I Got a Golden Ticket! And You Can Too.
I had more fun yesterday than should be allowed. Let me preface this story with the fact that I am a huge art-o-phile, and museum nerd. There’s almost nothing I’d rather do than hang out in a museum all day. I can run even hard core museum goers into the ground. I never get tired of it. Ever.
So, when I got an email last week inviting me as a member of “the media” (!) to come take a preview of the soon-to-be-open new Anchorage Museum expansion, and tour the special exhibit “Gold,” I was rather beside myself. It’s a good thing I wasn’t asked in person because the bouncing up and down and hand clapping that ensued would have been embarrassing. Luckily, I was alone in the office, and I wrote back something like, “Thank you for inviting me. I look forward to it….Best Wishes….bla bla bla.” I sounded extremely adult about it, I’m sure.
And I did try really hard to control myself throughout the tour, while inside feeling like one of the golden ticket winners in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
I did, in my excitement, end up dropping a limited edition gold commemorative coin on the floor of the gift shop, so if I had been one of those kids, I’d have been the first one to be flung down the garbage chute and banished forever from the fun factory. Fortunately for me, the museum folk were kind and allowed me to stay.
~~The awesome gift shop~~
~~The rare limited edition gold coin that I didn't even get in focus because I was so freaked out after dropping it on the floor~~
There were several people from the “real media” there, who took good notes, and I’m sure will cover all the bases, and relevant facts and figures. I’ll just tell you what it was like for this kid in the candy store.
We started the official tour outside, and looked at the super special glass walls that were made in Germany, and don’t look green in the sun, and reflect the outside world, and have slimming vertical mirror stripes applied in China, and a special heating mechanism to keep the glass from sweating and interior shades that can be deployed to block the sun, and were tested for fitness in Florida.
There were a couple inevitable questions about why the new part of the museum looks nothing like the old part. The answer was that the “rectilinear shape” was consistent, but the material was more in keeping with snazzy new museums, and not the brick and mortar museums of the past. So basically they could have tried to make it look the same, or not. They chose not. Some people will hate it. Some people will think it’s great. Some people won’t care. It started to rain and we went inside.
~~Old meets new~~
On the inside, the designers definitely embraced color. The lobby is sort of a blazing sunflower, and the cafe is fire engine red. That’s OK by me. Considering that everything outside the museum is pretty much grey and white for 8 months out of the year, I say bring it on. But I don’t know if I’d be able to work in either of the rooms for eight hours a day without going through some serious traumatic shock to the rods and cones.
There are nifty archives for the public, and a secret elevator that leads to a basement climate controlled chamber where all the rare and fragile things are kept.
There is a floating staircase with no visible support, and blue illuminated steps. The vertical “stripiness” theme continues on the walls.
The second floor will house hundreds of objects currently in the Smithsonian, and designated to “return home” for display. The items chosen from the collection of the Smithsonian were identified by Alaska Natives as being particularly significant in terms of culture, function and meaning. The new cases are all state of the art, and are manufactured so that items can be removed and wheeled into a viewing room for up-close examination without being taken off their mounting. Alaska Native groups will decide if they want to pursue repatriation of any of these items. This room and the neighboring “ConocoPhilips Gallery” will be open to the public in the spring of next year.
Another gallery which is full of natural light houses an exhibit that details the process of creating the very new expansion project it is housed in. Art contemplating itself.
And then…..GOLD. This special exhibit is traveling around the world, and was recently shown in Denver, and then Tokyo before landing in Anchorage where it will be on display from May 30 to August 2. We had a quick half-hour tour, and I tried hard to do a “power absorption” of all the beautiful and amazing things, but I know already I will have to go back.
~~Museum Director James Pepper Henry~~
The exhibit was organized by the American Museum of Natural History. I don’t know how many cumulative hours I have logged in that particular museum, but it’s a LOT. Even in high school, I would often drag my poor hapless date for hours on end to look at dinosaur bones, and meteorites, and room after room full of anthropological curiosities.
For this exhibit, they have assembled more than 300 geological samples and cultural objects from around the world, and each display was absolutely engaging, and sometimes even breathtaking.
~~Tibetan Buddhist items~~
~~The gold in the Eureka bar, the only one of its kind from the California gold rush is now worth a cool $1.25 million~~
There was something for everyone from the chemist, to the adventurer, to the treasure hunter, to the art aficionado. They even had several stations set up for kids where they can electroplate objects with copper, make their own crown, and learn about density.
~~A cube representing the volume of gold that would weigh one ton, and walls of a gold electroplated room~~
~~Some famous gold-plated awards including Walter Cronkite's Emmy for his reporting on Watergate~~
To accompany “Gold,” the Anchorage Museum has created an exhibit called “Pay Dirt! Alaska’s Golden Landscapes” that tells the story of Alaska’s gold rush, and fits perfectly with the theme of the main exhibit, and of Alaska’s Golden Anniversary of statehood. The exhibit highlights both those who got filthy rich, and the vast majority who just got filthy.
~~An Alaskan pocket watch of the filthy rich~~
”]![~~The filthy [Treadwell mine photo by W.H. Case courtesy of the Alaska State Library]](https://themudflats.net/wp-content/uploads/museum19.jpg "museum19")
By the time I walked out through the glass doors in the glass wall and out into the world, I was completely bedazzled. You couldn’t escape the feeling of anticipation from the museum staff, and the sense that they were nervous and excited and expecting great things. This is going to be an amazing addition to our city. I feel like the whole crazy rectilinear building should be wrapped up in a big red bow, because it’s all like a present just waiting to be opened this weekend.
And for those who want to share in the festivities of the official opening day celebration, which will feature the music of ZydeCohos, Medicine Dream, H3, Pamyua, Libby Roderick and more, Taiko and African drumming, Native dance, and African-American story telling, it all begins at 9am on Saturday May 30. There will be tickets given out to the museum and the exhibit which will allow free admission until midnight! Be sure to get there early because once the tickets are gone, they’re gone. Sunday activities will also be happening, but with admission.
And if you miss the opening weekend, do make this exhibit a must-see in your summer plans.
For more details about the expansion project and the Gold Exhibit, click HERE.
Sheesh, one shouldn’t post I guess late at night after working 16 hours.
s/b alloy containing in previous post.
More trivia.
