Seattle SF museum


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A Thing of Eternity
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Seattle SF museum

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

Just got back from a weekend trip down to Seattle to see the Lucy exhibit (very cool by the way) and me and my girl also checked out the Science Fiction museum, which was way better than what I was expecting. It focused a lot on the literature instead of the film, and there were tonnes of cool vintage and rare books on display. I kept wandering around thinking where the F is Dune? I see the White Plague, but no Dune?. I wandered into the SF Hall of Fame area, where they had a nice video talking about the importance of Frank Herbert that people could play, one of only I think 6 such videos, pretty cool. It had some commentary by Bill Ransom - he's a lot younger than I expected... and looks like he gets fashion advice from Elton John. :wink: One the downside - there was some BS from Bri-Bri also in the video.

There was also a kinda neat globe that would light up and become different SF planets depending on what button was pushed, Arrakis was one of them.

I eventually found Dune, there was a really huge display unit full of Dune stuff: a stillsuit, some art, and a first edition hardcover. On the downside - there was also a copy of House Atreides in the display...

Lots of other cool stuff, I really thought it was going to be all ST and SW, but there was hardly any of that. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been.

Also - got a real kick out of being able to buy booze at the gas station! I thought that was a joke, didn't know you could actually just buy booze anywhere. Pretty funny. Everyone in Seattle was really nice and friendly, and traffic was very polite as well - coming from Vancouver I have to say that Seattle is (on the surface at least) a more polite place than Vancouver.
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Omphalos
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Post by Omphalos »

I love Seattle, and I spend a lot of time there. The museum is wonderful. Its attached to the Jimi Hendrix experience. Both were funded by Steve Allen, and it really shows.
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A Thing of Eternity
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Post by A Thing of Eternity »

That section was great too - lots of fantastic vintage guitars. I could realy live in Seattle, doesn't feel like a big "American" city at all. I couldn't believe how friendly all the people and drivers were, it really put Vancouver to shame.

The only bad thing was that the people above us in the hotel were banging shit around (loud as hell, I'm not talking about normal noises people make walking around a room) until 3 AM when I got pissed enough to talk to the hotel (for the third time) and they kicked them out of the hotel. Jerks. They had their warnings. :evil:

The other weird thing was that I got grilled super hard coming back into Canada (I was worried they were going to take our car apart...) but not when entering the US. Usually it's been the other way around. :?
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SimonH
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Post by SimonH »

A Thing of Eternity wrote: ..snip..
I could realy live in Seattle, doesn't feel like a big "American" city at all. I couldn't believe how friendly all the people and drivers were, it really put Vancouver to shame.
..snip..
Add to that, I've got a friend living there and he snowboards after work through the winter (slopes are lit until 10-11pm) - that sounds like heaven. But then I live in a country without world class snow :(
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Omphalos
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Post by Omphalos »

A Thing of Eternity wrote:The other weird thing was that I got grilled super hard coming back into Canada (I was worried they were going to take our car apart...) but not when entering the US. Usually it's been the other way around. :?
Musta been because of those nipple rings. :P

Seattle has a pretty small downtown that is walkable and has plenty to do. The problem is that the metro area is pretty big (sixty or so miles from Lynwood to Tacoma) and they seem to have a major malfunction about public transportation. Add that to only two bridges across Lake Washington and getting from one point to another can take some time.

Personally though I love the city and would move there in a heartbeat if I could take this job with me.
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Sole Man

Re: Seattle SF museum

Post by Sole Man »

A Thing of Eternity wrote: On the downside - there was also a copy of House Atreides in the display...
WHAT?! HOW DARE THEY?!

That's it. I'm overthrowing Brian, KJA, and the whole HLP. They had thier chance; now they will all die.

Not to mention my personnel vendetta against Mr. Merrit...
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Kwisatz
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Re: Seattle SF museum

Post by Kwisatz »

I found today interesting connection between 3 of 4 this year inductees to SF Hall of Fame and FH:
http://www.empmuseum.org/exhibitions/in ... goryID=203" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Vincent di Fate - author of Dune covers
Harlan Ellison - for example co-author of Five Fates and Medea
Jean 'Moebius' Giraud - author of storyboards of Jodorowski's Dune

3 of my Moebius autographs taken personally 2 years ago in Poland:

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Sandwurm88
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Re: Seattle SF museum

Post by Sandwurm88 »

Wow, those pictures are pretty cool, I like Kynes especially. I went to Seattle a while ago, but I vividly remember the Rock n Roll Museum and the Sci-Fi museum. Even at that time, my two main interests were SF and Rock music so I was in Heaven, at both museums they had some pretty awesome interactive stuff: cool videos at the SF museum, and tutorials of how to play simple songs like Louie Louie and Wild Thing on actual guitars, basses, and drums at the rock museum. Pretty damn cool. Sorry to hear about the KJA/BH book in the Dune section though...
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Kwisatz
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Re: Seattle SF museum

Post by Kwisatz »

More Moebius designs here: http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/moebius/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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merkin muffley
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Re: Seattle SF museum

Post by merkin muffley »

Those Moebius, Jodorowsky concepts are totally bizarre, but I like them.
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JustSomeGuy
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Re: Seattle SF museum

Post by JustSomeGuy »

A Thing of Eternity wrote:there was some BS from Bri-Bri also in the video.
What did he have to say?
A Thing of Eternity wrote:there was also a copy of House Atreides in the display...
After all this time, reading something like that can bring up all the old hate feelings in me. It starts with this building-up of pressure in the chest area...
It's best not to think about it too much.
I bring nothing to the table.
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A Thing of Eternity
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Re: Seattle SF museum

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

JustSomeGuy wrote:
A Thing of Eternity wrote:there was some BS from Bri-Bri also in the video.
What did he have to say?
A Thing of Eternity wrote:there was also a copy of House Atreides in the display...
After all this time, reading something like that can bring up all the old hate feelings in me. It starts with this building-up of pressure in the chest area...
It's best not to think about it too much.
I know, it's depressing. To be fair though, an exhibit on Dune wouldn't be complete without mentioning the "continuation" by KJABH, and there was very very little nu-Dune content there, it was really just a footnote.

I don't remember at all what BH said, just some stuff about his dad I think, nothing memorable. At least there's no KJA in there!
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Re: Seattle SF museum

Post by trang »

Pacific northwest is one area of country I haven't made it to yet, and want to. I haven't been ANYWHERE in like forever, that would be a good weekender. See Sci-fi Museum, get boozed up, stealth in and remove House Abomination from the exhibit, stealth back out of town:)

Wonder what the HeinLein or Silverberg collection might be like if there is one for them. Wonder if there is a Jules Verne or HG Wells?
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merkin muffley
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Re: Seattle SF museum

Post by merkin muffley »

trang wrote:Pacific northwest is one area of country I haven't made it to yet, and want to. I haven't been ANYWHERE in like forever, that would be a good weekender. See Sci-fi Museum, get boozed up, stealth in and remove House Abomination from the exhibit, stealth back out of town:)

Wonder what the HeinLein or Silverberg collection might be like if there is one for them. Wonder if there is a Jules Verne or HG Wells?
I did a spontaneous trip to Seattle a few years ago and went to that museum. I loved both halves of it, music (they were featuring Bob Dylan, which was amazing) and Sci-Fi. I'm sure I remember Heinlein, Silverberg, Jules Verne, and HG Wells all being there. On the way out of the museum I remember filling out a survey and requesting more Frank Herbert.
"I must admit, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor...."
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