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I was at a local Walmart recently when I made this impulse purchase on a blind package that contains an octopus. But it’s not some mere octopus toy. There’s this new trend where stores are selling toys and other things that are supposed to somehow enhance your senses. I decided to buy it to see what the fuss is all about. (It only costs close to $8 so it’s a cheap way of satisfying my curiosity.)
This octopus is supposed to be AMSR (which stands for autonomous meridian sensory response). It’s made out of rubber, which means that it’s supposed to enhance the touch sense, and it has suction cups on its tentacles (which means that it’s supposed to enhance the hearing sense). I made a short video while I opened it, which I uploaded on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
Here’s a brief review of this octopus. I think the sensory enhancement features are a bit overrated. The rubber didn’t really enhance my touch senses and hearing the suction cups rip as I pulled the octopus up from the surface didn’t enhance my hearing either. But the octopus is pretty cute and he would be good in a diorama where I include a mermaid doll. (The octopus is scaled perfectly for a 1/6 scale doll.) I got the purple octopus which, according to the included checklist, is supposed to be a rare one. (Although I have no idea how popular this particular blind box toy line really is.)
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For the third year in a row I went to Light City in Baltimore (which is also the festival’s third year). (You can read about my previous visits in 2016 and 2017.) The first year I went I basically just took the Charm City Circulator bus as far as the Shake Shack (which is located across from Harborplace) and I underestimated how big this festival was. The second year I had an animation that was showing at Light City so I took the Charm City Circulator until I got to a stop that was as close to the On Demand area (where my animation was being shown along with other film shorts) and I still have memories of sitting outside for two hours waiting for my animation to show up on screen as the temperature kept on getting colder and colder as time went on.
This year I decided not to submit anything to Light City so I could begin my tour anywhere. I also ended up going on the last night of Light City. I couldn’t get there earlier in the month due to scheduling conflicts so the final night was my first and last time that I visited Light City 2018.
I drove my car to Linthicum and stopped at a Royal Farms store so I could pick up a chicken dinner and a diet soda for only $7. (I know from previous years that many of the restaurants, fast food outlets, and food tents tend to draw very long lines during Light City. It was easier to just bring my own food to Light City.) I parked my car at the North Linthicum light rail station and took the train to the Camden Yards station.
I had the idea of taking the Charm City Circulator bus all the way over to the other side of the Inner Harbor near where Little Italy is located. When I arrived I found that this area has been heavily built up. There’s a new complex called Harbor East and I took some photos there along with some photos of Little Italy. I took so many photos that day that I decided to break up this year’s Light City entry into two. Yesterday I wrote about Little Italy and Harbor East. Today’s blog post is about Light City itself.
This year I shot video footage of some of the Light City exhibits. Here is the resulting video showing the highlights of that festival.
Here are the still photos I shot at Light City. When I arrived at the Inner Harbor the first thing I did was to eat the Royal Farms chicken while viewing the Harbor East marina at the beginning of a sunset.
I walked along the Inner Harbor where I saw the beginnings of Light City.
There were Fireflies Pedicabs that provided a service to give people a ride along the eastern end of the Inner Harbor. They were very colorful to look at.
I arrived at the first Light City structure called Pulse Portal by Davis McCarty. Even though it was still light outside when I was there, I managed to have fun shooting the Inner Harbor at sunset through the colored glass of the structure.
When I was there a couple were preparing to get married by that structure.
Mr. Trash Wheel was docked along the Inner Harbor.
The Herd by Kelley Bell consists of a flock of inflatable blue creatures floating in the Inner Harbor.
Octopus by Tim Scofield, Kyle Miller, and Steve Dalnekoff is a giant animatronic octopus whose tentacles were slowly moving while it was changing colors and playing very calming electronic music. I found it pretty mesmerizing to watch in person.
This Coffee Bar tent was one of many tents that served refreshments to the general public at Light City.
I came upon the On Demand area, which brought back memories for me. Last year I had my animation, The March of Liberty, shown in that area. I still have memories of sitting outside freezing in one of those adirondack chairs for over two hours waiting for my animation to be shown. I was so thrilled when it was finally shown that I shot this quick reaction video.
This year I didn’t submit anything to this festival. It was partially due to laziness and partially because I still have less-than-thrilling memories of sitting outside in the cold for a very long time. Even though I was ultimately happy when my animation was shown, it didn’t really lead to any further opportunities for me. (I had hoped that the showing of my animation at Light City would lead to some kind of a job or career breakthrough for me but it didn’t work out that way.) In contrast to last year, I didn’t spend much time in the On Demand area. I hung around just long enough to shoot these two pictures.