Silver in pure form is too soft to work in large pieces or to cast readily. It was not until the 12th century in Europe that “sterling” silver was invented, which is an allow containg ~ 7.5% copper (and sometimes other metals) which makes it much more workable and resistant to tarnish. So the Egyptians as well as the pre-columbian cultures of S. America had a difficult time working silver into forms that were desireable. The Museo del Oro in Lima has an impressive collection of gold pieces from several cultures in Peru but nary a single piece of silver that I can recall. However, if you go to the artesanal marketplaces in Lima today you find hundreds of silver smiths plying their trade.
Another interesting property of silver, when combined with chlorine as the compound silver chloride it is extremely sensitive to visible (and other wave lengths of) light, hence until very recently with the advent of the digital camera, photography was the sole provenance of silver light sensitive emulsions applied to strips of celluloid. In another decade it is possible that only fossils like myself will remember what “film” is, let alone how to process it and make images.
Then there is the proverbial “silver bullet”. I will spare everyone a discussion of ballistics, 1950’s television programs, and folk tales from Transylvania.
Samper
So much of what we call “western civilization” derives from ancient Greece that it is difficult to even inventory the main ideas with thoroughness. Among their many achievments I particularly admire their advancement of mathematics, logic, philosophy, and geography. I highly recommend a sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay, I believe the correct name is Ode to Euclid, you should be able to google it easily. It more or less expresses my feelings toward Greek civilization.
I hope you share your travels with all mudflatters in the forum or heart mudflats blog upon the completion of your trip. Safe journey.
Trivia time.
In ancient Egypt, silver was more precious than gold. Aside from the religious connections, gold was abundant and silver was not. There were only two silver pieces found in Tut’s tomb.
Thanks for the link, deist! I’ll check it out when I’m done here.
Krubozumo: Democracy was born in Greece! Everything we have now can probably be attributed and/or traced back to those clear thinking ancient folks!
Oh, to have a whole season or half a year there! There is just SOOOO much to see and learn! You’ve really got to hand it to the Greeks for preserving so much of their ancient culture for everyone.
I have a feeling this won’t be my only trip there. I’m hitting the two major places that I’ve researched extensively, but there is so much more I’ve run into that needs the same attention.
InJuneau: Something in the far recesses of my mind recalls Mom telling me that they weren’t allowed to get too near it 35 years ago, even. Something about folks stealing bits and pieces and rocks and the authorities trying to curtail all that. I could be dead wrong on that, though.
I haven’t read anything recent that says folks have to stay X feet away, that it’s roped off, etc. I want to walk INSIDE the Parthenon, not just look from the outside. I want to pretend I’m some kind of ancient royalty in my palace overlooking the peasants. LOL!
It’s like when I was in Rome. I kept thinking “I’m walking where CAESAR walked! I’m actually IN Augustus’ HOUSE!”
Samper:
About an hour ago I could easily have asked David Chipperfield how Venice was going! I’ll see if I can talk with him tomorrow but it will be much more crowded. You can find the project if you go to:
http://www.davidchipperfield.co.uk/
Navigate through Projects, to Selected Projects, to Civic and Masterplan, to San Michele Cemetery. Look at his other stuff too– quite impressive.
If you look at the view of San Michele from above, you will see a small island on the left side. I believe that is the new island. I hope I’m correct about this– it is my recollection that, about 5 years ago, Chipperfield said they were actually adding an island.
I like this guy– he is so down to earth but very capable. The Anchorage Museum is GREAT. Looks just like the drawings! Blows me away to see the real thing and how beautiful it is. This may be the nicest building in Anchorage.
More on museums as an apology for going off topic on the properties of metals.
It is, however, notable that gold has been a metal of utility for centuries because it is easy to work and easy to extract. So there are millions of gold artifacts scattered throughout the world that have acquired the additional characteristics of being aesthetically pleasing and often informative of social ideas or conventions of the cultures which produced them.
Regrettably, I have never been to Greece. Much of the thread concerns its monuments and ruins and rightly so. Much of our current society has its roots in Greece and Greek culture. My own science, geology, uses greek roots extensively in its nomenclature. But there is something more about the Greece of the Hellenistic age that has a kind of deep appeal, hard to describe or relate. Some of that sense of profundity comes out in reading for example Frazer’s Golden Bough. If I were to have the opportunity to spend half a year in Greece I would concentrate on the remote obscure temples, auditoriums, shrines, etc. For instance, I would want to visit Delphi and spend perhaps a week or two there, trying to get a sense of what it must have been like, 2300 years ago to visit the place and try to grasp how the citizens and maintainers felt, thought and acted, respecting their goddess Diana.
I have no doubt that the same sense can be achieved in the Parthenon, or even simply by looking at it from the balcony of one’s hotel room, the carefully executed symmetry, the elegance and skill of execution, and the fittingness of the tribute represented by such a public work to the patroness, Athena, for whom and because of whom it was all constructed.
I would also visit Sparta, and spend time there, seeking the relics of that militant community. I wonder what I might learn.
Good times and good luck to all the traveling mudflatters, I hope your experiences are profound.
Cheers,
#63 mlaiuppa
I checked up on that thanks to your message. Ref. Table 6B in Emsley, The Elements, Oxford Clarendon Press, 1989. Conductivity is the inverse of resistivity and in the table silver has the lowest electrical resistivity of 1.59 / 10 ^-8 ohms. Copper is the next lowest at 1.673 and gold the next lowest at 2.35. Platinum is 23rd least resistive at 10.6 just slightly worse than iron.
The unifying characteristic of the “precious” metals is that they are relatively chemically inert. They also happen to be quite rare compared to other metals that can serve in many cases. Although similar in some respects, various properties of the precious metals differ significantly. Pt though it is impervious to most acids forms compounds more readily than gold in some cases, on the other hand Pt melts at 1772 degrees C whereas gold melts at 1064 degrees C a considerable difference. So Pt is useful in many applications at high temps where gold would not serve. Also Pt is a highly useful catalyst, it can promote any number of chemical reactions without itself being consumed in them, whereas gold does not have that property at all so far as I know. Pt is indistinguished as a jewelry metal hence its price is driven almost entirely by industrial demand and most of that demand is for catalytic converters to reduce oxide emmisions from the burning of fossile fuels in internal comubstion engines. Also Pt is about twice as abundant as gold but ironically, while there are literally thousands of gold mines around the world, there are only a handful of mines that produce Pt in any significant quantity. The majority of Pt world wide comes from the Bushveld complex in S. Africa and the Ural Mtns. in Russia.
