lampwork botany and diorama o'rama

6/27 Harvard Natural History Museum, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and those mad-crazy Boston streets, Rhode Island, part two (but mostly in Boston, MA)

Yes sir, for our second Rhode Island day we left the state to see two museums in Boston. Admission to the Harvard Natural History Museum will get you into the Peabody so they make for a whole day of gazing at fantastic objects. I had heard tell of the wonders contained in the Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants and seeing this collection became the official reason for the visit to the Harvard museums. It took a while to get to the glass flowers as the museum is full of other wonders. We were detoured for a bit by the minerals and gems; case after case of colorful, spiky, crumbly, crystally, shiny, and dazzling samples. These included some impressively large geodes full of amethyst and a giant bouquet of silvery gypsum crystals that could have served as inspiration for the planet Krypton.Then we stepped into the dimly lit Ware Collection gallery. That cactus... all glass, every last bit. The collection was intended to act as an aid to the study of botany and contains examples representing the diverse phyla of plants. Most of the displays include cross sections of stems, dissections of flowers, and reproductive parts of the plants in greatly magnified models... all in lamp work glass. The colors and fidelity to the living plants is remarkable. There are places where the models fail slightly in living sheen or color, but overall the cases appear to contain plants just unearthed with intact carefully washed root tangles, and branches of just-clipped leaves. The models were created by the glass artisans, Leopold Blaschka and his son, Rudolph, with 50 years of careful work beginning in 1886. Don't miss this gallery if you're in Boston and you're the sort to geek out on carefully made pretty things.

After the glass flowers we toured the wealth of taxidermied critters from birds to bandicoots, skeletons of giant mammals, and exhibits about natural selection and the head gear of horn and antler sprouting animals. The collection of jewel like beetles, above, was displayed to highlight the diversity in appearance and adaptation among individuals of a species or closely related group. It was joined by candy like snail shells and iridescent butterflies. The menagerie kept us busy for quite a while and I was reminded of many critters that I have never seen and are rarely featured on nature shows. Who thinks much about the slow lorus? or the odd scale covered pangolin? Some of the best displays contained parallel skeletons and taxidermied animals to show what the bones would carry.

Somewhere in there we took a break for a picnic lunch and some requisite jumping for the camera.

Next we had a go at the Peabody Museum. Here I got my dose of diorama glee. Above is a large diorama of a Hopi ritual dance with a wide southwest vista. Man, I love dioramas. As a kid I tried many times to make my own versions of these things, putting clay woolly mammoths in cardboard boxes with painted back drops to mimic what I had seen at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. The Peabody has much to offer beyond dioramas, so don't go thinking it's just a mess of models (though if your a model geek don't miss it). The Peabody is a museum of archaeology and ethnology so they make an effort to include the contemporary with the historical. The galleries of mesoamerican antiquities also contained a large Dia de los Muertos shrine and didactics pointing out the links between the contemporary and the ancient. Downstairs, we toured the North American Galleries to see the installation Wiyohpiyata: Lakota Images of the Contested West, a collection of historic and contemporary Plains art displayed with nineteenth century Lakota drawings of the Little Bighorn battlefield. Super cool and quite effective at bringing the subject to life.

To round out the day we visited Harvard Square, had some cupcakes and tried like the dickens to find a place to park for a slice of pizza in Boston's North End (we knew it was a fool's errand). Never did get to park but we did see the land of capillary streets and tiny doors.

beavertail lighthouse, rocky rocks, and big berries

6/26 Jamestown, Newport, and Bristol, Rhode Island, part one

After making our way across Connecticut on Friday we planned to spend the weekend visiting Paul and Anne in Providence, RI. Saturday morning with a packed lunch, we made for the bridges and islands of Narragansett Bay. Just passed the bridge to Jamestown we spotted some yard sale signs and being junk hounds, we couldn't resist investigating. Two yard sales, one moving sale, and one church sale later we had collected only some books, a map, and a few small odds and ends... and only one of those things was coming home with us (Rodney is already over-full). The rest would stay in Rhode Island with Paul and Anne.


