Tell us A Bit About Where You're From

[TheWalkingContradiction]

In my last picture post I showed you some typical Brooklyn scenes without going into the tourist traps and more famous buildings.  I would now like to show you some of my favorite Manhattan oddities without showing all the things you see in movies.  I teach in Manhattan and am as familiar with it as I am with Brooklyn.

Welcome to Paris!

Uh, I mean New York.  (The yellow taxi proves the location.)  These pretentious establishments on Orchard Street just off Stanton Street (on the Lower East Side) are not unique, either.



Naked guy and birds...  Uh, I mean, one of the statues in Columbus Circle (uptown) from the very early 1900s.  The many birds do distract a tad from his "heroic nudity." don't you think?



Hot guys sunbathing on one of the West Village piers.



Pockmocks at 23 Wall Street across from the Stock Exchange - caused by a terrorist bomb in 1920 that was probably set off by Italian anarchists.  There were many casualities.  When I do walking tours of Lower Manhattan I take my students here, among other places, and also talk about things like the Oklahoma City bombing to show that Muslims/Arabs are not synonymous with terrorist acts.

Some more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_bombing



Graves from the 1600s, 1700s, and very early 1800s in the Trinity Church cemetery, which is right on Broadway and about two blocks from the Stock Exchange.  (I teach a couple of blocks from here.)

[TheWalkingContradiction]

Yeah, I didn't even know that they were in fact englishised words from original Dutch. I feel incredibly ignorant right now.

Why should you feel ignorant?  I am sure there is a lot I do not know about the origins of place names in Brazil.  

[Amicale]

TWC, wonderful pictures! Thanks for sharing with us!

I might sound odd when I say this, but being a history buff, I really like cemeteries. *watches everyone back away*

Especially old graves like that. The up-close shots from the early 1800s are fantastic. One time I was looking through the cemetery close to my house, and I came across a grave from the mid 1700s - which was pretty remarkable, as the area supposedly wasn't developed until nearly a hundred years later, but individual small farming communities were in the area back then. Before my neighborhood was built, the whole thing was a cornfield/farmland for probably a couple hundred years.

[Buddy]

TWC, wonderful pictures! Thanks for sharing with us!

I might sound odd when I say this, but being a history buff, I really like cemeteries. *watches everyone back away*

Especially old graves like that. The up-close shots from the early 1800s are fantastic. One time I was looking through the cemetery close to my house, and I came across a grave from the mid 1700s - which was pretty remarkable, as the area supposedly wasn't developed until nearly a hundred years later, but individual small farming communities were in the area back then. Before my neighborhood was built, the whole thing was a cornfield/farmland for probably a couple hundred years.

Don't be ashamed! I love going to old cemeteries. Philadelphia and Key West have some of the best.

[DeterminedJuliet]

I really enjoyed the "tour" TWC. I've never been to New York, so I find it really interesting to have a personalized view.

I think cemeteries are interesting, too. There are some pretty neat ones in Newfoundland from the 16th century (TWC, I'm a Newfoundlander who's currently living in Ontario. I get homesick and talk about "home" a lot. Just a head's up. haha.)

[Buddy]

There was a really neat cemetery in Malmö that I would visit often. It was old, had creepy statues and a rusty fence. Basically the whole package.

[Icarus]

Neatest thread on the whole forum. The pix of places all over the world are terriffic. I have spent way too much of my life traveling. I'm damned sick of it. I just want to stay home in my little cave with my two dogs. But Nooooo, you guys have to post all those spectacular pictures and now I want to go there to see for myself the wonders of worlds that I have yet to see. I am particularly impressed by Brasilia and a bit curious about Newfoundland. I mean we have some members in really scattered places like Cyprus, Greece, Fiji, Mexico, UK, Belgium, and of course, West Va. and Teyaxus.

I live in central Florida. It is beautiful if you know where to go. Tourist traps are not the real Florida.  We never mention the most pristine places to visitors for fear that the word will get out and the places will no longer be pristine.

We are a mixed bag of people who range from the redneck bubba character to brilliant astrophysicists that work for NASA as well as highly credentialed researchers in our numerous colleges. Our politics are distinguished only by abject stupidity. Our elementary and high school educational system is nothing to boast about although we have many  outstanding teachers who are thwarted by having to deal with narrow minded political jackasses  and the outcomes of the ill designed and poorly informed legislations. (On balance, we play pretty good football though)

[Ali]

There is nothing wrong with a good penis joke.

Which reminds me, some people see themselves as a penis, but never a joke

Do they awkwardly stick out in public?

Maybe we all need to bone up on our penis jokes.

  I see what you did there.

[xSilverPhinx]

Yeah, I didn't even know that they were in fact englishised words from original Dutch. I feel incredibly ignorant right now.

Why should you feel ignorant?  I am sure there is a lot I do not know about the origins of place names in Brazil.   

That doesn't really count, I don't know them either.

[TheWalkingContradiction]

Here is the last set of pictures I would like to post here.

Two of the advantages of living in Brooklyn (New York City) are The Met (The Metropolitan Museum of Art - one of the greatest museums in the world) and The Brooklyn Museum.  Rather than post links to the usual masterpieces, I would like to post my photos of pieces I have loved for decades.

