Magical Mystery Tour Union Canal Part Deux

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Celestine Sample we got from Skip.

On November 17th the intrepid travelers completed an investigation into the canal which once connected Reading to Middletown which they began over a year ago. The stops included an investigation into the geology of Pennsylvania and beyond and treasures hidden away in basement caves. The following links help guide us.

Magical Mystery Tour – Princeton

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Jolene attempts to buy a hot dog from one of the non-abstract sculptures on the trip

It was a Special Edition tour where our significant others were invited along and it wasn’t even a Monday!!! So we had our pick of “closed Monday” locations and traveled to Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey and just a few points of interest besides. Unfortunately while still one person up from usual trips we were only at 2/3 of what was planned since last minute circumstances prevented Craig and Sue from attending. Hard telling what additional trouble we may have gotten in with Craig’s camera and comments added. Anyways, we visited, in the following order:

Magical Mystery Tour – Boyertown

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24 hour Bait Shop in Boyertown!

It was a wet, but enjoyable trip with light rain and mist most of the time, but not enough to dampen spirits. We visited:

In Boyertown we saw:

In and around Pottstown we visited:

 

Maker Faire NY Followup Part II

IMG_3196First of all if you didn’t make it to the 2013 NY Maker Faire plan to go September 20 and/or 21 in 2014. You can even come with us one of those days. I hope to get a van or bus together again probably on the 20th. Email me for details as they unfold.

Secondly even if you weren’t there you couldn’t catch everything, so here’s a second chance at it:

Watch video presentations from the Innovation Stage here.

Or the Live Stage here.

Maker Faire NY Followup

The Robot and I wore red.

The Robot and I wore red.

Here are some highlights from World Maker Faire New York 2013:

  • More than 75,000 attendees visited the event — an increase of 36% over 2012
  • Over 650 makers and presenters shared their projects, inventions, and creations
  • More than 38% of makers were first-time exhibitors
  • 56% of attendees were first-time visitors to the Faire
  • U.S. attendees came from 46 of the 50 states; others represented 40 countries from across the globe
  • More than 750 students and 100 teachers visited World Maker Faire onThursday, September 19, for Education Day and the Teachers meet-up to learn more about making and to witness the inner workings involved in creating World Maker Faire
  • New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed the second annual “Maker Week,” September 16-20, in honor of World Maker Faire
  • Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) announced new legislation to create a grant program supporting STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) proficiency for girls, minorities, and economically disadvantaged youth
  • World Maker Faire saw a 60% increase in cardboard diversion and 35% increase in diverted food waste compost collected through the efforts of GrowNYC, Build It Green!NYC, and NYC Compost Project Local Organics Recovery Program (a program hosted by Build It Green!NYC). Build it Green!NYC also arranged to haul away leftover materials and structures from the Faire exhibits. Overall 11,057 lbs of items were diverted from the landfill this year.

Platen Press Museum in Zion Illinois

golding-rotary-officialNot that I get in the area much, but would love to visit this museum. In lieu of getting on a plane and going there you can view a slideshow of many types (pun intended) of letterpresses in this guy’s collection. There ARE actually some models I could fit in my basement… or my pocket for that matter.

If you find you HAVE to see one in the flesh come on down to the corner of Oak and Main in Ephrata, PA on a Saturday morning between 9 am and noon and we might even let you take one for a spin.

Check it out at the Platen Press Museum.