Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Across the Pond Top Ten: England

My next post of my study abroad: Top 10 things that I saw while in England. I'll probably do a top ten for most countries. I wanted to choose a top 10 overall, but I couldn't decide. Maybe after I've gone through each country I'll be able to narrow it down. Anyhow, without further ado, London!

10. Buckingham Palace
They had amazing statues and ornaments and gardens.
A bit overrated though.
9. Tower Bridge
Got to tour the thing. Pretty legit.

8. Hyde Park
These are some gates at the south end.
7. Millennium Bridge at night
Right next to Parliament, the Tate museum, and the Globe theater.
6.  221b Baker Street and The Sherlock Holmes Museum
They even had Sherlock Holmes profile tiles in the underground stop nearby
5. Tower of London
You  know they had their own zoo, with lions and all?

4. Henry V at the Globe Theater
Even though I had to stand, packed in with hundreds of other people, the whole 3 hours. It was worth it. I was even right next to the stage.

3. Big Ben and Westminster Abbey
Probably the most intense Baroque architecture I ever saw.

2. Les Miserables in the Queen's Theater
I'd never seen Les Mis live. It was incredibly fantastic in every way possible.
I stood in line for late tickets and got a decent seat for only £20. I passed up the 8th row center seat for £90 and gave it to the military guy from New Jersey in line behind me. 

1. Stonehenge
Bes£35 I ever spent.

 P.S. I chose not to include any Harry Potter references or sights. They would have taken up half the list. 

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Across the Pond 1: Museum Favorites

So. Here is the first in a series of posts about my Classics/Art History Study Abroad to Europe.
 
1: Museum Favorites

I've been kind and edited the pieces/art/pictures that may have unseemly depictions or exposure, despite the Laocoon and the Nike being incredibly fantastic and worth inclusion in this favorites post.

Achilles and Ajax playing dice : Rome 
Raphael's School of Athens: Vatican 
The Dying Goth: Vatican

Alexander vs. Darius mosaic

Atlas!

part of a Roman fresco : Greece

Heracles bossing a centaur: Florence

epic bronze chimera... thing: Florence
Copy of Michelangelo's David
(I did see the original, but that gallery didn't allow pictures - this was a replacement when the original was moved indoors for preservation from pigeons and pollution)

"Agamemnon's" gold burial mask: Athens

Zeus throwing lighting bold / Poseidon throwing spear : Athens

Bronze boy riding horse: Athens

Epic Greek black figure vase: Athens

Pericles!

Egyptian clay piece: Berlin

Socrates

Homer

Hermes / Mercury
 
Painting of the "classics" : Paris



Bronze Hermes / Mercury feet : Paris

Bronze Roman copy of Greek Marble Ares / Mars : Louvre

Adonis - "handsomest man"

Sphinx! : Louvre

Saturday, September 15, 2012

The Art of Time Lapse

Amazing! This John Eklund, spent the time and equipment to share this with the world for free, is purely ninja.

Monday, April 16, 2012

On Faith

Professor : You are a Christian, aren’t you, son ?

Student : Yes, sir.

Professor: So, you believe in GOD ?

Student : Absolutely, sir.

Professor : Is GOD good ?

Student : Sure.

Professor: Is GOD all powerful ?

Student : Yes.

Professor: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to GOD to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But GOD didn’t. How is this GOD good then? Hmm?

(Student was silent.)

Professor: You can’t answer, can you ? Let’s start again, young fella. Is GOD good?

Student : Yes.

Professor: Is satan good ?

Student : No.

Professor: Where does satan come from ?

Student : From … GOD …

Professor: That’s right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student : Yes.

Professor: Evil is everywhere, isn’t it ? And GOD did make everything. Correct?

Student : Yes.

Professor: So who created evil ?

(Student did not answer.)

Professor: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don’t they?

Student : Yes, sir.

Professor: So, who created them ?

(Student had no answer.)

Professor: Science says you have 5 Senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son, have you ever seen GOD?

Student : No, sir.

Professor: Tell us if you have ever heard your GOD?

Student : No , sir.

Professor: Have you ever felt your GOD, tasted your GOD, smelt your GOD? Have you ever had any sensory perception of GOD for that matter?

Student : No, sir. I’m afraid I haven’t.

Professor: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student : Yes.

Professor : According to Empirical, Testable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says your GOD doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.

Professor: Yes, faith. And that is the problem Science has.

Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Professor: Yes.

Student : And is there such a thing as cold?

Professor: Yes.

Student : No, sir. There isn’t.

(The lecture theater became very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don’t have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There was pin-drop silence in the lecture theater.)

Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Professor: Yes. What is night if there isn’t darkness?

Student : You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn’t it? In reality, darkness isn’t. If it is, well you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?

Professor: So what is the point you are making, young man ?

Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Professor: Flawed ? Can you explain how?

Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good GOD and a bad GOD. You are viewing the concept of GOD as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, Science can’t even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.

Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor, do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Professor: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shook his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument was going.)

Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor. Are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class was in uproar.)

Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor’s brain?

(The class broke out into laughter. )

Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor’s brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established Rules of Empirical, Stable, Demonstrable Protocol, Science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room was silent. The Professor stared at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Professor: I guess you’ll have to take them on faith, son.

Student : That is it sir … Exactly ! The link between man & GOD is FAITH. That is all that keeps things alive and moving.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Recent LOL and SRB moments

I'd like to share a few things that recently made me laugh out loud and smile real big.

The reviews on this site for Movies 8 Theater.

After blues dancing with some friends one evening, I had this experience which I then posted on Overheard @ BYU 's facebook page. It now has 150 likes.
"At Alpine Village, guy on the top floor talking into a megaphone, 'Dude! Get out of your car and walk her to her door!'"

This blog. Holy Cow this blog. Finish swallowing anything you might be eating/drinking and go to a room that allows noise before you read any of his posts, because you will burst out laughing and not be able to stop. It Just Gets Stranger.

A fantastic quote from a strange boy who has a youtube channel: "Oh, that new Lady Gaga song... it was like Madonna and the devil had a baby and that baby would not. stop. crying!"

A few different pictures:
Pinned Image
Pinned Image
^_^

Sweet song and video about improving the world by spreading 10 second good deeds- One Day.

A cover of Half of My Heart that is striking in multiple ways.

One of those rare scenes from Flight of the Conchords that is both hilarious and clean:

Epic song and band I am now in love with - Celtic Thunder.

You're welcome.