Results tagged “Events” from Intelligent Travel Blog

There's so much going on here at National Geographic headquarters that it's hard for us to keep track. Here's a roundup of events happening in November.

Terra Cotta Warriors, National Geographic Museum
Our eagerly anticipated special exhibition opens November 19 at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC, and will run through March 31, 2010. The crated warriors arrived the other night and the museum staff is getting the statues in place right now. Timed tickets are required and they're going fast. You can buy them here. Save your ticket stub to get 20% off in our newly redesigned and expanded National Geographic Store.  For directions on how to get to the museum, click here.

Glimpse Correspondents Program
If you plan on working, studying, or volunteering abroad, apply for the Glimpse Correspondents Program. Each semester, the Glimpse Foundation picks a team of talented young writers and photographers between the ages of 18 and 34 and rewards them with a $600 stipend, career training in writing or photography, and publishes their work on Glimpse.org. All entries are due by November 8.

National Geographic Expeditions
Want to go on a warm-weather trip? National Geographic Expeditions is hosting a free online webinar on Monday, November 9 at 8 p.m. about its upcoming expeditions to Costa Rica and the Panama Canal. To register for the webinar click here, or learn more about the expedition here. Best of all, those who book a trip between January 1 and March 31, 2010 will get a $500 airfare credit.

National Geographic Image Collection
Stop by our DC headquarters and take a stroll around our courtyard to see LED lightboxes showcasing some of the best (and some never-before seen) National Geographic photography. The exhibit is free to the public, and is based on our new book, National Geographic Image Collection (hint: makes a great present!). A video preview of the book is here.  The New York Times recently profiled Bill Bonner here, the keeper of our photo archives, which contains more than 11.5 million images. 

National Geographic Channel
Admit it: you love IKEA and all of its fashionable, cheap goodness. On November 5 at 8 p.m., National Geographic Channel's Ultimate Factories series takes viewers inside IKEA's largest plant in Zbaszynek, Poland, and shows just how IKEA makes its wood furniture.   Here's a video preview of the show.

All Roads Film Project
On November 4, the Society will hold a special screening of Unconquered: Allan Houser and the Legacy of one Apache Family, a documentary about Native American art and traditions. There will be a discussion with the director, producer, and Allan Houser following the screening. Tickets are $8.

National Geographic Traveler Seminars
Our fall-winter schedule is available now, and lists one-day seminars in travel photography taught by National Geographic photographers. The next seminar is December 6 in Seattle, with our lively team of Jim Richardson and Catherine Karnow, who share with you their secrets on how to make photos "that tell a story."  Video preview here. For more info and online registration, click here.

Last night, Amy Tan helped launch our new "Journeys" series of live conversations with great writers at National Geographic headquarters here in D.C. The bestselling author of such books as The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen's God's Wife, and most recently, Saving Fish From Drowning, was gracious, funny, and inspiring. (And a fabulous dresser!) The sold-out crowd enjoyed the wide-ranging, often intimate discussion she had with Traveler contributing editor and book reviewer Don George. Some highlights:

• She wrote The Joy Luck Club in four months.

• She's working on her next novel, which was inspired by the remote Chinese village she visited and wrote about for National Geographic Magazine's May 2008 issue.

• Her mother's voice is a constant in her writings--The Kitchen God's Wife was inspired by her mother's story and the dead tour-guide narrator of Saving Fish From Drowning stemmed from a dream she had of her mother after her death: "All the things that I used to find annoying [about my mother], I now find charming."

• Her inspiration for books usually stems from a vivid image of a specific place: for The Joy Luck Club it was Guilin.

• How has her writing helped her grow and change? "I write to discover that; with each book I learn something new about myself."

This was also the first Twitter-friendly event the Society has sponsored, so to learn more about what people thought of the talk, and to get a glimpse of some of what was discussed you can search for #amytannglive. For upcoming events and more news from the Society, be sure to follow @NatGeoScoop.

