Smithsonian.com

Anansi the Impossibe by Verna Aardema

Friday, January 2: Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride
Before Thelma and Louise, there was Amelia and Eleanor. That’s right. Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt. Based on a little-known event, these two strong-willed women slip away from a formal dinner party for some good, clean, high-flying fun. After a reading of Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride, kids will be able to participate in an art activity. Free. Air and Space Museum, 11 AM.

And as if I need to state the obvious: an airplane can clear a canyon MUCH better than a 1966 Thunderbird convertible.

Saturday, January 3: Anansi Does the Impossible! An Ashanti Tale
When I was a kid, one of my absolute favorite picture books was A Story A Story, which told the tale of how Anansi the Spider Man performs feats of death-defying skill in order to win back the stories the Sky God stole from his people. That said, I am very pleased to see that this story lives on in this latest retelling by Verna Aardema, which will be read aloud for young and eager ears. Free. National Museum of African Art, 11 AM-12 Noon.

Sunday, January 4: Art a la Cart
You know you want to touch the artworks on the museum walls. (Heck, one time I accidentally set off the alarms at SAAM because I couldn’t tell where the floor ended and the art installation began.) People just like to interact with pretty things, right? If you’re between the ages 7 and 12, come out to the American Art Museum for some hands-on fun that will curb your curiosities in a socially acceptable manner. Hands-on activities are available for your eager mitts, allowing you to explore the world of art on a whole new level. For everyone outside of this age bracket, go elsewhere and take a pottery class. Free. Repeats the first Sunday of every month. American Art Museum, 1-4 PM.

Portrait of Stephen Colbert, courtesy of National Museum of American History

10. Recession buster! Can’t make it to Cabo this year? Put on your flip-flops and floral print shirts and enter the Smithsonian’s very own tropical oasis, the Butterfly Pavilion at the National Museum of Natural History. It promises 95 degrees F and 80 percent humidity.

9. Prepare a Smithsonian-wide scavenger hunt for your kids, nieces or nephews with clues leading to treasures like Dorothy’s ruby slippers, a giant squid and the Wright Flyer.

8. After seeing Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, opening May 22, try to retrace the steps Ben Stiller must have made in filming it.

7. Enter the National Museum of American History’s National Anthem singing contest on YouTube, which will launch in February, for a chance to win a trip to DC and the opportunity to perform your rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” on Flag Day, June 14.

6. Eat a meal from every region—Northern Woodlands, South America, Northwest Coast, Meso America and the Great Plains—featured at the National Museum of the American Indian’s café.

5. Sleep over at the Smithsonian National Zoo through its Snore & Roar program. How many people can say they’ve camped out next to a lion’s den? Check this out.

4. Enter a kite in the 43^rd Annual Smithsonian Kite Festival on March 28, 2009. Just make sure its bridle is on the right way. I speak from experience. And, speaking of festivals on the National Mall, go to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which runs June 24-28 and July 1-5.

3. Meet Secretary Clough, the Smithsonian Institution’s new Secretary as of 2008—even if it’s just through reading ATM blogger Beth Py-Lieberman’s interview with him.

2. Attempt a Stephen Colbert-esque quest to get your portrait in a Smithsonian museum. (You didn’t hear it here!) Or, at least, take a snapshot with his portrait (above), which now hangs next to Dumbo the Flying Elephant on the National Museum of American History’s third floor.

1. Propose to your girlfriend in front of the Hope Diamond in the National Museum of Natural History. Tell her that you wanted to get her the 45.52 carat blue diamond, but the museum just wouldn’t part with it.

Edison's light bulb, courtesy of National Museum of American History

On New Year’s Eve 1879, after toiling in his laboratory for over a year, Thomas Alva Edison unveiled his electric light bulb to the public in his hometown of Menlo Park, New Jersey. The very bulb is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Twenty-eight years later, also on New Year’s Eve, a young metalworker by the name of Jacob Starr took one hundred 25-watt light bulbs (thanks to Edison) and fashioned them onto an iron and wood ball, five feet in diameter and weighing 700 pounds. He attached the ball to a flagpole atop One Times Square in Manhattan, and at the stroke of midnight, to the cheers of partiers in the street, his invention—the New Year’s Eve Ball—dropped. A tradition was born.

Think of how far we’ve come. This year’s New Year’s Eve Ball, which doubles the size of previous Balls, will be adorned with 32,256 Philips Luxeon Rebel LEDs and 2,668 Waterford Crystals and weigh 11,875 pounds. Apparently, the amount of energy consumed by the lights, which in combination with the crystals can cast more than 16 million colors and billions of patterns, isn’t all that exorbitant. They say it’s equivalent to the energy per hour it takes to use two ovens.

