Way beyond beautiful...

 According to my west coast brother, who finds these interesting facts for me, on this date in 1498 Michelangelo was commissioned to create his sculpture "Pieta."  I imagine that most of you are familiar with this lifesize, hauntingly beautiful sculpture of Mary holding the dead Jesus in her arms after his crucifixion, at least from pictures.  

It is housed in the Vatican now and I was fortunate enough to see it on my last trip to Italy.  It is, as I said, beautiful because of the subject, but, I think that, even if you had no knowledge of the New Testament and no idea who Mary and Jesus were, no emotional attachment to the work at all, you could not fail to appreciate what an excellent work of art it is.  The strange calmness on Mary's face, the tendons, sinews and bones visible in the almost skeletal body of Jesus all testify to the amazing talent of Michelangelo.  

The sculpture is now protected by a bullet proof glass screen after it was vandalized in 1972, but even with the glass in front of it, it is easy to appreciate and even marvel at the skill it must have taken to create it. 

As it happened, on that same trip to Italy, we visited a museum (I think in MIlan) where I saw another, unfinished, version of the Pieta also by Michelangelo.  This sculpture wasn't behind glass and I was able to walk all around it and see not only the polished surfaces of the finished product but the remains of the carrara marble block from which this one was being carved and chisel marks not yet smoothed away.  I am not referring to the Rondanini "unfinished" Pieta which was from Michaelangelo's later years and left that way deliberately.  In that sculpture Mary is standing and holding Jesus upright, as if just taken down from the cross.  The one I remember had Mary in the same seated position as the famous Pieta. 

Years before I ever traveled outside the US, I lectured in Art History at the Fort Wayne Art School (later part of IPFW).  I used slides in most of my lectures (it was the good old days) and later in my life, when I was able to travel to many places in Europe, it was always a thrill to see the originals of those slides.  Seeing the Pieta was one such unforgettable experience.  

good eating...

 My west coast brother has once again supplied me with an interesting bit of information.  Did you know that on this date in 1958 Chicken Ramen was introduced?  It's true.  Momofuku Ando, a Taiwanese-Japanese businessman and founder of Nissin Foods invented instant raman noodles in 1958.  I'm not going to go into all of the history except to say that ramen noodles had been around for a long long time.  It was the idea of 'instant' noodles that was brand new.  

College students and any young people living on a tight budget have applauded this invention ever since.  Ramen noodle packets are still one of the cheapest things you can buy in a grocery store.  

And it doesn't stop with young people.  At every point in my life when I have lived alone, ramen noodles have been one of my stand bys.  I especially like the chicken flavor.  I have even served them to my wonder spouse once or twice.  

The thing about ramen noodles is that they can become delicious and filling meals all by themselves or with some enhancements.  I used to add chopped up cooked pork or chicken (whatever I had leftover).  As an alternative, I would stir in a raw egg while the ramen was boiling and make egg drop soup.  Now you know my secret ramen recipes. 

So on this very special day let's all toast Momofuku Ando, preferably with sake or plum wine.  Cheers and thank you Mr. Ando, for your wonderful invention.  

Keep on keeping on...

 My west coast brother has informed me that, on this date in in 1456 the first printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed.  He then went on to say that it took Gutenberg four years to complete the plates and questioned whether we are that persistent anymore. I agreed that with the ability to have next day delivery of just about anything we want or need, patience and persistence don't seem to be necessary virtues in our daily lives.

However, I do know of one project that has been being worked on for the last several years and isn't finished yet. I have visited the Crazy Horse Memorial three times over the last 40 years and have definitely seen progress, but so slowly.  If this isn't an example of patience and persistence I don't know what is.  When you next travel through South Dakota you should definitely stop and visit this monument.  After which, if you feel the need of refreshment, by all means stop at Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD for free ice water and the chance to purchase anything you could possibly need or want. 

The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization.

The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion.

spreading some joy

 I had a delightful encounter with a two year old girl this afternoon.  It only lasted a few minutes but we both came away smiling.  

My spouse and I had gone to Parkview Regional hospital to visit with his brother who is happily on his way to recovery.  

As we were leaving my spouse realized that he had forgotten to give his brother something and went back to his room.  Since it was a long way back there, I sat down in a little waiting area to wait for him.  

