I upgraded iTunes today and plugged in my iPhone to buy/download Paramore's song "Misery Business" (btw, I think the video for this really sucks; she has a great voice but absolutely no stage presence). That's when I noticed that there are now ringtones in iTunes (yes mentally I knew this, but hadn't put it to practice). I am sadly disappointed. I have all of Depeche Mode's albums, legally in many^20 copies, and I can't make ringtones out of them!^#@%*& Yet the iTunes store tells me it has ringtones for all of them. I'm seriously underwhelmed about this. Maybe tonight I shall install the hacked up stuff and figure that all out. But honestly, I just want super mario ring tones.
I gave in. I'm now on facebook. If you are, you should add me (argv@gmail.com or hadkins@google.com).
And with that, I'm off to dinner with Mike.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
House Remodel
Phase 1 of the house remodel is done minus some curtains in the "red room" and the ceiling light (being installed very soon!). Project entailed: paint in the old pink/green rooms, new baseboards everywhere upstairs but the master, new doors and hardware, replacing the closet doors in the 3 guest bedrooms, furniture in the red room and "interesting features".
Green Room - The green room used to be pink, barbie pink, and was awful awful awful. I said to Sheila [from Harrell Remodeling]: "Japanese Zen" and she came up with the neatest idea for shoji screens and wooden beams along the top of the ceiling. These beams project light up into the vaulting to make it seem more bright and airy. The screens were made locally and the "fill" is a product called Lumicore:
Shoji over the Window:
Shoji over the closet:
Beams and lights projecting:
Adorable reading lights:
Hallway - the upstairs hallway isn't terribly interesting but this is a good place to talk about the door replacements and the new hardware. This will be what we use throughout the house:
Red Room - this room used to be neon green with brass mirrored closet doors. It's now red. Only half of the ceiling used to "slant" so that was evened out. We added lights in this room (as with the green) as there were none at all! Sheila had in mind to make this a very medieval room but we've toned that down a bit to keep with my desire for simplicity. The light that will go in that room is very medieval though, she won me over on that!:
Beams on the ceiling to carry on the theme:
Fun little furniture (the painting is one I bought in Ireland and I've been remiss not to frame it yet):
New closet doors:
Green Room - The green room used to be pink, barbie pink, and was awful awful awful. I said to Sheila [from Harrell Remodeling]: "Japanese Zen" and she came up with the neatest idea for shoji screens and wooden beams along the top of the ceiling. These beams project light up into the vaulting to make it seem more bright and airy. The screens were made locally and the "fill" is a product called Lumicore:
Shoji over the Window:
 |
| From House Remodel... |
Shoji over the closet:
 |
| From House Remodel... |
Beams and lights projecting:
 |
| From House Remodel... |
Adorable reading lights:
 |
| From House Remodel... |
Hallway - the upstairs hallway isn't terribly interesting but this is a good place to talk about the door replacements and the new hardware. This will be what we use throughout the house:
 |
| From House Remodel... |
Red Room - this room used to be neon green with brass mirrored closet doors. It's now red. Only half of the ceiling used to "slant" so that was evened out. We added lights in this room (as with the green) as there were none at all! Sheila had in mind to make this a very medieval room but we've toned that down a bit to keep with my desire for simplicity. The light that will go in that room is very medieval though, she won me over on that!:
Beams on the ceiling to carry on the theme:
 |
| From House Remodel... |
Fun little furniture (the painting is one I bought in Ireland and I've been remiss not to frame it yet):
 |
| From House Remodel... |
New closet doors:
 |
| From House Remodel... |
Random notes from Germany
Here are some random items from my chicken-scratch cafe notes that I took in Germany. Mostly these are weird observations, questions or just in general things to "trigger" my mind later. I'm a terrible journal writer.
7/17/07 - Mainz. The cathedral museum in Mainz has two reliquaries intact that I found interesting: a piece of the True Cross and Boniface. Found today also a reference to Calvin's writings on relics. Need to find. (can be found here). There is a wall-mounted relief work in wood of a bishop of Mainz crowning kings (an interesting reminder of how men like Willis crowned Otto III and Henry II). The museum had [some of] the manuscripts commissioned by Willigis, who loved learning.
7/18/07 - Cologne (Köln) - the Tapas place was great and they had garlic mayo (!). Love Kolsch beer. The Cologne cathedral is spectacular and we dined for lunch next to it. It's very easy to imagine its open market square being filled with a bustling market, although it was just filled today with tourists bundled up for rain. The Dom itself didn't smell like catholic Dom's usually do (the wax burning or incense). :(
Question: The cathedral, unlike others I've seen, doesn't seem to have a lot of family burials, just archbishops/bishops. is this to do with the status this cathedral as the seat of an archbishopric (or support from the kings?) or is it the lateness of its completion? Maybe nobles were buried more locally? (vast difference to Westminster).
Question: Does the autobahn follow older roads?
Question: What was the significance of burying the relatives of Conrad II in Worms when he was buried in Speyer? Was it a family cathedral?
Question: Why was the Cologne archbishop a prince-elector and why then did they bother going all the way to Frankfurt to elect the king?
We saw the chain links of st. peter in the Dom treasury. Had to snap a picture with my iPhone to keep from getting caught. There were 3 links in the monstrance reliquary. [My notes indicate this is when I started getting really interested in this topic.]
Other reliquaries we saw: many with bones that are covered in cloth and/or golden threads [As a side-note I recently read a great article on the discovery of mythical creatures imprinted on the silks imported from the east that were used to wrap the bones of saints. After hundreds of years the historians are removing the silks to study the art/techniques/myths of the eastern religions as preserved on saints' relics in the west. fascinating]. Koln had a thorn from the crown worn by Christ, the 3 magi relics, and they had the original reliquary that held the magi when it was taken [stolen?] from Milan. It's made of wood. The current reqliary stands in the chancel of the main church and is gold and was constructed in the 15C.
