museums

A busy MOMA day

Went to MOMA yesterday because it was raining. But who am I kidding, I would have gone anyway.

But so many other people showed up as well. They mobbed Starry Night, I guess mostly because it was moved from the fourth floor to the second floor for some sort of exhibit related to that era.

I found a wallet on the floor and brought it to lost and found. The lady there said, “Thank you, I’ll keep it for you.”

I said, “Don’t keep it for me, hold it for the rightful owner.”

She said, “Right.”

Hopefully he gets it. I didn’t really go through it, but there might have been a phone number, I didn’t think of it at the time.

This is the third time I found someone’s wallet. One time it was on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa. A guy left his wallet on the roof of his car at a gas station and drove off. All the papers and everything blew out of the wallet along with the wallet. My friend Victor and I chased down the papers and managed to track down the guy using a check that was in the wallet.

Anyway, if you ever lose a wallet, check with me, I might have it.

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Visited MOMA, again

Visited one of my favorite places again yesterday – MOMA – Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

My favorite painting, Starry Night, was crammed with people again, trying to get selfies of themselves in front of the painting, and I tried to get pictures of people taking images of themselves in front of the painting.

NYC has been very busy with tourists this week. Today is the opening of New York Comic Con, maybe that’s why. I’ll be at Comic Con, I’ll post about it Friday, subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss it. I’ll also have a story and images on our trip upstate to pumpkin and apple pick, as we usually do each October.

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Came to Miami to cool off

Glad to be home, I had to leave NYC to get some cooler weather – in Miami!

NYC was brutal. Heat indexes over 100 made it unbearable at times. This red hoodie cartoon reminded me of my favorite red hoodie, which I brought to NY with me, thinking I might need it at nights like most summers, but even the nights were warm this year, there really was no cool air other than the airconditioned places. I heard a weatherperson on tv describe it as the Northeast having “no airflow.”

I was living on iced coffee.

One day, I felt I was getting heat stroke, really – I wasn’t sure what to do, but I managed to get back to the a/c and my bed and I drank a lot of color water, and in time, I got back to normal. I wondered how I would get back across town, from uptown to downtown, as I waited on those roasting subway platforms.

Also, this year Manhattanhenge was a bust – too many clouds blocking it both nights.

But in spite of all the heat, I did have a lot of fun. A lot of my family from Miami was up north and we had good times mostly in The Hamptons. In the city I did a lot of my favorite things and went to many of my favorite museums, including Cleopatra’s Needle, behind the MET Museum and the JP Morgan Library, which I had passed a few times, but never visited.

Ate in a lot of new places – three Greek restaurants ironically. But I forgot to check out Maria Loi’s place, Loi Estiatorio, which I see on tv a lot. I like her Mediterranean cooking style.

I’m looking forward to cooler temps in the fall, when I return for NY Comic Con and pumpkin and apple picking in October and Thanksgiving and so many more things in November.

***Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park***

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Paul McCartney’s photos

I went to the Brooklyn Museum to the the Paul McCartney exhibit, “Eyes of the Storm.” They are random photos Paul took during 1963 and 1964, an important time for the Beatles.

He didn’t plan any of it and that’s what makes it so great.

I’m not a fan of the Brooklyn Museum, it’s impossible to navigate and they have a rude staff, but I went for the Paul exhibit.

Maybe it was just a bad day for me, that same day I was sitting in Union Square along with dozens of other people, and the rainbird type sprinkler came on. Hard. And it hit me right in my face along with wetting my whole right side from head to toe. Some stupid teens thought it was funny, but it did feel good in the summer heat.

On the subway a big heavy guy in one of those big ass wheelchairs ran over my toe. He backed up right over me. My toe is still hurting, hope it’s not broken.

And a chocolate Mister Softee dripped onto my new white sneakers. The cone had a hole in it. The guy in the Softee truck offered to give me a new cone, but I told him no problem. Then I saw the big stain, that looked like a black bullet hole.

Oh yes. On another train a guy comes up to me. Puts on a rubber glove and shoves it in my face. I don’t know what that was about. We were the only two on the car. I ran out at the next stop.

Just a random Wednesday in paradise.

