High on Atlanta's High Museum

High Museum, Atlanta Georgia... Louvre and the Ancient World



OK! So you are not in to museums. I understand but this is also history with masterpieces from the beginning of our civilization. The museum itself is a unique structure and worth seeing even with out the art. So pass up the
contemporary paintings of white canvas with vertical lines ( who made the decision that this is art?) and head directly to the "Louvre and the Ancient World" exhibit.

As described by the High:
"The Louvre and the Ancient World features masterpieces from the founding cultures of Western civilization, including more than 70 works from the Louvre's unparalleled Egyptian, Near Eastern and Greco-Roman antiquities collections. Showcasing works dating from the third millennium BC through the third century AD, the exhibition examines the rise of the museum and its collections of antiquities under Napoleon, the discoveries and decipherment of hieroglyphics and cuneiform and the Louvre's leading role in excavating the cradle of civilization at the end of the nineteenth century and during the 20th century (most of the excavations for Near East).
The oldest works in the exhibition are drawn from the ancient cultures of Egypt, Susa (in modern Iran), the Neo-Sumerian city of Tello (in modern Iraq) and the Canaanite city of Ugarit (in modern Syria). Key works from these periods include the diorite Statue of Wahibre, Governor of Upper Egypt (Late period Egyptian); an Egyptian papyrus that belonged to the first Egyptian Museum whose curator, Jean-François Champollion, is credited with first deciphering hieroglyphics (Third Intermediate Period); an Attic black-figure amphora attributed to the potter Exekias (550–540 BC); and a dolerite Statue of Gudea, Prince of Lagash from Tello (Neo-Sumerian Period).
A special installation showcases the colossal, ten-foot-long Tiber—one of the largest sculptures in the Louvre's collections. The statue, discovered in 1512, decorated a sanctuary dedicated to Isis and Sarapis and was the pendant to a similar statue depicting the Nile, which is currently in the Vatican collection in Rome. The work explores the river's link to Roman mythology and its fertility. It depicts a river god accompanied by both Romulus and Remus, the city's legendary twin founders, while the reliefs on its base illustrate another myth about the founding of Rome and the river's beneficial effects."

Don't miss the remarkably well preserved clay tablets. I wonder if our CD's will last 3000 years? The exhibit is in Atlanta until September.
http://www.high.org/main.taf?p=3,1,1,1,1.

East Berlin Remembered

East Berlin 1991.... Difficult to believe it is 17 years, this May, since we were there. What a historical time as we stayed in East Berlin. Most the Wall had been torn down by mobs of West Germans and East Berliners buy hand, by heavy equipment and by sheer will. Unification of East and West Germany had just been completed in October of 1990 with only the beginning of true integration of the two societies. Russian soldiers still patrolled some streets as misguided Marxist protesters longed for the "good old days".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall

I was scheduled to give a speech at Orthopadie & Rehatechnik Berlin International, a sort of international Trade Fair for the fields of Orthotics and Prosthetics

Housing arrangements were made by the organizers with my request to them that I bring my family and that we have a private bathroom if possible. We had no idea that they would make the decision to set us up with a hotel in East Berlin , some 45 minutes away from the Messe Berlin Trade Fair Center in west Berlin. At first I was inclined to complain to the organizers of Orthopadie but relented when we were told that this was the best hotel in East Berlin and after all, we had a private bathroom. The room was small, spartan and and an olive green. There were two beds, not quite the size of American size doubles, the bathroom was circa 1950 and no TV, no telephone. My daughters were horrified and Susie was about to leave to find a Holiday Inn any place in west Germany. I did manage to convince them that this was historical times. Being here in East Berlin at this time would be a great adventure. Little did I know how much of an adventure.

I had one day before I was to give my talk at the Orthopadie Trade Fair and decided I had better make certain how to get to the Messe Berlin World Congress Center. I had to get directions from the hotel clerk who at first thought I was Russian, since most visitors to East Berlin were Russian, but in my bumbling German I was able to get directions. We took the bus which had a stop not far from the hotel and we had a very "scenic" long drive through east Berlin to west Berlin. The wall may have been down but there was still a line of divide between east and west. The drabness of the east disappeared as soon as you crossed to the west side of Berlin. Much of east Berlin never transitioned from the1950's. Monumental residential buildings of the Karl Marx socialist era were cold and unimaginative. There was little color until you came to the divide. Some 45 minutes later we were passing the Messe Berlin World Congress Center. We did not get off the bus until the bus came to the end of its line. We disembarked and then waited another 10 minutes for the next bus back to East Berlin. Trying to explain to the bus driver where we wanted to go was a bit frustrating. You would think after being stationed at an Army base in Frankfort for two years I would have learned enough German to get by but more often than not everyone would want to speak English to me.