The Koln Dom is the 2nd tallest in Germany and was the tallest buildling in the world in 1890.
7/19/07 - Aachen - saw the octagonal cathedral and took the tour so I could see the throne (Sam very bored). The throne was less elaborate than I was expecting even though I've seen pictures of it. The original 8-sided construct is very small and really has a "chapel" feeling to it (this delights me). It's just big enough for a family. The Dom has a very Byzantine feeling. Lots of gold. Treasures in the museum have Byzantine ivory.
Question: What created the ties between Aachen and Byzantium. Is it simply a matter of the Byzantine princesses? Was there any trade with Italy, esp. during Otto III's reign as he particularly gravitated towards Rome (but he's buried in Aachen).
Question: Was Aachen an abbey? It doesn't have a cloister but the complex does have a courtyard. Was it specifically just a chapel for the King's residence?
Question: Did Charlemagne house his elephant at Aachen? :) We saw an elephant in a painting here somewhere but I forget where. It seemed unusual, but perhaps it was in reference to this?
Question: What knowledge of Roman history did the Franks have? How much did the Roman nobility actually pass on into Frankish culture after Clovis? At what point did the Romans intermarry with the Franks and was it socially acceptable?
7/20/07 - Bad Münstereiffel - Unbelievably cute. No tourists, but pouring rain. We ate at an italo-german restaurant that played symphonic "musac" that was decorated in a cross between baroque and medieval. It seemed confused about what it wanted to be. The main town street is very narrow and has not been rebuilt to pass traffic. Reminds me of the construction of Diagon Alley in the HP movies. Too wet to do much walking, we're unprepared.
7/20/07 - Trier - less bustling with tourists than I expected. In fact we've not seen many tourists while traveling in the countryside. Quaint but sad. The old Dom hotel is now a McDonalds and the old buildings around the square are filled with very cosmopolitan shops. It reminds me a lot of the the old main street in Galway, Ireland. The Romanesque cathedral has been turned Baroque inside (sad sad sad). They had two links from Peter's chains. "I'm beginning to wonder if finding them will become an obsession of mine now that I found 3 reliquaries in one trip" [How telling is that?] Amazed how much original brickwork is left on the Dom after the war.
Bought 3 lithographs in an antique shop by the Dom: Magdeberg (where we are going, sadly), Aachen, Köln. Wanted to visit Otto I on this trip but misse dout. Perhaps it's possible later by train.
Our car is losing oil very fast.
7/22/07 - München - Found a nice place to have dinner on our first night, albeit target towards tourists. They had great German food (I had some veal goulash, I think). Munich is a bit too "new" for my tastes on this trip and much of the older stuff has been turned over in favor of the new (a lot of Baroquen things). Went to a church [Theaterinkirche] near the Spatenhause (where we dined) and came in tie for 6:30pm mass. There is some sort of cloister behind the altar, which is the first we've seen in this country. [Still not sure what is is]. There were curtains covering the back of it and the priest saying mass was Dominican (wearing all white robes so no designation of the liturgical day, is it a feast day?) There were more tourists in the church than there were mass-goers. The bells rang for 5 minutes to call to mass.
The square the church is on has a roman-looking building which seemed out of place to me. Winged horse is depicted with these words: APOLLINI MVSIQUE REDITVM MCMLXII
7/23/07 - Neuschwanstein - You take the bus to the top or you walk. We took the bus and nearly got killed (me in the parking lot) and we think our driver was drunk. narrow roads. The views from the top are spectacular and the castle is fairly newer than I expected but I can see why Ludwig chose this place. It has a great view of the approaching road and an appraoch via the Alps would be impractical. A wooden bridge is constructed from this way (built by his father).
Trip is going well. Not quite as impressed with Munich as I thought I would be but this isn't a surprise given I came to Germany to see medieval things. Munich would be great in a different mind context. The visits at Speyer, Worms, Mainz, Aachen, etc. were more special for me.
7/24/07 - Alte Pinakothek - lots of Ruebens and unfortunately not a lot of medieval art. Impressed at the amount of Dürer they have (but not of Charlemagne), more than I was expecting. There was an important exhibit called Rom am Augsburg (Rome at Augsburg), a series of paintings done in Augsburg of famous Roman churches. Things I recognized without needing to look at the tags: Basilica of Santa Croce, St Peter's, the Lateran, etc. The buildings are not painted to be accurate at all but the subjects/objects give the locations away. Score one for my memory!
Note: This museum is a good place to plunk down for breakfast (served before 14:00 on Tuesdays).
Replaced two of the lost lithographs from Trier (left in trier) - one of Mainz (with a great view of the old platz where Sam bought honey). Worms. Both are nicer than the 3 left in Trier.
7/25/07 - Seeing the 3 main churches today and their crypts. Most are Baroque interiors. Theatreinkirche, Michalskirche, Frauenkirche.
TODO: find lithographs from aachen, speyer, koln. Requires finding another antique dealer [we never did this]
Michalskirche - church is baroque, the high altar has the typical decoration. low altar is very simple (in the new style). There is a second level gallery over the chancel and the entrance apparently through the choir stalls (neat). Supposedly an old Jesuit sanctuary. Single naved and there are no internal columns. Is this a new romanesque thing? Very simple crypt with metal coffins and about 30 royals from Bayern including Ludwig II.
Deutchesmuseum - a lot of exhibits for kids, hands on physics/chemistry/etc. Sam loved it. I was too tired to really enjoy it (not even the alchemy section). They have it setup medieva-style with dark wood workshops and cute bottles with potions. I found these rooms interesting despite the fatigue. Found the museum tough to difficult because everything was in German. Saw their ENIGMA machine but the one in Mountain View is nicer as it has the original casing. would love to have one. :)
7/26/07 - Residenz museum didn't have a reliquary of Peter's chains so I need to get ahold of the Burlington magazine article on the Bamburg treasure in Munich and see if it's in there. [I had thought maybe there was one in the Bamburg treasure. Turns out there wasn't]. Surprised that is the only reference I can find on the contents of the treasure! Even searched on Google in German and French.