There were a few giant screens that were placed throughout the Inner Harbor that showed random video clips.
Something in the Water by Post Typography + PI.KL + Figure 53 featured some underwater lights that flashed just below the surface of the harbor.
I came upon the Institute of Marine & Environmental Technology (IMET) where a few of the Labs @ Light City were held. I arrived on the last night of Light City so the building was closed when I was there, which is why I was only able to get a few external shots.
Here’s the installation As of a Now by Elissa Blount.
There was another underwater installation called What Lies Beneath by Formstone Castle.
A drummer and a dance troupe performed outside of the Power Plant.
Many people walked through the bridge-like Synesthesia by Surcreative.
There was this line standing outside of the igloo-like The Eighth Art that was so long that I decided to skip it.
There were a few street performers playing for the Light City crowd.
Sun Stomp by the Sun Stomp Collective was this animation that required people to stomp on these nearby metal bleachers. The effect was pretty neat but it provided noise that was so loud that I had to leave quickly before I developed a headache.
This year Light City had something called Mini Light City, which was geared towards families. This elephant balloon graced the entrance to Mini Light City.
There was a tent sponsored by Future Makers where parents and children could make simple projects that involved light. That area was very crowded.
The Mini Light City area had another tent that was easier to get inside. It was sponsored by The PURGG Project and it included hands-on demonstrations using robots and drones.
A WJZ-TV (Channel 13) van parks at Light City.
Light City in Baltimore drew such huge crowds that Harborplace was packed with people. This photo shows why I decided not to buy anything from It’s Sugar that night.
There were some psychedelic-like effects at the installation Colour Moves by Rombout Frieling Lab.
There was a small carnival consisting of a ferris wheel ride (known as The Big Wheel) surrounded by concessions stands.
Many people have fun with rotating the giant prisms that made up the installation Prismatica by Raw Design, Atomic3, Jean-François Piché, and Dix au carré/Production: Quartier des Spectacles, Montreal.
Here’s the bird-like installation On the Wings of Freedom by Aether and Hemera.
The big HMO giant Kaiser Permanente sponsored something called a Thrive Garden, which, as far as I could tell, was a place where people sat down on benches.
Here is Elantica by Tom Dekyvere.
Some vector animations were shown on the outside of the Maryland Science Center.
Club Light City was an outdoor bar and dance area that was very crowded.
And last, but not least, here is the installation Drone Prix.
This year, for the first time ever, I managed to visit the entire Light City area in the Inner Harbor. The key to my success was that I took the light rail to Camden Yards then I walked to the nearest Charm Circulator bus stop where I took the Orange bus to the Little Italy stop then walked through Harbor East in order to get to the very far eastern end of the Inner Harbor then walked west back towards the Maryland Science Center. While I managed to see most of the Inner Harbor attractions, I didn’t see all of Light City. This year the festival expanded to a few outlying neighborhoods such as Fells Point and Federal Hill. I wasn’t able to attend any of these other Light City events due to tight finances and scheduling conflicts. Maybe next year I’ll make an effort to visit at least one of these neighborhoods hosting their own portion of Light City.
As I left the Inner Harbor to go back to the Camden Yards light rail stop I saw this sign announcing a special Lyft pick-up spot for those who went to Light City and decided to use Lyft’s services.
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Last Friday I met someone whom I had previously known through an online political discussion board that my then-husband and I joined a few years ago. After my husband left, he has cut way back on his participation in this forum so I’m now the one who’s more active in that forum.
One member who’s known as Odonata announced on the forum that he was going to be in Washington, DC and he wanted to meet up with some of the DC area forum members. I initially didn’t respond because I didn’t want to go to any event where my ex-husband and possibly his second wife (who’s also my ex-friend) would attend. But then he sent me a PM saying that he noticed that I was in the DC area and was wondering if he could meet me in person since no one else responded to his post. (I knew of one other guy on that forum who lives in Arlington but he hasn’t been as active on the forum lately so I think he missed Odonata’s forum message.)
To make a long story short, I suggested that we go to this place in the Adams-Morgan section of Washington, DC where I’ve eaten before, mainly on the way to attending the DC chapter of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School. (There haven’t been another session of Dr. Sketchy’s in DC since last October. I’ve been going to the Baltimore Dr. Sketchy’s sessions whenever I’m able to go.) It’s called Döner Bistro and it was founded by a Turkish German and it’s an excellent place. Here are some photos of the place that I’ve taken during previous visits there.
