Things I learned this weekend:

[camwyn]

1. The first weekend of summer isn't a good time to wear full jeans and a dark blue T-shirt.
2. Especially not to the zoo.
3. ESPECIALLY not to the simulated rainforest exhibit.
4. The Central Park Zoo has at least four gay penguins.
5. Chinese scholars used to pay good money for funky looking rocks. Not gems. Rocks.
6. Ancient Greek soldiers saw nothing wrong with marching into battle wearing a breastplate with nipples, a navel, and a potbelly all sculpted in the bronze.
7. Someone at the court of the Qianlong Emperor of China deserves a thrashing for the way they painted the face of Imperial Bodyguard Zhanyinbao.
8. Said bodyguard was One Tough Bastard.

That's pretty much it. Explanations will be given if people want, but right now, 's late and I gotta gobed.

Comments

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

I would like elaboration on numbers 7 and 8, please.

Okay.

[camwyn]

The gentleman referenced by #7 and #8 may be seen here in pencil, although I have since inked the drawing and will be scanning it so it comes across a little better. The original painting was done by at least one master and several apprentices or something of that type. Whoever did the face did an amazing job, for the time, of painting realistic facial features. . . except for one thing. I fail to see how a man who wielded a bow and otherwise used distance weapons as part of his everyday job description could possibly have had his eyes arranged the way the original painting has them. His left eye is depicted as being (rough estimate, based on a guess of his size when he was alive) around half an inch higher than his right, and at a sharper angle than his right eye. Either Zhanyinbao had a significant skeletal deformity in his face and compensated for it, or the artist screwed up arranging his eyes. I consider the second the more likely explanation, and if I ever find out who did that, I will jump up and down on their grave in cleats because it drove me crazy during the drawing process. I eventually gave up and fixed the damn eyes, considering it more important than accurately reproducing the painting.

As for #8, the portrait in the Met has an inscription over it, in both Chinese and Manchu script. (It's part of a special exhibit entitled 'When The Manchus Ruled China'.) According to the inscription he had attacked a fair number of the Empire's enemies and rebels with his bare hands, captured quite a few prisoners, skewered his Emperor's enemies' heads on his lance, etc.

Re: Okay.

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

Sweeeeeeet. Thank you. Yes, he definately rocks.

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

Heck, I wanna know what's up with the gay penguins.

[camwyn]

According to one of the workers at the Central Park Zoo, they have at least one nesting pair of penguins composed of two males, and another composed of two females. Apparently these pairs have been established for some time and the Zoo had been wondering for a while about why there were no signs of eggs nor chicks. Then they did a closer inspection.