Your mission is to recommend places we should go and things we should see. And I don't want answers like "The Vatican." I want answers like "In Rome, on the corner of A Street and B Street, there's a cafe. You absolutely must try their Dish X."

We'll do as many as we can, and I'll give you a round-up of the results not long after we get back. Thanks!

Posted in Attraction, Bar, Food, Museum, Restaurant, tour, your mission by Laura | 0 comments

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About

Friday, June 12, 2009

You can get reviews of the newest and hottest books, movies, and restaurants anywhere, but where do you go to hear about chain restaurants, library finds, several-year-old DVDs, or even tourist traps? Just because it's old or ever-present doesn't mean it's not new to you -- and you deserve to read the reviews in advance even then. So if it's new to me, I'll tell you what I think.

Who am I? I'm Laura, a married New Yorker and sometime cube monkey. Old posts follow me from being in a long term, often long-distance relationship, and through my engagement. They also follow me from when I lived in Philadelphia (where I grew up), and on several vacations, as my now-husband and I love travel and good food. As for occupation, you can go back to when I was in grad school, and watch me put up with periods of unemployment and cube-monkey-ism.

If you look over to your right, you'll see a Twitter feed. Feel free to follow me -- among other things, I post there when I post, and when I update old blog posts. And if you want to know a bit more about me, personally, check out my other blog at Life is (not) Boring -- or, if you're really patient with sporadic updates, check out my thoughts on writing at Writers Write.

And enjoy browsing! I'd love to know your thoughts on some of the things I've tried and shared -- especially if they've changed since I've been there. Thanks!

Posted in Attraction, Book, CD, DVD, Food, Housekeeping, Movie, Museum, Restaurant, Television, Theater, tour, Video by Laura | 0 comments

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The Dark Knight

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Image by Craig Grobler via Flickr

The Dark Knight

2008, on IMAX

You should know

After quite a bit of hassle, Brian and I got tickets to a Friday night showing at the Franklin Institute (aside: I don't care how hip they're trying to be, I will not call it "The Franklin").

We had some time before the show, so we ducked into the gift shop. Brian got an Astronaut Ice Cream for nostalgia's sake. I tried a taste of it, since I had never had it before. It took me a moment to figure out why I recognized it -- it tastes like the "marshmallows" in kids' cereal. Not relevant; just interesting.

Also, let me just say that there are certain things in life that I just don't need to see four stories tall. So I'm going to have to wait 'til the movie comes out on video before I can witness the "pencil trick" we've all heard so much about (and, let's face it, you've probably seen already...). I've said in previous weeks that blood doesn't really bother me, and it doesn't. But when I'm watching ER or Grey's Anatomy, I can watch all the surgeries, with their squishy battered organs, and be fine. But I can't watch injections or incisions. They squick me out.

A bit of advice

You know how when a long line is expected, there tends to be winding barricades? Velvet ropes, or metal rails, or those elastic band things? And you know how when the line is kind of short, people tend to just duck under them and head right for the line?

Yeah. I don't do that. Why? Because I don't want to cut in front of the poor sap who's actually following the rules. And I really resent it when someone who's too lazy to walk around in a circle for five seconds gets to cut in front of me when I'm following the rules.

So please. Just follow the line. And if that means someone cuts in front of you... well, I can't in good conscious advise you to tell them off, but I'll sure smile if you do...

But seriously. Two wrongs don't make a right, if you'll forgive a cliche, but if enough people do the right thing, the rest will either follow or get ostracized. Either way.

But you're just here for Batman, so....

So?

Intense. Dark and suspenseful and just intense.

Gotham is starting to get used to the idea of Batman. Street gangs imitate him and attack petty thieves. Organized crime struggles to stay out of his sight. The city is inspired to elect a "white knight" of a District Attorney in Harvey Dent. And a new villain, calling himself the Joker, relishes the elevation that Batman has brought to the battle between order and chaos. Joker loves chaos.

Dealing with these three larger-than-life characters are Jim Gordon, one of the last noble cops left in Gotham; Rachel Dawes, Bruce Wayne's childhood best friend and recent ex-girlfriend, who left Bruce when he chose Batman over her and has since started dating Dent; and Lucius Fox, one of the geniuses of Wayne Industries and the man responsible for the Batmobile. Oh, yeah, and Alfred the Butler.

Have I got this right when I say that Joker is Chaotic Evil, Batman is Lawful Good (at least, according to his own moral code), and Dent is Lawful Neutral? My Geek-fu is not strong.

But I may up it through this: Two-Face was appropriately grotesque, but I couldn't help thinking he looked like Jonah Hex.

Rating

See it...
Assuming, of course, that you haven't already, and that you can handle some very intense, violent, and occasionally heartbreaking scenes. It does its job very well, but it has a completely different job than anything involving Adam West ever did.

The rest of the Internet

Beware of spoilers...
Andy at Selections From the Scrolls of the PlatinumWarlock deems Iron Man the superior superhero movie, but The Dark Knight the better movie.
Michael Clayton and moviejohn at BlogCritics wax enthusiastic, while Craig Lyndall warns against overhype.
The IMDb and Wikipedia pages.

