pEWhfXB1cTmKNeuTxm33pD5d0K/s1600/20121103_105707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDotp0XGrOEDSuAr7VBOjJyuLAKFCM4kiJCeftQ-elrlD7gNcVs0ZUoDPqDDcTD7XWHrBe4fdGGvotMVp_j7rOrCUkFsjZPWiGlcuhncgJ4QIwoleRc1pEWhfXB1cTmKNeuTxm33pD5d0K/s320/20121103_105707.jpg" /></a></div>
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In the photo above from my sailing trip last month, I found something which looks like the laser of antiquity growing on a hill near the ruins of an old French fort. Just as one of Napoleon's soldiers rediscovered the location of the imperial porphyry quarry, what if another had identified and replanted an actual silphium seedling a few hundred years ago? It might only be a giant fennel plant, but then again, maybe not.
I would be interested in attempting to sequence the DNA of seeds found in an ancient amphora if they resembled fennel. Maybe this can happen in my lifetime.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-64545497447341939372012-09-17T16:22:00.001-05:002012-09-17T16:22:58.492-05:00I made some mercury last Sunday (La domenica, creato un po 'di mercurio)For a moment, consider mercury, a silver metallic poisonous metal but also the mythical messenger of the Roman gods and diety of trade. It's from this
name we have 'merchandise'. Mixed with sulphur, it becomes the red pigment that adorns the walls of ancient Pompeii.
Here is a Mercury that I sketched out in clay this Sunday while it was raining.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2i5cIYMMSnOFOYnI0aZHaN1kcQxwnznTckp4XU_5aH2xphuNd1MSMZ2PKxR5Xmd_KzhQBEPM1LFwkWBSVFBlJM75rxb4gUrPYAA4C_gHarEzus3x6WcCm51_3zjpLvDZSmb-Fx5mM8U_6/s1600/20120916_154309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2i5cIYMMSnOFOYnI0aZHaN1kcQxwnznTckp4XU_5aH2xphuNd1MSMZ2PKxR5Xmd_KzhQBEPM1LFwkWBSVFBlJM75rxb4gUrPYAA4C_gHarEzus3x6WcCm51_3zjpLvDZSmb-Fx5mM8U_6/s320/20120916_154309.jpg" /></a></div>
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The circle diameter of 4.125" is precisely that of my drains on the deck outside, so
I'm just a few steps away from new bronze at the foundry. You might be asking yourself, 'why are there no drain holes if it's supposed to be a drain'? Those
will be drilled when I make a wax master from the plaster mold.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiloBgNPpgijp0PaxgLY3adxARH0IuJ-tsD5wm7xWwLbZjzgZWw3UPzzZiAuTFuEeLt2X6dROu_5uGDT4jgvL79ndpYhlF2Qq_3ybeyGtb4N3tttWspH7CoysYIJdMHSpmMTZIKprAL6PF2/s1600/mercury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiloBgNPpgijp0PaxgLY3adxARH0IuJ-tsD5wm7xWwLbZjzgZWw3UPzzZiAuTFuEeLt2X6dROu_5uGDT4jgvL79ndpYhlF2Qq_3ybeyGtb4N3tttWspH7CoysYIJdMHSpmMTZIKprAL6PF2/s320/mercury.jpg" /></a></div>
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Besides the function of making hatters crazy when smoothing felt or switching electricity on or off depending on an angle, mercury was also used in the past to separate gold flakes from other soil and dust. When thinking of nature in its most pristine forms, I still remember the time my dad took me 'gold panning' in the headwaters of a clear perfect Colorado stream. It took a while to get there driving up the side of a large mountain on a winding road.
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As a wide-eyed seven year old, I was blissfully unaware of pollution or things like 'the environment'. Dad jumped out of the truck with a large silver pan with concentric lines around the inside. 'Come on boy, we're fixin to find some gold!', he proclaimed. Rushing excitedly down to the side of the stream, I saw some rainbow trout swimming in the center of the quick moving icy cold water.
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Dad was taking out a chamois cloth and a large bottle of heavy silver mercury. He pointed down into the clear water at some gold flecks glistening back through the clear water even though it was mostly cloudy way up there in the mountains. 'See those, that's real money right there!' Well that's all I needed to hear, so I was down there at the waters edge standing on some rocks.
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He put the pan down into the water and drew up some soil, swirling it around. Next, he poured some of the silver mercury into the pan to join up the gold
flakes, and poured off the excess water back into the stream. Separating out the sand and dirt from the mercury, he then carefully poured the silvery
remaining mercury into the chamois cloth. Squeezing it and twisting, he was able to get a ball of material down at the bottom of the cloth. Well it wasn't
much so the chamois cloth slipped open and the mercury spilled in the stream. I'm pretty sure this was the reason that <a href="http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/ironeyes.asp">sad american indian</a> was crying in all those commercials.
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-15144402804402419352012-06-10T17:36:00.001-05:002012-06-10T17:43:29.538-05:00Ancient Red and Black Ceramics (Ceramic Antichi di Grecia)A few years ago, I was really keen on buying an ancient piece of pottery. The specific piece I was looking at was a red figure krater from the Attic region, 2400 years old at a cost of around 4 USD for each year of age. Why pay so much for an artifact? The artistry and attention to detail on some of these works is amazing, both on the southern Italian and Greek works. Also, they aren’t making more of them?
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0t0ejWCOlZDzR6m_CygVbO4l1lRfNP8cEQnIBcKmsVlCD5rhoWolbtb6ncDXDod_taADIYwc0ox6zx7i9eRZCdhKvcV53va9aLLHYR0FHAShBRHl8hGrVI1OTT2hqMYBtXt6x9Iu2Lb6/s1600/1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="225" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0t0ejWCOlZDzR6m_CygVbO4l1lRfNP8cEQnIBcKmsVlCD5rhoWolbtb6ncDXDod_taADIYwc0ox6zx7i9eRZCdhKvcV53va9aLLHYR0FHAShBRHl8hGrVI1OTT2hqMYBtXt6x9Iu2Lb6/s320/1.JPG" /></a>
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Well as it turned out, ‘they’ were actually are making more of them. In the end, I didn’t want to spend so much on something breakable. So I bought a very convincing faked piece from a shop in Rome over by Piazza Popolo which still is unbroken despite my best efforts. Even though it is a fake, there are certain secrets to its production that I can appreciate.
The methods of producing a red and black piece of pottery in the same firing are scientifically interesting. The ancients had two paints, one red and one black. Oh wait… there is more to the process.
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In order for the explanation about the process to make sense, I must first describe fire… In the image below the #4 fire (far right) is ‘oxidizing’ and the #1 fire (to the left) is reducing.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZNS-P5CQdqMlzYvRuEg9WZdtAM2EGZcPFE9UrSsuyutSmUqxqt8uQQsQOqyBZ_jqrDFTlZGLkFX8m9OdP6qsxLH4fKDRuu9Doly44zQ_HSfnNc1zWD0cerwr8FB0btHi8yVU6o1PtS85/s1600/2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="202" width="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZNS-P5CQdqMlzYvRuEg9WZdtAM2EGZcPFE9UrSsuyutSmUqxqt8uQQsQOqyBZ_jqrDFTlZGLkFX8m9OdP6qsxLH4fKDRuu9Doly44zQ_HSfnNc1zWD0cerwr8FB0btHi8yVU6o1PtS85/s320/2.JPG" /></a>
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Figures were painted with what looked like two subtle shades of red in the daylight where they could distinguish the difference in the paints. Sometimes they scratched in guidelines for the figures to help them show which area was to be red and which black.
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Then at night, after drinking the wine after a hard day of painting several pieces, they built a very hot bonfire. The oxidizing conditions of this extremely hot fire (as in #4 above) caused all of the areas of the pottery to fire red, so they probably thought, ‘Oh no, where did all my meticulous painting work go?!?’
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After a while the bonfire died down a bit (as in #1 above) and the artists sobered up, the surface of the pottery turned all black as the hematite red changed to black magnetite and soot from the dying fire was absorbed. So then they were all like, ‘Oh no, my pottery turned all black and I’ve lost my meticulous painting work a second time, which is doubly bad.’
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But, at this point a trick was at play. The paint which was supposed to result in black areas on the vase had additions of ash enriched clays which caused the black areas to form an impermeable crust while the fire was down. The red paint did not have this, so when the ancient craftsman then turned up the Bunsen burner or maybe threw a few more logs on the fire to get the fire super hot again (#4 again), the areas not covered by the crust turned back to the red color because of the re-oxidation of the iron. Finally, after all was cooled down, they were left with the genuine red and black figure butter dishes and Kleenex cover boxes. So then people watching were all like 'Whoa, magic!' Of course, back then, maybe ice melting seemed like magic?
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Early on, this kind of pottery was used originally for fancy utilitarian purposes like wine parties, holding olive oil or other rare commodities. Some accounts describe their use as trophies for winning athletic competitions. Later, the red and black figure pottery was used increasingly for funerary or votive purposes.
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Luckily, there are many examples of these pottery items in museums. The last estimate I read about was more than 20,000 genuine pieces. As with any other artwork, scholars have detected stylistic patterns in the painted figures and backgrounds. Different ‘schools’ or individual artists can be identified now. Almost every major museum with an antiquities department has at least one red and black figured ceramic item.
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Some museums of course have more than others. The island of Thira (Santorini) in Greece has an odd little archaeological museum with more of this type of ancient pottery assembled in one place per square meter of gallery space than I’ve seen in other places. So get out there and take a closer look at those red and black pottery pieces that you might have skimmed past in the museum, and appreciate the clever firing techniques that some unknown potter 2600 years ago stumbled onto.
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Here is one at the Dallas Museum of Art.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUx1-HjDtBKgXcaeK5SvSrtwJPmxE3n8udWVmHGtG5eZ9KqDYpSJDp2ADlkLyFZ9uSaTwugP9xxLa3SfONMXfDpgo494BU8DdjG9rrk5Zxq-PfPAg2bLuip8dGpHsJi2SaK2KLgpngjju_/s1600/3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUx1-HjDtBKgXcaeK5SvSrtwJPmxE3n8udWVmHGtG5eZ9KqDYpSJDp2ADlkLyFZ9uSaTwugP9xxLa3SfONMXfDpgo494BU8DdjG9rrk5Zxq-PfPAg2bLuip8dGpHsJi2SaK2KLgpngjju_/s320/3.JPG" /></a>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-66226722584589916022012-04-02T22:17:00.012-05:002012-04-02T22:47:17.994-05:00Mosaics from Seeds (Mosaici di Semi)I had been putting in way too many hours at the office over the past few months. Although it had been very profitable, I couldn't help but think of the work as too much of a tradeoff of my time preventing time for making art, not to mention the lack of sleep driving me to the point of delusion. Surely there are many artists probably going through exactly the same thing.<br /><br /><em>In questi ultimi mesi ho lavorato parecchio. Nonostante un guadagno significativo, non ho potuto non considerare il lavoro come un trade-off del mio tempo. Questa situazione mi impediva dal creare, per non menzionare la mancanza di sonno fino al punto di delusione. Sicuramente ci sono parecchi artisti che probabilmente stanno affrontando la stessa cosa.</em><br /><br />Taking stock of some of the projects I still had in progress from the previous year, I could only look wistfully at my triclinium project and some of the other partially completed mosaic and sectile projects around the house, wondering when I would ever have time to complete them. <br /><br /><em>Facendo il punto della situazione dei lavori che avevo in corso dall’anno scorso, potevo solo contemplare sul mio progetto triclinium ed alcuni degli altri progetti di mosaico e sectile parzialmente conclusi che si trovano in vari posti nella casa, chiedendomi se mai avrò il tempo per finirli.</em> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdU9yyWbAxQLdhX-kU3Eejqu9pZ6gcdAACYZKhiSKA11rT6VIJ2y4khgZw9Tp6EqReL9_18-u2JmAyQYyiLwqweDkGxsaVNlmm6W6gov6A9_U6VwwdEmdQL6hVbrgLscs8h5T5h2wuGn6/s1600/_1.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYdU9yyWbAxQLdhX-kU3Eejqu9pZ6gcdAACYZKhiSKA11rT6VIJ2y4khgZw9Tp6EqReL9_18-u2JmAyQYyiLwqweDkGxsaVNlmm6W6gov6A9_U6VwwdEmdQL6hVbrgLscs8h5T5h2wuGn6/s320/_1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727009916907031810" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />To help me think, I poured a few double whiskey shots in my unnecessarily rustic cork mug from Sardegna and mulled over the weighty situation before me. <br /><br /><em>Per riusicre a pensare meglio, ho versato un pò di shot di doppio whiskey, stranamente nella mia tazza rustica da sughero dalla Sardegna, e mi sono fatto due conti della situatione di fronte a me.</em><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lwqTPDxHOYth07R7his0e-rKQxMZn9RJ_L_bdtt2yFyEFSQ5l056QzXyGeySYKM0oJEo5tHCOEUcmlczPxVWhenrRbcHJFDKrSjkiJx_T6lNc41AlVqyroJWW8MG4RHKUyg-cK8rBAXJ/s1600/_2.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 181px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lwqTPDxHOYth07R7his0e-rKQxMZn9RJ_L_bdtt2yFyEFSQ5l056QzXyGeySYKM0oJEo5tHCOEUcmlczPxVWhenrRbcHJFDKrSjkiJx_T6lNc41AlVqyroJWW8MG4RHKUyg-cK8rBAXJ/s320/_2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727010263817285890" /></a><br /> <br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />As I strolled around sunlight lit up the marble decking outside, then wonder of wonders, my eyes fell on some recently planted rich purple lavender. Suddenly, the answer revealed itself to me! It had been staring me in the face, in plain sight all along. It was spring time, and the answer to the quandary was clearly to use 'mosaic seeds' to let nature grow the work! Surely in the past, people of antiquity didn't have people actually creating those large pavements with all the meticulously cut pieces and their careful placement. They must have had a trick. And now, with a flash of insight, I was finally on to their secret methods of growing mosaics from seeds!