Players get a lesson in forensics at the Natural History Museum

The long-awaited finale to our ARG saga is online! For those who don’t know, ARG’s are “alternate reality games”—a hybrid of mystery stories and online gaming—popular with new media marketers and online communities.

A few months ago the Smithsonian American Art Museum became the nation’s first major museum to sponsor an ARG (always on the edge of the envelope, the Smithsonian). Curators scattered a trail of clues for players to piece together. In addition to their online clue-gathering, gamers gleaned hints through top-secret tours of cemeteries and underground laboratories.

I got to play along. Read the resulting story, which has more information about ARGs and about how I helped save the Smithsonian from a ghostly invasion. See pictures of skeletons, chapels and other clues, here. Or go here to test your wits by trying to solve the mystery yourself.

Georgina Goodlander, curator and clue-master, guest blogged about the ARG over at Museum 2.0. She said it was a success and sponsored “engagement” with the Museum. How else can a Museum become web-savvy?

(Photo courtesy of Georgina Goodlander)

Celebration (1975) by Charles Searles. American Art Museum

Monday, December 29: Kwanzaa: A Musical Tribute

The sounds of the holiday season are many and multifaceted, so come hear The Sounds of Awareness put on a Kwanzaa mini-concert. Free, but reservations required. Call 202-633-4844 to reserve your spot. Anacostia Community Museum, 11:00 AM.

Tuesday, December 30: Reruns

Happy Holidays! American Popular Holiday Songs, 1941-1945 repeats (previously covered here) repeats today. Free, American History Museum, 11 AM, 1 PM, 3 PM and 4 PM.

ZooLights (previously covered here) also repeats. Tickets required. See past blog post for rates. National Zoo, 6-8:30 PM.

Wednesday, December 31: Kwanzaa Family Workshop

Artist Wanda Aikens is on deck to teach you how to make scented and edible items for the holiday as a means to learn about the principle of Kuumba (creativity). Free, but reservations are required. Call 202-633-4844 to reserve your spot. Anacostia Museum, 10:00 AM.

Thursday, January 1: Happy New Year!

Nothing special is scheduled for today, but the museums (and gift shops) are open and waiting for you!

Friday, January 2: Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride
Before Thelma and Louise, there was Amelia and Eleanor. That’s right. Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt. Based on a little-known event, these two strong-willed women slip away from a formal dinner party for some good, clean, high-flying fun. After a reading of Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride, kids will be able to participate in an art activity. Free. Air and Space Museum, 11 AM.

And as if I need to state the obvious: an airplane can clear a canyon MUCH better than a 1966 Thunderbird convertible.

Saturday, January 3: Anansi Does the Impossible! An Ashanti Tale
When I was a kid, one of my absolute favorite picture books was A Story A Story, which told the tale of how Anansi the Spider Man performs feats of death-defying skill in order to win back the stories the Sky God stole from his people. That said, I am very pleased to see that this story lives on in this latest retelling by Verna Aardema, which will be read aloud for young and eager ears. Free. National Museum of African Art, 11 AM-12 Noon.

Sunday, January 4: Art a la Cart
You know you want to touch the artworks on the museum walls. (Heck, one time I accidentally set off the alarms at SAAM because I couldn’t tell where the floor ended and the art installation began.) People just like to interact with pretty things, right? If you’re between the ages 7 and 12, come out to the American Art Museum for some hands-on fun that will curb your curiosities in a socially acceptable manner. Hands-on activities are available for your eager mitts, allowing you to explore the world of art on a whole new level. For everyone outside of this age bracket, go elsewhere and take a pottery class. Free. Repeats the first Sunday of every month. American Art Museum, 1-4 PM.

Some serious bling: The Hope Diamond at the Natural History Museum

Friday, December 26: Holiday Celebration at National Museum of the American Indian

It’s a jam-packed day of festivities at the National Museum of the American Indian!

Father and Son Storytelling (3rd level, Resource Center, 11 AM and 1 PM)

Owen and Lyle James share present Native stories passed down through the generations.

Music and Dance Performance (1st level, Potomac Atrium, 12 Noon, 2 PM, and 3:30 PM)

Mele Kalikimaka one and all! (OK, so that’s not bona-fide Hawaiian for “Merry Christmas”—but gosh darn it, it’s fun to say!) Come out and see Halau O’Aulani perform classic and contemporary dances from the Hawaiian islands.

Films (Rasmuson Theater, 12:30 PM and 3:30 PM)

“Christmas at Moose Factory” explores the holiday traditions of an old settlement on the shore of James Bay through the eyes of a child.

