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!

Bill Goldberg: It Started In B'klyn

Back in October I helped my mother 'clean out the closets'. It seemed like the natural thing to do and I viewed it as a healthy activity. I didn't mind going out to NJ, going through the old stuff, and watching my mother select the items to hang on to. I made several trips to the dumpster with clothes, shoes, and assorted items.

When I arrived my mother handed me three items. Two were watches: a rather nice Movado quartz and a Tag which Roy later told me was a knock off.

I was also given me my fathers Army ID card. He had it since his time in Korea.

I had previously told my mother that I wanted to go through any old photographs that she had. I wanted to do something creative with them. I didn't know what.

My mom pulled out a tuperware trunk filled with photos. I borrowed many of them.

As I reviewed the pictures, it seemed that I didn't know much about them. I didn't know where they were taken or who was in them. Each had a story, but I didn't know any of them.

It seemed if I was going to assemble these images, I needed to know the stories behind each one. The stories mattered.

I asked my mother to be a source and she seemed ok with that.

I arranged the pictures and started with the earlier ones.

This is my grandmother Ann Goldberg. Her maiden name was Mittag. In this picture she might be around 14 or 15 years old. That would date it at about 1917, probably in Brooklyn.

I asked my mother talk for a little bit about my grandmother. This is just an excerpt.



My father as an infant. I would date this at about 1931.



My father at less than 2 years here. Location is unknown.



In this clip, my mother tells a short anecdote about my dad being identified as possibly being the kidnapped Lindbergh baby. Charles Lindbergh's son was kidnapped from his crib in New Jersey in 1932. The child's body was later discovered.



I asked about my father as a young child. Of course all of this information is second hand, but I don't think that matters.

My grandmother is in the doorway in the background. My dad, on the left,  might be about 7 or 8 years old. I recall seeing him in a similar mood as an adult.





That's all for now.

This is just a first post and it's not meant to be definitive. I'll put up more later. There's really no shortage to the material. He was 80 years old.

Whitbread Virtual Yacht Race 1997

At OPPSLA 2000, I gave a brief talk on the Whitbread Virtual Yacht Race that I developed in 1997. Be warned: the email address on the slide is dead.

Use the link below to obtain the slides.

Hoo rah!

Quokka Sports Whitbread 97 Virtual Yacht Race