Morgan Library and Babar

On Friday (19th) I attended the free night (7-9 PM) at the Morgan Library and Museum, which I've been to several times before. I've always been very happy with their collections and exhibitions; it's a small museum so one can get through in an hour or so, and the quality of the permanent Morgan library and study rooms, as well as the other exhibitions, is always very high. It is like a mini-Metropolitan.
Friday was the first day of the new exhibit called Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors. I loved it! I had not picked up a Babar book in years, and even when I was young I didn't read many of the series, for some reason, but I did have a small (8 inches tall or so) Babar elephant doll in my room for years. Elephants are my favorite animal, of course!
Anyways, the watercolors and drawings from various books in the series were cute and funny, and the text of some of the stories (in French and English) were as good as the pictures, rendered with the perfect blend of lightheartedness and gravity! I laughed out loud at least 20 times throughout the night. There's an amusing scene in one book at the end--apparently a dream of Babar's--of flying, winged, angelic-looking elephants representing the virtues, and opposing them are a multitude of flying ugly creatures (the best: a flying pig with a weird long snout, absolutely hysterical-looking) representing the vices. There's a monkey character, a friend of Babar and his family (he has two mischievous kid-elephants), named Zephir, who rather resembles Curious George. It turns out that both monkey characters were created by (different) Frenchmen in the '30s, so I wouldn't wonder if Rey (Curious George author) was partially inspired by Jean de Brunhoff's work. There's also a mischievous cousin named Arthur in some of the books, younger than Babar, who is a 'perpetual adolescent.' For some reason he reminded me of the 'Cousin Oliver' from the Brady Bunch, lol.
[My sister, Anna, has allegedly signed on to pen a series revolving around a French baby ferret wearing a cap, to the right. Doesn't Sylvester look thrilled?]


Definitely check the exhibit out before it ends in January; also see www.themorgan.org.

Not a Time-Waster!

Miss Arrested Development as much as I do? Take the following quiz, then go watch the DVDs again.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php?q=233

Spacewalk by Chinese astronaut

Why isn't this surprising?

CNN article here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/09/27/china.space.orbit/index.html?iref
=mpstoryview

Just another impetus for the U.S. to get moving on our space program.

Newman's Legacy

Mr. Newman was a silver screen legend. He passed away from cancer at the age of 83, on Friday, Sept. 26. My favorite movies in which he starred were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (with Robert Redford) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (with Elizabeth Taylor).

Newman's philanthropy is well known and lauded. And what's also commendable is that in a society increasingly intent on invading movie stars' private lives and dissecting their marriages, he managed to guard his privacy. It's refreshing to learn that unlike many stars (and people in general), he steadfastly stayed true to his wife (first and only) throughout his marriage; here's a quip of his regarding infidelity that I like: "Why would I go out for a hamburger when [I] have steak at home?" he asked.
Here's the CNN article commemorating him:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/09/27/paul.newman.dead
/index.html

The Good News

A WSJ article by David Skeel is posted on this site:

http://www.livingfreetoday.org/blog/wordpress/?p=234

The article talks about C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity (Lewis wrote the Narnia series but also was a prolific Christian commentator) and about the similar books published since that one that have sought to explain and defend Christianity. (Lewis' book was highly influential and has been used by many Christians to help evangelize others, meaning to share the good news of Christ with them.) I am especially eager to draw notice to Skeel's article because he commends a recent publication by the reverend at my church, Redeemer Presbyterian, here in New York City. www.redeemer.com (I shall have to post my own comments on Keller's book in a later post, but suffice it to say for now that I really enjoyed it.)

Read an excerpt of Skeel's article here:

"As it turns out, Tim Keller’s “The Reason for God” (2008), the book recommended by my friend, is the best of the “Mere Christianity” wannabes. Mr. Keller argues that the usual objections to Christianity—that it is a straitjacket, that there cannot be just one true religion—are themselves the product of a particular (secular Western) point of view. He then builds an affirmative case for Christianity, suggesting that the Big Bang and our appreciation of beauty are clues pointing to God and that Christ’s resurrection was so unlikely both to Greeks and Romans (who viewed the material world as weak and corrupt) and to Jews (who expected any resurrection to come at the end of time) that it cannot be dismissed as the clever marketing strategy of a new religion. If this sounds a little like N.T. Wright, it isn’t accidental: Mr. Keller draws liberally from him, as well as Lewis, Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga (a professor at Notre Dame) and others. “The Reason for God” is as sensible and winsome as one would expect from the pastor of a latticework of churches that draw more than 5,000 attendees in New York City every Sunday, most of them young, single, urban professionals. But it too is no “Mere Christianity.” It does not have the original arguments or the magical prose of Lewis’s classic."

