Big Apple Blog

I was happy to see that the Orange revolution is not limited to my closet. On our trip to Europe I saw ample evidence that marketers and business people have realized the genius of the color orange. Someone in London was smart enough to cut to the chase and simply name a mobile communications company “Orange.”

When walking the streets of Montmartre in Paris we ran into a tour group and I automatically became an honorary member.

And finally, on our way out of Paris we took discount airline easyJet and the color of choice? Need I say more.

I had to travel all the way to Paris to find out about a cool California bike company, Mobiky. As a native Oregonian I am skeptical of all things Californian, but it this case, double thumbs up!

Every European city I have visited has a plethora of impressive religious edifices to visit. One of the most famous of all is Notre Dame. I always find myself visiting these edifices, but I also always find myself conflicted. Sure they are beautiful and are built to honor the God of the worshipers choice, but I can’t help but think of how many people might have been helped if the money, time, and resources spent on these structures was instead funneled directly into helping people in need.

I am not claiming some sort of moral superiority. Lord knows if you looked at how I spend my money I would be open to criticism of all sorts. Just tossing the thought out there: how powerful a statement might it be if a group of followers met in an average building and spent their time and resources on assisting those in dire need of assistance? And is the desire to build such structures based no the rationale of humans or on divine inspiration and evidence in the Bible? These are the questions I find myself asking.

In my opinion, Petax, Cannon, Sony, and all of the other camera companies in the world should tithe a percentage of their profits to the cathedrals around the world. The next most common sound in a cathedral other than bells is the clicking of a camera shudder.

You can go one of two ways with a blog entry about the Louvre. You could either write an entry that would rival a classic Russian Novel, or you could keep it to one picture and a take or two. I’ll take door number two.

The Louvre is cool and all, but it felt like the Costco of museums to me. Like Costco, there were long lines everywhere for well known pieces. The effect The Da Vinci Code has obviously had was also comical to me. In the wing where the Mona Lisa is kept there was a mad rush of people scampering toward the specific room where she is housed. I reminded me of kids following fire trucks or people running to the scene of an accident. In this case, perhaps a literary accident.

I have always been interested in instructive signs. Paris was full of ones that caught my attention.

The most comical thing to me about the first and second signs here is that it seems the figures are fashionably dressed. Not only do the people in Paris look like they walked out of a GQ shoot, even those suffering bodily harm in the signs look ready for the runway.

I temporarily interrupt Paris programming for something funny I ran into. A guy actually not only took the time to count the number of Starbucks in Manhattan, he visited them all in one day! Of course this feat could not have been accomplished without one of the top inventions of all time – the bicycle.

The video is about 11 minutes and is pretty entertaining if you have the time to watch it. The one question he does not address in the video is the issue of his bladder. Anyone who drinks coffee knows that it goes through you pretty quickly. He gave himself 7 minutes per Starbucks, which is hardly enough to get your beverage or food, let alone secure time in the bathroom. I’m guessing he may have “gone urban” if you know what I mean.

His total tab also surprised me. I thought it would have been much higher than $370. That averages out to $2.16 per Starbucks. No one I know gets out of the places for this amount.

One fateful day in Paris we visited four museums. We started with the Louvre, moved on to the Musée d’Orsay, then hit the Picasso Museum, and finished of with the Center Pompidou. By far my favorite was the Picasso Museum. Not only was it small enough to get through without too much effort, I found out that Picasso was the founder of my favorite form of art; the collage.

In NYC I like the Guggenheim simply because you can see everything in it in about two hours. Museums that are grand in scale intimidate me. The competitive person inside me treats large museums as a contest: so you think you are too big for me? At museums like the Louvre and the MET I get my physical and mental butt kicked. I have high expectations of seeing as much as possible and I always leave drained.

The Picasso Museum was refreshing because after a leisurely hour and half, we had seen everything. The museum is located in an old hotel and had a very friendly feel to it.

But while what was inside the Picasso Museum impressed me the most, the exterior of the Center Pompidou blew me away. The Pompidou is the equivalent of MOMA in NYC but the architect went out on a limb and left the skin of the building off. It’s probably the coolest and most creative concept I have ever witnessed. Who would have ever thought the things you normally want to cover, pipes, vents, stairs and such, would give a building a unique identity like none other?

The piece of art that had the greatest impression on me was one which at first caused me to scratch my head. As you can see below, it was large wicker airplane with all sorts of sharp object stuck into it.

At first I did not understand the meaning of it, but then I read the description. The artist was struck by the fact that our “advanced” civilization has reached the point where we cannot even trust people to bring sharp objects on to planes. Thus the artist was able to get thousands of sharp items that were confiscated as a part of airport security measures for the project. Quite a stunning commentary to me.

I don’t know if Invader necessarily spawned tile art, but there were visible signs that tile art is on the upswing in Paris.

One of the graffiti artists I have taken a liking to in NYC is Invader. He is actually from Paris and even though I was not on an invader hunt, he was hard to miss. Practically everywhere I went in Paris there was evidence of the tile graffiti invasion.

For more information on the artist, click here or here.

I have no explanation for why graffiti fascinates me. When I moved to the Big Apple and bought my first digital camera, graffiti immediately became one of my favorite subjects. I have never really been a law breaker so maybe deep down graffiti allows me to live vicariously through those who risk arrest for their passion.

Paris is one of those cities where you expect to see draw dropping architecture. The city is obviously filled with urban artists as well because you can hardly go for a long walk and not see some sort of graffiti. In NYC graffiti has started to take on many different forms and Paris is much the same. Paint, tile, markers, stickers, stencils, boards, and paste ups can all be found in abundance.