And the shore of your face will turn to bone

[sovay]

I am returned to New Haven. Driven by a dearth of science in my life lately, I spent much of yesterday afternoon with hans_the_bold at Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History. I'd been only once before, to look at the traveling exhibit on giant squid last year, and we'd had only about half an hour before the museum closed. (I will also admit that greygirlbeast had tweaked my curiosity about the Zallinger murals.) So we arrived around two o'clock, which was a little late for properly sunlit photography of the Torosaurus, but entirely appropriate for wandering around a small three-story museum, and stayed until they kicked us out. It was lovely.

In particular, I loved the Great Hall of Dinosaurs, the Hall of Mammalian Evolution, Fossil Fragments: The Riddle of Human Origins, and the Hall of Native American Cultures, which tells you how I feel about natural history museums: the beauty of bones and masks. Rudolph Zallinger's murals were as incredible as I had been promised, especially The Age of Reptiles—it might have come out of a vanished age of paleontology, but not of art.* There was also a very nice traveling exhibit on Machu Picchu and Inca culture, a rather impressive hanging model of a giant squid, and their permanent collection Daily Life in Ancient Egypt made me wish once again that I knew how to read hieroglyphs.** We took all sorts of photographs, none of which have yet been developed (because I still do not own a digital camera), but which I will undoubtably post when I have them. I am now the proud possessor of a poster of Zallinger's The Age of Reptiles. The real problem with museums is that they always leave me wanting degrees in about three other fields.

We wound up the day with High Plains Drifter, which was a beautifully apocalyptic and eerie ghost story disguised as a Western; with a little morality play and surrealism thrown in for good measure. I'd never seen any Clint Eastwood films before, unless Space Cowboys counts—which I'm sort of hoping it doesn't—so even though I've been warned that I'll be depressed for days afterward, I'm now very curious to see Unforgiven.

But first, Lucan.

*The murals are also still under copyright, so I had to figure out some way to photograph dinosaur bones without picking up the mural in the background; as I have no interest in getting my camera confiscated. We'll see if it worked when the photographs come back . . .

**Admittedly, this is a skill I could pick up once I have the time: it's not as though Yale doesn't have top-notch Egyptology. But couldn't they have had something in cuneiform or Greek, too?

Comments

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

The Peabody was the site of much of my childhood: we used to go quite often, but I've only been once since I've been adult enough to have the patience to read things and the like. But I was once one of those gizillions of excited children running around the Great Hall of Dinosaurs. The other favored exhibit was the rocks that glow under the I think black light up on the third floor.

But once again we have swapped locations almost perfectly: I just got back to Brandeis.

An off topic question- do you know of a good book or two on Norse mythology, for someone who doesn't know much about it yet? My sister was asking me, and I couldn't think of someone else to ask.

[sovay]

D'Aulaires' Norse Gods and Giants served me very well, if it's still in print; and it has terrific illustrations.

[spectre-general.livejournal.com]

The Torosaurus rocks my world. I walk by him everyday.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

The Peabody rocks. And so does Unforgiven. Amazing movie.

Pale Rider isn't bad either--it's a Western fantasy that's a logical outgrowth of High Plains Drifter. It's not as raw or as distressing, but it's interesting.

Unforgiven I love because it's so true, and so perfectly structured. And I also love it for reasons of craft that I will be happy to discuss with you once they're not spoilers. Frex, the fact that everybody in the movie is Bill Muny, which is a trick I *love.*

[sovay]

Unforgiven has been described to me as a Western in a hall of mirrors. I'd love to discuss it post-viewing.

[gwynnega]

Now I'm curious to see High Plains Drifter. I've never seen any Clint Westerns (though I've seen lots of his other films, i.e., the Dirty Harry movies).

[sovay]

I think I've had those recommended to me as well. Would you?

[gwynnega]

It's been many years since I've seen them. I do remember enjoying them, though they're pretty damn reactionary, politically speaking...

[benpeek.livejournal.com]

eastwood has done some good films, but not recently. anything around SPACE COWBOYS and after firmly tanks, though i didn't see his last. but that was because i hated MYSTIC RIVER so much. god, what an awful film.

but, that said, UNFORGIVEN is cool, probably one of his best. PALE RIDER is also worth watching, though it'll pale in comparison to the later film. as will solid things like THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES and a few others. one of my favourite eastwood films, though, that doesn't get much respect is A PERFECT WORLD, which is a thriller with kevin costner who kidnaps a little boy. i thought it was surprisingly affective, but maybe cause i just didn't expect much out of it. likewise, i thought ABSOLUTE POWER wasn't too bad--and begins eastwood's exploration of an aging protagonist.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

Do you like the glass flowers (at this other university)?

Nine

[sovay]

Oh, yes. Also their sea creatures, like nudibranchs and anemones: the Museum of Science exhibited those once.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

*The murals are also still under copyright, so I had to figure out some way to photograph dinosaur bones without picking up the mural in the background; as I have no interest in getting my camera confiscated. We'll see if it worked when the photographs come back . . .

I took loads of pix of the mural and no one seeemd to mind. Glad you went!

[sovay]

Glad you went!

Thanks for the recommendation! There will be photographs soon.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

When I was a kid I had a book with these really realistic- almost photographic- paintings of dinosaurs. Now I know that they were reproductions of the Zallinger mural. Thanks for the info!