PSA: Atlanta History Center events in November #FreeDay #DayoftheDead #Familyfun #DiaDeLosMuertos @AtlHistCenter

Join the Atlanta History Center on Sunday, November 2^nd, from noon to 5:00 pm for the annual celebration of Day of the Dead. It’s a free admission day, including access to the entire campus as well as festival activities. Enjoy authentic Mexican food, decorated altars honoring lost family and friends, and a full day of dance performances and artist demonstrations. More information HERE.

The Atlanta History Center’s newest temporary exhibition American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music opens on Saturday, November 15^th, with a full day of activities that celebrate Latin music and dance. This date also marks the beginning of the Ford Free Admission Weekends, held in conjunction with the American Sabor display. Guests can enjoy free admission on November 15^th and 16^th, December 13^th and 14^th, as well as January 17^th and 18^th courtesy of the Ford Motor Company Fund. More information about the exhibition and accompanying programs HERE.

Also this month, the Atlanta History Center hosts the Southeastern Indians Heritage Program on Saturday, November 22, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Visitors learn about the Southeastern Indians’ culture and history through demonstrations, activities, and discussions led by Native Americans. More information HERE.

Never forget the monthly programs designed with the younger history buffs in mind! Homeschool Day this month focuses on WWI and is held on Thursday, November 6^th, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. This month’s Magic Mondays, held on November 10^th from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, takes the little ones out to the farm where they help with preparing for the approaching winter months. More information HERE.

@FernbankMuseum opens Whales: The Giants of the Deep

I was invited to attend the opening of Fernbank Museum's new exhibit "Whales: The Giants of the Deep".  
Featuring a unique blend of science and culture, this interactive and critically-acclaimed exhibition is filled with whale songs, beautiful artifacts, enormous whale skeletons up to 58-feet-long, and unique experiences, including the opportunity to climb through a life-sized model of a whale heart that's as big as a car.

As with most of Fernbank's events, they had a lot on display and activities to do before you even entered the exhibit.  This was a NOAA display of a juvenile right whale.  The size was close to what would be expected of a 5year old whale.

This is a sample of one of the fossils on exhibit.

This is a Killer Whale skull.  There were several there to view so that you can get an idea of what the differences are.  There were samples of baleen whale skulls and baleen as well on exhibit.

In the history of whales and whaling, items were made from both the bones and the teeth of whales.  There was a gallery of items (some antique, some not as old) that displayed this.  This is a hair comb.

A necklace of whale teeth.

At the end is the opportunity to take a picture.  My daughter and I stopped long enough for this one.

There was quite a lot to see and do that I didn't get photos of.  There was a sound chamber where you could listen to the sounds that whales make. You could learn about echo location.  There was quite a bit on the evolution of whales.  From cast skeletons to interactive displays, there is plenty to occupy even the younger ones wandering through.

Of course, if you're visiting the Museum, you can't forget about the other exhibits.  The interactive displays upstairs to learn about science, the history of Georgia itself in the Walk Through Time, and of course the NatureQuest area.  You can preview most of that on Fernbank Museum's web site as well as get more information about IMAX and the travelling exhibit.

Cosplay and Conventions

Since I had some moms not recognize the term "cosplay", I thought I'd get my daughter to explain. Her definition was.. "Something fun to do. You get to dress up as people that don't exist and play your favorite character."

For me, it's just dressing up as a character from your favorite book/movie/video game, etc. I did it ages ago, back when Fantasy Fair was the "big convention" in town. Then there's the term "crosplay", which is basically a female dressing as a male character or vice versa. About half of the characters my daughter has shown me outfits for have been male characters, though many have female versions.

As to when it gets used, there are conventions in and around Atlanta (and in the US) that allow fans to indulge themselves. One upcoming convention is MomoCon (coming May 2014). Another is Anime Weekend Atlanta (just occured in August, coming back in 2014), you can see my series of posts about that here. There are other big ones, like Dragon Con which is just too big for me to get to. There are smaller versions that I'm still finding out about, like Hallowcon (Dalton) and Sukoshi Con (Athens). I'm sure there's a good resource available for finding them all, but the best way I've seen is to just network in.

Here's a basic list of some of the cons I've heard about:

Walker Stalker Con - for the zombie/vampire/etc crowd
Dragon Con - very big event, draws a big crowd, lots of big guests
Momo Con - family friendly, hosts multiple events (gaming and otherwise) around town
Anime Weekend Atlanta - family friendly, very enjoyable
HallowCon - for the Halloween minded (zombie/etc)
Sukoshi Con - small event, mostly gaming

For a more extensive list, you can check out upcomingcons.com