Ride the Wooden Horse

Jumping Carousel Horse (c.1890) by the Dentzel Carousel Company, with Hindu Processional Horse (late 19th century) behind, on display at the Mingei International Museum

And, as that image settles into your mind, let's celebrate Juliana Hatfield's birthday with a song. ;-)

"My Sister" by Juliana Hatfield

Enjoy!!!

Is This the Droid that I'm Looking For?

C-3PO on display at the Museum of Man

Enjoy!!!

In the Bones

Primate skeletons on display at the Museum of Man, Balboa Park, San Diego

Enjoy!!!

Dinknesh

An artist's visualization of Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis) at the Museum of Man

A few month back, I was able to see the actual fossils of Lucy on display at the Bowers Museum, the highlight of their "Lucy's Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia". Unfortunately, the show did not allow photography. Although I really would have enjoyed sharing the experience with you all, I would have felt better doing so with some cool photos to help me out.

Well, this photo comes from my recent trip down to San Diego. The model is part of the Museum of Man's exhibit of human evolution, a fun interactive display.

Nevertheless, I can't help but ask, if Lucy is the "Mother of All Humankind", then does that make all of us fair game for a "Yo Mama So Ugly" joke? ;-)

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by the Beatles

Enjoy!!!

Alebrijes

Alebrije (1977) by Miguel Linares, on display at the Museum of Man in San Diego

Over the weekend, I took a trip down to San Diego. Since I was in the neighborhood, a quick visit to Balboa Park and some of its fine museums was on the schedule. There were plenty of interesting pieces on view, but, today, let's look at a few examples of Mexican folk art, the Alebrijes, colorful nightmare creatures given form in paper mache.

Created by Pedro Linares in the 1930s, these weird creatures were inspired by a fever dream, in which the grotesque critters frolicked within a dream forest and hallucinatory clouds. Throughout the bizarre vision, the creatures kept on repeating the nonsense word "Alebrije". So, upon recovering from the illness, Linares fashioned their likeness out of paper mache, brightly painted.

The tradition has since been passed on through the Linares family and has become a popular form of Mexican folk art, especially in Oaxaca.

Alebrijes by Ricardo and Miguel Linares, on display at the Mingei Museum

Enjoy!!!