<br /><br /><em>Mentre stavo facendo due passi, la luce del sole illuminò il rivestimento di marmo fuori. Poi il miracolo dei miracoli, i miei occhi sono caduti su una pianta di lavanda di colore intenso. All’improviso la risposta mi si rivelò! Mi stava guardando nella faccia in pieno giorno tutto il tempo. Era primavera e la risposta al dilemma era chiara. Quella di usare “semi di mosaico” e lasciare che sia la natura a far crescere il lavoro! Di certo, è impossibile che nell’antiquità ci siano state delle vere e proprie persone a creare queli pavimenti cosi immensi con tutti i pezzi cosi meticolosamente tagliati e posizionati cosi accuratamente. Ma dai. Un trucco c’era! E ora in un mio momento di intuizione, stavo scoprendo il loro metodo segreto di piantare mosaici dai semi.</em><br /><br />So, I hurriedly sketched out a likely subject for a planting, and wrote up a shopping list. Unable to contain my excitement, I speedily drove to a nearby mosaic seed store and picked out some nicely colored smalti and marbles. Obviously, the colors which should dominate in the home grown mosaic needed to be the largest by volume planted. Also on the shopping list was some nice mortar with time released nitrogen and iron additives to ensure that the grown mosaic would have sharp saturated colors, particularly the greens.<br /><br /><em>Così di fretta ho fatto uno schizzo che potrebbe andare bene come un mosaico da piantare e ho fatto una lista di spesa. Incapace di contenere il mio entusiasmo, ho preso la macchina e guidato velocemente verso un negozio di semi di mosaico vicino e ho scelto alcuni smalti e marmi ben colorati. Ovviamente, i colori che dovrebbero dominare il mosaico coltivato in casa dovevano anche essere di più relativamente al volume piantato. Nella mia lista di spesa c’era anche una bella malta di nitrogeno con tempo di rilascio ed additivi di ferro per assicurare che il mosaico pienamente cresciuto avesse dei colori fortemente saturati, particolarmente i verdi.</em><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhwTGIqdCMDJPIk1POOekgUVcusODboWHxMQPUSXfq7RcgDgfrjtoXhz3HDyypSVOExDSVEDsZmsyRWllkrrFoHiq-5S3QgVzRDnDgwMq8oY98s9cJUAYW9EPDxDKOhrWuxK0D04WQdAy8/s1600/_3.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhwTGIqdCMDJPIk1POOekgUVcusODboWHxMQPUSXfq7RcgDgfrjtoXhz3HDyypSVOExDSVEDsZmsyRWllkrrFoHiq-5S3QgVzRDnDgwMq8oY98s9cJUAYW9EPDxDKOhrWuxK0D04WQdAy8/s320/_3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727010568452323506" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Back home, I set out the mosaic seeds against the planned drawing for the mosaic to be grown. It was so great to finally be making progress!<br /><br />Tornado a casa, ho messo i semi del mosaico sopra lo shizzo per il nostro mosaico da semi. Era bello riuscire ad andar avanti con il proggetto!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0QSuzI6n1tb5WdcBATGkQ_RUpxsvjJevuTUoQk5ctyxemw68N7RZU7CORo4_Kg_0DoD-qzBjLP1rfuKbQGbkWNbrwcQmT1DVQjRkGXK6ZNS45Fkt5XS4g76-QQK7LwE_MYhPe81-bikY/s1600/_4.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 181px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0QSuzI6n1tb5WdcBATGkQ_RUpxsvjJevuTUoQk5ctyxemw68N7RZU7CORo4_Kg_0DoD-qzBjLP1rfuKbQGbkWNbrwcQmT1DVQjRkGXK6ZNS45Fkt5XS4g76-QQK7LwE_MYhPe81-bikY/s320/_4.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727010880443535618" /></a><br /> <br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />After the holes were dug where I wanted the mosaics to sprout from, I gleefully mixed up the mortar and tesserae until the mortar was nice and spongy. After letting it sit for a bit, I spooned the mixture into the hole. I covered it with some pine mulch and watered it thoroughly. 'It's probably only a matter of days now', I thought.<br /><br /><em>Dopo aver aperto I bucchi li dove volevo che il mosaico spuntasse fuori, ho festosamente mescolato la malta e le tessere fino a quando l’impasto fosse perfetto, poroso ed aggrappato al bastone di miscelazione. L’ho lasciato riposare un pò e dopo ho meticolosamente inserito l’impasto dentro il bucco. L’ho coperto con della pacciamatura fatta con corteccia di pino e poi bagnato il tutto. Ho pensato “sarà questione di solo qualche giorno”.</em><br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30lsp2VtHB2z8oBML6kUDhitChwK4BfEkbFOgHEKPEo8YYexSgddL__HWEcOLGnp0ykPl1p6RIr9a3j45CzWasEIDXV-HH7EIntLYw0pjXF1jlmvbByU-hmfOJc8xYIPNx5ipCf14K0yt/s1600/_5.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30lsp2VtHB2z8oBML6kUDhitChwK4BfEkbFOgHEKPEo8YYexSgddL__HWEcOLGnp0ykPl1p6RIr9a3j45CzWasEIDXV-HH7EIntLYw0pjXF1jlmvbByU-hmfOJc8xYIPNx5ipCf14K0yt/s320/_5.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727011807859462562" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSuUTXKQ1UmPsGTB7sfIQlR1Mj0H4mfPjOpBotT5OXbXHQRklKOz3NrwK0v3wt047igsSt3NvzUGZVDe7sXqW1y-t6bjrZjOWXmr71ayRo1itG1AUPgMsoHvwZYovDnc_PcGr0Ya7y1q5a/s1600/_6.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSuUTXKQ1UmPsGTB7sfIQlR1Mj0H4mfPjOpBotT5OXbXHQRklKOz3NrwK0v3wt047igsSt3NvzUGZVDe7sXqW1y-t6bjrZjOWXmr71ayRo1itG1AUPgMsoHvwZYovDnc_PcGr0Ya7y1q5a/s320/_6.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727011885851169202" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqmGKEpppv2D6mHXLl2LcX92CwPI3Xy_sune2W7AvNqlhjve06CRAtdsg-3Ok-B-2HW-GoAL8TfHjJ6LhWOMbRR_8yJgZZez2_pafLXjW5CaRJQWUw9DfeSMm8ikfwjmMcSBP9UYswtGem/s1600/_7.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqmGKEpppv2D6mHXLl2LcX92CwPI3Xy_sune2W7AvNqlhjve06CRAtdsg-3Ok-B-2HW-GoAL8TfHjJ6LhWOMbRR_8yJgZZez2_pafLXjW5CaRJQWUw9DfeSMm8ikfwjmMcSBP9UYswtGem/s320/_7.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727011965023116626" /></a><br /> <br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Well, the weeks rolled by and I still didn't see any growing mosaics breaking the surface. Curiosity eventually got the best of me and I used a shovel to dig it up. I was surprised to find only a solid chunk of hardened mortar with only a few tesserae pieces showing. I blunted a perfectly good shovel trying to dig that out. Obviously, the soil and weather conditions were not right for growing this type of ancient mosaic in Texas. There was nothing in the 'Farmer's Almanac' about this, so I was really off the map. Off the map, eh? Heh, well the only logical thing left for me to do then at that point was to jump on an airplane immediately to Rome with some of the remaining seeds and mortar to try the experiment again. <br /><br /><em>Le settimane quindi sono passate ed ancora non avevo visto nessun mosaico a spuntare fuori dalla superficie. La curiosità eventualmente ha ottenuto il meglio di me e ho preso una pala e ho scavato. Mi sono meravigliato quando ho trovato uno solo pezzo solido di malta indurita con solo poche tessere a vista. Ho rovinato una perfettamente bella spala cercando di scavarlo fuori. Ovviamente, il terreno e le condizioni di tempo non erano giuste per coltivare questo tipo di mosaico antico in Texas. Non c’era niente nel “Almanaco dell’Agricoltore” su questo argomento, cosi ero veramente fuori dalla carta geografica. E cosi, l’unica cosa logica che potevo fare a quel punto era di salire immediamente su un’aereo per Roma con alcumi semi e malta che mi sono rimasti per provare l’esperimento un’altra volta.</em><br /><br />I rented a place near Tivoli and went out in the hills to a likely spot to bury the mixture. As a few weeks went by, I became a bit concerned because there was still no sign of a newly grown mosaic. One morning while having a latte in town, I slapped my forehead when it occurred to me that they could grow like potatoes, you know, just a few inches under the dirt. And there I was, like a rube, not thinking this thing all the way through.<br /><br /><em>Ho affittato una casetta vicino Tivoli e mi sono avviato alle colline in un posto dove c’era la possibilità di sotterrare la miscela. Dopo alcune settimane, ho iniziato a preoccuparmi poichè non c’era nessun segno di un mosaico appena fiorito. Una mattina mentre stavo bevendo un cappuccino con extra latte in città, mi sono dato uno schiaffo sulla fronte quando me ne sono accorto che adirritura potrebbero crescere come patate, intendo a dire a solo pochi centimentri sotto la terra. Mi sono sentito come uno scemo a non accorgermi prima!</em><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2z3DPt8B-0u-USUGOxLJMgOs7pd6Ov8X15VYDYXZSpVd6-jMByfnkpCzwjL_SVCRiAiR_EtWsIb7U6PBiGvT8dW8nCdne-QiH7WOgvxzKabcsdsm7IsRL4FHuPw5m6u1GLcKsIXiv0yts/s1600/_8.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2z3DPt8B-0u-USUGOxLJMgOs7pd6Ov8X15VYDYXZSpVd6-jMByfnkpCzwjL_SVCRiAiR_EtWsIb7U6PBiGvT8dW8nCdne-QiH7WOgvxzKabcsdsm7IsRL4FHuPw5m6u1GLcKsIXiv0yts/s320/_8.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727012287416691442" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br />So I went back out there and dug and dug, and sure enough, the proper soil and weather conditions were indeed just right for growing an ancient style mosaic. That one little batch of mosaic seeds grew a gigantic ancient style mosaic. I started to dig it up so I could take it back with me to Dallas. It was taking forever to dig out this wonderful result of my planting. Apparently, it was just the white background and I wasn’t to the center yet with my main subject matter.<br /><br /><em>Cosi sono tornato fuori e ho continuato a scavare e sicuramente il terreno e la temperatura erano perfette per coltivare un mosaico di stile antico. Quel piccolo sacco di semi di mosaico è cresciuto in un gigantesco mosaico di stile antico. Ho iniziato a scavarlo fuori per poterlo poi portare a Dallas con me. Ci è voluta un’eternità per togliere questo bellissimo risultato della mia iniziativa di coltivazione. Apparentamente, come si evince dalla foto qui sotto, si vedeva solo la parte del mosaico di fondo bianco. Non ero ancora riuscito a realizzare il soggetto principale del mio disegno.</em><br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_9obSyjCYg-nwRJeFiakHz0FJ_iPd1ItIayLZp5cksJ1hyphenhyphen-3WJF2NmA9oUHyJVQpBq15A4ZcDf0Wqfb1qP_sjNA4uL2D40jp1WwTFQWGujCFiEtXfZ_esBZEKd9DjVyPgMlrV0A6i2MG/s1600/_9.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl_9obSyjCYg-nwRJeFiakHz0FJ_iPd1ItIayLZp5cksJ1hyphenhyphen-3WJF2NmA9oUHyJVQpBq15A4ZcDf0Wqfb1qP_sjNA4uL2D40jp1WwTFQWGujCFiEtXfZ_esBZEKd9DjVyPgMlrV0A6i2MG/s320/_9.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727012362392006050" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />After a few weeks of careful excavation, I was interrupted by some angry scientist-looking people who showed up and started hollering at me. They didn’t seem to appreciate the merit of my discovery, which was odd considering that they were supposed to be scientists. Then they called those serious police with the red stripes, so I had to leave my mosaic there without completing the harvest. But, at least now I finally know the secret method of growing mosaics from seeds. At least they had a cool police car to take me to jail in.<br /><br /><em>Dopo alcune settimane di scavi accurati, sono stato interrotto da alcuni manifestanti che sembravno essere scienziati che si sono apparsi dal nulla e iniziavano a gridare contro di me. Non sembravano di apprezzare il valore della mia scoperta; cosa strana visto che dovrebbero essere gente di scienza. Poi hanno chiamato quei seri polizzioti con le strisce rosse ed io ero costretto a lasciare il mio mosaico senza concludere il raccolto. Ma almeno adesso ho finalmente scoperto il metodo segreto per coltivare mosaici con i semi. Almeno avevano una bella macchina di polizia per portarmi in carcere.</em><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0lCxe6yzY1DqxJMKlJw-mV2G66qN9jlmOB-q7iDHAMe7jIXlYNF95RhobhP_kjgQCvy37TQbNX4tkcH1T1qVBbKlNQ7I-2-WjU_c4sP0wMsXA6b3EGx_sHwz8SoUv-izVsuBrGxMJYAR/s1600/_10.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB0lCxe6yzY1DqxJMKlJw-mV2G66qN9jlmOB-q7iDHAMe7jIXlYNF95RhobhP_kjgQCvy37TQbNX4tkcH1T1qVBbKlNQ7I-2-WjU_c4sP0wMsXA6b3EGx_sHwz8SoUv-izVsuBrGxMJYAR/s320/_10.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727012820848651010" /></a><br /> <br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Translations to Italian above are by Magda, a friend of mine who is a professional translator at <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/magdameta">https://twitter.com/#!/magdameta</a>. Obviously, my Italian skills are not that good! <br /><br />PS - Also this post was inspired by what Shawn of <a href="http://whitesharktank.blogspot.com">The Sharktank</a> had to say about macaroni and cheese. Happy April Fools Day (late)!Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-81102547235845072272012-03-30T07:19:00.004-05:002012-03-30T07:34:20.466-05:00In the Parking Garage (Nella Casa di Parcheggio)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjt8byaJcBTd5d9HtOUS6EuIg0KvybTuk-4gcphL0rM7srkmXA8PxKUY6ly8Y1Mzq2nT_MlHveURsbqbk8PS3G-lFBVcXOBUHOLoaNAx-4OV2PexffcWBjwSiemChpz4YQ8pnzYS3XNV8/s1600/mynextcar.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjt8byaJcBTd5d9HtOUS6EuIg0KvybTuk-4gcphL0rM7srkmXA8PxKUY6ly8Y1Mzq2nT_MlHveURsbqbk8PS3G-lFBVcXOBUHOLoaNAx-4OV2PexffcWBjwSiemChpz4YQ8pnzYS3XNV8/s320/mynextcar.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725666972644984018" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />I have to drive down a large parking garage structure when going to lunch or home. A few days ago someone was leaving at the same time driving behind me. With a cement wall to my left and a cement wall straight ahead, I pretty much had only one way to go (turning right).<br /><br />My hand clicked my right turn indicator. After I saw my hand do this, I was wondering why. I'm in a parking garage, no one does that unless waiting on a space. Besides, I ONLY HAD ONE OPTION FOR MOVING FORWARD. Needless to say, my hand isn't going to hear the end of that for a while.<br /><br />This all was way worse than the people you see driving down the highway with their indicators on flashing 'I'm an idiot, I'm an idiot...', this was a special (short bus special) case that I went above and beyond the call of duty to perform.<br /><br />I'm thinking of manufacturing an 'Indicator Guard' to be attached when in parking garages now. Will let you all know how it goes.