With the move to online classes, the availability of a cool Zoom background has become paramount. This jet engine has become my new go-to.
Tag: Museum
Kiowa Cockpit
My favorite aspect of visiting aviation museums as a kid was an opportunity to sit in decommissioned aircraft and work the controls. It turns out that’s still fun as an adult.
Demon of the Growth
In this image, visitors walk through “Demon of the Growth” in Salm Palace, part of the National Gallery in Prague, Czech Republic. Though this sculpture may look enormous, this portion on the staircase is only a small part of the multistory piece that extends painted spheres (mostly balls for athletics, as far as I could tell) around the museum and even out some of the windows. I’m put in mind most of some kind of gray goo scenario, with out-of-control self-replicating machines on the loose in the museum.
Enormous Nozzle, Enormous Thrust
Standing behind the F-14 Tomcat at the Aviation Museum of Kentucky, the brain has a tough time comprehending just how enormous the nozzles on the hot side of the jet engines really are.20
Cobra in Profile
The sleek shape of the Cobra made it my favorite helicopter as a kid. (Every kid has a favorite helicopter… right?) A contrast is revealed with the maintenance panels opened and the complicated mechanical components of the powerplant on display.
Hallway with Two Colors
Though the difference in color temperature between sunlight and indoor lighting may be intuitively understood common knowledge, I’ve rarely seen a picture that so dramatically illustrates the color contrast.
Within the Red Stairs
Though the Musée d’Orsay seems from outside like a fine, upstanding member of Paris’s “traditional architecture” club, its interior reveals some more unconventional aesthetic choices.
At the Controls
The Aviation Museum of Kentucky has an OH-58 Kiowa into which visitors can climb.
Titanium Tomcat
Standing in front of an F-14 Tomcat “in the titanium” at the Aviation Museum of Kentucky was a pretty metal experience. I couldn’t resist humming “Danger Zone”.
Dans la Musée
The bold train station geometry of the Musée d’Orsay couples with the high density of artistic masterpieces to produce some kind of dimensional portal.
Riding a Horse in Town
Warm weather and buzzing insects on a June afternoon are perhaps a distant memory come February; they feel as alien now as this pony and rider walking down the street of Genessee Country Village did. There’s an almost-juxtaposition there.
Utah Raptor
I recently took a trip to the Salt Lake City area and while I was paid a visit to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. It’s a pretty neat museum if you’re in the area. This specimen is a Utahraptor, which you may recognize if you’re into prehistoric life or you read this web comic regularly.
Antique Face
The face of this massive grandfather clock comes from the Legion of Honor museum (from which I’ve posted some one of my other favorite shots). The level of craftsmanship exhibited (both in the clock face, and the Legion in general) is just overwhelming. The detail makes me think of some sort of grand alethiometer. My favorite feature, though, is the way the contrast brings out the enscription, “solem arte equor.” If my very rusty Latin is correct, this roughly means “sun by the sea.” Given the Legion’s gorgeous surroundings on the Pacific Ocean, I think it’s quite appropriate.
Promenade
Just after New Year’s Day, I had the chance to visit the beautiful Legion of Honor fine art museum in San Francisco. Though the museum itself is full of totally stunning works, perhaps the local architecture is even more stunning. The mix of natural and man-made elements in the setting feels so totally elegant.
Decaseconds 