Notable Paintings at the Old National Gallery

• Crown Prince Fredrick at the Court Ball 1878 - 1895, By Anton von Werner
• A Billet outside Paris - 1894, By Anton von Werner


• Parade on Opernplatz in 1822 - 1824 - 1830, By Franz Kruger


• Parade on Opernplatz in 1822 (2) - 1824 - 1830, By Franz Kruger


• The Isle of the Dead - 1883, By Arnold Bocklin


• The House at Rueil - 1882, By Edouard Manet


• Grace before the meal - 1885, By Fritz von Uhde


• Country House in Hilversum - 1901, By Max Liebemann


• Spring in Oberweimar - 1868, By Karl Buchholz


• Children's Afternoon at Wargemont - 1884, By Auguste Renoir

U.K. English to U.S. English Translation

Yes the U.K. and U.S. really do have different languages! Here's a translation of some common U.K. words and phrases:

Updated 28 September 2009

U.K.	U.S.
A-Level	Advanced Level [during optional final 2 yrs: yrs 12 & 13]
Aluminum	Aluminium
Answer up (New)	Comment
Aubergine	Eggplant
Bangers	Sausages
Bank holiday	(National) holiday
bee's knee's, the	Excellent
Best mate	Best friend
Bin [n., v.]	Trash
Biscuit	Cookie
Blimey	Express surprise
block of flats	Apartment building
Bloke	Guy
Bobby	Policeman
Bonnet	Automobile hood
Boot	Automobile trunk
Brolly	Umbrella
Bungalow	Ranch [single level house]
Butty [e.g. bacon butty]	Sandwich
Car park	Parking lot
Carrier bag (New)	Plastic bag
Certificate 12A (New)	PG or PG-13
Certificate 15 (New)	PG-13 or R
Certificate 18 (New)	R or X
Cheers	Thanks / goodbye
Chemist	Pharmacy
Chips	French fries
Cinema	Movie theater
the city	Square mile financial district in London
Competition (New)	Sweepstakes / contest
Cooker (New)	Stove
Courgette	Zucchini
Cracking	Excellent
Crisps	(Potato) chips
Cross (New)	Mad
CV (New)	Résumé
Daft	Foolish
Eggy bread (New)	French toast
Engineering works (New)	Construction
Equally (New)	At the same time
Estate	Station wagon
Fag [slang]	Cigarette
Farside (lane)	Outside (lane)
Fitted (New)	Installed
Fiver	Five pounds [monetary]
Flat	Apartment
Football	Soccer
Footie (New)	Soccer (slang)
GCSE	Like high school (diploma) yrs 10 & 11, ages 14-16
Gherkins (New)	Pickles
Give way	Yield
Ground floor	First floor
Having a laugh (New)	Joking
Headmaster / headmistress	Principal
Holiday	Vacation
Hoover	Vacuum
Hospital	"the" hospital
Item (New)	Part
Jam	Jam, jelly
Jelly	Jell-o
Knackered	Exhausted
Lads	Boys
Lift	Elevator
Loads (New)	Lots
Loft	Attic
Loo (New)	Bathroom
Lorry	Truck or van
Maplin (New)	Radio Shack
Mash	Mashed (potatoes)
Mate	Friend
Maths	Math
Midday	Noon
Mind the gap (New)	Watch your step
Mobile (phone)	Cell (phone)
MOT	Motor vehicle inspection
Motorway (New)	Highway
MP	Member of Parliament [like senator or congressman]
Mum	Mom
Nan	Grandma
Nappies	Diapers
Naught	Zero
Nearside (lane)	Inside (lane)
Nick	To steal
No worries (New)	No problem
Nutter	insane
Off Licence	Liquor store
PA (New)	Secretary
Palaver	Fiasco
Pants	1. Underpants; underwear 2. Poor quality
Pay rise	(Pay) raise
Petrol	Gas; gasoline
Plaster (New)	Band-aid
Porridge (New)	Oatmeal
Posh (New)	Classy
Profit	Net profit
Pudding	Dessert
Queue [n.]	Line
Quid	Pound [monetary]
Quite (New)	Exactly
Redundant	Laid off
Rough (New)	Under the weather / unwell
Rounders	Baseball (similar)
Row	Dispute
Saloon [auto body style]	Sedan
Solicitor	Attorney
Sorted	Fixed
Starter	Appetizer
Straightaway	Right away
Surgery	Doctor's office
Ta [slang]	Thanks
Takeaway	Takeout
Taking the mickey (New)	Teasing
Tenner	Ten pounds [monetary]
Tick	Check
Till	(Cash) register
Told off (tell off) (New)	Scolded, yelled, disciplined
Tourer [auto body style]	(Station) wagon
Turnover	(Gross) Revenue
Underground	Subway
Uni (New)	College or University
Wellingtons	Rubber boots
What are you like (New)
Whilst	While
Windscreen	Windshield
Yob [slang]	Hooligan
Zimmer frame (New)	Walking frame