<br /><br />PeaceErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-21489793411954872792012-02-26T10:56:00.011-06:002012-02-26T11:22:25.728-06:00Driving Crazy in Sardinia (Guidando Pazzo in Sardegna)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnY9P8pdx0ToAFqsDbLgi8IMDObqej5MiG_ymTwTZOzWxeG9dufFY-e0liiW3pziWpihAWmif3tizTcNpylXA-Jf636uT7rung8T3IyoFBxEwxW0FbhwC3Xln18sfuYV_sG2q3pC4ObhC/s1600/Fiat.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 235px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnY9P8pdx0ToAFqsDbLgi8IMDObqej5MiG_ymTwTZOzWxeG9dufFY-e0liiW3pziWpihAWmif3tizTcNpylXA-Jf636uT7rung8T3IyoFBxEwxW0FbhwC3Xln18sfuYV_sG2q3pC4ObhC/s320/Fiat.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713493589658423826" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />It was mid-afternoon at the airport in Olbia, Sardegna. Rushing around trying to get a car rental because although the island looks small compared to the whole European mainland, it is huge and mountainous.<br /><br><br />The desk clerk lady said 'blah blah blah... but we only have manual transmission left'. Do you know the film scenes where the back ground seems to rush away because of camera focus tricks? Well that was what happened. And when they said the car was a Fiat it happened again because, J-Lo's advertisements in the US aside, I had heard bad things about these vehicles. <br /><br><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5tL-LxTNdrVf6awTGc63eUys_2BMRuTYuFMm_UFsE7JSh8bKYhDYWfZuPPV2CD1DrqElWa45xCYmCy9AtnuKuf4dV5ffgXUL8gA6zi0BPQ84-c8n19qtdO0Ywiv_ZZ2QFhGfya9nwNnnj/s1600/Jennifer%252520Lopez-SPX-047149.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 221px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5tL-LxTNdrVf6awTGc63eUys_2BMRuTYuFMm_UFsE7JSh8bKYhDYWfZuPPV2CD1DrqElWa45xCYmCy9AtnuKuf4dV5ffgXUL8gA6zi0BPQ84-c8n19qtdO0Ywiv_ZZ2QFhGfya9nwNnnj/s320/Jennifer%252520Lopez-SPX-047149.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713492639316565410" /></a><br /><br /><br />After finding the silver Fiat Punto among the other vehicles along the row, I did the usual 'walk around' to make sure there was no damage. Just a few scratches and someone had removed the letter 'N' badge on the back, leaving 'PU TO'. Damn good thing I wasn't going to be driving anywhere that people knew Spanish... <br /><br><br />The last time I had tried to drive a manual transmission car was before college when some friends were alcohol-comatose. I remembered it as an unpleasant lurching experience with too many pedals on the floor. So, resolved to my fate, I stowed luggage and started reading the manual there in the parking lot for tips and tricks on the finer points of driving manual.<br /><br />Armed with sufficient knowledge like Neo in 'The Matrix', I started the car up and managed to get it switched to reverse gear. The clutch / brake confusion made backing up a weird mix of terror about hitting parked cars behind me and impatience because I was doing everything in slow motion. <br /><br />I spent 40 minutes that afternoon driving around the rent car parking lot, turning, shifting from first to second, parking, reverse, avoiding people walking around, backing out again. People were really beginning to stare, so with utmost confidence in my newly aquired abilities, I decided to leave the warm nest of the rental car parking lot like a baby bird and make my way in the cruel world.<br /><br />Not one minute after leaving the parking lot towards the highway I needed, I noticed that I had a police escort (they had probably seen me practicing in the parking lot and were making sure I wasn't drunk, or Scottish). Through the first roundabout (thank god I didn't have to yield), they must have decided that I wasn't going to kill anyone and went off on their way.<br /><br />Driving on the open highways towards Baja Sardegna where I was staying was great, I really enjoyed the manual transmission feel of the road. My Garmin maps were a bit miscalibrated though, so when I arrived close to my hotel it indicated that I should go down a dirt road. The road kept getting smaller and smaller with brush closing in on the sides of the car. <br /><br />I got out and hiked over the large stony hill for a while and found someone who pointed me in the right direction. So, I backed up the several hundred meters, really starting to understand the car so I thought. <br /><br />At the beach hotel on the mountainous hill, I parked on a large slope. Not fully understanding the inner workings of manual transmission vehicles when starting from a parallel park situation on a slope I was in for some real fun the next day. Let's just say, any accidents that may have occurred left no marks (on my car or anyone else's), again probably because everything was occurring so slowly.<br /><br />The next day a nice day trip to La Madelena (Trinity Beach) was on the itinerary, and a few times I had stalled out while yielding on the roundabouts with impatient people behind me. A few angry looks and honks at me were the worst things I had to deal with luckily. For the most part, in this difficult mountainous terrain I had conquered something which I was always nervous to try. I can drive manual. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSRiti2sovUmRd3ZUr7rUAGsjmSRe8_G5RqeN0qewoujnW2rHBmGNEev_XrIcGa8OVjp19-hQTV8_aDG6DpTjLY0FqzdhoCmqa-ESf0lAFScmwE8j54iP66m7tWSoHkDQSZamOMmSObc9/s1600/TrinityBeach_Sardegna.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSRiti2sovUmRd3ZUr7rUAGsjmSRe8_G5RqeN0qewoujnW2rHBmGNEev_XrIcGa8OVjp19-hQTV8_aDG6DpTjLY0FqzdhoCmqa-ESf0lAFScmwE8j54iP66m7tWSoHkDQSZamOMmSObc9/s320/TrinityBeach_Sardegna.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713494552178195138" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />One thing about the Fiat rent car though, it was equiped with a bizarre feature. Coming back from the beach to a parking lot in Palau, I started up and noticed that the steering was super difficult and was worried that I had a car problem. <br /><br />The municipal police came out of nowhere (must have been watching an obvious stranger) and offered to call the car rental place for me, but then one of the officers thought about it and pushed a button on the dashboard that turned back on the steering. HUH??!!? There was a button that TURNS OFF YOUR POWER STEERING on this car? Why stop there, why not have a button that maybe jettisons all of your fuel, or makes the wheels fall off? I thanked the officers in what I was sure at the time was perfect Italian, and made my way back to Baja Sardegna in the dark.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-3434070589207726982012-01-16T19:17:00.015-06:002012-01-16T19:44:04.407-06:00A Good Head for Mosaics (Testa Robusta per Mosaico)Hmmm, I can really think of no finer way to welcome you guys back after an excessively long blogging hiatus than to bore you all with a tale of woe and accompanying vacation photos. I've been super busy with my real job, artworks, and my <a href="http://www.oldmosaics.com">oldmosaics.com </a>(I'm trying my hand writing phone apps believe it or not). Don't laugh if you look at my website yet, it's very much a work in progress. Now here's your popcorn, and the story begins...<br /><br /><br />In September while boarding the train from FCO airport in Rome to the center of the city after a long flight from Dallas, I noticed that the overhead luggage rack for my suitcase was missing several crossbar supports, creating a large hole. Because there were not many places left in the car, I carefully wedged my suitcase up on the edge rails and the few bars that were actually there. Sitting down directly underneath the hole area (so no one else might accidently get struck with a falling suitcase), I resolved to keep an eye on it and be ready with quick hands to grab if it were to fall.<br /><br />Unfortunately for me, a nice lady and her mid-twenties attractive daughter sat down next to me and we all struck up a conversation. Gravity took its course, and that coupled with my lack of baggage-related attention resulted in a surprise crushing blow to the forehead. At the time, I was thinking 'That's odd, my whole head moved back because of this crushing blow.' I still smile when I think of hearing all the normally reserved Italians in the train car simultaneously gasp at the horrific site. I laughed it off but I was worried about the possibilities of concussion because people in the street on the way to my hotel were saying things like 'cattivo bruschi' and such. <br /><br />So, I resolved to just stay awake after putting my bag away at my hotel and took the train from Pyramide to Ostia Antica (which in all honesty, I was planning to do anyway). I had been to Pompeii and other archaeological sites around Europe, but had never made the time for this super close one even though I'd been to Rome several times.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3lMn7Jax67B5GgxBHm-4xRwk6WtNLtgGi5AeshNJnDR3Qb_DmyXmx2655D9iJF46prFD6f-njDEG6AhI6u4h4cHbByZJ7Jvuki1htmbP0hOBZR3phSisSwQj7Ob5ZZTnp11yZwXGUVl_/s1600/1.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3lMn7Jax67B5GgxBHm-4xRwk6WtNLtgGi5AeshNJnDR3Qb_DmyXmx2655D9iJF46prFD6f-njDEG6AhI6u4h4cHbByZJ7Jvuki1htmbP0hOBZR3phSisSwQj7Ob5ZZTnp11yZwXGUVl_/s320/1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698405887703604754" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />I only had a day to cover so much ground, so I ran. I ran like Forrest Gump that day until there were enormous blisters on my little toes in spite of my comfortable hiking boots.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7R58Up_pOdE_tLcbpSpCpdceJKUdR3qk23qJ6esWmVgj9igAy3WXXSJm0EnoBYWl7a5JThyphenhyphenmp6cUVofccYgYbOWgNoS4bK9GAeJM8BVOSiKYYnYAoXLBAKmgc6BkAx5Axd7BDRxyHUQF6/s1600/2.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7R58Up_pOdE_tLcbpSpCpdceJKUdR3qk23qJ6esWmVgj9igAy3WXXSJm0EnoBYWl7a5JThyphenhyphenmp6cUVofccYgYbOWgNoS4bK9GAeJM8BVOSiKYYnYAoXLBAKmgc6BkAx5Axd7BDRxyHUQF6/s320/2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698405975297735938" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br />Ostia Antica was a treasure hunt maze of in-situ mosaics! The archaeological area covers a few square miles with so many uncovered and partially buried insulae, or city block areas with houses and shops. <br /><br />Mosaics were not just reserved for the numerous public areas like baths and forums (the ancient equivalents of water parks and shopping malls, I guess), but many obscure ones were to be found in various houses scattered across the large archaeological area. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgkMsu426_QWZXNJ61IJ_mpf5_IScCFaogHDi2bOX3BJoz4Xl0_4kXdNsyr51ansy9gIHUsbKIvX_aF14sKYHvLwPBXoz2Lz-4Ni9fTlzHTk_1AUY7jPjkk5a1qwWcxVKChJdOwsxuLdP/s1600/3.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgkMsu426_QWZXNJ61IJ_mpf5_IScCFaogHDi2bOX3BJoz4Xl0_4kXdNsyr51ansy9gIHUsbKIvX_aF14sKYHvLwPBXoz2Lz-4Ni9fTlzHTk_1AUY7jPjkk5a1qwWcxVKChJdOwsxuLdP/s320/3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698406062365748210" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br />Below is an obscure mosaic from a small shop in the western part of the city. I think these look like leather working tools from the time, or maybe just meat tenderizing? It’s fun for me to try to understand what the artists were thinking back then when they placed the tesserae. That’s one of the reasons I like the ancient works so much because you can see the brush strokes in an ancient fresco or the choices about andamento from thousands of years ago and it’s like you are standing there right behind the artist from a different time, understanding how life was or how it was imagined.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAOT1wSQpVvF_VO99eJrlFxjxIjTs87_I4-k2rhI24L0ZhCh7yNJicJxeW1y8SnAyfs-PbfYG79YhnU8rj9oIAUXl8dhUaCRZmM9op8aVVpBX9puH28hQouTheSJJ8xQ34hvfn5v-j9Ye/s1600/4.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAOT1wSQpVvF_VO99eJrlFxjxIjTs87_I4-k2rhI24L0ZhCh7yNJicJxeW1y8SnAyfs-PbfYG79YhnU8rj9oIAUXl8dhUaCRZmM9op8aVVpBX9puH28hQouTheSJJ8xQ34hvfn5v-j9Ye/s320/4.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698406134021165346" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br />I'm happy to report many of the mosaics were geometric in nature. I've been on a geometric mosaic kick lately with my triclinium background and it was great to see through the eyes of long gone artisans. Some of these forms were not covered in the usual mosaic history books.<br />Here’s what I’ve been calling a ‘sparse flower geometric’ from a house in the far north part of the site.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZsSkCGKSiwf60BJpzdKPpmS3JJ2JfilUJ8Y3p09F8piSYTwRLezc-ZU4dmGpb-mCmvsbFznWbFnt6sRFi3ft_yqRjrO_p-J4qnlKhsHvEMVeGXRbqMoEq7Vj5JTxbnLE0s-ngyU8cXsu/s1600/5.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZsSkCGKSiwf60BJpzdKPpmS3JJ2JfilUJ8Y3p09F8piSYTwRLezc-ZU4dmGpb-mCmvsbFznWbFnt6sRFi3ft_yqRjrO_p-J4qnlKhsHvEMVeGXRbqMoEq7Vj5JTxbnLE0s-ngyU8cXsu/s320/5.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698406186749279762" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /> <br />Check out the ‘meander-lozenge combo bordered by other meander and guilloche’ that can be seen near the entrance…<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtROzgfzcbcYSq7kmWTtNRq_R78rWyvW97zaqjF6TOfLJga8OxFQ7iDtz1RSPDLQO1qNtt8RS2FhBI1oBcujs0anxQc1nZRkCmAjK8br-wd__o7X4AwNHfBZsF_-yj51-Qj1F2k5Am7SB7/s1600/6.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtROzgfzcbcYSq7kmWTtNRq_R78rWyvW97zaqjF6TOfLJga8OxFQ7iDtz1RSPDLQO1qNtt8RS2FhBI1oBcujs0anxQc1nZRkCmAjK8br-wd__o7X4AwNHfBZsF_-yj51-Qj1F2k5Am7SB7/s320/6.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698406255590743938" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br /><br />And below is a captivating but simple geometric from a home in the southwestern part of Ostia.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx37jS2g3UCCSfqDXVNqGI4_Qcp8qr_zAbZC9BM_oZy1PNSMKB5yHkEnioCi9Plsi9icMDmF_40alCXgckGXwcAcI9n639dluE78x74SWLTXmR2SOHtkbN1NAsPBP_6P3oC9hvztQLL_t7/s1600/7.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx37jS2g3UCCSfqDXVNqGI4_Qcp8qr_zAbZC9BM_oZy1PNSMKB5yHkEnioCi9Plsi9icMDmF_40alCXgckGXwcAcI9n639dluE78x74SWLTXmR2SOHtkbN1NAsPBP_6P3oC9hvztQLL_t7/s320/7.