April 19, 2008
Paul Revere — tonight’s the anniversary of his famous ride.
Paul Revere, 1768, by John Singleton Copley (1738-1815)
John Copley painted all the bigwigs of revolutionary Boston, including this portrait of the famous horse-mounted alarm before he turned older and grayer.
And as April 18 is the anniversary of Revere’s ride, April 19 is the anniversary of the “shot heard ’round the world.”
Both events are celebrated in poetry; April is National Poetry Month. This could be a happy marriage for history and English classrooms.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
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A Good Story, America's founding, Education, History, History and art, Literature, Poetry, Travel | Tagged: American Revolution, Boston, Concord Hymn, Entertainment, History, Poetry, Shot heard 'round the World, Travel | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
March 30, 2008
I’m talking about Yankee Stadium, of course.
Great behind-the-scences, usually-not-seen tour in still photos and narration,from the New York Times, here.
In New York this summer? You rather owe it to your grandchildren to go see the stadium, don’t you? Note this is the last year for Shea Stadium, too — better plan an extra day on that trip to the home office in Manhattan.
Confession: I’ve never been inside the stadium. Once, on a road trip to New York City, visiting a friend, Mark Wade, we parked in the shadow of the stadium. Oops — somebody didn’t lock one door. Two days in the City, parked in a tough neighborhood, with a door wide open, nothing happened to the car. There’s some magic in that ballpark.
Yankee Stadium from high in back of home plate; photo from MLB Road Trip.com
Resources:
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4 Comments | History, History images, Travel | Tagged: Baseball, History, New York Yankees, Travel, Yankee Stadium | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 22, 2008
The ad says “Come visit Utopia in Baltimore.” With an orgy of maps like that planned, it should be a Utopia for somebody: Geographers, cartographers, historians, and anyone interested in travel.
Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum hosts an outstanding exhibit of world-changing maps through June 8, a Festival of Maps; the entire town appears to have gone ga-ga on the idea. Baltimore will be Map Central for a few weeks, at least.
The Baltimore Sun (one of the truly great newspapers in America) described some of the cartographic gems on display:
Among the treasures is a huge and beautiful map of the fossil-embedded geological strata that underlie England and Wales. That masterpiece, published in 1815 by a pioneering geologist named William Smith, offered evidence used to support Darwin’s theory of evolution and set the stage for creation-vs.-evolution debates that still rage.
Then there’s the map researched by a doctor named John Snow in the 1850s. It allowed him to trace the source of a cholera outbreak in London to a well used by residents of a single neighborhood.
And there will be charts prepared by geographer Marie Tharp of the Mid-Oceanic Ridge, a mountainous rise in the mid-Atlantic seabed, based on data gathered by American submarines during World War II and later used to provide evidence of how the Earth’s crust has evolved through geological time.
The Smith and Snow maps anchor key events in science, the origin of paleontology and one of the greatest examples of public health sleuthing. To have both of those maps in one exhibition is a great coup for the Walters, and for Baltimore.
The exhibit also features a map of Utopia drawn by Sir Thomas Moore. Other maps were drawn by Benjamin Franklin, J. R. R. Tolkein, and Leonardo da Vinci.
Here’s a video description of one of the more remarkable pieces on view, a map of London, on a glove:
Vodpod videos no longer available. from www.baltimore.org posted with vodpod
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Surely there is material here for the Strange Maps blog. Here’s a still of the glove, from the collection of The National Archives, UK:
Below the fold, a partial list of some of the other exhibits and events planned in and around Baltimore, which will convince you, I hope, that it is indeed an orgy worth getting a ticket to see.
Baltimore remains one of my favorite towns, despite the loss of my Johnny Unitas-led Colts, despite the Orioles’ recent mediocrity; it’s a place of great history, great neighborhoods, and good food. Crabcakes from several sites, dinner at Sabatino’s, maps in the museums. Utopia indeed.
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Leave a Comment » | Flag etiquette, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, geology, History, History and art, History museums, Literature, Maps, Travel | Tagged: geography, History, Maps, Media, Museums, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 18, 2008
Here’s a great story about a kid who made a significant dinosaur-related find: 8 year-old Rhys Nichols found the dinosaur tracks as he was strolling along a beach near his home in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
Found the story via Prehistoric CSI, a blog which normally tracks dinosaur digs in Texas at the Seymour, Texas, “red beds” — and which is billed as having a limited run. Texas history and science teachers need to get over there to see what’s up. (Seymour is about midway between Fort Worth and Lubbock.)
Prehistoric CSI has some wonderful stories about digging and researching Texas fossils — see this one featuring 3-D images of a still-rock-encased critter.
I hope that site stays alive for a while.
