2004.03.18 17:31
architecture and human nature...
architectural suffrage / cast a vote
living is an ant farm
living is a nudist camp
hint:
afterliving is Simply Playing Earth
2004.03.18
latest Campo Marzio discoveries
The Sep. V. Valens is right on the Tiber next to the Gym. Nero., which led me to wonder if the Gym. Nero. follows the cir/squ juncture pattern; it looks like it does.
The cir/squ Porticus Nero. marks the spot of Alaric's Visigoth camp prior to the (primal) break-in at the Porta Saleria; the 45 degree marks of the Porticus Neroniani marks the four cardinal points. Since the "compass" of the Campo Marzio matches the center of the Porticus Nero. in size, perhaps Piranesi is here indicating the spot where the "winds" shifted--the historical wonds. I now know how the Nolli map corresponds with the Campo Marzio area of the Celian Holl / Horti Salustiani.Platner provides an interesting history of the "Dmus Valerianus"--nobody bought it in 404; it sold for almost nothing after Alaric 410; it appears to have become a hospital (which makes sense considering Melania’s mission.
| |
2004.03.18
Thermantia and Melania
As much as Melania and Maria were (are) best friends, it was Thermatica that actually followed and stayed with Melania and Paulo until her young end. I never expected to see Thermantia come right out of obscurity. All these women were greatly effected by the Empress role model of Helena (and Eutropia). It is easy to imagine their pilgrimages throughout Rome and the Empire.
20 March
2004 Piranesi's dies sanguinis tour
2004 engagement party for Dennis and Eva
| |
2004.03.21 10:53
party ends with a bang
After all the fun of the engagement party last night, most of the guests headed straight down the Broad Street Cardo to witness the implosion of Veteran's Stadium.
If you have a copy of the book Mutations handy, you can see a nice aerial shot of the now quondam Veteran's Stadium on pages 542-3. The caption reads:
In 1999 American cities saw at least 41 new and renovated sports facilities with another 34 such projects slated for the next 3 years.
Long argued by developers and sports executives as boons toward sustainable urban renewal, economics consistently show that stadiums actually slow the growth of cities and cost taxpayers billions of dollars per decade.
"New" stadiums are frequently declared obsolete and are torn down, in favor of yet newer ones, in as little as 7 years. The brutal, perpetual migration of sports teams to ever-newer facilities however can increase their own yearly income by as much as $40 million.
so much for metabolic nature
| |
  
| |
2004.03.21 11:35
Re: a gathering of planets
Dennis and Eva
Catherine de Ricci and Louis I. Kahn
Trumbauer and Mrs. Dodge
Otto and Maria
Piranesi and Melania the Younger
Ludwig and Agatha Christie (he was calling her "Clueless" behind her back)
Rubens and Bette Davis
Franziska and Philippe le Beau (apparently he has an eye for the great grandmothers of his most recent descendants)
Napoleon and James A. Williams
Eutropia and Napoleon II (they all sang 'Happy Birthday' for him, and every time Napoleon's son introduced himself as the King of Rome, Eutropia simply said, "You don't know a thing.")
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette (when Ludwig saw Agatha mingling with Louis and Marie, he said, "Look! It's 'Clueless' with 'The DeCaps.'")
Theodosius and Aelia Flaccilla
Arcadius and Aelia Eudoxia
Honorius and Thermantia
Galla Placidia and Athaulf
Stilico and Serena
Princess Grace and Samuel Goldwyn
John Kelly and a bitch (apparently a seeing eye dog)
Rrose Sélavy and Pope Celestine V
Jennewein and Lili Marlene
Franklin and Maria Popinska, a quondam Russian scientist (Otto took one look at this couple and immediately said, "Oh, Now I get it. Maria Popinska and 'Let's go fly a kite.' Ben, you're still the funniest sense of humor I know.")
Helena and Eusebius (it was obvious they were up to something)
Ambrose surprised everyone by bringing Constantina and R. David Schmitt. (Ambrose enjoyed telling everyone how he and Dave each died on a Good Friday, and Constantina--actually everyone calls her Santa Costanza these days--enjoyed telling everyone about the architectural analysis of her mausoleum that Dave conducted back when he was a student at Temple University.)
|