Cathedral Talk

Tom reveals to David and Zack for the first time his latest Minecraft build: The Acropolis of Athens. SEE: Tom’s Acropolis of Athens (scroll down for photo gallery) SEE: The Acropolis of Athens SEE: The Parthenon SEE: The Propylaea SEE: The Erechtheion SEE: Caryatids SEE: The Stoa of Eumenes SEE: The Theater of Dionysus SEE: The Odeon of Pericles SEE: The Odeon of Herodes Atticus SEE: The Acropolis Restoration Project SEE: Tom’s Acropolis YouTube video

Tom shares accounts of the ceremonies and celebrations for the reopening of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris. SEE: Notre-Dame interior before the 2019 Fire SEE: Notre-Dame interior fully restored SEE: Gustavo Dudamel conducts Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 inside Notre-Dame SEE: Notre-Dame de Paris Reopens – The Complete Dec. 7 Reopening Ceremony SEE: Notre-Dame de Paris Reopens – The Complete Dec. 8 Evening Mass SEE: Washington National Cathedral bells ring a quarter peal for Notre-Dame's reopening

The gents do a deep dive into the world of Change Ringing with church bells, comparing and contrasting with other types of ringing. SEE: Change Ringing SEE: Campanology SEE: Peal SEE: BellBoard SEE: North American Change Ringing Towers SEE: Love’s Guide to the Bells of the City of London SEE: Love’s Guide to the Church Bells of Kent SEE: The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR) SEE: North American Guild of Change Ringers (NAGCR) SEE: The Ancient Society of College Youths (ASCY) SEE: Ringing up in peal – Yardley, Derick Obergene Society SEE: Handbell Change Ringing – ASCY 2021 Dinner SEE: National Cathedral Bells, 1349 Grandsire Caters 2013-12-31

Zack investigates the origin of Salisbury steak. SEE: Salisbury steak SEE: Broil Tom compares and contrasts English gothic with French gothic, using Salisbury cathedral to demonstrate the design aesthetics and choices of the medieval English builders. SEE: English gothic architecture SEE: Salisbury Cathedral SEE: Documentary—Britain’s Great Cathedrals w/ Tony Robinson, Ep3 Salisbury SEE: Patriarchal cross SEE: Britain’s tallest churches SEE: Old St. Paul’s Cathedral SEE: Lincoln Cathedral SEE: Original Tower of Salisbury SEE: Bowing Central Piers of Salisbury SEE: Salisbury Cathedral clock SEE: Cathedral close SEE: Cathedral cloisters SEE: Magna Carta Tom shares his latest Minecraft build of Salisbury cathedral. SEE: Tom’s Salisbury Cathedral (1:1 scale) build SEE: Tom’s YouTube Salisbury Cathedral video

Zack demonstrates how to use the Create Mod to build customized factories that can generate a variety of blocks using the power of water, wind, and steam. SEE: Create, Minecraft Mod (curseforge.com) SEE: BdoubleO100 Create Mod Playlist SEE: Tango Tek Create Mod Playlist, Season 2

David and Zack run the show, discussing the latest restoration updates at Notre-Dame. SEE: Restoration Progress at Notre-Dame SEE: 60 Minutes Video on Notre-Dame’s Restoration Zack briefly discusses visiting David and Tom on the East Coast. SEE: National Cherry Blossom Festival SEE: Cherry Blossom Biome in Minecraft 1.20

David and Zack get a chance to weigh in on Tom’s interview with Joe Alonso from Episode 25, regarding masonry and the Washington National Cathedral. SEE: Washington National Cathedral (WNC) SEE: WNC Slides—Tour & Earthquake SEE: Architect SEE: Structural engineer SEE: Stonemasonry SEE: Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock SEE: Stone carving SEE: Russell Sage Memorial Chapel Tom shares that the construction of Notre-Dame’s main crossing vault is underway. SEE: Wooden centering for main crossing vault at Notre-Dame—NBC Today

