Jan 21 2019 - Living Legends Above Us

There are many unusual Museums in the U.S. - there's a Museum of Bad Art in Boston, a Museum of Pez Memorabilia in Burlingame, CA, Leila's Hair Museum in Missouri, Salt and Pepper Shake Museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and more. There is a more lofty museum in Corones, situated on the summit plateau of Kronplatz that is dedicated to traditional mountaineering.  It offers unique views of the great mountain walls of the Dolomites and the Alps. The viewing platform got my attention.  The building was created by star architect Aha Hadid, who has since passed away.  It is known as the Messner Mountain Museum.  These pictures are what attracted me to this topic, particularly the second picture. Reinhold Messner created six mountain museum facilities all together.   Here is what he has to say:  "As in my other museums, I shed light on alpinism with the help of relics, thoughts, works of art (pictures and sculptures) and by reflecting the outside mountain backcloth in the interior of MMM Corones." Messner is world famous in mountaineering and extreme exploring.  He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, and the first climber to ascend all fourteen peaks over 8,000 metres above sea level.  He has published more than 80 books about his experiences as a climber and explorer.  He had a political career from 1999 - 2004. This is the Museum website HERE. It shows all the museums, each visually arresting.  He conducts events at these sites.  In August 2019 there will be discussions around fire.  Every Tuesday in August, enjoy the evening atmosphere at the MMM Firmian.  With the onset of dusk, Reinhold Messner will tell you stories from his life and answer your questions.  Attention:  Reinhold Messner will tell his stories in German, it will not be translated into English. I found his website - the website is www.reinhold-messner.de.  The handy translator says his introduction in German holds these words: "Above all, as an internet illiterate, I am talking live about my life as a miner, mountaineer, museum designer, filmmaker. I started my seventh life after I reinvented myself six times and continue to tell my life. After my time as a rock climber, mountaineer, border crosser in polar regions and deserts, explorer, politician and museum ideator, I remain the storyteller and guardian of the last non-urbanized spaces on earth. I am concerned with the relationship between human nature and wilderness, with self-responsibility and experiences on the edge of our possibilities, a self-determined life last."  I found this fascinating image in my Lightroom database - I don't remember what the object is.  It makes it more interesting and mysterious.

Slime in the Kitchen with Dina!

Wake Up on the Bright Side  Little did I know that the Advent calendar was first used by German Lutherans in the 19th and 20th centuries.  I don't remember having an Advent calendar, and I come from a German Lutheran family.   We spent a lot of time in the kitchen as children making cookies, vinegar toffee and ice candles.  What do children make today? Homemade slime rather than cookies.  There are recipes for chia seed edible slime, the jello slime and the marshmallow edible slime.  Let's start with the classic recipe which has borax in it. How to Make Slime with Elmer's Glue 2 Bottles of Elmer's glue (5-6 oz each bottle)– Clear, Glitter Glue, or White Glue. ½ – 1 tsp of Borax (the tiny sized spoons) 1 cup hot water, ½ cup water. Big, wide bowl. Liquid watercolor or food coloring (optional) Glitter (optional) Confetti (optional) Here are the non-Borax slime recipes: Ingredients Cornstarch Slime 1 and ½ cups (350ml) of water 13 drops of food coloring 2 cups cornstarch Edible Slime 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk 1 Tablespoon (14 grams) of cornflour 10-15 drops of food coloring Baby Juice Slime ½ cup glue Food coloring ½ cup baby powder Powdered Fiber Slime Water Food coloring 1 teaspoon (5ml) powdered fiber 1 cup (237ml) of water You can go to wikihow HERE for the step-by-step instructions.  I've never seen so much great looking slimy stuff! Here's Santa at the Grimsby Museum's Fantasy of Trees on Sunday.

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The Day the Music Stops

"Boxing Day is observed only in is observed in the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and some other Commonwealth nations. In America December 26 is known as the Day after Christmas Day, and is observed as a holiday in only a few states."   Its origins are considered to be in Britain with the  "Christmas-box" to servants and tradespeople for good service in the previous year. The New York Times, in a witty satirical December 2013 article, says that: "Americans observe the day by staying home with their families and staring glassy-eyed at their empty Christmas-present boxes. This is an American form of meditation and, if possible, should not be interrupted. Families do not get dressed or answer the phone, and some put trash bags over their windows and doors so that light cannot enter their homes." "One person you will surely run into is the pizza deliverer. Today, it is a tradition to eat things that are, of course, boxed. Pizza, candy, and some types of wine are popular, as is boxed food called “takeout,” which, in America, only sometimes refers to food that is “taken out” of a restaurant—in other words, fetched by the purchaser. More often, “takeout” means “delivery.” Listen for the American idiomatic phrase “Let’s get takeout for Boxing Day,” followed by “Someone call for pizza.”  All banks and government offices are open, but the workers are grumpy. Expect short queues (or “lines”) but bad service, as most employees would rather be home staring at their boxes. To break the ice with an angry American—who, we should note, is probably not carrying a concealed weapon, no matter what you hear on the news—make small talk, and do not ask why he has worn his pajamas to work." For me, this is the "Unofficial end to Christmas music" day.  We've been listening to versions and variations since October in our retail environments, and since the beginning of December on our various airwaves.  And now it goes silent for another year.  Only a few songs endure between Christmas and New Year's.  "What are you doing New Years Eve" a jazz standard written in 1947 by Frank Loesser.

All Quiet

The Hagley Museum is a teaching facility with many children's tours.  The Machine Shop below is a functioning facility with demonstrations showing how everything works.  There are leather belts running across the ceiling and connecting the gears and flywheels.  The surprise was how quietly everything ran.  I found a youtube video of the machine shop here.

Steam On

Where there is history, there is steam. The Hagley Museum is the site of the du Pont home and garden, the powder yards, and the machine shops that served the facility.  The black powder mills were founded in 1802 on the banks of the Brandywine Creek, which became the source of power.  When the flow slowed during summer, the steam engine was put into operation, using wood to fire it. The site is remarkable with its running machines.  It gave an interesting look into Nineteenth Century industrial work.

Autumn at the Aga Khan Park

The Aga Khan Museum and Park has been planted for an autumn show of colour.  I went to see what the display looked like.  There is a depth and height of the building on the landscape that is remarkable and is created with the reflecting infinity pools. I was looking for these reflecting pools to create magic with the orange and red leaves of the trees, and for the white building to contrast with the colours and magnify the intensity of colour. You can see the effects of the reflecting pool in the second picture. I didn't find the brilliance of colour that might have been - with the high winds of the last few weeks, there aren't many leaves on the trees.  With the multi-stemed trees, there will be many branches on the trees.  As they mature over time, the show will be something to see.