Yeah, he designed most of the buildings around the academic mall of my alma mater, University of St. Thomas in Houston. It’s a bunch of rectangles. It looks like a kid made it out of cereal boxes covered in construction paper. However, the east end of the mall is occupied by the Chapel of St. Basil, the ugliest freaking monstrosity I’ve ever seen. It was a campus joke that maybe that’s what happens when you ruin a perfectly good and necessary parking area by hiring a gay, fascist architect to design a Catholic church.
The university’s website has a page about the chapel, but they fail to bring up the fact that due to the big split dome on top, many students took to calling it “Chapel of the Golden Butt”. Sure all its featues are symbolic, but they also fail to mention that in the afternoon, as the sun sinks toward the west, everyone on the academic mall is blinded by the glare from the giant white wall that reflects the sun.
I realize Johnson was very influential and many of his other projects are probably fine blah blah, but after my personal experience with his work I think he was out to get the folks at St. Thomas.
I’m endlessly miffed that I forgot to get my picks in this year. I can remember sitting in a bar New Years Day watching Bowl Games, hung over and drunk all at once, then bluirting out “shit!!!”. My friends were quite concerned, which led to the morbid confession of this little hobby of ours. I got some very strange looks,but I’m none the less bitter that I don’t get to play. and I expect to be reminded of this every time I see a damn headline this year.
I hope not! IIRC I have 5 classic rockers on my list - not because I hope, or expect, any of them to pass on this year - but more in a sort of reverse-psychology-this-way-they’ll-stay-alive way, since so many of my picks last year survived.
As of the 1st of February, our Death Pool stands as follows:
Captain Lance Murdoch, last year’s Death Pool winner, again takes the lead with 63 points for Ivan Noble, a unique pick! Wow!
amarone and VunderBob are tied for second place with 56 points each for Charlie Bell. They will share the “Opening Kickoff” award for first Death Pool scorers.
Anastasaeon
Club 33
Diogenes the Cynic
dwc1970
eman77
infamousmom
Lockz
MissTake
Mr. Babbington
Mona Lott
Omega Glory
Pablito
plnnr
Qwisp
Skammer
trublmaker
Wicked Blue
yellowval
zamboniracer and Zsofia - have 21 points each with the death of Johnny Carson.
And finally, yours truly, a35362 scores 2 points for the death of Philip Johnson, a unique pick. My “gimme” pick paid off!
And nobody picked Zhao Ziyang, Charlotte MacLeod, Virginia Mayo, Ruth Warrick, Lamont Bentley, Rose Mary Woods, or Jim Capaldi.
I think there should be a new ruling:
If I have never heard of the Dead Person Whom Lance Murdock The Angel of Death or anyone else gets that I don’t get they don’t get the points.
I mean, really.
There is an earlier exchange where I questioned Ivan’s celebrity status. However, the real purpose of this post is to aim people at Ivan’s final column. I read this a few days before he died and I have to say it has made me think twice about turning someone else’s tragedy into a trivial game for my amusement.
They should put that on his tombstone.