Sharpenicity

“Enchanted.” Chick flicks. A girlfriend wanted to know if I shared her love of modern day fairy tale aka girlie movies about kissing princes. Well no...but I had been to the Met Simulcasts this opera season and a majority ...six in all...centered on a woman with a love interest. Does this count? Unlike heroines in chick flicks, the majority of opera heroines seem to be of royal blood to start with. Turnadot and Aida are both princesses, Armida is the Queen of Damascus and Tosca is not only an opera diva to which all Rome flocks to hear sing, but she also has the ear of the queen. Perhaps the one displaying the most teenage girl angst is Ophelia. Unlike the cheerful Centerentola who moves up when she marries the prince, Ophelia starts out by being in love with a the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet. Then there is Carmen who conquers everyone in her path. All these soprano star roles seem to possess some kind of personal power--most often political--either by birth or by talent.

“Public Observatory” “Alan Bean: Painting Apollo, First Artist on Another World” (Until February 2010) First stage of “Moving Beyond Earth” Gallery (permanent) For a museum which would take a week to see everything, National Air and Space Museum has three shows worth seeing. Alan Bean One gallery of the NASM is dedicated to art and culture of space exploration and features works by astronaut Alan Bean. Alan Bean was not the first astronaut to step on the moon but it has been noted that he was the first man to eat spaghetti there! Besides that dubious distinction among the select group of 11 men who have walked on the moon, he is one of a few who are also artists. Bean’s training was in watercolor and Monet is his favorite painter. When someone suggested that he paint what he had seen on the moon, he questioned how this was possible since the light and color on the moon were rather stark by comparison with impressionistic works. The answer is that an artist

“ Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor” at the National Geographic is one man’s vision of how to make a powerful impression when he met the deity in the afterlife. The exhibit features 15 warriors (of the estimated 7,000) found in the necropolis built for Qin Shihuangdi in the Chinese province of Xi’an Shaanxi. Prior to the discovery by farmers digging a well in 1974, all that was known about the First Emperor was written history. Today the Emperor is known not only for this amazing archeological discovery but also as the subject of a recent opera (“The First Emperor” with Placido Domingo as the Emperor), as well as movies and video games. The statistics behind the show are staggering, even for those who think in terms of China’s incredible size and population today. Qin Shihuangdi who ruled from 221 B.C. to 210 B.C. had 300 extravagant palaces and 400 lodges, so that he could stay a different place each night. An estimated 700,000 workmen created this dwelling plac