A cornucopia of impressions as I look back on the past two days. The overall impression is crowds; the crowds of greater Los Angeles and Orange County in the days of a week of holidays; and the crowds of thirty-million people in a relatively small area. I almost long for the smallness & loneliness of Vancouver.
Yesterday we went to the museum complex just south of the University of Southern California, where my daughter got her masters degree. We went to see the space shuttle but had no chance for the tickets were all taken and the lines lingered longer than patience or reason. So we wandered into the California African American Museum. No doubt it was founded as a protest statement; but with Obama in a second term it is now tame and almost wistful. I did enjoy the art exhibit of religious art–mostly a protest against the white religions that suppressed the blacks but now just another statement along a road travelled and won.
Today we went to see the movie Le Miserables but could not get in—all sold out. Instead we saw Cirque Du Soleil and a great movie it was–a repeat of the best of the Las Vegas shows on cinema and close up. The kids sat enthralled and intrigued.
Hence to that anachronism, Blockbuster where I choose Coriolanus. Me and the grandson sat down to watch with eager anticipation. Unfortunately, it started out too violent and loud. The daughter, ever suspicious of my taste, heard the sounds of war and came down screaming to yank the grandson from the fray. He had to listen to them fight upstairs instead while I watched Shakespeare. An extraordinary movie of a forgotten and neglected masterpiece. See it if you can.
So a few pictures of the past two days of impressions, sounds, music, and poetry.
