Meiszus's Musings: August 2009

The Emperor's New Clothes

Friday, August 14, 2009

So as indicated in one of the earlier posts about our trip to New York, Manda and I went to the MOMA for several hours one day. For anyone who doesn't know, the MOMA is the Museum of Modern Art. And for anyone who doesn't know me, modern art isn't really my thing. Manda loved it, so I indulged her, and now I never need to go back.

While modern art isn't my thing, and really art appreciation isn't really my thing (we also spent a day at the Met and that was somewhat tortuous, although much less so than the MOMA), I am able to appreciate the artistic talent of the pieces. We did the audio tour, which entails carrying around what looks like an old cell phone, into which you type numbers to hear the curators and art critics talk about pieces. I had a really hard time getting through the audio explanations, because I feel like the majority of the time the artists don't put nearly as much thought into the painting as later interpreters credit them with. In other words, I feel like the critics like to hear themselves speak, so they make up a bunch of bull to sound deep and so understanding of the tortured soul of the artist.

Anyway, just because I don't want any of the art, doesn't mean it isn't art...except the crap that isn't art. These pictures are a few examples of some of the things they had on display that cannot seriously be art. For anyone who thinks they are, the emperor is really naked, he doesn't have a new suit on.

Of all of these pictures this one is my favorite (in all seriousness) but only because it reminds me of Qbert. This is somewhat artistic, but it is just theft of the Qbert game screen

Maybe it is just my simplistic mind, but what is artistic about a rope, especially if the artist didn't even make the rope. If the artist made the rope, then maybe there is some argument, although not a strong one.

Ok, a piece of fabric stuck to the wall. There is no design on the fabric, no apparent shape to it, it is a solid color, and stuck to the wall. Seriously? Maybe the emperor should have ordered his suit in this color.

This is one of my favorites, in a sarcastic way. Its description is nylon cord and metal brackets. It is a purple nylon cord running through four metal brackets, two on the wall, two on the floor. Wow!

This may come in handy if your kids are acting up, but it is really just a very skinny steel cage.

I have moved and stacked a lot of bricks in my life, I never knew I was being artistic. There are 120 bricks here, stacked in the middle of the floor. I thought they were getting ready to display something on top of them, but no, this is supposedly art.

I think this one was my absolute favorite. I know it looks brown, but that is because I was not using the flash and I don't know how to use the camera as well as Manda so I can't get good color. It was actually black. That's it! No detail. No indentations. Nothing. It is oil on canvas, an it is solid black! What the hell?!?!

These pieces of "ART" (and I use the term loosely) somehow are deemed to be good enough to be displayed in a world renowned museum. Who are the pretentious morons who are doing this? These are being displayed in the same museum as van Gogh's Starry Night, and Warhol art work, along with many other pieces of art that I don't like, but I can at least appreciate the artistic value of them. Art is whatever you can get away with, but seriously, the emperor is naked. Get him some clothes!

at 10:53 AM 4 comments

The Plays

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Ok, so Amanda and I went to see a couple of plays while we were in New York. The first one we saw was Mary Poppins.

It was really entertaining with great acting and singing. But the real star of the show was the scenery. It was really amazing how efficiently they could change the set without any delay in the play. The massive set pieces easily switched between the main floor of the house and the nursery, then to the rooftops. It was really a fun show to see, but nothing compared to Rock of Ages.

If you are a fan of 80s Butt Rock, you will love Rock of Ages. It even made me like Constantine Maroulis (of American Idol fame). This show features music from Whitesnake, Journey, Starship, Poison, REO Speedwagon, Europe, Bon Jovi, Foreigner, Warrant, Mr. Big, and much more. The acting isn't great, and I didn't feel that story was all that strong, but it is a lot of fun, and extremely entertaining. Be aware, however, that it is a bit risqué so the teenage kids in front of us were a little uncomfortable with their parents right behind them. All said, Rock of Ages was a ton of fun.

at 10:47 AM 0 comments

New York

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

So, Amanda and I just got back from a week in New York. Amanda's sister, Emily, and her husband, Miles, were in New York for the summer and they kindly let us stay at the apartment they sub-let, thereby drastically reducing our costs, allowing for a much more enjoyable experience.
We had a lot of fun on the trip. We went all around Manhattan on a great bus tour, well the tour was great for the first part, the down town tour. For the uptown tour we had a horrible guide who didn't know anything. On that part of the tour we learned a lot of useless facts about Holland, and the Dutch love of sprinkles.
Anyway, we also went to the Met, the Moma, to a Yankees-Red Sox game, to a couple of plays (Mary Poppins and Rock of Ages), Central Park, of course to Tiffany, too much shopping on Canal Street, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge and much, much more.
Here are some pics...

Manhattan from Brooklyn