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• Menil Collection
  The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, is housed in a museum; and is the private art collection of founders Dominique and Jean de Menil. Dom was the heir to the Schlumberger oil-drilling fortune and Jean, known as John, was an executive that worked for the company; and the family is related to the famous photographer/artist Dash Snow. Dash left his home when he was just 13 or 14, and started taking pictures, in case he forgot where he had been the next day. He was included in the Wall Street Journal article that was titled "The 23-Year Old Masters", which included the top ten emerging American artists. He was the great-grandson of the Menils and nephew of actress Uma Thurman. July 13, 2009, at the Lafayette House in Manhattan, his body was found dead, of a drug overdose; he was 27. In 1987, the Renzo Piano designed museum was opened and held the magnificent private collection of 20th century artworks the couple had obtained. About 15,000 rare books, photographs prints, paintings, sculptures and drawings are included in this collection, with the surrealist collection being the most provocative and prominent. There are marvelous early to mid-20th century works of Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, Yves Tanguy, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Rene Magritte and others. It also houses a wonderful collection of pop and contemporary art that includes such fantastic creators like Jackson Pollack, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauchenberg and Mark Rothko. There are relics of Byzantine, Medieval, tribal artworks and antiquities.  The museum complex includes the adjacent Cy Twombly Gallery that was also designed by Piano, the Richmond Hall that holds the last commission of Mrs. de Menil's, three site specific installations by Dan Flavin in 1996, the Rothko Chapel and the Byzantine Fresco Chapel; with a separate library. The Byzantine Fresco Chapel is a separate building by the main collection structure and contains two 13th century Byzantine church frescos, a dome with Christ Pantocrater and an apse semi-dome of the Virgin Panagia. These beautiful relics were recovered from an illicit art trading group that had taken them from a church in Lysi, located in Turkish occupied North Cyprus, in the 1980s. They are said to be the only frescos of their kind in this country and are housed at the museum by consent of the Church of Cyprus, owners. The Rothko Chapel was constructed in 1971 and is an interfaith chapel that was asked to be built by the de Menils. Upon coming to the entry, the visitor will find donated holy books from many different religious traditions that can be borrowed while visiting the chapel. The chapel is sky-lit, complete with prayer benches, kneeling mats and/or meditation cushions, and Rothko's wall sized paintings. Out the south entry, there is a beautiful reflecting pool with a sculpture b Barnett Newman called Broken Obelisk, the de Menils purchased to install here in honor and memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.

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• San Jacinto Battleground
  The battle of San Jacinto was the decisive battle fought on April 21, 1836, between the armies of General Sam Houston and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, and lasted only 18 minutes! 700 Mexican soldiers died and 730 captured, with 9 Texans losing their lives. The next day, Santa Anna, the president of Mexico was captured, and then kept as a prisoner of war. Within 3 weeks, he had signed the peace treaty that stated the Mexican armies leave the area, which started the process for the Republic of Texas to be an independent country. The treaty didn't say that the territory of Texas would become a sovereign nation, but that Santa Anna had to lobby for that in Mexico City. Meanwhile, Sam Houston became a huge national hero and the Texas rally cries of "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad" were completely etched in our history and legends. The story is one of valor and heroism, sadness and loss of lives, but in the end, it was the people of this country that came to the aid of another new territory, made up of Americans. It is another story of what made this country so great and should be read, and the area visited.  Needless to say that the battle of the Alamo, where huge forces of about 1500 soldiers attacked a small mission defended by just a couple hundred men, only enraged the defenders of Texas and set in motion this terrific defeat. Santa Anna wasn't a qualified general, but one that had superior forces, but only in numbers and not in spirit and courage. In fact, as he and his 1500 men took their afternoon siesta, he was so confident about squashing the rebels that he didn't post sentries or lookouts around his camp. He was also next to water that was ten feet deep in some areas and made it almost impossible to retreat. Houston's officers wanted to wait until Santa Anna attacked the next day, but Houston decided to surprise the Mexicans and at 4:30 PM. on the 21st of April, the only way out for both armies, Vince's Bridge was burned down, and the Texas army moved forward. They had woods and a rise to hide their advance, but once they cleared the woods, they were in the wide open fields. They moved as fast as possible and as quietly as they could across the high grassy plains and when they were only a couple of dozens of yards away, they raised their cry of "Remember the Alamo", and charged, stopping just a few yards from the Mexicans to open fire. There was never a doubt as to the outcome, as the Mexican soldiers were used to fighting in ranks giving volleys of fire. Many were unarmed, sleeping with females, gathering wood for the fires and the cavalry was riding bareback to get water. It was vengeance with outrage, Houston tried to stop his men from the onslaught, as the Mexicans ran into the cold waters of the river only to be shot down while struggling to swim to escape. The main battle did take 18 minutes, but the killing spree went on for another hour as these men remembered the burnt bodies of their compatriots in the Alamo and Goliad. 

January 11, 2011