DONATE: Washington National Cathedral Preservation (click podcast box at bottom) Joe Alonso, Head Stone Mason at Washington National Cathedral, discusses repairing the cathedral after the 2011 earthquake in DC, along with a variety of construction topics including structure settlement, mortar application, limestone qualities, and a special visit from the architects of Notre-Dame de Paris. SEE: Washington National Cathedral (WNC) SEE: WNC Slides—Tour & Earthquake SEE: WNC—Art & Architecture Virtual Tours SEE: 2011 Virginia earthquake SEE: Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception SEE: George Frederick Bodley (architect 1906–1907) SEE: Henry Vaughan (architect 1907–1917) SEE: Philip H. Frohman (architect 1921–1972) SEE: Notre-Dame Architects US Tour—Philippe Villeneuve & Rémi Fromont SEE: Tuckpointing SEE: Portland cement SEE: Indiana Limestone SEE: Empire Quarry SEE: Cathedral of St. John the Divine SEE: The International Union of Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers

The gents further investigate the eccentricities of Trombone Champ. SEE: Trombone Champ Tom, David, and Zack examine the architecture of Amiens Cathedral, the one of the largest gothic cathedrals in the world. SEE: Amiens Cathedral SEE: Amiens Cathedral Slides SEE: Life of a Cathedral: Notre-Dame of Amiens (Columbia University interactive) SEE: Notre-Dame de Amiens: Life of the Gothic Cathedral, by Dr. Stephen Murray SEE: NOVA (2010)—Building the Great Cathedrals (PBS) SEE: Dolly zoom (camera effect) SEE: Vertigo (1958 Hitchcock film) Tom shares his latest Minecraft build—Notre-Dame de Amiens. SEE: Tom’s Amiens Cathedral (1:1 scale) build SEE: Tom’s YouTube Amiens Cathedral video

Tom, David, and Zack discuss the architecture in Disney’s animated 1996 adaptation of the Hunchback of Notre-Dame. SEE: Disney’s Notre-Dame vs Real Notre-Dame SEE: Up-wrong bell (clapper strikes counter to bell’s motion)  SEE: Up-right bell (clapper strikes in-sync with bell’s motion) SEE: Hunchback Intro up-wrong bell (behind title, 9 seconds) SEE: Palais de la Cité, a.k.a.: Palais de Justice, Paris Tom, David, and Zack share their proposed casting lists for the upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney’s Hunchback of Notre-Dame. In order of discussion: QUASIMODO: 1996 Cast—Tom Hulce Jesús Castro—cast by Zack Rami Malek—cast by David Peter Dinklage—cast by Tom ESMERALDA: 1996 Cast—Demi Moore & Heidi Mollenhauer Alina Serban—cast by Zack Renée Elise Goldsberry—cast by David Zoe Saldaña—cast by Tom PHOEBUS: 1996 Cast—Kevin Kline Gaspard Ulliel (deceased)—in memoriam, Zack Stephen Manas—cast by Zack Chris Pine—cast by Tom The Hollywood Chrises—go-to list for David FROLLO: 1996 Cast—Tony Jay Vincent Cassel—cast by Zack Charles Dance—cast by Tom Mark Strong—cast by David, choice 1 Billy Crudup—cast by David choice 2 CLOPIN: 1996 Cast—Paul Kandel Óscar Jaenada—cast by Zack Tom Hiddleston—cast by David, choice 1 Robert Carlyle—cast by David, choice 2 Maisie Williams—cast by David, choice 3 ARCHDEACON: 1996 Cast—David Ogden Stiers Gérard Depardieu—hard rejection by Zack Daniel Auteuil—cast by Zack Brian Cox—cast by David Donald Sumpter—cast by Tom VICTOR: 1996 Cast—Charles Kimbrough Stephen Merchant—cast by Zack Jim Carter—cast by Tom HUGO: 1996 Cast—Jason Alexander Jason Alexander (why not?)—recast by Zack Trevor Noah—cast by Zack Jerome Flynn—cast by Tom LAVERNE: 1996 Cast—Mary Wickes Tony Shalhoub—cast by Tom Aisha Tyler—cast by Zack

