Sweet, sweet honey

Posting will be a little light for the next few days, as Fosco deals with a confluence of work (paper draft due) and play (a visit from David!). Even so, today remains "Foodie Friday."

Good news for New York City Filipinos: Jollibee is in town! Buzz, buzz!

For all you white readers, Jollibee is a Filipino fast-food chain, occasionally described as the "Filipino McDonalds." Fosco has been told that Jollibee franchises are on almost every corner in Manila. There are also a number of locations in California. And now, finally, there is one in Queens, as reviewed by the New York Times.

Two summers ago, a branch opened in San Francisco and Fosco and Oz went to try it. Full disclosure: Oz is Filipino, Fosco is white--neither of us had tried Jollibee before.

The Jollibee menu is a bit odd (and not exactly "familiar to anyone who’s passed under the golden arches" as the Times review claims). There are basically four main types of food you can get at Jollibee:

• burgers (called "Yumburgers")
  
• fried chicken (called "ChickenJoy")
  
• hot dog spaghetti in a sweet sauce (called "Spaghetti")
  
• palabok, intriguingly called "Palabok Fiesta."

You can see a sample of the San Francisco menu below:

When Fosco and Oz went, the place was pretty crowded: Fosco had never seen so many Filipinos in San Francisco (apparently they all hang out at Jollibee). Because Oz is completely uninterested in Filipino food, he ordered a burger. Because Fosco is a well-meaning white man who wants to experience authentic cultural difference, he ordered the Palabok Fiesta. When we sat down, Fosco noticed that the only other white person in the restaurant was also eating the Palabok; all of the Filipinos were eating the ChickenJoy, natch.

And how was the food? Well, the burgers were bad. The Palabok was fine, but nothing I would rush to order again. Here's what it looked like:

Months later, Oz's Aunt M explained to us that the only good thing on the menu is the ChickenJoy. We should have known.

In conclusion, probably the best thing about Jollibee is its mascot. But look out, the mascots have been known to swarm!

Save me, BeeMaster!

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Dressing One's Boyfriend: John Galliano

I would love to dress Oz in these John Galliano briefs. Not sure I would go for the bonnet, though.

Not that any of you would get to see...

(Via Fabulon.)

I've got another puzzle for you!

A couple of weeks ago, Fosco and Oz played the role of "good gay uncles" for Oz's goddaughter (who we will continue to call "Amanda") by attending her elementary school musical: Willy Wonka Junior. It's based on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, of course, and features many of the songs found in the original Gene Wilder film.

You know what's best about Amanda's elementary school? The "street" names. Welcome to "Megaskills Avenue," my friends.


The show itself was a pretty typical elementary school production. Half of the actors stared directly at their parents. More than half of the song lyrics were indecipherable. Nearly eighty percent of the dialogue was too quiet to hear or too garbled to understand. Strangely enough, most of the main roles (Charlie, Wonka, etc.) were played by more than one student--they switched about halfway through the show. This was surprisingly confusing. Even weirder, one of the Charlies was a girl. Here's the non-girl (or "boy") Charlie, with Grampa Joe and Willy Wonka himself:


Oz's goddaughter was one of (many, many) Oompa Loompas and their costumes were the most adorable. She was definitely the best of the Oompa Loompas, even if this proud "uncle" says so himself.


The set was actually pretty decent:


If it sounds like the whole thing was a nightmare, you're wrong. It was actually a complete hoot. As long as you don't care about actual theater.

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25 Things About Fosco (Sort Of)

February is the month that the NY Times discovered the "Twenty-Five Things About You" meme that whipped through Facebook during late January. You know, it's that thing where you are tagged by a friend/acquaintance/coworker to post 25 random things about yourself--your choice. Several of Fosco's blogopals, like Jill and Ted, have even relocated this task from Facebook to their blogs.

In one recent piece in the Times, they discuss the ways in which the list can be used (like everything else on Facebook) in the service of self-presentation. So, in the spirit of that Times piece, Fosco offers you his own 25 list today. Note: the Times's recommendations for each number are in brackets and italics. Fosco's actual answers follow the recommendations.

