Tourist Guide

This is a model of a vehicle that has set foot on Mars. Ever since the summer of 2003, two NASA rovers, the Opportunity and the Spirit have been launched from Earth and landed in Mars. NASA has been using a vehicle similar to the model to drive around the surface of Mars, searching for existing life forms. The robotic vehicles act as geologists, searching the rocks and soils for signs that liquid water once flowed across Mars. It’s interesting how this rover act as a robotic geologist. It takes approximately nine months to get to Mars, and the findings that life once existed on Mars would make a breakthrough in science.

When I first heard that we were going to watch “The Break of Noon,” an off-broadway play, I was excited. I have never watched an off-Broadway play and in my mind, I imagined a glamorous theater. To my surprise, the Lucile Theater was unlike anything I imagined. It was just a typical small and old theater with no fancy decorations. Despite the smallness of the theater, my hype for play did not go away. I was excited to see David Duchovny, who starred in X-Files and Californication, and Amanda Peet.

The play began with a bleeding David Duchovny giving a monologue on the office shooting that had killed 37 people. As John, the character Duchovny was playing, tries to recreate what happened from his memories, he began to ramble. I felt that the monologue was too long and failed to capture the audience’s attention. The darkness of the theater and rambling of John made it hard to keep awake. When the monologue ended, the bright lights and sudden change to the second scene woke me up.

The storyline of the play was simple: a man who changed himself after experiencing a life and death situation. Although the general plot of the play was not very interesting, the actors were the ones that made the play worth watching. David Duchovny, Amanda Peet, John Earl Jelks, and Tracee Chimo were all exceptional actors and actresses. I was more impressed with the two actresses than the two actors. Amanda Peet, who played the dual roles of Ginger and Jesse, depicted the characters perfectly.  Ginger was rational, while Jesse seemed to be the type of girl that always had mood swings. Despite the differences in the two characters, Amanda Peet was able to easily submerge into the role and do a great job in her performance. Next was Tracee Chimo, who played the role of Gigi. She was a hooker in the play, trying to seduce John, however, after the constant denial of John for her services, she reverted to her real self. She burst into tears as she talked to John about her mother. The sudden change in attitude surprised me and I found her acting very convincing.

Although I felt that this play was the highlight of my IDC class so far, I still have several criticisms for it. Like many of my classmates, I felt in some scenes, the acting was forced. There were times when I felt that the lines Duchovny said did not fit in with the play. I also did not like the ending. I was expecting the ending to be a surprise, shocking everyone that Duchovny was part of the massacre. Instead, the opposite happened. Duchovny was saved by God and in the last scene, he was lifted up from the floors. I felt that this ending was lacking and could’ve been better. What I really liked about this last scene though was how the director coordinated Duchovny to wear white, and by shining the light on him, the audience’s attention would be directed to the top portion of his body. This allows the director to give the audience the allusion that Duchovny is floating up in the air. Overall, this was an enjoyable experience and I hope to see more off-Broadway or Broadway plays in the future.

8^th Avenue has often been referred to as the Chinatown of Brooklyn. It spans between both Bay Ridge and Sunset Park, but I live closer to the Sunset Park area. It is the perfect place to eat at and do grocery shopping. On every street, there is a different Asian restaurant – Chinese, Fujian, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Thai, and Shanghainese. You name it, we have it. Chinese restaurants are the most popular type of restaurants at 8^th avenue, and there are approximately more than fifteen Chinese restaurants within 10 streets. Competition among the restaurants is intense, but each day, the restaurants are booming with businesses. Because there are so many different Chinese restaurants at 8^th avenue, the individual restaurants often think of new deals and foods to attract more customers. An example is a poster taken from City Café, located at 8^th avenue 56^th street, which is promoting lobsters at a special price of only $13.95.

What’s better than enjoying dim sums early in the morning at Pacificana? The line is long and the waiting period might take an hour, but at the end, it’s all worth it. Dim sums are Chinese dishes involving portions for three to four people, and are usually served in a steamer basket or on a small plate. Waiters would be pushing carts around the restaurant, shouting the names of the different dishes. Below are some popular dishes that people get: shaomai, shrimp dumpling, and spring rolls.

People of all ages enjoy spending time at 8^th Avenue because of the abundant amount of things to do. The elderly and many adults come to either do grocery shopping, where they can get fresh meats or dine with their families. Teenagers come to karaoke at 100 Fun, eat at a local café, or play pool at Billiards. Little kids also find 8^th Avenue like a playground. Outside many stores are machines in which parents may put in fifty cents for their child to play with.

