Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

The nonstop discussion everywhere I've gone today has been about the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to President Barack Obama. As everyone well knows, there are some rather sharp divisions among people about whether or not he is deserving of the award. A lot of people - Obama supporters and detractors alike - think that he hasn't yet fulfilled any of the promises that he made during his campaign to reduce the proliferation of nuclear weapons, to improve Israeli-Palestinian relations, and to overall improve the US' international image. He talked a big game, but he hasn't delivered yet. That, and it's only about 8 months into his term.

All of these things are true. But I think that he deserves the Peace Prize not for what he has accomplished in terms of getting closer to the goals that he set during his campaign, rather that he has inspired and mobilized the US population and people around the world to make a renewed effort to carry out these tasks. This is akin to his "Yes We Can" and "Hope" philosophies; I think President Obama has inspired people in a way that they have not been inspired in years - if not at all.

I understand fully that there are years ahead of us before we are no longer at war, and before there is no longer a fear of attacks by nuclear weapons, and before we can say that any or all of these goals have been met. But I think that universally, there's a renews sense of optimism that these things will happen. Before Obama was inaugurated - as soon as he was elected President, in fact - I felt this complete shift. The second he started working on his transition, I knew that US foreign policy would become a completely different beast, that I would no longer fear the words and actions that came out of the Oval Office.

Anyway, I could go on and on and on about how I feel about this, but I'm suddenly exhausted. BUT - as President Obama said, this is a call to action. This is his chance to 'put his money where his mouth is.'

"...I know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.

"And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century." -President Barack Obama, 10/9/2009

Appreciating Philadelphia through the eyes of a European visitor

A lovely article from a visiting knitter.

Scary

I'm not usually one of those "I'm so old that I remember..." people, but I thought that this was pretty funny considering a recent conversation that I had with a co-worker who is a full 10 years younger than me. And it IS just a little bit freaky that the current senior class at Baldwin AFTER 1990. Anyway, D, this is for you!

Photos of the Day, 10/7/09

I'm just going to call this series "Observatory and then some with Jane."

Barnes Update #2

The Art Commission approved the design for the new Barnes museum today. I'm rather amazed that they approved it unanimously. NO ONE had a problem with it?!? Come ON people!! Anyway, construction could start as soon as next month.

More on the Barnes...

The Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff has thrown in his two cents on the discussion about the new Barnes Museum. He was far less diplomatic than Inga Saffron, which I'm rather surprised by. She doesn't usually mince words or cut designs that are lacking any slack.


More photos of the site can be found here...

Photo of the Day, 10/5/09

New Barnes Museum on the Parkway

The Barnes Foundation has finally announced their plans for the new museum which is slated to be built at 21st St. and the Ben Franklin Parkway. Let's put aside the fact that I still have really mixed feelings about the relocation of the Barnes at all. I love its' current setting, in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood, far away from the craziness of the Downtown Philadelphia area.

I can appreciate, however that it's distance from Center City is a hindrance to its' financial longevity. I get that. SO, on to the new location. I do think that the future home of the Barnes collection is in a great spot - if it has to be moved. I love the idea of growing our museum district on the Parkway. AND, the previous occupant of that parcel of land, the Youth Studies Center (a fancy name for a juvenile prison) just didn't fit. I understand the necessity of having such an institution, and I also understand that no one else particularly wants it, but a prison sandwiched between the majestic main branch of the Free Library and the Rodin Museum?

Anyway, the new design was announced, and Inga Saffron commented on it in today's Inqy. I don't have any particularly strong feelings about the building; it was designed to fit in unobtrusively to the landscape, but it's more than unobtrusive - it's kind of blah. I also wonder why there couldn't be more windows. I mean, I think the LAST thing we possibly need is another cement or brick or whatever box sitting along the street. There are some windows, but they don't quite alleviate the sense of being an impenetrable box, nor can it possibly allow that much natural light in to the gallery itself.

Also, I think they could have done so much more in terms of making sure that the new museum fit in cohesively with the existing landmarks on the Parkway. Hello - they're going from this beautiful building designed by Paul Cret to a box. That's it. I'm actually getting more irritated the more that I think about it. By the way, the French architect Paul Cret designed the building that the Barnes collection currently resides in, AND he designed the Rodin museum, which is essentially right next door to the future home of the Barnes collection. Tod Williams and Billie Tsien couldn't come up with anything better that would somehow bridge the gap between the old and new?

Anyway, I think I need one more trip to the "original" Barnes before it closes for good. As most of my friends know, Impressionist Art is one of - if not my favorite - genre, and I just love being in that space. It will be nice that it's closer to where I live; hopefully the new location won't require a reservation made in advance to see the exhibits!

Photos of the Day, 10/3/09

I was on a 'sky' kick yesterday. It was partially the clouds; they were big and fluffy, and looked as if I could just pluck them out of the sky. Later in the day, close to sunset, the clouds were still big and fluffy, but they'd taken on this orange-ish hue that evoked a Maxfield Parrish painting.

The third picture doesn't really go with the first two, but I also love the Philly skyline. This one was taken from S's roof deck. Pretty!

Photo of the Day, 9/30/09

So, I wasn't supposed to retroactively post photos of the day. BUT, since they're my rules, and rules are made to be broken, I'm going to share a couple of my pics from the last week.

I like this picture because it sort of represents how I feel so much of the time. Life is just whizzing by me, and it's all happening so fast that I don't know what's going on, and I don't know what I'm missing. It's all a blur, but sometimes that's ok. It's almost like squinting your eyes to make something familiar or routine look a little different. It lacks definition, but at the same time, you can appreciate the ability to not focus on the details.