Seein’ the DMV: Air and Space Museum
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is the DMV’s most popular tourist site, so I waited until the summer ended to visit in the hope that the museum would be less crowded. Plus, October 28th was a Monday, which I hoped would further reduce the number of folks there. I ordered a free admision ticket online, which was still required to help control the flow of traffic inside Air and Space was under construction. Portions of the facilities were closed to the public. Still, what was available was very interesting, proving why the museum was so popular. I am a North Carolina native, so the display of the 1903 first flight by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright was of particular interest to me. The museum used graphic displays and real, full-sized airplanes, satellites, and spaceships to tell the history of flight. I’m going to let the pictures tell the…
Seein’ the DMV: African American Museum Redux 081324
So my “Seein’ the DMV” selection for August was a visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. As I mentioned in my earlier blog post, I’ve visited the museum twice previously in the eight years since it opened. The Metro subway system took me to within 4/10 of a mile of the museum, but that was a pretty long walk for me. Still, driving wasn’t really an option because finding parking was nearly impossible mid-day in that part of DC. Next time–and there needs to be a next time–I will see if there is a bus that would drop me off closer to the museum entrance. Anyway, I decided to go because their Afrofuturism exhibition was scheduled to close at the end of the week. As a fan of Star Trek–I’m debating whether to post a picture of my personal ST collection here, The Matrix, The…
Trekking in Riverside, Iowa-Another Quickie Trip
Did I mention that I’m a Trekker (okay, Trekkie, whatever)? I first started watching the original series in syndication in the early 1970s. In the early 1990s, I attended my first Star Trek convention in Tallahassee, Florida, while I was a grad student at Florida State University. While my personal collection of Trek mostly consists of books, my home office has its fair share of Trek memorabilia. Strangely, although it’s less than 80 miles away, I have previously visited Riverside, Iowa, only once before–for the 2009 TrekFest. It was their 25th anniversary celebration of the festival, and their special guests were George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, and Walter Koenig (who is, BTW, a Grinnell College alumnus). Unfortunately, I have no idea where the pictures I took, especially from the parade, are, but here’s more information at this TrekFest page. In case you are wondering how the small Iowa town became known…
These Are the Voyages–Florida Supercon (Day 3)
I thought I had more time to get to the convention hall than I did, so I watched Serena kick butt on the tennis court at Wimbledon. Then, I wanted to kick myself when I discovered that I’d missed Chase Masterson’s Q&A because she is reputed to good for an interesting tidbit or two of dirt. I did make the session with Michael Dorn. He was hilarious and very attentive of the questioners, except a couple who tried to take pictures while he was answering their questions. Even then, however, he posed for pix after he finished answering. He sounds very different in person than his “Worf” voice, so the audience applauded appreciatively when he switched to it upon request. I stayed a little bit afterwards to hear part of the Q&A session with Bruce Boxleitner. While wandering while waiting for the afternoon session I wanted to attend, I also…
These Are the Voyages-Florida Supercon (Day 2)
I thought Friday was busy, but Saturday was nearly overwhelming. Thankfully, I had received an email warning that tickets were sold out, so I knew big crowds were to be expected. I learned a new term: cosplay, short for costume roleplaying. (My roleplaying on the old Stargame pbem (playing by e-mail) was solely online, so we never needed costuming. The costumes at Supercon were amazing. Everytime I thought I saw one that was the most incredibly elaborate, another would surpass it a few minutes later. Still, this one has to be in the top ten: This was a late start, late finish day. Since my interest in the convention is solely Star Trek, the earliest event was William Shatner’s Q&A session at 3:00. I got there early, though, in the hope of getting a relatively close seat and got a pleasant surprise of hearing the Q&A with Henry Winkler…
These Are the Voyages-Florida Supercon (Day 1)
The day started with a thunderstorm, but by the time I was ready to leave, all that remained was a bunch of big water puddles. Gave RB a break and used Uber to get to the hall because it would be cheaper (I hoped), and it's hard to beat curbside service. Below are a few shots at the hall entrance:
[gallery ids="166,156,157,158,165"] There were folks who clearly put a lot of work into their costumes, most of which I didn't recognize, but I'll bet one of my brothers or one of my nieces would have known the anime-based ones.I pretty much wandered until the two ST guests were scheduled to talk that afternoon. They were Rene Auberjonois, from Deep Space Nine (Odo) and Star Trek VI (Adm. West), and Denise Crosby, from Star Trek: The Next Generation (Tasha Yar). Both shared interesting tidbits.
[gallery ids="159,160,161,162,163"] Saturday and Sunday are the main events, in fact, I got an email that Saturday's already sold out. More later.
The Art of Driving, Florida Edition
: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Day3-300x261.gif" alt="Day3" width="424" height="369" />I got out early Thursday morning, but there seemed to be one delay after another along the way. Plus, I didn't account for finally crossing from CDT to EDT, losing another hour. One delay was my fault. My original plan was to drive past Tallahassee (Tallytown) heading south and to stay there overnight on my way back. Well, Floridians seem to have a thing about putting their college decals all over their cars (admittedly a mild exaggeration), and well, my FSU decal was so damaged, it was unrecognizable. I couldn't represent like that, so I drove into town and bought a replacement. Thing is, this placed me barely a block from my old haunt at the FSU School of Music, and I owe folks an explanation for why I didn't stop by while there.
