Last time I visited the Huntington Library, my mother and I focused on the botanical garden aspect. We did not visit the museums. This time, however, we (and my brother) focused on the museum aspect (we still walked around the gardens too) of the Huntington Library. I have visited several museums in my time, so I have seen a lot of amazing stuff. It's not often when a museum has a collection that leaves me in awe like the Huntington Library. I visited two of the many collections during my trip today. One of the collections was an exhibit called "Beautiful Science: Ideas that Changed the World".
It's kind of a given that I would choose this exhibit because I love science. I have been wanting to see this exhibit for quite some time after reading that an original copy of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" was on display. If you think that's amazing, imagine standing in three large rooms surrounded by original books, letters, etc from the greatest scientific minds you have ever read about. I was starstruck. Learning about these incredible people in college is one thing...standing a foot away from their greatest discoveries/work is an out of body experience. What a great way to keep my mind off MIT! Well, the first thing you read when you step inside this exhibit mentions MIT!! hahaha I can't escape decisions.
*If you're interesting in why MIT was mentioned, click this sentence.
I wish I could spend the entire day flipping through the pages of Newton's books or deciphering the German of Einstein's neatly penned letters. I definitely would not say no to observing the expansive collections of centuries old medical textbooks and anatomical drawings. Each room is dedicated to a different scientific discipline. One room explores astronomy with the most famous astronomers who ever lived (Copernicus, Newton, Galileo, Herschel, etc). The next room features the greatest minds in medicine and biology (Lamarck, Wallace, Darwin, Hooke, van Leeuwenhoek, etc).
The last room is no different with physics-based pieces and electricity/light as the main theme (I want the fiber optic "chandelier" in my house). In the physics room, I walked to each piece and proudly talked about how I was just using a certain physicist's equation in class last week. I think it so incredible how the work of all these great minds, who have since passed decades or centuries ago, is being taught to people all over the world today. I am very thankful that I have had the pleasure of having professors like Nisani, Newman, and McGovern (to name a few) who taught me well enough to be able to go around that entire exhibit and know about these people without even reading the wall descriptions. Now THAT is an education.
I am still awestruck by this experience. We all hear about these people who shaped our world but few of us get to actually bask in the glow of their original work behind glass. I would also like to add that the donor (Dibner family) kept everything in superb condition. The title of this exhibit describes the collection quite well because science IS beautiful.
I failed to mention earlier that when we first pulled into the parking lot (it's a huge parking lot btw) we saw a bustling Paramount Pictures film crew (trailers/catering trucks included). In California this is normal to us. Also, tons of movies are shot out in the desert where I live every year. Despite this, we all still get pretty excited when we see a movie being filmed. Side story: When I lived down in Torrance my family and I once drove past the set of Interview with the Vampire. It was the scene at the end with the car on the bridge. :D Tom Cruise was in the car.
Back to my post. We thought it was neat that the garden was being used for a movie. I kind of forgot about the film crew until after we left the science exhibit and walked over to Huntington's huge estate. The entire place was swamped with dozens of movie extras dressed in 1930s/40s garments and military uniforms, loads of equipment, a large film crew, and a green screen. :D The museum inside the estate was still open for visitors, so we decided to go inside. This was after my mom asked one of the garden employees which movie was being filmed. She told us it was called "Frostbite". I personally thought that this was an odd title for what seemed to be a war film. :p
We went inside the gallery and admired yet another amazing collection of fine art. In one of the rooms we saw paintings of the Spencer family. If you're English like us, then you know that the late Princess Diana is from this family. I am very interested in finding out how the Huntington Library procured portraits of Princess Diana's ancestors. While we were in this room I noticed that I could see the movie being filmed through the mesh cover on the windows. I saw the director and a large camera and a communist era flag. O___o Frostbite....right.
Walking around this estate we also saw a lot of portraits by famous English painter George Romney. We left the gallery to visit another day and walked along the back of the house where a balcony/patio area was located. The film crew had set up here and had started to film a new scene. We noticed that a few bystanders stopped to watch. Given that there was a large film crew that did not ask them to leave, we decided to watch the movie action as well. It was very nice of them to let us stand there quietly to observe. Yes, we were watched by this security-looking fellow. haha This was an exciting experience because I have never watched the filming of a movie before. By this time I had forgotten about MIT decisions again only to be reminded by my mom later (I am humbled by all the people that want me to go to MIT. I get asked several times a day by everyone I know if I was accepted yet hahaha).
As we looked on from an allowed distance, the director asked everyone for quiet on the set and yelled "action!". The scene focused on a man in a suit telling a seated audience of WW2-looking extras that he was awarding a medal to his close friend. This was the moment that we realized that the title "Frostbite" was a ploy to stop fans from rushing the set because the actor yelled "Captain America!!" as the recipient of this medal. That's right folks....we were watching the filming of the new super hero movie "Captain America". Know what else? The person who was speaking was Tommy Lee Jones. How friggin awesome is that? My Spring Break was officially made complete today!
So that was really how my time away from MIT decisions was spent. I say it was a rather fine day indeed! :D
Side view of the scene I watched. I was in the back of the actual set (click to enlarge):
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1 comments:
It was so neat to see your commentary on the botanical gardens. We were inside the building as Tommy Lee was walking toward the podium to make his speech. A man told us, earlier in the day, that the film was called "Frostbite" too. It was a great and fun addition to our visit to the Huntington Botanical Gardens. :D
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