1. [Say that you hate things like this, and are doing it only to get the (oh, so many) friends clamoring for your list off your back.]
   I'm actually not a fan of this kind of thing, but people keep asking me. (Although, the very fact that I blog at all should suggest that I actually don't mind this kind of thing too much.)
   
2. [Describe “embarrassing” high school incident that makes you look cool.]
   I was the valedictorian of my high school, which was pretty embarrassing at the time because our school did not strongly value academics.
   
3. [Confess to crush on a) third-grade teacher b) obscure indie actor or actress c) your significant other, especially if he or she is on Facebook.]
   My third grade teacher was a giant lesbian, so I didn't have a crush on her. I do, however, have a (not exactly sexual) crush on Alan Tudyk.
   
4. [Identify real, but minor, flaw.]
   I noticed last week that, in profile, I have Lincoln's nose.
   
5. [Identify major flaw by suggesting how it may also be major virtue.]
   I have absolutely no control over my book-buying habit. It's a terribly expensive habit for someone with a grad student's income. However, it is very nice to own a large library--especially when much of it is useful for your work.
   
6. [Cite mean nickname you were given as a child.]
   As a tween, I was occasionally called "Spanky."
   
7. [Follow with offhand mention of receipt of high professional honor or athletic or artistic achievement.]
   After graduating from Harvard, I received a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship to study psychology.
   
8. [Describe meeting a celebrity and how it a) disillusioned or b) thrilled you or c) if it’s a really good celebrity just the name will do.]
   I've met Bruce Springsteen and it was a little thrilling.
   
9. [Mention small adversity, like long commute or annoying neighbor, and the unexpected, preferably funny, way you overcome it.]
   I would really love to own a pug dog, but almost all Santa Cruz leases don't allow dogs. So instead, I have bought a Pug-A-Day Calendar the last three years. And every day, I name the pug(s) of the day.
   
10. [Cite an actual random thing that comes to mind while writing this list.]
    John Cameron Mitchell saw my penis once.
    
11. [“Admit” that you always identified with weird ancillary character on popular TV show in 7th grade, as if you didn’t know that everyone in retrospect agrees that was the best character.]
    It doesn't quite fit, but in seventh grade I thought I was Alex P. Keaton of "Family Ties."
    
12. [Expose something genuine and poignant about yourself, such as untimely death of close relative or rare genetic condition.] I have a genetic non-Parkinsonian tremor, which will probably slowly get worse over the rest of my life. Most of the time, people just think I'm very nervous.
    
13. [Express heartfelt thanks to friends or family for helping you through #12, or just for being there, or whatever.]
    My boyfriend Oz has been extremely understanding and supportive about my tremor (and it's potential for future degeneration).
    
14. [Conclude sentimental portion of list by citing the scene in movie X that always makes you cry. Could also be a lyric, or a memory, so long as it involves crying.]
    I always cry during the prom scene in Buffy Season 3.
    
15. [Something about drugs.]
    I think cocaine is much more interesting and useful than marijuana. I'm not really into drugs, but if I were, it would be coke all the way.
    
16. [Tell a story of how you stood up to authority. Dwelling on descriptive details can help it not seem like you are making yourself out to be a hero even though you are.]
    When I was an announcer for a classical music station, I once chose to play a piece that contained the full text of Allen Ginsberg's Howl as the libretto, insisting that the station's obscenity policy could not apply to art. I was wrong. All of the announcers had to take obscenity training because of me. They weren't thrilled.
    
17. [Recount a dramatic moment, like having your heart broken or getting arrested, but withhold details, forcing readers to ask for them in your "comments" section. In case you didn’t know, comments equate to status on Facebook even more than number of friends.]
    I once failed a field sobriety test when I was completely sober.
    
18. [Make one up.]
    I've appeared on "Card Sharks."
    