Apologies for being pedantic about it but those are the facts. Thanks for your input!
Oh, I think that scaffolding was up well before I was there! We could only walk around the edges of the Parthanon, not get anywhere close… 🙁
InJuneau: Haven’t seen a word about the floor! Good eye! I’ll be sure to check it out.
Wow… they’ve had scaffolding and heavy equipment there for 17 years. I have this sinking feeling that they won’t get it all put away for my arrival. 🙁
I’m just hoping it’s not all roped off and not accessible. What a huge disappointment that would be!
deist: Do you have any further information on the new island in Venice? Pretty exciting! I’m going to google it, but I have a feeling you have an inside track on the project.
samper–the other cool thing about the Parthenon is that the floor is bowed up as well, so as not to look like it’s concave. Take a look along the long edge when you’re there; you’ll see what I mean. We didn’t get overly close to it, as it was surrounded by scaffolding, but we did got close enough that I could take photos that show it.
UK LADY: We plan to leave our hotel, only a few blocks away, by 07:30 in order to make the hill prior to the sun’s ravage. By the time we see it ALL and take our photos, we’ll be heading down before the sun and crowds really hit.
Whew! (And getting Greg moving at that hour is no small feat in itself! Pray for me that “Cranky” Greg doesn’t rear his ugly head at such an “unGodly” hour!)
ALSO, TOO, THEREFORE…. If not for the Venetians blowing up gun powder in the roof, I’m sure they had ample shade and perhaps some comfort there, also, too. Therefore.
You folks are LUCKY to have a bright, new addition to your museum to enjoy!
Make the most of it and make it a MUST SEE on your “free time” itineraries.
I’m sure you won’t be disappointed and wish I could indulge as well.
AKM has really whetted the ol’ appetite for museum stalking!
samper
When you go to the Acropolis you will see for youself exactly why they built it there. Stunning view, and from a defensive position unbeatable, you can see for miles out to sea. Inside the temple it would have stayed cool. However, leave yoursef plenty of time to climb up, phew!
I’d like to take the opportunity for all those in Anchorage to visit the Museum this weekend and enjoy the music of Gabriel Ayala, an superb Native American classical guitarist. I am blessed to have him on the roster of musicians I represent 🙂
He’ll be playing on the 30th at 10 am.
For those of you who won’t be able to attend please check out his music at http://www.ayalaguitarist.com
UK Lady: Thanks for the forgiveness/support. I’m glad the Brits are in favor of the return to their rightful place. I’d never insult the PEOPLE, but the GOVERNMENT is a little skewed on this issue.
Now… where is it that your government isn’t “on board” with this? There is a beautiful new museum in which to house the marbles for all to see, in their rightful place. Why does your government feel a need to obstruct the transfer? What is your government’s argument/position? I’m not being rude…. I really want to know the rationale.
Sadly, I haven’t looked this up further than “They’re OURS and we aren’t giving them back!”
But really… Dude STOLE the marbles and it’s time they go back to Athens. “Lord” Elgin is a disgrace for having taken them in the first place, IMHO, and according to what I have read thus far. It makes him out to be nothing more than a pilferer (sp?).
The Greeks have been MORE than patient in allowing time for these precious items to be returned without force or violence. I enthusiastically support your position in the rightful return of the marbles.
And I absolutely can NOT WAIT to touch the Parthenon and walk the Acropolis! It will be my dream of a lifetime.
It’s the most significant feat of engineering EVER, so historic, so steeped in history, so architecturally perfect!
Did you guys know that the columns of the Parthenon are slightly bowed in the middle so as to appear straight from ANY vantage point below? Go ahead! Incorporate that fun fact in your daily conversations! I don’t mind one little bit!!! 🙂
But why in the WORLD would they build it so high up in those TEMPERATURES???? Certainly, they couldn’t have POSSIBLY enjoyed it as a temple/palace/hang out joint in the summer afternoons! Sure, it’s a vantage point… but without A/C or even ceiling fans? Come ON!
Every guidebook ever written says to go by 8AM… before the sun hits it. Or, after the sun goes down.
Were ancient Greeks immune to heat or WHAT? Sure, there was a fountain or two, I think, but come ON! 95+F on a big ROCK? OUCH!
INJEAU: WOW! I could only DREAM of an entire season in Greece! You want “jealous”, it’s right here, my friend! My jealousy of your adventure is extraordinary! I’d go to Olympia, Sounion, Crete, etc. If I had that kind of time and cash, I might never come home! You have no idea the envy I hold for your opportunity! No idea.
Sadly, taking over several hotels at no expense, I hear, is not widely acceptable in Greece.
I’m proud of the museum expansion. The architect is a great guy, very capable, yet down to earth. He responds to input. He has done very cool stuff all around the world, including renovating a museum in Berlin and designing the first new island in Venice, Italy (a cemetary island) to be created there in hundreds of years. Iowa’s Figge Art Museum and the Des Moines Public Library show how adaptable his designs are. New York Times has called David Chipperfield a “Neo Minimalist” but his work has much more content when you look at materials and surfaces. And his designs continue to get richer with the details.
The blue light on the stairs will probably be changed to white light. I like the fact that the structure is concrete and that the concrete is also part of the aesthetics. Once Arctic Studies, the Imaginarium, the landscaping, the planetarium, and the public art get deployed over the next year, we will see what a totally huge cultural addition this place is to our community.
Krubozumo Nyankoye. I believe all of the precious metals are good conductors. I think platinum and gold are superior to silver, which is superior to copper, etc.
The problem is that the better a conductor they are, they more expensive they are. That’s why your telephone wires are copper and not platinum. Gold is used on circuit boards because it doesn’t “tarnish” like silver does and so it’s conductivity isn’t diminished.
At least, that’s what my Dad says. He’s an retired electrical engineer. So when it comes to his “facts” your mileage may vary.
samper–I was in Greece for Holy Week! Well, I was actually there for all of spring, but it conveniently included Holy Week! What fun, esp. to be in Xania, Crete for Easter… I’d love to get back!
samper
You will be delighted to learn that I agree with you wholeheartedly that the Elgin Marbles belong in Athens, as do a lot of Brits. It is a disgrace that we are hanging on to them, totally unacceptable.
Do make a point of going to the Acropolis, absolutely awesome, it is one of my best memories.
