Comments

1

What a strange room the Louvre has for the Mona Lisa. I don't like it.

2

So glad you're feeling better Jas

3

The example photo of the floating wetland on that myballard page is a better view than you'll get from the ones at Green Lake. They're far enough off shore that it's hard to discern exactly what's going on.

5

welcome back Jas!

our formerly-supreme
Court having totally
Lost its Standing
Demands! the
Privacy they
steal from
the Wo-
men-
folk

time to Repack!
the motherfucker

6

Mona Lisa is probably the least impressive thing at the Louvre. 10/10 underwhelming.

7

Look at all those assholes at the Louvre, waiting for their IG likes. Captain Pastry is a hero.

8

I got to see the Mona Lisa in '84, as a 21 year old. Much different experience: it was one of several painting on a long wall in a regular gallery. My GF (also named Lisa) & I had it to ourselves for a few minutes, no crowding.

Next time, I saw the spectacle it is today, and moved on.

9

As if "Captain Pastry" isn't also in it for the "likes" of a different crowd. Poser of a different color. Defacing buildings/art/society is just the feeble outbursts of the incompetents who can't navigate society and all of its obvious imperfections. Like monkeys throwing scat.

10

@8,

That was pretty much exactly my reaction to this whole ordeal. I'm sure it's a gorgeous painting, but I couldn't imagine being able to appreciate it from eight feet away, behind a thick glass enclosure, in a big stuffy mass of elbow-to-elbow people, and couldn't imagine why anyone would want to do so, much less wait in a line for the experience. I guess seeing the goofball do that with the toothpaste would at least make it a bit more interesting, so good for those in attendance I guess.

11

I'm 99 percent convinced Alito leaked the thing himself (and covered his tracks carefully, as I'm sure Roberts is pissed). Alito knows that this decision will alter the fabric of American life in a way no SCOTUS decision has since at least Brown v. Board and that he has to make it as bullet-proof as possible because future, more progressive jurists will surely be gunning for it. By putting the draft out in public ahead of time he will benefit enormously from knowing the exact response his arguments will elicit from the best legal minds of the pro-choice movement and can now adjust accordingly to pre-empt them as best he can. (And it's a virtual certainty that all the Matthew Hale references will disappear like magic from the final version.) It's an evil-genius move, albeit one that will further erode the court's already tenuous legitimacy in the eyes of the pro-choice majority (which few if any members of the current right-wing judiciary care about in the slightest).

12

@11 CKathes: I'm 100% convinced that all RepubliKKKan men should all be castrated at birth.

How sad that the Mona Lisa has been reduced to whipped cream sabotage and selfies. I agree with Phoebe---that viewing room is atrocious. The Louvre can do better.

Welcome back, Jas! I'm glad you're feeling better.

13

@9 At least he's a monkey doing his own thing. It's the rest that are throwing scat.

14

La Gioconda made the list of Ten Worst Wastes of Time for Travelers along with the Leaning Tower (because Pisa is both miles from anywhere and very, very touristy) and the Taj Mahal (also out of the way and incredibly crowded). But how do you go to Paris and not go to the Louvre, and if you are in the Louvre, you have to see (among other things) Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa, right? By the time I saw it, it was encased in a glassed-over alcove (and thank goodness). Remember what happened to Guernica? The world we live in. Sigh.

I could barely see it though. It was even smaller than I thought it'd be. A half-oval of tourists about 10 people thick snap, snap, snapping their flashing cameras. That room was hot, too. In February. Heated by all the people. Waste of time? Yes and no. I'd never advise to wait in line should it come to that. Too many other grand things to do in Paris as opposed to eating up your day waiting for an anticlimax.

Guns. Yet another reason to move to Canada (if they'd have me). You almost have to be a refugee or pretty darn wealthy or have a badly needed skill to get permanent resident status. Canada has a points system based on education, vocation, languages spoken, entrepreneur ability (that's where the money comes in - I think you can get in if you are bringing at least $500K with you but that amount may have increased since I looked into it), and age (low points for children, higher points for working-age people but if you are 50 or over, they start subtracting points). So my application would quite likely be denied. Also, just to apply for permanent resident status costs about a grand per applicant when I last checked. But I'm no longer stupid enough or hopeful enough to believe anything is ever going to be done here in the States. Too many Ted Cruzes. Too many of that ilk. Too much money against it. Once again, only about 20-25% of the people control the agenda.

It's not that Canada is the panacea. It has its own issues as well, but it's gorgeous, the people there seem to value intellect and education, most are friendly as fuck, and I don't fear walking the streets of downtown Vancouver at night anywhere near as much as I fear it in Los Angeles.

15

@4 Wrong.

"Modeling COVID-19 Mortality Across 44 Countries: Face Covering May Reduce Deaths"
https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(21)00557-2/fulltext

"A study of the impact of national face mask laws on COVID-19 mortality in 44 countries with a combined population of nearly one billion people found that, over time, the increase in COVID-19 related deaths was significantly slower in countries that imposed mask laws compared to countries that did not. The study, appearing in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, shows that masks provide a supplementary layer of protection that could prevent unnecessary COVID-19 deaths."

16

@14 The Louvre used to have one night a week when it was open late (like 10pm). Not sure if it still does, but that’s when we went. We had the Mona Lisa to ourselves. Did the same thing for David in Florence. And arrived at the opening of Reina Sophia in Madrid to see Guernica. Had it to ourselves for a bit. People who want to enjoy these pieces of art don’t go midday, unless it’s just for the “likes”…or to smear cake.

17

@ Doug - Its website says its hours are 0900-1800 except, of course, Tuesday when all the museums are closed, but spending time alone late at night in an uncrowded Louvre sounds brilliant. They may have offered those late hours when I was there, and the hours currently posted may be a temporary pandemic thing. I used to count too heavily on the info provided in those Lonely Planet books. The London one was all wrong, for instance, about visiting hours for Westminster Abbey.


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