Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Mesazoic Era in 3 Acts, 2 "Set In Stone" & 3: "Diorama Dino-mite"

 I've combined these two as the themes for these posts came to me after my visit and the images I've taken are thin on the concept after the Cenozoic Era.  However, for Act 2 "Set In Stone" I have a most extraordinary artifact.

Fossils, true fossils almost always depend upon the presence of bones.  Something essentially composed of minerals that can be replaced in the right conditions with other more resilient minerals and thus endure over millions of years.  The drawback to this is that MOST of life on this planet does not have a skeletal structure that is sufficiently hard enough to become a fossil.  In his book, "A Short History of Nearly Everything" Bill Bryson makes several excellent assertions about the nature and reality of knowing our planet's prehistoric realities.  Here are some of my favorites:

1) Our very best estimates suggest that only one out of every 1,000,000,000 bones ever even becomes a fossil.

2) If the population of the United States is 330,000,000 people, and we each have 206 bones in our bodies, chances are that only 61 of all of our bones will ever even become a fossil.

3) 99.9+ percent of all living organisms simply decay upon dying, and even those who may take longer due to extenuating circumstances (think ritual burial) will be gone after 10 to 20 thousand years.

4) The chances that a bone fossilizes is even obscured by the chance that a human being will discover it.

So the fact that this roughly speaking 152,000,000 year old impression of a species of cephalopodia named Belemite Cephalopod, Aconthoteuthis speciosa, was discovered in the Solnhofen Formation located in present day Bavaria, in southern Germany is basically a fucking miracle!  If you're only going to have one (and the museum has many) artifact for your "Set In Stone" act, it ought to be this spectacular!

On the Dioramas of which there were only two...

We start with "Floodplains Full of Life"

Clearly the T-Rex has caught the scent and blurred motion of the Theropod offspring scurrying up the creek's muddy bank.  Is she lying in wait for a meal, or just rudely awoken from a nap in her muddy "nest"?  You get to decide.

The mother Hadrosaur is obviously aware of her presence.

Near her nest rests the skull of a triseratops.

Zero in on...wait for it...a turtle!

And if you linger and look close enough there's also a prehistoric woodpecker for your delight!

"Giant Shadows on the Landscape"

Safely kept behind glass in a museum space so full of neon and directional lighting, the glare on the glass can be really distracting...

The Allosaurus knows there's enough flesh on the old Stegosaurus to share with the smaller theropod.  The pair of ancient crocodilians hope they will also find a seat at this dinner "table."

A fitting way to say good-bye to this portion of the exhibition.

Olney Theatre Center: Some Like It Hot

 I had to sleep on this one to organize my thoughts...to allow the conflict I was feeling to percolate.

First off, kudos to the cast, the crew, the designers.  It was a lush and extravagant and high energy production filled with lovely costumes, engaging choreography, amazing audio-visual elements and top knots acting.  Our mob chased ne'er do wells, Joe/Josephine (Jacob Tischler) and Jerry/Daphne (Travis Kordell) were a delightful combo that played well off of each other and sang and danced like true brothers.  The addition to the plot of the bi-racial longtime friendship was a good turn to the well-familiar plot.  Ashleigh King's performance as Sweet Sue, the all-girls band leader, was dynamite.  What a voice!  If anything, it exposed the one weakness: supporting actress Montria Walker as Sugar Kane (the Marilyn Monroe) character.  On her own, she was lovely, but when she had to sing with or against Ashleigh, she just couldn't match her abilities.  Finally, a shout out to Edward Juvier as the horn-dog millionaire, Osgood.  He arrived at the perfect moment after three up-tempo numbers that were beginning to blend into an indistinguishable buzz, Edward jumped out and spun the room in a fresh direction.

So what could be wrong with a show like that?  It's unnecessary.  In some ways it was banal, all the old gags which were better when delivered by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.  The audacity that anyone could step into Marilyn Monroe's high-heels...  I imagine it will go on to be a staple of the Dinner Theatre circuit and High Schools will enjoy presenting it.  It's really perfect for the High School set.  While the music is carefully crafted to advance the plot and introduce the various characters, there isn't a stand out number in the entire production.  