BarbinDC: You MUST dig that out, shine it up and wear it with pride! Thank you to your entire family for the sacrifices in your brother’s service!
InJuneau: 17 years… that’s a long time for things to have changed and/or be built. It’s possible the museum wasn’t there that long ago.
Yes! The new museum promises to be an AWESOME display of old stuff in a fancy new building. I read about the glass floors… they just preserve EVERYTHING there, which is great. Like I said, the minute a shard of pottery was found by a Metro construction worker, the archeologists had to be called in (per law) to preserve and investigate further. It’s amazing that a town as cosmopolitan as Athens is STILL finding ancient neighborhoods below it. You’d think they’d have found them all by now.
There’s a relatively new attraction in Vatican City, the Necropolis. It’s an underground (well, they built on top of it, so it used to be above ground, I guess) cemetary of sorts. It’s like a little neighborhood and folks built actual houses for the dead.
Some were two stories, where they would party (literally!) on the upper level while the dead was ensconced in the lower. Absolutely fascinating, if you like that kind of stuff. Coffins, artwork, structures, plaques describing the dead, etc. I found it amazing. Those wacky Romans, building entire neighborhoods for the dead!!!
Also, too, very dark, with only a bare lightbulb here and there. People not fond of enclosed spaces should NOT do this tour! It’s underground, dark, musty, has uneven dirt streets that ONLY sneakers can navigate (tiny alleys, actually), etc.
It was the first thing I did in Rome… got off the plane, checked in, high tailed it via Metro to the Square and took the tour. WHAT A DAY!
I took some time and sat on the steps in St. Peter’s Square just saying “I’m finally here! Look at ME! I’m in ROME!” (Sounds like something Dear Sarah might say about going to Target!)
It was (I’ll use the word used above, which is so fitting) A PROFOUND MOMENT in my life. Especially for a Catholic during Holy Week.
I can’t even describe my awe in Rome. The only reason I did it before Greece was pricing at the time. Greece has always been #1 since I was 15.
Disappointments: Trash, grafitti EVERYWHERE, crowds.
Fun Fact: Seeing very old monument remains right next to a newstand or car rental place – hilarious! It’s just so incongruent!
Greece is going to blow me away. I just know it.
NEXT STOP: MACHU PICHU 2010! Any museum/archeology buffs have insight for this one?
AKM: Loved your post about the new museum addition. The GOLD exhibition reminded me that somewhere in my jewelry box is a jade pendant with a genuine Alaskan gold nugget that my brother sent to me back in the ’60s when he was in the Air Force and stationed there.
samper–hm, I don’t remember if we made it to a museum in Thira; prob. did, but I was there 17 years ago, so I might have to dig through my old photos to confirm (if I could figure out in which box they’re living!). Do have a great time. I just saw something on the news about the new Acropolis Museum. It looks cool, and there are some places where they’ve put in glass floors so you can see the archeological stuff that they left in situ when excavating for it. (And the Marbles DO belong back there!!)
The Sistine Chapel is AMAZING!
Sorry for hijacking the thread, all! 🙂
INJUNEAU: Here you go, from Wikipedia. I might be wrong about a museum right at the excavation, but I swear I read it SOMEWHERE!
“Fira has the Museum of Prehistoric Thira that contains some of the artifacts, which were found in the ruins of Akrotiri. So first visit Akrotini, where the items came from and then Thira to understand what the items are. The museum has more pots, pottery and other household items than you can shake an antique stick at, but the highlight is the frescoes of the blue monkeys — a mystery since historians say there is no evidence that there were ever monkeys on Santorini.”
InJuneau: My understanding is that there is an enclosed museum just adjacent to Akrotiri, plus a small museum in Thira (Fira). I think they threw up the Akrotiri one when the roof covering the excavation killed that tourist, but I’m not positive on that. You’d think by now, they could have reinforced the roof and reopened. Still searching on that. I guess the roof is pretty important with the sun out there…
NAN: I took a bunch in Rome, but the Vatican is kept very dark to protect the frescoes and other art. Add the constant jostling by crowds and the fact that they are ALWAYS in the shot and opportunity for nice pix is almost non-existent.
MANY photos didn’t come out. But, the majesty of it all is just so incredible, I can’t imagine photos doing it justice. The Sistine Chapel, especially. Sure, we all know it was painted upside down on scaffolding, in blazing heat at times. But when you see it in person, you can FEEL the discomfort, tediousness, and drama in accomplishing it. The Chapel, especially, was very dark. Only a super duper camera with fancy settings would get decent photos in there.
After getting home and looking at the photos, I decided it would have been a good idea to pick up a calendar or a bunch of postcards with photos taken by professionals, without the crowds and with good lighting. I might do that in Greece, just in case. A pro, like AKM, I’m not, but usually I can get a decent photo. Not so in the Vatican.
Here in PA: The exhibit wasn’t especially morbid, just sad when you realize the trauma. There was lots of stuff to see other than the sad stuff… china, silverware, personal effects, and parts of the ship. They also had areas set up to replicate what typical cabins were like.
MAE: Thank you SOOOO much for this “insider” information!! I will make it a point, then, to hit the Archeological Museum as well. The itinerary for Athens is jam packed with excavations and such, but I want to see the Santorini stuff! They also have a museum in Thira (capital of Santorini) with some Akrotiri stuff, if I’m recalling my mountains of notes correctly. You’d think they would keep it all in Akrotiri, though, to give it a comprehensive and complete stage, although I can see the sentiment that many more can enjoy it in Athens.
The Elgin Marbles were STOLEN, IMHO. They BELONG in Athens and I think it’s atrocious that London won’t give them back (no offense, UK Lady, et al!). The new Athens museum has an entire wing waiting for their return and the wing will remain empty, no matter what they find otherwise, until the marbles are returned. That’s how passionate the Greeks are (and deservedly so).
Funny story: They were building the new Metro for the Olympics and every time they dug a hole, found more ancient stuff. Out with the bulldozers, in with the toothbrushes to excavate and preserve whatever they found. Anyway, my understanding is that the Syndagma Station is an excavation in itself of museum quality. Also too a MUST see! I just love the ancient excavations!!!
As stupid as it may seem, I think the Parthenon will make me cry. The Coloseum did. The Sistine Chapel did. St. Peter’s Square did. It’s all just so … what’s the word? IS there a word?
