(Source Photos: Andy and Dossy Blumenthal)
Showing posts with label Museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Museum. Show all posts
May 18, 2018
December 22, 2017
Israel Style
What I really liked was seeing it up close and not from the back of a tour bus.
After just a day or so, I started to feel like I was really experiencing life here.
Crossing Menachem Begin Road, we ran into these fashion-conscious ladies.
The colorful clothes and hair, the tall blue shoes, the ripped leggings of the women on the left definitely stood out.
Juxtaposed is the lady on the right in the black dress, short haircut, bag, and glasses.
This pair was a standout!
In a way, I miss the Holy lifestyle of Jerusalem here in Tel Aviv, but at the same time, I like the cosmopolitan and modern life here too.
Anyway, I feel like I am learning a lot and enjoying experiencing culture and religion Israel-style.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 2, 2017
Greatest Museum of Them All
The Museum of the Bible.
Right here in Washington, D.C.--a few blocks from the Capitol.
There is a wonderful video on their website.
It's 430,000 square feet and 8 stories floors.
With two 40-feet-high bronze doors that look like the Ten Commandments.
And an overall tall and narrow shape with a curved roof that reminds me of Noah's Ark.
It encompasses:
Religion.
History.
Art.
It all comes together here.
There is an interesting display of all the different versions of the Bible.
But what it all points to is how similar we all really are.
The emergence of faith in The One G-d who created us all--his children--and the foundation in the words of His book.
Yes, we share in common much more than what separates us.
If we can just see ourselves in His eyes and be the people we can be and were meant to be.
The museum should be an inspiration to be better, to be brothers, to have peace, to partner and progress to the future.
With our faith sustaining us, and the Bible and our conscience as our guides, we can overcome. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
March 29, 2017
X Marks The Spot With A Dot Dot Dot
Unfortunately, they were out of passes for this special showing, so I could only grab a quick photo or two.
But I was amazed at how splashes of dots and color can make such am amazing impact on a room.
Futuristic and yet surreal.
Everything in the room--walls, floor, chairs, tables, fixtures, and ornaments--had the design elements on them.
The only thing that didn't were the people checking it out and what a contrast that was.
It felt like being in the fantasy world of Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory or something amazing like that.
It is no surprise that people were lining up out the doors for tickets to this exhibit.
What an spectacular vision for the world--so happy, so magical and so wow beautiful! ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
February 21, 2017
Naked Sitting
This "Big Man" is just sitting in the corner at the top of the escalator.
Sitting naked and looking deep in thought and down on his luck.
In a sense, as we sit or stand in front of our Maker, we are all naked bearing witness to our transgressions and trespasses.
What are we to do when we give in to weakness?
We see people looking around and hoping no one is seeing them as they try to get away with doing the wrong thing.
But as my Oma (grandmother) used to say in German to me:
"Liebe Gott sieht alles"
Almighty G-d sees everything!
Our souls, and the souls of those that came before us, and those that will come after us, are all around us, without limitation to time or space.
Our nakedness is revealed no matter what we use to try to cover up with.
Hunched in the corner, we don't really know what to do, but to try to do better with each and every next time.
We have opportunities to right the wrongs, if we get up and exert self control and overcome our mortal and character weaknesses.
Then our nakedness won't be foul in sight and smell, but will be radiant, with our spirits having risen to the occasion of what we can be as the children of G-d. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 3, 2014
Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana
Took this photo of this very cool looking Orange Fridge.
It actually comes in all sort of vibrant colors including pink, blue, and even "Union Jack."
Made by an Italian appliance maker called SMEG, whose tag line is "Technology with style."
I like technology, and I like design...so this is great stuff!
For home and Museum of Modern Art. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
February 5, 2013
From Holocaust To Holograms
In particular, she remembers when she was just a six year-old little girl, walking down the street in Germany, and suddenly the Nazi S.S. came up behind them and dragged her father off to the concentration camp, Buchenwald--leaving her alone, afraid, and crying on the street. And so started their personal tale of oppression, survival, and escape.
Unfortunately, with an aging generation of Holocaust survivors--soon there won't be anyone to tell the stories of persecution and genocide for others to learn from.
In light of this, as you can imagine, I was very pleased to see the University of Southern California (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) and the USC Shoah Foundation collaborating on a project called "New Dimensions In Testimony" to use technology to maintain the enduring lessons of the Holocaust into the future.
The project involves developing holograms of Holocaust survivors giving testimony about what happened to them and their families during this awful period of discrimination, oppression, torture, and mass murder.
