April 2010

San Jose's Rosicrucian Museum

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I visited the Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose, CA today. It is a small museum dedicated to Egyptian artifacts. Founded by a fraternal organization that puts Egyptian philosophy at the center of its organization, the collection includes some interesting pieces and nice replicas. Among the replicas are the inner sarcophigus of Tutankhamun and the stone of the Code of Hamurrabi, although technically Babylonian. The museum sits on a block of San Jose that is dedicated to Egyptian architecture and gardens. All the buildings are in the Egyptian style and a walk around the grounds is like being transported away from the mundane neighborhood around it.

Brooklyn Bridge

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When the Brooklyn Bridge opened in for traffic the first time in May of 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, half again as large as the next largest bridge, as well as the first steel-wire suspension bridge. It was also, for a while anyway, (by virtue of its towers) the tallest structure in the world. The Brooklyn Bridge it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by crossing the East River. At the time of its completion, the bridge was the only land-based way to travel between the two boroughs. The construction took eleven years.

"The Scarlet and the Black" (part 1)

Television films often have a bad rep for being low-budget, unremarkable, and possibly even boring, endeavors. Jerry London's 1983 The Scarlet and the Black (based on J.P. Gallagher's novel The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican) shatters that mold, and then some. When you've got actors like Gregory Peck, Christopher Plummer and Sir John Gielgud sharing the screen, you know you're onto something special. The Scarlet and the Black probably won't be ranked highly among their respective resumes, but it will definitely be remembered for their powerful portrayals of real-life people, battling out good and evil in the shadow of the Vatican.

"The Scarlet and the Black" (part 2)

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The supporting cast of The Scarlet and the Black - Sir John Gielgud as Pius XII, Walter Gotell as General Max Helm, Raf Vallone as Father Vittorio and Olga Karlatos as Francesca Lombardo - ensure that Plummer and Peck don't carry the movie alone. Gielgud stands out, offering cautious encouragement to O'Flaherty's rescue efforts, while engaging in brinkmanship with Kappler over his priests' diplomatic immunity.