19. [Say “one of these is completely made up.”]
    One of these is completely made up.
    
20. [If you have kids, a) cite weird names you wanted for them and how your more rational, if less creative, spouse rescued them from a lifetime of torture,]
    I don't have kids, nor do I want kids. But if I accidentally ended up with three kids, I would probably name them Foucault (boy), Derrida (girl), and Dickens (either). Luckily, Oz wouldn't let these names happen (because he hates creative names).
    
21. [and/or b) relate story that appears to expose your inept parenting while in fact highlighting their precocious brilliance. If you don’t have kids, relate a cute anecdote from your early life to show everyone that you’re still a kid at heart.]
    When I was six, I was in an art class at the local nature center. I made a model that I called the "Hall of Justice." The teacher was so impressed with my precocity until the mother of one of my friends/rivals explained to her that the "Hall of Justice" was the headquarters of the Super Friends.
    
22. [If you have a pet, you have one item only through which to convey its superlative nature. If you don’t have a pet, talk about how much you yearn for an obscure breed of cat/dog/reptile or, alternatively, how much you hate animals and the people who love them.]
    Oz and I have a cat named Isis who loves to play "fetch" with her catnip-stuffed fish (named "Tina Tuna").
    
23. [Something about parents.]
    My mother is a distant relative of Abraham Lincoln. My father is a distant relative of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
    
24. [Name skill that you are proud of by recounting unexpected way you acquired it.]
    I learned to smoke a pipe while I was (briefly, in college) a member of a shadowy conservative organization. College was a very confusing and awkward time for me.
    
25. [Close with the unusual: a) recount a genuinely traumatic event you witnessed or b) name an exotic location that is your favorite place on earth or c) cite a dubious world record that you performed.]
    I love Reykjavik, Iceland and have been there twice. It's one of my favorite cities in the world.
    

V-Day Roundup

Fosco and Oz had some elaborate Valentine's plans, but got doubly ambushed by the icky "winter" storm plowing through the Bay Area and Fosco coming down with a head cold on Friday night. Fosco's cold is something of the CDC equivalent of a traditional locked room mystery, considering that Fosco literally had not left his apartment for seventy-two hours before he started getting sick on Friday evening. Very weird stuff.

However, we still celebrated a bit yesterday by exchanging gifts. More accurately, Oz lavished elaborate gifts on Fosco, while Fosco reciprocated with uninspired gifts that he felt too sick to wrap.

Oz always knows the perfect gift for Fosco: books, books, books.

I can't wait to read about this guy called "Barack Obama." I've heard he's a good author. I wonder if he's written anything else...

But Oz is much too creative to stop there. After opening the books (each of which was individually-wrapped, natch), Fosco was sent on a scavenger hunt to find the next gift that Oz had hidden (under the bed, it turned out) the night before.

When Fosco unwrapped the hidden gift he was puzzled. It was a thick hardcover trash novel by one of those "popular" authors who write using a text generator. Think Tom Clancy with less writing skill and no movie contracts. Now imagine a completely laughable cover and a snicker-worthy title. This is what went through Fosco's mind, in order:

1. Does Oz think that I would read this?
   
2. If he does think that, whither our relationship?
   
3. It must be a joke. But why?
   
4. [seeing the price tag] Oh God, did he really pay full price for this?
   

Oz's card offered only a little help: "read the Prologue for a hint as to your next gift." Fosco dutifully read the prologue (which was terrible--all about hunting for German U-boats), not quite knowing what he was looking for. (And let me tell you that Fosco was unrealistically hopeful for a second or two after reading the words "Lufthansa" and "BMW.")

Finally, after ten long pages, Fosco turned the page to discover the secret:

It's a hollow book! Oz made it himself with a book he found in his office's lost and found ( and yay, he didn't pay full price). Fosco has always wanted a hollow book, even though he doesn't really have anything he needs to keep inside one. Except his blow.