ICT is using a technology called Light Stage that uses multiple high-fidelity cameras and lighting from more than 150 directions to capture 3-D holograms.
There are some interesting videos about Light Stage (which has been used for many familiar movies from Superman to Spiderman, Avatar, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) at their Stage 5 and Stage 6 facilities.
To make the holograms into a full exhibit, the survivors are interviewed and their testimony is combined with natural language processing, so people can come and learn in a conversational manner with the Holocaust survivor holograms.
Mashable reports that these holograms may be used at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. where visitors will talk "face-to-face" with the survivors about their personal experiences--and we will be fortunate to hear it directly from them. ;-)
(Photo from USC ICT New Dimensions In Technology)
December 25, 2012
A Trip To The Science Museum
Outside, where you enter, there is a huge clock -tower contraption with overhead slides and rolling balls, and water turning wheels on the side—it’s a “what is it” (exactly) moment and you know you're there.
We hit the space exhibits first—I entered a simulator for a jet fighter cockpit, managed to take off with relative ease, but soon crashed, flipping it upside down—oops a little too much thrust.
The NASA exhibits were cool such as the MARS rover and colony mockups. And the Styrofoam wings that you can put on in a wind chamber and see how aerodynamically you are (or are not) was fun.
Next up was the medical exhibits—we put together a puzzle of full body x-rays (“the shin bones connected to the...”), maneuvered a Da Vinci surgical robot arms, and zapped tumor cells with a mock laser.
Oddly placed but interesting was the Gecko exhibit—with different colorful species hanging upside down and sideways with their suction cup feet. Couldn’t help thinking, which of them had been selling car insurance on those always-on Geico commercials or maybe this is the place they send them when they don’t perform on cue?
Going through the exhibit on levers and pulleys, I used between 1-6 pulleys to lift a large stack of cinderblocks—and for the fewer pulleys, I thought good thing I had some Wheaties in the morning for breakfast, so I wouldn’t be embarrassed pulling on the ropes.
The minerals, gems, fossils, corals, and dinosaur displays were somewhat meager, but were nicely laid out and a decent representation to get the idea.
There was also an IMAX theatre with a 3-D movie and those crazy glasses you have to wear to watch these—but the cartoon playing wasn’t the action and adventure I was looking for.
One of the exhibits’ I enjoyed the most was the fish—of all types—some favorites were a huge purple-like lobster, the playful otters, the bobbing water turtles and many others.
We also stood inside a mammoth replica of a shark and took turns hanging out of its mouth—and feeling what it was like to be Jonah and the whale.
There was also a weather news station, where you get to playact newscaster, and we used the TV cameras and tele-prompters to give updates of everything from hail storms to wild fires—now, I know how they always seem to know just what to say and when--so perfectly.
Another cool display had to do with sustainability and the environment—with a robot sitting in the middle of piles of trash and recyclables—not sure why he was there though—was he trying to decide what to recycle and reuse?
I don’t believe that I saw anything significant on alternative energy or on general computers and the Internet—and if there wasn’t anything particualr on these, I would definitely like to see them added.
Overall, good job Ft. Lauderdale—worth the trip—and thank you for spreading a love of science with all.
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
January 30, 2011
Computer History Museum - Check IT Out!
I am very excited about the Computer History Museum housed in Mountain View, CA. (Silicon Valley) since 2002 (although I don't think that their overview video necessarily does it justice).
The computer museum was recently revamped with a $19 million renovation in large part from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
According to BusinessWeek (Jan. 31-Feb. 6 2011), "the museum documents the rise not only of computers but also of technology over thousands of years."
The museum and nearby research warehouse include a collection of over 100,000 artifacts and describe "how we came of age" from a technology perspective.
Innovation is critical to where we are going to, but history is from where we are coming and from which we must preserve and learn--the Computer History Museum is the bridge between the two and can educate as well as inspire.
While I personally have not made it to the exhibits yet, I look forward to getting there soon.
And when I am there, I want to wander the halls and ponder at how all the "bits and bytes" from so many great minds have helped to transform our lives, and where things go next.
August 21, 2010
Pedal to the Next Tech Level
You may have to take a double take before the bulb goes on and you even recognize the bicycle features--then the seat, the pedals, the handle bars come together in this innovative design by Luca Schieppati.
According to Wired Magazine (Sept. 2010), the concept design for this bike sits in the Milan Design Museum.
The bike is made almost entirely from carbon fiber and the pedals spin the main wheel that "generates a magnetic field and plenty of thigh-burning resistance."
I''ll need to start saving up the $10,700 to own own of these beauties.
Technology speaking, I think the picture speaks a thousand words.
I love it!
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