Vienna Again-a

We left the mask exhibit to stroll throughout Vienna. The city is very historic and majestic! Sculptures, statues, fountains, courtyards, squares, city buildings, museums, and palaces were all a sight to behold! The weather was beautiful - sunny with blue skies - and we plodded along the cobblestone and brick streets to the sound of horses pulling carriages and crowds of people. We sat on the edge of a large marble fountain with an extraordinary sculpture above it, and ate the sandwiches we had packed from the hostel.


























Cheese Sandwich




MICHAEL!!!


After the mask exhibit and lunch in Vienna, we looked for the music museum called Haus der Musik. I had been greatly anticiating checking out this museum because we read it was very interactive - visitors could compose their own musc using interactive stations and create "brain ochestras" and so forth. It sounded very elaborate, creative, and high -tech. Unfortunately, it turned out to be none of the above, save for the "high - tech." We were both highly disappointed at the museum's simplicity and lack of information. It was very over-the-top in its presentation but honestly there was no substance. It looked like the museum cost millions to put together - it was very flashy - but it was seriously meant for five yr. olds...There were a lot of interactive presentations about sound, but they didn't explain very much...just often mentioned how your brain is "tricked" into picking up sounds without exactly explaining what that "trick" is. The "composition" game was comprised of squishy dice that you roll and depending where it lands a device reads the dice and assigns a particular phrase in a certain key so that you and the other player can essentially write a duet. Although the concept isn't such a bad idea, the phrases were very limited and the players before us "composed" practically the same song that Jack and I did due to this. I guess I was hoping for a) a bit more creativity and b) the opportunity to use my brain and musical skills a bit...

We spent a significant amount of time in the museum as it was very large and there was indeed a lot to see. For how huge it was, however, I only learned a few things, but they are interesting:
1) white noise is actually the sound of every sine wave at once
2) the human auditory region relies on electro-chemical activity in order for us to hear (i didn't realize there was a chemical involved as well). But of course the museum didn't bother to further explain this..
3) The human ear can only hear the range of 2,000-18,000 Htz.
4) In the noisy room we were in at the time, my hearing could only pick up as high as 14,250 htz.

One impressive looking room of the museum had tentacle-like coils spiraling out of the walls in all directions with showerhead-looking speakers on the ends. It all looked quite impressive, but when we stepped closer we noticed that out of one speaker emitted a farting noise and out of another the sound of someone clearing his throat. These noises were labeled, as though they needed explaining. Every speaker emitted a sound and it created quite a cacophony, but there really wasn't anything much to gain from the scene. That kind of sums up the Haus der Musik for ya. I'm sure they were attempting to explain the relationship of your position amongst sound waves but since there was no explanation, the room was meaningless.

That evening we stocked up at a grocery store and ate bolgna, salami, and cheese sandwiches on the stoop of a closed store. We were in a very classy neighborhood and I think we may have stuck out like sore ones but we didn't feel uncomfortable in the least. We killed some time by wandering aruond the streets before we caught our train. We found a jazz club called Porgy N' Bess but the show cost money and we wouldn't have been able to stay through its entirety.








Oh I forgot to mention that earlier, between lunch and finding the Haus Der Musik, we wandered around these streets and shops. Jack was very interestd in an antique shop and ended up buying out the shopkeeper's entire coin collection! It was an added 10 lbs of metal to his backpack but he was EXTREMELY excited about it! He bought an old Austrian newspaper from March of 1945 that he was also mad about. Over dinner sandwiches he decided to give the paper to Chris Lison for this birthday when we see him in Muhlhaussen. He says Chris is a history buff, is excited about the topic of WWII, and loves puting his hands on old relics.

That night we travelled to Berlin. It turns out that all the sleeper cars only have 2nd class in them and it is an extra 50 euro for us to get a bed. So we slept in coach and pulled out all the chairs to form 3 small beds. Unfortunately two other people joined our cabin so Jack and I had to sleep mostly on top of each other. Although uncomfrotable, it was nice to lie flat (unlike on the way to Budapest) and we did get a fair amouhnt of sleep. We were refreshed for a long day of trekking around Berlin. The two other Germans in our car were Zara, who was very sociable and smiled and laughed a great deal, and Markus who was quiet and more reserved, but very polite.