On the way back we had a better view of Brandenburg Gate, the iconic landmark of Berlin. Larger than I had imagined, it was littered with hucksters selling Tee shirts, replicas of the Brandenburg Gate and pieces of the Wall. Each piece of the Wall was unique in color and design and was displayed according to the location of the section of wall it came from. Before we left Berlin we bought a piece of history and also chipped several small pieces from a section of the wall that was still standing. A sealed box in our den holds it for future generations to see.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate

The next day I was off to give my speech at the Trade fair. What an experience. It was like talking at the United Nations. Everyone had on head sets as my speech in English was translated into 5 languages. Evidently it translated well into German since I latter received many letters expressing their interest in what I had talked about.

While I was at the Trade Fair, Susie and the girls decided to walk around East Berlin. There was a small plaza to the south side of the hotel with a fountain, Neptunbrunnen Fountain, featuring a mythological scene. As they walked past they notice a park with flowers in bloom. Bright colors stood in contrast to the dullness of the surrounding buildings. There was a crowd of people with festive music. Susie, with the girls in tow, though it must be some type of festival. After a few minutes of listening to music a speaker approached a microphone and Susie did not need to understand German to realize she and the girls were in the middle of a Communist Rally. She quickly grabbed the girls and went back to the hotel room and did not leave again until I returned that afternoon.

The next day we took the obligatory touristy tour of Berlin. A stop at the Brandenburg Gate, passed by" Check Point Charlie", several museums and by the evening we all had enough. So, we decided an adventure into the east may be more interesting. A boat trip down the Oder-Spree Canal into the Spree Forest appeared to be a different type of experience. The bus ride to the boats was revealing with some structures obviously bombed out during WWII still remained un-repaired. The small boats held only eight tourist, four of us and four Germans. The tour guide only spoke in German and made no attempt to translate to English. Though interesting to see, we were once again stunned by the drabness . The water stunk like creosote and was very murky. Many small weekend camps with gardens dotted the Spree Forest. I do mean small camps. My ridding lawnmower would barely fit into most of them. There were several stops we made to see some rather large homes in which the East Germans took enormous pride. Though from an American stand point, we did not know way. Interesting ,yes. Grand structures , no.

One thing for certain, east or west, the Germans know how to make beer. The beer halls are a friendly and fun places to visit. No one is a stranger. However, it was obvious that no one in the Eastern part of Germany was accustomed to tipping, which is as American as apple pie. I would tip, wait staff would look a bit confused. Sorry, we participated in the corruption of the service industry in East Berlin. Hopefully they will not be as presumptuous as American wait staff and ask " Do you need any change?". Gee I hate that.

My fondest memory in Berlin was the Berlin Zoo. A lioness had just given birth to three cubs two weeks before our visit. My two daughters were given the opportunity to hold the "kittens".

I will always remember their excitement and joy.

The integration of the two Berlins has been an enormous undertaking. A young couple from Berlin was on Safari with me last year and stated that the financial cost has grown exponentially and that there was still much to do. I hope once again to visit Germany and to see for myself the progress that has been made in East Berlin.

http://www.galenfrysinger.com/east_berlin.htm

Babes of Botsawna

African Safari in Botswana... As we traveled through the Okavango Delta and north to Chobe the shear abundance of life was staggering. It is difficult to remember that we were in the Kalahari Desert with such areas of lush greenery and tropical jungle. But in the Delta there is a blessing of water that reaches into the desert like fingers. A healthy ecosystem is very evident by the huge number of young wildlife. From baboons to zebra new life was stretching its young legs around the delta. The country of Botswana has set aside enormous tracts of land for wildlife preserves with the hope of attracting ecotourist.

These baby lions were but a few of the many that we saw. At camp one night we were surrounded by lions as they called to members of there prides. As long as we could here them we were safe.

Young Vervet monkeys were as curious about us as we were of them.

This young pride of lions were just waiting for us, or so it seemed. The two males were just beginning to grow their mane.

Mom, big sister and little brother Kudu.

Baby baboon in tow using mom's tail as a rudder.

This baboon was only a couple of weeks old.

We were told that hippos usually are not out of the water during the mid day sun since they can get sun burn, but this family seemed to be enjoying the rays.

Botswana is home to over 30,000 African Elephants and you can see the devastation such large herds do to the jungle. It is like putting 30,000 bulldozers on cruise control and letting them go. Plus there is all that elephant dung.

Kudu buck with baby vying for his attention.









A female elephant can be very dangerous and unpredictable when she has a calf.

Huge herds of elephants gather at the edge of the Zambezi River in northern Chobe Reserve.

This is as close to a wild lion cub as you could ever hope for.

RICK-DA-SCALE

Here I will give my humble uneducated opinion of the places I have been. On a scale from 1-10 where 10 is nirvana and 1 is equal to having your right eye stuck with a hot poker while the left eye is forced to watch book reviews on C-Span.