At the southern tip of Jamestown Island we visited Beavertail Lighthouse and the rocky shore line. We perused the exhibits in the lighthouse museum, its tiny aquarium (housing among other things an enormous snapping turtle), witnessed a small wedding party making vows to the tune of a guitar and crooning, and took some time to look for critters and balls of clay in the rocks.

After lunch we continued East across another bridge to Newport. Here we had a driving tour of the mansions along Bellevue Ave. and made a detour for strawberries.At first we thought we'd just buy some ready filled strawberry baskets but when we laid eyes on the fat brilliant red berries in the field we had to pick our own. We did our best to comply with the "please only taste a few" sign. It was hard to resist eating as many as we picked. Five full baskets made it to the car, but at least a quarter of these were swallowed by dinner time.

Next we headed north to Bristol where the 4th of July is the big event of the year and the outdoor concerts start a week early. There we had a fine seafood dinner at Quito's running the gambit of the non-fish including oysters, clams, squid, and lobster. Yum. Over stuffed with Neptune's palls we sat for a while on the grass waiting for the "British Invasion" part of the evening's concert (as advertised on a stage banner). The opening act was a seniors' choral group. They were doing alright and it was entertaining for about six or seven numbers but we got too antsy to stick around. We never did find out what the british invasion would bring to Bristol.

an ezerdly good time

6/23 and 6/24

after our walk over the river, the mister and i took our second nap of the trip to prepare for one of our most anticipated visits. i was FINALLY going to get to meet my old nervousness friend and maker of robots, ezerd!

ezerd is a bot of all trades. she is her very own galaxy of fun and mayhem. whether she is drawing robots or planning fundays you will be sure to get drawn into her orbit. i knew it would be like we had always known each other and i was right! the moment we trekked on over to the shed for our first meet everything fell into place and our adventure began.

disclaimer-i was still in the throes of stupid allergies so our adventuring was done slowly and most of it was chatting but i tell it was GOOD stuff. after a round of robot drawing in the shed, we headed on over to the tiny town of Kingston for a mini tour and a shopping trip that involved the mister and i roaming ezerd's place picking out artwork and t-shirts for ourself. it was hard to choose as everything was and is so awesome but through her generosity we wrapped up some fishies and a robot and were ready to roll on out for a wandering of another tiny town, this one called rhinebeck. we wandered and moseyed and moseyed and wandered and stopped for lunch at bread alone which was awesome even if they were out of peanut butter cookies. soon enough it was time to pick up mr. ezerd and we headed out to a stunningly gorgeous outlook and gabbed away till pub time. tonight would be mr. a-go-go's first foray into trivia night so off we went. after platters of fried food, and a round of beverages we were ready to roll. in between questions, the house band took requests from a fat white binder that smacked of a karaoke bonanza. mr. a-go-go spent a few moments turning the pages and snuck of to see the band. after a cheeky dedication of hungry like the wolf to his special lady friend mr. a-go-go was ready to play along (super cheeky mind you, it was the most obnoxious song he could find that we could handle actually hearing). most of our answers for the trivia were wild guesses and slight calculations which paid of when we came in second...whoo-hoo! it was dark out and time for bed so we headed back to Nico's.

the next day we met up with ezerd in new paalts where she drove us through the tiny winding streets until we reached (the town of) Woodstock. just a tiny little curve of street, woodstock certainly has more tie dye than yer average town, it is also rife with urban hippies (young folk) puddled about with their dog packs waiting for you to notice them and yes, i meant that to sound snarkish (heehee). we were too early to hit the little art museum but not too early to wander into the most fantastic tiny toy store ever. it was as small as a toy store could be and yet i think we were there for an hour or so with some bubble time thrown in which of course was exhausting so we stopped in yet another bread alone for some peanut butter cookies and something cold to drink (yay!).

the rest of the day was more chatter and drinks. awesome smoothies in new paltz, watching bunnies hop about a three hundred year old cemetery, examining crazy tree fungi and taking a great many jumping shots. we ended our adventure with ezerd and her mister with a nighttime dinner of breakfast in a no fuss diner and it was great. we're already formulating ways to battling snow to be east coasters or kidnapping the pair, their two cats, an enormous amount of robot art and box after box of fun toys and steal them all away to california. sigh. good people make for the best of friends and we are so happy to have two new ones! thank you my friends, both of you!