Vienna MASKS

The rest of our time in Vienna was amazing. The mask exhibit was phenomenal! It displayed masks from many different cultures and provided info about the different interpretations of masks in different cultures over time. The first room contained many things and of them was a display of sculptured heads, faces, and necks cast from people just after their deaths. In Roman times up until the 20th century people created these casts of the dead in order to commemorate their deaths. It was considered the most important way to remember the deceased. We were extremely impressed with how intricately detailed the casts were. The hair, eyes, wrinkles, lump in the throat, etc. were defined so perfectly! It really did seem like we were looking at an actual person.

In other cultures (I forget which) the skulls of the deceased would be kept in close proximity to the family as a way of ensuring the dead person would live on and also to protect from evil spirits. Some of these skulls were on display.

The masks from African cultures were creatively exhuberant! Sometimes animal teeth or hair was woven into the mask, sometimes human hair - a few masks had big, natty dreads and /or afros weaved within and without them! These were by far the most fun, creative, and intricate masks.

However, most all the masks were creative in their own ways. The war-time armor masks were threatening and frightening-looking. Many of the expressions on all kinds of masks were so interesting! These were expressions a human face couldn't even make - some were warped and menacing (as in the case of the war-time masks), others twisted and goofy, others hollow and foreign.

I read there was a time in 18th century Rome(?) where masks were banned from the stage, at which point spectators began wearing masks to the shows. Take that, mask-banners! Masks became a part of everyday life and this is depicted in many paintings.

At one point it was noted that there was a time where masks shifted from having a celebratory function to playing a role in disguising and having
an association with lies (again I forget the society in which this took place). I recall reading an essay back in high school about "the mask that lies..." I forget who wrote it or what it was called but I wrote a short essay a year later using the concept. (Anyone remember this?)

Overall the exhibit was fascinating! Our pictures will show that. We both thought it was really great. I'd see it agian today if we were still there. Only downside: we didn't see Montezuma's mask because that part of the exhibit was closed. Still though - an amazing display of masks. Since then I've noticed masks in display windows of stores or in posters, etc. and I've felt compelled to point them out to Jack because I feel this certain excitement now when I see a mask!

Two simple, initial drawings

The latest:

Here's a few drawings for you all to chew on. This is the plan, as it goes so far. I'm looking for a person to draft this once I get it together, and Ruth will try to find an architectural program to draw it as an alternative. It's a cinderblock or poured concrete first floor with 8 or so rooms, a retaining wall around the outside, and on the second floor, a steel building, something like the S series at crownsteelbuildings.com. Domed with flat walls at the bottom, offset from the first floor to provide a deck/patio above the ceiling of the first floor. Hope you like it. I'm fleshing it out, but this is all I have sketched at the moment.

Take care, gotta go.

JL

The latest:

9-23-09 Continued Again...

We left the museum on a mission to find some hefty Hungarian food. Basically, we were hungry in Hungary...We found a nice little Turkish joint actually with sweet dishes. No one really spoke English in there so we had to drag the person from behind the indoor counter to the pictures of the food displayed outside in order to point at what we wanted. I had my first Baklava, which was PHENOMENAL! My tastebuds swelled with the deliciousness of cinnnamon and LOADS of sugar! Jack had a really colorful dish and I had rice pilaf as well. We got so lost in conversation that when we finally noticed the time, we realized we only had 25 min to hurry back and catch our train to Vienna! We POWER WALKED like crazy horses with our heavy-as-hell backpacks and made it with three minutes to spare!







Jack's Dish


All was well. On the train I read about Vienna. J gave me a looong massage - one of the BEST I've ever had! It was much needed as my neck and shoulders were real sore from the heavy backpacks. We arrived in Vienna some time at night and luckily found a private room available at one of the two "Wombat" hostels in Vienna. The place was the shit: totally stylish, modern, chill, and loungy. The room was 50 euro but was totally worth it as it was super nice with a big bed, comfy sheets, shower, etc. The place was really clean. Breakfast and a free drink at the hostel bar was included.

Around 11PM we went down to the bar in the basement. The layout was really comfortable and totally hip. The bar was filled with young people from all over. The bartender was playing the beginning of popular songs and whoever could shout out the title and artist first would win a free shot. I knew so many of them, as did Jack, but since it was more of a challenge for the others (the songs were mostly mainstream U.S. hits and the peeps weren't American), we let them go at it. It was fun to watch! Jack had a few drinks and we both ate ravioli. I was soooo happy it didn't bother my stomach a bit!

