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the other side of the coin
Oct. 22nd, 2007 03:40 pmMorro Rock is pretty cool. I was up at dawn taking pictures as the sun first struck it. Then it was off to San Simeon with the Girl Scouts.
If there's one thing that could describe the tour of Hearst Castle it would be the smiley in the mood icon for this post. At the visitor center is a large format screen movie. From the moment the movie starts it seems to be trying to cast a spell over the audience: You have not seen that movie by Orson Welles.
To be sure, Hearst was a yellow journalist, and he was merciless towards his political foes, so it's really not surprising that he had to reap what he sowed when Mr. Welles made his movie. But it's no surprise that there is much more to the story than in Citizen Kane.
The tour was amazing. I'm not sure how my daughter took it. I know she was thrilled to see all the gold paint, which really is gold, and she was thrilled to walk on the gold in the tile of the indoor pool, but I think some of the depth of the antiquities may have gone over her head. I found myself saying "Oh my god" several times as we walked through the sculpture and detailed architectural design.
The tour guide was a lot like Jane Curtin as the stewardess in the SNL skit. That smile was so omnipresent that it might have been achieved by injection. But like Jane Curtin, that smile showed some strain when someone on the tour asked where was Mrs. Hearst during all of the stories she was telling.
Beyond that was the Girl Scout camping experience. My daughter shared the work of setting up the tent, and cooking the meals, and breaking everything down at the end of the second night. I think she's ready to fend for herself on almost any occasion, but we both loved being able to switch from "Girl Scout stay with your buddy" mode into "Get carried around by Dad" mode.
If there's one thing that could describe the tour of Hearst Castle it would be the smiley in the mood icon for this post. At the visitor center is a large format screen movie. From the moment the movie starts it seems to be trying to cast a spell over the audience: You have not seen that movie by Orson Welles.
To be sure, Hearst was a yellow journalist, and he was merciless towards his political foes, so it's really not surprising that he had to reap what he sowed when Mr. Welles made his movie. But it's no surprise that there is much more to the story than in Citizen Kane.
The tour was amazing. I'm not sure how my daughter took it. I know she was thrilled to see all the gold paint, which really is gold, and she was thrilled to walk on the gold in the tile of the indoor pool, but I think some of the depth of the antiquities may have gone over her head. I found myself saying "Oh my god" several times as we walked through the sculpture and detailed architectural design.
The tour guide was a lot like Jane Curtin as the stewardess in the SNL skit. That smile was so omnipresent that it might have been achieved by injection. But like Jane Curtin, that smile showed some strain when someone on the tour asked where was Mrs. Hearst during all of the stories she was telling.
Beyond that was the Girl Scout camping experience. My daughter shared the work of setting up the tent, and cooking the meals, and breaking everything down at the end of the second night. I think she's ready to fend for herself on almost any occasion, but we both loved being able to switch from "Girl Scout stay with your buddy" mode into "Get carried around by Dad" mode.
