I seem to keep forgettting to write here. May Day resolution: maintain the blog!
Anyways, re: Seattle area monuments. I'm been brainstorming this one for a while, but don't fell that I've gotten very far with it. I'm not that familiar with Seattle's urban lore, and seem to have been stuck on campus ever since we got this assignment (cursed cold and loss of my bus pass!). So, I've been reflecting on those buildings which I am familiar with, though I fear that none of them really qualify as "monuments" per se (though history they do have). The Russian Center, for instance (the last place I went off campus to), has one crazy history behind it: began as a movie theater on Capitol Hill in the early part of the last century. Since then (with extensive remodelling of the floor) half of it became a community center, the other side a church. Thanks to the previously noted remodelling, it has also in the last decade become an afterhours dance hall (and one of the mainstays of the Seattle swing scene). Yay for building recycling. :)
The only actual memorial/monument I could really think of in the city (which was built exclusively as a memorial), would be the peace park just off of 40th. I used to walk by it on my way to work last summer. It's just a small piece of land, with a statue which was ocften draped long chains of origami cranes. Save for those and the ubiquitous bicycles, I never actually saw any signs of people there. Rather a sad commentary: commemerating peace through a reflection of the destruction of atomic weapons, and no one seems to take notice.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Ballet in Seattle, scattered thoughts
Attend PNB's A Midsummer Night's Dream last Friday. 'Twas lovely. Besides the dancing itself being utterly amazing, the costumer has my complete respect. And kudos to the set designer as well--the scrim painting (leaves) was gorgeous. The other flowery set pieces were really cool too, though.
Anyway, accolades for the costume-designer. First off, the wings were really impressive. I liked the costume/choreography synnergy that happened there (with the fairies in Titania's train, but more obviously with the butterflies). The wings were made of some really delicate cloth that tended to flutter a bit as the dancers moved (when they were doing those mincing little steps in particular, the wings appears to be fluttering rapidly as those they were hovering). Also, color-coordinating Hermia/Lysander and Helena/Demitrius helped keep track of who-is-who and who-should-be-with-who. The use of identical costumes between the couples (ie Hermia's dress being blue with red trim, Helena's the same but red with blue) also underscored the symmetry between their roles and situations. And it helped explain Puck's confusion between the two boys when administering the love potion/purple flower. ;)
Speaking of Puck, he rocked. While maintaining his graceful and elegant movement, he still managed to be really comedic. When both him and Oberon are 'communicating' thusly, it was a real riot. And I loved his "putting a girdle 'round the earth" bit when he was frolicking all over the stage (I suppose the kudos go to the choreographer for that--but it was still Puck making it so funny).
I was really impressed with all the principals' flexibility and strength. They make all those crazy arabesques and whatnot look to pretty and so effortless. I really wish I could do that. Also, Hippolyta's stage-presence really sticks out in my mind. Titania, Helena, and Hermia were all very pretty and graceful and expressive, but the brief scenes with Hippolyta really conveyed a sense of power, without sacrificing much in the way of grace. And the precision of the chorus! (Especially the younger children playing what I take to be sprites.) It was unreal how well in time they were. I ocassionally saw one get slightly off-time with the others--if anything, that was an enhancement, a sort of proof that these were in fact humans!
Anyway, accolades for the costume-designer. First off, the wings were really impressive. I liked the costume/choreography synnergy that happened there (with the fairies in Titania's train, but more obviously with the butterflies). The wings were made of some really delicate cloth that tended to flutter a bit as the dancers moved (when they were doing those mincing little steps in particular, the wings appears to be fluttering rapidly as those they were hovering). Also, color-coordinating Hermia/Lysander and Helena/Demitrius helped keep track of who-is-who and who-should-be-with-who. The use of identical costumes between the couples (ie Hermia's dress being blue with red trim, Helena's the same but red with blue) also underscored the symmetry between their roles and situations. And it helped explain Puck's confusion between the two boys when administering the love potion/purple flower. ;)
Speaking of Puck, he rocked. While maintaining his graceful and elegant movement, he still managed to be really comedic. When both him and Oberon are 'communicating' thusly, it was a real riot. And I loved his "putting a girdle 'round the earth" bit when he was frolicking all over the stage (I suppose the kudos go to the choreographer for that--but it was still Puck making it so funny).