First, from The Brooklyn Museum, here is a stunningly beautiful portrait of Lady Tjepu.  She is from ancient Egypt's New Kingdom--Dynasty 18, during the reign of Amunhotep III (circa 1390-1352 BC).  She is a little more famous than some of my other favorites, as she has been used on the cover of more than one Brooklyn Museum publication.



Next, also from The Brooklyn Museum, here is my favorite statue: a nobleman or priest named Metjetji. I have seen much Egyptian art in my life, but I have never seen such an incredibly lifelike statue. Just look at those eyes!

Metjetji lived in the Old Kingdom during the end of Dynasty 5 or the beginning or Dynasty 6 (circa 2371-2288 BC).





I can wander the Egyptian galleries in either museum for hours and never get bored.  Here is a typical room full of Egyptian art in The Brooklyn Museum.



Ancient Egyptian artists had to be trained from an early age, and students often made clumsy errors during their training.



One of The Brooklyn Museum's many examples of Ancient Egyptian pornography (which was more widespread than you may think).



In the "Ancient" Egyptian gift shop...



"Ancient" Egyptian Christmas decorations in the gift shop.



Wandering in the Greek and Roman galleries in either museum allows me to come into contact with young artists practicing new skills.  Sometimes it is fascinating just to sit on a bench and watch them.  Here is a recent shot from The Met.



Back to The Brooklyn Museum.  I adore this Chinese guardian lion, circa 1662-1722.  Such a marvelous face, shape, and color palette.



Back to The Met.  Here is my favorite ancient Japanese god, Fudo Myo-o.  He comes from the Heian Period, 12th century Kyoto.  
 




Strolling through the Asian Art Wing of The Met is never a disappointment.



Also in The Met...  Ganesha, who broke off his tusk and threw it at the moon in anger (India, probably Madhya Pradesh, 11th century).



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(Late edit: This next piece is in The Met.)

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This photo is about ten years old, but is one of my favorites of all time: Perseus with the Head of Medusa by Antonio Canova (Roman, 1804-06). You can see how impressed this couple is by... something.  (It ain't his sword.)



Perseus now stand in a different room--but it is still fun to watch people's reactions.

[Crow]

There was a really neat cemetery in Malmö that I would visit often. It was old, had creepy statues and a rusty fence. Basically the whole package.

Wait a minute! You moved from Malmö to the States, girl you crazy! Not that I have anything against the States but Malmö is really bloody cool and you can drive to Copenhagen which is also really cool, please tell me it was for NYC, Chicago or San Fransisco.

[TheWalkingContradiction]

Yeah, I didn't even know that they were in fact englishised words from original Dutch. I feel incredibly ignorant right now.

Why should you feel ignorant?  I am sure there is a lot I do not know about the origins of place names in Brazil.   

That doesn't really count, I don't know them either.

Maybe the origins of geographical place names is just not your 'thing' since there are other areas in which you are strong.

Math is not my 'thing' and I have always been really, really bad in it.  I came close to failing it many times when I was in school.  My sister is younger than I am, which means she was always in a lower grade.  Yet, she helped me with math when I was in high school.  She is now a math teacher, and as she puts it: "I got the math genes and you got the language genes."

I am sure you have the genes for many things in which you are talented even if you don't have a place names gene.   

[TheWalkingContradiction]

TWC, wonderful pictures! Thanks for sharing with us!

I might sound odd when I say this, but being a history buff, I really like cemeteries. *watches everyone back away*

Especially old graves like that. The up-close shots from the early 1800s are fantastic. One time I was looking through the cemetery close to my house, and I came across a grave from the mid 1700s - which was pretty remarkable, as the area supposedly wasn't developed until nearly a hundred years later, but individual small farming communities were in the area back then. Before my neighborhood was built, the whole thing was a cornfield/farmland for probably a couple hundred years.

I --LOVE-- cemeteries!  In fact, when I went to Paris, one of the first things I wanted to do was walk through Père Lachaise Cemetery.

I know exactly how you must have felt when you came across that 18th-century grave.

Here in New York there are many very, very old cemeteries with interesting graves.  If you or anyone else would like some more close-ups of even older graves in the Trinity Churchyard or the St. Paul's Churchyard, both of which are only a couple of blocks from work, just let me know.  It would be my pleasure.

[TheWalkingContradiction]

There was a really neat cemetery in Malmö that I would visit often. It was old, had creepy statues and a rusty fence. Basically the whole package.

I recently listened to a BBC podcast that had some very scary things to say about the Fundamentalist Muslim community in Malmö.  Still, as an Arab-American, I a sure the scary part of the population is in the minority.

They also interviewed blond haired, blue-eyed (their emphasis) young Swedish woman who had converted to Islam and was wearing a headscarf during the interview in English.  She is a schoolteacher teaching Muslim children Swedish, and she had a fascinating perspective.

[Buddy]

I recently listened to a BBC podcast that had some very scary things to say about the Fundamentalist Muslim community in Malmö.  Still, as an Arab-American, I a sure the scary part of the population is in the minority.

They also interviewed blond haired, blue-eyed (their emphasis) young Swedish woman who had converted to Islam and was wearing a headscarf during the interview in English.  She is a schoolteacher teaching Muslim children Swedish, and she had a fascinating perspective.

Hmm. Never really paid attention to minorities in Malmö. Of course, I left before I was old enough to be interested in the news.