Location_____________Rating____________________Comment

Botswana_____________9_______________________unbelievable wildlife

Safari Camp___________8_______________________tents can be cold at night

Food________________8_______________________ 5 course meals every day

Atlanta's Museum of Natural History

Atlanta, Georgia... I had to travel back to Atlanta for the second time in two weeks. The drive was made more difficult by large stretches of construction on the interstate. It is always amazing to me that so many drivers ignore the construction signs and blast past the road crews just feet from melding chrome bumpers and tire tread with soft tissue and human skulls.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g60898-Activities-Atlanta_Georgia.html

Trying to stay awake , I popped in a book on CD. Though an interesting book, blending fiction and history of the 17th century, it lost a bit in translation from Spanish to English.

At times I felt my head drop just in time to jolt me awake. Fortunately I made it to Atlanta safely with no damage to me or anyone else.

Fernbank Museum of Natural History

Once again I found myself with time to fill. The Fernbank was only 10 minutes from the hotel and two hours would be more than enough time to see the entire museum.


http://www.fernbankmuseum.org/

Although it bills itself as "Smithsonian South" it does not quite pull it off where the bones hit the proverbial road. As you enter the octagon shaped great hall a 123 foot long Argentinosaurus dinosaur stands as the overseer of the Fernbank. Hanging from the ceiling is a flock of Pterodaustro and Anhanguera are tucked into three corners.

Of the three levels of the museum the Entry Level has the most interesting exhibit. "A Walk Through Time In Georgia" is a journey through lifelike geographic regions and prehistoric times of Georgia. The exhibit includes, the modern day sights and sounds of the Okefenokee swamp, a cave, a giant sloth and a dinosaur gallery. A group of wild turkeys first caught my curiosity with their life like appearance. Not to mention it was getting close to lunch time and the thought of turkey only tantalized my pallet. Much of the exhibit was educational in nature and is excellent for younger students.

There is also an I Max Theatre with a five story high by 72 feet wide screen, a cafe and a museum store. The Fernbank Museum of Natural History is a great place to take the younger kids, but I think your older teenagers may be a little bored.

Atlanta Zoo Is No Monkey Business

Atlanta, Georgia... I had several hours to between meetings and it was a beautiful cool spring day. Although I am in Atlanta quite often I had never been to the zoo.

( http://www.zooatlanta.org/home.htmme.htm ) So I used this opportunity to do the zoo. Most of the zoos around the world that I have been to, U.S., Canada, Germany even India each gave me one special memory. In Berlin it was baby lions that my kids were able to hold in their excited young hands, in New Delhi it was White Tigers, long before they became the rage in magic shows. For evermore Atlanta will be gorillas.

This particular day it could be said was bad timing on my part. Approximately 30,000 Atlanta school children were disembarking their yellow buses as I approached the front gates of the Atlanta zoo. My plan to beat the crowds was to go left since most were going right. I would miss herds of screaming snot nose kids. Wrong! The zoo is not all that big and the kids were overflowing the grounds. I swear they were multiplying as they yep and hollered at the meerkats and panda. It seemed like I had no escape. So I relented and pushed my way through the runts. Hey! I had a camera, I needed to get in close to animal enclosure. So as I attempted to balance against the fence in front of the gorilla enclosure small hands tugged at my pants legs and bumped my arm as I missed a great shot. But slowly my surroundings faded as I was totally immersed in the lives of the gorillas before me. I was up close and could almost reach out for a quick stroke of the course hair of a silverback male. He stood as a majestic overseer of their encampment. The Atlanta Zoo is probably not the highest ranking zoo in the country ( only my opinion) but the Gorilla Enclosure is more than meeting any one's expectation on how to manage animals in captivity. This is proven by the shear activity of the animals , male displays of running and beating their chest, the interaction of the females and their young and the shear joy of the young playing with each other and the adults. This was the most active group of gorillas I have ever seen.

The old silverback male was Ozoum, a Western Lowland Gorilla. At forty-eight years old he is nearing the end of the average life span of fifty years for a captive gorilla. As he made his way through the enclosure you could sense the respect the other 22 gorillas had for him.

The family interactions were remarkable to witness.

Kali practicing his karate moves.

The twins, Kali and Kazie were having great fun wrestling. Much of their play serves their education for the future. Hard to believe that cute playful Kali will grow to over three hundred pounds and could snap my neck with his pinkie finger.

Mom enjoying the moment.

While I have been to many zoos which in total are better than the Atlanta Zoo, I believe the Atlanta Zoo's gorilla exhibit is the best I have seen. Thank you for such a delight, Atlanta!

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RICK-DA-SCALE

Here I will give my humble uneducated opinion of the places I have been. On a scale from 1-10 where 10 is nirvana and 1 is equal to having your right eye stuck with a hot poker while the left eye is forced to watch book reviews on C-Span.

Location_____________Rating____________________Comment

Atlanta______________ 6___________________Too many cars and people

Zoo_________________8___________________Gorilla Exhibit

Restaurants___________7___________________You can find any type

Accommodations_________7__________________Downtown Location

(Holiday Inn Select, Capitol Center)