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698406327499510210" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br />Occasionally, the driven visitor is rewarded with a random sectile work. The pavement below was especially interesting to me because of the ‘reused’ pieces of border carved marble in some of the triangle pieces (easy to see above the numidian yellow square at lower left). <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpdpNAcYiWAgT8TgzzhmuQjo8j9RAYOhnj38bAQrfBJ2ebAVVyqfzsR0K2ojXK-YrsOKLDjy4Oz8fWUpBAg8XO1t5aDyiZUF_TNhRc83MLMiiomzU6h5JJsYGJ5-prK_-oCjhQOxX0XLR/s1600/8.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpdpNAcYiWAgT8TgzzhmuQjo8j9RAYOhnj38bAQrfBJ2ebAVVyqfzsR0K2ojXK-YrsOKLDjy4Oz8fWUpBAg8XO1t5aDyiZUF_TNhRc83MLMiiomzU6h5JJsYGJ5-prK_-oCjhQOxX0XLR/s320/8.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698406406567255874" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br /><br />The owner of this villa within the city must have been keen on the army because of all the shields?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhviBIr1uguLG76Hd5cvbJYjvCnp-q4XUOS0hnNkbG7byin5eQhrRGmh9ZKbOxEygRRlGqAQ1bCvcZ3nojEgPTz1pXvuXLhuMkTqVh6BKJZMYP97cUlN-HX-nr8D31iqAiWLxXEJXcL0ONO/s1600/9.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhviBIr1uguLG76Hd5cvbJYjvCnp-q4XUOS0hnNkbG7byin5eQhrRGmh9ZKbOxEygRRlGqAQ1bCvcZ3nojEgPTz1pXvuXLhuMkTqVh6BKJZMYP97cUlN-HX-nr8D31iqAiWLxXEJXcL0ONO/s320/9.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698406484873017138" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /> <br />Most of the mosaics left within ancient Ostia are monochrome, but even without colored tesserae, there is a world of information locked into these stone relics.<br />Here is the map of the area. The far reaches of Regione III and Regione I have some ‘off the normal path’ semi buried mosaics in hard to reach houses because of the overgrown brush, etc.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDgVVqQSb7GgcV0JUvG6Zzwwe4DdT0vKRGCg8RHZtxAQ-6SsjBaELPKNQD9yn7n8WhlYM8oDWVN4mS5JMG0b9dBBBSUyiU8S3Lnzoi9r5tqeJcvAuqfJJv1RyD3BRXm1TGz8eV8nzZ-0v/s1600/10.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbDgVVqQSb7GgcV0JUvG6Zzwwe4DdT0vKRGCg8RHZtxAQ-6SsjBaELPKNQD9yn7n8WhlYM8oDWVN4mS5JMG0b9dBBBSUyiU8S3Lnzoi9r5tqeJcvAuqfJJv1RyD3BRXm1TGz8eV8nzZ-0v/s320/10.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698406554405319282" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br /><br />Speaking of semi-buried, sometimes the archaeological superintendents will place big mats covered with sand over some of the endangered and more important mosaics to help preserve them. Maybe I could have bribed some of these hard working archaeologists restoring a pavement near the Capitolinum monument to lift off one of the covers? Well, I did put some money in their tip jar.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoYtccIQO1YqCVOI84ELXD2CHoXf8zdp106oeeqaWKeyUEnhIbRqttHl8kMPllUU1BfgBffzmWC_arr6aDv6QdfoxjUYc9AuSuZmhpPblCK2qR0fkgX365fTqO0DIMvV2suXzwJ__S3NR/s1600/11.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoYtccIQO1YqCVOI84ELXD2CHoXf8zdp106oeeqaWKeyUEnhIbRqttHl8kMPllUU1BfgBffzmWC_arr6aDv6QdfoxjUYc9AuSuZmhpPblCK2qR0fkgX365fTqO0DIMvV2suXzwJ__S3NR/s320/11.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698406611274337570" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br /><br />In my opinion, Ostia is an underrated site for mosaics and is a wonderful mirror to the past and being an armchair archaeologist, I’m very glad to have visited.<br />Probably the best source of information if you are interested in visiting Ostia Antica is <a href="http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm">Ostia-antica.org</a>.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-64869548805839740102011-10-11T18:25:00.008-05:002011-10-11T18:51:16.459-05:00Italy 2011 - A Few Photos (Un Po' Foto di Italia)Step right up and guess the name of the famous actress whose visage I've attempted to render in the ancient art of origam... uh I mean, mosaic!<br />Below is the result of my portraiture class with Luciana Notturni in <br />Ravenna, Italy, which is always a great time.<br><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmRglBJdCL3TXRVf_p34zgNIdASLv_a38PNbx-Je-XdH-N3aOJVka6a0A7joVxm6EzZRBL5KpC0gQLQKLyoTQ1XM0X3unv5CEy4kPchR5nQb90APMZFXA7NAExneLPRbz-Nof0Crrv5iG/s1600/2011-10-02-EricsIrenePortraitsml.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxmRglBJdCL3TXRVf_p34zgNIdASLv_a38PNbx-Je-XdH-N3aOJVka6a0A7joVxm6EzZRBL5KpC0gQLQKLyoTQ1XM0X3unv5CEy4kPchR5nQb90APMZFXA7NAExneLPRbz-Nof0Crrv5iG/s320/2011-10-02-EricsIrenePortraitsml.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662380518122516386" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />This time in Venice, I happened to stay during the 'Historical Regatta' right on the Grand Canal. Drinking wine and waving back to the race boats and looking out on all the plebs crowded in to seats at the Rialto market allows one to catch a glimpse from the vantage point of royalty, if only for a moment. Maybe it was more because the Count Francesco di Mosto's place was right next door?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ilzbepjxf8pn-qLCMb7jRIA66CEA_6_BmqeT-CScvPM6SEWS8PClDdssp1rEOUug8Bck379ICuFwQF7PelFKbh87HUZ_qhvf9GgkHTjZdoLMvu7ZolsvsFZpi0ljNv50Fr-eZe7f-_Fc/s1600/veniceregattafrommywindow.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ilzbepjxf8pn-qLCMb7jRIA66CEA_6_BmqeT-CScvPM6SEWS8PClDdssp1rEOUug8Bck379ICuFwQF7PelFKbh87HUZ_qhvf9GgkHTjZdoLMvu7ZolsvsFZpi0ljNv50Fr-eZe7f-_Fc/s320/veniceregattafrommywindow.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662384470341884146" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><br />In addition to the obligatory wine touring, Florence this time involved an awesome cooking school excursion called 'In Tavola' just on the south side of the Arno river. You go into the industrial kitchen with 20 or so people. Working on stainless tops, 5 professional chefs and a blur of cleanup people assist you in prepping a multi course meal. Then they throw it it the oven while you go down to the wine cellar and have some liquid refreshments. Then BAM, you're served! That is, food is served, not like someone showed you how to do something that you are bad at, or a lawsuit or something.<br /><br />In Rome this time, I stayed in a great apartment (Palazzo Velabro) immediately adjacent to the world's oldest sewer, the Cloaca Maxima. It didn't smell bad though even though it was uncovered. The Quadraporte monument and various temples were super close. I probably could have spit watermelon seeds from the apartment into the surprised mouth of the famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocca_della_Verit%C3%A0">Bocca di Verita</a> because of the proximity. But, who would do that really? Watermelon tastes terrible.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAvcIQTwHP3-JF4V1fjYwJPKv2aKx97uIg408_pj7jzOZt24EHxCMfVyC0ouRB6NqNJG6XkR0GI-gb83yhG-8w1qsNSNztG-YW0lF6cy2jjtytaLfDPSpbib3yyl9m0bgLyhi1GNFjUy-9/s1600/thesewer.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAvcIQTwHP3-JF4V1fjYwJPKv2aKx97uIg408_pj7jzOZt24EHxCMfVyC0ouRB6NqNJG6XkR0GI-gb83yhG-8w1qsNSNztG-YW0lF6cy2jjtytaLfDPSpbib3yyl9m0bgLyhi1GNFjUy-9/s320/thesewer.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662383550651584946" /></a><br /><br />I'll tell you all about Sardegna later, but let's have some guesses on that mosaic up there.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-9464480200808467582011-09-18T06:18:00.006-05:002011-09-18T06:52:57.938-05:00Meeting A Blogger! (Incontrato i Blogger Fantastico)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJ-R06wF3LEHeA0oVUF9XNS_WQfCYuO70cRgrP-Y0rT9oiPtjFvIuKOdOqE09FwwGJwUBCtTG4Pl7W1KOIQcSnfCY3nIlFGDu7abAmoUGCHMLqfQP6ssbPjljx-llNAhAuc1NwxNV7kke/s1600/interesting_piazza.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJ-R06wF3LEHeA0oVUF9XNS_WQfCYuO70cRgrP-Y0rT9oiPtjFvIuKOdOqE09FwwGJwUBCtTG4Pl7W1KOIQcSnfCY3nIlFGDu7abAmoUGCHMLqfQP6ssbPjljx-llNAhAuc1NwxNV7kke/s320/interesting_piazza.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5653662898031178066" /></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />It was very hot, not 'Dallas hot', but incredibly humid. It was the kind of humid which causes sweat to drip from your nose and wonder which it is that you are breathing, air or water. I had just arrived on the train and was making my way across the Italian town with my 60kg of luggage, sun beating down, trying to keep one eye on my outdated GPS in order to keep my wrong turns to a minimum. <br /><br />Under normal circumstances, this would cause me to run to the nearest air conditioned room and order a cold drink. But, I was very excited that I was on my way to meet a blogger that I've admired for a long time. She has a fantastic eye for design, a respect and deep knowledge of western history, and is a true original in my opinion. You have probably guessed by now that it was <a href="http://mosaicology.blogspot.com">Maggie from 'Mosaicology'</a> who I was going to visit.<br /><br />It probably sounds strange, but I had never met an actual blogger until then, so I was a bit nervous.<br /><br />Luckily, I arrived early in front of the church agreed upon. Even more luckily, the bar in front of the church had outdoor seating and would sell cold water and wine to me. They never give enough wine in the church. :) <br /><br />The bells struck the time and there was only one lady with family members meeting the description out there. She was looking around as if waiting for someone, but no, it was not her.<br /><br />A while after the last echo of the bells were gone, I was relieved to see them appear. I waved them over to the outdoor bar. In a short moment we were all sitting there as old friends, discussing art and design, history, politics, and everything and nothing. They are such precious people to me, and we had only just met in person!<br /><br />Time flew by as we talked and then sadly it was time for me to catch my next train to the Venice area. But, we have plans to draw up jewelry pieces using rare stones, and I can't wait. <br /><br />I just returned home a few hours ago after so long on the airplanes, so now I will sleep for a few days...<br /><br />p.s. - A., grazie per l'auto alla stazione!Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-54856676488221408702011-08-24T19:21:00.007-05:002011-08-24T19:49:09.372-05:00Squirrel spirits and the Past (Storia con Scoiattoli)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrmeOb6pbwav0f0h20IGDo9bLNTa0OS8bvJ3l_ydriOkuRJ1n4JsBZQrxwkehO3faF7IhqTydf8CztKdVAjwlTulTVw_Vf6K3Di5-9hJrrcBIra_trYOLzptiQCSrc1278xtt-ge0c8Qk/s1600/indians-061a.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnrmeOb6pbwav0f0h20IGDo9bLNTa0OS8bvJ3l_ydriOkuRJ1n4JsBZQrxwkehO3faF7IhqTydf8CztKdVAjwlTulTVw_Vf6K3Di5-9hJrrcBIra_trYOLzptiQCSrc1278xtt-ge0c8Qk/s320/indians-061a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644587019720723714" /></a>
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<br />All of you, gather around the evening fire, and hear the story of 'Pale Face Walks With Stones'. It was a summer ugonawa, oh, I should say 'hot'. It was after many days until the ground cracked and the grass died. The mighty rivers turned dry and the swimming pool was down a good two inches a day.
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<br />Well 'Walks with Stones' was outside cleaning up stone pieces of many colors, colors like maize in the harvest, when he looked up and saw annoying squirrel spirit. Squirrel was climbing on the house and then on the fence, and had just previously caused much anger in 'Walks with Stones'. So, he leans down to grab a small stone from a pile of dirt recently displaced from planting a mighty tree. 'Walks with Stones' had the intention of scaring Squirrel Spirit off the damned fence and onto the open front yard plain stretching for blocks as far as the eye could see.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDW8B1zZ9cFXlrlQ705hfv0jP_McQH8F7dPKWj7nchG2IujmscsA1f7dMKiJMKwqSxwmljn4kKAFQWO4-DbLOLDSJDB38td2d03r-sEY8qx9JliCIt2BBqIhCOYnWmxdqMKD3yhvy5c8p/s1600/squirrel.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 269px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihDW8B1zZ9cFXlrlQ705hfv0jP_McQH8F7dPKWj7nchG2IujmscsA1f7dMKiJMKwqSxwmljn4kKAFQWO4-DbLOLDSJDB38td2d03r-sEY8qx9JliCIt2BBqIhCOYnWmxdqMKD3yhvy5c8p/s320/squirrel.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644586148468786754" /></a>
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<br />But he paused before casting the stone at Squirel Spirit. He thought it would be a pity to cast this weird randomly picked up stone at the squirrel. A pity mostly because it had strange markings, and wasn't an actual stone at all. It turns out that 'Walks with Stones' had inadvertently picked up a piece of prehistoric pottery with very linear brush marks, and an inner core more red and ceramic-ish than the outer encrusted face and back.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3nxcife7ulKovsfTntTQsJJJPqXLjYzBxdtIKbbWic30vB0U8qCbgvSO52HHFDWxL0jIO4SxOY4DzBftCmiUBoFgq3vN-t2I6doHVYp7Y9RrtFJxNqFhj7D9WGEZ6kCw8TM6O1w_tFAF/s1600/back+and+inside.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF3nxcife7ulKovsfTntTQsJJJPqXLjYzBxdtIKbbWic30vB0U8qCbgvSO52HHFDWxL0jIO4SxOY4DzBftCmiUBoFgq3vN-t2I6doHVYp7Y9RrtFJxNqFhj7D9WGEZ6kCw8TM6O1w_tFAF/s320/back+and+inside.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644584515077504978" /></a>
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-csxkL4j5jrH7_dCbXN45coJjuPmb0F5zb-FzU47eFYchZK9yRUaRvmQRqvW3jj5OZsmAmRhvUdEzjIBBCdloXrTi_6YjLm-zTvOKBuvVLDREkYhXZBPKb-CZXbEMVTXaPgMeQxGJYK_/s1600/front-brushed.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-csxkL4j5jrH7_dCbXN45coJjuPmb0F5zb-FzU47eFYchZK9yRUaRvmQRqvW3jj5OZsmAmRhvUdEzjIBBCdloXrTi_6YjLm-zTvOKBuvVLDREkYhXZBPKb-CZXbEMVTXaPgMeQxGJYK_/s320/front-brushed.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644584435199264642" /></a>
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<br />Shaking a fist at Squirrel Spirit, he excitedly looked up the archaeology department at the big university on his talking box from Motorola. Then as the call was dialed 'Walks with Stones' looks to the mighty west tree and sees the evil crow spirit (about 100 of them) looking at him. Then he utters a word and they all take flight as the 'dial' button is pressed. 'Walks with Stones' is creeped right the hell out, mostly because in the years living in the Dallas area, he has not had this vision except once before.