Posted in 2008, advice, Brian, Movie, Museum, Theater by Laura | 0 comments

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The Barnes Foundation

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Image via Wikipedia
The Barnes Foundation
300 N. Latch's Lane
Merion, PA 19066-1729

You should know
Chris and I did our undergrad right by the Barnes, and various professors had raved about it, but we had never gone. The city is trying to move the collection, and I wanted to visit before this happens. We didn't think we'd get tickets ($10) -- it was a bit more last minute than the website recommends (30-60 days in advance is recommended). Still, Chris made the call and we got the tickets. Also, Chris and I both really like impressionism and many of its offshoots, like pointillism, early cubism, and certain examples of abstract expressionism.

So?
The tickets are timed -- we had an appointment for 11:00 AM. I thought this would be perfect, as guided tours of the grounds are scheduled for 11:15. Unfortunately, these tours don't start until late April, and I can see why. We roamed the grounds a bit ourselves, and while the gardens were well-manicured and the trees were in full bloom, not much else was. It was somewhat underwhelming, though I can tell it will be amazing this summer.

So instead we began wandering through the collection. Unlike a typical art museum, the collection is not organized by artist or movement, and there are no plaques on the wall to give you the relevant details. We went through a few rooms utterly lost, then tracked back when we discovered the laminated room maps that describe the works on each wall. It still only gave us titles and artists, but it helped.

We made it through about two-thirds of the museum this way before our 1:00 PM tour of the collection. It was intriguing; what appears at first glance to be a pretty haphazard setup it actually very deliberate. Dr. Albert C. Barnes was very interested in art education, going as far as to hold art appreciation lessons for his employees, paid, on company time. He spent millions on his collection, and in retrospect got some phenomenal bargains to boot. He didn't even necessarily like everything in his collection, but he wasn't selecting it for aesthetic purposes, but rather for education purposes, so if it had a place in the lesson, he acquired it. Even if you don't understand exactly what Barnes was going for in a particular room, there is a lot of really impressive symmetry: a matched set of two paintings may flank a center work, or you may see an early and late work by the same artist across the room from each other.

Our docent was very knowledgeable, and while I don't think I retained as much as I might have liked, we still learned quite a lot (for instance, I didn't know that El Greco is sort of the patron saint of modern art).

After the tour, though, we were pretty tired. We tried to revisit the rooms we hadn't made it to on our first walk-through, but we were just beat. After a quick stroll around the grounds, we headed out.

Rating
Go while you can.
I'm not saying the new location won't be amazing. I'm not even saying the new location will actually happen. But definitely go soon, just to be on the safe side.

Also, try to go in late spring. And if you do, take some pictures of the gardens for me?

A bit of advice
Bring a sweater. No, really. It says to on the website, but I forgot -- and I was freezing the entire time I was there.

The rest of the Internet
Some of these sites include pictures from the collection, which may include nudes.
The Friends of the Barnes Foundation are working to prevent the relocation.
Check out the collection of New York Times articles on the Barnes.
Kate Strathmann at Off Center reflects on the collection and the relocation.
Miscellany Inc. has a three part series about the Barnes.
NPR tours the Barnes and discusses the move.
KT at The Finer Things Club discusses the setup of the displays.

Posted in advice, Attraction, Chris, Museum, Pennsylvania by Laura | 1 comments

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American Museum of Natural History

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West and 79th St.
New York, NY

You should know
I was one of those kids. You know the type. Books about dinosaurs, toy dinosaurs, TV shows about dinosaurs… About the only thing I know how to draw with any competence (at least, in non-stick-figure form) is a dinosaur. And to this day, I am completely enthralled by the fossilized skeletons in museums.

I also like museums in general. Whether it’s history, art, nature, or the combination of any of the above, I want to see and learn as much as possible. I’m strange like that.

So when Chris came to visit me in New York, I insisted we check The Museum of Natural History out.

So?
We accidentally went through the big skeletons section of the museum backwards. This actually worked out really well, because we consistently went in the opposite directions as the crowds. Sure, it was still packed, but this helped in a strange way.

The Big Bang and Scales of the Universe sections were neat because the people around us (strangers all) were making comments and commenting on our comments. It was fun.

Not all the visitors were that canny. A true exchange:

Sign next to skeleton: This is why it’s not true that Stegosaurus had two brains.
Little kid: Daddy, what does that say?
Dad: It says Stegosaurus had two brains.
Me (sotto): Kill me…

Now, I was a bit disappointed that all the temporary exhibits cost extra. I know that’s typical, but most museums I’d been to have had maybe one exhibit that costs extra, but the others – even the temporary ones – are included in the price of admission. Still, we didn’t have a ton of time, so this worked out all right.

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. You should definitely consider going during the week, and if you can get any kind of discount (student, coupon, whatever), you should use it; general admission is $14.

A bit of advice
I have a special request for all museum-goers. If you are bringing your child/ren to a museum filled priceless fossils and artifacts, please, please don’t let your children run around in their wheeled sneakers. There is no way it can end well.

Rating
Check it out
There are two factors that led to me attending in the first place: the museum’s place in New York culture, and the dinosaurs. I’m a complex person; what can I say? But the culture and the dinosaurs both lived up to the hype, so if you’re interested in either, you should put this on your list of New York attractions to visit.

The rest of the Internet
The Wikipedia page.

Posted in advice, Attraction, Chris, Museum, New York by Laura | 0 comments

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

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