Bob's high school days, mid 1950s Bob at Vigeland Park, Oslo, August 2011 So, why on Bob's 75th birthday, do I feel so old? Maybe it has to do with the library of memories from all the years we've been together that I carry around with me. The first thing that attracted me to Bob happened way back in 1963. I had just started working at TRW (precursor to Northrop Grumman) in a writing and editing group that helped engineers with their reports and proposals. One day I was sitting in my little half-walled cubby hole that didn't have any doors and heard someone speaking to the woman who sat in the cubby hole next to mine. I found the voice very distinctive and articulate. Plus, the man speaking never shut up why am I not surprised? I had never heard this voice before so I had to get up and go out into the common area and take a peek at who was speaking. That's how I got my first glimpse of a tall thin man with blond hair cut in a buzz and blue eyes pretty much hidden behind … [Read more...]
Gustav Vigeland in Oslo – you have to be there
While on a cruise about a year ago we stopped in Oslo for all of four hours and it was raining ice water. Still our tour guide insisted we go to Vigeland Park to see sculptures we would never get a chance to see anywhere else. Well, we saw them briefly with rain pouring down our necks, so we couldn't wait to get back on the bus. While on our recent trip I insisted we go back to see Vigeland's bronze and granite life-size sculptures - 214 sculptures with more than 758 figures standing on 80 acres of public park - open 24 hours everyday of the year and free of charge. Well our first day in Oslo it rained - seems to be a constant there. But thankfully the clouds cleared up for us on day two - In fact, it even got sunny, and we were able to enjoy this amazing sight. Vigeland modeled every sculpture in the park himself, without the assistance of pupils or other artists, I also saw a few other Vigeland sculptures around Oslo and in its National Gallery. But the ones in Vigeland park … [Read more...]
