Smithsonian draws more people, brings in extra cash

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Last year wasn’t bad for everyone. The Smithsonian Institution returned to past glory, logging more than 30 million visits. Action at the Smithsonian hasn’t been this high since before the 9/11-related travel market slump. The 18 museums and galleries — and the zoo — saw an up-tick of 19.4 percent in 2009, up from 25.15 million visits the year before. The fact it’s free to visit probably helped. A difficult economy, magnified for the travel market, left those actually taking to the road to find ways to cut costs. Free attractions take a big item out of a trip’s budget (and one that can sneak up on you in size). And, extended hours over the summer brought in more bodies.

Because of the increase in traffic, revenue at museum stores, theaters and restaurants actually increased from 2008, a rarity in the travel any industry last year. At least some of the credit belongs to locals, since hotel occupancy rates stayed flat from 2008 to 2009. The American History Museum was the star of the Smithsonian collection, drawing 1.4 million more people than it did in 2005, the last full year before its recent renovation began. The National Museum of Natural History added 450,000 visitors, bringing the 2009 total to 7.4 million, making it tops in the Smithsonian. Only the National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of the American Indian experienced declines.

[Photo by mp_eds via Flickr]

Arrests, citations issued during protest at Hilton San Francisco

by Melanie Nayer on

When the owners of the Hilton chain started renegotiating worker contracts, hotel workers took to the streets.

More than 100 hotel workers were cited last night during a demonstration outside the Hilton San Francisco, according to the San Franicsco’s BeyondChron, a local news website.

Owned by the Blackstone Group, the Hilton put forth proposals to cut starting wages by 25 percent for new hires. The matter of health care is on the table, too, and both sides are apparently at odds over proper coverage. A rally to protest the cuts and argue the current contracts took place last night, causing a minor raucous in the city of San Fran. More than 1,000 protestors blocked the main hotel entrance for several hours before 140 people were arrested for misdemeanor trespassing.

A union official said the workers included room cleaners, cooks, food servers, bellmen, bartenders and dishwashers, and they have been working without a contract since August. The San Francisco Hilton is the city’s largest hotel with 1900 rooms.

[via BeyondChron.com]

Five art exhibitions you must see this year

by Sean McLachlan on

Art lovers, take note, 2010 is shaping up to be a great year for exhibitions. Here are five of the best, but there are plenty more than these!

Tokyo
It’s hard to beat Japanese art for sheer naturalistic beauty, and the Tokyo National Museum has an extensive collection of the best. See the work of one of the great Japanese masters in Hasegawa Tohaku: 400th Memorial Retrospective. This painter, who died in 1610, specialized in nature and Buddhist subjects, and you can see an example of his work in this post. The delicacy and ethereal quality of Japanese landscapes always gives me goosebumps. The exhibition runs from February 23 to March 22.

Madrid
Spain’s famous Museo Nacional del Prado is hosting The Art of Power: Arms, Armour and Paintings from the Spanish Court. This is a collection of weapons and armor from Spain’s Golden Age, along with paintings by important Spanish artists emphasizing Spain’s military might at a time when the country ruled most of the New World. Many of the suits or armor were the personal property of important kings such as Philip II. The show will be on from March 8 to May 16.

London
From March 4-June 6 the British Museum will have Kingdom of Ife: Sculptures from West Africa. Ife was an important kingdom from the 12th to the 15th centuries in what is now Nigeria. Its artists specialized in creating human sculptures in brass, terracotta, and stone. I caught this when it was in Madrid last year and it was amazed at the level of artistic achievement in a civilization I’m ashamed to say I knew almost nothing about. The thing that most impressed me was how lifelike the sculptures were. I felt like I was staring into the faces of priests and kings who have been dead for five hundred years. My kid preferred the statue of the crocodile god.Paris
For something a bit more grim, go to the Musée d’Orsay between March 15 and June 27 for Crime and Punishment: 1791-1981. The dates refer to the year of the first call in France to abolish the death penalty and the year it was actually abolished. The exhibition is a series of paintings with crime as their theme, by famous artists such as Picasso, Goya, and Magritte. There are also paintings of capital punishment, showing that crime does not pay, at least some of the time. This show is disturbing enough that it comes with a warning label, a bit like the Eros exhibit of ancient erotic art in Athens, which you can still catch until April 5.

New York City
If you want to see something right now, The Museum of Modern Art is showcasing the work of director Tim Burton until April 26. It’s a collection of more than seven hundred drawings, storyboards, puppets, and other items from his films. There’s also a large collection of his personal artwork that even most of his fans have never seen. They’re showing his movies too!

Sleeping with silhouettes at the Hard Rock Las Vegas

by Melanie Nayer on

No one ever said Sin City wasn’t sexy, and well, sinful. To prove the point (as if you couldn’t do it on your own), the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas’ new HRH towers are featuring a new concept to their suites: virtual women and virtual gaming.

Hard Rock’s HRH Towers Provocateur Penthouse master suite features a seductive interactive projection system that’s built into an enormous bed and projects silhouettes onto the ceiling, the wall behind the bed, and onto the bed itself. Sensors placed on the beds detect ‘movement’ and produce images of women around the room.

The HRH Paradise Tower’s Penthouse offers a different kind of playhouse. Digital art pool tables, created by San Francisco-based Obscura Digital, transform the room’s in-suite gaming into one of three scenarios:

Scenario 1-Mercury: The pool balls virtually flow across the pool table creating ripples and waves in an underwater “mercury” theme. (Think: pebble hits water.)

Scenario 2-Flames: Hit the ball with your cue and watch it send smoke trails across the table. Once the ball settles they’ll fester and burn as they come to rest.

Scenario 3-Reveal: Ever wonder what’s under the pool table? We didn’t either, but the Hard Rock thought it might fun to add a little fantasy to the game. As the ball makes it way across the table, it exposes “one of the world’s most beautiful women hidden underneath,” according to the Hard Rock.

The wonders of modern technology never fail to amaze… especially in Las Vegas. Check out a photo of the pool table below:

Breaking: Mystery canine finding at MSP calls for bomb squad and police *Updated*

by Annie Scott on

A bomb-sniffing dog has found something at MSP, and everyone is scrambling to find out what.

An inbound flight at 2 p.m. today unloaded a bag in which canine sniffers took a particular interest, and the Bloomington bomb squad arrived around 2:10, according to The Star Tribune. As of now, parts of the Lindbergh terminal have been evacuated. Baggage claim areas including carousel 12 are closed, so if you’re picking someone up, prepare to wait. KARE 11 reports that “All roads to the ticketing levels have been also been closed.”

The Humphrey terminal (HHH) has not been affected. Passengers on Lindbergh flights, while the airport is still operational, should expect delays and possible cancellations.

***UPDATE*** The Star Tribune reports that the bag was a false alarm; “no dangerous materials were found.” Click here for some shots of caution tape and empty terminal areas, and soon, crowds. Passengers should still expect delays.

Theories? Possible culprits include: ham sandwich, summer sausage and excessive cat hair.