Need to take trip to Vermont
The Residenz museum has a reliquary chamber where they've stored about 40 reliquaries that were in the collection of the Wittelsbach family. Some were kept in the Reich Kapelle in the München residenz and then moved to this room over time.
7/27/07 - Last day in Munich and Sam is frustrating me as I lack coffee and it's warm outside. He's sitting here mocking me now as I write. Cheeky boy. I haven't found more lithographs so I think I'm going to give up looking. Still haven't finished the crusades book [Christopher Tymerman's very short introduction]
7/28/07 - Dublin - Sam just bought an 'A' [this is the most cryptic thing I've ever written and have no idea what it means]. we've not yet had food or drink and lack of caffeine hurts.
Started the RC Davis book. Fair nicer than Rosenwein's. I like its continuity and subjeects. He has a natural "European" writing [not sure what I mean here. Barbara Rosenwein is also from Europe] that seems to allude most authors. 100th reference to Gibbon's work on Rome. Adding it to the to read list.
Saw book of kells at trinity. Too many tourists.
7/29/07 - Mongolian BBQ in temple bar was great. Just finished reading RC Davis' bits on the organization of the papacy and his points on the organization of the early church being centered around Roman administration/large metropolitan cities, [etc, etc... lots of notes here. Won't bother boring people]
7/30/07 - Dublin - Tea at westin atrium - went to Google office today
7/31/07 - Dublin - societies need to have a common ground to base a community on whether it be religion or a racial cohesiveness. Thus religious-based states and race-based states work and are common. America is harder because we have neither of those and have to work to make our cohesiveness about ideology. When it fails will our state crumble? [herein lies a bunch of pages on pirenne's theory of economy, etc, etc]
See the polyptych at St Germain-des-Pres in Paris (most famous... can it even be seen?)
7/17/07 - Mainz. The cathedral museum in Mainz has two reliquaries intact that I found interesting: a piece of the True Cross and Boniface. Found today also a reference to Calvin's writings on relics. Need to find. (can be found here). There is a wall-mounted relief work in wood of a bishop of Mainz crowning kings (an interesting reminder of how men like Willis crowned Otto III and Henry II). The museum had [some of] the manuscripts commissioned by Willigis, who loved learning.
7/18/07 - Cologne (Köln) - the Tapas place was great and they had garlic mayo (!). Love Kolsch beer. The Cologne cathedral is spectacular and we dined for lunch next to it. It's very easy to imagine its open market square being filled with a bustling market, although it was just filled today with tourists bundled up for rain. The Dom itself didn't smell like catholic Dom's usually do (the wax burning or incense). :(
Question: The cathedral, unlike others I've seen, doesn't seem to have a lot of family burials, just archbishops/bishops. is this to do with the status this cathedral as the seat of an archbishopric (or support from the kings?) or is it the lateness of its completion? Maybe nobles were buried more locally? (vast difference to Westminster).
Question: Does the autobahn follow older roads?
Question: What was the significance of burying the relatives of Conrad II in Worms when he was buried in Speyer? Was it a family cathedral?
Question: Why was the Cologne archbishop a prince-elector and why then did they bother going all the way to Frankfurt to elect the king?
We saw the chain links of st. peter in the Dom treasury. Had to snap a picture with my iPhone to keep from getting caught. There were 3 links in the monstrance reliquary. [My notes indicate this is when I started getting really interested in this topic.]
Other reliquaries we saw: many with bones that are covered in cloth and/or golden threads [As a side-note I recently read a great article on the discovery of mythical creatures imprinted on the silks imported from the east that were used to wrap the bones of saints. After hundreds of years the historians are removing the silks to study the art/techniques/myths of the eastern religions as preserved on saints' relics in the west. fascinating]. Koln had a thorn from the crown worn by Christ, the 3 magi relics, and they had the original reliquary that held the magi when it was taken [stolen?] from Milan. It's made of wood. The current reqliary stands in the chancel of the main church and is gold and was constructed in the 15C.
The Koln Dom is the 2nd tallest in Germany and was the tallest buildling in the world in 1890.
7/19/07 - Aachen - saw the octagonal cathedral and took the tour so I could see the throne (Sam very bored). The throne was less elaborate than I was expecting even though I've seen pictures of it. The original 8-sided construct is very small and really has a "chapel" feeling to it (this delights me). It's just big enough for a family. The Dom has a very Byzantine feeling. Lots of gold. Treasures in the museum have Byzantine ivory.
Question: What created the ties between Aachen and Byzantium. Is it simply a matter of the Byzantine princesses? Was there any trade with Italy, esp. during Otto III's reign as he particularly gravitated towards Rome (but he's buried in Aachen).
Question: Was Aachen an abbey? It doesn't have a cloister but the complex does have a courtyard. Was it specifically just a chapel for the King's residence?
Question: Did Charlemagne house his elephant at Aachen? :) We saw an elephant in a painting here somewhere but I forget where. It seemed unusual, but perhaps it was in reference to this?
Question: What knowledge of Roman history did the Franks have? How much did the Roman nobility actually pass on into Frankish culture after Clovis? At what point did the Romans intermarry with the Franks and was it socially acceptable?
7/20/07 - Bad Münstereiffel - Unbelievably cute. No tourists, but pouring rain. We ate at an italo-german restaurant that played symphonic "musac" that was decorated in a cross between baroque and medieval. It seemed confused about what it wanted to be. The main town street is very narrow and has not been rebuilt to pass traffic. Reminds me of the construction of Diagon Alley in the HP movies. Too wet to do much walking, we're unprepared.
