The Tate Britain: Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

At the Tate Britain, Mr. Hunter stepped in front of the camera to pose with a favorite John Singer Sargent painting: 

the luminous Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.  

The extensive JSS Virtual Gallery web site has an interesting article on how the artist created his work.  In order to capture his true impressions of a certain kind of light--a balance between twilight and the colorful glow of Chinese lanterns--Sargent would apparently paint this scene for about two minutes each day, gradually shifting the time from day to day as the sun went down earlier.

As you can see, I spent more than two minutes taking in this painting.   I especially loved the golden pink glow of the Chinese lanterns.

Roses.

Lily, lantern, rose.

A lily.

The lilies and the glowing lantern.

You can make a virtual visit to see Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose on this page of the Google Art Project.

Tate Britain

London, England

September 2011

Official site for Tate Britain - http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-britain

Wenlock

Wenlock and Mandeville, the mascots for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, haven't been so well-received, but Mr. Hunter didn't hold that against these plush toy Wenlocks when he met them at a shop in the United Kingdom pavilion at Epcot.

What do you think of London's Olympic mascots?

United Kingdom Pavilion

Epcot

Walt Disney World

Lake Buena Vista, Florida

July 2012

Let the Games Begin!

Mr. Hunter loves the Olympics.  

Here he is with some official Olympic rings from the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

Mr. Hunter volunteers to light the cauldron.

It took a bit of work to get Mr. Hunter up onto this sign.

Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Cauldron Park

Rice-Eccles Stadium

University of Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

May 2005

Westminster Abbey

Mr. Hunter and his cohorts stopped at Westminster Abbey but didn't feel like waiting in the super-long queue and paying the £16 entry fee.

The Abbey's clock tower, whose clocks
each have only one hand.

Some of the ten modern martyrs above the Great West Door.
See this BBC article about the unveiling of these statues.

The Royal Coat of Arms on the west facade.

May God grant to the living Grace
To the departed Rest
To the Church & the World Peace and Concord
And to us Sinners Eternal Life

The long line to get into Westminster Abbey.

A bit of color showing through the stained glass windows.

Westminster Abbey

London, England

September 2011

Official site for Westminster Abbey - http://www.westminster-abbey.org/

A Protest March in London

We were walking down Whitehall when we noticed a crowd in front of 10, Downing Street, and a group of bobbies getting ready for something.  It turned out to be a protest in support of a secular Europe.

A little crowd in front of 10, Downing Street.

Here's the web site for the Secular Europe Campaign.

Whitehall and Downing Street

City of Westminster

London, England

September 2011

Covent Garden

Mr. Hunter browsed the shops and stalls at Covent Garden.

Some highlights from our Covent Garden window shopping:

Charming owl pillows at Blossom Boutique.

Flintstone and superhero string figure keychains at Blossom Boutique.

A tower of macarons at Ladurée.

Pleasing cobblestones at Covent Garden.

Covent Garden

London, England

September 2011

The Golden Fleece

Two golden sheep named Lamb and Chop flank Mr. Hunter in the lobby of the fine Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel.  Here's a fun blog post about the Mercer Street's sheep and other London hotel mascots.

Mercer Street Hotel

London, England

September 2011

The Parthenon Sculptures (aka the "Elgin Marbles")

At the British Museum, 

Mr. Hunter visited the Parthenon sculptures and friezes that have commonly

 and controversially been known as the Elgin Marbles. 

Mr. Hunter and some horsemen of the north frieze.

The figures on the right are the goddesses Hesta, Dione, and Aphrodite.

Room 18

British Museum

London, England

September 2011

Official site of the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/

Mr. Hunter Is a Wild One

Mr. Hunter took a walk on the wild side when he hung out at the Hollister Bike Rally.  A 1947 biker street party in Hollister inspired the Marlon Brando movie, The Wild One.

"What are you rebelling against, Mr. Hunter?"
"Whaddya got?"

Motorcycle rally style.

The scene on the main street.

Hollister, California

July 2005