After we finished, we jetted out to find an Elektro club I wanted to check out. I pictured this really chill, comfoy, laid back scene with loungy couches and a soft red glow...I was eager to reward my ears with the pleasure of hearing some trancy, melodic, foreign electro! We noticed, via our map, that it was within walking distance, which was great because we would get to see more of the city up close. Also, we were pretty worn out and didn't want to go a long way out. All was still well.

Vienna looked beautiful at night. The weather was cool and perfect. We were near Westbahnhof, near the train station. We walked through a big shopping district, which was quiet and empty. Unlike Budapest, which was a bit dirty and very smelly, Vienna was clean and fresh. The air smelled very "green" although we were in the city. We walked passed the sign for the club at first. It was tucked behind a strip of stores - we went under a couple of archways and through a tidy little courtyard to get to it. This small scene reminded us of New Orleans.

We could hear the music outside and saw a TV that showed a bird's-eye view of the DJ spinning. Jack said he loves when clubs do that. The really awesome thing was that the club was almost exactly how I imagined it!...in fact, better. We walked through four rooms with stylish decor and soft, red lighting before we got to the one where the DJ spun. In a more energetic mood I could have danced, but we were so tired we just layed back onto the smooth leather couches and dug the scene. The soft red glow was there, the comfort, the style, the beats, the atmosphere. It was a quaint place, which matched our mood perfectly. No one was dancing, just socializing and relaxing. Jack even dozed off, haha. I LOVED the tracks they played!!!

We only stayed about an hour, but it was a great experience. The next morning we got up at 9AM, showered, freshened up, and packed. We checked out at 10am and headed over to this sleek cafe within the hostel to eat. Breakfast was phenomenal! We were SO EXCITED about the food after eating cheese and bread for like nine years.
Jack had cornflakes, a hardboiled egg, fresh red, green, and yellow peppers, milk, O.J. and 1 1/2 ham and salami sandwiches with cheese spread. We each packed a sandwich for lunch later. I put cucumbers on mine, oh yes. I had a bowl of granola, dried fruit, and yogurt. I had two hard boiled eggs, milk, toast with pb and j and toast with butter and cheese spread. Holy crap.

Then Jack blogged on the internet for awhile (the Wombat offered computers and pay-as-you-go internet) while I stretched and then lounged on this ultra comfy, large cushion mat (see pics) while reading up on the Hungary communism museum pamphlets. Then we hopped on the UBahn to find this ethnology museum that had an exhibit on masks next door. Jack especially wanted to see the mask of Montezuma!

9-23-09 Continued...

The House of Terror is a museum and a memorial. The building was once the headquarters of the ArrowCross and Nazi parties in Budapest and was subsequently used for interogations, thus having prison cells and torture chambers constructed in the basement. Innocent civilians were accused, tortured, and even murdered. When we first walked in I heard somber music playing - a very depressing string piece - and I simply could not stop the tears from liberally flowing down my cheeks. It took me about 10 minutes to gather myself (we hadn't even bought the tickets before the misery overcame me), and all the while I was baffling over how humans can be so cruel to other humans.

We learned a lot about the political climate of Hungary from the 30s through the 90s, with a focus on the Arrowcross party, the Nazi domination during the 40s, and the communist regime that followed and its severe consequences in the late 40s through the 50s especially.

The museum was very creatively put together. It was a combination of video, audio, photographs, artifacts, and reconstructed scenes. Although the guards did not want us to take pictures for some reason (isn't the communist regime over..?), Jack snuck in some shots. An interesting example of the museum's imaginativeness was a room that had eight flat screens in it, four on each side directly across from each other. The TVs showed various clips of people talking about the deportations that took place. On one side of the room, wives would tell their stories of how their husbands were taken away from them forever, leaving behind eight or ten children for the woman to raise with hardly any food to give them. Then we'd hear a man begin to talk and we'd twirl our heads around to watch the TVs on the other side of the room, men share their experiences of their hardships at the labor camps. The men and women took turns speaking and as a result we were constanlty turning around and changing the focus of our attention. I belive it was meant to provoke a dizzying feeling. At last all eight TV screens showed video of the countryside passing by at a fast clip, the video was shot from a train. The sound of the noisy train whipping over the tracks was loud. The countryside was a passing blur. It was as though we were being deported ourselves.

I learned a great deal about the communism government in Hungary during the 40s and 50s. Almost every room of the museum provided documents that gave information relevant to that room's theme (i.e., "Double Occupation," "Life in the 50s," "Propaganda," "Resistance") and I read every one so that I could really absorb a lot about the history. The museum was absolutely well done.








Carpet






Propaganda