My Cinderella Day: The Met and The Met

Let's talk immortal femme fatales, shall we?

 

This is Tomie, one of the most recognizable characters in Japanese Horror Cinema.  Tomie has a videography stretching nine films.  She is essentially a fetishy excuse to chop up a school girl over and over and over.  The plot follows a young girl, Tomie, who is accidentally murdered by a teacher who grows obsessed with her.  She returns again and again after that, and if you are unlucky enough to meet her as a vengeful spirit, you will undoubtedly lose your mind.  You will kill her, kill each other, kill yourself.  Jealousy, obsession and madness follow Tomie everywhere, and men undo themselves, spending every cent of their earnings on her while never feeling satisfied in a relationship with her.  After the man in question is all used up, murder/suicide often follows and jaded little immortal Tomie picks herself up and does it again.

 If Tomie were a Czech Opera, it would look like this: The Makropolus Case.  Bizarre occurrences follow the unflappable soprano, Emilia Marty, everywhere she goes.  Men in their eighties fall at her feet after shows, claiming that she hasn't aged a day, selling their wife's jewelry to run away with her.  Men profess their love left and right, but Emilia stopped getting that involved years ago.  She is a cynical, promiscuous drunk, laughing as men attempt to murder her, stating that sometimes she feels like God created her to be murdered by men.  Emilia languidly fusses with her hair as she hears news of suicides caused by her beauty.  All the obsession surrounding her seems so trivial and adolescent to her.  This opera was one wild ride, climaxing as the entire stage burst into flames to the sound of somber Gregorian chanting.

 

I bring this up because Timour was able to get Met Opera tickets for my friend, Kim, and I.  The stage design carried a German Expressionist feel to it (ie.The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), huge and asymmetrical.

 

Also, I had brunch!

Smoked Salmon over poached eggs and pumpernickel.  I had never had alcohol with breakfast before so that bubbly pink mimosa mesmerized me.

Now, my friends, enjoy the breathtaking architecture of the Metropolitan Opera House.

Wandering these stairs during intermission was half the fun.

I love this shape.

And these star burst chandeliers were really glamorous.

Kim and I were on a culture-high so after the opera...

...we went to the Met!

I was surprised that the armory ended up being my favorite section.

But these wheel-mechanism guns kept catching my attention.

 

Peacock lute!

The Met is expansive, and really does have something for everyone. My companion, Kim, can flit from room to room, reveling in the colonial craftsmanship of Neo-Classical furniture.  I'm not fond of furniture in general or the gaudy (worse than Rococo) stylings of American Neo-classicalism.  It has tasteless "New Money" written all over it.  There is nothing worse than a sun-yellow oriental plush chamber pot.

Conversely, I could buzz around holy art all day - gorgeous, other-worldly Madonnas and Guan Yins outstretching their robes to offer peace and mercy to all who would worship their feminine ideals.  These statuaries are the highest art form to me, but Kim dislikes their non-practical nature.  To her, the highest form of art is one that can endure daily use.  I really enjoy the company of some one so different from me.

Next time: Pretentious Studio Openings! Prosecco and "A Woman's Mind is Like a Room".