A young mother, Amish or Menonite by her dress, and her little girl were sitting in the same area.  The mom and I chatted a little bit and then the girl showed me her 'balloon.'  Her daddy, who wasn't there at the momenent, had blown up a blue surgical glove and it really made quite a nice little balloon, very sturdy and a perfect size for a two year old.

The child and I played with that balloon for about five minutes. We wiggled and bent and squeezed the fingers and made the hand balloon wave.  It was just silly fun but it made us both laugh.  Then my spouse came and we walked off.  I smiled and waved to her and she smiled and waved back.  Such a simple little interlude but it made me feel cheerful all day.  I hope it did the same for her. 

Crash course...

 The adult Sunday school class I attend subscribes to a program called The Wired Word.  Every week we are provide with a choice of two topics for discussion.  The members of the class (there are about 20 of us) take turns choosing the topic and leading the discussion.

This Sunday it's my turn.  I chose the topic "People Weigh Pros, Cons of Data Centers." Since I knew very little about data centers, preping for this has been a real education for me.  

One of the things that made me interested in this topic is the fact that there is a data center being built in our county.  It has been under construction for over a year now.  

Here, in a nut shell, is what I learned.  "Data centers. sometimes known as 'server farms' are the buildings where cloud data is stored. When we transfer our data into the cloud, we are transferring it on to servers in a data center (hence the meme there is no cloud, just someone elses computer).  Data centers typically take the form of windowless, warehouse scale buildings containing hundreds of servers (pizza box-shaped computers) stored on shelves in cabinets that are arranged in aisles."

So now you know what I know.  I'm looking forward to a lively discussion tomorrow because I'm sure there will be some strongly held opinions.  It's that kind of group.

That famous smile...

 My west coast brother informed me that, on this date in 1911, the painting "Mona Lisa" was stolen.  It was recovered a little bit over two years later and the thief was sentenced to less than 8 months in prison.  That seems to me a very small penalty for stealing something as rare and amazing as the Mona Lisa.

It was painted by Leonardo da Vinci during the years 1503-1519.  He worked on it, carrying it with him to various other assignments, during all those years, adding minute details and layer after layer of translucent paint.  It's no wonder she's so beautiful.  

In case you're wondering what else he painted, he painted "The Last Supper" between 1495 and 1498.  You've probably heard of that.  I have seen it and it's quite amazing.  In addition to being a great painter Leonardo was an inventor.  The last time I was in Italy we were taken to a museum where many of the inventions he had drawn had actually been constructed.  It was fascinating to see the collection.  He was truly a Renaissance man.  But you can read all of the books about him on your own time.  

What I really wondered about today was why the thief who stole the painting from the Louvre in1911 didn't get a longer sentence.  He actually kept the painting hidden in his apartment for two years and the well publicized hunt for it made the painting famous.  He was arrested when he finally tried to sell the painting.  The reason he gave for stealing the painting was that it was painted by an Italian artist and the thief, who was Italian, wanted to return it to Italy.   Evidently the French saw this as an act of patriotism and so didn't give him a harsh punishment.  I'm sure it also helped that the painting hadn't been damaged.

What's for supper?

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "National Bacon Lover's Day" and also "International Hawaiian Pizza Day."  He then went on to say that, in his opinion, Hawaiian Pizza is really more of a dessert than a pizza.  As you probably know, Hawaiian pizza is made with ham and pineapple (and tomato sauce and cheese) so it really is a pizza, sort of, but I agree with my brother, it just doesn't seem like real pizza to me.  I like pepperoni and bacon and other kinds of sausage, and mushrooms and black olives and cheese of course - lots of cheese - on my pizza.

However, Hawaiian pizza happens to be my spouse's very favorite kind of pizza, which works out well for both of us.  When we go to our regular pizza place (B'Antonio's in case you're interested) we each order our own pizza - small, hand tossed crust, Hawaiian for him, some kind of meat pizza for me.  Each pizza comes cut into six nice size pieces.  We each eat three at the restaurant, then bring the rest home.  Usually, we each have one piece for lunch the next day and two for supper.  Pizza is an amazing food, that tastes just as good as a     left-over.

In case you're wondering where I'm going with this blog, it's too late tonight, but my wonder spouse and I have already agreed to go out for supper tomorrow evening.  He always reads my blogs so he will probably respond favorably to my not so subtle hint.  Happy eating everyone.