Sonic screwdriver science

I was surprised to see this giant bronze woman holding a sonic screwdriver, wielding it quite fiercely at a (bronze) parchment in front of the Hôtel de Ville.

From this angle, it really really looks like a sonic screwdriver. I just couldn't come up with anything else it could be. The seated, naked, generic statue lady didn't have a lot of context clues. The Wikipedia page was not a huge amount of help, since the building is coated in statues.

On further examination from another angle, she is wielding a compass and considering some... academic thing... on that parchment. Her partner statue was wielding a pen on paper, which gives enough of a clue to sift through the photos and uncover that she is La Science, science embodied.

My high school draw-this-with-a-compass puzzle-solving practice might pay off when I take up modeling.

I'm glad to see that, at least in science-abstraction statuary, the gender imbalance is working in my favor.

This post's theme word is armsceye (or armseye), "an opening in a garment for attaching a sleeve." Science is not bothered by petty details of armsceye; she has long since transcended clothing altogether.

Paris Lego store

There now exists a Lego store in Paris. The two things that delighted my constructor-child's heart were: (1) it is possible to buy Lego bricks in bulk, by volume. The wall of bricks-by-volume is sorted by color. It's fantastic.

Item (2) was the impressive collection of models on display. But of course, the Lego store would have incredible window displays. Of particular note were the reconstructions of Paris landmarks.

Notre Dame was reconstructed in recognizable detail, although to my disappointment there are not any gargoyle-shaped pieces. Not even custom-made ones!

Overall the model is very lovely, although at current Lego prices it probably involves several thousand dollars' worth of pieces.

There were also (of course) Eiffel Towers, but I appreciated the reconstruction of the friezes and statues on the Arc de Triomphe.

This post's theme word is skosh, "a small amount, a little bit." How much for a handful or skosh of bright green bricks?