But wait, there's more! Inside the hollow was a ring box. And in the ring box was a nice solid tungsten carbide band with a celtic design. Fosco loves big, thick, chunky, nearly indestructible rings and this one is gorgeous. (Sadly, the ring has resisted our efforts to photograph it. We'll keep trying.) Need I add that it fits perfectly? Oz had done his homework.

Compared with this giftapalooza, Fosco doesn't really want to say what he got for Oz. Regular readers probably can guess (hint: it's eight inches tall and made from plastic... And no, it's not that. Don't be a filthy gorgon.)

Dressing One's Boyfriend: Raf Simons

If Fosco ever wins the academic lottery, he might just start playing dress-up with his boyfriend Oz. Not that Oz doesn't dress well (he does); however, there is always room for some expensive labels in a handsome man's closet. And Oz is indeed a handsome man.

And if Fosco's windfall shows up tomorrow, he will probably buy Oz this coat from Belgian designer Raf Simons (go ahead click on the photo to get a sense of the fabric--that's what makes this coat great).

Also, while perusing Simons's Autumn-Winter 2008-2009 collection, Fosco had to wonder: does the Estate of Mark Rothko get a residual from every sale of this sweater?






Seriously, though, that is a pretty sharp sweater.

SFMOMA by night

Fosco and Oz had a (very small-scale) eighteen-month anniversary celebration in SoMa last Friday night. They had dinner at Northern California's fanciest food court at the Westfield San Francisco Centre. You can tell it's a fancy food court because they have real silverware. They also have an outpost of Beard Papa!

Oz was in the mood for spicy tuna, so he opted for a spicy tuna bowl:


Fosco was in the mood for the deliciousness of the Slanted Door's takeout version, Out the Door. Out the Door serves Fosco's favorite green papaya salad:

Fosco is not normally agog over green things, but this salad is exquisite. It's fresh and clean and complex and totally rejuvenating (the french-fried onions really rock it). Sadly, Fosco cannot recommend the Egg Noodles with Shrimp Stir-Fry--an unfortunate failure for such a consistently good place to eat.

After dinner, Fosco and Oz headed down the street for an after-hours corporate reception at the SFMOMA (thanks to Oz's employer, which may or may not be Mmm Carpets). It was a surprisingly hip event. The SFMOMA's atrium was almost clubby, with a DJ and everything.


The best part, of course, is that all of the galleries were open. Fosco and Oz had been to the museum recently, so there wasn't much new. However, they got a nice second look at the Martin Puryear show. Most of Puryear's work is on some borderline between wood crafts and art, usually on a (very) large scale. A surprising amount of the Puryear exhibit leaves Fosco cold, but he does really appreciate this work, entitled "Brunhilde":


The longer you walk around this piece, the more interesting it becomes. Fosco also enjoys Puryear's little tiny ladder on display in the SFMOMA's atrium:


There is a nice (short) piece on Puryear's art here that I think is helpful.

We had also seen the exhibit called "Art of Participation" before, but we walked through it again. One of the best pieces is by Fosco's adored Félix González-Torres. This is Untitled (1992-93):


The work is essentially a big stack of prints on large sheets of paper (like 2.5 X 3.5 ft). The prints are all the same. Viewers are encouraged to take one of the prints home with them. The stack is replenished forever. Isn't that cool? Right now, Fosco has one on the wall near his desk (don't worry--Oz and I have another one to frame someday):


The last time Fosco was at this exhibit, the ANT FARM Media Van wasn't working correctly. Luckily, it was running smoothly on Friday night. The Media Van is a gutted van that is the repository for a digital time capsule (which will be opened in the year 2030, assuming humans still exist then). Inside the van, there are hookups for iPods, cell phones, cameras, etc. Visitors are encouraged to hook up an electronic device to the van; the van then randomly downloads a file from that device for inclusion in the digital time capsule. Once you the van copies your file, it spits out a receipt for you (which is good for 10% off in the SFMOMA store!). Here is Fosco's receipt:


As you can see, the van randomly selected a Bloc Party song from Fosco's iPod. Fosco realized afterward that this could have been a very embarrassing situation: can you imagine putting some horrible song into a time capsule to be played in 2030? Now Fosco doesn't have a ton of bad music on his iPod, but there are still some things he wouldn't be thrilled about (Bon Jovi, Aly and AJ, Roxette...) Luckily, Bloc Party is acceptable in terms of street cred (and "Sunday" is a particularly good song with a particularly good chorus for an anniversary: "I love you in the morning / When you're still hung over.") And who knows? Maybe in 2030, that song will still sound totally rad.

