Category Archives: Museum

Night at the Museum

P1050770On Wednesday night we drove downtown in the rain and wind to Dear’s company Christmas Party which of course they call a Holiday Event. For the next couple months Dear’s company is Dendreon Corporation. They are currently in Chapter 11 proceedings and the company will be auctioned off to the highest bidder on February 4th. In the meantime there are speculations flying around as to what large company might be interested in purchasing Dendreon. Dendreon has a treatment for Prostate Cancer. A very simple explanation about the treatment is that the patient’s own cells are treated to be able to fight the cancer.

10502129_10205489741431214_8961686982131276351_nWe were treated well with good food and drink. There were two signature drinks. Orange for Dendreon and Blue for Provenge, the name of the cancer treatment.

The party was at the MOHAI in Seattle, Museum of History and Industry. It was a great setting for a private event. Some of my favorite displays at the museum were the following.

P1050759“It is fitting that the Toe Truck will be included in the museum’s eclectic collection of local memorabilia. Built nearly 25 years ago, the Toe Truck became a local landmark for millions of motorists during the more than two decades it was displayed outside the Lincoln Towing yard at Fairview Avenue North and Mercer Street.”

P1050766The Rainier Beer R was a landmark for years just off the Interstate in Seattle. The original 12-foot-high Rainier sign graced the top of the Rainier Brewery from the 1950s until 2000, and now rests restored at MOHAI.

P1050772I was happy to see items from my favorite team amongst the museum sport team memorabilia.

P1050774When we left and were waiting for our car I snapped some photos of the Space Needle. By this time the rain had stopped. We were very happy the company provided free valet parking for the event, too.

More Xmas 006We are choosing joy as we continue to make preparations for the most wonderful time of the year and for all the unknowns of next year!

Getty Museum ~ Blue

It’s time for Mosaic Monday hosted by Mary at Little Red House and Blue Monday hosted by Sally at Smiling Sally.

My mosaics and photos are all from the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California except for one. If you are ever in the L.A. area and have the chance to visit this museum it is well worth it. The museum is free. Parking is $15.00. I will be sharing more photos from the Getty all this week. I’m starting with an outdoor mosaic. I spotted this hummingbird in the sunken garden at the museum.

I’m sure you will recognize the following works of art.

Irises ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Sunrise by Claude Monet

The Bridge over the Water-lily Pond ~ Claude Monet

The Rue Mosnier with Flags ~ Edouard Manet

Dancer Taking a Bow ~ Edgar Degas and The Laundress

My final blue is the pumpkin my daughter and a co-worker created for a no carve pumpkin contest.

Happy November everyone!

Pleasant Valley Historical Society Museum~Botanical Garden

In the City of Camarillo there is a small Museum and Botanical Garden that is only open on Saturdays and Sundays for 4 hours. The facility is staffed by volunteers who are knowledgeable about the history of the area and the artifacts on hand.

The museum is housed in the old water district building and the small garden is behind the building.

There are several glass cases of some of the local Chumash Indian artifacts and other memorabilia from the early days in the Pleasant Valley Area. After a look at all the cases I headed out to the Garden with a challenge from one of the volunteers to try to guess what a green object in the garden was. Well I like a challenge so I was off to have a look.

On the way to find this mysterious green object I stopped to smell the roses…

More pretty flowers along the walkway still looking for the Green mystery item.

This must be the mystery item. I look at it and chuckle because this is not a mystery to me. This is a Still! I’m married to Dear and he has educated me about the Art of Stills. I went back into the museum to let them know I was familiar with the Green Mystery Item. I earned some brownie points for not being stumped! I was then told the history of this Still and how it was donated to the museum by one of the farmers in the area.

“Well, between Scotch and nothin’, I suppose I’d take Scotch. It’s the nearest thing to good moonshine I can find.”
William Faulkner

***I’m headed to a Mad Hatter Tea Shower today instead of a walk so I’m posting my average steps for the week here. I am quite pleased that I’m finally able to walk a little further and that my back is getting better and better everyday. My average steps this week were 7663. Next week I hope to be able to get closer to 10,000 again. We’ll see what my back allows. Have a wonderful Saturday and keep on walking.

Oh and if I’m brave enough I’ll post a photo of myself in my hat!

J. Paul Getty Museum ~ Pacific Pallisades

 

As promised here are more of my photos from the Getty Villa during our Bloggy rendezvous on Monday.

The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa is home to an extensive collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities, one of America’s finest holdings of ancient art.

 

 

J. Paul Getty purchased the sixty-four acre site in 1945. This is a photo taken in the Outer Peristyle. (In Greek and Roman architecture a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building that surrounds a court that may contain an internal garden)

There are Bronze sculptures, replicas of statues found at the Villa dei Papiri.

These columns lead you out to the Outer Peristyle from the Inner Peristyle. The capitals of the Corinthian columns in the Triclinium on the south side of the Inner Peristyle were inspired by the curling acanthus plant.

This fountain is located in the East Garden. The colorful fountain with shells and theater masks is a replica of an ancient fountain from the House of the Large Fountain in Pompeii.

A sampling of some of the treasures…

I was in the Men in Antiquity Room and spied this statue in an opposite room divided by an open court. There were two windows between me and the statue. I was intrigued and put the camera on zoom and hoped it would turn out. I was pleased to see it did.

When I made it to the Women and Children of Anitquity this Herculaneum Woman and the other women statues in the room were off limits for photography.

Willow here’s my version of a Monet.. The colors in these lily pads are so beautiful.

Couldn’t leave without a close-up photo of one of the roses on the grounds. This Museum is worth a few trips to see all it has to offer. It is free but you have to make a reservation and request a free ticket for entrance to the estate.

 

It was a great bloggy meet up and a pleasure to meet Sara in person on this day.

 

 

Bloggy Friends at the Getty Villa

On Monday Willow and I met Sara from Much ado About Something at the Getty Villa. This was the first time I met Sara face to face. Sara in person is true to who she is on her blog. She’s gracious, thoughtful, and kind. What a fun experience to meet bloggy friends in person. I’ll be posting more about the Getty soon.

Here we are at lunch at the Getty Cafe. Willow from Willow’s Cottage, Sara of Much Ado About Something and ellen b. from the Happy Wonderer. See ellen b. leaning over without wincing with back pain. Whoohoo!

Friends, Fellowship, Food and Fun. Stay tuned for some of the architecture and art from the beautiful Getty Villa Grounds. Thanks for the fun package and avocados, Sara. I’ll be emailing you…