An American legend is to get its own museum. Just in time for the 105th anniversary of the famous motorcycle's birth, the Harley-Davidson Museum is set to open on July 12, 2008, with tickets going on sale May 20, 2008.
Located in Milwaukee, USA, exhibits include a bike from each of Harley's 105 years of production, together with Harley bicycles, snowmobiles and even golf carts. Raiding the company's vast archives, the museum has been able to fashion exhibits featuring customised motorcycles, clothing, photos, posters, promotional materials and magazines. Read a full review from Rick Barrett.
An eye popping and mind blowing exhibition of antiquities, 'Roman Art from the Louvre', opens on Thursday, February 21, 2008 at the Seattle Art Museum and runs through May 11, 2008.
The exhibition is a sample of the collection held at the French Louvre, said to be the largest collection of Roman art in the world outside of Italy. 'Roman Art from the Louvre' features nearly 200 objects and takes up the entire fourth floor in the south wing of the Seattle Art Museum.
Jim Dietrick claims Pinball is as representative of American culture as baseball and apple pie. In an effort to highlight the historical and cultural significance of the pinball machine, he and fellow Pinball enthusiast Michael Schiess, have collaborated on the Pacific Pinball Exposition to be held in San Rafael, California, October 5-7, 2007.
The show features hundreds of vintage machines and amusement devices from around 1800 to 2007 Hundreds of pinball machines will be set on free play for attendees to play and enjoy and there will be several rare, antique pinball machines from the 1930s and earlier on display. Exhibits will illustrate the history of pinball, the science and physics of pinball, the evolution of the game and its mechanisms. Free seminars will also be offered on how to buy and setup a pinball machine, electromechanical and electronic pinball troubleshooting and restoration, and the secrets of pinball wizardry.
All profits will go into building a permanent museum for pinball in the USA, the Neptune Beach Amusement Museum, focused on teaching art, history, and science through pinball and other amusement machines.
Today's end of week video has been especially chosen for all you rail and steam enthusiasts. It is a rail journey on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, posted by David and it even features a cameo appearance by Thomas the Tank Engine. The North Yorkshire Moors Heritage Railway runs through the heart of England's North Yorkshire Moors National Park, between Pickering, a busy market town and Grosmont, a genuine 1950s railway junction where you can take a break in the station cafe, visit the engine sheds and view steam locomotives under restoration. On route, trains call at Goathland village, which is the setting for the television series, Heartbeat and Levisham, which is known for a beautiful forest drive and walking trails.
Different timetables operate throughout the year but on many days it is possible to get a connection to the historic port of Whitby. there is a full autumn program in place and they are already taking bookings for 'Santa Specials'. Enthusiast may be interested to know that the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Heritage Society also run various 'Footplate Courses'.
This video runs for nearly eight minutes, so on a slow connection you may need to click play and then leave it to download for ten minutes before clicking replay, in order to obtain uninterrupted viewing.
Summer tourists to France often take the opportunity to learn more about wine and many head for the beautiful Haut-Médoc region. Every year, more than 10,000 visitors tour the winery and the cellars of Domaines Bouteiller, which is just 45 minutes from Bordeaux on the Route des Châteaux, between Cussac-Fort-Médoc and Saint-Julien.
Several educational and gourmet tours are offered, and the estate also caters for children. Another award winning attraction to be found on the estate is the superb Horse Museum, with horsedrawn carriages, a wash-house, tack room and truly luxurious stables. It is regarded as one of France's finest museums. École Internationale d'Attelage in Bordeaux will take you on a horsedrawn carriage tour of the Domaines Bouteiller vineyards and the layout of the estates, where naturally, you will be offered a tasting.
Writing in the Shanghai Daily, Michelle Qiao suggests two great musical shows for anyone in Shanghai during the May Day holiday. "Sound of Cloud Land", which is a true-to-life collection of primitive dance and songs of 18 ethnic groups of the province, celebrating nature, life and eternal love, and "Immortality" which is based on the recently unearthed Jinsha Relics, described as the greatest archaeological find of the 21st century.
The Jinsha ruins, discovered in 2001, were unearthed in a village in the Chengdu's suburbs of South Western China's Sichuan Province. This astonishing archaeological discovery revealed an undocumented civilization around 3,000 years old in the Shu kingdom. Buildings, jade articles, stone figures, gold foil, bronze articles and ivories were all unearthed, and the Jinsha Ruins Museum has been built on the site to display over 1000 precious relics.