7/20/07 - Trier - less bustling with tourists than I expected. In fact we've not seen many tourists while traveling in the countryside. Quaint but sad. The old Dom hotel is now a McDonalds and the old buildings around the square are filled with very cosmopolitan shops. It reminds me a lot of the the old main street in Galway, Ireland. The Romanesque cathedral has been turned Baroque inside (sad sad sad). They had two links from Peter's chains. "I'm beginning to wonder if finding them will become an obsession of mine now that I found 3 reliquaries in one trip" [How telling is that?] Amazed how much original brickwork is left on the Dom after the war.
Bought 3 lithographs in an antique shop by the Dom: Magdeberg (where we are going, sadly), Aachen, Köln. Wanted to visit Otto I on this trip but misse dout. Perhaps it's possible later by train.
Our car is losing oil very fast.
7/22/07 - München - Found a nice place to have dinner on our first night, albeit target towards tourists. They had great German food (I had some veal goulash, I think). Munich is a bit too "new" for my tastes on this trip and much of the older stuff has been turned over in favor of the new (a lot of Baroquen things). Went to a church [Theaterinkirche] near the Spatenhause (where we dined) and came in tie for 6:30pm mass. There is some sort of cloister behind the altar, which is the first we've seen in this country. [Still not sure what is is]. There were curtains covering the back of it and the priest saying mass was Dominican (wearing all white robes so no designation of the liturgical day, is it a feast day?) There were more tourists in the church than there were mass-goers. The bells rang for 5 minutes to call to mass.
The square the church is on has a roman-looking building which seemed out of place to me. Winged horse is depicted with these words: APOLLINI MVSIQUE REDITVM MCMLXII
7/23/07 - Neuschwanstein - You take the bus to the top or you walk. We took the bus and nearly got killed (me in the parking lot) and we think our driver was drunk. narrow roads. The views from the top are spectacular and the castle is fairly newer than I expected but I can see why Ludwig chose this place. It has a great view of the approaching road and an appraoch via the Alps would be impractical. A wooden bridge is constructed from this way (built by his father).
Trip is going well. Not quite as impressed with Munich as I thought I would be but this isn't a surprise given I came to Germany to see medieval things. Munich would be great in a different mind context. The visits at Speyer, Worms, Mainz, Aachen, etc. were more special for me.
7/24/07 - Alte Pinakothek - lots of Ruebens and unfortunately not a lot of medieval art. Impressed at the amount of Dürer they have (but not of Charlemagne), more than I was expecting. There was an important exhibit called Rom am Augsburg (Rome at Augsburg), a series of paintings done in Augsburg of famous Roman churches. Things I recognized without needing to look at the tags: Basilica of Santa Croce, St Peter's, the Lateran, etc. The buildings are not painted to be accurate at all but the subjects/objects give the locations away. Score one for my memory!
Note: This museum is a good place to plunk down for breakfast (served before 14:00 on Tuesdays).
Replaced two of the lost lithographs from Trier (left in trier) - one of Mainz (with a great view of the old platz where Sam bought honey). Worms. Both are nicer than the 3 left in Trier.
7/25/07 - Seeing the 3 main churches today and their crypts. Most are Baroque interiors. Theatreinkirche, Michalskirche, Frauenkirche.
TODO: find lithographs from aachen, speyer, koln. Requires finding another antique dealer [we never did this]
Michalskirche - church is baroque, the high altar has the typical decoration. low altar is very simple (in the new style). There is a second level gallery over the chancel and the entrance apparently through the choir stalls (neat). Supposedly an old Jesuit sanctuary. Single naved and there are no internal columns. Is this a new romanesque thing? Very simple crypt with metal coffins and about 30 royals from Bayern including Ludwig II.
Deutchesmuseum - a lot of exhibits for kids, hands on physics/chemistry/etc. Sam loved it. I was too tired to really enjoy it (not even the alchemy section). They have it setup medieva-style with dark wood workshops and cute bottles with potions. I found these rooms interesting despite the fatigue. Found the museum tough to difficult because everything was in German. Saw their ENIGMA machine but the one in Mountain View is nicer as it has the original casing. would love to have one. :)
7/26/07 - Residenz museum didn't have a reliquary of Peter's chains so I need to get ahold of the Burlington magazine article on the Bamburg treasure in Munich and see if it's in there. [I had thought maybe there was one in the Bamburg treasure. Turns out there wasn't]. Surprised that is the only reference I can find on the contents of the treasure! Even searched on Google in German and French.
Need to take trip to Vermont
The Residenz museum has a reliquary chamber where they've stored about 40 reliquaries that were in the collection of the Wittelsbach family. Some were kept in the Reich Kapelle in the München residenz and then moved to this room over time.
7/27/07 - Last day in Munich and Sam is frustrating me as I lack coffee and it's warm outside. He's sitting here mocking me now as I write. Cheeky boy. I haven't found more lithographs so I think I'm going to give up looking. Still haven't finished the crusades book [Christopher Tymerman's very short introduction]
7/28/07 - Dublin - Sam just bought an 'A' [this is the most cryptic thing I've ever written and have no idea what it means]. we've not yet had food or drink and lack of caffeine hurts.
Started the RC Davis book. Fair nicer than Rosenwein's. I like its continuity and subjeects. He has a natural "European" writing [not sure what I mean here. Barbara Rosenwein is also from Europe] that seems to allude most authors. 100th reference to Gibbon's work on Rome. Adding it to the to read list.
Saw book of kells at trinity. Too many tourists.
7/29/07 - Mongolian BBQ in temple bar was great. Just finished reading RC Davis' bits on the organization of the papacy and his points on the organization of the early church being centered around Roman administration/large metropolitan cities, [etc, etc... lots of notes here. Won't bother boring people]
7/30/07 - Dublin - Tea at westin atrium - went to Google office today
7/31/07 - Dublin - societies need to have a common ground to base a community on whether it be religion or a racial cohesiveness. Thus religious-based states and race-based states work and are common. America is harder because we have neither of those and have to work to make our cohesiveness about ideology. When it fails will our state crumble? [herein lies a bunch of pages on pirenne's theory of economy, etc, etc]
See the polyptych at St Germain-des-Pres in Paris (most famous... can it even be seen?)