trekking across the river

6/23 Walkway over the Hudson

Wednesday we got out of bed with a schedule. Nico, our host, is a working gal and had a full day of papers to push a presentations to make but she had the morning open to join us on a sky walk over the Hudson River. Way back in 1888 the cantilevered steel truss bridge opened to rail road traffic and carried many tons of freight and passengers 210 feet above the river until 1974 when a fire destroyed the tracks. After a year of new construction and revamping the bridge opened to foot and bike traffic in 2009. Now it's a unique hike flying high above the water and over a large chunk of riverside Poughkeepsie (about 1.28 miles worth). After our stroll with the dog walkers, bicyclists, and strollers Nico had work responsibilities and we had a date in Kingston, NY to meet Ezerd at the shed of mystery.

Not really so mysterious... Ezerd, who mrs. a-go-go has known online since 2002 (but never met in person, until now!), was waiting for us in a six foot square shed studio at the Kingston Library. The small building supplied by Habitat for Artists which places the sheds in public locations where artists can open the tiny studios and collaborate with willing members of the public. Ezerd had been invited to participate in the project and had spent the last several hours inviting library patrons to swap artwork with her.

Ezerd easily recognized mrs. a-go-go as we crossed the parking lot and came out of her shed to welcome us to Kingston. I'll leave the rest of this part of the story to mrs. a-go-go, so stay tuned for the wild ride through the Hudson Valley.

the a-go-gos go to the country

6/22 New York state, cows and weenies

if you missed the message about the dead laptop... well here's one of the results... this and several of the following posts will be sans photo. The machine has been fixed up with a new hard drive but the photos that didn't get uploaded to Flickr will be locked away until we can seek out a data recovery place in California. Until then, we'll all just have to use our descriptive powers and imaginations.

we spent a week hanging out with our old neighbor and friend in the in new york state. when we told people we'd be staying in new york and taking it easy they couldn't understand how that was possible. we had to clarify that we were in new york state, not the city and that we were parking it on a road equipped with cows, deer, bunnies, frogs, warblers, raspberries, currants, and the biggest ants i have ever seen...not to mention its very own corner graveyard. yup folks, we were in the country enjoying the critters and hanging out with friends.

our first day, nico, our host swept us away for a tasty-filling lunch at soul dog, a gluten free hot dog joint on the east side of the hudson in poughkeepsie proper. we feasted on thai dogs and cubanos and chili mac & cheese fries...yes, way too much but very tasty. after we stuffed ourselves silly, we hit the neighborhood for some groceries and a chill out day hoping my allergies might leave already.

we roasted up some cauliflower and whipped up a saute of shallots and cashews for our hostess as our plans to hit the drive-in that evening were dashed when the rain hit loud and flashy-like. after much cahooting and chatting we all hit the hay so we could be up bright and early-ish for a trek across the hudson river walkway.

mermaids a-go-go & a trek through the east village

i "met" my friend ms. j seven years ago through nervousness.org and finally, finally, we got to squeeze each other in person as she was our hostess for our weekend in NJ. and we had a blast!

we arrived on a friday evening and headed out for a delightful dinner of indian food and a jaunt over to princeton for some ridiculously good vegan ice cream. ms. j, what was the name of that place again? seriously tasty! we didn't stay up too late chatting away as the next day was gonna be a dilly of a day. we were gonna trek into the city to gawk away at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade.

up bright and early the next morning we piled into our vehicle for the day and headed out to the Holland Tunnel. is it okay for me to mention that driving in NJ is not for us west coasters? i mean US us as in we a-go-gos...our home stomping ground was developed pretty late in the new world so we have wide wide roads that go all ways while the narrow highways in jersey made us feel like hamsters in a maze. so many turns and confusing round-abouts and fast, fast, fast speedsters. gosh i feel fogey-like. many thank yous over to ms. j for her mad chauffering skills. plus, she knew the pretty routes and they were P R E T T Y !

once through the tunnel we got a windshield tour of the small corner of Manhattan we were driving though. luck was on our side as we pulled into a streetside spot free of parking fees and time constraints. our next stop would be brunch and then the subway journey to Coney Island. we noshed on our pancakes and latkes and moseyed on down to the subway. i always imagined it to be more chaotic and loud and was delighted that i was able to grasp the how-tos involved (i'm not a well seasoned transit traveler or a traveler of any sort). the train came, we hopped on and after one transfer we settled into orange plastic seats for the rest of the ride amongst various paraders in pirate gear.

