The Odyssey

 Well, we saw The Odyssey yesterday in IMAX.

It was fine. Which is sad; it might have been amazballs.

Here are my positive criticisms:

1. It was pretty
2. It told the story in an interesting way
3. Robert Paterson was enjoyably over-the-top but in character
4. It was a decent retelling of an ancient story

Here are my negative criticisms:

1. This isn't ONLY tied to the Odyssey, but it painfully obvious here - American (and now British) movies are so much happier showing gore and blood over sex. All the sex in the movie has been restoryed: Circe is now a hag witch, not a beautiful witch Odysseus shags. They have desexed Calliope - and wasted Charlize Theron as a new-age healer instead of the sex demanding lover she was. But the fighting, the stabbing, the blood, it goes on and in great detail. I think it is some bizarre fetish that encompasses all but a few movies and TV shows.
2. There is almost no mention of the Greek Gods and how they use humans to fight their grievances by proxy. Athena haunts Odysseus like depression in a Valtrex commercial. Annoying and ethereal.
3. Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway are both excellent, but both are too big for their roles. You always see Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, not Odysseus and Penelope. The desexing of their characters gives them nothing to play with except stoicism. Wane, brooding, boring, stoicism.

Here is a comment:

1. I think, with only a bit of pot, you could make this a great Rocky Horror type of call and response show. Every island they go to, the crew has to turn and run back to the ship. Odysseus usually yells, "Back to the Ship!", but all I heard was Monty Python screaming, "Run away! Run Away!"
1. I think you take a shot every time someone talks about "Zeus' Rule of Hosting". Guaranteed fun.
2. Lesson for the ship's crew: If you see a 7-foot baby screaming in the woods, do not run after it.
3. Lesson for the ship's crew: Don't enter random caves.
4. Lesson for the ship's crew: You walk past wild animals like lions, ligers, and cheetahs that only stare at you as you walk towards a pile of rubble - maybe stop and think, "humm, is something wrong here?"
5. Lesson for us all: Don't piss off Poseidon.

The School At Taliesin

 So I shoved the images of Frank Lloyd Wright's home at Taliesin, but there was also a school and it was pretty cool.

It was started in the 1920s, and was added to and changed up through the end of his life in the 1980s. It was still used as a school until the 1990s.

The drafting room, looking from the front to the south.

Same room, but now looking north. You can see all the north face skylights to let in indirrect light.

Ok, I loved the statues

Looking down into the dining room

I do love the final iteration of these lights in the dining room.

The Theater

The theater

A Visit to Taliesin

 When we were in Madison, we took a day trip out to Taliesin. This was Frank Lloyd Wright's home and where he founded his first school. It was a nice trip. Here are some pictures.

This is the house from just below. He built it on a slope of land, not at the very top, but high enough to have great views.

As you enter the house from the vehicle gate, you pass through an interior space that functions as a entry way.

Another view of the entry way outdoor room. The house entrance is behind me in this picture. The building to the right was Wright's studio and later home office to meet with clients.

The interior of his office, where he would meet with clients.

This is a seating area in his office. The lamp in the right forground is stunning.

This is the living/gathering room in the main house. There is built in seating around the perimeter with side tables, where students and visitors could eat.

A different view of the main room. Here, the built-in item is designed to hold music for a quartet. It is lovely, but apparently a pain in the behind to use. 

A view from inside the front room looking across the valley. All the windows mean that it was cold in the winter, and the family was often in Arizona during that season.

Wright's wife's bedroom, looking out.

A converted house entrance was turned into a study, with this alcove that was designed to showcase some of his shells that provide inspiration. They look back at the entrance outdoor room.

I have a new post up on my substack: Intersection of Geography and Economics.

 I wrote a new post on my Substack. It is a fascinating look at a letter from a family of Germans in Hitler's Germany to a family here before WWII. No points for guessing which family. POST

The 4H crowd showing the swine

The kids showing pigs were told to keep eye contact on the judge.  They scared me.

 

 

 

The Dane County Fair

We went to the Dane county fair.

Our sister-in-law’s niece competed.

 

Michela.  Our sister-in-law’s niece.

Fwd: Witches Gulch

Great walk today in the Wisconsin Dells