The next speaker in the series is Simon Winchester, author of The Man Who Loved China and The Professor and the Madman, and editor of the 2009 edition of Best American Travel Writing. He'll be coming to National Geographic on October 15, 2009. Click here for more information and to buy tickets. For more inspiring travel reads, check in each month for Don George's Trip Lit column, or browse our Ultimate Travel Library.

Photo: Amy Tan and Don George in conversation, by Andrew Evans.

The Duke Ellington Jazz Festival is in full swing here in D.C. this week, with over 100 performances in 35 venues around the city. This year's festival celebrates the music of New Orleans, and has a roster of artists -- Harry Connick Jr., Buckwheat Zydeco, Trombone Shorty -- that would make any jazz-hound swoon. While the huge, talent-packed event at the Kennedy Center this coming Monday is sold out, they'll be plenty of (free!) jazz performances on The Mall this weekend, and restaurants and clubs throughout D.C. are hosting acts as part of Jazz in the Hoods. I spoke with the festival's founder, Charles Fishman, yesterday about the events, and in the spirit of jazz, he riffed a bit with me about how it's come together.

"The first year we did three concerts and had programs in 11 different clubs, this year we have over 100 performances in 35 different venues in the city. Jazz in the Hood is going into restaurants, clubs, hotels, and galleries. Some of these places do jazz, but many of them don't. It's pretty overwhelming -- people keep calling us and saying they want to be involved. Working with all these clubs, it's very encouraging to see what the response has been.

"Jazz is the one of the only original American art forms. You need to expose people to jazz: They hardly hear it on the radio, they never see it on television, and the record studios aren't doing diddly squat. These festivals are becoming a force.

"To have two full days on the National Mall for such renowned musicians from New Orleans is an amazing opportunity. I think we're the first jazz festival to dedicate our festival to another city. With the exception of our artistic advisor - everybody is from New Orleans. Essentially we're offering a virtual microcosmic cornucopia of the diversity of the musical heritage of New Orleans, which has driven American culture. But unfortunately, many immortal jazz artists are more appreciated out of this country than in this country."

Fishman encourages anyone coming into D.C. this weekend to make their way to The Mall, and be sure to check out U Street, where much of the city's jazz history is found. As our interview/jam session ended, I thanked him for his time. "That's what we do, we jazz baby," he said with a laugh.

[Duke Ellington Jazz Festival; Schedule of Events]

Photo: Duke Ellington Jazz Festival

Next week is an auspicious event for beer lovers everywhere: American Craft Beer Week, which runs from May 11-17 and serves as a "national celebration highlighting the culture and contributions of craft beer." Freda Moon got a head start this past weekend, and offers up some other great places to snag a beer and celebrate.

An all-day downpour wasn't enough to keep a record crowd of 5,500 beer lovers from last Saturday's 13th Annual Legendary Boonville Beer Fest. Arriving en masse and in costume for the pirate-themed event, attendees paid $50 a person for four hours of all-you-can-drink access to over 100 beers from 43 craft breweries around the United States. Each was equipped with a five-ounce tasting glass and set loose to drink, dance and frolic in the mud at Mendocino County's fairgrounds in Boonville, Calif.

The festival, a fundraiser for local charities hosted by Anderson Valley Brewing Company, draws both connoisseurs and casual beer drinkers, people who come to taste and those that come to guzzle. Some arrived prepared for the festival's theme and Northern California's weather, wearing elaborate pirate garb or full-body rain gear. Many wore specialized glass holders around their necks to ensure they wouldn't break their irreplaceable, and therefore sacred, tasting glass. (The sound of one of these glasses breaking evokes a roaring, humiliating--if good-natured--howl from the beer fest crowd.) Others donned more eclectic ensembles, combinations of wigs, unicycles, kilts, star-shaped sunglasses and beer stickers on cheeks and foreheads. Because it was raining and the beer was flowing, a handful of participants paraded in nothing but mud and mud-covered skivvies.

Chris O'Toole reminds us that even if you can't make it to the Kentucky Derby this weekend, you can still go "out to pasture" and see champion stallions any time of the year.

