Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Tuesday, July 10. 2007

Antoni Gaudi

Drove down to JFK on Saturday to put the youngest pup on a plane to spend a while in Barcelona to soak up some Spanish history, literature and culcha. Yes, and to perfect her Spanish too.

For me, the highest points of Spanish culture are El Greco and Cervantes - but probably not the astonishing Gaudi. Words like "ugly," "strange," and "hallucinogenic" do not do justice to how interesting his buildings are to look at, though.

Here are some Gaudi buildings.

Photo is Gaudi's Casa Batllo in Barcelona.

Posted by Bird Dog in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 07:00 | Comments (20) | Trackbacks (0)

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ugly? strange perhaps but ugly? no. love him he was like jules verne ---way ahead of his time. young pup is lucky Barcelona es fantastico!!
#1 opie on 2007-07-10 08:29 (Reply)
I did say they were fascinating to look at. It is really surrealism, I suppose.
#1.1 BD on 2007-07-10 08:37 (Reply)
Is this the derivative of the word "gaudy"?
#2 J.C. Loophole (Link) on 2007-07-10 09:24 (Reply)
Barcelona is my favorite Spanish city. I love the works of Gaudi and can spend days finding and looking at them.

Parc Guell? AMAZING!

The unfinished cathedral (where for decades the only work getting done was that of VOLUNTEER laborers using material bought with donations) is breath-takingly beautiful.

How someone could imagine stuff like this and NOT be on hallucinogenics is the only question I have.
#3 vilmar (Link) on 2007-07-10 11:06 (Reply)
Middle daughter did the grand tour last summer, and of all the continental cities (she did most of the biggies), Barcelona was her far & away favorite.
#4 buddy larsen on 2007-07-10 13:22 (Reply)
She'll be there 6 weeks. I said - Take your camera. She said No, because then I won't SEE.
#4.1 BD on 2007-07-10 15:38 (Reply)
Then a sketchbook for the Gaudi views, vistas, vignettes and other sights en Barthelona.

Hope the kid climbs to the top of the inspired Sagrada spires and encounters God in Its low oxygen, high hallucinating Most Holy ether. The on-going construction below for over a century is either a metaphor for the continual project that is Mankind or Spanish inefficiency. (No matter which, but some of us suspect the real End to History will occur when the catedral is declared complete, currently on the calendar for 2026.)
#4.1.1 I got cute soccer tees there on 2007-07-10 16:13 (Reply)
She has a good point--and pretty wise for a youngster. Bet she keeps you hoppin'!
:-D
#4.1.2 buddy larsen on 2007-07-10 17:12 (Reply)
Yes, she and Buddy are right. No cams or sketchbooks is the better way to go, absolutely :) Happy travelling and delicious paella to her!
#4.1.3 Anonymous on 2007-07-10 17:29 (Reply)
You hope for those few moments when your consciousness slips out of your 'doing' and you catch a glimpse as the person you would've been had you lived back when the thing you're looking at was built. What a shame to miss those glimpses because your attention is always focused on some little device you're holding in your hands.
#4.1.3.1 buddy larsen on 2007-07-10 17:40 (Reply)
And think what a blessing to family and friends back home-- no trip pix---yea!!

I actually agree that too much is viewed through the lens on travels, but contemplating and sketching isn't so bad at all.
#5 Anonymous on 2007-07-10 17:48 (Reply)
It is interesting - I am very happy carrying a shotgun in the woods, but rarely forget that I am hunting and not simply Being There. When I carry binoculars, I rarely forget that I am birdwatching and not just strolling. When I carry a camera, I rarely forget that I am hunting for photos and not simply Being There. When I edit a blog, I often think "Is this a blog item?" instead of just Being There.

Guns, blogs, binoculars, cameras, etc - all great things. But sometimes, having no specific purpose is the best way to be open to experience. Now I really sound like a superannuated hippy...but I do find it liberating to detach from such things once in a while. Our Gwynnie calls it "being open to primary experiences" by eliminating the intermediaries.
#6 BD on 2007-07-10 18:07 (Reply)
Yes, of course, BD, but journals and sketches and even film are just extended ways of documenting experience through one's eye and mind. My fav wall hangings are (skewed) sketches my sis did of (skewed) Parque Güell and Casa Milŕ when she studied in Barcelona. She got a lot out of interpreting what she saw, and we get to continue enjoying her experience.

Have a painting of the Rhine a relative did in the 1800s. Same thing, yes?
#7 Anonymous on 2007-07-10 18:20 (Reply)
It's right there chiseled into the walls at Delphi, the oracle's message: all things in moderation, but all things.

I always liked that, because it means, be moderate even in being moderate--which allows for a little extremism now & then (presumably, 'when called for').
#8 buddy larsen on 2007-07-10 18:48 (Reply)
LOL. Some of us seem to differ in the direction of extreme moderation, but that's diversity, I suppose. And some of us are pretty good seers divining people's porpoise and everything even when we don't wanna see it. Some of us will remain more about the big picture than others.

Asi es la vida.
#9 Anonymous on 2007-07-10 19:11 (Reply)
ha ha--heard the oracle once got sued for fraud. It was called the seer's sucker's suit.
#10 buddy larsen on 2007-07-10 19:48 (Reply)
Good one as always...
#11 Anonymous on 2007-07-10 19:51 (Reply)
But that's a strange turn-about, considering!
#12 Anonymous on 2007-07-10 19:57 (Reply)
The need to pun is not to be bothered with consistency requirements, or, really, human decency.
#13 buddy larsen on 2007-07-10 20:36 (Reply)
No glib answer to that really decent response. But I’ll not say anything more, since feelings matter everywhere.

When we send our daughters to Gaudi’s and El Greco's Spain, do they send theirs over here to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s and Wyeth's America?
#14 Anonymous on 2007-07-10 21:39 (Reply)

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