On coins (numismatics)
Dated: 9/15/07
I went with Schwim to the SF Historical Bourse, a coin show. Dealers show up, you look at coins, you buy them if you like them. Nothing radical!
Schwim has been slowly sucking me into this habit of his (he's a very avid collector) and is a better historical resource than most of the dealers. This also makes him a great resource for knowing when to buy and when to not buy (I wish I had someone like this when I go book-buying). Most of the coins we look at are Ancient (anything before about 100), Byzantine (once the emperor moved to Constantinople), and medieval (although less of this, to my dismay).
What's interesting about coins? Well, for me it's a way to "touch" history. I like seeing what the materials used were, the crude implements for stamping images, and the varying level of sophistication with making money. For example, the coinage of Macedon (where Alexander the Great was from) is in some ways much more sophisticated than the provincial Roman coinage of a thousand years later. The decoration on the coinage of Henry II (Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany 1002-1024) is very simple whereas the later coinage of the Holy Roman Emperors is much more elaborate. I also derive a certain amount of pleasure from holding a denarius and then an antoninianus and thinking back into history. The latter is actually worth 2 denarii, but is debased (bronze added to it) as the empire suffered a crisis in acquiring silver and massive monetary inflation!! Thus the coin is physical evidence to the decline of the Roman Empire! Collecting for me is thus the joys of seeing the physical history without needing to visit a museum. They also let you touch them. :)
Saturday was an exceptionally long day. We went up to the city around 10, eating our breakfast on the way. We spent about 7 solid hours at the show (with a small break to Starbucks) and had to get special permission to stay after they closed the show doors. Afterwards we went to dinner at Tokyo Go Go with the one of the two reps from Harlan J Berk. The company was great, but I can't say I cared much for TGG's service. Is it really difficult to remember what we ordered? On the plus side they had very fresh sushi and everything was fairly tasty.
This will be the last time I let Schwim drag me to the city for a day-long event though. :) He kept looking at coins until midnight when I finally protested in favor of sleep.
Alright, onto the fun... a few of my favorites.
Tancred of Antioch
I'm quite interested in the Crusades. Tancred (a Sicilian Norman) participated in the first Crusade and became the ruler of the ancient city of Antioch (I seem to have a special attachment to Antioch; I have a few of coins from there) after liberating it. I picked up a "scarce" coin from Tancred's rule there. It is an example of a very simple coin for its time. Antioch was constantly dealing with invasion and a migratory population as people returned to Europe or more troops were moving in. They didn't have a lot of energy to spend towards stamping out coins, in fact this coin was stamped on top of the previous rulers and a few artifacts of the old image are visible if you look closely and know what to look for.
Bronze, from between 1104-1112 AD in Antioch.
Front (Obverse):
Back (Reverse):
Henry II - Holy Roman Emperor (reign 1002-1024)
The coinage of the empire around 1000 is very simple. This is a silver coin (I think?) and feels very fragile, almost like tin. The format of coins around this time is all mostly the same, and is very simple. This is one of my favorites because I've recently been to Germany and seen the evidence of Henry's existence such as the ambulatory he dedicated to the cathedral at Aachen and the remnants of the treasure he donated to the cathedral at Bamburg (now housed in Munich). He's no longer just a person I've read about in books.
Denar (Denier?), from between 1002-1009 AD, minted in Regensberg.
Front (Obverse):
Back (Reverse):
Louis the Pious (reign 814-840)
Louis the Pious is an interesting character to me because of his relationship to Charlemagne (he was his son). Again you can see the very simple design of the coin.
Denier, from around 819-822, Minted at Melle
Front (Obverse):
Back (Reverse):
There are a few other coins that I've collected thus far in the past year or so up at my public picasa album including a follis of Constantine minted in London. It is a Sol Invictus coin dating from before his supposed conversion to Christianity (ca 310).
I went with Schwim to the SF Historical Bourse, a coin show. Dealers show up, you look at coins, you buy them if you like them. Nothing radical!
Schwim has been slowly sucking me into this habit of his (he's a very avid collector) and is a better historical resource than most of the dealers. This also makes him a great resource for knowing when to buy and when to not buy (I wish I had someone like this when I go book-buying). Most of the coins we look at are Ancient (anything before about 100), Byzantine (once the emperor moved to Constantinople), and medieval (although less of this, to my dismay).
What's interesting about coins? Well, for me it's a way to "touch" history. I like seeing what the materials used were, the crude implements for stamping images, and the varying level of sophistication with making money. For example, the coinage of Macedon (where Alexander the Great was from) is in some ways much more sophisticated than the provincial Roman coinage of a thousand years later. The decoration on the coinage of Henry II (Holy Roman Emperor, King of Germany 1002-1024) is very simple whereas the later coinage of the Holy Roman Emperors is much more elaborate. I also derive a certain amount of pleasure from holding a denarius and then an antoninianus and thinking back into history. The latter is actually worth 2 denarii, but is debased (bronze added to it) as the empire suffered a crisis in acquiring silver and massive monetary inflation!! Thus the coin is physical evidence to the decline of the Roman Empire! Collecting for me is thus the joys of seeing the physical history without needing to visit a museum. They also let you touch them. :)
Saturday was an exceptionally long day. We went up to the city around 10, eating our breakfast on the way. We spent about 7 solid hours at the show (with a small break to Starbucks) and had to get special permission to stay after they closed the show doors. Afterwards we went to dinner at Tokyo Go Go with the one of the two reps from Harlan J Berk. The company was great, but I can't say I cared much for TGG's service. Is it really difficult to remember what we ordered? On the plus side they had very fresh sushi and everything was fairly tasty.
