*This entry is dated for April 22 to commemorate Earth Day 2009 but the photos and trip recounted below were taken on Saturday, April 25.

 

There’s a very special exhibit (www.coolglobes.com) that just opened at Exposition Park in LA in honor of Earth Day. 

 

It runs through July 23 and will continue on to Houston, Texas. 

 

I’d seen some PR about it from an inflight magazine and have been pretty excited to see these globes in person.  And let me tell you, it takes a lot to get me to enter enemy territory also known as SC country (where Exposition Park is) given the long, rich rivalry between UCLA and USC.  USC is affectionately known as the University of Spoiled Children, and while they do have a better football program and marching band, we Bruins happen to know the truth: the kids who attend SC are the ones who could not get into UCLA, no matter how rich. OK, OK, that’s a bit harsh. I happen to have a lot of friends who are closet, struggling, or recovering Trojans. What can I say, we all have skeletons in our closets.

 

So other than wanting to poke my eyeballs out every time I run across someone wearing  a cardinal and gold tshirt (and as luck would have it, today just happens to be their big Spring Scrimmage weekend so the Trojans are everywhere!), I am soaking in the lush park grounds that overlap the campus as I make my way toward the first batch of cool globes, located just in front of the Science Center:

 

The second and larger group of globes is found in the Rose Garden:

 

 

These globes, as discussed further in the video below, weigh about 300 pounds a piece with an 1800 pound base. Can you imagine moving these suckers around the country? A lot of artists, children, adults and companies have contrituted countless hours into each globe so I feel it’s only right that I post as many pictures of the 50 globes as possible in today’s blog entry, especially since some of you are not able to see them in person. But before we get to the photos, here’s a video of my first on-the-spot interview with Deborah Talley (please forgive me if I misspelled your name), a volunteer with the exhibit:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5e5g20-Zi8 

 

Here’s a blurry shot of what the interior of the globe above looks like:

 

 

Here’s another video of the globes:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr19zIdz71M

 

Actually it was Deborah’s husband Ronald, a photographer, who gave me such a wonderful introduction to the globes that I asked him to do it on camera, but he asked his wife to do the honors instead.  I love putting photographers in front of my lens:

 

Enjoy the cool globes (remember you can click on any of my photos to see a larger version of it)…and if you are within driving distance, come out to the park with your family and do a little globin’ in LA.  And see which one(s) you love the most; I saved my three favorites for the very end:

 

In tomorrow’s blog I’ll show you the rest of my Saturday in LA.