During a recent visit to the Reagan Presidential Library, I had the opportunity of walking through Marine One, the helicopter that transported the President. This short video shows you the helicopter inside and out:
Not my best quality video, but you can see how spartan the interior was. Granted, this craft is for short hops. More to come on the Reagan Library soon. Thanks for viewing.
The Morgan Library and Museum in New York City has often showcased amazing books. This time, they’ve hit a new high with “The Diary: Three Centuries of Private Lives.” On display, you’ll find journals that range from a pirate to John Steinbeck to a NYC police lieutenant taking notes about 9/11. Incredible.
Check out Einstein’s calculations or Hawthorne’s ramblings or Sir Walter Scott’s struggles after a series of strokes. The Morgan Library has them all for you to review. There’s one from Bob Dylan, too, which gives a great example of depth and breath of this exhibition. As the keeper of numerous journals of my own, it’s a wonderful opportunity to take in the scribbling’s of others, especially in their own hand. I doubt very much anyone would be interested in my musing about artificial reef construction, flying about in a small aircraft, travel through Spain, or island life in Aruba. Then again, you never know.
This photo essay takes a look at some medieval construction methods that I noted in Spain. These methods are still used in various places, at least in terms of post and beam methodology. For example, take a look at the first photo here.
You see the timbers running horizontally and vertically, forming a framework which is then filled in with brick and/or plaster. I would guess that initially it was more like woven areas of lighter wood plastered inside and out. The brick is much heavier, although so long as it starts from the bottom up, can be as solid as anything else, as seen in the next photo of a building on the corner.
Actually, what remains of the building. In this part of town, people were busy restoring these buildings. I suspect some might not make it as they looked rather unsturdy. One fellow went the distance as you can see here.
Turned out a rather nice place to stay, didn’t he?
There’s more to sightseeing than museums and monuments. Things like those shown above are a sort of living history. The marks on those timbers were left by craftsmen hundreds of years ago. Best of all you can get up close to gain a better understanding of how things were and might be again. Furthermore, if you get there at the right time, you might be able to speak with people who still know how to do things that way. First hand knowledge is always the most reliable. Fascinating, too.
The Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain is currently hosting an exhibition of Rembrandt’s work. Of course, he has to be one of the most famous Dutchmen the world has ever known. And he deserves it. His paintings are nothing short of spectacular. I remember studying them while in film school. Much can be learned about story telling from his work. Here is a video showing some of the paintings on display. (Spanish speakers will enjoy the commentary.)
Sadly, the exhibition ends on 6 January 2009. The good news is that you can find a few Rembrandt’s in most great museums. If not, there are excellent books which render the images true to the originals. Every respectable home library should have a book like this on the shelf.
Who is your favorite painter?
The Bent Page 
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