Month: December 2007

I saw the Salzburg Marionettes’ new production of the Sound of Music this evening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was wonderful! The music and story-line are so familiar, but seeing a live marionette production (which I have never seen live before!) with the singing and the music makes me think of entertainment and engagement in a new way.

I see and hear Julie Andrews, but she was not there. Instead, my mind interpreted what I saw and heard and processed it through my experiences. This makes me think of the simulacrum, where there is a copy of the real item that in itself becomes the real item itself.

Whatever the case, I think this is well-worth seeing.

People who know me know that I have a love of pugs, so when I saw this, I could not resist. Nothing like something cute for a cold and dark morning. Click it, and it may give you a chuckle as well.

Hard to believe that the original puppets used in the stop-action Christmas movie, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer were almost lost to age and neglect. Of course, at the time nobody knew how popular the movie would become, even elevated to cult-status, sans people dressing as misfit toys.  Even though they have been on recent tours (nostalgia or new markets?) that have not been in or around NYC, they still hold a certain fascination for me.  

Philosophically and culturally speaking:

• Perhaps they hearken back to a simpler time (if there was such a thing?)?
• Perhaps they hold a gentleness for a violent and scary world (when was it never not that way?)?
• Perhaps they remind us of childhood (who really had a happy one, after all?)?
• Perhaps they are simply iconic or even somewhat archetypical (even in a Kantian perspective?)?

Whatever the case, in its simplest, they look good!

I read about this fascinating scientific find in North Dakota, almost nine years ago, where a mummified dinosaur was found. This is the first time an intact dinosaur with its mummified skin has ever been studied. The National Geographic Channel will have a special on this, Dino Autopsy,  this Sunday at 9:00 pm (EST I believe, though they do not state that).

The National Geographic Channel website has a handy email or text notification service for this program, which is a rather convenient feature.

I have always loved learning about dinosaurs, as they seem like such magical and mythical creatures. My mind cannot really wrap around what it must have been like millions of years ago when these beasts moved around the world, and thriller movies and books only heighten the interest in them. I am a member of the American Museum of Natural History, and took some wonderful photos of their dinosaur exhibit when I visited the museum last Fall (though I never seem to have uploaded them for some reason).

I wonder how they became extinct? I wonder if we may, too?