Saturday, April 5, 2008

New "Battlestar Galactica" and A Trip For Some Culture NOT Found In Yogurt

Ok, so, the fourth season of Battlestar Galactica has started! Yay! FINALLY. It's been almost a YEAR people, not counting the Razor tv movie, which I don't because it doesn't suit my complaining purposes. So there. OMG, IT WAS REALLY GOOD. It ended like most BSG episodes end, on a big cliffhanger with me yelling, "Oh, FUCK YOU!" at the screen. That's how you know it was good.

Today, my mom and I headed to the art museum to check out the Frida Kahlo exhibit. I adore Frida. I really don't know that much about art, but I love her stuff. So, I was pretty excited. It was an AMAZING exhibit. They had all these photographs from her personal collection and you get the nifty little headphones so you can hear these mini art lectures about particularly significant paintings. (My only quibble was that I would have preferred the photographs AFTER the art. I can see why they placed the photos first, but I still think it would have been more coherent to see them after seeing her paintings.) It was crowded as all hell, but people were actually well-behaved! No one was a huge art hog. By "art hog," I mean, a giant asshole who plants his or herself RIGHT IN FRONT OF A PAINTING, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE, so no one else can fucking see it. This is particularly epidemic in front of works that are discussed in the recordings. It makes me want to punch people in the back of the head. PEOPLE! Stand off to the side! Turn your body a little sideways so you take up less space! Everyone else wants to see too! It's why we're here! We went to see the Salvatore Dali exhibit a few years ago and SO MANY people were total dicks, being art hogs and loud. This time, not so much. Perhaps Frida Kahlo fans are more reasonable. Although, I did spend a considerable amount of time in front of this painting: "Moses." But come on, wouldn't you? But I did find this out later, as mom and I were talking about the exhibit:

Me: People were pretty well-behaved this time, weren't they?
Mom: Yeah, except for that one girl. She was TOTALLY up your ass while you were looking at one of the paintings.
Me: Really? I didn't notice!
Mom: I thought she was going to shiv you!

Then we went to Borders, where I bought the latest issue of Supernatural magazine (Oh whatever, don't judge me.) and copies of The Secret Garden and Alice in Wonderland. I've never read Alice and have been wanting to reread Garden. So, yay! I had to pick through to find just the right covers. I would have really preferred to get them used, because then maybe I could've had a cover from the 60s or something, but I don't have a good used book store near me, more's the pity. I definitely judge a book by it's cover. (See also: Andrews, V.C., Original Covers of.) When dealing with classic novels, I prefer old covers. If that can't be achieved, I prefer the cheapest possible edition of the book. Not because I actually AM cheap, (though, kind of.) but because classic literature should totally be available cheaply. I LOVE the series that Barnes and Noble has of classic novels for like $5-or-less a pop. And they are ALWAYS having buy-two-get-one sales. And if possible, I ALWAYS want the Penguin editions, which is a publishing company specifically for making literature available at affordable prices. And they always print lesser-known, weird authors, which is fun. So, I ended up with the Signet edition of Alice, for $3.95 and the Puffin edition of Garden, which cost $6, but had a good cover. (Puffin is the kid's branch of Penguin.) Lovely! I DESPISE when covers of classic novels are "updated" with a modern photograph. UGH. As much as I loved the Keira Knightley film version of Pride and Prejudice, I would eat glass before I would purchase a copy of the book with a cover from the film. *gag* I think I bought my copy of P&P for like, a dollar at the used book store where I went to college. BOOK COVERS ARE SERIOUS BUSINESS, OK?

And if anyone is still reading after THAT boring diatribe, we then went to LUSH, which is probably my favorite store in the world. I am trying to cut down on the amount of weird chemicals that go in and around my body and LUSH is awesome for that. (I can cut down on the amount of chemicals in my toiletries so I can still eat at Taco Bell. God only knows what's in that food but mmmmm...)

Finally, we went for tea! We had the Royal Tea, which was scones and shortbread with cream and lemon curd, tea sandwiches: chicken salad, egg salad, seafood salad, cucumber and salmon and various cookies and pastries. AWESOME! Also, there was champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. I don't drink champagne, so I took a sip, made a face and gave it to my mom, who was only TOO HAPPY to take it. Heh. I drank four cups of tea, so I was a bit wired and prone to peeing for the rest of the afternoon. Will SOMEONE please invent a kind of tea that isn't a total diuretic? SERIOUSLY.

It was a great day.

And, if anyone can recommend a good biography of Frida Kahlo, that would be great. I've seen the movie and liked it. Mame? You know one? What with your obsession with celebrity bios? I mean, I'm sure it would be no Marlon Brando's Songs My Mother Taught Me, but really, what IS?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

First, OMG "Alice in Wonderland" is one of my all-time favorites, and I hope you love it!

Second, WHO doesn't like champagne?! Philistine!

Third, I, er, have a version of Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth on the cover. BUT HE IS AWESOME.

Anonymous said...

Frida Kahlo's journals are a must read. So is Martha Zamora's biography/art book. It's really well done with lots of pictures and photos; it's called "Frida Kahlo: The Brush of Anguish".

Bea said...

EGT, if I'm a philistine, you're a lush! HA!

A Firth exception can be made. Very well.

And thank you, anonymous commenter! I will check those out!