Come to think of it, Fosco and Oz will celebrate their twenty-three year anniversary in 2030.

Fosco Lives! News

Some titbits of news that relate to this blog...

First, Fosco wants to announce the winners of his Grammar Challenge. In a recent post on split verbs, Fosco intentionally buried six split verbs in the post. Two regular readers attempted some portion of the extra credit: The BeeMaster and Fosco's boyfriend Ozias "Oz" Midwinter. The BeeMaster sent his guesses via email; Oz posted his in the Comments. Oz got all six correct:

• "to slightly spoil"
  
• "would otherwise be played"
  
• "to subtly draw"
  
• "to strictly adhere"
  
• "to adequately express"
  
• "will happily split"

The BeeMaster correctly identified four of these, but also did the "Extra Extra Credit" assignment: to find a split verb in another Fosco Lives! post. He identified this one: "Unfortunately, workers are removing the stickers as we speak. However, maybe this will spur the city government to permanently change the street name. Wouldn't that be cool?"

What do The BeeMaster and Oz win? Well, for one thing, they get their pictures displayed as "Grammar Superstars" (over there, on the right). I'm not sure what else they win. Well, Oz wins a kiss. I guess The BeeMaster can have one too, but I don't think he'll take me up on it...

Second, Fosco is pleased to report that last week Fosco Lives! received its first two visitors from China. On the same day, the site received a visit from an IP address in Beijing and one from Shanghai. This is very pleasing to Fosco; usually, he gets most of his Asian traffic from South Korea (apparently, the search "playboy shave pubic" is popular in Korea--and that search inevitably leads here. Sorry, you pervy Koreans... I don't think Fosco Lives! is quite what you're looking for.).

Hey, I bet I could make it so that Fosco Lives! never gets another visit from China:

Tibet. Human rights. Tiananmen Square Massacre.

There, that should be enough to get Fosco Lives! blocked. Wait, why would I do that?

Third, you may have missed the news (as it was buried in a post on torture, and not even Fosco's boyfriend reads his posts on torture) that Fosco Lives! will be cutting down on politics for a bit. Which is not to say that I won't run the occasional funny picture... But for a bit, Fosco doesn't feel like getting too earnest about politics.

Fourth, Fosco has some exciting new features planned for the blog. You saw "Saturday Story Hour" yesterday. Stay tuned this week for several new weekday features.

And, as always, thanks for reading.

Isis and her new perspective

Fosco and Oz are celebrating their eighteen-month(!) anniversary this weekend. And their kitty Isis is joining in the fun by acting totally goofy.

Trust me, she's never done this "upside down head" thing before. At least not while we were there.

Isis sez: "Nope. You're still ugly."

Pictures of 2008: Oz's Cousin's Wedding

Fosco recently realized that, by only blogging for three months last year, he never got to share tons of pictures with you from the rest of the year. So, for the next week or so, Fosco will offer a series of brief posts with some of his favorite pictures from his adventures in 2008. Check out the whole series here.

In September, Fosco and Oz spent a weekend near San Luis Obispo for the wedding of Oz's cousin Zac. We stayed in the coastal resort town of Morro Bay, which features an inexplicable giant domed rock in the center of its harbor (apparently, it's a dormant volcano! Who knew?).

The area around San Luis Obispo has some incredibly lush wine country and Oz's cousin got married on the grounds of the Meridian Vineyards. The ceremony was on a hilltop overlooking the vineyards, a small lake, and the sun setting behind the coastal mountains. Seriously. The reception was held on a large lawn nearby. It was magical. Here is the beginning of the reception, as dusk settles (yes, those are Japanese lanterns):

A romantic evening all around.