This will be the last time I let Schwim drag me to the city for a day-long event though. :) He kept looking at coins until midnight when I finally protested in favor of sleep.
Alright, onto the fun... a few of my favorites.
Tancred of Antioch
I'm quite interested in the Crusades. Tancred (a Sicilian Norman) participated in the first Crusade and became the ruler of the ancient city of Antioch (I seem to have a special attachment to Antioch; I have a few of coins from there) after liberating it. I picked up a "scarce" coin from Tancred's rule there. It is an example of a very simple coin for its time. Antioch was constantly dealing with invasion and a migratory population as people returned to Europe or more troops were moving in. They didn't have a lot of energy to spend towards stamping out coins, in fact this coin was stamped on top of the previous rulers and a few artifacts of the old image are visible if you look closely and know what to look for.
Bronze, from between 1104-1112 AD in Antioch.
Front (Obverse):
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| From Coins |
Back (Reverse):
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| From Coins |
Henry II - Holy Roman Emperor (reign 1002-1024)
The coinage of the empire around 1000 is very simple. This is a silver coin (I think?) and feels very fragile, almost like tin. The format of coins around this time is all mostly the same, and is very simple. This is one of my favorites because I've recently been to Germany and seen the evidence of Henry's existence such as the ambulatory he dedicated to the cathedral at Aachen and the remnants of the treasure he donated to the cathedral at Bamburg (now housed in Munich). He's no longer just a person I've read about in books.
Denar (Denier?), from between 1002-1009 AD, minted in Regensberg.
Front (Obverse):
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| From Coins |
Back (Reverse):
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| From Coins |
Louis the Pious (reign 814-840)
Louis the Pious is an interesting character to me because of his relationship to Charlemagne (he was his son). Again you can see the very simple design of the coin.
Denier, from around 819-822, Minted at Melle
Front (Obverse):
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| From Coins |
Back (Reverse):
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| From Coins |
There are a few other coins that I've collected thus far in the past year or so up at my public picasa album including a follis of Constantine minted in London. It is a Sol Invictus coin dating from before his supposed conversion to Christianity (ca 310).
A Sunday of Posts
I've been saving up a ton of material to blog about and have just simply been too busy, lazy or otherwise uninspired. I now have a daunting documentation task in front of me at work and I'm going to happily avoid it by practicing my time-honored tradition of finding something more interesting that I've wanted to do instead. Sometimes these alternative tasks are things like cleaning, laundry or cleaning the grout in my shower. Today it shall be writing up all these blog entries.
Some of these are going to be out of order date-wise. I'm not really sure if I want to back-date anything because people who read via RSS feeds might find them difficult to find. On the other hand if I don't back-date then I'll have even more trouble finding things in my blog than I do now.
Let's start with today, then shall we? I'm currently enjoying bacon and Pear Luna tea from Teavana, which I can highly recommend if you like pleasant herbal aromas. I don't necessarily suggest the combination of bacon. Bacon can go really well with melons but it certainly does not go as well with the gentle bitterness of a sweet pear tea.
I finished reading a collection of early Christian sources by the likes of Ignatius, Clement, Polycarp, et al. It is an interesting look into the "orthodox" (vs. Gnostic and other heterodox writings of the time) evolution of thought in the 2nd and 3rd generation of Christians after the death of their Messiah. Most interesting is how many of these writings would have the labels of heterodox or heresy applied to them in later centuries as the Christian theology began to solidify.
On the topic of school I should probably make mention of a few fabulous films I've watched recently as part of a course I'm taking on Medieval Images. Needless to say that in taking this class I've increased the number of new movies I've watched this year by about 150%.
Some of these are going to be out of order date-wise. I'm not really sure if I want to back-date anything because people who read via RSS feeds might find them difficult to find. On the other hand if I don't back-date then I'll have even more trouble finding things in my blog than I do now.
Let's start with today, then shall we? I'm currently enjoying bacon and Pear Luna tea from Teavana, which I can highly recommend if you like pleasant herbal aromas. I don't necessarily suggest the combination of bacon. Bacon can go really well with melons but it certainly does not go as well with the gentle bitterness of a sweet pear tea.
I finished reading a collection of early Christian sources by the likes of Ignatius, Clement, Polycarp, et al. It is an interesting look into the "orthodox" (vs. Gnostic and other heterodox writings of the time) evolution of thought in the 2nd and 3rd generation of Christians after the death of their Messiah. Most interesting is how many of these writings would have the labels of heterodox or heresy applied to them in later centuries as the Christian theology began to solidify.
On the topic of school I should probably make mention of a few fabulous films I've watched recently as part of a course I'm taking on Medieval Images. Needless to say that in taking this class I've increased the number of new movies I've watched this year by about 150%.
- Excalibur - staring Nigel Terry (plays a pathetic John in Lion in Winter) and Helen Mirren (I loved her in The Queen). This is a nice Arthurian fantasy that I loved solely for Boorman's creative use of both Wagner's Ring cycle and O'Fortuna from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. I'm pretty ambivalent about the story. It's such a mix-up of various Arthurian tales that I spent most of the time trying to figure out whether the scene is from Eschenbach, Malory or Chrétien. I don't think they made this movie for people like me who have a tendency to over-analyze unimportant details instead of just enjoying them. :(
- The Navigator - sci-fi, time-travel, an odyssey of sorts where travelers from the past come to the future. The main themes are how human problems are universal in all time periods and how hope can bring people together. This is a New Zealand film and if you can get your hands on it for a few hours I would recommend it. The setting of the characters in their medieval village life is interesting, especially in relation to their understanding of city life (which they suddenly find themselves in, albeit, in a 20th century city). It leaves you wondering how you might feel if you had to suddenly stumble into something alien and foreign on this planet - would you even be able to tell if you had jumped centuries into the future?
