Georgia Aquarium
While hanging out around the Ocean Voyager at the Georgia Aquarium with their four whale sharks is undeniably cool, its also painfully crowded, noisy, and expensive. The tank is 6.3 million gallons which seems large enough but imagine you're a whale shark accustomed to roaming the open ocean and now your stuck in this miserable bathtub for the rest of your life. OK. Not so cool.
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Whale sharks (Rhinocodon typus) are the largest fish species on earth and the Ocean Voyager tank was specially designed to hold them, or so says the Homo Depot which designed the exhibit. The tank has 4,574 square feet of viewing windows, a 100-foot-long underwater tunnel, 185 tons of acrylic windows, and one of the largest viewing windows in the world (above and below) at 23 feet tall by 61 feet side and 2 feet thick.
No other aquarium in the world attempts to hold whale sharks; probably for good reason.
After dropping $100 to park, get in, and wander the aquarium we didn't stay long. It was far too crowded and full of unruly children and oblivious adults.
Jimmy Carter
Presidential Library and Museum
A better option for a cool Saturday afternoon is the incomparable Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Midtown.
The Center was virtually deserted on a recent Saturday afternoon so we had the entire facility to ourselves to explore. It is stunning. The building housing the library and museum is almost 70,000 square feet (5400 square meters), with 15,300 or so square feet of exhibits and nearly 20,000 square feet of archive and storage space. It is massive. The library stacks house 27 million pages of documents; 500,000 photos, and 40,000 objects, along with films, videos, and audiotapes.
Presidential libraries are part of the National Archives and Records Administration, they are part archive and part museum. They preserve and make accessible historical materials of U.S. presidents. Of all the Presidential libraries I've visited the Jimmy Carter Library is my favorite in part because it is nestled in the middle of Midtown Atlanta, surrounded by the clamor of the city, and yet it provides and oasis of quiet reflection on its 35 acres of exquisitely manicured gardens designed in part by Japanese master gardener, Kinsaku Nakane.
The Oval Office
and
As you walk into the museum there is a lot of no-nonsense security reminiscent of the CDC Campus. Once through security the first large exhibit is a full-scale replica of the Oval Office, including a copy of the Resolute Desk, just as President Carter kept the office. The desk, a 19th-century partner's desk is often chose by presidents of the United States for use in the White House Oval Office as the Oval Office desk. It was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 and was built from the timbers of the British Arctic Exploration ship Resolute.
See my photos of the Centers for Disease Control Museum at this link:
What's in Presidential libraries?
Presidential libraries hold documents, photographs, video, audio, White House gifts, and artifacts of presidents, their families, and some of their close advisors. These materials belong to the American people.
Who Uses Presidential Libraries?
Anyone can visit presidential libraries and explore the exhibits. Thousands of researchers use the archives every year.
Why are Presidential Libraries Important?
Presidential libraries are the raw materials of history—they show democracy at work.
The Library and Museum is part of the Presidential Library system administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, a Federal government agency. The soaring rooms housing all the files are very impressive (below).
I especially enjoyed the exhibits dedicated to gifts given to the Carters when they were in Washington. There are many unique and priceless treasures included in this collection.
But most impressive were the awards including the Presidential Medals of Freedom. On August 9, 1999, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were awarded Presidential Medals of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. This award is the nation's highest civilian honor. The medals recognize those individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."
Also stunning is the awarded to President Carter for decades of work for peace and human rights. President Carter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway on December 10, 2002. The Nobel Committee awarded him the prize for "untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development. . . [He] has been active in several of the problem areas that have figured prominently in the over one hundred years of Peace Prize history."
I was surprised to see that President Carter had also won a Grammy Award, for "Best Spoken World Album" for his audiobook
A Man of Faith
For my money, the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Midtown is the best value for a cool Saturday afternoon in Atlanta. The library is located at 441 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta, 30307-1498.
We've Watched and Read:
If anyone can save hedge fund billionaires from the cultural penalty box, it’s Showtime, the premium cable channel for skin-deep splashiness. That’s not to mention Damian Lewis. Just as he saved the C.I.A. melodrama “Homeland” from its own histrionic urges, Mr. Lewis pulls “Billions,” which began on Sunday, January 17th back from the brink of macho outlandishness with his natural gravitas.
If anyone at Showtime is listening, however, no one. . . I repeat. . . no one wants to see Paul Giamatti in any sort of sexual position. That's all we'll say about the first episode, hoping things will change as we move deeper into the series.
Walmart announced Friday that is closing 269 stores worldwide as it sharpens its focus on its supercenters and e-commerce business.
In the United States, 154 stores will be closed, including: 102 Walmart Express stores, 6 discount centers, 12 Supercenters, 23 Neighborhood Markets, 4 Sam's Clubs and 7 Amigo stores in Puerto Rico. See the list at this LINK.
Federal health officials on Friday advised pregnant women to postpone traveling to 13 Latin American or Caribbean countries and Puerto Rico where mosquitoes are spreading the Zika virus, which has been linked to brain damage in babies. Read more at the CDC Zika Virus Page.
Permafrost Thawing. There is a staggering amount of methane and CO2 trapped under the permanently frozen layer of soil and rock in the form of ice crystals and biomass. If released due to warming in the Arctic, it could trigger a global feedback loop.
Clauss Castro
by Wong Sim
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Clauss Castro
by Wong Sim
on facebook
on instagram
on instagram
@wongsimofficial
on facebook
