A Magical Night

I had the pleasure of attending the Getty Villa's College Night last night. It was a perfect October evening. We drove up in the late afternoon and arrived just before sunset. There was almost no traffic getting there (well, with the help of the carpool lane.) Light Santa Ana winds were blowing, yet Malibu was not on fire. (A small fire did break out near the new Getty this morning). All together classic Hotel California weather. Which is fitting as the Getty Villa would be my version of the Hotel California:



The event was free to college students from around Southern California. The museum served a nice Mediterranean buffet in the atrium and there were free soft drinks. Everything was charmed and charming.

On the "Mr. Getty's Favorite Statue" tour, we had an interesting conversation with the lovely young French(-Canadian?) conservator about Heracles's missing penis. I also ran across this little masterpiece in the Dilettanti exhibition:



Titled "Pan Enjoys a Goat," it inspired a pretty young Asian woman who walked by it while I was studying to cry, "Disgusting!" I'm sure she meant, "Intriguing." She must have been from Loyola-Marymount.

It has been a magical month of October in Southern California. I will miss October when I die. I will miss October in about a week and a half.