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6UTV00UhgzjRrFZ40XRx3tRxrniLfyJhJ-jHVNBdlJQ7N-PEAwhIqNDtnStx-R7hecj-WzpYTjAv1-E2_sqcM-ia8MpOe6YVpc88xxyk2hOphS7aNu9K1EixVmdqLk6TMu65ACCPR6sn/s1600/crows.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6UTV00UhgzjRrFZ40XRx3tRxrniLfyJhJ-jHVNBdlJQ7N-PEAwhIqNDtnStx-R7hecj-WzpYTjAv1-E2_sqcM-ia8MpOe6YVpc88xxyk2hOphS7aNu9K1EixVmdqLk6TMu65ACCPR6sn/s320/crows.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644586055501700690" /></a>
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<br />Anyhow, I'm sure there will be an update when the scientists at the University of Texas Archaeology field office come back with details.
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<br />Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-23216932999723395462011-07-12T23:26:00.010-05:002011-07-12T23:56:02.499-05:00The News (Notizie)Hello Blogchums!<br /><br />What's been going on, you might ask? I reckon a few things, work is always a factor, but there are many moving parts to this 'macchina' called life. <br /><br />My brother drilled his first oil well, bravo. Production is a little light at around 20 barrels per day, but well done regardless! He's diving that big reef off of Australia at the moment and has plans for many more in the near future.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEQ4FkgZoqOao6bLGy2P3IbP6py8Oh6u5O5z26hJDHQo7SW8y7ym43a2JO5mExBXRQlzs3XvIgDnMcqB2JCIknU2meJp74LgkOHTo1IC5YARu7wnYPNkJkT36-Fg5AUmsBh6BQiv-cF6U/s1600/IMG_6202.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGEQ4FkgZoqOao6bLGy2P3IbP6py8Oh6u5O5z26hJDHQo7SW8y7ym43a2JO5mExBXRQlzs3XvIgDnMcqB2JCIknU2meJp74LgkOHTo1IC5YARu7wnYPNkJkT36-Fg5AUmsBh6BQiv-cF6U/s320/IMG_6202.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628693437817759042" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br /><br><br><br><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />My sister *still* hasn't found a job (she's 27 and lives with my mother). But, she makes good vegetarian food and smokes cigarettes more adeptly than most people I know.<br /><br />As for me, I've been keeping up with my regimen of liking cookies, sculpture, mosaics, macro economics, archaeometry, reading your blogs, encryption, and ancient history. Note my use of the Oxford comma, which is a lifestyle choice much like the proper way of putting the toilet paper in which the end rests over the roll instead of under, the latter probably being the exclusive purview of of dog thieves, insurance salesmen, and Nazis.<br /><br />This autumn, I'm heading to Italy to take another advanced mosaic class in Ravenna. This is brought on mostly by my desire to make the mosaic centerpiece I have planned outside appear better than stick figures. My enormous white marble deck is progressing slowly because of my other work, but I'd like to think it will be finished some day.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qrOaVGcsURZNgid7xWbRKCm9Ov52W7zddtg-Mo1PzdhjSKAWvnZfXc3cU0kzgbeY78BDJU8DCuY-xaG27AZiYNRPCxeP3loaYcCJoCl5_EVQC8aLqocYbkzoI5LiDxN4_SQKiCNvnlXm/s1600/2011-06-15_07-43-44_841.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_qrOaVGcsURZNgid7xWbRKCm9Ov52W7zddtg-Mo1PzdhjSKAWvnZfXc3cU0kzgbeY78BDJU8DCuY-xaG27AZiYNRPCxeP3loaYcCJoCl5_EVQC8aLqocYbkzoI5LiDxN4_SQKiCNvnlXm/s320/2011-06-15_07-43-44_841.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628693686914316754" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Also on the to-do list while in Italy is to visit the ancient island of Sardinia. I hope that they have the kind in olive oil and not just mustard or something gross like that. Kidding, everyone knows sardines are exclusively from Norway which is what you purchase in excessive quantity when you go there...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidH_SPRN1XSaQjjsY_FULcvpPfmUqVVtJZ7UMbpJbXIQ-Dv26hMRuFrYRjpr38C3rrKnSX3rAHPkX52pme-enjtmmO78nR-xBeFyRfEvzfmVBpnGr5j7uAMrcNHwnAQuK-qZxd0Xfh8Q2d/s1600/sardinecan.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidH_SPRN1XSaQjjsY_FULcvpPfmUqVVtJZ7UMbpJbXIQ-Dv26hMRuFrYRjpr38C3rrKnSX3rAHPkX52pme-enjtmmO78nR-xBeFyRfEvzfmVBpnGr5j7uAMrcNHwnAQuK-qZxd0Xfh8Q2d/s320/sardinecan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628695033979606770" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Lately, I've purchased some art by people whose technical abilities I admire. Andjelka in Serbia sold me her eye, well, not her real eye. Just an incredibly well rendered example of how mosaics should be. But now, I am busy fabricating a custom frame for it.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jwDAPKYg83jdXLPFKvAsLOE5RBUrKj-IfeY8N3Xagb9ymgzBxeOm2S4W_nHx9qY6zobmjOpQ5xEFNk_XzuXPEXpHBKX8FUwyqqHHDdZNXyqyqSGdRqkKxRNddXC7ps2LzAI0cpRZl0o2/s1600/2011-07-06_12-12-08_91.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jwDAPKYg83jdXLPFKvAsLOE5RBUrKj-IfeY8N3Xagb9ymgzBxeOm2S4W_nHx9qY6zobmjOpQ5xEFNk_XzuXPEXpHBKX8FUwyqqHHDdZNXyqyqSGdRqkKxRNddXC7ps2LzAI0cpRZl0o2/s320/2011-07-06_12-12-08_91.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628693780234887442" /></a><br /><br />I hope that you all are having a great summer so far!Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-72336426239168922902011-05-16T22:30:00.004-05:002011-05-16T22:40:34.421-05:00Keys (Tasti vecchio)In media and life, I've seen a coincidental confluence in the past few months of keys, both the physical kind that you might open a lock with and more abstract kinds. My brother misplaced his car keys, I generated an encryption keyset for a business client, then took a quick try at decrypting a note (published by the FBI) that was found in a dead guy's pocket (I was not successful, hah). The acting mayor of Dallas got into trouble for giving Michael Vick the 'key to the city' which I cartoonishly imagine as an enormous gilded key with a big 'D' on the end. But, I've never seen it and really think it's probably just a disappointing piece of paper with 'Key advice' on it. I guess there hasn't been anything in the news about Panama or the canal (also having locks). What kind of locks am I forgetting?<br /><br />To take us in what I'm sure is a completely unexpected direction... the Romans made physical keys out of bronze and improved the Egyptian designs by replacing wooden components with metals. Of course, I guess if the Romans made keys out of cotton candy, there wouldn't be much evidence of it now... Keys and locks made in the shops back then were pretty much unique works of art as they didn't have ANSI standards back then.<br /><br />Here is a photo I took in Arles, France a few years back of keys found in that area.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe9aYNH_KQGJDhNCAaJGe6qNJV8ZKg3a90i3N6cKOevtQ1T4eR1vHdT4blb1M-7bIaBAOHaJ741XdcM7I-aczsYPygcww8fZRAURxP6_dBDhNaFxoc1e5dgmdRUjy0YEZIxKdaoU3gAoF/s1600/romankeys_arles.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe9aYNH_KQGJDhNCAaJGe6qNJV8ZKg3a90i3N6cKOevtQ1T4eR1vHdT4blb1M-7bIaBAOHaJ741XdcM7I-aczsYPygcww8fZRAURxP6_dBDhNaFxoc1e5dgmdRUjy0YEZIxKdaoU3gAoF/s320/romankeys_arles.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607523555051668066" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Also, from Aqueilia Italy, a relief sculpture of a Roman locksmith's grave showing him at work.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqaRcY82r9vmoCFkAqGdUtsGK-tfJ6tU15UIOSEiqYAQa5xpv2-M8Ua2VoVikKBu3R7brTeHqF-hTu2qNcauO311qWiGEaNCyKVGh3VxxjDTCJeclrzVSHbL5lEvDaykHTSCwXqGiHGx5/s1600/aquelia_locksmith.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQqaRcY82r9vmoCFkAqGdUtsGK-tfJ6tU15UIOSEiqYAQa5xpv2-M8Ua2VoVikKBu3R7brTeHqF-hTu2qNcauO311qWiGEaNCyKVGh3VxxjDTCJeclrzVSHbL5lEvDaykHTSCwXqGiHGx5/s320/aquelia_locksmith.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607523068488946018" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />The ancients also had the abstract notion of logical keys (and encryption). The historian Suetonius wrote of an ancient shift cypher that Julius Caeser used to encrypt messages. The idea was just to replace an alphabetic letter with another letter farther down the alphabetical sequence. Thousands of years ago, it was good enough to guard important state secrets. Now comically, the acronym for the encryption is 'ROT-n', (rotten, as in 'not good' hehe). <br /><br />Anyway, puns aside, the best encryption schemes I've seen involve combinations of modulus functions (remainders) which accomplishes compression and encryption at the same time, but for prearranged lengths of data in the overall stream to be encrypted. <br /> <br />If I needed to encrypt something, I'd be too paranoid to use RSABase because it's prime number based, and I think NSA has skeleton key for that (decrypts all).<br />It's probably best to do your own cryptography from scratch and only share it with those you want to receive your message.<br /><br />For good reading on keys and locks in ancient times, check out <a href="http://romanlocks.com">romanlocks.com</a>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-71394197693523703392011-05-02T07:29:00.004-05:002011-05-02T07:35:51.136-05:00A Moment of Silence (Un Momento di Silenzio)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdLolPM89inb6i-CQy7qmxA_pT953f6zh0zOe3dgSrL_UyofMHh6urJiaTuwseJMyYBauT-18LwVDJ5do8jVU2Q4BPPyDG0jmJt8oe9zpHZfiC_s_PE3xRa_IkcAdMyUmG5BOKgUUgefuj/s1600/ubltarget.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdLolPM89inb6i-CQy7qmxA_pT953f6zh0zOe3dgSrL_UyofMHh6urJiaTuwseJMyYBauT-18LwVDJ5do8jVU2Q4BPPyDG0jmJt8oe9zpHZfiC_s_PE3xRa_IkcAdMyUmG5BOKgUUgefuj/s320/ubltarget.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602095074958567906" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />We should all pause for a moment's silence. <br /><br />Silence in memory of 'Sportsman's Guide, Incorporated' based in St. Paul Minnesota, publisher and purveyor of shooting targets. Decreased revenues from their best selling products will surely cause the bankruptcy of the company.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-24920685419800900052011-04-18T08:13:00.004-05:002011-04-18T08:22:00.420-05:00Sometimes, Insects Decide (Decidere di Insetti)This past Friday, I had received a shipment of an extraordinarily expensive and rare stone from Rome to use in an art project. It was the legendary 'imperial porphyry' from ancient Egypt. Until locating this sample I was considering using a substitute stone from Trentino Italy, but that one was less brilliant red / purple and the white specks (phenocrysts) were less perfectly white. Since all of my other 'ingredients' were the authentic originals, using the lesser stone seemed like a compromise that shouldn't be made.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqZKW5iEvVUv77aZqXkIW1o-ZnQfJ1s4bfowZDJ8LVNWRI5fguikv9ixjnHjRL4HGvVXfEwZZVp9U0XLbXYAWp7LXox8uf11oTzAyZZq07TMBNtxt00tGrW2qOHL_XsfZVJe8M9W1UUmp/s1600/floor.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRqZKW5iEvVUv77aZqXkIW1o-ZnQfJ1s4bfowZDJ8LVNWRI5fguikv9ixjnHjRL4HGvVXfEwZZVp9U0XLbXYAWp7LXox8uf11oTzAyZZq07TMBNtxt00tGrW2qOHL_XsfZVJe8M9W1UUmp/s320/floor.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596911606344869474" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />In order to make the work look authentic as the 1700 year old original pictured above, I tried to talk myself into breaking the center circle and putting it back together again. But, I kept thinking about the rarity of the stone and how I would be smashing (temporarily) something that costs so much. It was like when you are about to jump off a high-dive platform for the first time and the voice in your head is talking you out of it.<br /><br />Yesterday afternoon, I carefully drew off the perfect 7" (17cm) circle, I set up my diamond saw outside with a 0.25mm (tiny) blade to avoid material loss of such a precious material. I worked intently, keeping my fingers out of harm's way (the blade is tiny and somewhat flexible since it is so thin). <br /><br />The wind in Texas has gusted very strongly for the past few days. But despite the wind, about midway through one of the cuts to shape the expensive stone, a yellow jacket wasp bumped up against my leg. I tried to shoo it away with my foot, but it was not having any of that. It kept aggressively buzzing around. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ec8SbnZeNu6qj84bYnfKKnbZkQWRjwwUHFtcnBDFqUWOYKrxdbMgnpt0_R9Jt6fZOtsYCzDhNwlomqOZwGWa5DuR_WTCIRZziiPWZOTp6aY1iVxR1VwRk6hFwUt3QHXprw3loYBaEyCN/s1600/theyellowjacketreg.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ec8SbnZeNu6qj84bYnfKKnbZkQWRjwwUHFtcnBDFqUWOYKrxdbMgnpt0_R9Jt6fZOtsYCzDhNwlomqOZwGWa5DuR_WTCIRZziiPWZOTp6aY1iVxR1VwRk6hFwUt3QHXprw3loYBaEyCN/s320/theyellowjacketreg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596912181011929986" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />It flew at my face on a final attack dive bombing run, and I had to concentrate on not losing fingers while this happened. Jumping back, but with hands away from the blade, the stone flew off the saw table and landed on the cement where it broke into three pieces. Satisfied with the mayhem it had created, the wasp flew off happily.<br /><br />I pieced back together the rare stone pieces and finished shaping the perfect center circle. Sometimes, things work out just fine, don't you know?Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-318303167449202852011-04-06T10:18:00.005-05:002011-04-06T10:27:12.874-05:00Ouch (Mia Cicatrice Non Guariscono Per Sempre)Recently I was chipping dried mortar off the back of a small mosaic piece so I could reset it somewhere else. The chipping off was going great with a sharp new hammer (recently purchased from the Tabularasa company in Italy).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmddjYL5v9Xa6CA3i19MLsqUKznoPVvpFjRNWEETlst0kDKavcQlJCotxo0XPdoktKQmww13p_IuhHp3sLtaXeL_L9_WgupPe5NjeE2VOFDKIGn7h66e6y2UZ15PZ41glz4DwpuxxBbhyphenhyphenO/s1600/mythumb.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmddjYL5v9Xa6CA3i19MLsqUKznoPVvpFjRNWEETlst0kDKavcQlJCotxo0XPdoktKQmww13p_IuhHp3sLtaXeL_L9_WgupPe5NjeE2VOFDKIGn7h66e6y2UZ15PZ41glz4DwpuxxBbhyphenhyphenO/s320/mythumb.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592491004277405858" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />As I held the piece in my left hand, I struck for about the fifth time, but forgot to take into account that the mortar had a 'rubberized' additive in it. So, it was more of a glancing blow off the piece which allowed the sharp pointy carbide end of the hammer to nestle deeply in my left thumb.<br /><br />Oh, the words I said when this happened... as much because of my stupid carelessness as for the actual pain. I can take quite a bit of pain, but this was absolutely 'stub 15 toes at one time' excruciating. <br /><br />After wrapping it in a cold paper towel and applying pressure, the blood finally stopped. Without stiches, I now have a scar that still hurts a bit when I apply pressure in a wrong direction.<br /><br />Scars can be a good metaphor for what happens in life sometimes. It made me think of a girl I knew when I was in my second year of high school, Lauren. We had been going out for about 4 months which was forever for a high school kid. She was beautiful with long black hair and bright green eyes, and possibly one of the smartest and nicest girls I knew. Summer nights at the waterpark, autumn mornings at band camp (no jokes), with so many common interests it was all perfect.<br /><br />One November afternoon sitting around the dining table with sunlight streaming in the window, my father told us all that we'd be moving from Dallas to the middle of nowhere (west of Ft. Worth) to help my grandfather drill oil wells. Being a quick lad, I immediately calculated the impact of this catacalysmic event to my situation with Lauren with the lightning like efficiency of at least 100 Commodore 64 computers.<br /><br />The days which followed were filled with a wistfulness that is hard to describe. As a final gesture, I bought her a jewelry piece the likes of which my 16 year old's allowance savings could just barely manage. It was 20F outside and ice and snow everywhere, but I walked it over to her house located about three miles away as a last Christmas present. All of my extremities were numb, even my soul. I understand why she was sad, but I was surprised to see her mom cry about it.<br />To this day, that scar still hurts if I move it the wrong way.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-46874146811269426502011-03-29T12:47:00.008-05:002011-03-29T13:04:08.896-05:00Hooked on Sardonyx (Affeto Sardonice)It's a cloudy dreary chilly day in Dallas, which is fine because it all goes well with my mood today. Downtown, the streets are filled with people on their way to lunch. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnpXu9_jVx5QXYZZpNhh3BTdZz3UoAQeJgKa1owa_c3VTxvOrlFNob6R8vLAtIexn3SlkgfHZIwHklvNfzJ3eWXROxgvexJiEj0y_poBQAja8ObhhfH5MzbWTJ2F85UFXAZpNc0v1gAcQ/s1600/2011-03-29_11-21-47_242.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipnpXu9_jVx5QXYZZpNhh3BTdZz3UoAQeJgKa1owa_c3VTxvOrlFNob6R8vLAtIexn3SlkgfHZIwHklvNfzJ3eWXROxgvexJiEj0y_poBQAja8ObhhfH5MzbWTJ2F85UFXAZpNc0v1gAcQ/s320/2011-03-29_11-21-47_242.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589562408062054530" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />I've just ducked into one of my favorite places called Porta di Roma, a Chinese takeout place. Just kidding, it's Italian food. The name means 'gateway to Rome', but no matter how many doors I open here I can't see Piazza Navona through any of them.<br /><br />The food is really authentic and the view is great because it's directly across from Neiman Marcus, the famous high end retailer. People watching is at its best in Dallas here. You can see millionaires pull up in chauffeured stretch cars, or maybe a homeless guy wearing a baseball cap with wings slowly pushing a shopping cart with watermelons dressed like Cabbage Patch Kids (tm). <br /><br />As for myself, I need to stop back into Neiman Marcus today because:<br />a) my personal shopper there has rent due soon and keeps tweeting me<br />b) they finally have their secret cookie recipe for sale as in the urban legend, or<br />c) I want to see if the sardonyx bowls that were full price last year on sale now<br /><br />As is the case when taking tests, 'C' statistically is the right answer. <br /><br />Sardonyx is a type of onyx / calcite with just the right red / brown colorations that nice sconces and lighting fixtures try to copy with patinated glass. But, this is the real mineral deal that was used for thousands of years and usually worth more than gold.<br /><br />In Venice, in the treasury of the San Marco cathedral, they have wonderful sardonyx treasure cups taken back in the fourth crusade like this one with the lower section in the rare stone.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNQj-p1C0NrT97N1jpDj6_Cnw6Bn5ZaiwoDYvgadQRWgGaHXSGDG_kej8HVnBco1YDyvAnqp_w6CIiQ8a6xNFofY4k9bMhKmgavVkR4FYeBJtfI-9u1EPue_MFO1nduXPxOlHJnguK5uc/s1600/230930.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 234px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVNQj-p1C0NrT97N1jpDj6_Cnw6Bn5ZaiwoDYvgadQRWgGaHXSGDG_kej8HVnBco1YDyvAnqp_w6CIiQ8a6xNFofY4k9bMhKmgavVkR4FYeBJtfI-9u1EPue_MFO1nduXPxOlHJnguK5uc/s320/230930.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589560552975085202" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Going back further, first century Romans created great works with it as the cup of the Ptolemies and 'Great Cameo of France' below.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdgYcvyTIvH39BMR3ofYVk6J6ErInxTW31jBITPEN5eFtl-H1Kl33wfWSpRkxvNhGniuVDZsVYpeczG3QCssRZQTuKLWM12WtngD2y8brSPrsg6iv1T1DxaKhUptZVdE3hq_jpCnJpQOx/s1600/Coupe_des_Ptolomeys.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 220px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLdgYcvyTIvH39BMR3ofYVk6J6ErInxTW31jBITPEN5eFtl-H1Kl33wfWSpRkxvNhGniuVDZsVYpeczG3QCssRZQTuKLWM12WtngD2y8brSPrsg6iv1T1DxaKhUptZVdE3hq_jpCnJpQOx/s320/Coupe_des_Ptolomeys.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589560865813255730" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtSB7FtHZ5WvhYeWbm9Isa3LSClBbsFMlD9LIO-TBBdYCUdf1aHU4ZdrMhy_qAAfxIaYFNxEQIlqRFVC2T81qarvVYgll_Xo1OUGmqPnyScx3J4dApVCpEcBo34qA9lUtEhWm0j31jzhG0/s1600/Great_Cameo_of_France.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 296px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtSB7FtHZ5WvhYeWbm9Isa3LSClBbsFMlD9LIO-TBBdYCUdf1aHU4ZdrMhy_qAAfxIaYFNxEQIlqRFVC2T81qarvVYgll_Xo1OUGmqPnyScx3J4dApVCpEcBo34qA9lUtEhWm0j31jzhG0/s320/Great_Cameo_of_France.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589560987279051106" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />I'm kind of a sculpture guy first, so you can understand my appreciation for a material that is so workable like this from a carving standpoint, and also has such beautiful color and translucency.<br /><br />Some nice sardonyx sconces are called for in my media room. It's probably not a good idea though to just hang the Neiman Marcus bowls on the wall with duct tape and bailing wire? I think they were $11,000 last year.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-81916589949000791502011-03-20T21:06:00.004-05:002011-03-20T21:23:16.011-05:00Mongorians (i Mongoli, fanno carne buona!)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bv0azvwW96ethKvzJ1Rp8NGAjY4yXi-W7jlmCn0xNLOBNml3J1S6ebysJEyisgg8waLHUWCjkxNAgaUWjY_W71UPNvr3F2UQ14S8KqGoUBGA5YHvgY0SXegfw53pVfQq7JxAOmWm7L-r/s1600/mongorians.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6bv0azvwW96ethKvzJ1Rp8NGAjY4yXi-W7jlmCn0xNLOBNml3J1S6ebysJEyisgg8waLHUWCjkxNAgaUWjY_W71UPNvr3F2UQ14S8KqGoUBGA5YHvgY0SXegfw53pVfQq7JxAOmWm7L-r/s320/mongorians.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586350162145801122" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Well, well, well my blogchum lovelies, it's been a busy week and a half-ish, but we meet again. I've chopped more mosaic marble pieces than I'm comfortable to admit. Also, I'm working on some top secret art projects that only a dear few know the details of, but in the meanwhile... <br /><br />Let's talk about some Changs... On <a href="http://awomaninsearchof.blogspot.com">OWO's blog</a>, I think I commented about a Mongorian Beef recipe that was pretty good, so maybe it is high time that it was shared amongst the blogosphere with its rich Mongolian goodness, oops Mongorian goodness. You can make this in the privacy of your place without having to see what's on the giant horses' end at the restaurant.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJHWMo_My5HsEEn_GgjFYoEJK2EW-ntbn_muVmpg0fS3KZOU_zTFTk21F7QYyDNZuyrwaySncA4oXdlGRUeNV87Vnu_41Z2iEiUZLg_WvIeZwGK5l66NJJyzygp0Gzu3NB0u8L44r7RAe/s1600/mongorianbeef.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJHWMo_My5HsEEn_GgjFYoEJK2EW-ntbn_muVmpg0fS3KZOU_zTFTk21F7QYyDNZuyrwaySncA4oXdlGRUeNV87Vnu_41Z2iEiUZLg_WvIeZwGK5l66NJJyzygp0Gzu3NB0u8L44r7RAe/s320/mongorianbeef.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586350041828348322" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />The Ingredients (stuff to put into said recipe)<br /><br />The 'sauce'<br />2 tsp veg oil<br />2 tsp minced ginger<br />1.5 tbsp minced garlic <br />1/3 cup dark soy sauce <br />2/3 cup water<br />1/2 cup brown sugar<br />1/2 tsp cayenne pepper<br /><br />The 'meat'<br />1/4 cup oil<br />1.5 lb flank steak<br />1/3 cup cornstarch<br />large green onions<br /><br /><br />First make sauce by heating the veg oil in pan on medium. Add ginger / garlic and do a miniature stir fry for a few minutes, it makes you feel like a giant. 'HA HA HA, I'M A GIANT MAKING A NORMAL SIZED STIR FRY.' <br />Then, add the soy sauce and water mix (1 cup total) into the fray that is the wee stir fry. <br />Next, melt the brown sugar in as if it were the wicked witch of the west.<br />Boil it all for about 3 minutes until slightly thicker, then cut off the heat and pour the sauce off somewhere (like in a bowl or something). <br /><br />Ok, now get out the steak and slice it all into quarter inch strips with a really wicked sharp knife against the grain of the meat and at a 45 degree angle to the plate (so there is more surface area of the beef).<br />Put the cornstarch over the beef and work it in as if you were Danny DeVito luckily getting to give a massage to Holly Hunter (it's totally extra credit if you get that reference). Let the meat with cornstarch on it sit for 10 minutes while the 'meat oil' heats up if you know what I mean (because oil was put in the pan and you turned the burner on).<br /><br />When hot, throw the meat on and brown it a bit, then add the sauce (remember that bowl you saved), let that boil for a few minutes, and finally add the green onions. <br />Stir it around in the hot wetness until the onions go wilty (the metaphor is almost poetic in its simplicity).<br /><br />Anyway, I hope this will be helpful until the next post in which I will put up something art and or neoclassically related in some form.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-715446610408080022011-03-08T06:29:00.009-06:002011-03-08T06:50:06.152-06:00Deja VuSo I have to ask, have you read this blog post before?<br /><br />Some years ago, I'd read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences/dp/0809058405">a book called 'Innumeracy'</a> by a fellow named Paulos. In it, he pointed out how most people don't have a good scale for measuring the probabilities of an incredibly vast number of possible events.<br /><br />We tend to remember the one match of millions of things that we might have thought of subconciously. At that moment, we might have a strong sense of deja vu or enthusiastically inform people 'Yes, I dreamed this would happen!' So much input gets processed by our brains without really noticing what all is going in.<br /><br />Still, it's hard to shake the notion that sometimes the premonitions (for lack of a better word) are a bit too accurate. It can be frightning at times. I'm sure that many others have these prophesorial visions that seem to come true also, but here are some of mine.<br /><br /><br />1) Mid-day December 23, 2010 - Driving to the mall, I switched the car radio and predicted the Mariah Carey 'All I want for Christmas' song would play. AND IT DID. Is she related to Drew Carey?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik0Efvr_AcDtlpjMvgszZU3D80t5PqdY2lo2L5gA0VRClfFarWPHR0gw9hnEIMm5FuoXp1pe-S3_gVzju313S0M0pTwlQqecXq4PGK_tIquXkgixyXxdJ7fvCgEBJrlOUwLxuDDj3q_Zlt/s1600/mariah_carey.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 238px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik0Efvr_AcDtlpjMvgszZU3D80t5PqdY2lo2L5gA0VRClfFarWPHR0gw9hnEIMm5FuoXp1pe-S3_gVzju313S0M0pTwlQqecXq4PGK_tIquXkgixyXxdJ7fvCgEBJrlOUwLxuDDj3q_Zlt/s320/mariah_carey.