- Die Nibelungen: Siefried - 1924 German fantasy film from Fritz Lang (Metropolis, M). You can find clips on Youtube (probably in violation of a copyright). If you have the patience for it, I highly recommend it. There are chilling reminders of pre-Nazi Germany scattered throughout and the special effects are remarkable for their time. This is now one of my favorite films (if not my favorite). Siegfried, the hero, reminds me of my friend Daniel and/or his brother.
- Moine et la Sorciére - Slightly poor sound dubbing for the English version, but a nice film about the inquisition in France (very different than the one in Spain) which has a happy ending (noone dies). Featuring a saintly dog and a very feminist view of the Church. Most interesting [to me] for its look at how paganism combined with Christianity.
- Becket - I am in love with Richard Burton as Becket. He's arrogant, saintly and bold all at the same time. What is it about a man tortured for God? The style of the film is that of stage acting combined with Hollywood 60s epics. Peter O'Toole plays Henry II (a role he revived a few years later for Lion in Winter). Both are brilliant and play well off one another. There is something homo-erotic in their relationship and that just makes Becket's struggle with God all that much more tragic. Watch it for the camp.
Alright... more to come.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Finally... Germany revealed
I finished uploading the pictures I took on my Europe excursion this summer. You can find them on my Picasa site. I think most of the pictures are self-explanatory, and with the exception of Munich, are fully documented. Enjoy.
I wanted to do something a little different to highlight my favorite things on the trip, which by default had to be cathedrals, since that's what we saw. I will, however, concede that beer in Germany has earned its own blog entry, giving architecture a run for its money.
So, I wanted to highlight just what these poor cities have been through during the turmoil of many wars. Bombing, revolution, bombing, more revolution. Let's focus on the cathedrals since they have been the central point of these ancient cities since their inception and that hasn't seemed to change over time; people take pictures, weep, and write about the tearing down of their culture. These are the types of cities where the cathedral was the tallest structure and in most cases, still is. They serve as reminders of a time long-past where the world was simpler and revolved around the work that so many suffered for. Time once crowded in on them but the destruction of their environment in various wars has opened them up to shine once more as the pride of their city.
Assume any picture not on my Picasa site is borrowed. I've not copied the pictures, preferring to link to them to preserve their original ownership, or at least to not further infringe on the copyright owner.
In Aachen stands Charlemagne's chapel, a cathedral of varying styles (Gothic, Romanesque with Byzantine touches. I'm so glad it's not Baroquen). The octagonal chapel (beneath the dome in the pictures below) was begun in 800 AD and the cathedral has expanded out from there, including a 16-sided second external layer and a gothic choir (to the left, below). The cathedral houses the throne of Charlemagne, where over 30 German kings have been crowned, the tomb of Otto III and the shrine of Charlemagne where his bones supposedly are held.
Compare Aachen 2007 and 1944:
Next up we have the cathedral at Mainz, finished in 1037. It is a Romanesque beauty (with Baroque and other influences), notable for being a bishopric seat to this very day. The present day cathedral reflects work sponsored by Napoleon after the seige of Mainz in 1793. Compare between 1840, 2007, 1944:
The cathedral at Worms was consecrated around 1181 but a chapel has stood there since the 7th century or earlier. Worms is notable for the Diet of Worms where Luther was condemned for his reformation ideas. Compare 2007 and 1944:
The images of Köln (Cologne) after allied bombing are evocative. I have a hard time looking at them sometimes, wondering just what it would have been like during the explosions and panic. In the picture below you can see where the Germans destroyed the bridge as they retreated. I've included a current picture of the recent bridge, as viewed from the right tower of the Dom (right in the picture I took of the facade). The Köln cathedral is exceptionally important in the history of Germany and the architecture of Europe. Building began in 1248 and was completed in 1880. The towers were the last things finished and services were held despite construction. When it was finished it was the tallest structure in the world. It still lays claim to the largest church facade in the world. It holds several important Christian relics including those of the 3 Kings (the Magi). Compare 2007 and 1945:
Two things strike me the most about the above. First we must note that most of these cities had built up around their cathedrals over time, starting from the Middle Ages as the economy expanded and then contracted. There would have been markets, houses and shops surrounding them. Pilgrims would spill in from outside and at the end of a day there might be filth everywhere (I read somewhere once that some cathedrals had slanted floors so they could easily sweep the daily filth out easily). Sometimes these outside entities shared the walls of the sanctuary.
Cathedrals were built well, built to stand until the end times, built to be shrines and places of pilgrimage. They were the cornerstone of life in the city. During the bombings of WWII many of those homes, shops and markets were destroyed (as you can see above). Many of the cathedrals were heavily damaged (glass broken, roofs burnt, columns fallen), but the city rebuilt them. People loved the heritage and architecture so much that they restored it, even despite the heavily secular outlook of German society, and the poverty of post-war Germany. In fact the first German UNESCO World Heritage site was the cathedral at Aachen (it was also one of the first 12 in the world, the 3rd in Europe!).
The second thing that strikes me is the sheer carnage we see from the allied bombings. After recently reading a description of the Roman's taking Jerusalem after the first Jewish revolt and re-reading the taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders I am reminded just how awful war is, but how far we've ironically come in fighting them. The Roman and Crusader destructions of Jerusalem resulted in "pools of blood to the ankle" and "bodies piled high". A city like Köln was probably deserted at the time that picture was taken. After 107 air raids the citizens had probably found refuge elsewhere. They weren't enclosed in walls like their ancestors would have been. Or at least we can hope. But I find my contemporaries making statements like: "at least we don't carpet bomb anymore" or "look at the carnage in Iraq". It poses an interesting question: is war still considered brutal if you're targeting? Is it still considered immoral and insensitive? Is technology the reason we're not squeamish about sending strike fighters in somewhere? Has our pride overwhelmed our sense of restraint? Sometimes I feel we're less squeamish, sometimes I feel we are more.
