RDZ Photography

Columbus – November 2018 – Science Center Revisit

In checking the events calendars for something to do I noticed COSI had a model train exhibit, so we headed down for a Sunday morning.

We headed straight to the upper floor exhibit area where the model trains were set up. Disappointingly we found they are the same ones we see set up elsewhere (such as the fair, etc).

While nice, we were hoping for more.

One unique one though was this group who have built their entire train display from Legos. The tracks, the trains, the cars, are all built out of Legos!

Outside along the hallways are a number of art pieces made out of scrap material. Among other things this one has piano keys, roofing metal, paint brushes, a garden hose and other ‘stuff’.

All sorts of pieces/parts including license plates.

A giant frame skeleton hovers over all.

This display shows the miles and miles of veins and arteries in the body.

I wish I could remember what this was, but I can’t. No worries – he looks cool.

One exhibit that they have had since the 1960s is the exhibit ‘Process’. This shows an American street at two different times, one in 1898 then the same street in 1962 (which is when the center was opened at it’s original location).

It was amusing to see teenagers all running for the various corded telephones, as most under 15 have never used one.

We happened to be next to one of the presentation areas when they were starting an exhibit on chemistry where the presenter entertained us with liquid nitrogen and others like potassium and their reactions to hot and cold.

On this display she had someone give her a $20 bill, dipped it in hydrogen and set it on fire. In the end the person got his $20 back unscathed, except for being wet where she ‘rinsed’ it.

She also demonstrated how different gases make different colored flames when exploding (yes they were very loud booms)

Honda is a big sponsor, with a display on automotive components such as how pistons drive engines, how shocks work, etc.

The American Museum of Natural History has a very large display that is being presented for a year or so. There were a number of fossils on display.

There were many on exhibit.

The display was very large, and very well done.

Some were models to show the full size of the dinosaur.

But the actual fossils were best.

Cleveland – November 2018 – Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead)

Art, Festival, History

In Mexican culture the Day of the Dead is celebrated the first two days of November. This celebration honors the memory of those who have passed on.

Presented by the Cleveland Public Theater and Artistas Latinos Unios, Cleveland has had a Dia de Muertos for 14 years.

Most participants paint their faces.

While it might seem morbid, it is in fact a joyous occasion that is intended to dispel fear of death and embracing the cycle of life.

In Cleveland many non Latino people participated.

While most had face paintings, traditionally hand made clay skulls are also used.

The Cleveland Public Theater is housed in a former church. Inside they had a number of exhibits set up.

This young lady had one honoring her family.

As did this young lady. Note in the back numerous photos and offerings to her deceased family members. Throughout the church/theater and outside in the ‘pop up’ cemetery were a number of such altars (known in Spanish as ofrendas)

One of the event coordinators was ready.

It was a really cool event, with lots of great looks.

Stylish and macabre at the same time.

Finally it was time for the procession to begin…..

One of the bands lead the march.

Anyone who had signed up and was in ‘costume’ could participate.

Some clearly had spent more time putting together their look.

One of my favorites.

Many entire families participated.

This young lady had the face painting but the rest of her family wore the masks.

Happy skeletons!

The origins date back thousands of years and coincide with the annual harvest. It combined Aztec and Christian practices.

Today is has become so popular in the United States even places like Party City sell merchandise for the celebration, although these ladies clearly did better than going down the local Party City.

Not sure why, but it seems every Cleveland parade has a number of people on stilts. But what’s not to like in a 10′ skeleton lady coming down Detroit Avenue!

More stilted skeletons.

A few had more simple masks, which this guy used to accent his great suit.

Historically in Cleveland most of the Latinos were Puerto Rican, but they too have embraced the event.

Also participating was a Horse Drawn Funeral Carriage. Note the very stylish job on the horse’s hooves.

The carriage had a mannequin complete with mask.

Dia de Mertos was a fantastic event – I can’t wait for next November. Look for one in a city near you.

Cleveland – November 2018 – A Traditional Zoo

History, Nature, Sciences, Uncategorized

The Cleveland Metroparks is one of the best parks systems in the United States, circling Cleveland in what is known as the Emerald Necklance

One of their main features closer into the city is the Metroparks Zoo, only 5 miles from downtown Cleveland.

While much smaller than the more famous Columbus Zoo, in my opinion it is nicer in that there is far less commercialization.

The Metroparks Zoo does have a number of themed exhibit areas including the Rain Forest. This building, as the name indicates, brings together the plants and wildlife of the jungles.