They better get all that damn equipment down from the Acropolis before I get there! They used huge crates and cranes to move the stuff there to the new museum. Every recent photo has that junk in the background.
InJuneau: Are you KIDDING me? Ouzo and Souvlaki from hole in the wall places are TOP on the list. You can’t get a good Souvlaki from a tourist trap café. You have to find the ones that only the locals know about and frequent. I have sources for that. I squeal with delight just thinking of the “real thing” in its home locale!
Hopefully, Ouzo before even leaving the airport! I’ll have some time to kill before Greg arrives (we’re both flying on miles, different airlines). We also plan to tour a winery (and send a case home??) on Santorini.
I have planned, researched, and already paid for this for almost a year now. I’ve wanted to go for 30 years. This is MY time! FINALLY! I think I’m going to go cry now. I can’t believe it’s almost here!
PS: I’m such an obsessive/compulsive LOSER, I already did a “test pack” to see how small a suitcase I can bring, manage on the Metro, etc. I even tested it on steps. I’m down to a wheeled cooler without the insulated insert! Sadly, carry-on alone won’t handle the mission.
AKM–you make me smile. Thank you.
Evelyn–I don’t think that Ted or Don or Frank had anything to do with getting the funding for the museums in any of those places (well, maybe Wrangell). The citizens of Juneau taxed themselves extra in ~1968 in order to build the Alaska State Museum building to give to the State in honor of 100 years of being “American”.
samper–oooo, you’ll love Greece (i’m jealous, seriously jealous. I’d love to go back)! Santorini and Akrotiri are fabulous! Eat some good Greek food for me, please! (and drink a bit of retsina and ouzo too?!)
mae lewis–actually, there isn’t a museum on Santorini as I recall, and since the site at Akrotiri is exposed to the elements, the artifacts/frescos/etc. really are safer in Athens and will be seen by many more people there. It’s somewhat difficult to get to Santorini, and by being able to tell the story of them in the museum in Athens, a lot more people know about the town and its destruction than otherwise would.
What a remarkably broad spectrum of responses from the mudflatters. It is quite impressive the range of experience represented here. Where to start?
Museums. Several are mentioned herein that I have never seen, as are several
that I have that I would not have expected to be mentioned. Greenfield Village
caught my attention because I have been there and it is fairly obscure. I could
mention several dozen museums that might not show up on anyone’s hot list
that are far flung and unique, but my point is to just suggest that the institution of the museum seems to be a fairly universal human trait. So I will only mention a few. The gold museums is both Bogata and Lima are oustanding and profound. Most particularly when you consider that only a tiny fraction of the gold works fabricated by the pre-columbians survived being melted down into ingots to be shipped to Spain. In Antwerp there are a handful of museums of diamond and the diamond trade that are worth looking up if you are there for a few days. One remarkable exhibit is the socalled rainbow collection of colored diamonds ranging from black to white and all colors in between.
One more word on museums in general. Most people don’t realize it but in my experience almost all museums are active research establishments. They display only a fraction of their collections, they maintain a few researchers to sift through the major stores, classifying, identifying, determining provenance, and so on. Furthermore, most museums have volunteer programs intended to help them further the work they are doing at low cost. It can be very satisfying to volunteer your help to a local museum. They need the support because they are for the most part, non-profit.
Those who are more inclined to art and artiface than nature raw in tooth and crystal may be interested for example in the Peabody Museum of ethnography at Harvard, or the Frick in N.Y.C., or the Van Goug in Belgium.
Among many that are worthy and fascinating. If nothing else, visiting all the museums one has a chance to can help formulate a general sense of how vast our human culture really is.
As to gold, it is an interesting element with certain properties that are of importance. It is very malleable and hence, found extensive application in the past few decades as a thin film radiation shield for manned space craft.
It has a fairly high atomic weight and therefore is more opaque than most other elements to radiation and can be easily fabricated into thin foil.
It is mostly inert, that is to say it does not readily combine with other elements and tends to occur as a metal. Although it does form some compounds (most notably with tellurium), as a rule it is found in the semi-pure form of an alloy with its sister element silver. When combined with more than about 17% silver, the alloy is referred to as electrum.
Gold is resistant to most acids and strong bases though it can be dissolved and or aggregated by certain compounds and elements. Mercury readily amalgamates gold and is commonly employed in its extraction from alluvial deposits. Aqua Regia a combination of acids will readily dissolve gold.
I could be wrong about this, but I think if I recall correctly that gold’s electrical conductivity is second to that of silver. Silver is the best conductor, however, it is also less inert than gold and will oxidize with time thus lowering its conductivity. Gold, however, will not oxidize, hence it can provide almost equal conductivity without time constaint.
All the gold in the world would fit into 3 olympic size swimming pools.
The value of gold is dependent upon its markets and its markets are in order of importance, jewelry, investment, coinage, electronics, industries. The price of gold has tripled in the last ten years. Where is the increase in demand occuring that is driving up the price of gold?
@42 MinNJ Says:
May 28th, 2009 at 5:46 PM
How gorgeous and wonderful! What a delight that you were there! Truly beautiful.
I’ve not had the best of days physically, but I would like to tell this as much as my altered body and stressed mind can remember:
I used to work in the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology gift shop in my younger days. Large oil paintings by Audobon were across from me, as well as a whale skeleton which was hung from the ceiling just above my register. I worked weekends and was so glad for the employment in this amazing place, as well as the financial help.
After a while, I was given the keys to open the entire Museum for the weekend: huge and heavy doors with very old keys which lead to the most mavelous exhibits, which I got to see before anyone was there: in the dark before I put on the lights, alone in their awesome beauty and deeply moving. I loved the feel of the wells in the slate steps that took me toward my task of ardent Girl Scouts and demanding 4th graders of platstic dinosaurs.
They were the Museum of Comparative Antropology and the Glass Flowers Museum at Harvard, and, although I was paid, they gave me the keys of experience and thoughtful consideration, in a very spiritually significant way, life. I cannot describe to you how happy I was within those doors. It was the gift of a lifetime.
*************
What a dream job! You were so blessed!
redwoodmuse: Nope. Never did Santa Clara. We flew into San Jose in the morning and out that night.
I used to work in the San Diego Natural History Museum for several years when I was in college. They’ve completely renovated it now.
I think one of my favorite museums is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. I want to *live* there.
