Trips: The Getty Center

The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is the current home of part of the J. Paul Getty Museum; The Getty Villa is in Malibu. The museum's permanent collection includes "pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, and decorative arts; and 19th- and 20th-century American and European photographs" The Center opened on December 16, 1997, with Richard Meier as the architect.

The 134,000-square-foot (12,400 m2) Central Garden at the Getty Center is the work of artist Robert Irwin[18]. Planning for the garden began in 1992, construction started in 1996, and the garden was completed in December 1997.

I was at the Getty Center last Saturday because we had to meet there for my photography class. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to visit the other collections of J. Paul Getty (he has Vincent Van Gogh's painting Irises). I did see the photography exhibit of the renowned photographer Carleton Watkins in the first floor gallery, with photos from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. The Center has a permanent exhibit and a Changing Exhibit of the different collections.

Most of our time was spent at the Central Garden where we where "let lose" to take photographs to show on our class in Tuesday. I had many opportunities for macro shots but I could only do as much since I didn't have a macro lens yet but hopefully, I will (crossing my fingers).

Entrance to The Getty Center is free but parking is $10 per car. Of course, you can always opt to go via the Metro Rapid Line 761, which stops at the main gate on Sepulveda Boulevard.

I give my abbreviated trip four stars. I will definitely visit the Center again!

For more photos visit my Flickr collection HERE.

Location
The Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Drive in Los Angeles, California
Hours
Tuesday–Friday 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Sunday 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Info: Wikipedia.org, Getty.edu

SkyWatch Friday: Nighttime

I have tried taking pictures at night scenes and I must say I am astounded at the pictures I took! They look absolutely breathtaking, don't you agree?

These photos where taken at the Griffith Observatory in California last Friday and Sunday. Yes, we came back just to see the Planetarium and I wasn't disappointed! I loved the illusion that made everyone believe that we were spinning! You've just got to see it to believe.

Back to the topic at hand, these shots were taken at the rooftop of the Griffith Observatory overlooking the skylight of Los Angeles.

Trips: Griffith Observatory

Griffith Observatory North Doors

We went to the Griffith Observatory last Friday with a few of my friends from my review class. It was our time to break free from the books and review and we indulged to our hearts content.

Astronomer's Monument

Since elementary, I have been fascinated with the universe. I devoured every picture book that contained anything about the Universe and watched any documentary on the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. In fact, I even wrote a paper in high school about aliens. Weird, huh? Well, that's me!

This was an opportunity of a lifetime. I finally got to see the Griffith Observatory and all its glory. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see the Planetarium because we arrived late and my friend Michelle had her kids with her. We had fun and I know the kids enjoyed it too!

Ate Carmela, Michelle, Me (photog: MJ)

Pia, Michelle's daughter

The land on which the observatory stands was donated to the City of Los Angeles by Col. Griffith J. Griffith in 1896. In his will, Griffith donated funds to build an observatory, exhibit hall, and planetarium on the donated land. Construction began on June 20, 1933 using a design developed by architect John C. Austin based on preliminary sketches by Russell W. Porter. The observatory and accompanying exhibits were opened to the public on May 14, 1935.

Western View of the Valley

Zeiss Telescope Sign

Zeiss Telescope

Foucault Pendulum

The first exhibit visitors encountered in 1935 was the Foucault pendulum, which was designed to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. The exhibits also included a twelve-inch (305 mm) Zeiss telescope, a solar telescope, and a thirty-eight foot relief model of the moon's north polar region.

Nighttime View of the City

I haven't seen the Planetarium yet but my mom and I are planning to drop by soon and see the whole exhibit. Unfortunately, we weren't able to check out the lower level exhibits.

Location
Griffith Observatory
2800 East Observatory Road
Los Angeles, CA 90027
General Information Line: 213-473-0800
L.A. City's "311" Information Line: 866-4LACITY
Hearing Impaired Reservation Line: 888-TDD-2555

Entrance is free
My rating:5 STARS

Info
Griffith Observatory
Wikipedia

Trips: Bowers Museum

I have finally reached my 100th post! I've been remiss and I haven't been updating all my blogs this past week because I was too excited reading the rest of the Twilight Series. I finally went ahead and reviewed Twilight, the best book of the four.

That aside, we finally went to see the Chinese Terra Cotta Warriors at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California.

When I saw the documentary about said Terra Cotta Warriors on the Discovery Channel a few years ago, I was entranced. Imagine, hundreds of terra cotta warriors guarding the tomb of the first Emperor of China? That would be something worth seeing! Unfortunately, the whole shebang is in Xi'an, China so I knew that it would take years for me to see it.

Fortunately, the Bowers Museum is currently having an exhibit of the Terra Cotta Warriors straight from China. There are about 20 life-sized figures for the exhibit and a slew of artifacts from the site. Unfortunately, no photography of any kind was allowed (I also knew about this one in the Discovery Channel documentary because the Chinese consider the warriors as sacred).

The Terra Cotta Army are also known as the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang the First Emperor of China. These figures, dating from 210 BC, were discovered in 1974 by several local farmers near Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China while digging a water well in March 1974. The figures vary in height (183–195cm - 6ft–6ft 5in), according to their role, the tallest being the Generals. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits. These figures used to be exquisitely painted and some of them still have evidence of the fact. What's more, these figures are made with exquisite detail and no two terra cotta soldiers are the same. At the height of their glory, these warriors used to wield real weapons but raiders and looters have long since removed them.

Seeing the Terra Cotta Wariors Exhibit at the Bower's Museum is pretty expensive. With weekday rates at $25 and weekend rates at $27. Fortunately, the museum has free admission for up to 100 visitors per hour at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 7:00 pm every Friday. Naturally, we grabbed that opportunity and started lining up at 3:00 PM. I was pretty disappointed with the exhibit though because it wasn't as good as I had imagined it to be. There was an audio tour though, which made the experience entertaining. You see, we were given a hand held remote control thingy where you can just press a number coinciding to the number of the exhibit and you will hear a brief description about it. This one is pretty handy because you can pick whichever object/warrior to see first and not follow an organized tour of the whole exhibit.

Photo shot by my mom.

I was able to snag a photo with a replica of a Terra Cotta Warrior displayed in the museum hallway. All in all I give the experience three stars.

Location:
Bowers Museum
2002 North Main Street
Santa Ana, CA 92706
Images: Bowers Museum & Wikipedia
Info: Wikipedia