Body Worlds

Sorry about the long delay in updating. I'm not very disciplined when it comes to posting every day, even if I may be online at least for a few minutes most days. I like to think of my posting frequency as 'whimsical', which sounds carefree and happy, but really just means lazy.

On Thursday, my day off this week, I went to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Science and History (or some such configuration of those words) in Fair Park. This is the same Fair Park where I saw Wicked at the Music Hall a couple of weeks ago. To tangenticize this post...Fair Park covers many many acres and is home to numerous small museums, the Music Hall, the Cotton Bowl football stadium (avoid this area during Texas/OU weekend if you want to live a long life), and of course the annual State Fair of Texas.

I found a much quicker way of getting to FP from my apartment using surface streets, but while the drive is a mere 2.something miles, it goes through the nasty-hood that is situated between here and the Park. I picked up two friends in the parking garage at my store, and we made our way to the museum.

There were point billion kids running around outside the building, and I dropped off one of our party to run up the stairs and see what entry time we could get on our tickets. I was much relieved to learn upon her return that almost all the kids were there for the IMAX theatre, and were not going into the galleries we were visiting. Whew!

At this point, if you are not familiar with Body Worlds, check it out at www.bodyworlds.com. You know by now that I can't do links with my mac on blogger, so just suck it up and type the addy into your browser field. And it's Body WORLDS, not WORKS.

There are 3 Body Worlds shows currently touring in the US. The one in Dallas is the original. There apparently is some controversy surrounding the exhibition, as it involves the 'plastination' of deceased human bodies that were donated to science. Some of the bodies are positioned in various poses and the bones or muscles or organs displayed in various arrangements to provide better viewing and to make particular points.

We each of us opted to pay the mere $4 for the audio tour, which was informative enough, but became laborious as I moved through the galleries. It felt like I was holding a cell phone up to my head for 90 minutes, so I pretty much stopped near the end.

The galleries in the exhibit were very warm, and there were too many people let in at one time, causing great congestion at each of the exhibit pieces. There were quite a lot of kids, which I was happy to see were pretty enthralled by the whole experience. Most of them were well behaved, and the younger ones would giggle at the very visible reproductive organs. Who wouldn't have giggled at reproductive organs at age 10?

I don't know how long the exhibit has been touring, but some of the pieces looked tired--like they'd been moved too many times. I have no idea how they pack and ship those items. They're not very solid, even if they are 'plastinated'.

Overall, I enjoyed seeing the exhibit. I finally made use of my high school anatomy class, and I got to see what will happen to my city girl lungs if I stay living near downtown for the next 40 years.

The other two exhibits are in Chicago and Phoenix currently, so go check them out if you get a chance. The one in Dallas is here until the end-ish of May.

And I'm mad at myself for neglecting to see the Matisse as Sculptor exhibit at the DMA before it left on April 29. So many things of 'cultcha' to see, so few days off. While I don't mind going and doing things on my own, it is still much more enjoyable to go with friends or family. I think next up will be a play or an outdoor symponic concert of some kind. Maybe Mayfest in Ft. Worth, even.

I am off to work here in a couple of hours, so everyone have a great Saturday.