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581689100532855506" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />2) Afternoon of January 7, 2011 - I kind of thought the whole Charlie Sheen thing wouldn't work out well.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdUA0MNf5p5Ahz5n4nFSrukrfiVEbvaZErpvWX_LFK1v4azfB4gYDHAVXeZa4dlKMJJAZRRUdNWvseJQHiGlsJynMPKBI9KCNtYNFEYQCS1fWRcthbBtHGreovzuQidYBtHgo8pP6YDwA7/s1600/sheen.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdUA0MNf5p5Ahz5n4nFSrukrfiVEbvaZErpvWX_LFK1v4azfB4gYDHAVXeZa4dlKMJJAZRRUdNWvseJQHiGlsJynMPKBI9KCNtYNFEYQCS1fWRcthbBtHGreovzuQidYBtHgo8pP6YDwA7/s320/sheen.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581688776017914098" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />3) Morning of February 2, 2011 - Visions of Oriental Salad with Macadamia Nut Chicken at Kona grill appeared before me in my sleep. That very day, I found myself inexplicably at lunch eating the very same food! <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BMRQ5Pwiuf9zXOnY9dD5d7bOZW_Yol_PAt_vjdLzg0TrG_AbYnwOjNqfdLT6N_K-IiOdnSuoYmbRxdoh1UGaLjpYS0A1aRPTwB8ALnRiIdvvSpRGsVakdB7o5PhIkI1Col4JpNDclOqt/s1600/orientalsalad.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BMRQ5Pwiuf9zXOnY9dD5d7bOZW_Yol_PAt_vjdLzg0TrG_AbYnwOjNqfdLT6N_K-IiOdnSuoYmbRxdoh1UGaLjpYS0A1aRPTwB8ALnRiIdvvSpRGsVakdB7o5PhIkI1Col4JpNDclOqt/s320/orientalsalad.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581688600537663986" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />4) March 30, 2010 - Dreamed that in my office, I had a very real increased gravity feel, and light became blindingly bright out the window, and I saw a face of the Ahmadinejad guy from Iran. Luckily this one has not come true yet.<br /><br />What premonitions or deja vu incidences have you had? Do any of them repeat?Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-7706555885377641802011-02-21T13:18:00.010-06:002011-02-21T14:04:52.447-06:00SAMA, Now With More Tesserae (Incontro di SAMA)Last week I went to the SAMA conference (mosaic stuff). It turned out better than expected because they had dropped me from workshops which I had registered for months before, so the legendary 'bar of expectation' wasn't set too high. Speaking of bars, that's how my family became so wealthy you know, we invented the bar that people set on the grocery conveyers to separate sales, it's all very lucrative.<br /><br />On Wednesday, I took a class on micro mosaic taught by the famous Antonella Gallenda. The entire result was only about 4cm x 4cm. I like to think of it as the 'microfilm' which Roman spies had used thousands of years ago to smuggle out important state secrets. I've seen good results from some of my friends, but really, it was a major fail for me (partly because I picked an ambitious project, a copy of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michaelangelo, and there was not enough time to finish). <br /><br />On Thursday, a silent auction occurred. This is the one time I like to do my own bidding, especially when I actually win something. I've done some auctions at the DMA in which the sheets get filled up too quickly, and with entirely too many zeros at the ends of the prices. <br /><br />This is the work that I was able to win, 'Texas Souvenir' by Julie Richey. It's going in a bar area on the wall with a museum quality plaque(not just precariously leaned up as it is now).<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNEIGJZSHoGe828v_fNruVfBTX8SP9JzmZrcDRCne9Y6mUjWgAs7ROu90v_9KtGLVEeCWoNTeTlV7JVJ9S2BbNocDMoI39w3A3NkAtzRBDE8sRLVJ90G7fUCkWLMvlmyBXTgCTY1wdRbl7/s1600/img757.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNEIGJZSHoGe828v_fNruVfBTX8SP9JzmZrcDRCne9Y6mUjWgAs7ROu90v_9KtGLVEeCWoNTeTlV7JVJ9S2BbNocDMoI39w3A3NkAtzRBDE8sRLVJ90G7fUCkWLMvlmyBXTgCTY1wdRbl7/s320/img757.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576231429648664274" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />On Friday night, there was a gallery presentation at the Mexican American Cultural Center. It was closed the day before and events were cancelled. They said something about not being able to find enough workers to scrub the floors. But, the floor was absolutely sparkling for the exhibition, so hats off belatedly to MACC.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggzOYxY8Bf3Rn3YcokxpPu29iEbU9S_gDxsvo3-pye9Ib89CcL-2QZjix4ElDgF60mWtyE4EHCZ9NNslDKdChOuI-0jZag-xgPIGxFnwF5YBQ8_eTw0iW5wFRwhmAw9YP6RHyFTeBX9f-7/s1600/img748.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggzOYxY8Bf3Rn3YcokxpPu29iEbU9S_gDxsvo3-pye9Ib89CcL-2QZjix4ElDgF60mWtyE4EHCZ9NNslDKdChOuI-0jZag-xgPIGxFnwF5YBQ8_eTw0iW5wFRwhmAw9YP6RHyFTeBX9f-7/s320/img748.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576230644778403938" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Below, someone is tickling the toes of Carol Shelkin's work. The girl depicted in the mosaic seemed to laugh at this.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi48GZvP7ZESDQJg9k59HiBhdx5HPc-UsSfJiSIdgKnvdGo5YYx0p58Q4Za7GHu4YB9Q6de3qHrC6ehLLAUbv9bqZQYvK4xiAiZ-UHKAW1IexhYh-pNH5Xuaw_gMnrZeafJVd6vepz6F8DP/s1600/img749.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi48GZvP7ZESDQJg9k59HiBhdx5HPc-UsSfJiSIdgKnvdGo5YYx0p58Q4Za7GHu4YB9Q6de3qHrC6ehLLAUbv9bqZQYvK4xiAiZ-UHKAW1IexhYh-pNH5Xuaw_gMnrZeafJVd6vepz6F8DP/s320/img749.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576230831336769010" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Besides good rendering, Carol does a good job with tonal relationships even though the hue choices are far apart. It's one of the things that makes her work interesting to me and I'm sorry that I missed her workshop due to the evil SAMA computers.<br /><br><br />I also saw glass flavored ice cream...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMduRPsLkQRrWo4AYqmMEhwhgc5Nk-OvutWZNu6Rnx0qJ7wc8wW5QW6GCRYlH2-SklKzn1JIpLi6CmgzJCaCkdFnIkb3TW0NsWVZzRfYyQKZDqLi1HJllEOkxxYnWTmlf0D3l3YOxL21n/s1600/img750.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 189px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMduRPsLkQRrWo4AYqmMEhwhgc5Nk-OvutWZNu6Rnx0qJ7wc8wW5QW6GCRYlH2-SklKzn1JIpLi6CmgzJCaCkdFnIkb3TW0NsWVZzRfYyQKZDqLi1HJllEOkxxYnWTmlf0D3l3YOxL21n/s320/img750.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576231172009455778" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Here is Julie Richey's 'La Corrente' behind bulletproof glass. The Declaration of Independence was over to the left of it as I recall.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7kwtOVi0Ns2TOZsN0IHkbiC_A9tUyzoeDta-1NhZVkNw2w79VfS1CuriIdBIjX71_bz22i9DkPo3ppnqg-6wY_O2geOILqnqv7wTinm4y0kYKfymoD_1PI2mCzOEkc3wmsPyLVMKpt2L/s1600/img747.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM7kwtOVi0Ns2TOZsN0IHkbiC_A9tUyzoeDta-1NhZVkNw2w79VfS1CuriIdBIjX71_bz22i9DkPo3ppnqg-6wY_O2geOILqnqv7wTinm4y0kYKfymoD_1PI2mCzOEkc3wmsPyLVMKpt2L/s320/img747.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576230317135935986" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><br />The vendor fair was great, with good selection. I backed my chariot up to the entrance and loaded it all down. I had an opportunity to speak with the lady who formulates a new glass smalti from China, imported by 'Peace, Love and Smalti' in Dallas. Or, was that 'Piece, Love and Smalti'? I'll have to check, but anyway the glass scientist really knew her stuff and it's an exciting product.<br /><br />Disturbed hand drawn general presentation notes of mine will follow...Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-80811330370003761582011-01-26T05:33:00.009-06:002011-01-26T06:03:19.490-06:00Recent Films (Cigni Troppi in Film)Being quite busy at work lately, I haven't had time to see as many films as I usually do. Some friends recently told me about one that sounded really strange called 'Black Swan'. The tedium of a dancing 'chick flick' might be offset by seeing the lovely Natalie Portman running around in tights, but not so fast Hollywood...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAM5i-wybX4zqS6HIYJQtlvWDluvceIy4RFI5uK-FG4uxT2LB08j-iQGrqMlZZsigz09TGcIBnpcL8TojsyGcG7OBLwbQbXTD7XQjsOtX2LNQWqn3ZCbuF0AfEzpiJvNWaGhcDJ6XqBqx/s1600/blackswan.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 179px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAM5i-wybX4zqS6HIYJQtlvWDluvceIy4RFI5uK-FG4uxT2LB08j-iQGrqMlZZsigz09TGcIBnpcL8TojsyGcG7OBLwbQbXTD7XQjsOtX2LNQWqn3ZCbuF0AfEzpiJvNWaGhcDJ6XqBqx/s320/blackswan.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566463481742610146" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><br /><br />I think we all have already seen this film! I distinctly remember Natalie in 'Red Swan'. And wasn't Lea Thompson also in 'Red Swan'? She had the most hilarious line after the invasion when the town was blown up and her character quite emotionally observed 'Things are *different* now!' Lea, if you ever read this, please send me a black and white PR photo signed 'Things are different now!', because that works on so many levels.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxF_kvg6nmmLEGsSjjwWAC-gPM8m8KZNii8MboqjUzrjMJDWW2nF5qE0w8WSozMx7O8mazAca-JvXvKLDdhvBZ-_EFB3vB3bC9aOzu2nCQPUk8LC20YYvSmyeT0TfvJt5F1DSlx9RanFiD/s1600/redswan.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 243px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxF_kvg6nmmLEGsSjjwWAC-gPM8m8KZNii8MboqjUzrjMJDWW2nF5qE0w8WSozMx7O8mazAca-JvXvKLDdhvBZ-_EFB3vB3bC9aOzu2nCQPUk8LC20YYvSmyeT0TfvJt5F1DSlx9RanFiD/s320/redswan.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566458606558249906" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Anyway, back to the task at hand. Natalie also starred in 'Purple Swan'. Does the film industry have no shame? They didn't even cast a different actress!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvKGYzYONQV9SWd-ycP5yF6knK90ZfNGyHsdispUkhmz8dMXsJ1nm-YP8xubF2MkCWx2LrU1eZ487NMHb7B6Ss3JmYvuhS_r3i45nTnNYZHVbeAEh2gEMv0ezLP465wjCmttWeTsWiM1l/s1600/purpleswan.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 297px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEvKGYzYONQV9SWd-ycP5yF6knK90ZfNGyHsdispUkhmz8dMXsJ1nm-YP8xubF2MkCWx2LrU1eZ487NMHb7B6Ss3JmYvuhS_r3i45nTnNYZHVbeAEh2gEMv0ezLP465wjCmttWeTsWiM1l/s320/purpleswan.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566458781518481954" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />But they don't even stop there, remember when Natalie Portman portrayed 'Blue Swan', set in sixteenth century France? <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvgIDVGZCzWZ3XEIjiBFXwNf43fzqZmpFOM-19yIr9HXiCjIxWMcoOcydSo8QHM46HsQc-BvO8ciquY5h5hObFY4yEpsIfJ89a7K5c-1S4qnzxWAW9sN400nCBhUmgDlMe4KAFUjO-krj/s1600/blueswan.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvgIDVGZCzWZ3XEIjiBFXwNf43fzqZmpFOM-19yIr9HXiCjIxWMcoOcydSo8QHM46HsQc-BvO8ciquY5h5hObFY4yEpsIfJ89a7K5c-1S4qnzxWAW9sN400nCBhUmgDlMe4KAFUjO-krj/s320/blueswan.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566458363405840882" /></a> <br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />I just don't get why Hollywood feels the need to recycle all of these films. For example, how many 'Batman' films do we really need?<br /><br><br />I did get a chance to see 'The Tourist' recently, and sure the plot was predictable and it was a bit silly. But, it was set in Venice, and it was fun, and Angelina was in it, and did I mention it was set in Venice?Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-79388162940337613742011-01-02T18:44:00.004-06:002011-01-02T19:16:04.070-06:00Happy new year to all! I unfortunately was reminded recently that my personal champagne consumption is not, in fact, unlimited. It was nothing that a few Advil and hours in the spa couldn't cure though.<br /><br />Santa duck below was still drinking a tasty beverage while I was recovering.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HIGQcUil9D3GWLFtlJMmzn9QwCD8ERjN_MoPLHBRzx9QdBQMlT_AzWQapHK2LB2OAbHnp4vjLWUZDIAM5tQuqqlXA_rdt7WyBtZWlw682mFSPWhZtwULhUKWczMytZjuP53HoZdqLo1l/s1600/santaducknursinghangover.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4HIGQcUil9D3GWLFtlJMmzn9QwCD8ERjN_MoPLHBRzx9QdBQMlT_AzWQapHK2LB2OAbHnp4vjLWUZDIAM5tQuqqlXA_rdt7WyBtZWlw682mFSPWhZtwULhUKWczMytZjuP53HoZdqLo1l/s320/santaducknursinghangover.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557760090002240402" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />A few days ago I was excited to find a book about painting for sale by one of my favorite contemporary artists, Juliette Aristides. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Painting-Atelier-Contemporary-Traditional/dp/0823006581/">The Classical Painting Atelier</a> goes through the logical curriculum of the way that painting was taught before modernism and 'concept' art (Sorry Mr. Pollock, but I will never see the incoherent scribbles as art). It's been out there for a while, but I had not seen it in the store.<br /><br />I'm already through four chapters, and the painting exercises are great. Juliette's book has the forward written by Mr. Ross at the Art Renewal Center (listed over there as my favorite art group for some time now). Mrs. Aristides uses very little superflous writing, it's all to the point. And many of those points are made very quickly, I've found myself rereading some sections to make sure I don't miss anything.