*The actual subway car. That’s not the guy with the glove, he got off and the nut with the glove got on after that.*

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Digital Van Gogh

I’ve been thinking of going to Paris. And Italy. But this is a perfect reason to visit Paris.

I saw this report on CBS Sunday Morning about Vincent Van Gogh and a new digital feature about him and his art.

The Musee D’Orsay in Paris has a new exhibit of Van Gogh called, “Hello Vincent.” Anyone can go up and ask Vincent anything they would like to know about him.

His replies and his image are AI generated and the answers come from the over 900 letters he wrote in his life, where he told (in the letters) about everything from his health, personal life and art. You just walk up and ask him anything, and he’ll look at you and answer.

*Seth Doane (and Vincent) on CBS Sunday Morning.*

It works along with the art because people ask serious questions of Vincent; things that they really want to know about.

Maybe the exhibit will travel to the U.S. and I won’t have to go to Paris, although I still want to go to Paris. And Italy.

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Throwing soup on the Mona Lisa

I’m sure you saw this in the news. A couple of activists threw soup on the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum in Paris over the weekend.

“What is more important?” The one activist asked the shouting crowd. “Art or healthy sustainable food?”

The protest had something to do with France breaking its climate commitments and they want France to give people access to more healthy foods. I’m sure it was a good cause, but it’s a case of alienating the people who are on your side by doing something stupid to bring attention to the cause.

I’m not sure how this involved trying to destroy the Mona Lisa, luckily she is covered with glass. But wouldn’t it make more sense throwing the soup on Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can Art? Which I hope never ever happens. I’m just sayin’.

I remember the first time I saw Starry Night, my favorite painting, so many years ago. It wasn’t covered in glass, as it is now. You could literally put your face right up to it. Luckily it’s protected with glass now.

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At the MET in the rain

It was raining Saturday, so I headed to the MET Museum, which I probably would have done even if it was sunny. But since it was raining, it seemed like the whole city showed up, The lines to get in were endless. But since I trudged up there via subway and walked around in the rain a bit to get there, I stayed.

I did miss a couple of cool things which is weird because I’m usually in the right place at the right time, but in these two instances I was not where I should have been.

The first was a wedding proposal. I heard a loud applause in the next gallery and when I walked over, it saw that a guy proposed to a girl. I missed it, I only caught the applause and happiness part.

Then I walked into the Temple of Dendur area of the MET and I just missed a ballet performance, right up near the temple building.

Otherwise it was maddening with all the people there, but it was more fun than being out in the rain.

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Cleopatra’s Needle

I don’t know why I waited so long, but I finally saw one of Cleopatra’s Needles – which is in Central Park, behind the MET Museum.

It’s an Egyptian obelisk. There are three, NYC has one, London has one and Paris. Alexandria, Egypt, is the original location.

The one in NY was erected in 1881. It’s over 3500 years old!

I love ancient Egypt so much, not sure why it’s taken me so long to see it.

While called Cleopatra’s Needles, they were already over 1000 years old in her time.

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The Brooklyn Museum

I went to the Brooklyn Museum the other day. I visited the art and then just before I left, I stopped by the Ancient Egypt area. And you know what? I felt at home. I literally felt at home.

I was pleased to see objects from Ramesses II and so many others, including Akhenaten.

I’m always fascinated by ancient Egypt. The exhibits have inspired me to do more Egypt-based cartoons.

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Long wait for Starry Night

I went to the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) in NYC to see Starry Night. It was on loan from MOMA for a special Van Gogh exhibit called Van Gogh’s Cypresses.

To be honest, if you’ve seen much of various Van Gogh works in different museums, it’s not worth the trip. The wait can be hours to get in.

Once you are in the museum, you need to get on a wait list for Van Gogh. You scan a QR code with your phone and wait and wait and wait and wait to be pinged for your arrival into the exhibit at your allotted time.

If you are willing to wait, you could be seeing everything else in the MET while waiting, but if you just intend to see Van Gogh, prepare for the wait.

Many people are crowded in and it’s more enjoyable to see his work, especially Starry Night, at it’s regular home at MOMA where it never is a madhouse.

I was in and out, but I did of course enjoy the rest of the museum.

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