This little guy is a Golden Lion Tamarin, a highly endangered animal from Brazil.

The bird below is a Scarlet Ibis. The zoo found it was losing it’s natural color, until they added shrimp to it’s diet.

A Capybara. While he was in his controlled habitat here, we once had the opportunity to meet one up close in British Columbia. The Capybara is known as the world’s largest rodent, but they seem pretty cool to me.

Bornean Orangutan. So much for that vegetarian diet keeping weight down – this guy can weigh over 300 pounds.

The Emerald Tree Boa. 8 feet long with fang like teeth!

We left the Rain Forest and headed up through the main section of the zoo, stopping to check out the elephants.

Cleveland has some ravines, and the zoo is built in, and up above one. After the hike up the hill we made our way to the Primates, Cat & Aquatics indoor habitat (with some outdoor space as well).

The Mandrill below is a large monkey, weighing up to 80 pounds.

One of the many Lemurs.

This cat like animal is known as a Fossa, from Madagascar. Those in the animal business apparently debate if it is more like a mongoose or a cat.

More Lemurs – the is time Ring Tailed. This is the most common Lemur.

Another Lemur – I tried to have a staring contest, which I obviously lost.

But it was time to move over to the Aquatic side of the house. Our first tank we came to gave us this great view!

And more…

We headed back down the hill to the African Savanna section for lions…

And Zebras

Our final section was the Wilderness Trek. As I always note on trips to the zoo, I am always torn by being in the presence of such great animals, and the fact that they are stuck in cages. But as with the Tamarin without some conservation some breeds would be totally lost.

Columbus – October 2018 – Highball

Art, Festival

Columbus, despite being a medium sized city not on either of the coasts, is known as a fashion city primarily because it is the home of the Limited Brands. As a result there are more clothing fashion designers in Columbus than anywhere else in America except Los Angeles and New York.

The annual Halloween festival, Highball, is intended to mix fashion with Halloween. Unfortunately for us, we were there too early in the evening, and it was raining, so the crowd as sparse. Despite this, we did see some great looks….

All the ticket sellers at the north end were in 1920s looks.

The beer truck people were ready…

While it was mostly adults, a couple of kids came along (again we were there much too early for the really good crowds – next year we will go much later in the evening).

Luigi and Friends.

Johnny Ramone and friend.

The first band was dressed from the Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy was the lead singer and keyboardist.

The Tin Man apparently had a synthesizer.

And coupled on backup singing with the lead guitarist the Lion

While the Scarecrow was on drums.

Likely the only male Indian nun in Columbus..

This group has their seasons mixed up, they are ready for Christmas far too early.

Party On Wayne – Party on Garth.

A really knit beard.

Steam Punk meets Scottish.

What happens when light swords appear.

Battles ensue.

They were fashionable in the drizzle.

The next band were all super heroes.

Including the lead singer in drag as Wonder Woman.

A Bat Bass.

Finally we had had enough drizzle, and the crowds were still getting drunk in nearby bars, or at the hockey game, so we decided to head on out.

But not before we were greeted by one more group. Next year – hopefully no rain, and we will go much later to get the real show…

Lakewood, Ohio – October 2018 – The Pooch Parade

Art, Festival, Nature

Lakewood, Ohio has always been a creative city, so what better place to attend a ‘Spooky Pooch Parade’

Words can’t really describe them – so enjoy the photos….

Chicago – October 2018 – Open House Chicago Special Tours

Architecture, History, Transportation

We were fortunate enough to get tickets to two Open House Special Tours.

Our first tour was of the CTA El Train Repair Shops in Skokie. Directions to our tour was to go to the Howard Street Station on the Red Line and gather on the far end of the platform.

For this Saturday morning the platform was jammed with many people not used to taking the train, as they were in town for the University of Nebraska game against Northwestern in Evanston. To the normal commuter seeing a 1922 El Car come rolling into the station would be a surprise, but to this large out of town crowd it was stunning.

One of the volunteers was dressed in a period uniform.

While others had their safety vests on. All of the vintage cars are maintained by volunteers – many retired CTA workers.

The passengers were excited…

As we arrived at the yard we were greeted by other vintage cars awaiting restoration, as well as the revenue generating current cars.

The 400 series cars really stand out against the modern cars in the yard.

But it was time to tour the shop.

Our tour guide was the manager of the facility.

The shop.

There were El cars in various states of repair.