The Last Night of 2008

As predicted, Fosco and Oz did nothing particularly sexy or exciting for New Year's Eve. Well, unless you count a quick trip to Target (neither do we).

But seriously, while our plans were low-key, it was actually just right. We started the evening with dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants (we eat there a couple of times a month), Barracuda. Although the original location is in The Castro, Fosco and Oz much prefer the less-hip, less-crowded branch at California's Most Filipino Mall in Daly City (it's also like 5 minutes from Oz's apartment).

Barracuda is a sushi restaurant, but it's more like Sushi 2.0 than regular sushi. Sushi 2.0, in Fosco's reckoning, is sushi that uses the standard roll (Maki-zushi) as a starting point (or blank canvas) for the addition of different (not always Japanese) ingredients, sauces, cooking techniques, etc. So when you see traditional rolls buried under slices of avocado, or covered with sauce, or battered and fried, that's Sushi 2.0.

Because it was NYE, Fosco and Oz decided to eat a little more than usual. We ordered the "Lollipop Scallops" as an appetizer. Those are fried scallops on sticks, resting on a bed of mashed potatoes. That orange sauce is tobiko mayo.

We'd never tried these before, but it was NYE! Fosco liked them better than did Oz, but Fosco is much more of a scallop fan.

We opted for four different rolls. Here are two of them. On the right is a standard spicy hamachi roll. Mmmm. On the left is something called the "Geisha Roll" (as if you couldn't tell that by the parasol). I don't really remember what is in it (spicy tuna? unagi? something green?), but it has white tuna and roe on the top. Also, there is some kind of vinegar sauce.

And yes, Fosco is wearing that shirt you see in the background. What can I say? It was New Year's Eve.

Fosco enjoys even more these two rolls. On the left, we have a shrimp tempura roll topped with avocado and tuna. On the right, we have Fosco's favorite "Volcano Roll": a spicy tuna roll batter-dipped and fried, then topped with tobiko mayo and mango-jalapeno salsa. Yum!

This was an excellent mini-celebration for NYE, even though (as always), we were hungry again two hours later.

When we got back to Oz's pad, we had several hours until midnight. We killed that but good with Mario Kart (yes, there is also a Wii at Oz's place) and Rock Band! In Rock Band, Fosco and Oz finally managed to conquer "Enter Sandman" (and by "conquer," I mean "scrape through by the skin of our teeth"). We also spent some time doing tatts on our avatars. Our band name is "Fosco Lives" (sigh--unoriginal, I know). Oz plays guitar and his avatar has the word "FOSCO" tattooed on the underside of his right forearm and the word "LIVES" in the same place on his left forearm. Oh, and each word is centered along the blade of a sword tattoo! It rox! Fosco's drummer avatar (named "Dark Oates," because he's kind of a goth drummer) now has a bloody handprint tattooed on left pectoral. It is hella sexy, let me tell you.

At midnight, we broke out the bubbly (although sadly, we had to drink it in double old-fashioned glasses).

There is nothing like drinking a bottle of good champagne at midnight to make the New Year seem bright and promising. And there's nothing like a January 1 morning headache to remind you that you're too old to be drinking that much.

So happy New Year once again, my dear friends and faithful readers. I hope your NYE was just as much fun (or more!) than ours.

NYC Journal: Bouchon Bakery

We've finally come to the last installment in Fosco's ongoing series on his pre-Christmas weekend in NYC with his boyfriend Oz.

Sunday morning brunch found Fosco and Oz at the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle to have brunch at Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery. Brunch was a real treat because Fosco and Oz were joined by Fosco's college roommate David Lat, former Wonkette and current managing editor of the Breaking Media blog empire. David is great fun to chat with and lives an interesting NYC life. In fact, he's something of a hero to Fosco.

