Art Gallery(PART 1 OF 3)
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Kato, how come you've posted those lovely and gorgeous pictures!
Diane, you like these pictures, don't you?
Yes, I love those. Are you thinking of building a private art gallery?
Oh, no. It's beyond my means.
Then why have you come up with the above title---"Art Gallery"?
Well ... I read the following newspaper article.
The Vancouver Art Gallery has been granted a 99-year lease for the use of two thirds of the land at Cambie and Georgia streets, Larwill Park, for their new building.
There was not a naysayer in the joint.
...
If you doubt the effect one iconic art gallery can have on a city, the fellow from Tourism Vancouver reminded council of the impact that Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum has had on the once down-at-the-heels steel town of Bilbao in northern Spain.
So now that this hurdle has passed, and VAG director Kathleen Bartels, her board chair Bruce Wright and their friends and supporters have toasted their victory, there is the matter of the $350 million to be raised for the project, the strings attached to council’s approval.
Earlier this week when the outcome at council seemed obvious once Mayor Gregor Robertson was publicly in support, the headline writers at the Globe and Mail declared the celebration by the folks at the VAG evidence of a "Pyrrhic victory;" the gallery leadership had expended so much energy winning this battle at council, they would not have the resources to win the war; raising the dough would defeat them.
Indeed, the Courier reported a few days later that the federal government was "cool" to the idea that they should put in the $100 million that was part of the gallery’s financial plan.
SOURCE:
"Don’t bet against the Vancouver Art Gallery"
By Allen Garr, "Vancouver Courier"
April 26, 2013
Diane, did you read the Vancouver Courier of April 26?
Yes, I did, but I overlooked the above article. So we're gonna see a new art gallery in Larwill Park in the future, aren't we?
Yes, we are.
Kato, are you happy to see a new art gallery?
Yes, most definitely. I'm wholeheartedly supporting the idea.
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So, you're quite enthusiastic about the new gallery, aren't you?
You're telling me.
But, Kato, have you ever been to the art gallery?
Yes, of course, I have. Do you think I'm a hopeless hobo without any sense of beauty? Look at those beautiful pictures in the above! I've posted them up there so that you would know for sure that I've got a sense of appreciation of fine arts.
I know what you mean, Kato, but those are pictures---not paintings. Most of the works displayed in the gallery are paintings, aren't they?
Yes, I'd say so. As far as I'm concerned, however, there is no difference between pictures and paintings. I can appreciate the beauty of both works. In any cae, there is another reason I quoted the above newspaper article.
Oh, is there? Tell me about it.
Well ... I was curious about the phrase, namely, "down-at-the-heels" in the above article. Diane, do you know the meaning of this phrase?
Yes, of course, I know. It means "seedy" or "dilapidated."
Gee ... amazing! Diane, you're quite knowledgeable!
Kato, it's common sense, isn't it?
I don't think so. I think I've heard of the expression before, and I've got a rough idea what it means, but I didn't know the exact meaning for sure. So I checked with thefreedictionary.com.
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You're quite right, Diane. It means "poor" or "shabby." But tell me why it means "seedy" or "dilapidated" in the first place? It doesn't make sense to me.
Well ...
Diane, tell me how come "down-at-the-heels" means "seedy" or "dilapidated."
Well ... come to think of it, ...
what?
Kato ... come to think of it, ... beats the hell out of me.
I've come up with the explanation on the net.
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"Down-at-the-heels" means a run-down condition.
It is one of those figurative expressions that many people use all the time without really knowing for sure where it came from and what it literally means.
Actually it originated several hundred years ago in a different form.
From the 16th to the 18th centuries, out at heels was a common phrase in both literal and figurative contexts.
Literally out at heels meant with stockings or shoes worn through at the heel.
For example, "Some riche snudges...go with their hose out at heles" (1553, Oxford English Dictionary).
SOURCE:
Down at Heel: Origin and Meaning of the Expression
Ummm ... quite interesting, isn't it?
Yes, it certainly is! By the way, there is another phrase, which is quite new to me.
What is it, Kato?
Pyrrhic victory. Diane, do you know what it means?
Yes, of course, I know. It means "a victory achieved at too great a cost."
Gee ... Diane, you know it, don't you?
Kato, it's common sense, isn't it?
I don't think so. To tell you the truth, I've never heard of it. Well ... I might've heard of it, but I might've simply ignored the phrase because it sounds quite Greek to me. In any case, when I came across the phrase in the papers, I looked into thefreedictionary.com.
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You're quite right, Diane. It means "a victory that is offset by staggering losses." But tell me why "Pyrrhic victory" means "a victory achieved at too great a cost"?
Well ... once upon a time, there was a big fight called "Pyrrhic War."
Oh ... was there? Where? and when?
Well ... it happened a long time ago.
How long ago?
Probably ... thousands of years ago... Maybe, some three thousands years ago, I suppose.
And where did it take place?
In ancient Greece or, maybe, in ancient Rome ... I'm not too sure ... well ... beats the heck out of me.
(To be followed)