Bert Mondays: Solitary

Yep Yep Yep Yep

Uh huh.

Additionally, big ups for Ernie's PJs and Bert's robe.

Teeny Tiny's Travel Tuesdays: Siena

On one of Teeny Tiny's many days in Florence, he planned a day trip to Siena, just an hour away by train. Siena is famous for its horse race, Il Palio, and its stripey cathedral. Because the historic part of Siena is up a mountain, when Teeny Tiny arrived, he made sure to grab a bus ticket.

After a minor getting-on-the-wrong-bus mishap, Teeny Tiny made his way to a city gate and greeted the symbol of Siena, the she-wolf.

The Sienese like to insist that their town was founded by the son of Remus, so the suckling wolves is an important and persistent image. Another important image is the Palazzo Publico, the ruling building for the republic.

The walls of the interior of the People's Palace chronicle the history of the republic. One of Teeny Tiny's most important historical finds was that the Sienese believed in unicorns:

After a thorough exploration of the palace, Teeny Tiny spent a bit of time in the big piazza. He could hardly believe that they raced horses around the distorted oval. He then made his way through the steep and winding streets first to a market to buy goodies and then to the Duomo.

The square was as good a place as any to eat his lunch. He found a ledge in front of the old hospital and enjoyed the people milling about:

Siena's cathedral is the most Gothic and adorned of all of the Italian churches Teeny Tiny has seen. It is covered with statuary and striking from every angle.

Inside the cathedral is just as remarkable as outside. Much of the floor has been roped off to protect the marvelous bas-relief tombs and decorations.

The pulpit shows a Last Judgment carved by Nicola Pisano.

Teeny Tiny loved that the church was striped inside and out, but he wished the Sienese had gone with more colors, perhaps some red and blue.

Teeny Tiny next took an amazing tour of the newly excavated narthex under the Duomo, where he saw some old frescoes and the original structure of the church. He explored the Baptistry, housed underneath the church's choir. The baptismal font was sculpted by Donatello and Jacopa dell Quercia.

Teeny Tiny next went to the museum of the Opera del Duomo to check out some of the great works commissioned for the church. At the top of the museum, he discovered a little stairway.

On his way up, he noticed this warning:

After getting his hand for to hold as instructed, he completed the climb. It was a bit exhausting, but the view was worth it.

After chatting with a lovely British couple on holiday, he tried to get a better idea of what it must be like for the horses to race in Il Palio.

All in all, Teeny Tiny's day in Siena turned out to be a perfectly beautiful day. He finished with some tasty gelato, of course, and managed to grab the correct bus back to the train station.

Bert Mondays: Lost Cookies

It has been a busy couple of weeks what with snowmageddon and work and all, so I've been away from the blog for a bit. Sorry about that. Real life is sometimes painfully difficult, but it must be attended. Actually the last couple of weeks has been a bit like this clip in which Bert loses some cookies. I know someone took the cookies, and I'm pretty sure I know who, but I might be totally wrong.

On the other hand, the past couple of weeks have made me feel a bit like Ernie too: wrongly accused, confused, and desperate to prove that I'm really a good buddy who wouldn't take my best friend's cookies. All in all, it's a bit emotional. The moral of the story, I guess, is that when there are some missing cookies, you had best look around for a cookie monster.

Homemade: Things We Like

Here's another original song from Tinnawilson. I miss the finger puppets, but I really enjoy the idea of Ernie as a singer-songwriter. Can't you see him haunting the coffee shops around with neighborhood with his guitar, singing soulful songs about friendship and duckies?

Homemade: Hey Bert

This homemade scene takes the idea of homemade very seriously. Not only did the artist recreate a bedroom scene with construction paper and finger puppets, but he also writes a new song for the two to sing. The song is no Joe Raposo classic, but it captures the Ernie-Bert feel pretty well. The Ernie voice is pretty close to spot-on, but Bert needs a little work. Even so, it's a lovely homage to our favorite best friends, and if I had any talent and/or time, I would be doing this kind of stuff all the time with hopes that someone important would see me and ask me to come live on Sesame Street.

Teeny Tiny's Travel Tuesdays: Roller Derby

After posting the last of the Florence pictures, Teeny Tiny has decided to take a break from his Italy trip and post about a trip a little closer to home. Recently Teeny Tiny took a little trip on the metro to the D.C. Armory.

He was there for the Roller Derby! He got himself prepared for the spectator sport action with the traditional materials.

Then, he was all set for the action provided by the D.C. Roller Girls.

Unfortunately it's hard to take still pictures of people rushing around a small oval on roller skates, but he tried.

In the first bout, the Cherry Blossom Bombshells whipped the overmatch team from Harrisonburg.

Then there was the halftime show: a bunch of eager kids who must have warped into the armory from 1973.

Go homeschool orphan circus!

After that, Teeny Tiny needed a little stiff refreshment.

The second bout of the match promised a bit more excitement between the D.C. Demoncats and Scare Force One.

Scare Force One and their unbelievable jammer Marion Barrycuda, however, dominated the Demoncats, so Teeny Tiny called off the jam and went to dinner.

Bert Mondays: Bert Needs a Friend

This clip is almost too heartbreaking to watch. Despite having a lifelong best friend and life partner, Bert is kind of a lonely soul. He has odd interests and isn't quite as charming as his old buddy, Ernie. Like most of us, sometimes Bert just wants to be around someone who gets him.

Luckily for Bert, Ernie shows up in true Ernie fashion to save the day there at the end, but a little of the heartbreak remains. I guess our best friends aren't supposed to be our twins and love every single thing that we love, but we can understand Bert's desire here. Although we weirdos delight in being singular, we don't always relish being alone.