There are three different parks near 8^th Avenue – Leif Ericson, Rappaport Playground, and Sunset Park. Each park has its own unique features. Leif Ericson, located at 8^th Avenue 65^th street has a playground, a basketball court, and a volleyball court. Across from Leif Ericson is a small baseball field and on the next street are tennis courts. Rapport Playground, on the other hand, is a much smaller park near my house. It has a big playground and is designed mainly for little kids. Last but not least is Sunset Park, which is the biggest park among the three. It is two avenues long and is located between 5^th – 7^th avenue, 41^st – 44^th street. Sunset Park has a basketball court, volleyball nets, handball courts, and a swimming pool.

One notable difference between 8^th Avenue and Manhattan is that while Manhattan is full of halal and hot dog stands, 8^th Avenue is full of barbequed meat skewer stands. In the recent years, many more of these stands have been opening up due to the resident’s popular demands.

The amount of activities that one can do at 8^th Avenue is endless. It is a place for all ages and a great dining area.

Some notable restaurants:

Chinese – Lucky 8 Restaurant, Pacificana, Diamond on Eight

Vietnamese – Gia Lam II, Cho Lon, Thanh Da Inc. II (Vietnamese bread)

Malaysian – Nyona

Bubble Tea – Quicklys, TenRen, TBarr

Directions: Take the N train to 8th Avenue

8th Avenue is a crowded and lively place in the daytime, but once it’s nighttime, the streets become calm and peaceful. There would be rarely any cars passing and the streets would be deserted.

The Museum of Natural History was the first museum I have ever went to when I was a kid. When I was little, I only went to this museum to see the dinosaur bones. This time, I learned to enjoy the other exhibits at this museum. Two exhibits that caught my interest were the Guggenheim Hall of Minerals and the Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems. Minerals and gems might seem boring in comparison with the other exhibits, such as marine life, but I was fascinated by the vast rock and gem collection the museum had.

Below are some pictures from the Guggenheim Hall of Minerals:

The mineral that attracted my attention was the quartz shown in the second picture. Its crystal purple color coped with the lighting of the museum made it seem as it was glowing. Quartz, in other words, the ‘Universal Crystal’, has been known as a power stone. It has the ability to give off energy and is beneficial for healing, meditation, and protection.

In the Morgan Memorial Hall of Gems, my favorite showcase items were the diamonds and the Star of India.

On the left is a picture of the Olympia Diamond Collection. Naturally colored diamonds rarely occur and represent 1 in every 100,000 white diamonds. They are saturated in color, and in this collection, there are five natural diamonds: blue-green, orange-yellow, purplish-pink, blue, and orange. On the left is the Star of India, one of the largest blue star sapphire in the world. It has stars on both sides of the gem and the milky blue color of the sapphire makes it seem as if it’s glowing under the light. It was donated by J.P. Morgan in 1901.

Back in ancient China, the Chinese monarchs would often pick their wives from various portraits of beautiful women. In Japan, they also hold the same practice of depicting both real and idealized beautiful women in paintings. Kikugawa Eizan was a famous painter and the leading designer of bijinga during his time. Bijinga is the Japanese art for beautiful women. In this painting, the female is dressed in a simple, casual attire, showing that she belongs to a lower rank. In the past, these types of paintings only featured high-ranking courtesans, but as time progressed, bijinga began depicting lower-ranked courtesans, fictional characters, geishas, and historic figures as well. The woman in the painting also has her leg shown from the slit of her kimono, which is to help attract men to the painting. Most of the women in these types of paintings are often shown as really pale and their hair tied up with ornaments.

This African mask is called the Dugn’be Mask, meaning “the ox raised in the village.” Young men of Bissagos Islands’ initiation ceremonies often wear it, which marks the men’s formal entrance into adulthood. The cord running through the nostrils of the ox mask enforces this fact that both the young men and the ox’s strength must be controlled and encouraged. Made out of wood, glass, hide, cow horns, fiber, metal, and pigment, it makes one wonder how anyone can survive under such a large and heavy mask. One thing that is unique about this mask is that while many African masks resemble human figures, this mask resembles an animal, the ox.

