Cassie and Chris: January 2010

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Si vis pacem, para bellum

This is an awesome video. Read this and then watch. It is very cool.

"Si vis pacem, para bellum"
(If you want peace, prepare for war)

This video shows the winner of " Ukraine’s Got Talent", Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch.

The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about £75,000.

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.

It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears.

She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine , resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

Kseniya Simonova says:
"I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me. The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And there’s surely no bigger compliment."

Please take time out to see this amazing piece of art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=vOhf3OvRXKg#t=00

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

And.. We're Back

I know it has been awhile. I am sorry. I just find that I always have something else to do. I have some pictures to share from our trip over the holidays so please enjoy. I have tried not to repeat any of the ones I shared on Facebook (that album can be found by clicking here)

Looking down and then up the Spanish Steps

Here are two pictures from the ruins of the Forum in Rome

The Colosseum in Rome

A line of people begging to pay too much money for something they really do not need...

Yes, they limit the number of people inside the store to make it seem like some place you need to be. I was at the register with my credit card in hand before I realised what simple psychology had done to me. Fortunately, my time in the former Soviet Bloc has hardened me and I was able to escape and spend my hard earned money on things I really need like: Marlboros, Levis, and Hershey's Chocolate. Damn you capitalism!

Here we are in front of the Colosseum.

There was a Calder exhibit in Rome while we were there. Only worth mentioning as Grand Rapids has one of Calder's sculptures right downtown. Wasn't one of the nicknames of GR "the Calder city"?

Here is a repeat from facebook, but it is a pretty good shot of us.

Outside of St. Peter's Basilica the day before Christmas. It was being set up for Midnight Mass...

Some shots from the top of St. Peter's Basilica

One of the halls in the Vatican Museum. This was amazing...

This is a garden in the Vatican. The Swiss Guard were practicing while we were there.

Part of the Vatican Collection included a massive amount of Egyptian artifacts.

Here is another hallway in the Vatican Museum.

Here is the booze selection from the Vatican snack bar.

You are not supposed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel. I took this one, but as you can see, photos taken from waist level don't turn out well. However you can still make out the famous scene of God reaching out to Adam. This was amazing, made all the more so by meeting my boss and her kids there...