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Posted by Ed Darrell
March 16, 2008
We drove down, saw Lucy, had a great dinner, watched some television and drove back. About eight hours in the car, three hours in the museum with Lucy (click here to see a photo of Lucy as displayed — no amateur photos allowed in the Lucy exhibit).
Well worth it. The entire exhibit is a travelogue about Ethiopia, really — but I got chills looking at real bones. You will, too, I suspect.
The exhibit closes in Houston on April 27. Wouldn’t it be great if the demand were so high that they had to hold it over a few months? If you’re in Houston, you owe it to yourself to see the bones. If you’re near Houston, if you’re within a half-day’s drive, go see. If you’re within a day’s drive, plan some other activity (there are other special exhibits at the Houston Museum of Natural History, on Leonardo DaVinci, on CSI and forensic science, marshes, and cowboys in Texas; there are regular exhibits, including one on gemstones that is better than anything similar at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.) — but go to Houston.
This exhibit was controversial, taking such a treasure out of Africa at all. You owe it to yourself, to your children, to Ethiopia, and to future policy, to see the exhibit if you can.
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3 Comments | Africa, Family, Museums, Paleontology, Travel | Tagged: Ethiopia, Family, Houston, Houston Museum of Natural History, Lucy, Museum, Paleontology | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 15, 2008
In all of Texas, only residents of El Paso have a sponsor for Astronomy Day activities (participating astronomy groups are the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium, El Paso Astronomy Club, and Junior League of El Paso, meeting at El Paso Desert Botanical Gardens at Keystone Heritage Park). Celebrate Astronomy Day on Saturday, May 10, 2008.
Why is this a big deal?
Chiefly because I know there are students in Lubbock, Odessa, Killeen, Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Beaumont, Tyler, Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, Austin, and San Antonio — plus starry spots in between — who should have a chance to see some stars on National Astronomy Day.
Plus, Astronomy Magazine has a deal with Meade Instruments 4M to give away a telescope at each sponsored site.
We need a sponsor here in Dallas!
“The Meade Instruments 4M Community will donate an ETX-80 telescope for each venue to give away and also provide a 8-inch LX 90 for the grand prize — Astronomy will pick the grand-prize winner from names collected at each venue.”
Where can you view? Check Meade’s site for a list of physical sites participating on May 10. Check Astronomy Magazine for an interactive map of sites.
Astronomy Day is a grass roots movement to share the joy of astronomy with the general population – “Bringing Astronomy to the People.” On Astronomy Day, thousands of people who have never looked through a telescope will have an opportunity to see first hand what has so many amateur and professional astronomers all excited. Astronomy clubs, science museums, observatories, universities, planetariums, laboratories, libraries, and nature centers host special events and activities to acquaint their population with local astronomical resources and facilities. It is an astronomical PR event that helps highlight ways the general public can get involved with astronomy – or at least get some of their questions about astronomy answered. Astronomy Week is the same concept as Astronomy Day except seven times long.
Novices get a chance to look at the stars, and one person at each site wins a telescope; one person in the nation gets a very nice 8-inch telescope. What are your chances? Last year 28 telescopes were given away; there were 3,700 people who registered to win the things.
Just for looking at the stars! What a deal.
Who will sponsor more sites? Where is the Texas Astronomical Society? The Fort Worth Astronomical Society? How about the Olympus Mons Astronomical Society (at UT-Arlington)? The Lockheed-Martin Astronomy Club?
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2 Comments | Astronomy, Science, Travel | Tagged: Astronomy, Astronomy Day, May 10 2008, Science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 12, 2008
Teachers: Run out to your local Starbucks, or newsstand if you’re luckier, and get today’s New York Times. Check out the special section on museums.
Science, arts and social studies teachers especially, go look. What local museums are you overlooking? Which museums should you plan a long-distance trip to see?
Duncanville ISD teachers sometimes require “field experience” for students, including visits to local museums. I doubt we’d have gotten our kids into the African American Museum otherwise; I think too few kids bother with the Frontiers of Flight Museum (or the C. R. Smith Museum closer to DFW Airport), and I know way too few bother with the Jack Harbin Museum of Scouting, a great shining gem obscured by its working class, Scout camp location and the proximity of the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas.
Our family plans to visit Lucy at the Houston Museum of Natural Science this weekend. I had a great time with Abe in Springfield last month, courtesy of the Bill of Rights Institute and the Liberty Fund (and I have not written about it, bad boy that I am).
The Times’s section makes me lust for Star Trek™-style transporters that take a whole classroom of kids, cheaply, to see the real stuff. Be sure to check out the on-line videos and slide shows, too.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
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Posted by Ed Darrell
February 29, 2008
Getting snowed out of Springfield, Illinois last week gave me an extra 8 or 10 hours to sit around airports and find things to gripe about.
Is anyone else bothered by the tendency to use high-definition television monitors with a regular TV signal, and then spread the picture out to cover the screen, which makes the victims on the television look as if they’d been modified for a guest appearance on South Park?
(This image is for illustration of the phenomenon only.)
Am I the only person who prefers that people look like people, even if there is a blank area on the television screen? In the past year I’ve been in a couple dozen classrooms where the projectors were set to distort every image transmitted. For a presentation on, say, Emmitt Till, or the death of Rosa Parks, I thought the settings disrespectful at best.
How can they call it “high definition” if it distorts everyones’ faces?
I was relieved late Sunday to get back home to our old, analog televisions and normal human proportions on the screen.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
6 Comments | Technology, Television, Transportation, Travel | Tagged: Media, Technology, Television, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
February 21, 2008
Time flies, people sometimes don’t. I’m in O’Hare, now with a few hours to spend because, for the third time today, fifth flight, a flight I was booked on was canceled due to weather.
Above, the neck of American Airlines’ Concourse H and K, in Terminal 3; picture is many months old, but I like it because it contains many hours of my sweat in hammering out the lease agreements. The photo is from a Chicago limousine service.
The trip to DFW Airport that I used to make a couple of times a week minimum in about 25 minutes took nearly an hour today — the roads are wider, but the traffic is much heavier. The trip from the curb to the gate that I used to sprint now takes 40 minutes, and I have to get undressed.
And then the flight to St. Louis was cancelled. And then the flight from St. Louis to Bart Simpson’s Springfield was cancelled . . . I tried a back door, to Chicago and then on United back to Springfield (Illinois — isn’t every Springfield Bart’s hometown?). The hop from O’Hare was cancelled. I’ll miss the 3:00 p.m. seminar start.
It’s been more than 15 years since I actually got stuck on a weather delay. Airlines fly very well, most of the time. I also fly about 99.7% less than I used to fly.
It’s a lot of trouble. It’s a good cause. The Bill of Rights Institute and the Liberty Fund teamed up for a seminar on presidents and the Constitution, focusing on Lincoln, in Springfield. I always get material that sparks classroom discussion and great learning experiences for students.
Our department chair told me that our district won’t consider this as part of my required in-service training, however. Go figure. I can sit through hours of people who don’t know Excel as well as I do and be counted as learning; but when I get great sessions with hard reading requirements and outstanding discussion with great experts, zip. Quality in education? What?
Blogging light the next couple of days.
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Posted by Ed Darrell
February 14, 2008
Looking for something else I found the Smithsonian Institution’s on-line history of air passenger travel in the U.S., America by Air.
I can easily see a time when a student with a computer terminal gets an assignment to look at some of the activities available at a site like America by Air, with on-line quizzes as the student progresses through the exhibits.
How far away are we? Two questions: Does your school provide an internet-linked computer for each student? Do you have the software or technical support to give an on-line assignment and track results?
Teaching stays stuck in the 19th century, learning opportunities fly through the 21st.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Airplanes, Classroom technology, Economics, Education quality, History, History images, History museums, On-line education, Technology in the classroom, Transportation, Travel | Tagged: air travel, Classroom technology, Education, History, Media, On-line learning, Technology, Transportation | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
January 24, 2008
World history teachers should note this site: Samurai Dave the Roving Ronin.
In a series of posts, the last of which appears to be December 11 (Wes’s birthday!), Samurai Dave posts the history of the Battle of Hastings, with videos of battle recreations, photos of recreation events, and commentary on the meaning of the battle in history.
I wager you’ll learn something. If nothing else, there are a lot of great photos for students to see what it was like (minus the blood and gore).
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
2 Comments | 1066, Battle of Hastings, Famous Battles, History, History images, History video sources, Travel, World history | Tagged: 1066, Battle of Hastings, Entertainment, History, Travel, World history | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
January 15, 2008
A few days ago, via Peoples Geography, I discovered the work of graffiti artist Banksy — rather behind the curve, judging from his history. I posted a particularly provocative work of his in this post within the past week.
Today CBS Evening News and other outlets report some enterprising building owner in London who recognized Banksy’s work, preserved it, and has auctioned it away on eBay. It fetched $407,000 US. (CBS video here)
The work, depicting an artist in old-fashioned clothes putting the finishing touches on the word “BANKSY” spray-painted in red, was scrawled on a wall on the Portobello Road in the west London district of Notting Hill.
It was offered for sale on the e-Bay auction site and went for 208,100 pounds after attracting 69 bids.
The winner of the auction may well get the painting and the wall it is on, but they will have to calculate how to get the whole work delivered and pay to replace the wall.
“I am selling the wall because I can’t really justify owning a piece of art worth as much as it is,” said Luti Fagbenle, the owner of the property on which the graffiti is sprayed.
A political cartoon changed the life of one London building owner.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
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Posted by Ed Darrell
January 12, 2008
There’s a fun blog, Tugster: A Waterblog, that usually features photos of tugs that ply the waters around New York City. Good to wonderful photos; and I’ve been hoping for a reason to mention the blog.
Here’s one: What do you see peeking through the trees and wires?
It’s the masts of the barque Peking, a sailing ship built for a German shipping company in 1911 — the same year the Titanic was built. This was a freight hauler, used originally to take nitrates mined in South America to Europe.
After a relatively long sailing career, the ship has been retired as a museum ship at the South Street Seaport Museum (a great place to visit when you get to New York). It’s in dry dock right now, which is where these photos were taken.
Tugster points to a lot of details, with several photos. It’s interesting to see a ship of the vintage of the Titanic, out of water. It’s interesting to see one of the faster sailing ships, especially one built for use in the 20th century. You can see how the technology of ships and shipbuilding allowed for faster sail vessels; this is part of the story of how technologies get eclipsed, too — when sailing could no longer keep up with steam, advances in sailing ships slowed to a stop.
This was one of the last, fast sailing vessels built — one of a chain of “flying P-liners.”
Get on over to Tugster and see what you can do with the photos, and the history.
4-masted barque Peking under sail, in the River Thames, unknown year. The ship was originally named Arethusa. Wikimedia photo
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5 Comments | Capturing history, Geography - Economic, History, Museums, Technology, Transportation, Travel, World War I | Tagged: Barque Peking, Economics, foreign trade, History, sailing ships, South Street Seaport Museum, Technology, Tugster | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
January 12, 2008
. . . would still be a Texas town.
But Texas towns have some of the best names of towns in the U.S. Plus, there are a lot of Texas towns, plus 254 Texas counties.
Freckles Cassie at Political Teen Tidbits has a great list:
Need to be cheered up?
Happy, Texas 79042
Pep, Texas 79353
Smiley, Texas 78159
Paradise, Texas 76073
Rainbow, Texas 76077
Sweet Home, Texas 77987
Comfort, Texas 78013
Friendship, Texas 76530
Go see the entire list — and maybe add a few of your favorites in the comments. An ambitious geography teacher could make a couple of great exercises out of those lists. “What’s the shortest distance one would have to drive to visit Paris, Italy, Athens and Santa Fe? How many could you visit in the shortest time?”
See updated version, here, with more links.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
4 Comments | Geography - Political, History, Maps, Place Names, Texas, Travel | Tagged: geography, History, Maps, Place Names, Texas, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
January 10, 2008
BBC’s internet services carried this slide and sound account of the 2007 Essakane festival in far off Mali; this is one music festival I would really like to attend. Snippets of songs crop up on NPR or PRI (especially The World), and on PBS, and in record stores with really savvy staff — or where Putumayo discs are on sale. Everything I have heard from these festivals is very, very good.
Robert Plant helped make it famous with his 2003 performance. But its fame is relative; it’s famous only among a select group of people — those who have heard the music.
[Alas, Vodpod died, and the video that I had captured via that service seems to appear nowhere else on the web. If you should find the piece by Paula Dear which the BBC broadcast in 2007, please note it in comments.]
Vodpod videos no longer available. from news.bbc.co.uk posted with vodpod
.
The festival is set for January 10-12 in 2008. Who is playing? Where are news stories? Where are the CDs? Here’s the official website.
Geography teachers, think of the possibilities this festival offers for fun in the classroom! Adam Fisher wrote about it for the New York Times a couple of years ago:
My real aim is Essakane, an obscure desert oasis a half-day’s drive beyond Timbuktu, and the site of what’s billed as the “most remote music festival in the world.” It’s a three-day Afro-pop powwow held by the Tuareg, the traditionally nomadic “blue people” of the Sahara.
It’s a tribe often feared for the banditry of its rebels and respected for the fact that it has never really been conquered. Historically its great power came from its role in the trans-Saharan trade in gold, slaves and salt. Even now, Tuareg caravans make the 15-day journey south from the northern salt mines to Timbuktu on the Niger River. They rest their camels during the day and use the stars to navigate at night. The skin tint of the nomads comes from the indigo dye they use for their turbans and robes, which leaves a permanent stain.
What more exciting stuff do you have in your classroom on the Tuareg? Does it resonate better with your teenagers than this story would?
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2 Comments | Africa, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, Lesson plans, Maps, Music, Travel | Tagged: Africa, geography, Lesson plans, Mali, Music, Travel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