I also like the Huntington Library, which is almost a museum. They have art exhibits and lovely gardens in addition to the library.
My dream is to one day spend enough time in New York to go through the entire Metropolitan Museum and the Cloisters. If I ever got married, I think I’d like that as my honeymoon. With a trip back to Boston to go through the ISG again.
“Win as if you were used to it, and lose as if you like it.”
19 Say NO to Palin in Politics Says: May 28th, 2009 at 3:11 PM
sauerkrout……could it be that China had the state of the art window goods? did any other country have them, including ours?
_____________
Of course our country has the technology and expertise! From where do you suppose China obtained theirs? PPG has the most advanced glass technology in the world. But they pay their workers a fair wage instead of using prison or slave labor like the Chinese use in their factories.
Oh! oh! I saw the “Gold” exhibit when it was here; it was fascinating- I had to go twice to see everything. It was at our Museum of Nature & Science, one of my favorite places. And- I saw Body Worlds 2 (Say No, glad you were here) three times; if any of you get a chance to see it, it’s amazing. AND I saw “Titanic” (last year? two years ago?) at the same museum…
We have a relatively new addition to the Denver Art Museum- very edgy, quite the conversation piece. It extends out over the street like a ship’s prow. Unfortunately, I can’t go in it: It has lots of odd angles, and I (like a number of people) got vertigo. I ended up sitting on the stairs and scooting down on my rear. Embarrassing- but better than pitching down head first.
A note to Samper re: your Greek visit. We were in Greece a few years ago. When you’re in Athens, be sure to include the National Archeological Museum which houses all of the famous statues, vases and treasures of ancient Greece. They also had just opened the Santorini wing upstairs, meaning that there were several rooms with the most famous wall paintings of ancient Akrotiri. I was eavesdropping on a group which was speaking English, so when their guide had a free minute, I asked if the frescoes were original or copies– were the originals on Santorini?
She said that everything “good” from Santorini was in the Athens museum. I had just come from London where the infamous Elgin marbles, the beautiful marble Parthenon statuary that was either preserved or stolen, depending on your point of view, were still on display at the British Museum. At the time that Lord Elgin gave them to the British Museum, the reasoning was that far more people would see these great treasures in London than they would in far away Athens. This is still being argued and debated, even today.
So, with that background, I can tell you that the English-speaking Greek guide bristled at my question. “Everything here is real; it comes from Santorini,” she stated. I asked if it might have been a better idea to leave it in the original site, giving it a sense of place and context. You would think that I was starting a World War, how dare I suggest such a thing. She insisted, “Far more people will see these beautiful things here in Athens. So few people will make the trip to far away Santorini.”
When we think how long ago the beautiful works of art were created, how they have endured wars, volcanoes and time, it doesn’t matter where there are. We’re lucky to get a chance to see them; please enjoy your trip to Greece and have some baklava for me!
Oh yeah – and Body Works is scheduled for the Anchorage Museum – don’t know exact dates.
Great job AKM- I’m so pleased to hear you are a museum freak (and also too, many mudpups). It’s my line of work. (must retain some anomynity!)
I too have been inside (there was a special invite last Saturday, and I guess I’m special), but didn’t get the extra information that you reported- I appreciate that!
Anyway, the new museum is FABULOUS (and I’m a critic) – we felt like we had visited another city!
How gorgeous and wonderful! What a delight that you were there! Truly beautiful.
I’ve not had the best of days physically, but I would like to tell this as much as my altered body and stressed mind can remember:
I used to work in the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology gift shop in my younger days. Large oil paintings by Audobon were across from me, as well as a whale skeleton which was hung from the ceiling just above my register. I worked weekends and was so glad for the employment in this amazing place, as well as the financial help.
After a while, I was given the keys to open the entire Museum for the weekend: huge and heavy doors with very old keys which lead to the most mavelous exhibits, which I got to see before anyone was there: in the dark before I put on the lights, alone in their awesome beauty and deeply moving. I loved the feel of the wells in the slate steps that took me toward my task of ardent Girl Scouts and demanding 4th graders of platstic dinosaurs.
They were the Museum of Comparative Antropology and the Glass Flowers Museum at Harvard, and, although I was paid, they gave me the keys of experience and thoughtful consideration, in a very spiritually significant way, life. I cannot describe to you how happy I was within those doors. It was the gift of a lifetime.
Well it looks like I am echoing many others who share your love of museums. We live near enough now to DC to enjoy the Smithsonian Museums on a more regular basis. My hubby volunteered at the Air & Space during an International Year of Astronomy event this spring. We got to be in the museum before it opened. My kids loved it – having the exhibits all to themselves and the quiet was awe-some. The museum seemed somehow ‘alive’. I told hubby he could volunteer any time, we all had a wonderful day.
Glad you were able to share your day with us. My favorite traveling exhibit at the Anchorage Museum was when Sue the T-Rex visited from Chicago. That coincided with the Rubber Ducks in the Children’s section. What a great set of exhibits.
Hey AKM -There’s a huge Tibetan Museum in Staten Island. Next time you’re in NY, come on by…
http://www.tibetanmuseum.org/
Thanks for the virtual tour AKM! Goodie for you and your new stoppin’ grounds.
Maybe the Palin clan will get wind of the Gold exhibit and show up for a photo op because that’s the only way to get those hicks to step foot into a museum.
I am a museum junkie too. Nothing makes me happier than wandering around in one and getting lost in thought. Luckily for me, I live close to NYC so there are museums galore within a couple of hours. I’ve been to too many of them to count but the Met is my absolute fave! And the Museum of Sex was veddy interesting and the gift shop was wild!
AAAwwww, I’m soooo jealous, lol, would love to see it. Will be one of my stops the next time I go up there to visit family. Samper, I must have been on the Titantic in a past life, I just couldn’t bring myself to look at the exhibit while my family did. Also, too, I’m deathly afraid of water and still don’t know how to swim.
The Carnegie Museum is awsome, I love the crystals/minerals section. And the Smithonion in DC, take days just to walk it and obsorb everything. I’m so glad you got invited!!!
@mlaiuppa – hey, the Rosicrucian is a fabulous museum. I spent lots of time there as well as in the gardens. I also liked the Textile and Quilt Museum and the San Jose Museum of Art where I met Chihuly (the incredible glass blower). Did you ever get to see the little lace museum in Santa Clara? It is lodged in a victorian house and has lace from all over the world. I lived in San Jose for about 9 years. My daughter and son-in-law still live there in the old Bascom neighborhood.