Odonata and I spent a few hours drinking beer and eating wonderful food. I found that he lives in Alaska with his wife (who wasn’t able to make it to DC on this trip) and he’s very smart. I could’ve spent all night just talking to him but I had to cut it short because I had promised this one community group that I would help out for a few hours at this table at the Greenbelt Green Man Festival and I signed up for the 9-11:30 a.m. shift. (I signed up for this shift before I managed to finalize this meet-up with Odonata so this meet-up was literally at the last minute since he was in DC for business and he wasn’t sure about his schedule until after he arrived in DC.) Odonata is proof that not all Alaskans are a bunch of ignoramuses. (He told me that many Alaskans are pretty mad at former Governor Sarah Palin because she frequently acts like she’s the typical Alaskan while also acting bubble-headed and stupid, which gives Americans living in the lower 48 states a negative image of Alaskans.) All in all, I had a good time.
Odonata gave me something nice before we left Döner Bistro. He was visiting his sister in Seattle when he visited the Seattle Aquarium. He picked up this really cool postcard featuring a mosaic of an octopus.
He even signed it on the back, which was pretty cool.
For the past few weeks I had seen ads for a special winter holiday light show at the National Zoo known as ZooLights. I became more interested when I learned that the admission was free and it had been a few years since I last visited the National Zoo. I originally planned on visiting on Christmas Eve but that plan got scuttled when it rained that day. (I did indoor activities in downtown DC on that day instead.) I finally decided to go on the day before New Year’s Eve when the weather was cold but it wasn’t raining at all.
The ZooLights exhibit is pretty impressive. The next couple of photos show the Connecticut Avenue entrance gate.
And the next photo is the back entrance gate that faces Rock Creek Park.
Since I hadn’t been to the National Zoo in a few years I decided to arrive about an hour and a half before sunset in the hopes of seeing some animals, especially the world-famous panda bears. The bad news was that most of the animals were either in hiding or were in indoor enclosures. I also discovered that many of the indoor enclosures tended to close at 4:30 p.m. during the winter—including the panda house. So the giant panda bears were indoors after 4:30 p.m. by the time I got to the panda area. The only panda I saw outside was the smaller red panda that was sleeping in a tree. Sadly my photo of that red panda didn’t turn out too well. However I took a lot of photos of the few animals who were actually outside. Here are the best of those photos.
During the nighttime ZooLights event, some of the indoor enclosures were opened to the general public. (Sadly the panda house wasn’t among them.) The only opened indoor enclosure I visited was the Small Mammal House. Most of the small mammals were in hiding, with a few exceptions.
When I first got my pet hedgehog Spike, I learned that hedgehogs were classified as members of the shrew family. During my time at the Small Mammal House, I saw this shrew who was busy climbing around on the tree branches in its enclosure and its nose twitched just as much as Spike’s nose when he is awake. Its face reminded me of Spike’s face so much that I realized why hedgehogs were classified with shrews. This shrew could’ve passed as one of Spike’s distant cousins. The only difference is that this shrew doesn’t have spikes and its tail is longer an bushier. (This shrew’s tail reminded me of a squirrel’s tail.)
I saw an actual hegehog in the Small Mammal House known as the Greater Madagascar Hedgehog Tenrec. As you can guess from its name, it’s indigenous to Madagascar, which is an island nation located off the coast of Africa.
I saw the Greater Madagascar Hedgehog Tenrec but, as you can see in the photo below, this critter was curled up into a spikey ball and was sleeping in a hollowed-out log. This reminded me of Spike when he’s asleep. (He can usually be found in the pink plastic igloo where he is curled up into a spikey ball.)
I spent most of the evening looking at and photographing the amazing lights. There were lights in tree branches and on the sides of buildings. There were even some lights that were illuminated on the brick walkway. The whole display was really amazing to see.
There was a train ride that provided a tour of the entire zoo and the ZooLights. I wanted to ride it but the line was so long that I guessed that I would’ve have had to wait at least a half-an-hour (if not more) just to board a train. Instead I just toured the ZooLights on foot.
Towards the end of my time at the zoo, I went to the Visitors Center, which had this really neat indoor exhibit that also provided a respite from the cold. There was a display of gingerbread houses that were entered in a contest called "The Gin-GRR-bread Habitat Competition". The creativity of these pieces were astounding. Unfortunately I was starting to run out of battery power in my camera so I wasn’t able to take as many pictures as I wanted. But some of these pieces should provide an idea as to how impressive some of the gingerbread pieces really were.
There was a model of the Smithsonian Castle (located on the Mall) that someone constructed completely out of Legos.
There were also two model train layouts where all the buildings were made from Legos.
Sagittarius Dolly 
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