 

-Krip

Categories: UK_, US_, Languages_

 

Notable Paintings at the Getty Museum

• Head of Christ, 1525-30, by Correggio
• Portrait of a Woman with a Book of Music, 1540s, Bacchiacca
• Irises, 1889, Vincent van Gogh
• Portrait of the...
• Portrait of Princess Leonilla of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, 1843, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter
• Portrait of Jeanne Kefer, 1885, by Fernand Khnopff
• Landscape with the Castle of Massa di Carrara, 1837, by Leo von Klenze
• Gabriel Bernard de Rieux, 1739-41, by Maurice-Quentin de La Tour
• A View of the Grand Canal: Santa Maria della Salute and the Dogana from Campo Santa Maria Zobenigo, 1740, by Bernardo Bellotto
• Still Life: Tea Set, 1781-83, by Jean-Etienne Liotard
• Demolition of the Chateau of Meudon, 1806, by Hubert Robert
• Christ with the Crown of Thorns, 1636-37, by Guido Reni
• John, Fourteenth Lord Willoughby de Broke, and His Family in the Breakfast Room at Compton Verney, 1766, by Johann Zoffany

-Krip

I Wrote Twitter 20 Years Ago!

Twenty years ago, I wrote a FoxPro app where you log notes. It was a multi-user database app designed to facilitate communication between the developers and testers on the team. I called it COLT (an acronym for Come on, let's talk!). A "browse" window would update and show you new messages. You could even reply to messages (threads).

So I wrote Twitter 20 years ago! Great ideas take a while to catch on I guess.

-Krip

Notable Paintings at the Babylon Exhibit

Notable paintings at the Babylon exhibit at the British Museum (closing today):

1. Daniel in the Lion's Den, by Briton Reviere (1872)
(that image doesn't do it justice - got to see it close up - e.g. lions' eyes)

2. Belshazzar's Feast, by John Martin (1821)
(again need to see this huge painting up close to really appreciate it)

3. Tower of Babel, Michael Lassel (2001)
(this oil painting could pass as a photograph!!)

4. Babel Revisited, by Julee Holcombe (2004)
(you can see more of her work on her own site)

-Krip

P.S. Also see the Times' photo gallery of this exhibition.

Places to Visit in London

Here are some suggestions on what to see when in London:

1) British museum (http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/): There's quite a bit here on the Ancient Near East - of particular interest to Bible readers. There's a section with relief walls from Assyria where you can see the Assyrians depict how they treat their captives. Also the reliefs are charred indicating a fire. Also watch out for a whole section on Lachish where Hezekiah paid tribute to Sennacherib. Also, right off the Great Court (where you enter) is a long room that contains lots of ancient artifacts in glass cases (I think it's called Enlightenment).

2) Ah, number two on my list is the National Gallery (http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/) - In my opinion one of the greatest art collections in the world. If you like art, don't miss it. The museum is located right at Trafalgar Square. Most of the museums are free here (just donate if you want). Other than that everything is VERY expensive, but I digress! Back to the museum. One of the my favourites is a large painting called The Ambassadors (If you want to peek then here's the link: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=ng1314). There's a lot more than meets the eye in this piece so hopefully you can catch a tour group at this painting and eavesdrop while the guide hits the highlights!

3) Science museum (http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk): This is a great museum too (located in Kensington). I think it depends on weather. If it's rainy and you need "indoor" things to do, this is a good one.

4) The standard tourist spots: Walk along Regent Street and Oxford Street. Hamleys is a 5 story toy shop right on Regent street (http://www.hamleys.com/).

5) Harrods is quite a posh department store right off Oxford street (http://www.harrods.com). Pop in if you want to see how the other half shops. But beware you can get many of the same goods cheaper elsewhere. Another spot I recommend is the Food Hall at Selfridges. Selfridges is a department store - attached to it is a Food Hall that is unique.

6) Pubs: Of course the English pub! You'll find them everywhere. It's unlike anywhere else. More of a social place. Most pubs have food too and it's pretty decent! For example Fish & Chips or Chicken Tikka Masala (The national dish borrowed from the great Indians - yah!). Order everything including food at the bar, and give them you're table number. Then someone will bring it to your table. Don't forget to have a pint of Guinness!

7) English castles: These have many hundreds of years of history, and are usually decked out with ornate furnishings and art work. Some of them have tea rooms and/or restaurants attached. Windsor is a nice town so Windsor Castle is one option. There are a couple of sites that list all the castles and "houses" open for visiting, English Heritage (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/) and National Trust (http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/) so check those out and see if anything's near to the routes you're traveling.