I was really impressed with all the principals' flexibility and strength. They make all those crazy arabesques and whatnot look to pretty and so effortless. I really wish I could do that. Also, Hippolyta's stage-presence really sticks out in my mind. Titania, Helena, and Hermia were all very pretty and graceful and expressive, but the brief scenes with Hippolyta really conveyed a sense of power, without sacrificing much in the way of grace. And the precision of the chorus! (Especially the younger children playing what I take to be sprites.) It was unreal how well in time they were. I ocassionally saw one get slightly off-time with the others--if anything, that was an enhancement, a sort of proof that these were in fact humans!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Nicht für Seminar
Letzte Woche habe ich oft Deutsch geübt und viele Geschichten geschriebt. Ich denke dass meine Worten sind besser, aber meine Grammatik ist nicht so gut. Ach, schade.
In Deutschkurs, lernen wir über Kinderheit.
Meine erste (kleine) Geschichte für Deutsch 103:
Meine liebstes Kinderbuch war “Socks for Supper”. Es hatte schönes Bilder. Das geschichte war sehr interessant für mich. Ein armes Bauer und seine Frau hatten keine Milch oder Käse weil sie keine Kuh hatte. Darum, hat die Bauersfrau Socken gestrickt. Sie hat die Socken zu ihre Nachbarn verkauft. Aber hat die Frau kein Garn. Und so, hat sie den Pullover ihres Manns für Garn aufgetrennt. Am Weihnachten, hatte sie kein mehr Garn oder Socken und der Bauer hatte keinen Pullover. Dann kam der Nachbar mit eine Geschenke. Seine Frau hat die Socken aufgetrennt und einen Puli für ihren Mann gestrickt, aber es hat ihm nicht gepaßt. Darum, gaben sie den Pullover zum armen Bauer. Der Pullover hat ihm Perfekt gepaßt.
Und die zwitte Geschichte:
Als ich sehr klein war, habe ich oft Knoten gemacht. Ich hatte mit alle Dinge schnüren—Schnur, Haargummi, Halskette, Hüpfseil. Ich hatte oft der Gürtel von Saras Bademantel nehmen, und ihn in viele Knoten schnüren. Es gefällt sie nicht. (Sara ist eine alter Schwester von mir.) Ein tag, als ich drei war und Sara fünf, hatte ich ihre Slinky nehmen. Dann hatte ich um den Shaukelstuhl der Mutter schnüren. Sara war sehr traurig weil ihre Slinky kaput war. Sie hatte viel Angst und hatte weinen. Mutter hatte mir schelten. Obwohl mochte ich Knoten machen, musste ich nicht die Dinge von Andern nehmen (und brechen).
Das ist alles!
In Deutschkurs, lernen wir über Kinderheit.
Meine erste (kleine) Geschichte für Deutsch 103:
Meine liebstes Kinderbuch war “Socks for Supper”. Es hatte schönes Bilder. Das geschichte war sehr interessant für mich. Ein armes Bauer und seine Frau hatten keine Milch oder Käse weil sie keine Kuh hatte. Darum, hat die Bauersfrau Socken gestrickt. Sie hat die Socken zu ihre Nachbarn verkauft. Aber hat die Frau kein Garn. Und so, hat sie den Pullover ihres Manns für Garn aufgetrennt. Am Weihnachten, hatte sie kein mehr Garn oder Socken und der Bauer hatte keinen Pullover. Dann kam der Nachbar mit eine Geschenke. Seine Frau hat die Socken aufgetrennt und einen Puli für ihren Mann gestrickt, aber es hat ihm nicht gepaßt. Darum, gaben sie den Pullover zum armen Bauer. Der Pullover hat ihm Perfekt gepaßt.