Originally recorded as a trial episode back in mid-2020 during the early days of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Tom discusses whether building mega-skyscrapers next to the Empire State Building would disfigure the the New York City skyline. SEE: 15 Penn Plaza SEE: The Guardian (2010)—New York skyscraper to rival Empire State Building SEE: List of the Tallest Buildings in the World SEE: Burj Khalifa SEE: Space Elevator The gents discuss whether cinemas and big-budget movies are on the way out due to all the new streaming services. SEE: List of most expensive films ever produced Tom asks David and Zack what the traffic rules are for stopping for a school bus with an active stop-sign on a divided highway. SEE: School Bus Laws By State—When to stop and when not to! Zack struggles to contemplate Tyrannosaurus as a big chicken. SEE: NYT (2019)—T.Rex Like You Haven’t Seen Him: With Feathers SEE: Supervolcanos SEE: Geocentric vs. Heliocentric Universes SEE: Relativity of Simultaneity

Tom completes the "Phase 1" (1163–1170 A.D.) of his 2:1 scale Minecraft model of Notre-Dame, consisting of the vaulted double-ambulatory and above it, the second-level gallery, complete with various low flying-buttresses. SEE: THSchutt’s Notre-Dame(2:1) build, Phase 1 (1163–1170 A.D.) David and Tom recount their experience at the National Building Museum to see the Notre-Dame de Paris: The Augmented Exhibition which has been open since April 2022 through September 2022, with countless graphics and interactive applications. SEE: National Building Museum (NBM) SEE: NBM—Notre-Dame de Paris: The Augmented Exhibition SEE: Museum of London—Great Fire of London (1666), Minecraft Model SEE: Virtual Reality SEE: Augmented Reality SEE: National Trust, UK—Explore Virtual Ruins in Minecraft (Grian’s Corfe Castle) SEE: Grian—Using Real Ruins to Create a Castle in Minecraft SEE: Assassin’s Creed SEE: Pagan Scientists at Chartres Cathedral SEE: The Paris Fire Brigade SEE: Deep-Cleaning of Notre-Dame’s Limestone

Zack probes Tom and David regarding artificial chimes and carillons that use recorded bell sounds rather than actual bells. SEE: Electronic carillons Tom recalls his experience of hearing a full peal at Bath Abbey. SEE: Bath Abbey Bells, full peal on Oct. 17, 2021 SEE: Royal Crescent in Bath, England Tom recounts his first trip to Notre-Dame during Easter 2007, when the 19th c. Bells where still hung for ringing in the north tower belfry. SEE: Notre-Dame 19th c. Bells, ringing Christmas 2011 (ground level) SEE: Notre-Dame 19th c. Bells, ringing Easter 2009 (galerie de chimeres level) Tom and David reminisce over their joint trip to see Notre-Dame on Easter 2013, just as the new peal of bells had become operational for Eastertide. SEE: Notre-Dame 2013 Bells, full peal “Sonnerie du Grand Solemnel” SEE: Notre-Dame 2013 Bells, ringing Easter 2013 (Tom & David recording) Tom shares photos provided by the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris foundation depicting the fire damage to the north tower belfry, obtained after much persistence. SEE: Fire Damage to Notre-Dame North Tower Belfry (scroll down)

Tom discusses building the Roman Colosseum in Minecraft, demonstrating how he modeled its curvature based on the theories of Ingegner Giuseppe Cozzo, while discussing its history and influence upon Gothic architecture later on. SEE: Tom’s Colosseum(1:1 scale) build SEE: Tom’s Colosseum curvature calculations & plans (Excel spreadsheet) SEE: Cozzo’s Polycentric-Curve Theory for the Colosseum SEE: Tom’s YouTube Colosseum video SEE: Wiki—The Roman Colosseum SEE: Wiki—Classical Roman Arch SEE: Wiki—Groin Vault David gets inspired to categorize the different types of podcast listeners with his own polycentric modeling; Zack provides helpful feedback. SEE: The Polycentric Circle of Cathedral Talk’s Listeners (MS Paint work of art)