When I lived in HI (13 years on Oahu) I managed to score a little apartment just across the street from the Honolulu Acadamy of Art (formerly home to one of the missionary families – after the land grab of course). At the time, I was told they had the most complete exhibit of Asian art in the world. I would spend hours there every week. Saw my first Picasso, my first Rodin, and my first Rueben. Also, I’ll never forget being surprised by a very old Chinese clay painted figure of an Armenian (I think) trader with his beard and long dark curls, riding his donkey with a pack on his back. There were so many connections in the past that we don’t think of . I love those little discoveries.
Redwoodmuse
samper – take pictures. LOTS of pictures!
And have a WONderful time!
Nan
Your description and the photos far surpassed what any of the journalists might include.
The museum certainly got bang for buck by inviting you. Plus, you now know that someone at that museum is ‘blogger friendly’. Yeah!
The “journalists’ ” editors will only allow so much space and well, you probably are one of the first reports that made it out to the general public.
Your enthusiasm has wafted over us all and those living in or visiting Alaska have one more thing to add to our experience. 🙂
Being from California, I checked and found more info. on the Eureka Bar on the Musuem of Natural History website. The last fact is the one I find the most interesting. (see below)
THE EUREKA BAR
This is the largest surviving assay ingot from the California gold rush period. It weighs 30 kilograms (80 troy pounds). Its worth in 1857 is stamped on the bar—$17,433.57.
It sank, along with three tons of gold, in the hold of the S.S. Central America. If it had reached New York, it would have been melted down and then minted as United States gold coins.
Ten miners would have worked for three years to gather enough gold to make the Eureka bar.
Stop being so adorable! I’m so glad you got to be one of the first in the door…it makes perfect sense! I can’t wait to go myself…want to be my docent?
I like the new next to the old…it reminds us we are growing up!
OH! ALSO TOO!
September 2-9, Greg and I are going to Greece! We planned and bought the trip when we both were still gainfully employed and figure we should still go… it’ll boost our dreary spirits.
Anyway, 3 days in Athens and 3 on the Island of Santorini.
Athens has a BRAND NEW Acropolis Museum that I can’t wait to see! I can’t BELIEVE I’m FINALLY going to touch the PARTHENON!!! I’ve wanted to do Greece since High School. Mom & Dad went, but left us at home. 🙁
The big attraction of Santorini, besides legendary and supposedly the “best” sunsets in the world, is the village of Akrotiri. The story is fascinating. A whole village was discovered under lava flow and was quite sophisiticated for its time (a zillion years ago, I believe, is the exact date of the eruption). The interesting thing is that VERY few human remains were found. They all GOT OUT before the village was buried!
What they uncovered is all virtually intact, preserved as well as the day it was buried. All kinds of artifacts are in a museum there (also too a MUST SEE). You used to be able to stroll the actual village, homes, shops, etc., but a roof that covered the excavation collapsed some time ago, killing a tourist and it’s been closed ever since. I can’t find a WORD about its reopening, but they say it will.
For those claiming to be real museum freaks, you MUST visit the Vatican Museum in Rome, as well. Your heads will spin at the stuff they have there and a month of Sundays wouldn’t be enough time to see it all! How on EARTH did I forget to include the VATICAN above????
I went Easter Week last year. Don’t go then or in the summer… go in the winter. But NOT at Xmas… you won’t see a THING through the crowds.
The crowds REALLY TRULY diminished the whole experience. They were rude, pushy, ignorant, etc. Even while being “shushed” in the Sistine Chapel by PRIESTS, they would blather on in regular speaking volumes. These folks were mostly from a certain part of the world, but at the risk of not being PC, I won’t mention the ethnicity.
Went on a cruise of the Inside Passage in 2005 – wonderful museums in Juneau, Skagway and Wrangell. (Figured Don Young and Ted Stevens brought home the cash to finance them, I guess you have to take the good with the bad) How can people stay away? There we lots more folks in the gift shops than the museums. Have you seen that fabulous quilt made of feathers in Skagway? Amazing.
My kids still kid that on any family trip, I can find a museum within 25 miles with my eyes closed.
The best one they remember is Teddy Roosevelt’s Sagamore Hill.
We went the day after Christmas many years ago. There were no other people and the staff were wonderful, allowed my kids to go into the trophy room and “touch” his desk.
They were hooked. We went to many museums, large and small since then, but those kind people helped bring history alive for my children that day.
Thank you so much for the beautiful pictures of the wonderful new museum. As an ex Alaskan that spent a great deal of time in the old museum, it means so much to me that you shared all of this.
Congratulations to the City of Anchorage on a job well done.
I love museums also, too! Some favorites:
Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum – Obviously, traces the history of the automobile, first assembly line, etc. But the really cool part is GV. It is a “neighborhood” of historic homes and shops. Edison’s lab is there, as is the Wright Brothers’ bicycle shop. Haven’t been there in AGES, but we used to go regularly with Girl Scouts.
The “exhibits” at Ellis Island – Not really a museum per se, I don’t think, but they have stuff like unclaimed luggage and belongings from the first immigrants and stuff like that. I totally get into stuff like this!
Missed the Body exhibit here in Detroit, but now wish I’d have gone.
Did go to the Titanic exhibit… again, the ‘stuff’ from those that perished really caught my attention. They also had a huge wall of ice that was to replicate the temp of the water. You would put your hand on it to see how long you could stand the temperature. Really puts you in a new place when thinking of the wreck.
The ticket system was kind of cool, too (I’m looking at them now… it was such a unique way to do things, I saved them).
They gave you a “Boarding Pass” with the name of an actual passenger on the ship on it, his/her class of service, a short “Passenger Fact” (one guy was a farmhand, the other a diamond merchant), where they were from, where they were going, why they sailed, who they traveled with, spouse info, etc. Greg and I got 2-3rd class passengers, one even heading to MI from Croatia (my family hails from there!).
At the end of the exhibit, they had a roster and you’d find the name of the person on your boarding ticket to discover his/her fate.
Sadly, both of our guys perished.
I am a total museum junkie. There is no way you would walk me into the ground.
