National Gallery of Art (22nd Mar)

Spring officially came on the 20th of March on the calendar but it didn’t get much warmer! I had to work the last weekend and got two days off on Tuesday and Wednesday (21st, 22nd March)… realized that I have not been doing much the whole of March and so decided to go downtown DC for a little walk. Spring is around the corner… as I walked out, I can already see new leaves on those bushes along my driveway!


Spring is here!

I decided to go to the National Gallery of Art again because I didn’t finish exploring the place 2 weeks ago (didn’t bring my camera along too!). As I said before… this place is huge! I spent a good afternoon looking at the numerous paintings in the West Building.

I guess I never really get to appreciate art back in Singapore… but that is probably because we never had much real art! Here in the museum, you get to see art from the 13th century Italian paintings to the 19th century French and Spanish paintings.


The National Gallery of Art, DC

One of the most famous paintings here is definitely Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci! This painting is in fact a double-sided painting… the only work by Leonardo da Vinci here.


Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci!!

The 13th century Italian art is quite interesting… almost all of them are paintings depicting scenes from the Christian religion like the Nativity (birth of Jesus), Madonna and Child.

There was a special exhibition featuring the art of Frans van Mieris (1635 – 1681) who was one of the most celebrated Dutch fijinschilders – “fine painters”. I really like his works where the paintings are so good that they look like photographs! Many of his works also depict scenes from common life and is filled with humorous social exchanges on love, courtship, and seduction… has to be seen to be appreciated!


One of the many galleries in the museum... i did at least 60+ of these!


Beautiful West Garden Court inside the building


One of the numerous Christian art in the museum

Finally, I took a extremely long walk (~30mins) to Georgetown, DC to take a look at DC’s supposedly most happening shopping area! I was pretty disappointed though… it’s far far far from Times Square in New York. Nevertheless, I had a rather peaceful evening sipping hot coffee while reading a magazine in Barnes & Nobles there.


Sun setting over Georgetown, DC

Itchy Panda!

Had a hectic week at work and haven't did anything remotely exciting except for playing a couple of poker games over the week! The version that is most popular in the United States is the Texas Hold'em. In fact it is so popular that it is considered a kind of sport! (you can catch poker games on cable tv channels like ESPN!!). I would say people here play poker as much as Singaporeans play majong and I was pretty lucky this week at poker! Won 2nd place in a 11-man table and 1st place in a 6-man table... let's hope the good luck continues! But I guess I'll do well not to indulge in it and get carried away! =P

Recently, I noticed that quite a number of people are using youtube to stream clips. I saw some pretty neat clips... cheer chen's mtvs, my colleague snowboarding clips and a friend's neat little blog! So I decided to contribute a funny little clip (itchy panda!) I got visiting the Woodley Zoo back in January... this panda got the whole crowd laughing!


*see how this panda cure its itch! this is so funny!*

Hockey: Washington Capitals 2-5 Ottawa Senators

Yet another uneventful week has passed… it has been a rather busy week at work. This weekend was an unusually warm and nice weekend! The temperatures were around 70°F (which is a nice 21°C!). Everybody was walking around in T-shirts (still need two-layers though) and those motorcyclists are out on the streets with their mean Harleys! We were even able to chill out on a pub’s balcony, enjoying a couple of beers in the cool evening on Friday (10th Feb). I’ll really look forward to springtime when weather like this is going to stay!

I was about to go downtown Washington DC after finishing writing an article for my upcoming company magazine on Sunday (12th Feb) when a roommate asked me if I would like to take over her pair of tickets to the Washington Capitals hockey game, she was unable to make it. I was quite surprised and glad at this offer and quickly took it up! When I took the ticket, I realized that the tickets are those $70 ones! ($70 each, mind you!). I managed to get John to go with me… I would really hate to waste one ticket going alone!

John gave me a ride to Bethesda, where we parked the car and went on the metro. It was a rather disappointing game where the Washington Capitals lost 2-5 against Ottawa Senators (do you know Ottawa is Canada’s capital?), but we had a good time… How can’t we, with a good view, a cold beer and such a nice weather! In fact, we were chatting so much that I only managed to catch three goals! (Two goals by the Capitals though!)

The next major sporting event that everyone here is talking about is the college basketball playoffs. In fact, it seems like college basketball is much more popular here in United States than NBA basketball! My boss, Anthony told me that we will be out a lot over the next two weeks watching college basketball. Well… this is certainly something to look forward too before spring comes! Plans for spring… first I’ll definitely be checking out the National Spring Blossom Festival in downtown DC! Hopefully, I’ll get my full driving license by then! =)

Dada!

The past 2 weeks has been pretty uneventful after my trip to New York City… more work but good learning, I can never be more happy with it! Over the weekend, I hitched a ride with my roommate to D.C and finally got my D.C driver’s learner’s permit set up! I am just one step closer to owning a car… very excited!

Since I was already downtown, I decided to go take a look in the National Gallery of Art, Washington… one of the many Smithsonian museums in the Mall area. Actually, I was trying to find some cheap eats around the area! Knowing that there are cafeterias in some of these museums, I chanced upon the National Gallery of Art (nearest to the Department of Motor Vehicles where I just got my permit and nearest place away from the cold!).

Like all Smithsonian museums, the National Gallery of Art is one big museum! Inside, you can see art students sketching the various artworks into their sketchbooks with their pencils… I feel that the people here appreciate art a lot more than back home.

I was fortunate enough to catch the Dada exhibition in the museum. The artworks are not conventional, and even shocking… The first Dada artists responded to the violence and trauma of World War I in their own unique way. I find the artwork pretty grim… many paintings depict people in gas masks, with artificial limbs and stuff. I guess the main idea is to shock you to get your attention and get your mind thinking about various issues like war and politics.


L.H.O.O.Q. by Marcel Duchamp. See, that's Dada art!

Here’s a pretty neat little quote by dadaist artist, Tristan Tzara:

To make a dadaist poem

Take a newspaper.
Take a pair of scissors.
Choose an article as long as you are planning to make your poem.
Cut out
the article.
Then cut out each of the words that make up this article and
put them in a bag.
Shake it gently.
Then take out the scraps one after
another in the order in which they left the bag.
Copy conscientiously.
The poem will be like you.
And here you are a writer, infinitely
original and endowed with a sensibility that is charming though beyond the
understanding of the vulgar.

Tristan Tzara, 1920