AMNH Tour 7/17/2011

Here is a picture of today's 11:15 highlights tour at AMNH. We're standing in front of the Ahnighito meteorite which fell to earth and landed in Greenland 10,000 years ago.

It has been at the museum since 1904.

The tour totaled about 6 people, which is enough.

Cousins from the south. The young man in yellow and black stripes is actually Danish.

6/12/11 at AMNH

I did two tours today at AMNH. Both were highlights tours and here are pictures of each group.

Below is the 11:15 group.

I was asked to do a 2:15 tour as a replacement for another docent. Occasionally I will do two tours in one day, but I try not to do it too often. Each tour requires a certain degree of energy and doing two on the same day is pushing things a little.

But, as usual, I was glad to help out.

The 2:15 group was a bit larger, and thankfully, my voice held out. They seemed to really like the 'Murph The Surf' story that comes at the end of the tour.

American Museum of Natural History 5/29/11

I got a new camera for my birthday. My birthday was last January so my present came a little late.

I took it to the museum to see what kind of shots I could get without the flash. Some parts of the museum are pretty dark.

These are the folks that took my 11:15 'Highlights' tour. Here we are in the Hall of Gems. There were about 14 people, which is pretty good for a Sunday on a holiday weekend.

Before the tour I got a few shots. Here are Akley's elephants in the African Mammals hall. These are enraged elephants who are about to charge. I like this picture. The hall is one of the 'darker' places. The lighting is low to showcase the dioramas. The hall is exceptional due to the human sacrifice that went into collecting the animals. That's actually pretty ironic.

These are people in the Roosevelt Rotunda. Some are getting ready to enter. Some are probably leaving. In the back is the 'attacking' Allosaurus mount. All of the mounts in the rotunda are faux; they're casts. Actual fossils are minerals and are really heavy. They can't be mounted in 'action' poses.

That's all, folks!

SNL / Sweet Pea / AMNH

I took pictures Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

This picture was taken from my window at about 11:30 PM.

I got up at 6:00 AM to watch the Journal Report on Fox. The sun was coming up and I thought I could get some pictures. This is what 34th Street looks like at that time. This is facing East.

Another picture of 34th Street at Lexington.

This is the same location.

'Empire'.

This is taken at the top of Murray Hill which is the intersection of Park Avenue and 34th Street.

Another pretty shot of Lexington and 34th Street.

Later on Sunday I gave a tour of the Race to the End of the Earth exhibit at the AMNH. I felt good about it. I got this snap in the Roosevelt Rotunda on the CPW side. The dinosaur mount depicts a Barosaurus defending her baby from an attacking Allosaurus. The scene is fanciful and it is made of cast material rather than actual fossils. Real fossils are too heavy to be posed this way.

The museum has cut a walk way in the base so people can get under the mount and look at it from a different angle.

Sweet Pea Update! She's doing well and thriving. Sweet Pea is the alpha of all she surveys, but she can be a little rough with other dogs and needs supervision.

Here she has determined that I have nothing to eat.

It's Sweet Peas' sofa and she doesn't mind sharing. I'm not sure she remembers me but she seems glad that I'm there.

Me at brunch in Jersey City. I had eggs.

I took no pictures of the food. I've got to start remembering stuff like that.

That's all folks!

Race to the end 7/11/10

After much study and a walk through test, I'm now giving tours of the new traveling exhibit at AMNH about the race to conquer the South Pole in 1911. You can find out more about the hall here.

Below is a picture of the museums' recreation of Framheim, which was the Norwegian base camp on the Ross Ice Shelf at Antarctica. I wasn't supposed to take pictures in the hall; it's not allowed.

 

This is a picture of me getting psyched up for my first tour. I try to put a lot of energy into the presentation. The tour is very paced as I try to get across as much information as I can. I really don't pitch the tour to anybody in particular. I go through the material as though I'm explaining it to a peer. 

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Ulla (aka Patty) came along to see the tour. That was nice. Here is a picture of Ulla posing in front of a diorama in the hall of Asian Mammals. It's a scene of a pack of wild dogs attacking a deer. It's the same diorama in the picture with me above.

I think that's appropriate since we like dogs. The dog packs usually consist of about a dozen dogs, but sometimes they can have as many as 60 dogs.

Ulla thinks she looks like a tourist in this picture.

I think she looks good.

Below is a pic of me after the tour. I need to wind down a little bit after each one. We went to EJs on Amsterdam for lunch. Ulla had eggs and potatoes and I had an order of whole wheat flapjacks. I think that was a good choice.

Ulla took these pictures. If I had my camera I would have provided pictures of what we ate.

 

I had a great tour and I'm glad Ulla was there. 

I'll probably do the tours most Sundays until the exhibit ends in January.

Race To The End Of The Earth: Walking The Hall 6/20/10

On 5/29/10, the AMNH opened a new exhibit entitled 'Race to the End of the Earth', which is about the competition between 2 teams of explorers striving to be the first to reach the South Pole in 1911.

One team was British and the other Norwegian. You can find out more about the story at the AMNH web site. I'm studying the facts in order to do a tour of the hall. I should complete my test soon and I figure I'll give about 2 tours a month in this hall.

I was there yesterday to study and walk the hall. I  took a few pics.

These are some artifacts from the Norwegian team. A violin; if you're in Antarctica in 1911 there's no wireless. For entertainment you might feel fortunate if your teammates could play an instrument or sing. The watch belonged to Roald Amundsen the leader of the expedition. The cup, enameled with the name of the ship the Norwegians sailed to Antartica, is genuine as well. The ship was named the 'Fram', which means forward in Norwegian.The 'Fram' can be seen and boarded at the Frammuseet in Norway.

This is a reproduction of one of the tenements that the British team members slept in while wintering in Antarctica prior to the dash to the south pole.

Above is a simple shot of visitors in the hall. I wasn't allowed to take pictures, I later found out from a guard.

These are more artifacts. Roald Amundsen s rifle which would have been used to shoot seals, or dogs. Amundsen s skiis are here and one of the sledges. I don't think the sledge actually went on the trip to the pole but is an example of the type actually used. It does come from the AMNH collection.

Whereas Robert Scott's British team set up huts at their base camp, the Norwegians excavated a series of tunnels to live and work in. Armundsen reasoned that the less time the men had to spend outdoors, the better for their overall health and well being. They even built a sauna!

I took a few shots of the little models that are included in the exhibit. A key part of the story which directly affects the performance of the competing teams is the mode of transportation that each used. The British used ponies, motorized tractors, and finally man hauling to transport their supplies on the trip to the South Pole.

The Norwegians believed in dogs, dogs, dogs. Modeled above is a sledge team which had 13 dogs including the lead dog.

Above is a reproduction of the tent that the Norwegians left at the South Pole in 1911. They called it 'Polheim', which means 'home at the pole'. I had to use a flash because the light was a little low for my camera. The case in the foreground contains the actual binoculars that Amundsen wore that day at the pole.

I should have my test for the tour in about 2 weeks. Wish me luck.