The above is by no means the extensive coverage of the issue of destruction during WW II. Most of the images are from Noa Turel ’s presentation: On Unveiling a Cathedral. If you're truly interested in this there also seems to be a book on the topic: War Damage in Western Europe by Nicola Lambourne (Edinburgh Press, 2001). It's now on my Amazon wishlist.
I posted previously on the Chains of Peter, so here are all the pictures I have together, along with an external link to those in Burlington Vermont (Order: Köln, Trier, Aachen, Rome, Burlington):
I note with some humor that this blog is now the #1 Google result for "Burlington peter's relic". Nevermind the infamous Burlington connoisseurs magazine. Who would link to me on this topic?
I wanted to do something a little different to highlight my favorite things on the trip, which by default had to be cathedrals, since that's what we saw. I will, however, concede that beer in Germany has earned its own blog entry, giving architecture a run for its money.
So, I wanted to highlight just what these poor cities have been through during the turmoil of many wars. Bombing, revolution, bombing, more revolution. Let's focus on the cathedrals since they have been the central point of these ancient cities since their inception and that hasn't seemed to change over time; people take pictures, weep, and write about the tearing down of their culture. These are the types of cities where the cathedral was the tallest structure and in most cases, still is. They serve as reminders of a time long-past where the world was simpler and revolved around the work that so many suffered for. Time once crowded in on them but the destruction of their environment in various wars has opened them up to shine once more as the pride of their city.
Assume any picture not on my Picasa site is borrowed. I've not copied the pictures, preferring to link to them to preserve their original ownership, or at least to not further infringe on the copyright owner.
In Aachen stands Charlemagne's chapel, a cathedral of varying styles (Gothic, Romanesque with Byzantine touches. I'm so glad it's not Baroquen). The octagonal chapel (beneath the dome in the pictures below) was begun in 800 AD and the cathedral has expanded out from there, including a 16-sided second external layer and a gothic choir (to the left, below). The cathedral houses the throne of Charlemagne, where over 30 German kings have been crowned, the tomb of Otto III and the shrine of Charlemagne where his bones supposedly are held.
Compare Aachen 2007 and 1944:
Next up we have the cathedral at Mainz, finished in 1037. It is a Romanesque beauty (with Baroque and other influences), notable for being a bishopric seat to this very day. The present day cathedral reflects work sponsored by Napoleon after the seige of Mainz in 1793. Compare between 1840, 2007, 1944:
The cathedral at Worms was consecrated around 1181 but a chapel has stood there since the 7th century or earlier. Worms is notable for the Diet of Worms where Luther was condemned for his reformation ideas. Compare 2007 and 1944:
The images of Köln (Cologne) after allied bombing are evocative. I have a hard time looking at them sometimes, wondering just what it would have been like during the explosions and panic. In the picture below you can see where the Germans destroyed the bridge as they retreated. I've included a current picture of the recent bridge, as viewed from the right tower of the Dom (right in the picture I took of the facade). The Köln cathedral is exceptionally important in the history of Germany and the architecture of Europe. Building began in 1248 and was completed in 1880. The towers were the last things finished and services were held despite construction. When it was finished it was the tallest structure in the world. It still lays claim to the largest church facade in the world. It holds several important Christian relics including those of the 3 Kings (the Magi). Compare 2007 and 1945:
Two things strike me the most about the above. First we must note that most of these cities had built up around their cathedrals over time, starting from the Middle Ages as the economy expanded and then contracted. There would have been markets, houses and shops surrounding them. Pilgrims would spill in from outside and at the end of a day there might be filth everywhere (I read somewhere once that some cathedrals had slanted floors so they could easily sweep the daily filth out easily). Sometimes these outside entities shared the walls of the sanctuary.
Cathedrals were built well, built to stand until the end times, built to be shrines and places of pilgrimage. They were the cornerstone of life in the city. During the bombings of WWII many of those homes, shops and markets were destroyed (as you can see above). Many of the cathedrals were heavily damaged (glass broken, roofs burnt, columns fallen), but the city rebuilt them. People loved the heritage and architecture so much that they restored it, even despite the heavily secular outlook of German society, and the poverty of post-war Germany. In fact the first German UNESCO World Heritage site was the cathedral at Aachen (it was also one of the first 12 in the world, the 3rd in Europe!).
The second thing that strikes me is the sheer carnage we see from the allied bombings. After recently reading a description of the Roman's taking Jerusalem after the first Jewish revolt and re-reading the taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders I am reminded just how awful war is, but how far we've ironically come in fighting them. The Roman and Crusader destructions of Jerusalem resulted in "pools of blood to the ankle" and "bodies piled high". A city like Köln was probably deserted at the time that picture was taken. After 107 air raids the citizens had probably found refuge elsewhere. They weren't enclosed in walls like their ancestors would have been. Or at least we can hope. But I find my contemporaries making statements like: "at least we don't carpet bomb anymore" or "look at the carnage in Iraq". It poses an interesting question: is war still considered brutal if you're targeting? Is it still considered immoral and insensitive? Is technology the reason we're not squeamish about sending strike fighters in somewhere? Has our pride overwhelmed our sense of restraint? Sometimes I feel we're less squeamish, sometimes I feel we are more.
The above is by no means the extensive coverage of the issue of destruction during WW II. Most of the images are from Noa Turel ’s presentation: On Unveiling a Cathedral. If you're truly interested in this there also seems to be a book on the topic: War Damage in Western Europe by Nicola Lambourne (Edinburgh Press, 2001). It's now on my Amazon wishlist.
I posted previously on the Chains of Peter, so here are all the pictures I have together, along with an external link to those in Burlington Vermont (Order: Köln, Trier, Aachen, Rome, Burlington):
I note with some humor that this blog is now the #1 Google result for "Burlington peter's relic". Nevermind the infamous Burlington connoisseurs magazine. Who would link to me on this topic?
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