Saturday Night at the Rodeo

Ok, so another busy saturday. I had my second architecture class. We discussed a lot of French/Gothic Revival and Philly in the 19th Century. We spent a lot of time looking at PAFA- the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. It was designed by Frank Furness, a prominent Philly architect who had a unique style. Here are some photos:


I like the floral touches on the building. They are everywhere, but its really beautiful. And look at all the detail at the top of the building!


This is the inside, if you walk to the main lobby by the stairs and look up. Its amazing. I wanted to move in. All of the colors and the skylight and the celestial ceiling, it was very different for it's time (the 1870s) and I think has beautiful contrasts.

We then moved to Walnut St., where we observed some stores that clearly used to be townhouses and a lot of different styles. My favorite is the Art Deco style:
This is the door to the Metropolitan. All the geometric shapes and contrasting metals are typical of the Art Deco. I think its cool.



We ended at Rittenhouse Square (although I didn't take pictures there) and I learned that it used to be a 'brick bath', that is, a place where they used to make bricks. Paul Cret, a french architect hired to teach the Beaux-Arts style at Penn, developed Rittenhouse in 1913 into the park it is today. My professor thinks it works so well because it is so accessible, with a low fence and entrances at every possible pedestrian path, which helps encourage as much foot traffic as possible. The neighborhood, a mixture of residences and stores, helps as well.

So after class I went and got my hair done. New color and a trim! Exciting. I like catching up with my stylist, Eleanor, about movies and Ann Rice novels (I've never read any but they are here favorite). She understood my criticisms of 'The Happening', and said she gave up on M. Night long ago. That made me sad, but que sera...

Tonight I went to my second annual Cowtown Rodeo!! I went last year with Kara and Leslie and had a blast (as well as acquired a plethora of cowtown souvenirs that were completely unnecessary). This year we skipped the souvenirs and focused on the events. They have steer wrangling, bull riding, stallion riding, barrel racing, and lasso-ing events. Here are some shots from tonight:



Let me tell you. There are some interesting people at the Cowtown Rodeo, but I was glad to be one of them. I wore my Nashville cowboy hat proudly! That is, until they tied up the little baby cows... (don't worry, they always let them go after 6 seconds).

Here ends my saturday night. On the couch, watching bad tv. The usual....