Attention job hunters: If you're an experienced racehorse with a few million in winnings under your saddle, consider a second career in bluegrass country. In Lexington, Kentucky, the track superstars of past Kentucky Derbies extend their rich-and-famous life style, earning six-figure stud fees as they sire future champions. Aside from the obvious romantic perks, they get to retire in the prettiest part of the state. There's plenty of that famous fodder, and the local limestone supplies shimmering ponds of pure drinking water, used by humans to make bourbon and by racehorses to make strong bones. Want to visit Big Brown, Smarty Jones, and other legendary thoroughbreds? Come on down.
 
At Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Jen Roytz leads groups through barns with mahogany stalls more elegant than my first apartment (recall the horse-breeding scene in Tom Wolfe's A Man in Full and you've got it right). The reservation-only tours continue through 1,500 acres, where each stallion has a private pasture.
 
At Three Chimneys, horse breeding is ultra-serious business; top stud Dynaformer commands a $150,000 fee for his services. (Don't even think about petting his nose.) But drive scenic Old Frankfort Pike towards the city to the state-owned Kentucky Horse Park for plenty of kid-friendly attractions. Fifteen thousand horses compete annually at this year-round equine center, and daily public events include a Parade of Champions of past racing stars, horse-drawn tours, mare and foal shows and an excellent little museum. You can even camp on site. Just watch your step. 
 
Photo: A mare and her foal in the spring at Three Chimneys Farm, by Lee Thomas

Abraham Lincoln has been all over the news lately. The media drew parallels galore between Lincoln and Obama: Both thin men of humble origins, each served Illinois for one term in Congress before becoming president. Both our 16th and our 44th presidents arrived by whistle-stop train tour for their celebrated inaugurations; the same bible swore each into office; and both rally their fractious nation through masterful stagecraft as talented orators.

Beyond the Lincoln/Obama comparisons, of course, Lincoln is in the news as it's his 200th birthday this Thursday, February 12th. The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission has assembled a great website that compiles heaps of commemorative and celebratory events around the U.S. as well as trivia quizzes, background on Lincoln, and even resources for teachers to bring Lincoln into their classrooms.

IT's browsed the Lincoln Bicentennial site and below, share some of the events that caught our eye, starting with our dear District and moving out throughout the country.

Events in Washington, DC

See the Emancipation Proclamation with your own eyes at the National Archives from Thursday through Monday, 2/16. If you swing by on Monday, 2/16, you can also see Senator McGovernor discuss and sign copies of his new book, Abraham Lincoln.

Kids will enjoy interactive events Monday, 2/16, from 9 a.m -3 p.m., at the White House Visitor Center's "President for a Day," where they can chat with Lincoln and craft their own correspondence with quill and ink.

On Thursday at noon, a reading of the Gettysburg Address and performances of 19th-century music will follow a wreath-laying ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial.

The Kennedy Center will host a choral festival of 350 voices to celebrate Lincoln, Monday, 2/16, at 2 pm. Tickets are $10.

The site of John Wilkes Booth's assassination of Lincoln on April 14, 1865, Ford's Theatre reopens after an extensive 18-month renovation. On Thursday from 9 a.m. -5 p.m., the theatre will host a full schedule of speakers, performances, and activities to commemorate Lincoln's life and presidency. Students will read his speeches and a brass band will play Civil War-era hits. The Heavens Were Hung in Black, a play detailing Lincoln's struggles in 1862, premieres.

The National Gallery of Art will screen a documentary about the Shaw Memorial, Saint-Gaudens' sculpture commemorating the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, one of the first African American regiments to serve in the Civil War.

Learn about Lincoln's dramatic death and the doctors who attended to him in his final hours at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. See bone fragments and clumps of hair from his fatal wound. This special exhibit runs through the end of December, 2009.

Stop by President Lincoln's Cottage, his family's home during the summers of the Civil War, at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Northwest DC. Check out its full range of Lincolniana