we lucked out and got a decent viewing spot behind to women who appeared to be in good spirits but ultimately snarked out at me when i got jostled up against them...i got a major earful from the one in a lime green tank top and tiger tattoo as my apology got carried away in the wind and glitter of the parade.

the mermaid parade reminded us a-go-gos of our own southern california doo-dah parade only with more glitter and fins. the best parts were when the paraders got into their roles and camped it all up. we were disappointed when the group of marie antionette marchers we passed before the parade began simply walked by as if they were shopping at the mall. their costumes were really pretty but their lack of enthusiasm kinda killed it for all three of us.

after a couple of hours we maneuvered our way to the cyclone, handed over $16 and went clackity clack all over the tracks. it was a wild ride and great fun but we still favor the giant dipper in santa cruz. did i mention i feel old fogey-like?

we subwayed ourselves back towards the car and then did some city wandering. ms. j guided us to another fabulous eatery and we wandered some more hitting up washington square park and the lomo store. i think i could wander the city for a week if not more simply to gaze about and snap photos of all the interesting bits i see. just drop me off and let me wander...

art by the "unschooled" and a baltimore lunch

6/16 The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore

We had a date to meet up with mrs. a-go-go's friend Heather, who wanted to show us one of her favorite things in Baltimore. The morning traffic gave us a good working over but we made it into town only a little late. The museum is housed in a peculiar curved brick and glass building, but the reason for the shape becomes clear when you see a floor plan. From above the galleries are an eye and the center stairwell the iris and pupil. I wish the museum had allowed photography of the galleries, but because of the policy we have no images to share. The museum website is thin on images too so I can't give any visual examples of what we saw beyond a few pictures from outside. In addition, if I had been thinking clearly I would have taken some notes. There were many artists represented and some of the artists and their worked looked familiar, but I'll be derned if I can remember many of their names well enough to give any further hints. That leaves me to simply describe my favorites.

There was a stacked wall full of miniature gallery rooms filled with small copies of a wild array of famous and not so famous art works, all reproduced by one person who wanted to collect all the best in one survey of the art world. Included were some that were easy to ID; a tiny Venus deMilo roughly carved in wood, a Picasso, a Mondrian, an out of scale Venus of Willendorf... and some that were not so easy; a Duchamp painting/assemblage on glass, some low brow comic art, and many more. As with much of the art work here, part of what made it impressive impressive was the artist's perseverance. The mini galleries seemed like they stared as a lark and became an obsession.

The Reverend Howard Finster and Leonard Knight were represented.

There was a collection of 19th century ink and water color cartoons by an unknown artist (Monsieur Germon is my best guess recollection). These depicted the story of a man who is duped into marrying a woman who turns out to be a demon. The bulk of the images and captions deal with a long list of tests of her evilness to see if she is nasty enough to pass muster with the devil. Good stuff, and the battery of tests just gets weirder and weirder.

There was a small selection of fantastic, wildly colorful knitted masks, wigs, and costume items created by an autistic woman who's art was disdained by her family so much that they threw away or destroyed most of her work when she died. Someone saw something special in the masks and other items and managed to steal a few from the family garbage. Again, I wish I could remember her name to look for more information on line.

The collection went on and on with so much variety from the strangely pretty to the starkly obsessive.

Outside were installed several larger art works including a gargantuan whirligig by Vollis Simpson. Anther building housed examples from a recent Baltimore Kinetic Art Race (huge wheeled pink poodle) and a traveling exhibition from the Cabaret Mechanical Theater. This included carved wood mechanical gizmos by Paul Spooner among other artists.

After soaking up the visions, Heather took us for a short tour of the older part of downtown Baltimore where the streets get cramped and the buildings huddle together. Here we found lunch at a a small Chinese restaurant (can't remember the name folks). It was hot and filing and kept us out of the brief rain outside.

Our visit was short but we had a nice taste of Baltimore. Didn't spot John Waters, but I wouldn't be able to think of anything clever to say to him anyhow.