This station refurbishes the wheels.

While another lifts the entire car for easy access.

They also have some bays with pits to get underneath the cars.

A great Chicago tradition is the Holiday Train. Started in 1992, the Holiday Train is a labor of love for the CTA employees who volunteer to work on the cars, as well as the public. During the holiday season the Holiday Train visits every El station on every line, usually taking food baskets to local organizations.

Another vintage car along ithe snow removal engine (minus the blower)

The El Cars have springs and shocks like a regular car, just much larger.

An axle and wheels.

A pile of wheels waiting on refurbishing.

A collection of contact shoes that connect the train to the third rail to provide power to the engines.

A series of trucks ready to go. After this we headed back to our vintage car and returned to Howard Street Station.

Our second tour of the day was the Chicago Tribune Printing Facility

The Chicago Tribune Freedom Center is a printing and inserting facility located along the Chicago River. Built in 1981, it was located along the river with the theory of bringing the paper products directly into the facility by boat, but the first shipment showed that with the bend in the river, the bridges and the building itself they couldn’t get to the dock. While the doors are still there they have never been used for their original purpose.

Our guide was someone from the receiving department.

Our tour of the 800,000 square foot facility started in the warehouse with massive 1 ton rolls of paper.

From this warehouse they are loaded onto carts that are electronically routed (via a wire in the floor – 1980s technology at it’s finest) to the appropriate press.

There are a total of 10 massive presses that are used. The Tribune facility prints not only their own newspaper, but also for the regional suburban newspapers, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal for the Midwest, and even their local competitor the Chicago Sun Times.

The tour group was very focused.

The massive printing presses are very cool.

The Chicago Tribune Printing Facility was a great tour – one of the best we have done.

Chicago – October 2018 – Open House Part 1

Architecture, Art, History, Nature, Transportation

Our Chicago Open House weekend started on Friday, before the official event started on Saturday. We made our own tour of places that were open.

James Thompson Center – Designed by Helmut Jahn, the Thompson Center is a 17 story curved glass building housing many government offices. From the interior all 17 floors are visible in the impressive atrium.

On the plaza in front of the building is a sculpture from Jean Dubffet called Monument with Standing Beast. Standing at 29’ high, the sculpture weighs in at 20,000 pounds.

Cook County Office Building – A classical 12 story office building located in the government section of downtown Chicago, to me it is most famous for where the Blues Brotthers went to pay the property tax for the childrens home (and yes the Cook County Assessors office is located in this building).

The building has the classic Art Deco look on the interior.

Chicago Temple – The First United Methodist Church of Chicago was the first church to be founded in the city, even before it was a city, in 1831. In 1838 it moved to it’s current location at the corner of Washington and Clark.

In the early 1920s with downtown Chicago rapidly developing the church debated selling their valuable land and moving out to one of the neighborhoods. Eventually they decided on a novel approach, build a skyscraper with a church included, and in addition, put a chapel on the top. The result was a 568’ tall building with what is to this day the highest church from street level in the world.

The first level has a traditional church.

Known as the Sky Chapel, it was part of the original building but not fully completed until 1952 as a gift from the family of the Walgreen’s Drug Store founder.

To this day the church is self funded by the rents paid by other tenants in the building, allowing it to fully focus on serving the diverse community it serves.

Outside is some unique art.

Marshall Field’s (Macy’s) Tiffany Dome – With over 1.6 million pieces it is the largest Tiffany mosaic in existence. Designed by Louis Tiffany in 1907, over 50 artisans worked on scaffolding for 18 months to complete this amazing masterpiece.

The Pedway hosts a collection of stained glass.

Some general scenes around the city.

A tourist boat on the Chicago River.

One of the lift bridge control buildings frame by a 60 floor building.

Classic Chicago – The Merchandise Mart with a Brown Line El train coming in.

Old street light and new skyscrapers.

Up Wells Street from the 10th floor of a parking garage.

A building along Madison Street.

Millennium Park

Cloud Gate is a public sculpture located in Millennium Park. While the artists inspiration was liquir mercury, it is commonly referred to as The Bean. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city.

The buildings along East Randolph Street.

Pritzker Pavilion – A Frank Gehry design, the pavilion is a band shell that hosts numerous events each year. For this mid October night it was quiet, but still stunning with it’s red lighting.

Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest and largest museums in the United States. From this part of the park, you get a great view of one of the modern additions along with the Michigan Avenue skyline.

tomorrow the official events starts.