EMP EXPERIENCE: I'm still playing catch up from our busy weekend. It included a field trip to Experience Music Project, and I took so many photos, it has taken me awhile to sort through them.
We went to EMP on Saturday for free thanks to the Smithsonian's Museum Day Live! annual event.
It had been months since we've been to EMP (it's kind of a spendy visit at full price), and so we were very happy to be there.
One of the feature exhibits they have at the present is Hear My Train a Coming: Hendrix Hits London. I love me some Jimi, so I was thrilled to get to see it.
I really loved how the exhibit designer(s) make an enormous, 3D Union Jack out of beautiful fabrics. Very clever.
Naturally, a highlight of the exhibit are what's left of some of Jimi's guitars.
He literally loved them to death, according to literature on display. Before shows, Hendix would custom paint them.
We enjoyed some Hendrix music videos on the mammoth HD screen in EMP's "Sky Church." Here, Jimi plays his iconic version of "The Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock. The kids and everyone else in the area were spellbound.
We wandered through other musical-themed exhibits, including one about music videos called "Spectacle." Here are the suits the guys in OK GO wore during their fun "This Too Shall Pass" video.
If you haven't seen the video yet, it's definitely worth a watch.
The exhibit included the original drawings used in the famous video "Take on Me" by Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha.
That video is worth a watch, as well. It was groundbreaking back in the day (1985, to be exact).
We recognized these clothes right away - they're from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' mega-hit "Thrift Shop."
The kids enjoyed watching an amazing 3D video by Bjork for her song "
Eventually we made our way to the Science Fiction section of the museum. Pretty cool entrance, no?
Right at the entrance is the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
One of the first things we saw upon entering the exhibit was Uhura's red dress from the original "Star Trek" series. They also had her little communications earpiece.
And how much drama went down in this chair? Can't you just picture William Shatner as Captain Kirk sitting in it?
Also on display was one of the Superman costumes Christopher Reeves wore.
The museum also has an exhibit called "Can't Look Away: The Lure of Horror Films." This interactive screen was a lot of fun - it morphed you into a monster!
The absolutely terrifying steel skull from Terminator 2 was in the collection. Scary!
And here's the original Creature from the Black Lagoon mask from 1954. Funny, it was black and white when I saw it as a kid. ;)
Recognize this tattered suit? It's from Michael Jackson's music video "Thriller," which was directed by horror (and other) movie maker John Landis.
One of the most famous axes ever. Can't you just picture Jack Nicholson clutching it, maniacally saying, "Here's Johnny!"?
And if you're talking scary and sci-fi, you have to have one of these nasty Aliens, right?
What a treat to get to see original costumes from "The Wizard of Oz"!
Here's the unmistakeable black hat belonging to you -know-whom.
And check out the original Cowardly Lion costume. Did you know it's made from real lion pelts? I never would have guessed that (and I suggest that would *never* happen today).
And check out this castle guard's suit. It was absolutely gorgeous in person. The fine details on it were amazing!
When I saw this outfit, I had to stifle a fan girl "SQUEE!!"
It was worn by David Bowie in "Labyrinth," one of my favorite movies EVER!
The masks from the masquerade ball, when Bowie was singing "As the World Falls Down." Sigh. 
After our visit, the kids enjoyed running through the labyrinth outside of EMP.
It's always more work and takes longer than they think it's going to!
What a treasure that EMP is. Thanks, Paul Allen. And thanks to MPA for giving us a little peek.
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