Unlike many other pieces of artwork at the museum, this piece was simply left as ‘Untitled.’ David Hammons did not use paint or ink to create this artwork. Instead, he used his body. By smearing his skin and clothing with grease and then pressing it against a sheet of paper, Hammons was able to create an image by sprinkling graphite or pigment on it afterwards. The artwork was Hammon’s way of describing his feelings during that time period. It was created in 1969, the period of nationwide protests and demonstrations against the Vietnam War. In the artwork, the man, who represents Hammons himself, clasping his hands in a prayer, hoping there won’t be a war. The wrinkled lines that Hammon’s body made the man’s clothes in the picture seem real. It amazes me how artists are able to constantly generate new ideas and display their artworks with hidden meanings through different methods.

Richard Lippold is a twentieth century American sculptor with a background in industrial design. Through his skills with geometry and engineering, he produced many sculptors out of wires that resemble a three-dimensional mechanical drawing. Hanging from the ceiling, this structure, Variation Number 7: Full Moon, caught my attention immediately. The blue light directed at the structure gave it a calm and nighttime feeling. Made out of brass rods, nickel-chromium and stainless steel wires, the complexity of this structure is immense. It comprises of cubes, ellipses, triangles, and pyramids. The different shapes and lighting symbolizes the radiations of moonlight. The structure also represents the tenseness of life. If one key wire snaps, the whole structure would collapse. This was my favorite piece at MoMA because it shows traits of both geometric and abstract art. Next to the picture of Full Moon is Lippold’s 2D drawing of it.

When I first heard that we were going to watch “Magnetic Fields: Strange Powers” at Film Forum, I was excited. I was anticipating a science fiction type of film. Like my other classmates, I was surprised to learn what the film was really about. It was a documentary starring Stephin Merritt about music. Although many people enjoyed the documentary, the film did not meet my expectations. Documentaries were just not meant for me. I felt as if the story dragged on and I had a hard time staying awake. Stephin Merritt had an interesting case of humor, but it was not my type of humor.

Some aspects of the film that caught my attention though was how Stephin Merritt used basic household items to create music. The idea of using basic items to produce music reminded me of my visit to the Meet The Artist event last month. At the Meet the Artist event, David Ellis showed us a video on items, such as trash cans, producing music. I find it fascinating how both David Ellis and Stephin Merritt thought of such a creative idea.

Out of all the songs played throughout the film, the one song that remained stuck in my head was “Papa Was A Rodeo” by the Magnetic Fields. Even though this isn’t usually the kind of music I usually listen to, the song remained stuck in my head. The deep voice of Stephin Merritt’s combined with the soft background music produced a unique result. One criticism of the song, though, are the lyrics. I felt as if the lyrics did not flow together. Maybe I just didn’t understand the lyrics’ meaning, but when looking at the lyrics, it seemed as if he just took random lines and pieced them together into one song.

Watching Magnetic Fields: Strange Powers was an interesting experience. Film Forum is a local small movie theater, yet it produces the same effects of the bigger theaters. The most interesting part of my visit to Film Forums is when we went backstage and how the place functions. I was amazed by the number of different machines it had and the way films are displayed on the bigger screen.

Below is the song that I mentioned earlier, “Papa Was A Rodeo”:

Pair of Royal Earrings

Originated from Andhra Pradesh

Many past Indian jewelry have been melted down to avoid transmitting the karma of the former owner, and this pair of royal earrings is one of the few Indian jewelry that survived. The floral form of the earrings and the symbols embellished on them symbolizes royalty. The craftsmanship of the winged lion and elephant designs depicts that the earrings were probably worn by royal figures. The elephant and lion are delicately forged on the gold by granules and snippets of wire and sheet. Although they are a pair of earrings, the two earrings differ by their patterns of the fronds. One scene in history in which a figure wears earrings like this dates back to the first century B.C. A chakravartin, or the Universal King, from the stupa of Jagayapettya had the earrings hanging from his ear and resting on his shoulders due to the earrings’ heaviness.

In the photo above, one can see the lion intricately formed on the gold. The lion represents courage and strength, thus emphasizing the ruler’s power. Both the lion and the elephant were considered as royal protectors during that time.

After watching the opera on the first night, I had higher expectations for the Fall for Dance. I liked watching dances, and looked forward to watching the dance performances. To my surprise, Fall for Dance was not how I anticipated it to be. Out of the four acts, I only enjoyed two of them. Fall for Dance began with Three Movements by the company Rafaela Carrasco. Once the performance began, I was instantly intrigued by the woman’s voice. The woman’s singing sounded more like cries, and was not like the melodic music I’ve been accustomed to hearing. This piece felt long and boring, until the dancers came on stage. Their tapping and their swift movements stole the show. I was amazed by their footwork, and how well it coped with the music playing.