One reason why I wanted to go was also to see the new Bernard Family Theatre.  Which is a complete renovation of the original "Barn" theatre.  With it, Olney Theatre Center has 3 functional spaces in which to produce shows.  The intimate completely flex-arrangeable Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab where I've scene wonderful productions like "Our Town," and "Proof".  The Roberts Mainstage, with a full Mezzanine and state of the arts stage.  Loved many shows here: "Guys and Dolls," "How to Succeed In Business...," "Kinky Boots," etc.  And now a third "Bernard Family Theatre".  Lovely space.  Amazing technical possibilities.  Tight seats.  And the parking (when two shows are on stage at the same time)--what the hell were they thinking!?  Honestly, for future reference, I won't be buying any tickets when two shows are running simultaneously.  I had to park halfway into a pass through lane and sinking mud.  Leaving was like navigating a maze of other cars where the passage was like threading a needle.  

To recap: A great production of a mediocre show.

Joe [Jacob Tischler] and Jerry [Travis Kordell] singing and dancing through the story of their youthful friendship.

Sweet Sue's [Ashleigh King] opening performance surrounded by members of the ensemble.

After the transformation while on the lamb meet: Daphne and Joesephine.

Shout out to Karla Puno Garcia for fantastic choreography

Flanking Sugar Kane [Montria Walker] Joe and Daphne form the Tappin' Trio

One of the big numbers performed after reaching California.  Great costumes, thanks to Frank Labovitz.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Mesazoic Era in 3 Acts, ACT 1: 'Dem Bones

 Let us return to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural Histoary and continue our adventure into the planet's distant past.   To set the stage: The meteor has landed killing off nearly all life on Earth and ending the reign of the Dinosaurs...or, at least that is how this play ends.  It begins just before that fateful event 66 million years ago and walks us once again back in time to 252,000,000 years prior and the previous great extinction event that led to the rise of the Dinosaurs.  Ergo, this is the story of the Dinosaurs.  The largest creatures ever to walk the terrestrial biomes across 190,000,000 years of evolution and techtonic change.  

A Cerapod skull being explored by a duckbill dinosaur in a manner suggesting a conversation!  

A Stegosaurus looking back at a smaller theropod that's just experienced the full wrath of the Stego's spike tail!

Two of the multitude of mid-sized to smaller therapodal herbavores.

This Allosaurus makes a meal of the old Triceratops.

My, what a long neck you have Ms. Diplodocus Longus!

A striking pose from a ginormous Crocodillian reptile that reminds us how the reptiles were also around during this time and some were just as amazing!

My Gamble: The Senate

 While I got a delightful 67% return on my modest investment in 6 House races, my roll of the dice in the Senate was even more successful!  With amounts ranging from $5 to $80, distributed one time or many times, over the same mid-May to mid-October time frame; I netted 90% on investments in 10 races!  The total amount came in at $438 dollars.  Still modest by any super pact's war chest.  And here's the thing that I absolutely revel in.  I spent $438.00 dollars and got 9 Senators.  Elon Musk spent $474,000,000.00 and got Bupkiss!  I know, it's kinda like he lost a penny in the upholstery of his Tesla compared to my sacrifice.  But still, I find it an exemplary concept in Democracy: Rich or Poor...or making ends meet...we all only get one vote.  And that's what is truly priceless.  

Oh, and Angie.  We live to fight again on another day!

My Gamble: The House

 I live in a state where everyone is Blue.  My Representative is one of the most recognized in the Entire Congress.  No, he's NOT Nancy Pelosi!  Therefore when I make contributions to political candidates, they are not from my state.  This cycle I made a series of small donations to six candidates running for the house.  None of them seemed to have a solid chance of winning, but none were so far outside of the realm of possibility that they were a lost cause either.  I'm not a member of the Qowat Milat, nor am I even a Romulan.  And I'm not made of money, so honestly, the grand total of all my contributions combined over the five month period from mid-May through mid-October was scarcely $120.00.  No one made their nut off of me!  Which is exactly how it ought to be.  Mine is just a drop in the bucket, and I, like them, count on a plethora of strangers to also add their "drops".  That's how Democracy is supposed to work.

