Man, Gabriel sure doesn't want to nap! Tonight, Julia and I will finish watching Honeymoon in Vegas and maybe Midnight in Paris. What a beautiful day - high sixties and sunny. It's been a nice afternoon so far - pizza, the UK-Louisville game, a nice walk with Daisy. It's just so relaxing, having the home to ourselves! Julia and I are looking forward to having this therapeutic, easy weekend unrolling at a leisurely pace. Monday, we go back to gorgeous Beaufort.
To continue Polish weekend, let's take a quick look at one of the most acclaimed battle scene paintings of the 19th century, Polish artist Jan Matejko's The Battle of Grunwald (1878), which depicts the Polish, Lithuanian, and Ruthenian (Slavs from southern Russia, Galicia, and northeastern Hungary) rout of the invading pests that were the Teutonic Knights. The Knights were a religious-military order set about to convert heathen Poles and Lithuanians. By the time of the battle, the Knights were based in Prussia, with large possessions in Germany and Italy; they were at the peak of their power. The battle, sometimes known as the Battle of Tannenberg to the Germanic Teutons, was technically lopsided - the Teutons were outnumbered - but the Teutons were better trained. The winner would control most of eastern Europe - at least, that was the projection. But mainly the battle signaled the eventual dismantling of the Teutons, which incurred heavy financial loss because of the battle. They couldn't defend their other territories and were forced to rely on costly mercenary forces. (If anyone is interested, here is a link to more info about the battle: http://www.imperialteutonicorder.com/id41.html) with technical summaries of the strategies and maneuvers.
Anyway, Matejko's large, three-years-in-the-making work features a barrage of horses and knights struggling greatly. There is a lot of detail, and amidst this storm of movement and bloodshed, two figures emerge - the doomed, about-to-be-slayed Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (in white) and the Grand Duke of Lithuania (in red). When the painting was first exhibited in Krakow, thousands came to see it. Matejko was influenced by northern Renaissance painters, particularly Titian, and his works have a comparative theatrical feel to some of the grand, big-canvassed Renaissance works, a patriotic bigness.
Poland features the largest population of wood storks anywhere in the world, did you know that? I didn't. Looking at my handy, insanely informative The Sibley Guide to Birds (courtesy of Julanta - aka, my Santa Wife), I find the following bits of info about the wood stork:
- large, slow-moving, heavy-billed
- a shallow water forager
- a white-bodied, excellent soarer
I also find that they migrate through this area in winter. Maybe I'll see one in Savannah sometime!
(Well, the day was going fine. Daisy nipped at Gabriel's face. Rotten!)
One more bit about Poland. Try this quiz: http://www.sporcle.com/games/Rooneyfan1/countries-that-border-poland
Last day of the year = last day for 2011 movies. Only two January 2012 releases look remotely interesting - The Grey (Liam Neeson fighting wolves) and One For the Money (Katherine Heigl bringing Janet Evanovich's bounty hunter to life), so it'll be fun to track the Oscar race this month, if nothing else. I'm sticking to my early predictions - and even rooting for Woody Allen to win a screenplay Oscar for Midnight in Paris. Speaking of Allen, he has directed 42 movies. I have seen 29 of them. My eight favorites are: Match Point (2005), Annie Hall (1977), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Midnight in Paris (2011), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), followed closely by the much-maligned Whatever Works (2009). He has been nominated for 21 Academy Awards, winning three of them. 6 actors have won Oscars for their performances in Allen's movies. His next movie, filmed and set in Rome, is titled Nero Fiddled and features what is bound to be one of 2012's most fascinating, intriguing casts: Allen himself, Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg, Roberto Benigni (yes, Roberto Benigni), Penelope Cruz, Alison Pill, Alec Baldwin, Greta Gerwig, and Judy Davis.
Back tomorrow - or next year.
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