Thursday, July 22, 2010

Chihuly Exhibit, Hot, Humid, Marvelous

Noon, July 21, and I thought I was going to keep on staying cool indoors. But, got an irresistible invitation in a phone call and ended up having lunch in the Pineapple Room at Cheekwood with a nephew, his wife, and two of their grandchildren, along with said children's mother.

We walked all the paths of the grounds in the hot, sultry air, then cooled off with a tour of the art museum that is housed in the Cheekwood mansion, viewing two rooms full of more Chihuly hand-blown glass and lingering over every painting in "The American Impressionists in the Garden" exhibit, which includes more 19th and early 20th century paintings by women than one would expect, and very beautiful they were, too. Looked at everything else on the four levels of the art museum, also, in air-conditioned comfort.

Then a late lunch of delicious food, home to rest, and back to walk all the paths again after sundown, when all the outdoor installations lighted the dark paths with brilliant colors.

Below are a daytime and a night view of the Chihuly "Saffron Tower," and a night look at the rowboat freighted with spiky light.

Chihuly Tower at Cheekwood

Chihuly Tower at Cheekwood, Night View

Chihuly Boat at Cheekwood, Night View

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Humble Pie in a Hot July

New York Times columnist Stephen J. Dubner has learned a new meaning for the word "pasty," after criticizing The Economist for a supposed typo. And what might have been a public Word War actually turned out to be a Food Fight, as his education arrived by FedEx in the form of a delicious meat pie.

Hogwarts comes into the tale, also. Go read the column, here.

And after you read it, enjoy the delicious responses offered by his readers, too.

I should acknowledge my debt to Language Log, and GF, who warned, "Beware economists bearing linguistic gifts," and supplied the link when he commented on an article there by G.K. Pullum on "More passive complaints — misidentifying 5 passives out of 5".

(Scroll down to find the article and the comments following it. Another well-done post, "Context is everything," by Mark Liberman, on a far more serious matter, has since been published above it.)

The incredible heat wave continues here in Tennessee, and across the U.S. But this morning I've found a way to cope with it: Stay indoors, surf the web, and get lucky with a delightful site about pasties and pastries.

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