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| Apple...have you been? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 17 2007, 02:47 PM (220 Views) | |
| DivaDeb | May 17 2007, 02:47 PM Post #1 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Today, we went to Liberty Memorial to see the new museum for the first time. I've been in museums all over the world. This is, without a doubt, one of the finest collections of related artifacts and displays of information I've ever seen. It's arresting...I can't even do justice to it by trying to explain it. I do know now why it is the National WW1 Museum though. Sheesh, it's just phenomenal. Just one description...when you walk into the building and start toward the exhibition hall, you become aware that the floor is plexiglass....and that you're walking directly above a field of 9,000 poppies, 1 for every 1,000 who died in the war. I'm telling ya...I'm a crusty old broad sometimes, but when I looked down on a symbolic Flander's Field, I just lost it, and I hadn't even gone *inside* the museum yet! We may go again as early as next week because we didn't have the kids with us and they have to see it, it's just an amazing, amazing thing. Ralph Applebaum Associates did a brilliant job with the design of this thing. |
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| apple | May 17 2007, 03:10 PM Post #2 |
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one of the angels
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kind of scary.. (the plexiglass floor).. i've been briefly - the kids were antsy but intend to go again. |
| it behooves me to behold | |
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| apple | May 17 2007, 03:10 PM Post #3 |
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one of the angels
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kind of scary.. (the plexiglass floor).. i've been briefly - the kids were antsy but intend to go again. |
| it behooves me to behold | |
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| John D'Oh | May 17 2007, 03:12 PM Post #4 |
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MAMIL
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Damn, I thought this thread was about BM's. A lot less scope for humour in this one, I'm afraid. |
| What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket? | |
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| DivaDeb | May 17 2007, 03:26 PM Post #5 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Okay...I can't help myself, this was just too good. Here's a short video featuring the architect who designed the museum: http://www.libertymemorialmuseum.org:80/di....aspx?pgID=1011 I don't care how far away you are, this is actually worth traveling to see. You won't regret it, it's so complete. Some of my favorite stuff: Sound-proof booths where you could listen to famous voices of the time...Wilson, Wilhelm, Foch....or poetry/prose of the era being read, or the music. Many, many interactive displays. Stick your head into the wall and you're in a German trench...go to the other side and stick your head into the French trench, complete with the flash of explosions and the sounds around you. There are two large screen movies (about 10-12 minutes long) that are just remarkable productions. One is at the beginning, the other about halfway through, covers the 1917 US declaration of war and the remaining years. In between, there are several high quality videos with time lines and detailed descriptions of battles. I don't think there are many guns, uniforms, or supplies that are not represented in the exhibits. There's propaganda from every country, there are endearing trinkets that men sent home to their girls, there are heart rending, gut wrenching pictures, sounds, written words. Technology is used BRILLIANTLY in the exhibit. Seamlessly integrated holographic displays, computer touch screens, laser pointer interactive boards...but none of it is gratuitous. It's there, you pick it up, use it and say "omigosh...is that cool or what?" Plan to see this place. And when you do, plan to be there all day. There is no way to do justice to it otherwise. My most favorite part of all, we didn't begin to explore. The research center in the basement is open now. It's a library, reading room, and areas where some delicate documents can be viewed by researchers. When you walk into the library, you're down in the basement. But...there's a wall of windows with sunlight coming in them...coming in from the skylights that shine through the plexiglass floor onto the poppy field. Yeah...you're in the basement of the building, in a library, looking out the windows onto a sunlit field of poppies. Truly brilliant. Just incredible. |
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| RosemaryTwo | May 17 2007, 03:55 PM Post #6 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Great video, Deb, thanks. My great-grandfather died in WWI in a trench, leaving his only son an orphan. Looks like the museum did justice to the magnitide of the war. I hope to see it. |
| "Perhaps the thing to do is just to let stupid run its course." Aqua | |
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| QuirtEvans | May 17 2007, 04:00 PM Post #7 |
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
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It's almost always good news when a woman says that. |
| It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010. | |
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| John D'Oh | May 17 2007, 04:37 PM Post #8 |
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MAMIL
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Try telling that to John Wayne Bobbit. |
| What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket? | |
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| QuirtEvans | May 17 2007, 04:43 PM Post #9 |
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
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You really think that Lorena Bobbitt was saying, "this was just too good?" |
| It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010. | |
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| big al | May 18 2007, 05:04 AM Post #10 |
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Bull-Carp
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The museum sound like it's definitely worth a visit. Reading about it made me wonder about the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. It was closed for 93 days after Katrina but suffered no major damage or loss of artifacts. If someone wants to plan a visit, their website is here: National WWII Museum Big Al |
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Location: Western PA "jesu, der simcha fun der man's farlangen." -bachophile | |
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| taiwan_girl | May 18 2007, 06:14 AM Post #11 |
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Fulla-Carp
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I saw something in the paper recently that there are only 4 known USA survivors of World War 1 still living. |
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