Saturday Outing
compactspleen's MIL phoned yesterday to ask what we are doing this weekend. It's nice to have buddies to do things with. Wayfinder and I were going to a local park for a guided nature walk but we scrapped that idea in favor of going to the Center for Creative Photography with our friends.
The Center is part of a Museum complex on the university campus. My internet directions did not include the blocked street in front of the center but we parked in a convenient handicapped spot next to the road barriers. In case you want to know "Yes we have handicap placard. Wayfinder has several conditions that qualified him for one." "I do not use it when he is not in the car with me."
The Center for Creative Photography has an exhibit now by a man named Ralph Eugene Meatyard. We had not heard of him but started to view his photographs. My first impression was these are not very good pictures. I read a bit about the man, he had taken a class on photography in the late 50's and started taking pictures. Well Wayfinder took a photography class '57-'58 and his pictures outshine Meatyard's photos by orders of magnitude. None of us were impressed with the pictures, even if he had some of famous people. The man did not have the eye of an artist. The darkroom work was technically excellent. The pictures were not even close.
Our qualifications for making the above criticism, we have been going to photo and art exhibits now for several years. We have sat in lectures by art historians, we have taken artists with us to art exhibits and listened to their comments. Wayfinder has worked at the craft of photography, he continues to study photography and expands his abilities. Putting a name on a photo or a series of photos does not make them art. Go see Wayfinders pictures at Splinter Group on Flickr.
To wipe our eyes we did see a small selection of Ansel Adams photos in the upstairs gallery. Next we walked over to the university Art Museum to view the exhibit In Search of Pleasure. and some of the museums permanent collection. They have a fantastic marble statue and a couple of bronzes by Rodin. It is amazing how sculptors can convey the impression of soft in such a hard medium.
After our excursion into artistic expression we went to Magpies for pizza. What fun to sit outside on January 7 and watch the people, the trolley, and the birds. I don't know how we overlooked the namesake pizza that contains all the ingredients we like. We ordered the Magpie and a meal sized spinach salad to share. I was amused to see a young man walk by with a perfect mohawk. What spikes all carefully arranged in rays front to back. Observing the students on campus and on 4th Ave, I thought I might be in a time warp. The clothing has not changed substantially in several decades, wear a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt and you are in fashion on campus.
On the table next to us sat a fat Rock Dove aka pigeon, I finally told Wayfinder the bird wanted him to take a picture of it. As soon as Wayfinder got up to take pictures a cheeky bird landed on his plate to take the remains. I shooed him off with my napkin and then threw a piece of crust on the ground. What fun, all the birds started in attacking the pizza crust and defending their find. Eventually we saw 5 Rock Doves scrambling for food with two house sparrows diving in to snatch a piece of pie. The minute we stood up to leave the birds were on the table picking at scraps. What a cushy place for a greedy bird. No wonder they were so plump.
The Center is part of a Museum complex on the university campus. My internet directions did not include the blocked street in front of the center but we parked in a convenient handicapped spot next to the road barriers. In case you want to know "Yes we have handicap placard. Wayfinder has several conditions that qualified him for one." "I do not use it when he is not in the car with me."
The Center for Creative Photography has an exhibit now by a man named Ralph Eugene Meatyard. We had not heard of him but started to view his photographs. My first impression was these are not very good pictures. I read a bit about the man, he had taken a class on photography in the late 50's and started taking pictures. Well Wayfinder took a photography class '57-'58 and his pictures outshine Meatyard's photos by orders of magnitude. None of us were impressed with the pictures, even if he had some of famous people. The man did not have the eye of an artist. The darkroom work was technically excellent. The pictures were not even close.
Our qualifications for making the above criticism, we have been going to photo and art exhibits now for several years. We have sat in lectures by art historians, we have taken artists with us to art exhibits and listened to their comments. Wayfinder has worked at the craft of photography, he continues to study photography and expands his abilities. Putting a name on a photo or a series of photos does not make them art. Go see Wayfinders pictures at Splinter Group on Flickr.
To wipe our eyes we did see a small selection of Ansel Adams photos in the upstairs gallery. Next we walked over to the university Art Museum to view the exhibit In Search of Pleasure. and some of the museums permanent collection. They have a fantastic marble statue and a couple of bronzes by Rodin. It is amazing how sculptors can convey the impression of soft in such a hard medium.
After our excursion into artistic expression we went to Magpies for pizza. What fun to sit outside on January 7 and watch the people, the trolley, and the birds. I don't know how we overlooked the namesake pizza that contains all the ingredients we like. We ordered the Magpie and a meal sized spinach salad to share. I was amused to see a young man walk by with a perfect mohawk. What spikes all carefully arranged in rays front to back. Observing the students on campus and on 4th Ave, I thought I might be in a time warp. The clothing has not changed substantially in several decades, wear a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt and you are in fashion on campus.
On the table next to us sat a fat Rock Dove aka pigeon, I finally told Wayfinder the bird wanted him to take a picture of it. As soon as Wayfinder got up to take pictures a cheeky bird landed on his plate to take the remains. I shooed him off with my napkin and then threw a piece of crust on the ground. What fun, all the birds started in attacking the pizza crust and defending their find. Eventually we saw 5 Rock Doves scrambling for food with two house sparrows diving in to snatch a piece of pie. The minute we stood up to leave the birds were on the table picking at scraps. What a cushy place for a greedy bird. No wonder they were so plump.