The second act was the “Red Angels” performance by the New York City Ballet. This ballet dance was better than the youtube video we watched in class. The flexibility and agility of the dancer’s movements were incredible, and their red color scheme was creative. The ballet was interesting, but what caught my utmost attention during this dance was the violinist.  Her violin performance matched the dance very well, and it was so great that I thought it was a recording at first.

Next was the “Duet” by Bill T. Jones and the Ernie Zane Dance Company. This was my least favorite dance. In this act, the dancers were trying to mirror one another’s movements, but the background audio was like a dialogue. To me, this performance did not fit well together and I didn’t understand the purpose of the dance.

Last but not least, came the last dance: “ID:Entidades” by Companhia Urbana De Dance, which is shown in the picture. This dance was more of a modern, contemporary dance. Each dancer shared the same costume of wearing black and having an afro. At the beginning, I was impressed with the choreography of the dance, but as the dance progressed, my interest slowly diminished. It was my favorite dance, nonetheless, but I felt that it was too long.

I anticipated Fall for Dance to be better than Rigoletto, because personally, I enjoy watching dance more than singing. However, I was wrong. Even though I only liked two of the dances (“Red Angels” and “ID:Entidades”), it was still interesting to watch the various types of dances.

Like many other students in the class, Rigoletto was my first opera experience. Before watching Rigoletto, I have always imagined operas to be boring and tedious, but this changed once I stepped into the Metropolitan Opera. My mind was blown away by the glamour of the place. When the opera began, my amazement stepped to the next level. As each character came out one by one, I could not help, but notice the wondrous colors of their costumes. The variety of colors of their costumes brought the play to life.

The story of Rigoletto was simple – a father trying to protect his daughter, but ended up causing her death. Although the storyline was not very original, the singers portrayed it perfectly. They displayed their emotions through the vibratos and the pitches of their voices. One scene that remains vivid in my memories was when Rigoletto, played by Lado Ataneli, discovered that he took part in the kidnapping of his own daughter. As the other people laughed at him, Rigoletto showed his grief through his singing. Although the scene might seem unbelievable in real life, the orchestra, along with Lado Ataneli’s singing, made it seem realistic. Another character that I liked was Gilda, played by Christine Schafer. Although critics claimed that Schafer failed to make an impact on the show, and that the orchestra often drowned out her voice, I felt that she depicted her character perfectly. Her small voice helped her portray Gilda as more innocent and naïve.

The opera was a magnificent experience, but there were parts of the opera that I disliked as well. At  some parts, I felt that the scene was dragged on, making it tiring to watch. An example is the death of Gilda. The scene can be accomplished within ten minutes, but in the opera, it took twice the amount of time. It felt as if they kept repeating what they were saying. Despite this, there were still many aspects of the opera that I enjoyed, such as the set and the costumes. It amazed me how the opera singers were able to project their voices with such strong power, that no devices were necessary to spread it to the whole auditorium. This was truly a great experience.

Autumn Rhythm by Jackson Pollock

Unlike the other paintings, Autumn Rhythm by Jackson Pollock has no significant meaning when painted. In fact, when Pollock first started painting this piece, he had no idea what he was doing. By laying the canvas on the floor, he introduced a new technique of art that would change the idea of abstract expressionism. He first dripped black paint everywhere on the canvas, then brown, then turquoise, and finally, white. By doing so, Pollock created a rhythm of different sensations and a contrasting depiction of the different lines. There were dark and light lines, straight and curved, horizontal and vertical, and lastly, thick and thin lines.

Autumn Rhythm is a perfect example that exemplifies the idea of accident and control. The dripping of the paint over the canvas was accidental. Pollock did not plan out the painting beforehand, yet the end-result of the painting turned out to be a masterpiece. When looking at the picture, the overlapping of the different lines make it hard to spot any mistakes.

What first attracted me to this painting was that it looked like a mess. Unlike the other paintings in that particular room, this painting did not have a central meaning. It was just black and white lines crossing one another everywhere on the canvas. The overlaps of the different lines, however, produced a melodic feeling. The name of the painting truly matches the essence of its beauty. At the beginning, I thought that Pollock planned the whole painting out, until I read the description. Although I was unable to capture a picture of it, there was a similar painting to this one, also by Jackson Pollock. That painting, unlike this one, displayed an array of different colors – green, blue, yellow, etc. This was the first time in which I have seen an art like Pollock’s.

The quality of the video is bad, but below is a footage of Jackson Pollock at work: