Well, I guess it is about time.
So, today, I go out for another walk and photography around San Gabriel. Before I left, I was debating whether to bring my big-oval glasses, or not. In the end, I putted it in my shirt pocket, and left. Few hours later, in Salvation Army store, I searched for my glasses. It was not there anymore.
I had this big-oval shaped glasses since 11th grade. The black frame is made from Germany. It had been abused so bad that the corner screws are no longer the original screws, the brand name on the legs are no longer visible, both lenses sometime pop out from the frame, and the right lens has a permanent scratch. I chose the old-style frame because it reminded me of Shinichi Kudo from Detective Conan, which is the first scanlated manga I read back in the late 1990s.
You probably wonder why the hell I write so much about my old glasses. Well, how can I not write about something that I use so often for so long. Few people had told me that I look dorky in that glasses. They were right, but I continued to wear it because I was a dorky guy in many ways. Now that I am nearly a different person from my old self in 2006, it was a matter of time to say goodbye to this glasses too... Saturday, May 24, 2008, 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Trip: Nethercutt Museum
So this week I got a chance to visit Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar, California. This quiet building is filled with antique cars from late 1800s to 1960s. The owner of this museum is no one other than... the Nethercutt family, of course. Actually, Jack Boison Nethercutt, an avid car collector, was the man that started the collection, but he died in 2004. His wife, Dorothy, also passed away in the same year. His son has taken over the operation of the museum since then.
From outside, the car museum didn't look too impressive; however, there are 8 rows of classic cars in the damn museum!!! That's right, that is 8 rows, not 8 cars, which totaled to over 100 classic cars -- shoulder to shoulder. Even an antique car collector, like Jay Leno, would drool over this. On the wall, there are several collections, including car emblems, toy cars, and items from the early 1900s.
In addition, there is a FREE two hours tour(with reservation) to visit the second building, which normally is not open to the public. Now, I have been working in Sylmar for a couple of years, but accidentally saw it on wikimapia earlier this year. Anyways, after some thought, I decided to visit here, and join the free tour. A word of caution, be prepare to shock and awe...
On the bottom floor of the second building is filled with classic cars, including the little wooden buggy you see in the photos. On the wall, there are car trophies, classic musical boxes, and two feet dolls from late 1800s.
Moving on to the second floor... Woh!! Wah! Wow!!!! The whole floor and the columns are made out of marble from Italy, Africa, and Virginia. The ceiling is approximately 50 feet high, and one of the wall is a mirror. Each grand chandelier on the ceiling is over 6 feet tall. Apparently, this floor is made to look like a car show room back in the early 1900s. Amazing. While we were looking around, a piano was playing George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue", but... the pace didn't feel right. That's because the paper roll replayed the actual record of Gershwin himself. Neat.
The third floor is a collection of car emblems. Very comprehensive. There are tons of emblems from car companies that shut down. Also, you can see the evolutions of emblems through the years.
The fourth floor is a musical hall. There are several orchestrions in the hall, and, yes, "orchestrion" is a real word (time to add the word to the spell checker)! Basically, an orchestrion is like orchestra in a box... err... make that a giant cabinet! Popper and Hubfeld are among the biggest orchestrions in the world. Both of them are over 10 feet wide, 10 feet tall, and about 3 feet deep. However, the grand finale is an overwhelming 500 pipes organ orchestra playing the Star War theme mixed with two famous early 1900s musics (one is something with Chu Chu Train). Needless to say, the experience is incredible. It really felt like you are in an orchestral theater.
To sum my thought in few words... a must see in your life time!!!
Links:
* Wikipedia - Orchestrion
* Nethercutt Museum
* Youtube - Nethercutt Museum
From outside, the car museum didn't look too impressive; however, there are 8 rows of classic cars in the damn museum!!! That's right, that is 8 rows, not 8 cars, which totaled to over 100 classic cars -- shoulder to shoulder. Even an antique car collector, like Jay Leno, would drool over this. On the wall, there are several collections, including car emblems, toy cars, and items from the early 1900s.
In addition, there is a FREE two hours tour(with reservation) to visit the second building, which normally is not open to the public. Now, I have been working in Sylmar for a couple of years, but accidentally saw it on wikimapia earlier this year. Anyways, after some thought, I decided to visit here, and join the free tour. A word of caution, be prepare to shock and awe...
On the bottom floor of the second building is filled with classic cars, including the little wooden buggy you see in the photos. On the wall, there are car trophies, classic musical boxes, and two feet dolls from late 1800s.
Moving on to the second floor... Woh!! Wah! Wow!!!! The whole floor and the columns are made out of marble from Italy, Africa, and Virginia. The ceiling is approximately 50 feet high, and one of the wall is a mirror. Each grand chandelier on the ceiling is over 6 feet tall. Apparently, this floor is made to look like a car show room back in the early 1900s. Amazing. While we were looking around, a piano was playing George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue", but... the pace didn't feel right. That's because the paper roll replayed the actual record of Gershwin himself. Neat.
The third floor is a collection of car emblems. Very comprehensive. There are tons of emblems from car companies that shut down. Also, you can see the evolutions of emblems through the years.
The fourth floor is a musical hall. There are several orchestrions in the hall, and, yes, "orchestrion" is a real word (time to add the word to the spell checker)! Basically, an orchestrion is like orchestra in a box... err... make that a giant cabinet! Popper and Hubfeld are among the biggest orchestrions in the world. Both of them are over 10 feet wide, 10 feet tall, and about 3 feet deep. However, the grand finale is an overwhelming 500 pipes organ orchestra playing the Star War theme mixed with two famous early 1900s musics (one is something with Chu Chu Train). Needless to say, the experience is incredible. It really felt like you are in an orchestral theater.
To sum my thought in few words... a must see in your life time!!!
Links:
* Wikipedia - Orchestrion
* Nethercutt Museum
* Youtube - Nethercutt Museum
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Walk: Santa Anita Canyon
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be
Oh, do you see what I see?
These days, my weekends are filled with activities and chores: send my camera to be fixed, change the car's engine oil, sell those bottles and can, write my business report, read the chapters for my business class, drive around town to do this and that, etc. There never seems to be enough time to stop and think. However, on Saturday morning, my friend called me up and offered an opportunity for me to do that.
"Hey, what are you doing today?"
"Not much," my typical reply, despite all the chores, "Why?"
"I'm thinking if you want to go hiking."
A moment of pause.
"Hiking?" this is from a guy who complains about parking too far in a parking lot.
"Yeah, hiking."
And so the weekend's activity was decided. We were going to hike Santa Anita Canyon. I drove up the narrow and curvy canyon slowly with three cars trailing me. My friend did not like how slow I was driving, but he knows better than to say too much. For any passengers in my car, they know, it's better to be safe than sorry. We got to the parking lot around 11 AM, and paid five dollars for a parking permit.
Along the trail to the bottom of the canyon, we took some detour to visit few abandoned cabins. There were plenty of equipments, and rusted items filled with web cobs. I thought about how anyone could have live there in the early 1900's. It would have been a long and enduring walk up and around couple canyons. After about an hour, we got all the way down to the bottom of the canyon, where lie a spring with crystal clear water. A family with couple kids were playing around the spring. For me and my friend, we sat along the stream talking about our lives in the beautiful nature with small creatures in the spring.
It was not too long before we realized that we should have pack some food before coming here. The hike was exhausting, and it was already 1:30 PM. We headed back after 20 minutes around the spring. For my friend, who is not used to walking up hill for more than a mile took few breaks along the way. His legs were giving up by the time we got back to my car. As I drove down the canyon, three more cars followed me...
Oh, still waiting for my camera to come back, so no pictures.
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be
Oh, do you see what I see?
These days, my weekends are filled with activities and chores: send my camera to be fixed, change the car's engine oil, sell those bottles and can, write my business report, read the chapters for my business class, drive around town to do this and that, etc. There never seems to be enough time to stop and think. However, on Saturday morning, my friend called me up and offered an opportunity for me to do that.
"Hey, what are you doing today?"
"Not much," my typical reply, despite all the chores, "Why?"
"I'm thinking if you want to go hiking."
A moment of pause.
"Hiking?" this is from a guy who complains about parking too far in a parking lot.
"Yeah, hiking."
And so the weekend's activity was decided. We were going to hike Santa Anita Canyon. I drove up the narrow and curvy canyon slowly with three cars trailing me. My friend did not like how slow I was driving, but he knows better than to say too much. For any passengers in my car, they know, it's better to be safe than sorry. We got to the parking lot around 11 AM, and paid five dollars for a parking permit.
Along the trail to the bottom of the canyon, we took some detour to visit few abandoned cabins. There were plenty of equipments, and rusted items filled with web cobs. I thought about how anyone could have live there in the early 1900's. It would have been a long and enduring walk up and around couple canyons. After about an hour, we got all the way down to the bottom of the canyon, where lie a spring with crystal clear water. A family with couple kids were playing around the spring. For me and my friend, we sat along the stream talking about our lives in the beautiful nature with small creatures in the spring.
It was not too long before we realized that we should have pack some food before coming here. The hike was exhausting, and it was already 1:30 PM. We headed back after 20 minutes around the spring. For my friend, who is not used to walking up hill for more than a mile took few breaks along the way. His legs were giving up by the time we got back to my car. As I drove down the canyon, three more cars followed me...
Oh, still waiting for my camera to come back, so no pictures.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)