Ahhh.
Good to be back to the grind. No good on my own, actually.
Saturday I mowed, as I’ve posted, and the work harmed me badly, then monday we went to the Mu Sci Ind in Chicago, and had a nice time. I love museums, the big spaces, the hushed echoes, the laughter of children. Nice to see the old stuff, trains, planes, automobiles. The Spirit- Breedlove’s car- the mystery planes.
Lots of exhibits which were new when I was a youngun are still there, showing signs of the passing years. Lots of new exhibits which are now old in and of themselves- computer quizzes written for old Texas Instruments computers. Which you can still see under the glass. And a couple of new things, like turning cow poop into fuel.
Lunch for three still cost $40.
I remember the school-sponsored trips back in the day, the peanut butter sandwiches, dry and crusty, the tiny wormy apples. Wishing I had $5 to buy a gen-yoo-wine MuSciInd pizza puff.
The more things change, the more they suck. Still: Nice to place a palm flat on the side of the old Pioneer Zephyr, feel the cool stainless under my hand. Nice to walk around the museum, though my knee today feels like the dogs breakfast.
And finally, nice to be back to the grind.
Sally and I visited the MuSciInd several years ago and were quite surprised that all the money seems to have been spent lately on the building and not so much on updating the exhibits. Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate the new underground display area for the large exhibits like U-505 and the Pioneer Zephyr, and I definitely think the parking garage was needed 40 years ago, but what have they actually done to keep the museum displays relevant in a fast-paced technological and scientific age?
When you walk in after 40 years and continue to see the same exhibits you looked at as a kid, it seems like there are some curators who aren’t doing their jobs very well. It’s like walking into a library and discovering they haven’t bought any new books since 1968. WTF?
And yes, food prices are horrendous. We found the same thing at the Brookfield Zoo last year. It was well over $20 to eat and we had hotdogs, fries, and soft drinks. On the other hand, the food was edible, which is a plus.
Did you visit the U-505 while at the museum? Now that’s an exhibit. For those not in Chicago . . . here’s a link.
http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/u-505/
Hope that knee feels better. I’m facing a torn medial meniscus.
I have been in the U505 repeatedly, it’s a great exhibit.
It is good being within a short drive, or train ride, from a group of great museums like Chicago’s.
Yeah, the regular exhibits don’t get updated too much, but did we ever get lucky with the features we’ve been having in the past few years: The Titanic, Einstein, the Van Gogh/Gauguin show, Cleopatra, Baseball’s Hall of Fame, the Dead Sea Scrolls (I’m still amazed at being able to gaze upon Judeo-Christian documents written in the time of Christ – the actual pieces of parchment!), etc. It’s like the 1990’s Bulls – the success is so regular, it is taken for granted.
Better that the exhibits remain the same for decades than get “updated” to be more PC.
Well, that’s a good point I suppose, Ed.