Today I had to accept symmetry in my LEGO gantry crane isn’t always achievable. Here’s the hoist and grabber subassemblies, operated by pneumatic pistons. Scissor mechanisms are inherently not symmetric in operation, so I had to consider choosing symmetry in either the extended or closed positions, not both.
Category: Create
Expanding the Repertoire
View from the lobby of Orchestra Hall while enjoying a pre-concert glass of wine. Tonight the Minnesota Orchestra featured pieces by six black composers, including two women. The art form tends to be Eurocentric, sometimes stodgy; tonight was refreshing, mixing it up.
Duality at the Depot
Walked between hardscape and softscape, passing the former 1899 Milwaukee Road Depot, now a hotel event space.
Cloudy with a Chance of Theater
Woke up to cloud-capped towers of Downtown. In the foreground, Gold Medal Park is putting on a fall display. Beyond the park, the Logitech-blue Guthrie awaits, where this evening we’ll take in “For the People,” written by local Native playwrights about the local Native community.
The Magical Realism of Japan
Dwight’s in Fargo visiting his mom, so I decided to watch some anime. Chose “Paprika” where dreams and reality lose boundaries. Magical realism pervades anime, as well as much of the Japanese literature I’ve read in translation, and (for me) Japan itself. I keep going back for more.
Poetry Costs Extra
At the end of our Sunday morning walk, stopped by Open Book for expertly prepared coffees. The space houses various book-related nonprofits, as evidenced by this gumball machine selling poetry at 50 cents a pop.
Exiting the Guthrie After a Torrent of Wit
Our (almost) secret fast exit from the Guthrie Theater, several floors up, after The Importance of Being Earnest. It beats the crush for the escalator and elevators.
Exploring the American Songbook
Dinner, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Bill Charlap at the Dakota.
Filling in Time at the House of Balls
Wandered around the outside of the House of Balls behind Cedar Riverside LRT Station, a good place to kill a few minutes with a friend before his train arrived. The artist who works here specializes in found objects.
Northrop Auditorium
Coffee and a pastry with a friend at Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota, East Bank. Then, we walked through the gorgeous entry hall sharing memories of performances we’d seen.