The Cathedral Talk YouTube channel now has the first couple of podcast episodes uploaded with some nifty video footage as an optional accompaniment. More episodes are to be uploaded in the future (at unavoidably irregular intervals). SEE: Cathedral Talk YouTube Links More restoration news at Notre-Dame continues to be published now that we have passed the third anniversary of the fire. SEE: FRANCE24—Notre-Dame Restoration Update for 3rd Anniversary of Fire Tom discusses the unorthodox decisions made with the construction of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City which put its categorization as a “Gothic” cathedral up for debate. David and Zack consider revisions to our overall definition of Gothic architecture. SEE: Wiki—St. Patrick’s Cathedral SEE: NYT Article—Restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, A Gift to NY in Time for the Pope SEE: Wiki—Gothic Architecture

David presents his very late Christmas gift to Zack, reminding Zack to share literature he received for Christmas about cathedrals. Meanwhile, Tom shares an article about a “soundscape archaeologist” who is working to recreate the sounds that would have existed in Notre-Dame during the medieval times. SEE: The sounds rebuilding Notre-Dame’s previous vaults (article) SEE: Guédelon Castle Tom, David, and Zack evaluate the experience of live music, judging what its advantages are over recorded music. Tom argues that experiencing cathedral music is one of the hardest live-music venues to replicate. The gents ponder how humans have many different ways to listen to music. SEE: Hello Internet (podcast) SEE: Mahler’s 2nd Symphony SEE: Deep Listeners, by Judith Becker SEE: Eidetic memory SEE: The Organ of St. Paul’s Cathedral SEE: XKCD Comic 878: Model Rail (nesting concerns) SEE: Synecdoche, New York (movie) SEE: Self-similarity

Tom shares his latest progress on building the twin-aisled vaulting throughout the ambulatory of the chevet for his 2:1 scaled Minecraft model of Notre-Dame. SEE: THSchutt’s Notre-Dame(2:1) build, Phase 1 (1163–1170 A.D.) David discusses how the Steve Jobs movie, written by Aaron Sorkin, is very entertaining yet wildly erroneous. Tom compares this with other loose adaptations of history. Zack debates how to judge characters within narratives. SEE: Steve Jobs (2015) SEE: The Iliad SEE: The Trojan War SEE: Shakespearean histories SEE: Richard III (play) SEE: Julius Caesar (play) SEE: The Lord of the Rings SEE: Saruman the White SEE: Paradise Lost

Tom discusses how different some Minecraft players can build not only epic castles, but also the very mountain ranges that said castles can be nestled into. SEE: NoxusBolgar’s Tephra Castle & the Town of Noxshire Zack shows how certain player-made structures can greatly enhance the already amazing caves of Minecraft patch 1.18. SEE: Jeracraft’s Epic Lush Cave Transformation David shares his favorite style of building in Minecraft: cliff-side houses with a view. SEE: Build Therapy’s Cliffside House SEE: Spiderboy’s Cliffside House

Tom inquires about Zack’s fictitious Roomba. SEE: Roomba SEE: Lego Colosseum The gents discuss why donating to Notre-Dame is a worthwhile endeavor and how they decide what makes a cause worth donating to. SEE: Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris SEE: 2011 Virginia earthquake (DC, MD, VA)

Tom provides more cardinal errata regarding the different ranks of catholic cardinals. SEE: Cardinal (Catholic Church) David discusses his new favorite Netflix movie. SEE: Don’t Look Up (Netflix) Tom quizzes David and Zack on the nomenclature for different vertical elements of Gothic cathedrals, having already quizzed them in Episode 3 on groundplan lexicon. SEE: Gothic Cathedral Vertical Elements Vocabulary (matching) SEE: Triforium SEE: Gallery Zack gets confused about ostriches. SEE: Ostriches