-Krip

Notable Paintings at the Picasso Museum

Some notable paintings at the Museu Picasso (absolutely no photos are allowed) - all of these are by Picasso except the two by Gris:

1) Science and Charity, 1897 (Notice the woman's right hand is green near the bed - but left hand is white closer to her face which is also white. Perhaps this signifies the change from health to sickness.)

2) Painter Working, 1965

3) Bottle Anis del Mono, 1915 (even the signature is a work of art on this one)

4) Alcova Dues Habitacions

5) Balco Tancat

6) Cafe 4 Gats

7) Els Colomins

8) Las Meninas (Conjunt), 1957 (this one is very interesting as it's Picasso's interpretation of Velazquez's Las Meninas, 1656)

And a couple of ceramics:

9) Plata Espanola Escena de Cursa Amb Peix

10) Plat Arrodonit Mascara Negra

And finally a couple by Juan Gris (They're known as "visual rhymes"):

11) Guitar and Fruit Bowl, 1926

12) Pierrot, 1919

-Krip

Mompou's Notable Paintings

An exhibition of paintings by Josep Mompou is running at La Pedrera now through 14 June 2009. Some notable paintings:

1) Instrumentos Musicales
2) Dancing
3) Plaza de Catalunya
4) Water view out door (not sure of exact name!)

-Krip

"My Aircraft"...check..."Your Aircraft"

Earlier I blogged about captain Sully's heroism in safely bringing down flight 1549 on the water.

CBS' News 60 Minutes last night aired an interview with Sully. You can catch it here.

Sully knew what he had to do and focused on the job at hand. He took control of the aircraft. He then went through standard operating procedure for that kind of incident. Next he considered options of landing at various nearby airports including receiving clearance for such. Then he made the call to ditch into the Hudson. He knew exactly the various conditions under which he must hit the water to make a successful landing and executed that plan.

Fast thinking. Controlled thinking. Calm thinking. Right thinking.

A lesson for all of us. At any time we may be called upon (by virtue of circumstance) to help with an emergency. Sully, well done, you're a god.

-Krip

Nicholas Cage Improvises and Goes British

There's a hilarious scene in National Treasure 2 where Nicholas Cage engages his costar in a fake argument. He improvises as he goes along - for example, grabbing one of the bystanders. It ends in his speaking with a British accent and using british terms. Very funny!

Clip here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=d0yGzuoXwRY&feature=related

-Krip

Dancing Breaks Out at UK Railway Station

Check this out: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mUZrrbgCdYc

-Krip

Congratulations Sully

Unless you've been living under a rock this past week, you've heard of Captain Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger's successfully ditching of US Airways flight 1549 in New York City's Hudson river.

The Airbus A320 hit a flock of birds that took out both engines. An extremely rare event. Sully acted quickly by ditching the plane into the Hudson. The "landing" was flawless. The fuselage stayed in tact while the engines dislodged and dropped to the river floor. Passengers got out onto the wings via emergency exits and ferries and other emergency personnel were at the scene in minutes. There were no fatalities.

Apparently the A320 has a "Ditching" button that completely seals all holes in the underbelly of the aircraft to help it stay afloat on water. More details here. Once again, apparently, you can do this on a Boeing as well, but it's not one button, but a procedure to hit several.

Sully is a hero. He has decades of flying experience and is a participant in airline safety training and accident investigations. Go look at his CV. A true and faithful 'captain of the ship', Sully twice walked the aisles to make sure everyone was off the plane before disembarking himself. I only have one thing to say: As much as I want Sully to captain my next flight, can someone at US Airways or the FAA, get this man off of flying routine flights and onto an executive board managing flight safety?

-Krip

P.S. Here's a 10 minute clip capturing the event complete with the plane hitting the water and a ferry coming to assist. It's posted by the US Coast Guard Vessel Travel Service.

True Friends

sometimes you find life throws you a curve

and just to survive you need to swerve

yes we all face it at times

it comes at us as if we are blind

but alas there's hope

in darkness we need not grope

look long and hard and there you'll see

true friends that quickly do not leave

a precious few even stick closer than a brother

they come to our aid when we're in trouble

they ask for nothing in return

what a Godsend on life's sojourn

our only wish is to be

a true friend in return for those in need

-----

Poem: a Krip original

Clip art: courtesy of Microsoft

Notable Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Some notable paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, NYC:

1. The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak, Albert Bierstadt, 1863

2. Ancient Rome, Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1757

3. Modern Rome, Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1757

4. Saints Peter and John Healing the Lame Man, Nicolas Poussin, 1655

-Krip