Month: June 2010

Sculpture … painting … photographs … artifacts … furniture and  fashion all find their way into museums and exhibits.

Mona Bismarck was a countess who created a Foundation in her Parisian mansion located on the Avenue de New York.  And right now, there is a very off-the-beaten-track exhibit entitled “Buttons: an artistic phenomenon, historical and cultural.” Hats off to Loïc Allio, collector and artist whose passion is shared by artists and historians … and who will delight you with his stories … in English or in French.

You are the Countess’ guest. No admission charge.

Inside …

there are thousands of these. All shapes, sizes, colors, materials, designs, ages.

dating from ancient history to modern fashion design. A must.

Buttoning and unbuttoning: a subject for another day!

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distances … measuring how far … or how close!

In our age of precision, we have learned that … we strive for precision but that … actually, statistically, nothing is perfectly exact.

We ordinarily say that 1 mile is equal to 1.6 kilometers and that 1 kilometer is .6 of a mile.

For most practical purposes, this is sufficient. This is, in Donald Winnicott’s terms, “good enough.” … Maybe even better, in the circumstances, than precision down the scale:

kilometer

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf24352.mp3|titles=kilometer]

What’s the equivalence?

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex24352.mp3|titles=A mile equals one kilometer six hundred and 9 meters]

mile

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex25604.mp3|titles=A mile equals one point six kilometers]

meter

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf24353.mp3|titles=meter]

((A meter equals 39.37 inches. Their house has floor space of 200 square meters. A square meter is equal to 1.196 square yards.)) And then there are other meters, too … like parking meters … electricity and gas meters …

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex24353.mp3|titles=A meter equals 39.37 inches. Their house has floor space of 200 square meters. A square meter is equal to 1.196 square yards]

centimeter

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf24347.mp3|titles=centimeter]

One hundred centimeters …

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex24347.mp3|titles=One hundred centimeters make a meter]

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and a view OF Stirling Castle which you can get to from either Edinburgh or Glasgow.

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And here’s a link to the Wikipedia article … lest we forget!

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Where is Savannah?

The city of Savannah is on the east coast of the USA, in the state of Georgia, just north of Florida and just across the Savannah River from South Carolina, about 20 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean.

Here’s a Google map!

Show me where Savannah is

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How many concepts does “light” bring to mind? Light itself, weight, humor …

Edith Wharton wrote :

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”

When a word has more than one contrary, more than one antonym, this is proof that it’s a strong word. The pronunciation of the word is vital. The accent is important … and the context is the determining factor. Humor plays on words with more than one meaning.

The word “light” is especially rich. It functions as a noun. A light, the light; it functions as an adjective: it is light, light blue; it also functions as a verb: to light … not to mention “to lighten” … and words with the root like “lightning” and just at the sound of it, you see the long yet short flash, that oh so powerful LIGHT against the (dark, darkened) sky.

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/I-like-to-define.mp3|titles=I like to define words by what they aren’t …]

first by their polar opposites  (black/white) and then in more nuanced ways (shades of grey) according to their uses, their contexts, their connotations.]I like to define words by what they aren’t … first by their polar opposites  (black/white) and then in more nuanced ways (shades of grey) according to their uses, their contexts, their connotations.

What’s the opposite of “light” ? …. Well, it could be …. just a moment … what’s the context?… what time is it? Is is still (light) outside?

What is the opposite in this context? If white is light, black is …… dark.

and of course
And of course the other very frequent context using “light” to describe the concept of weight would give us … heavy, of course.

As for the verb “to light,” .. why… if the linking concept is fire, it seems to me that “to put out” is probably the most frequent in everyday speech, though “extinguish” could be very popular among firemen … and officials.

By the way, Edith Wharton also said this:

If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.

Why don’t you try recording this one?

If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.

If you’re interested in words and concepts … subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection.

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On the rue St. Jacques just next to the Paris-American Art Academy and the Chapel of the Val de Grace, is the Schola Cantorum. This music school is open to all, and trains young and not as young alike in all the musical arts. It has a garden and in the garden are a few sculptures. Here’s a photo of one of them. Next time you’re in the neighborhood, go in and through one of the doors to the garden. You won’t regret it.

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