Grabbed lunch to go--I still thought it was before noon and not actually 12: 30 at that point (reminder: set clock on cameras, please)--and noticed the intown traffic was already getting heavy. Once I was back on I-10, things really got serious. You see, this was the Thursday before a 3-day, 4th of July, weekend in Florida. Everyone who could start their vacation/holiday early was on the road. And the driving was not for the faint-hearted. Fortunately, my big city driving skills still exist, and RB responded to the situation as she always does.
FYI, for those not used to this kind of driving: one, the speed limit is totally irrelevant; two, that barely there space in the lane beside you also looks pretty attractive to at least one other driver in the lane on the other side; three, if you take time to think about braking, it's probably too late; four AND MOST IMPORTANT, if you are crazed enough to be out there and want to drive no faster than speed limit, please don't take up permanent residence in the far left lane--you will be the likely cause of the multi-car accident or, if the rest of us are lucky, solely be the recipient of floods of profanity.
I realized that time was getting late, so instead of taking the site-seer route I'd originally planned, I took the more direct one using the Florida Turnpike. By then, however, the rush hour traffic had joined the vacation/holiday traffic. I will spare you a description of THAT, but I will only say it's the stuff of nightmares. Oh, BTW, it rained regularly throughout the day, so bad weather was also a contributing factor to the day's adventures in driving.At one of the few quiet moments, I saw a beautiful double rainbow stretching across the sky. A few pictures are below:
[gallery type="rectangular" ids="142,143,144,145"] I do wish that it hadn't been so late when I finally approached Miami Beach. It was too dark to see much of the area, but I hope to have some time to get out and explore before I leave next week. Other than that, RB will get a much-deserved four-day break. For this part of the trip, I've arranged through Airbnb to stay in a room at a residence in Miami Beach. It's a great location--only two blocks from the beach and a ten-minute Uber ride to the Miami Beach Convention hall, where the Supercon is being held. The host has been very gracious thus far, and the room is very comfortable with my own bath.: //singin1.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/loudmusic-1-300x285.jpg" alt="loudmusic" width="300" height="285" />
The music for a day like this was critical for me. Believe it or not, it kept me focused on the task at hand, which is why I don't put Classical music on the list. And I'm glad I broke up the "The" groups to add an even more pleasant variety of solo performers and groups to the playlist. The B's part of the playlist is huge (remember that the playlist as a whole is nearly 14GB) with my usual obsession session on Barry Manilow's "Could It Be Magic"--don't try to figure out why I obsess over that song, I gave up trying to understand why long ago. The first of the C's didn't begin until I had passed Orlando. Some great music to look forward to hearing.: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% / 14px 14px; position: absolute; opacity: 1; z-index: 8675309; display: none; cursor: pointer;">Save
… And MORE Star Trek!
Well, as might be expected, my summer 2016 travel plans have undergone some adjustments. And the odds are quite high that there will be other changes (hopefully only minor–and better option–ones) even as RB and I are on the road. In this case, I’ve added Riverside, Iowa, as my first stop so I can attend their annual Trekfest. If you are a fellow Trekker, I don’t need to tell you that Riverside is known as “the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk.” Even though Riverside is just 75 miles away, I’ve only attended one previous Trekfest, the one in 2009 when they featured Nichelle Nichols (Uhura-TOS), George Takei (Sulu-TOS), and Walter Koenig (Chekov-TOS) as guests. I had a great time that year and am looking forward to whatever they are planning for this 50th anniversary year (perhaps they’ve finally been able to get William Shatner to come). Hey, I’d…
Summer Plans: A Little Work… And a Lot of Star Trek
Starting to formulate plans for summer vacation. First, RB and I can take a fairly leisurely ride through Arkansas, Mississippi–with potentially a brief stopover in New Orleans, and Alabama, which would finally give me the last three contiguous states I need. Visit some Civil Rights historical sites, add a little research,… and hey, if I can get in a performance and/or lecture, so much the better. Then, into Florida to visit friends in Tallytown and attend the 50th anniversary Star Trek convention in Miami. Final stop on the way back, get in a site I recently missed. Only about 3,700 miles driving distance–2,000 less than RB and I covered in the same time frame in 2014! Sounds like a plan. And a busy two weeks.
Look Out, Cincinnati… The Music Librarians Are Here! (Part 1)
So, let me start by saying “I missed RB!” Since the trip for the Music Library Association conference was work-related, I decided to get a rental. They gave me this monstrous six-passenger mini-van that I had to get used to driving. Discovered halfway there that I had put the van into S4, which is better suited for mountain driving and burns gas like crazy. The vehicle was okay, but I just didn’t have fun driving it like I normally do with RB. This is, basically, the trip route: Anyway, the conference was headquartered at the Hilton Netherland Plaza in the middle of Cincinnati. Arrived much later than I’d planned–partially due to missing my I-74 exit in Indianapolis and taking a much longer trip around their beltway than expected, so I missed visiting the Underground Railroad museum (will have to make a later trip to get it done). Thursday, March 3…