As far as Bouchon Bakery goes, Fosco has read much criticism of the location. It's true that the dining "room" is an open space on a mezzanine in the middle of the Time Warner mall. And indeed, there is some resemblance to a mall food court. On the other hand, Fosco has never eaten at a mall food court with this view of Columbus Circle and Central Park:

The menu at Bouchon Bakery is very casual and quite affordable--focusing on baked goods and pastries, with a Gallic flair. Fosco ordered the Bouchon take on the traditional PB&J. This is CBJ: Cashew Butter and Apricot Jelly on Toasted Brioche (served with banana chips).

This was an excellent sandwich. Oh yeah, and that's hot chocolate in the background. Mmmm.

Oz opted for one of the daily specials, the Macaroni and Cheese:

Fosco wishes he had paid attention to the waitress's description of this Mac & Cheese because it was the best he's ever tasted. It was creamy and French-tasting. Exceptional.

For dessert, Fosco and David split some profiteroles, which actually should have been better than they were.

Well, at least they were beautiful.

And that, my friends, puts the exclamation mark on Fosco and Oz's weekend in NYC. Thanks for reading along.

NYC Journal: The Met

The stories from Fosco and Oz's weekend in NYC continue. Read them all here.

After a long and chilly walk in Central Park (see this post), Fosco and Oz warmed up by bathing in five thousand years of culture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Oz had never been to the Met before and because the whole museum is impossible to see in a few hours (or perhaps even a few days), Fosco and Oz tried to hit the highlights while allowing time for perfectly random detours. The European Paintings gallery is Fosco's favorite place to start. There's always something random and beautiful for you to stumble across. Like this painting (for which we never actually recorded the relevant information):

Or this equally anonymous-to-us beauty:

I mean, just LOOK at that cape on Jesus. Gorgeous.

Also for pure random enjoyment, Fosco and Oz really got a kick out of Tiepolo, an artist that Fosco had never thought twice about. But look at this:

Isn't it absolutely bonkers?

Another artist that Fosco never really considered is El Greco. But for some reason, he really stood out for both Fosco and Oz. There were two canvasses in particular that were absolutely luminous. This is The Opening of the Fifth Seal (The Vision of Saint John):

Whereas Oz's favorite was The Adoration of the Shepherds (ca. 1610):

The Met's collection of French painting has some truly exceptional works, especially Jacques-Louis David's Death of Socrates:

Fosco has always found this painting by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun to be absolutely ravishing:

And then there is this absolutely monumental painting by Jules Bastien-Lepage of Jeanne d'Arc. The expression on her face is exquisite as she listens to the voices of the ghostly saints who appear on the left of the canvas. Fosco looks at a reproduction of this painting over his desk everyday.

Finally, there is the absolutely extraordinary Duccio Madonna and Child (the Met's most expensive acquisition ever). In person, the piece is small and seemingly unprepossessing. And yet, the longer you spend looking at it, the more interesting it gets. I would recommend that someday you do yourself a favor and spend thirty minutes just staring at it. It will repay you.


And, of course, we had to make a quick detour to see the Van Gogh Irises, one of the most refreshingly beautiful paintings in the whole Met.



Of course, no visit to the Met would be complete without a visit to the Egyptian wing and the Temple of Dendur, housed in a dramatic space with a glass-walled view of Central Park. The temple complex is protected by prehistoric cats:

A money-hungry crocodile demands tribute:

Fosco spent several minutes decrying the US cultural arrogance that removed an entire temple from Egypt for display in New York. That is, until he read the part about how Egypt intended to submerge the temple forever under the lake created by the Aswan High Dam. Is it possible that sometimes protecting artistic treasures means removing them from their place of origin? Eek. Careful, Fosco. That way lies imperialism!

Do you dare enter the inner sanctum?

Look! Nineteenth-century graffiti! Kids in those days were just so disrespectful.

At this point, Fosco and Oz were just about exhausted. And they needed to change clothes for their dinner at Jean Georges (coming up in the next installment)!