I can’t believe I forgot about this when I posted earlier…
We also had a great visit to Dia: Beacon on Sunday. The space is simply amazing, and, again, the weather really added to the experience.
Dia: Beacon is a contemporary art museum in the Hudson River valley housed in a huge old Nabisco box manufacturing plant. The place is lit primarily through sawtoothed skylights (the roof of the building looks serrated, with the skylights facing south), and the light inside is gorgeous. The space is interrupted only occasionally with columns or temporary dividers, and even the floors are attractive – they’ve got both the old wood, factory floor and newly poured, polished concrete floor.
As for the art, I’m not a huge contemporary art fan. One of the first spaces in the museum is filled only with nearly white canvases (Agnes, I’m looking at you… and don’t think I’ve forgotten you Ryman!) – I mean, really! There were a few spectacular pieces, though – those by Heizer and Serra really stood out.
So definitely check it out if you’re in the mid-New York state area (the Metro-North Poughkeepsie line stops about a quarter of a mile from the museum, so it’s easy to get there from NYC).
posted March 30, 2004 – 12:33 pm
We had a really nice weekend out in Sharon (CT) and Colrain (MA). The Eddie From Ohio concert at the Iron Horse on Sunday was brilliant as usual, and we took advantage of the beautiful weather and got plenty of hiking in on the mountain in Connecticut and in the woods of Colrain.
I’m pretty disappointed that the Massachusetts legislature voted for an ammendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage (won’t go into effect ’til 2006, if it gets all the votes it needs later), but I am glad the Attorney General all but ignored Mitt’s attempt to ban them immediately.
The roll call for the vote, along with the text of the ammendment is here. Now I’m no constitutional scholar, and I’m already offended enough by the idea behind the ammendment, but I find it pretty offensive that gays and lesbians are referred to in the ammendment as “same-sex persons.” What the hell kind of a phrase is that? Almost as bad as “activist judges.”
By the way, if you live in Massachusetts, you can find out who your representatives are on this site. Take the time to write them a letter and tell them what you think.
posted March 30, 2004 – 7:13 am
Salon has posted a pretty interesting interview with former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke. Check it out here. Clarke (who’s served under Republican & Democratic presidents alike) comes off as a non-partisan guy who’s mostly looking to put the truth out there rather than incite partisan wars.
While I’m less convinced that the 9/11 attacks could have been avoided, I’m certain the Bush administration didn’t always have the nation’s best interest in mind when they made decisions like going to war in Iraq. This interview gives a little insight into their pigheadedness, and also will hopefully refute some of the offensive personal attacks they’re launching against Clarke (rather than talking about the matter at hand).
MoveOn.org is gathering donations to put together an ad about Clarke and Bush. You can check it out and donate here.
posted March 24, 2004 – 9:24 am
We’ve been having some plumbing issues in our house in the past few weeks. If you can avoid a mild sewage stench permeating your house, I’d recommend that.
I’ve been toying with the idea of becoming a home-owner in the past month or so. I’m still on the fence, I would say, but the fact that I, and not my landlord, have been dealing with the plumbers and roto-rooters means I’m not really avoiding those sorts of hassles by renting. Might as well be paying something each month towards owning a house instead of giving it away, eh?
posted March 20, 2004 – 12:04 pm
An online comedian sent a prank letter to all 100 senators asking them their favorite joke. Check out their responses here. Funny stuff.
There’s a pretty embarassing clip of Rumsfeld’s Sunday appearance on Face the Nation hosted on MoveOn.org in which he claims the administration never called Iraq an “immediate threat” and is then served several quotes of his own to the contrary – check it out here. Signing the petition available on the site (after the video shows) is a good way to send a message that it’s not okay for the leaders of our country to lie about these things.
Sadly, the snow’s doing a good job of keeping me out of the garage/workshop. It’s March, for cryin’ out loud!
posted March 17, 2004 – 9:18 am