I'm not sure I would agree with the reasoning behind Skeel's last comment, that it doesn't have the original arguments of Lewis' book. That seems flawed logic to assume that ANY book about Christianity has original arguments for why Christianity is the truth -- all arguments have been discussed and taught for 2,000 years. Lewis' book may have presented the material in a stand-out way so as to attract noteworthy attention (including using his 'magical prose') in his time period, but certainly the inherent messages he was conveying was nothing new. At any rate, the good thing is that it was successful, and the people of his day, including many in our modern society, perked up their ears and took in the Christian message (the real Good News).
And also, Skeel's article is still a compliment for Keller. I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of Keller's and/or Lewis' books today!

Volunteer Cause

'Cause I said so... (get it? wordplay)

I'm a member of the Hearing Loss Association of America, Manhattan Chapter. (Our national HQ is in Bethesda, Maryland, and we have over 200 chapters around the country and all members are volunteers.) This organization is very important to me because I actually have a hearing disability. Some people who meet me don't even realize that, which is testament to how well my cochlear implant works and how much I'm able to lip-read. (Perhaps more on that hearing device in another blog posting. Also, in case you're wondering, the monkey in this picture has nothing to do with this topic.)

I'm the new editor of our chapter's newsletter, called the News and Views (yes, I'm thinking of trying to get that very un-original name changed). My premier issue was published in Sept. 2008, and is online at our Web site, www.hearingloss-nyc.org. I urge you to check it out. (Go to "chapter news" on the left, then scroll down to News and Views.)

You may not know how many people actually do suffer from hearing loss: at least 31 million in the U.S., and the number is growing because of the high proportion of aging 'baby boomers' as well as the prevalence of soldiers returning from war with hearing damage and head injuries. Not to mention the fact that many people disregard the controllable factors that put them at increased risk of developing hearing loss: exposure to loud noise, smoking (wow, reason #4,683 to stop!), and diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure).

So, by the way, if you also have hearing loss, or know someone who does, encourage them to visit the national Web site (www.hearingloss.org) and our local Manhattan Chapter. We're devoted to improving awareness and education about this "silent disability," and we advocate for benefits like more accessible technology.

It's Like Apples and Pumpkins

Some APPLE- AND PUMPKIN-PICKING ORCHARDS in the NYC Area

...now, to figure out how to get out to these places without a car...

Maskers Orchards

Warwick, New York: free parking, free baskets, and free eat-what-you-pick apples. 15 types of apples and even pumpkins. Stop by any weekend in fall for horse-drawn wagon rides and pony rides.

Maskers Orchards – 45 Ball Road, Warwick, NY 10990

Hours: Mondays through Sundays from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

The Queens County Farm Museum

Includes a maize maze, pumpkin picking, and apple harvests. Animal-petting sessions, Halloween treats, and fresh-pressed cider are also here.

Queens County Farm Museum – 73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Floral Park, NY 11004

Hours: Mondays through Fridays from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. and Saturdays through Sundays from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

Wright’s Apple Farm

A popular Hudson Valley farm with apples, pumpkins, squash, peaches, and apple sauces, jams, and jellies.

Wright's Apple Farm – 699 Route 208, Gardiner, NY 12525

Hours: Mondays through Sundays from 8:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.

Farm suggestions from DancingMeatballs.com (If that's not a weird name, I don't know what is.)

Out Of Her League

Why did McCain pick her to begin with? Just for the woman factor? This article highlights how even the critics who liked her in the past have shifted their views...
Funny/ noteworthy:
"She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness." (by commentator David Brooks)
Then again, if she were to step down from the ticket like some are urging, who is going to replace her? And could she cost McCain a chance for the presidency? The Democrats already weren't going to vote for her/McCain, and now many Republicans are turned off by her, so... McCain should really get a more credible and experienced running mate. He's already at a disadvantage because of Obama's accusations that 4 years of McCain = 4 more years of Bush, a vastly unpopular figure. But will she do it? That, I seriously doubt. After all, let's not forget that her fierce doggedness -- the very thing that would keep her in the race despite the criticism -- is one of the qualities that, at least initially, much of the public found so captivating and impressive.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/26/palin-should-step-down-conservative-
commentator-says/

A Wild Moose Chase

I love the New Yorker magazine. The mix of articles and reviews, definitely the cartoons. However, there's one particularly humorous article in the Sept. 22 issue, in the Shouts & Murmurs department, by George Saunders, that is such a must-read I'm posting the link below. The article mocks Sarah Palin's speeches, for one thing. A sample tidbit:

"But do you know what the difference is between a dead moose with lipstick on and a dead moose without lipstick?

Lipstick.

Think about it."

Read on for yourself. Go ahead, I dare you not to crack up with laughter!

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2008/09/22/080922sh_shouts_saunders