No Art for U

[akirlu]

It occurred to me a while back that yesterday's holiday meant that Hal and I would have two days off together. Not something we get that often these days. I suggested we take a road trip somewheres. We were thinking about going up to Bellingham for a Rodin show, and do a bit of touristish puddling about. Hal pushed up the service date for the Volvo so the allignment would be done before we went. All good.

So then -- and you may have heard this -- it started raining in Washington. Like, a lot. Flooding and things. And while the flooded places were mostly not between us and Bellingham any longer we thought, long drive in the heavy rain. Hmmm. And also: Rodin. Hmm. Big sculptures. BIIIIIG sculptures. Possibly outdoor show? Hmmm. Perhaps not just now.

But hey, that's okay, because there's also this special exhibit of paired paintings called Double Take at the Experience Music Project, which we'd also been curious to see. So yesterday we set out for the more proximate Seattle Center, instead. By way of the Portage Bay Cafe which closed an hour early for Veterans' Day. Bastards. Only, when we got to the EMP, Hal didn't have his wallet. As things turned out, he had only forgotten it at home, but at the time, we didn't know that, so we had to retrace our steps of the morning to see if he had dropped or left it somewhere, and when it didn't turn up in any of those places we had to go home to look for it there and either find it or start the process of cancelling and replacing cards and so forth. Luckily, we found it. But it was a bit late to head back for the museum.

So today we set out again, after having had a latish breakfast at the British Pantry (not closed for Armistice Day -- yay, superior British capitalist impulse!). This time, when we got to Mercer, traffic was slow and backed up. As we inched forward under Aurora and toward Seattle Center, I kept smelling something that whiffed of Tacoma. Garbage, or that nasty putrescent smell they add to household gas to make it obvious when there's a leak. We were just commenting on this when we got far enough forward to see that our turn toward the Best Western Executive Inn was coned off. Imprecations were muttered as we were forced rightward instead. It was about then that Hal was able to get a clear enough view of the coned off section of Mercer to see a bunch of utility and firetrucks parked higgelty-piggelty across the road. Gas utility trucks, they were. Ah. Well, so it seems the reason it was smelling like a huge gas leak was because, well, there was a huge gas leak.

Ever the optimists, we thought we'd drive to one of the pay parking lots and walk back to the museum instead. About then was when I noticed the police saw horses and yellow emergency barrier tape cordoning off the EMP entrance. Apparently the museum had been shut down as part of the whole gas leak thing.

Apparently we're not meant to see Double Take. We went to Ballard instead.

Comments

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

It's like The Hot Rock, but without jewel thievery.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

It does feel like epic forces are at work, be they comic or otherwise, preventing us from doing any museum things. Tomorrow I guess I'll go out and drink beer with fans instead. Much safer, apparently.

[del-c.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't occur to us to close anything on 11 November. We just observe two minutes silence at eleven o'clock, then carry on about our business.

Remembrance Sunday (today) is the bigger affair, anyway.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. Yes, it's a bit uneven here. Either Veteran's day itself, or the nearest Friday, will be a Federal and State holiday. I was caught flatfooted by that on Saturday, because while the University of Washington closed on the Friday, so we got a 3-day weekend, the county library system closed on the 11th itself, since they're a 7-day-a-week operation and don't get 3-day weekends. I didn't actually notice which day we didn't get mail delivery.

[jry.livejournal.com]

For future attempts, note that the Rodin show at the Whatcom is completely indoors. Many small pieces, a few medium sized pieces. (Some of the pieces are smaller versions of pieces that have been cast in larger sizes.) One of my favorite parts was the bit with examples showing each stage of the lost wax casting process (pictures of that are online here (website of the Cantor Foundation which has the largest collection of Rodin outside of France.)) Definitely worth the trip to Bellingham, plus it's just around the corner from the Old Town Cafe.

Double-Take is definitely worth another try too. There were aspects of the exhibit that drove me crazy, but the art works are wonderful.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks for acting as Art Scout; we'll be sure to get Oop Narth some time soon then. And thanks also for the tip about the Old Town Cafe. We've really only started getting familiar with Bellingham, so ideas for good restaurants and such are very welcome.