<br /><br />I need to ask if any of her students at <a href="http://www.gageacademy.org">Gage Academy</a> have some old practice paintings of casts they wouldn't mind selling.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-37249539500105100972010-12-20T13:22:00.011-06:002010-12-20T13:43:19.971-06:00Holiday Tradition Mixed With ArchaeologyThe sterling cuff links in the Cosmati style using authentic green porphyry are back from the jeweler. I think they turned out well, and I’ll be giving them as a gift for one of my stone suppliers. Before giving them away, I have to confess that I wore them out to dinner one night recently. I might have to hire <a href="http://wendybrandes.com/blog">Wendy Brandes</a> to come up with a more inventive design so I can have my own pair?<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbJwQ9DsU8MaU59knrQa0WhNi3FmBUHhsMr0nAj9U8Wl8CRWiB6ETXwFwvs3R8L66nTtFMEZp5LAkz6YFK1LfWHwG5sN3S0OviALRceHx-FSEy8nF57mZ-QsXtRuyPMHqNlbD5QQQLnNDn/s1600/gift_cufflinks.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbJwQ9DsU8MaU59knrQa0WhNi3FmBUHhsMr0nAj9U8Wl8CRWiB6ETXwFwvs3R8L66nTtFMEZp5LAkz6YFK1LfWHwG5sN3S0OviALRceHx-FSEy8nF57mZ-QsXtRuyPMHqNlbD5QQQLnNDn/s320/gift_cufflinks.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552847733203986722" /></a> <br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />All this talk about gifts makes me stop for a moment and consider the real meanings of the holiday season. Of course there is obviously a religious reason for Christmas, so here I will awkwardly bridge a gap between the secular and traditional. <br /><br />St. Nicholas (aka Santa), was a bishop in 3rd century Roman controlled Myra (in modern southeastern Turkey). Legend has it that he was the son of a wealthy family who gave gifts to help the poor. He’s not my favorite though, because he is reputed to have destroyed the Temple of Artemis rather than converting it to a church as they did with so many other pre-existing structures back then. In a recent <a href="http://www.archaeology.org">Archaeology magazine</a>, they had a good write up on him and the town of Myra.<br /><br />Here are some old photos of Santa.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPFy5B4-NdlG0URtOqzVIxC7Caz_nwr0YY5d8_9hrVGeywbbcPq8oFcfy1D0VIPm6nH7XYfN1lgVflHiXHwT3zzooz596Cl1T64XIqBHH5zIl0OZGjntMoPvlphm7pk47t13Gi8IpxBE9g/s1600/santa1.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 254px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPFy5B4-NdlG0URtOqzVIxC7Caz_nwr0YY5d8_9hrVGeywbbcPq8oFcfy1D0VIPm6nH7XYfN1lgVflHiXHwT3zzooz596Cl1T64XIqBHH5zIl0OZGjntMoPvlphm7pk47t13Gi8IpxBE9g/s320/santa1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552848746786429986" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMzIRU3t3NbiTa_KW4L8wK0HMLShPZQqQpROpxtvXTP_N8002FCg3531Ghy87QYGjlDEzoCiI8wW0-nyru8Fx4hyaI73sdTOEo43VOAPgNClpvbsdp1hyphenhyphen1gTJypBrQ_NKa48_yjiKadeh/s1600/santa2.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 204px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKMzIRU3t3NbiTa_KW4L8wK0HMLShPZQqQpROpxtvXTP_N8002FCg3531Ghy87QYGjlDEzoCiI8wW0-nyru8Fx4hyaI73sdTOEo43VOAPgNClpvbsdp1hyphenhyphen1gTJypBrQ_NKa48_yjiKadeh/s320/santa2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552848847559707090" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><br /><br />Santa living in southeastern Turkey in the third century actually raises more questions than it answers. Might it be possible that the North Pole was actually located in Turkey instead? Has the earth’s axis changed in a mere 1700 years?<br />Could this beautiful church have been Santa’s workshop, an astounding 1700 years ago???<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HluvzXKt_lsJbHVJIPi1RcXMLhcuX32Cx_9eyLF9S5jGdPOq2nfo1rdJH5k-bnM_vmTU1lUmRhrlRnVodSVv8e_Mdk3VmQXWBB2rIUMj9ro9Maich9TySNCKuowgJhAmnB5jtwCW8lcC/s1600/myrachurch.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HluvzXKt_lsJbHVJIPi1RcXMLhcuX32Cx_9eyLF9S5jGdPOq2nfo1rdJH5k-bnM_vmTU1lUmRhrlRnVodSVv8e_Mdk3VmQXWBB2rIUMj9ro9Maich9TySNCKuowgJhAmnB5jtwCW8lcC/s320/myrachurch.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552849118269793362" /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br /><br />Well, at least we can answer the age old question of whether St. Nick is real, as attested by these bones lying in the Archaeological Museum of Antalya. Apparently, his remains were stolen out of the Myra church and taken to southern Italy. Later, in the eleventh century, these bones were returned to Turkey.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiKMSHt0FOWlcNToixb3VizSNCrVS-O1xI2JNS2wO6jd6v6oWRx5wkXKItf7HXvjNButN4C6gMUxZ7lz22N2ApdSJSHzJ695Mi8txVTYjDBxDAPcwO9AInOUbkpC2DOYaX0mwcZiWz-rl/s1600/bonesofstnick.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiKMSHt0FOWlcNToixb3VizSNCrVS-O1xI2JNS2wO6jd6v6oWRx5wkXKItf7HXvjNButN4C6gMUxZ7lz22N2ApdSJSHzJ695Mi8txVTYjDBxDAPcwO9AInOUbkpC2DOYaX0mwcZiWz-rl/s320/bonesofstnick.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552849309092066130" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Maybe it takes quite a bit to frighten you all, but I think I might be terrified if a skeleton were to climb down my chimney, either with toys for me or not.<br /><br />More interesting reading on St. Nick:<br /><a href="http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/belge/2-20266/santa-claus.html">http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/belge/2-20266/santa-claus.html</a><br /><a href="http://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nicholas/nicholas_of_myra1.html">http://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nicholas/nicholas_of_myra1.html</a>Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-14338805480381727352010-12-14T07:51:00.008-06:002010-12-14T08:29:18.093-06:00Merry Christmas (Buon Natale)In the late nineties, way back before the turn of the century, I was friends with some professional musicians around the Dallas area. Todd and April were brother and sister playing bass and drums respectively in a popular alternative rock band. <br /><br />One day going to lunch, Todd queued up a song with Dennis (the frontman singer in their group) and a girl he had just started going out with. If I recall, it was the song 'Whole New World', which was a duet between Dennis and his new girlfriend who was singing her part exceptionally well.<br /><br />I only seem to have three super powers, and on this occasion I invoked the first one. My first superpower is the ability to recognize a singing voice of anyone that I've heard singing before regardless of the context. This is in fact well documented among my friends. And it works on the hard to identify singers, not just the easy singing voices like Sheryl Crow or Gilbert Gotfried. <br /><br />Anyway, the woman's voice I recognized as Lisa Layne from Vince Vance and the Valiants. It was quite exciting since Lisa some years earlier had recorded my favorite Christmas song ever. Click on Lisa's link here to see the video in case you might have been living in Myanmar helping the poor for the past 15 years, or perhaps in a coma.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1VkMBi9vvw">Here is the video.<br /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSav_EQmf1ydhIGC0k-oY6WOrU5_4zV7yF8GAWrPxkOTQFacKrhefrUpIDHpfoClI1AlL20btcfyI2OR1vEyVKzg5dte_dZArUH8gJE8-0jRSpwBCm-MFEyR2FdFJe96MFARBrkQi-CKc/s1600/lisa.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCSav_EQmf1ydhIGC0k-oY6WOrU5_4zV7yF8GAWrPxkOTQFacKrhefrUpIDHpfoClI1AlL20btcfyI2OR1vEyVKzg5dte_dZArUH8gJE8-0jRSpwBCm-MFEyR2FdFJe96MFARBrkQi-CKc/s320/lisa.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550542893630111282" /><br /></a><br /><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Dennis and Lisa eventually parted ways and she is now in Branson, Missouri. Other artists have tried to recapture the magic of the original recording, but to me the clarity of her voice and production values of the first can't be matched. I told her as much in an email, and she got a good chuckle out of that. Maybe I can get my friends on city council to hire her for an acoustic set for the tree lighting next year? I'll put in more than my fair share.<br /><br />I hope the season is good to all of you, and Merry Christmas!Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6781257762653666125.post-49670234639486536112010-12-08T23:09:00.008-06:002010-12-08T23:38:34.378-06:00CosmatiIn a very minor way, tonight I took a few small footsteps in the journeys of the great Cosmati. Who were the Cosmati, you might ask? If you answered 'the secret society in the film <i>Tomb Raider</i>', that is not correct, however you get extra credit for making me think of Angelina Jolie in shorts with pistols. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMe820V6FaKVb7YN0ajGmrb9G7MiRoEKA3V0aMo-38BESB8MubqNVGT3oyMQG81sPu-Wobsn9V79WPHOUlaINo38REKY2OALbdVZvDVc6XIISW4JP07gCXeUKrRcIlMbotFU5W3Hzsfpy/s1600/tombraider.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMe820V6FaKVb7YN0ajGmrb9G7MiRoEKA3V0aMo-38BESB8MubqNVGT3oyMQG81sPu-Wobsn9V79WPHOUlaINo38REKY2OALbdVZvDVc6XIISW4JP07gCXeUKrRcIlMbotFU5W3Hzsfpy/s320/tombraider.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548547338274330370" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />The Cosmati were families of artistic stone workers sharing the name 'Cosma' around 1000 years ago. Several generations of people in the family made very mathematically complex mosaics. Many of their works are geometric styled with triangles, circles, parallel-o-grams, and yes, even rhombuses.<br />Some typical examples of their work...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrctjODVzXwHpHh02fryMkIyrTJxEkgCtFv1CnOZLJVmR8O6fSKuUgJJjrv4vrFgOWZbWcIuig2uGqkchgDQyme8a2EMWfS4kgTI_Q7rEQFLZsleQDrbrAgeMRocW3kTfKFFhi4WFYsqWy/s1600/800px-Trastevere_-_s_Benedetto_in_Piscinula_pavimento_1040040.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrctjODVzXwHpHh02fryMkIyrTJxEkgCtFv1CnOZLJVmR8O6fSKuUgJJjrv4vrFgOWZbWcIuig2uGqkchgDQyme8a2EMWfS4kgTI_Q7rEQFLZsleQDrbrAgeMRocW3kTfKFFhi4WFYsqWy/s320/800px-Trastevere_-_s_Benedetto_in_Piscinula_pavimento_1040040.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548548437619341874" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUdvWIct2p8QUEFLsdP4eYOM-8phfmIbL2cv9k1f0T9q3kdETs01U6Zu9LQLG6ti_kYrfcnXwB92dhxyAuZCVgVSmiGhtB0rCG-EF5fkgE65XwLr0vnCLcNIaVZd2V7Hl285c1Ar3lh4P/s1600/800px-Santa_Croce_in_Gerusalemme_Kosmaten_2009.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmUdvWIct2p8QUEFLsdP4eYOM-8phfmIbL2cv9k1f0T9q3kdETs01U6Zu9LQLG6ti_kYrfcnXwB92dhxyAuZCVgVSmiGhtB0rCG-EF5fkgE65XwLr0vnCLcNIaVZd2V7Hl285c1Ar3lh4P/s320/800px-Santa_Croce_in_Gerusalemme_Kosmaten_2009.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548548376467610882" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />Not only known for just architectural mosaics that had the effect of showing you what you see when you rub your eyes way too hard, but they were also well known sculptors and art dealers. <br /><br />The wealthy and powerful revered their work in the early and even late middle ages. Well heck, even now if I count myself, right? For example, Pope Iulius II had his logo done in their style (he was the 'warrior' pope who layed the first brick of the brand spanking new 'St. Peter's Cathederal' in Rome around 1500). <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWsRvCE0AUwONJbEpJZApGHlo6QREDwZS9GaOhJKzn0wPeeW1Ga7K75MW-xbDSDuEKt9ohbNgzh7tIwZsCPUnMbtk6rD1Lt0O6c_S6VC_oo_JmA5ky24IsJ2rKwb-WMRCPYY3m8iEWQhLr/s1600/cosmati-type-warriorpope.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWsRvCE0AUwONJbEpJZApGHlo6QREDwZS9GaOhJKzn0wPeeW1Ga7K75MW-xbDSDuEKt9ohbNgzh7tIwZsCPUnMbtk6rD1Lt0O6c_S6VC_oo_JmA5ky24IsJ2rKwb-WMRCPYY3m8iEWQhLr/s320/cosmati-type-warriorpope.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548550005583552050" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />All manner of medieval palaces used their flooring, for example <a href=http://annoiatoregazzoneoclassico.blogspot.com/2009/11/venezia-2009-part-i.html>Ca d'Oro in Venice</a>, not to be much outdone by St. Marks cathedral, had a nice Cosmati styled floor put in on their canal entrance.<br /> <br />An art mosaic project I'm working on requires traditional stones that the Cosmati used once upon a time. I have had some tiny pieces of green serpentine left over, so I've made some of these into triangles like those typically used in the pavements of the Cosmati. I was thinking of making a replica Ca d'Oro floor, but for now, I will just use these triangles for making some 'Cosmati' cufflinks. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKdtVg0cir00hJb8FusByQbE1RAvwEtXgSwy75FVO54YmC5pVPWp5dG0mky6_hE8CZADEHiffygLntregEiw41V5L1-jUtP28ocm4Skz9yspshH6drEy-IufVhJm-UqdRr22Snh5uSOnk/s1600/my-future-cufflinks.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKdtVg0cir00hJb8FusByQbE1RAvwEtXgSwy75FVO54YmC5pVPWp5dG0mky6_hE8CZADEHiffygLntregEiw41V5L1-jUtP28ocm4Skz9yspshH6drEy-IufVhJm-UqdRr22Snh5uSOnk/s320/my-future-cufflinks.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548545732903882546" /></a><br /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br />That's the kind of thing Bored Neoclassical Guy would do, right?Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09174000870387556118noreply@blogger.com13