Und die zwitte Geschichte:
Als ich sehr klein war, habe ich oft Knoten gemacht. Ich hatte mit alle Dinge schnüren—Schnur, Haargummi, Halskette, Hüpfseil. Ich hatte oft der Gürtel von Saras Bademantel nehmen, und ihn in viele Knoten schnüren. Es gefällt sie nicht. (Sara ist eine alter Schwester von mir.) Ein tag, als ich drei war und Sara fünf, hatte ich ihre Slinky nehmen. Dann hatte ich um den Shaukelstuhl der Mutter schnüren. Sara war sehr traurig weil ihre Slinky kaput war. Sie hatte viel Angst und hatte weinen. Mutter hatte mir schelten. Obwohl mochte ich Knoten machen, musste ich nicht die Dinge von Andern nehmen (und brechen).
Das ist alles!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Erste Tag, Seattle
First day of class today. Es war sehr toll. Even getting out of lessons early, I was still 10 minutes late. Getting lost in the basement of Hutchinson didn't really help (so many doors... all discontinuous). I rather wish we were still assigned to MGH, just for its proximity to Meany. On the upside, I should be quite the sprinter by June.
But I digress...
Class was fun. I have to admit that the exercises proposed in the "Viewpoints" book really seemed a bit odd when I was initially reading them. The concepts make sense, but I really couldn't see how they were applied for want of a concrete vehicle to convey them. Acting out the montages in groups really helped. 'Twas also a lot of fun, once we got over the initial (20 s)confusion about what to do. I also like to think that we contributed to the surreality of random passerbys' days. Though, this is UW. Undergrads lying on the sidewalk aren't really all that uncommon.
All the spatial relationships people were using were pretty cool. I've always enjoyed seeing unconventional levels in space, so the lying/crouching/standing/table differences were fun. Es gefällt mir gut.
The History of Berlin lecture was also really neat. I must confess to having a fiendish desire to get copies of all the maps and make a "watch Berlin grow" flip-book out of them...will probably need smaller copies for that. Getting back on topic, organizing the explanation the city's apparent randomness in terms of its historical growth was 1)really logical, 2)very illuminating, and 3)helpful for future getting-un-lost-ing. Neologism! Learning how to find important navigational aids (landmarks) + historical data + deutsche Worte = :D Will definitely try to take one of her classes at some point, if possible.
Days 'til departure: unknown... still working on the flight plans
Days 'til Berlin program: 144
Days 'til my p-chem homework is due: <1
But I digress...
Class was fun. I have to admit that the exercises proposed in the "Viewpoints" book really seemed a bit odd when I was initially reading them. The concepts make sense, but I really couldn't see how they were applied for want of a concrete vehicle to convey them. Acting out the montages in groups really helped. 'Twas also a lot of fun, once we got over the initial (20 s)confusion about what to do. I also like to think that we contributed to the surreality of random passerbys' days. Though, this is UW. Undergrads lying on the sidewalk aren't really all that uncommon.
All the spatial relationships people were using were pretty cool. I've always enjoyed seeing unconventional levels in space, so the lying/crouching/standing/table differences were fun. Es gefällt mir gut.
The History of Berlin lecture was also really neat. I must confess to having a fiendish desire to get copies of all the maps and make a "watch Berlin grow" flip-book out of them...will probably need smaller copies for that. Getting back on topic, organizing the explanation the city's apparent randomness in terms of its historical growth was 1)really logical, 2)very illuminating, and 3)helpful for future getting-un-lost-ing. Neologism! Learning how to find important navigational aids (landmarks) + historical data + deutsche Worte = :D Will definitely try to take one of her classes at some point, if possible.
Days 'til departure: unknown... still working on the flight plans
Days 'til Berlin program: 144
Days 'til my p-chem homework is due: <1
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