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The weekend so far . . .
Oct. 21st, 2006 09:50 pmFirst of all, forgive me if I've missed something important or not responded to your posts the last couple of days. I've been at a conference and you wouldn't believe how many pages of posts there were! So I've basically just skimmed the first couple of pages.
The conference was the semi-annual state Public Defender meeting, held in Springfield. It's much better attended now that we have a Continuing Legal Education requirement in Illinois! The topics were interesting and, for the most part, the speakers were good. And no Power Point presentations! Hurrah! The food at last night's banquet was good (especially the desserts) and the keynote speaker, an Appellate Court justice, mercifully short. Then we all repaired to the hospitality suite. Up early for a breakfast meeting of the Board. We voted to have the next conference at the same hotel. (It meets my criteria: big, fluffy towels and lots of pillows.)
The meetings wrapped up at noon, and so I hooked up with my friend, Sue, who recently moved to Springfield. She is, in fact, staying at the same hotel until she closes on her house (which, barring any further glitches in the closing, should be Monday). We had lunch and then went to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. I strongly recommend a visit if you are ever in Springfield. Although the Museum came under some criticism when it first opened as being too "Disneyfied", I think that's misplaced. Because, you see, although there's a lot of "multimedia" and special effects, it works.
You are taken through two "journeys": "The Pre-Presidential Years" and "The White House Years", going through galleries with dioramas, artifacts, etc.
One of the most interesting exhibits was what is called "The Civil War in Four Minutes". Sounds a bit silly, right? Wrong. Each week of the war is condensed to one second, and you can see on a map the battles and movement of the war. The importance of different battles becomes clear as you see how the lines change. And in one corner of the map you see the mounting toll of the dead on each side.
One of the displays is of castings of Lincoln's hands and two life-masks. One is permitted to touch these. It's spine-tingling to have that intimate connection, to feel that you are reaching through a century and a half of history to touch this great man. Then, as you move through the galleries, through the setting of Ford's Theatre and the funeral train, you reach a replica of the State House of Representatives and Lincoln's lying-in-state, and you cannot help but feel the solemnity, as if you were really there.
Here's a tidbit: 80% of the sales at the Museum Shop include a book! (And before you ask, yes, I did buy a book: http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?book=7609952&mode=card)
The conference was the semi-annual state Public Defender meeting, held in Springfield. It's much better attended now that we have a Continuing Legal Education requirement in Illinois! The topics were interesting and, for the most part, the speakers were good. And no Power Point presentations! Hurrah! The food at last night's banquet was good (especially the desserts) and the keynote speaker, an Appellate Court justice, mercifully short. Then we all repaired to the hospitality suite. Up early for a breakfast meeting of the Board. We voted to have the next conference at the same hotel. (It meets my criteria: big, fluffy towels and lots of pillows.)
The meetings wrapped up at noon, and so I hooked up with my friend, Sue, who recently moved to Springfield. She is, in fact, staying at the same hotel until she closes on her house (which, barring any further glitches in the closing, should be Monday). We had lunch and then went to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. I strongly recommend a visit if you are ever in Springfield. Although the Museum came under some criticism when it first opened as being too "Disneyfied", I think that's misplaced. Because, you see, although there's a lot of "multimedia" and special effects, it works.
You are taken through two "journeys": "The Pre-Presidential Years" and "The White House Years", going through galleries with dioramas, artifacts, etc.
One of the most interesting exhibits was what is called "The Civil War in Four Minutes". Sounds a bit silly, right? Wrong. Each week of the war is condensed to one second, and you can see on a map the battles and movement of the war. The importance of different battles becomes clear as you see how the lines change. And in one corner of the map you see the mounting toll of the dead on each side.
One of the displays is of castings of Lincoln's hands and two life-masks. One is permitted to touch these. It's spine-tingling to have that intimate connection, to feel that you are reaching through a century and a half of history to touch this great man. Then, as you move through the galleries, through the setting of Ford's Theatre and the funeral train, you reach a replica of the State House of Representatives and Lincoln's lying-in-state, and you cannot help but feel the solemnity, as if you were really there.
Here's a tidbit: 80% of the sales at the Museum Shop include a book! (And before you ask, yes, I did buy a book: http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?book=7609952&mode=card)
