Month: March 2015

Nothing to see here…

Click the sad scene to see it at full size.

As my friend Lisa Goldman (who pointed me to this photo) put it, I hope that they’re Googling some facts about the baroque masterpiece that they appear to be ignoring. In case you’re wondering, it’s Rembrandt’s The Night Watch.

…or is there? [An update]

Matthias Bauer pointed me to this article in The Uncatalogued Museum, which asks what we see in the picture at the top of this article. Its author, Linda Norris, posted photos taken the same day, showing the kids also absorbed in the art, takes notes on paper, and reading field study guides and other material on the art in the museum. If the kids had their noses in books instead of smartphones, she asks, would we be so quick to roll our eyes?

Yes, smartphones are wonderful devices for entertainment and chit-chat, but as tiny bundles of computing power, networking capability, and all kinds of sensors, they’re also tools for learning, creativity, and getting stuff done. As I said earlier, there’s always a chance that the kids were looking up information on the things they were seeing in the museum. They may have been using their phones as notepads (I do this all the time, as I can back it up, and in the long run, it’s far more portable than a paper notebook). Some of them may have taken photos of pieces they liked, perhaps to enjoy later as “desktop wallpaper”; I myself did this during my last trip to the nearby Dali Museum.

Of course, they may have been chatting with friends or playing the game du jour — and I’d bet good money that at least some of them were. And hey, as a middle-aged force of darkness (it sounds so much more badassed than “person of color”), it’s my right to rant about “kids today”, and especially first-world white kids who get to see some of the world’s most famous chef d’oeuvres on a school field trip.

Found via Sean Silcoff.

The business trip is drawing to a close, and I had to bid farewell to my new best friend this morning:

Click the photo to see it at full size.

I kept the accordion that got me the car in the first place, but I had to return the Camaro. Even the rental car pickup guys were impressed; I guess it doesn’t get out much.

As a way of saying goodbye, I blasted this song out of the stereo while zipping down the Mass Pike this morning — a song that will likely never be played in the car again, as it’s pretty unknown outside Canada:

For my American friends into ’80s alt-rock, this song might be more meaningful:

Click the chart to see it at full size.

See the original at Medium Large.

Found via Enno Park.

Click the photo to see it at full size.

I’m in Concord, Massachusetts this week to pay a visit to the head office of my employer, GSG. Concord’s a bit of a hike from Logan Airport in Boston, so work arranged for me to rent a mid-size car.

When I got to the garage, the guy saw the accordion and asked if I could play him a tune. One AC/DC number later, he said “For that, you get a free upgrade. Take any car from those two aisles.”

One particular one caught my eye. “Any one?” I asked, just to make sure.

“I know which one you’re talking about,” he said. “Take it.”

And so I did. It’s the car pictured above. It’s a couple of stripes (and one Autobot) shy of Bumblebee, so I’ve dubbed it The Yellow Peril.

I put the one Boston rock station I remember on the stereo and put her through her paces on I-90 and 95. She handles rather nicely.