tisiwoota

The “you” of the title refers neither to me nor anyone in this audience, but to a certain infamously witty and endearing curmudgeon who lives in Boston, much to this coast’s detriment.

Today I came across a poem this friend had written for a course in 16th Century English literature, which he considers pretty awful or at least undistinctive, except for two ridiculous rhymes he’d thrown in, which utterly clash with the tone of the rest of it:

April 13, 2003

When for a summer month you venture south
And take to the seven slow hills of Rome,
You take a breath of sweet air in your mouth
And think not of the muddy lanes of home;
The scent of cypress in the evening blends
With garlic, onions, oil, and Parmesan;
You reflect that taste is the noblest sense,
Its home on the Mediterranean;
And beautiful people, well-rested all,
Lead lives of leisure in their lovely land.
Life in Italy sings a siren’s call
And beckons with a soft seductive hand,

But do not forget that nothing functions
Because Italians have no compunctions.


Anyone else have interesting slants to share? [Especially those pulled off in a good context?] From a quick scan I see Virge has paired photo with Quasimodo– so what other slants might he have up his archival sleeves?

I am always a sucker for explorations of the aesthetic side of science. Too often it seems that discussions of the unity of art and science center on artists using scientific principles or subject matter in their work. Scientists don’t seem to have nearly as much license to dabble in art, other than as a separate hobby. But this site features some really striking photography and computer-generated stills of scientific subjects, taken mostly by the scientists themselves.

“This spring we asked the Princeton University community to submit imagery produced in the course of research or incorporating tools and concepts from science. The response was overwhelming: more than 200 entries from nearly 100 individuals in 15 departments. We selected 55 of these works to appear in the 2005 Art of Science Exhibition.

The resulting assembly of images presents a fascinating and beautiful cross section of the arts and sciences at Princeton. It celebrates the aesthetics of research and the ways in which science and art inform each other.”