I saw the original Tut exhibit at LACMA in 1978. Then the sequel in 2005. That same year saw Quest for Eternity in Las Vegas. (Who goes to Vegas to go to a museum exhibit? I did.) I saw the Fabergé Eggs at the San Diego Museum of Art. And when I went to my MLIS graduation at SJSU last Spring I dragged my Mom to the textile museum and the Rosicrucian museum that afternoon after the ceremony. (And the rose gardens and my old neighborhood library). Next to museums I’m a library junkie.
When I go on vacation, other people have pictures of sites and people and stuff. I have pictures of exhibits in museums, museum exteriors, statues. I buy the books and the post cards.
In fact, if I had gone to the anchorage museum GOLD exhibit my pictures would look a lot like yours.
Totally cool! I share your enthusiasm for exhibits and museums. By the way, I zoomed the picture, and now I know what you look like. :-/
Thanks for the virtual our of the Museum was great My favorite has always been the museum of natural history in Chicago,Il I have been there several times and don’t think I have seen it all yet
AKM: Fascinating virtual tour that you gave us. The beauty and design of the new part of the museum itself was spectacular. It’s always interesting to see what man can accomplish given the passion and desire, along with the means to do so. Even more so, when all he has is the passion and desire and has to make his own means.
Oh, I almost forgot. . . . We saw the Bodies exhibit last year. I thought it would be awful and gross and disgusting. Surprisingly, it was one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever seen. If you haven’t seen it, it will seem odd to say that the displays were respectful of the human body and yet it was. We Humans are an amazing mechanism and our “parts” and systems are a wonder to behold. Do see this exhibit if you get the chance.
I, too, love museums. I’ve been fortunate to have visited the Smithsonian twice! What a treat. My all-time favorites are the Museum of Natural History in good old NYC and the Jacques Marchais Tibetan Museum here in good old Staten Island.
Thank you for the virtual tour. What an awesome place. I look forward to someday being able to visit it.
Thank you for always keeping it interesting. First, the amazing pictures of the twins and then the horsetail photo this morning and the terrific museum photos this evening. What a wonderful guru you are!
Namaste.
Having spent MANY in DC and NY museums I can’t wait.
‘Was just admiring the outside of the building recently and to know the steps they went through to make those glass walls is great learn!!
Thanks!!
Nan–Ooooo, I loved that book!
How wonderful! Congrats on the Gold ticket, too. Thank you for taking us along with you on the tour; I just wish I could see it in person. Maybe someday.
For anyone that doesn’t mind reading a so-called kids’ book, try “From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler” (can’t think of the author right now). It involves the New York Museum of Art. Quick read, fun story.
Very cool walkabout. Love those pictures.
sauerkrout……could it be that China had the state of the art window goods? did any other country have them, including ours?
I too LOVE museums! They are facinating and I deeply appreciate them.
Did any of the mudpups catch the Gunther Von Hagens Body World, a traveling exhibit? It is amazing! DO go if it comes near you.
I can’t seem to get the web site to come up for me right now (www.bodyworlds.com)…..but here is a link to one of the past exhibit locations. I saw it in Denver about 5 yrs ago.
http://www.mos.org/exhibits_shows/exhibit_archive&d=852
Thanks for the pictures of the inside. I’ve been dreading the opening because of how much I dislike the exterior of the new addition. But the inside looks great and I can’t wait to visit. Since Anchorage specializes in ugly exteriors for buildings, I guess I should be used to it and just enjoy what is inside.
AKM- oooh how lucky for you. I thought I was the only person who rhapsodized over museums. Big and small, I love them all…but I especially like the little funky ones in out of the way towns with collections made up of whatever they can get. Like the little one I wandered through in northern CA. There was a Donner Party survivor’s wedding dress (really tiny) and high button shoes, next to a bear trap, next to a musket, next to a quilt, next to a diary written in impossibly small script, next to a set of dishes, next to a baby’s cradle, next to old patent medicine bottles, next to gold panning equipment, next to….well, you get the idea. And thanks for the virtual tour.
redwood muse
who *still* hasn’t finished her newspaper layout
There are an audio recording of JFK in Juneau in November 1958 and a video recording of Ted Kennedy in Sitka 3 days after the assassination of MLK, Jr. in April 1968 on the Alaska’s Digital Archives site. They’re part of the Alaska State Library, Historical Collections collection: http://vilda.alaska.edu/ (you can search for them using John Kennedy and Edward Kennedy)
You are so lucky to have seen it! I would imagine the entire Palin family just missed hearing about it and would have taken over the whole museum. Or maybe there was a snowmobile race somewhere. Or an abstinence seminar. Congrats!
Personally, I think it’s a blend of both worlds, older and new, each can like their own, I don’t have a problem with either, different times bring different designs, both can be appreciated.
@sauerkraut #9
Right on! (Guess that dates me somewhat:))
Ah – some culture is always good for the soul……..thank you for sharing !!
It’s a great looking place but yanno… something which I find irritating… same as with the Freedom Tower nee World Trade Center in NYC… with all the skilled tradesmen in the US of A, why do they need to go overseas for the building parts? Ya, I hear the “it’s cheaper” but China is always dumping underpriced items made by prison labor on our doorsteps while at the same time public and quasi-public officials take away the jobs which can be done by Americans utilizing American materials.
Great looking place but would look better using Pittsburgh plate glass etched thru the efforts of Americans.
I really enjoyed my virtual tour of the museum 🙂
‘Life in Alaska Leading to Statehood’ exhibition:
“In addition to its nostalgic appeal, the exhibit also contains information that may surprise even longtime Alaskans. Not a lot of people know that John F. Kennedy was here. On view is a photo that shows Kennedy with a donkey at the 1960 state fair in Palmer.”
http://www.anchoragemuseum.org/galleries/Current_exhibits.aspx
The museum looks wonderful! And hey, I saw that gold exhibit. It’s mindblowing.
What a wonderful day. Congratulations on the new expansion of the museum.
I thought I recognized you. Thanks for the wave.
Oooooo, I am SO envious! I LOVE, love, love museums.
Now if we could just get some $ to build our expansion down here now that all the rest of you have gotten tons of $ from the Legislature for yours… 🙁
Fabulous AKM, what a thrill. Bet there was some pretty awesome security too. I was lucky enough to see the Tutankhamun Exhibition actually in Cairo some years ago. I will never forget it.
Sorry about all the love!! Sometimes I forget to read what I have written.
I love exhibitions…I have been involved in two…never sold anything, but love art.
Now that’s my kinda day!