“Wapos Bay” is a Canadian stop-motion animated television series set in Saskatchewan. In this episode, “A Time to Learn,” young Talon must deal with piles of schoolwork and missing sled dogs before he can go out with his father to learn the family tradition of going out on the trapline.

All events are free. National Museum of the American Indian. Continues Dec. 27 & 28

Saturday, December 27: Kwanzaa Stories at the Anacostia Community Museum,

The Honorable Baba C and Tomorrow’s Voices will teach you about this seven day festival by way of storytelling and music. Free, but reservations are required. To make a reservation, call 202-633-4844. Anacostia Museum, 11:00.

Sunday, December 28: National Museum of Natural History—Extended Hours!

That’s right—you get to hang out at one of the most popular museums on the mall for a few more hours! The Natural History Museum will be open from 10:00 A.M. to 7:30 P.M. through January 3.

Glenn Crider and the holiday stamps, courtesy of Glenn Crider

Meet the real-life Herr Drosselmeyer. Glenn Crider of Mechanicsville, Virginia, like the famed godfather in The Nutcracker story, is a clockmaker turned toymaker, known especially for his custom-made nutcrackers (and, on special occasions, to rock festive suspenders from his lederhosen). Crider says he is one of four nutcracker craftsmen in the United States and “the only guy that will do it from A to Z,” meaning that he does both the artistic and mechanical work involved—designing the figures from their hair color to accessories, cutting and fitting the wooden parts together and painting their eyes and other intricate details.

It was for his expertise that the United States Postal Service commissioned him to make four nutcrackers, which New Milford, Connecticut-based photographer Sally Andersen-Bruce shot for one of this year’s holiday stamp series.

The USPS first contacted Crider back in the spring of 2006 to see if he would be interested in the project. “I said, ‘Oh yeah, I’m interested in about a nanosecond!’” says the artist.

He provided them some sketches by July and was working on the nutcrackers by August. Typically, it takes Crider about two or three days to make an original, and he enlists some help from his father and ten part-time elves who work for his toy company T.R.C. Designs. But he spent a month perfecting the foot-tall drummer boy, king, Santa and soldier nutcrackers for the USPS. A year went by before he received confirmation that they would definitely be released in stamp form. This past October he was in New York City to unveil them at the Mega Stamp Show (who knew there was such a thing?) for this holiday season.

Crider, who makes duplicates of all his nutcrackers for his personal collection, has amassed over 400 originals, ranging in size from one inch to four feet, since he fiddled with his clock-making tools and taught himself the old-style, German toy-making tradition in 1983. He has designed nutcrackers for several ballet companies around the country and even a John Smith commemorative figurine for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown in May 2007 made from a scrap wood from the replica of the ship Susan Constant docked in the James River. “[But] By far this is the most interesting,” says Crider. “It’s a life-changing event.”

The four nutcrackers, stamps and large graphic blowups of the stamps, on loan from the USPS, are on display in the Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s Franklin Foyer through January 7. Out-of-towners, keep your eyes peeled on incoming Christmas cards.

Image from Smithsonianchannel.com

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He’s a man of a thousand faces and a hundred and one aliases. But just who is this guy who annually breaks into our homes to leave us presents? The Smithsonian Channel’s new program, “In Search of Santa Claus”, tries to detangle the intricate web of Santa Claus lore, beginning with Saint Nicholas of Myra and culminating with the modern incarnations of the jolly old soul.

Believe me, it’s easier trying to bait this guy with cookies and steal a peek at him on Christmas Eve than it is to figure out his life story.

Here’s all the verifiable information we have about the real-life Saint Nick: he was a popular fourth-century bishop of Myra. Yup, that’s about it. Leaves a lot to the imagination, doesn’t it? Well, that’s what happened.

Several legends developed around the man and his reputation as a philanthropist. One involved him saving kidnapped children from a butcher intending to serve them up to his customers. (Sounds like something from another story, yes?) Another has him giving a sack of gold each to three girls so that they might have a dowry to get married. (The universal emblem of pawnbrokers is sometimes said to have come from this legend.) The Saint Nicholas mythology snowballed as the figure became increasingly popular throughout Europe—where different regions had their own spin on the figure, adapting him into their own stories and legends—and later, the United States where he became a pop culture icon in the early 20th century.

Cultures throughout the Western World have their own variations on the Santa Claus story. What are some of the Santa stories that you’ve come to know and love?

“In Search of Santa Claus” will air on the Smithsonian Channel on December 24 at 1, 5, and 9 PM and on December 25 at 12:00 A.M. and then 12, 8 and 11 P.M. Preview video clips are available on their site.