Pod Theater

I love the Sunday NYT because I find so many yummy things going on. In yesterday's Arts and Leisure section, I read about Nancy Bannon's project. She seats individual audience members in pods and has them interact with individual actors for approximately 3 minutes. Inspired by an encounter in a subway, she wanted to call attention to paying attention to others. She finds the experiences to be intensely intimate and potent.

Positive Psychology

I don't know whether the pursuit happiness can be treated as a science, but I think that introducing college students to strategies for finding joy and peace is worthwhile byproduct of the theory. In "Happiness 101", the NYT magazine (in which I always seem to find nifty ideas) reports on classes taught in more than 200 colleges and grad schools on the science of happiness. Students are taught to maximize their happiness by embracing civic engagement and spiritual connectedness.

Cool movement

The documentary Last Dance records the collaboration of Maurice Sendak and Pilobolus on a dance inspired by the holocaust. The improvisiation of the dancers was magical to behold. My favorite movement was one which seemed to tap into the heart chakra my yoga teacher talks so much about. The family dancer crouched on the pelvis of the male dancer with has back to the floor. She placed her hand over his heart and he arched upwards. My breath caught in my throat. I think it was that move which inspired Sendak's choice of a heart-covered unitard for the male dancer.

Superheroes

The Minneapolis Arts Museum offers a drawing class for children with the theme of Superheroes. The children go to the collection for inspiration and then create their own superheroes. The class teaches them how to engage art and how to appreciate the museum.

A Cardinal's Dwarf

We were looking at a painting today, Panini's "Interior of a Picture Gallery," when a woman muttered, "What is that?" We looked more closely at the painting which depicted the many arts works belonging to a cardinal (Because of course someone from the church should be surrounded by worldly possessions). It turned out tha the object of her attention was a small male figure male dressed very much like the cardinal in the painting. We asked the docent conducting the tour: "Is that little boy? Or is it a dwarf?" She casually responded, "Oh, that. He's the cardinal's dwarf" and then moved on as if we should all have known that cardinals often had dwarfs in their courts.

Armed and Famous

I've watched more than my fair share of Cops episodes and I like Dancing with the Stars, but Dancing with Cops? I just can't see it working. But then again, strangers shows have caught my fancy.

Flights

Wine, beer, tequila, scotch flights. You can sample a variety without getting too trashed to drive.