Tag: art

Innovations in Landscape Design: The Ha-Ha at Castle Howard | September 17 2024, 22:04

I’m reading something interesting

“His Temple of the Four Winds at Castle Howard was the first of its kind. To this, he added the most ingenious and transformative innovation: the ha-ha.

A ha-ha is a sunken fence, a sort of palisade, designed to separate the private part of an estate from the working areas without the visual interference of a fence or hedge. It was an idea adapted from French military fortifications. Since they were invisible until the very last moment, people often discovered them with a surprised exclamation, “Ha-ha!—and, it is said, hence the name. The ha-ha was not just a practical device for keeping cows away from the lawn, but an entirely new way of perceiving the world. Plots, garden, park, estate—everything became part of a unified whole. Suddenly, an attractive part of the property did not have to end at the edge of the lawn. It could continue up to the horizon.

in Wikipedia, it is called Aha or ah-ah.

this is what I’m reading at home by Bill Bryson

Lorne Malvo as Woland: Unmasking Evil in Fargo Season One | September 05 2024, 18:56

We’re revisiting the first season of Fargo. You know who Lorne Malvo (the one on the right in the photo) reminds me of? Woland.

Just look. He awakens the evil he sees in people and tempts them to act upon this evil, which is characteristic of Satan in Abrahamic religions—to tempt and entice people into sin. His collection of tapes can be seen as a symbol of “soul collecting”.

He creates chaos literally without any reason, like when he incites a kid to pee in a gas tank and then reports him, just like Satan, who perpetrates evil simply because he is evil, and to have a bit of fun. He phones Hess’s sons, lies to them and manipulates them into fighting, again, for no apparent reason. Or he scares the children living in Lester’s old house.

Somehow, he managed to escape from Lester’s basement, although there was no exit—a normal person couldn’t have done that. The character is often linked with religion: he pretends to be a priest, quotes biblical verses to manipulate a wealthy man, etc.

I barely remember the second half of the season, we are still watching it. But it seems to me that there will be even more evidence that Lorne is Woland 🙂

Till Lindemann Tour Ad | September 05 2024, 03:03

TILL LINDEMANN recently visited us on tour. For the promotion of his American tour, they featured his performance at Red Square with the song “Любимый Город” (in Russian, of course). It was during the military-music festival “Spasskaya Tower”, September 2021. In a white jacket and bow tie, he looked like an eccentric. 

 

Pickleball | September 04 2024, 18:08

Yuki first saw how “parents” buy a ball for themselves and play with it. He is impressed by the day. So we’ve made it to pickleball. Now we need to make it to the court. It’s right in front of our house, but still, we need to get there! For instance, the pool, which is also in front of the house, I managed to go only once this year, and last year—not at all.

Binge-Watching Fargo Season 5: A Cozy, Old-School Feel with a Modern Twist | September 01 2024, 04:12

Last night we started watching Fargo Season 5, “Nadya, just the first episode then sleep,” and by this evening we binged all 10 episodes. It’s been a while since nine hours flew by like one.

Fargo is the only series that hasn’t dropped the ball after five seasons. It has this “cozy, old-school” vibe, like it’s supposedly 2019, but the feel is all late 20th century. The only jarring thing in the fifth season is the “all husbands—infantile and a bit cuckoo, all wives—strong women, sometimes victims, and also a bit cuckoo,” but given its other merits and the overall Fargo format, it’s forgivable. Overall, the plot is quite… naive… but again, it is compensated by the way it’s filmed, turning the series into a piece of art. Generally, there’s some caricaturization, but it seems intentionally stylized.

Exler wrote well: “… It’s specifically emphasized that the main villains are precisely Trump’s core electorate. Sheriff Tillman, never without his cowboy hat, a definite alpha male, abuser, racist, zealous Catholic and all that, and why his hat doesn’t scream MAGA in giant letters is like a script oversight. The sheriff’s wife must, first, shut up, second, do as her husband commands, and third—there will be no third, because the first two are enough for a happy married life. And if the wife disobeys, then the sheriff will beat her deadly, because how else to command respect from a woman who swore before God to belong to you body and soul? No other way.”

Now I want to rewatch the first season. It was absolutely beautiful, and I’m not sure that the fifth surpassed it, comparing the emotions post-viewing. But the emotions from the first season remain with me (it was very good), yet ten years on I barely remember it (well, I remember faces).

Now it’s time to get to True Detective.