Travelsmartplanet

The fantastical sheet metal walls of MoPop were designed by Frank Gehry. It is often quoted as looking like a smashed electric guitar. Gehry himself had made the comparison, “We started collecting pictures of Stratocasters, bringing in guitar bodies, drawing on those shapes in developing our ideas.”

Despite some critical reviews of the structure, the building has been called “a fitting backdrop for the world’s largest collection of Jimi Hendrix memorabilia.” The outside of the building which features a fusion of textures and colors, including gold, silver, deep red, blue and a “shimmering purple haze,” has been declared “an apt representation of the American rock experience.

If you ever wanted to feel like Captain Kirk and sit in his command chair from Star Trek, you can try it out at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture.

Pedals make an artistic statement in the Sound Lab in Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture. 

This Captain America costume was worn by Rob Brown in 1979. The color was originally blue but has faded over time to this shade of lilac. Eww.

Groot was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Tales to Astonish in 1960. The character was supposed to be from outer space and act like a sentient tree-like creature. The first Groot was an invader that wanted to catch humans for experimentation. It’s transformation into a heroic noble being happened in the crossover comic book  storyline “Annihilation: Conquest”. Groot went on to star in Guardians of the Galaxy. He became a pop culture star, with his line “I am Groot” becoming an Internet meme.

At Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, WA I learned that Spiderman was co-created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1961. Spiderman was an unusual super hero in a few ways. He proved that powers alone do not make a super hero. Also he was a teenager who was still in school. So this comic character was the perfect fantasy vehicle to illustrate the pain and confusion of adolescence. No wonder teenage boys went nuts over him.

How many times do you get to get a hug from The Thing? Stan got to snuggle up with him at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, WA

The special exhibit all about Marvel Comics was at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture. The museum has a Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

What is pop culture without pop music? At MoPop in Seattle, this floor to ceiling column of guitars by Trimpin is called Roots and Branches and is made up of 700 instruments, 40 custom-made. It is computer controlled – self- playing Trimpin’s compositions.

On the back of Jimi Hendrix’s “Love or Confusion” lyrics, this drawing from early 1967 is believed to be by Hendrix and his girlfriend Kathy Etchingham. It depicts his Dylan-esque hair, military jacket, Iron Cross necklace, heeled boots and towering Marshall amplifier stack. It also references his manager, band members, and other groups like the Who and the Beatles.