The results of my drops, based on preliminary returns: 4 victories, 2 defeats...

SAM FORSTAG, won his open-seat in Montana's First District by 7,155 votes out of the approximately 254,660 votes cast.

MANNY RUTINEL, won his seat in Colorado's Eighth District by defeating the Republican incumbent by 33,168 votes out of the approximately 239,603 votes cast.

MITCHELL BERMAN, won his seat in Wisconsin's First District by defeating the Republican incumbent by 11,954 votes out of the approximately 305,724 votes cast.

ZACH DEMBO, won his open-seat in Kentucky's Six District by 24,748 votes out of the approximately 263,354 votes cast.

CHRIS GALLANT, lost his bid to unseat an incumbent Republican in New York's First District by 6,677 votes out of the approximately 298,415 votes cast; however, there are still about a possible 22,500  mail in and provisional votes to be counted, so the outcome of this race has yet to be officially called.

and

JASON PEARSON, lost his bid to take an open-seat in Tennessee's Ninth District by 2,539 votes out of the approximately 225,614 votes cast.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Cenozoic Era in 3 Acts, ACT 3: Diorama Dino-mite!

 With all of its incredible modern design elements and multi-level viewing opportunities, its hands on brass models, and life-like staging of reconstructed skeletons, even with the infor graphics and audio-video opportunities; at the end of the day, it is the "old school" diorama that calls to me like the Siren's song!  Still a mainstay of book reports and science projects, the diorama demands our attention, and then rewards us according to our patience--at least the good ones do!  Because the good ones are made by people who understand their power to delight.  A power that is enhanced by every single little unexpected detail and "hidden" component.   These Diorama are set into oval portals--sci fi perfect time transporters that hold two powers simultaneously.  One gives you a glimpse of a lost world, and the other sparks a memory from your childhood.  

I will cluster them according to their titles.

"A Warmer, Wetter World"

Trapped in mud, the Mammoth bellows in fear and frustration.

The exquisite details of leaves and ferns and a turtle for the keen eyed visitor.

"A Colder and Drier Time"

The pack of Dire Wolves Chooses a "light" meal.

An ancient cousin to the modern wolverine brings dinner to her young.

Had you not followed their gaze, the well camouflaged prehistoric rabbit might have gone unnoticed.

"Grasslands Far And Wide"

Ancestors of Modern Horses race across the hillock catching the attention of a Baluchitherium, one of the largest land mammals of the Miocene Epoch.

What hoe?  Another turtle!

Dinohyus were not really pigs nor were they dogs.  They were their own thing, and now they're gone.

"Jungles Rise With The Mammals"

This diorama was oriented vertically to take you high into the arboreal world.

On the forest floor a mother Uintatherium and her calf forage with a...wait for it..turtle! looks on.

Looking up we see the mighty trees' limbs are home to arboreal mammals with prehensile-tails, the forbears of the Primates.

So beautifully crafted that it's hard to tell exactly where the 2-D background and the 3-D foreground meet!  A Diatryma calls out while a little 'herd' of Eohippus traverses the bed of ferns.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: The Cenozoic Era in 3 Acts, ACT 2: Set In Stone

 Not a long act in this first play, but one I still find fascinating.  In my rock garden I have beautifully worn field stones from Kentucky that I gathered myself containing the segmented steams of some long extinct plant that thrives in oceans so long ago that life had yet to evolve its way onto the dry land.  Only a couple, but so cool.

A cousin of a present day Monitor Lizard

I find it really interesting that the assumption of the paleontologists is that the animal's body floated out onto a lake and sank...  It feels more like an animal caught in a flood and buried quickly, before it had the chance to decay.