Adventures of a Storyteller

Sunday, May 25, 2014

An Update of the Past Few Months Part 1

It's been a while since I last updated the blog. I've been finishing my writing season a.k.a completing/ editing a novel, completing a screenplay, and lengthening a pilot. With all that writing, whenever I had a break, I was too exhausted to update the blog.

That being said, I still have had several interesting adventures.

Both in February and April, I traveled to California. On the first trip, I visited Pasadena, Huntington Gardens, Reagan Library, and the Getty Center.

Pasadena is a city about 20-40 minutes (depending on traffic) from L.A.

A view of one of Pasadena's main streets.

It is also home of the Rose Bowl. It was under construction when I visited, but we were still able to view it from a distance.

Besides the Rose Bowl, Pasadena is also known for the Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Gardens. The Huntington is a private, nonprofit institution founded in 1919 by Henry E. Huntington. Henry Huntington built a financial empire which included railroad companies, utilities, and real estate holdings in Southern California. He married his uncle's widow in 1913. His wife's fascination with collecting art and his collection of books led to what the Huntington is today. The Huntington also houses 14 gardens as well. The grounds were so extensive that we didn't have time to explore all of them.

Huntington Mansion has been converted into an art gallery.

A statue from the statue garden.

A shot of one of the rooms.

Another shot of the rooms.

The famous Pinkie. An oil painting by Thomas Lawrence. His idealized portrayal of childhood led to international fame and iconic status.

The famous Blue Boy. An oil painting by Thomas Gainsborough. It was Gainsborough's mastery of brushwork and paint that lead to its fame.

One view of the Japanese Garden. There is a plaque in the garden that reads: In honor of the visit of Their Majesties The Emperor and Empress of Japan (June 21, 1994).

A view of the bridge in the Japanese Garden.

Another view of the bridge. I love the reflection in the water.

From the Bonsai garden. A Prostrate Juniper.

Another Bonsai. This one is an Olive Tree.

A Bamboo Forest

The Australian Garden

Cactus Garden

Chinese Garden

From the library. An original Gutenberg Bible.

A first printing of The Canterbury Tales

Sidereus nuncius by Galileo Galilei. The illustrations shown here are the first ever made of the moon under magnification. This publication only had 550 copies.

Speaking of libraries, I decided to revisit the Reagan Library, one of 13 libraries sanctioned by the NARA Presidential Library Office.

The Reagan Library explores the life of America's 40th President, Ronald Reagan. The Library also has special exhibits during certain times of the year. When I went, they were having an exhibit on spies.

OSS Officers carried a smatchet (Smashing Hatchet for close combat during WW2)

Welbike used to get away quickly after landing behind enemy lines via parachute.

Assassination Umbrella. Used to deliver poison.

Child's Train. This unassuming toy is a concealment for a microdot lens.

Who would think an iron would be related to spy work? This one was used by West German housewives spying for East Germany. It held one-time pads and communication schedules and could be used to incinerate evidence if the housewife thought she was in danger.

Invented in the 1970's by the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology. It was the first miniaturized unmanned aerial vehicle.

"Charlie" an unmanned underwater vehicle created by the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology.

The final excursion of my February trip was the J. Paul Getty Museum. J. Paul Getty was an American Industrialist who created the Getty Oil Company. An avid collector of arts and antiquities, Getty founded the J. Paul Getty Museum. There were many beautiful works of art and antiquities. I've included pictures of some of my favorites below:

The Front of the Getty Museum

Irises by Vincent Van Gogh (1889)

Still Life with Flowers and Fruits by Claude Monet (1869)

Minerva sculpted by Joseph Nollekens (1775)

Dancer sculpted by Paolo Troubetzkoy (1912)

Bed circa 1775-1780. French. A grand bed meant for a deep niche in an important bedroom.

One of the rooms set up with furniture.

Planisphere Clock circa 1745-1749. It shows the astronomical knowledge of French scientists. The dials include the months and their zodiac signs, the days of the lunar month, and local times in various cities and parts of the world. Smaller dials show the phases of the moon, a tidal calendar for ports of northern France, the days of the week, and the eclipses of Io, one of the moons of Jupiter.

Even the gardens are artwork.

It was fun to go back to California again and explore some sites I never had a chance to visit. I'll continue with my second California adventure in my next blog.

~A.E. Keener

Interested in my adventure? Click on the links below to learn more:

Rose Bowl:

http://www.rosebowlstadium.com/

The Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Gardens:

http://www.huntington.org/

The Reagan Library:

http://www.reaganfoundation.org/index.aspx

The J. Paul Getty Museum:

http://www.getty.edu/museum/

Thursday, January 23, 2014

All Aboard!

Originally, I was going to write about the Striperfest, an event that provides art and crafts to educate people about the local fish. However, the activities for this event was for families with young children.

Luckily, the Striperfest was being held right next to the Wilmington Railroad Museum. I've always loved trains especially because my great-grandfather was an engineer. Trains seem so powerful and timeless. So, with my curiosity peaked, I decided to explore the Railroad Museum.

The Railroad Museum

The Wilmington Railroad Museum explores the history of the railroads, mainly focusing on the Atlantic Coast Line which used to run from Wilmington to other parts of the state.

Atlantic Coast Line had many routes that started from Wilmington.

One of the many signs Hobos used to communicate with each other. This one means jail/ prison.

Another Hobo sign. This one means hit the road.

A custom-decorated Conrail Locomotive.

They even hold a Guinness World Record for longest working model train.

Speaking of model trains, the museum has a whole room dedicated to them. You can even interact with the trains.

Just one angle of the room. It is so big that I couldn't fit in all on camera!

A closer look at one of the model trains.

The museum itself is free; however, for a small fee, you can explore the caboose and train that are right outside.

The train is so much fun to explore.

The train's engine. There is a cord that you can pull that simulates the sound of a train in motion.

The caboose. Cabooses no longer exit on most trains. On the caboose, you can press a button to create sound effects.

The caboose was the office for the flagmen and conductors. This caboose can be booked for birthday parties.

Whistle Posts: They are placed several hundred feet before a grade crossing so that an engineer will start blowing the train whistle. The stripes here tell the train to blow two long blasts, a short blast, and another long blast.

Although my original plans didn't work out, I'm really glad I stopped by the Railroad museum. It was amazing to learn so much about trains. I felt like a kid again exploring the museum.

Speaking of which, I found a saying in the museum that seemed to sum up my experience perfectly: