New York Philharmonic’s trip to North Korea

by Jamie Rhein on

Perhaps you’ve seen a news clip or read an article about New York Philharmonic’s trip to Asia this month. The trip to North Korea, also to perform, was added as an overture to goodwill. Back in December, I wrote a post about the visit. Yesterday I came across a short CNN clip about the significance of this artistic endeavor. The logistics of getting the orchestra to North Korea partly involved talking the South Korean American orchestra members into going there.

Within the clip, there’s footage of the war between the two Koreas and an explanation about what made the orchestra members initially not too thrilled with the trip. They did decide to go after all. As explained, trips like this one are not only about music, they are about diplomacy. The arts (and I’d add sports) are ways for countries to cross the barriers between them. I would agree that having an renowned orchestra play is certainly more appealing than threatening a war.

According to the clip, the North Koreans met all the conditions the New York Philharmonic called for in order to agree to come. The conditions were nothing like one hears rock stars wanting, ie, blue M&Ms only, or some such thing. Conditions had to do with the size of the concert hall, being able to perform what they wanted, and the safety of the Korean American orchestra members. Here’s a link to the clip, plus another link to a news conference clip. As the conductor says, “Music has the power to unite people.” The concert in North Korea is on the 26th.

There are photo essays that chronicle the trip through Asia on the New York Philharmonic’s Web site. It makes me sad I didn’t practice the flute more.

Washington’s birthday–a virtual tour of Mt. Vernon

by Jamie Rhein on

Earlier this week I headed to Mt. Vernon. Not physically, but via Mt. Vernon’s Web site. I see lots and lots and lots of Web sites. Web site hopping is a great way to pass writing time. Mt. Vernon’s Web site is the Rolls Royce of sites. There is so much material that it’s easy to get lost in the wandering.

Details range from the reconstruction of a slave cabin to how to make Martha Washington’s Great Cake to every detail about George Washington’s house and gardens and his life, including before and after his presidency. In each section there are links that lead to more details. For example, when you go to the house and garden link there are other links to specific buildings. Each building has other links to more information. If you head to the Virtual Mansion Tour, you’ll find links to specific rooms in the main house. Each room of the house has more links. In the Large Dining Room, you can find out about the molding, the artwork, the furniture and the room’s purpose.

If you can’t make it to Mt. Vernon in person, spend some time at the Web site and you’ll think that you spent a week there. Besides that, you’ll know more about 17th and 18th century life in the U.S. than most people do. Did you know the Great Cake takes 40 eggs? I do now.

Each month there are special events. For Black History Month programs center around the contributions of the slaves who lived at Mt. Vernon and the lives they led. Here’s the page that details the history of slavery where George Washington was concerned.

World Heritage Site new “Tentative List”: Places to Love: Civil Rights Movement Sites

by Jamie Rhein on

For the Gadling series “World Heritage Site new “Tentative List”: Places to Love” we are covering the 14 sites that have been submitted for possible inclusion as an official World Heritage Site in the United States. The sites will not be posted in order of importance or in the order they appear on the list.

Number 1

Name of site: Civil Rights Movement Sites

Location: Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama.

Reason for importance (in a nutshell): Three churches, Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery and the Bethel Baptist and 16th Street Baptist Churches in Birmingham, all historically African-American, played significant roles during the Civil Rights Movement.

Jamie’s Take: Of all the places on the new Tentative Sites list, these are perhaps the most humble and each hold enormous significance to American history. During Black History month, this is a fitting time to pay tribute. Here’s why:

Picture Martin Luther King Jr. standing at the simple pulpit of what was then called Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. From 1954 to1960, he was the pastor of this church, preaching his message that pulled people into a movement that changed history. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was organized from here. The church today looks similar to what it did back then–even the pulpit is still there.

In Birmingham on September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Hatred killed four girls while they were putting on their choir robes. Members of the Klu Klux Klan were responsible. The bombing played a large role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act. The church, in the heart of the Civil Rights District of Birmingham, still operates as a church today. In 1873, when it was founded, it was the first African American church to in Birmingham.

From 1956-1961, the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) was headquartered at the Bethel Baptist Church. The early Civil Rights movement efforts were organized here, including the Freedom Ride bus trip that helped lead to the desegregation of bus transportation. This church was bombed several times and is now a National Historic Landmark.

A view from the air: A book that tells what you’re seeing while you’re flying

by Jamie Rhein on

Years ago I flew with a group of high school students from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Los Angeles for a seven hour field trip to Disneyland. None of the students had flown before. Math, geography and reading were tied into the trip’s purpose. For geography we studied maps of the three states we would fly over and I pointed out the landmarks we would see, and how to tell a city’s size by the colored space it takes up on the map. (These were special ed students)

As we flew, the students followed the land’s patterns looking for significant landmarks. On this particular flight, the pilot was chatty, pointing out details along the way so that helped. Flying in and out of Albuquerque, Phoenix and Los Angeles was a way to see in 3-D what the maps showed. As lesson plans went, this one was a winner.

There’s a book, America From the Air: A Guide to the Landscape Along Your Route that would have been a perfect companion for this jaunt. The book, co-authored by Daniel Mathews and James. S. Jackson, takes a close look at 14 flight patterns across the United States. The book is designed so you can follow your travels as you look out the window of an airplane. Landmarks, topography and specific details of the locations that one passes are featured. Plus, there’s a CD-ROM that goes with it.

The book sounds terrific to me, particularly since it also explains the relationship between the land and the people who inhabit it. Why this location? Why these crops here? There is a mixed bag of reviews, however, at Amazon.com. Folks who expected a coffee table book where the photographs carry the ride were somewhat disappointed. People who liked the analysis of the relationship between topography, land, its uses and human culture were impressed. I think what a great idea. [via Columbus Dispatch]

World’s oldest oil paintings found in Afghanistan

by Anna Brones on

Forget Europe, the world’s oldest oil painting was just recently found in the caves of the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan. The Bamiyan Valley was originally famous for its 1,500 year old Buddha statues that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001, but a team of scientists from the US, Japan and Europe declared this week that they some of the cave oil paintings date back to 650 A.D.

The oil paintings have not fared well. Years of the severe Afghan natural environment as well as dynamite explosions from the Taliban have damaged the paintings. In attempting to preserve the intact portions, a team of researchers from the National Research for Cultural in Tokyo — they were working under a Japanese/UNESCO Fun-in-Trust program — discovered oily residues in a group of one of the wall paintings. Further research with different microscopic, x-ray and chemical tests showed that the paintings may have been made using poppy seed and walnut oils.

The paintings are most likely the work of artists who once traveled the Silk Road, East and Central Asia’s historic trade route, but the most important aspect about the discovery is that it reverses the standard assumption that oil painting originated in Europe. To learn more about the discovery go here.