Museum
Well, Thursday's
not a
matinee day. I didn't sleep well that night, being woken up by a nightmare
which I shall not recount here. I slept in fits and starts and woke finally at
around 7. At 8:30 I was just planning to go back to sleep when Philip told me
to get up — we were going uptown to the Museum of Natural History to see
the exhibition of
frogs.
Ha.
Now ever since we saw The Frogs — ever since we booked that show — Philip has been talking about this exhibition. It's a collection of frogs from around the world and it's on display at the Museum of Natural History.
"Confront your fears," he told me. And truth be told, that little part of me that makes me like things like Space Mountain and haunted houses and roller coasters — that makes me enjoy, perversely, being scared out of my wits — was anxious to do so. We also had to pack up, as Thursday's the night we have to vacate the suite; the hotel was going to do all the moving for us, but we had to put our stuff together to help them do the moving. So I got up and showered and helped him pack (I was pretty useless) and we caught a cab uptown to the museum.
In front of the Museum
So confront my fears I did, as you will see from the pictures below. Margot, Eddie, these are for you guys too. Confront your fears.
These blue babies are both beautiful and terrifying at once.
Believe you me, I didn't bother to read all the info on them.
Now this one, which is slimy and looks kind of like a lump of snot, turns into:
THIS monster. Can you believe it?
These ones are beautiful and dangerous. Just touching them can be fatal.
This shot gives a better idea of their actual colours. They look like toys.
Don't mind the reflection of the great big frog-creature in the glass.
This one is also very beautiful, and looks like a statue.
I wouldn't want it leaping towards me, though.
This one is a cute one. That's right. I said "cute".
I think this is a close-up of one of the beautiful blue frogs, but I could be wrong.
I think it's also called a Chinese Gliding Frog. It flies, hello.
The place was teeming with schoolchildren.
How monstrous can you get?
Probably as monstrous as this. This is a bullfrog, by the way.
Dress him up in soldier's clothes.
This is me watching videos of frogs catching their prey. Oh yeah.
OK, so I faced my fears and came out laughing. It was really a fascinating exhibition. But there were no West Indian tree frogs, much to my dismay (and good cheer).
After the frog exhibition, we went to see the Space Show. We'd purchased super saver passes to the museum ($30 apiece), which got us into all the special exhibitions and shows and stuff, so after the frogs, which we enjoyed tremendously (I'm still tremenduling), we went off to look at the heavens and hear Harrison Ford's voice lecture us on life in the universe. It was very interesting, but I kept seeing frogs in the constellations and in the close-ups of the planets. Afterwards we went into the permanent display about space and the universe, stood around and listened to Maya Angelou's voice tell us about the Big Bang, and then we walked down a pathway that gave us the different points in the history of the universe. People appear right at the end, just as you're about to step out.
After that we were scheduled to go and watch an Imax film about the Lewis and Clark expedition. Of course, we had to find it first. With the help of a map and of many museum employees we finally found our way to the Imax theatre.
The film was very good. Brought back many memories, as when we drove to Victoria, we followed the Lewis and Clark trail through Montana, on into Idaho, and across Washington. Their ending up in Oregon was really nostalgic, especially as they had to pass a winter there. All I could think of was Portland on our way back from Victoria: underwater driving. But what struck us both about it was that without the help of the Native American tribes that they came across, the explorers and their party would have died. By helping them, the Indians sealed their fate, and opened the door to their losing their lands.
We left the museum by another way; here's the photo of that entrance/exit, which is by the Planetarium.
Ha.
Now ever since we saw The Frogs — ever since we booked that show — Philip has been talking about this exhibition. It's a collection of frogs from around the world and it's on display at the Museum of Natural History.
"Confront your fears," he told me. And truth be told, that little part of me that makes me like things like Space Mountain and haunted houses and roller coasters — that makes me enjoy, perversely, being scared out of my wits — was anxious to do so. We also had to pack up, as Thursday's the night we have to vacate the suite; the hotel was going to do all the moving for us, but we had to put our stuff together to help them do the moving. So I got up and showered and helped him pack (I was pretty useless) and we caught a cab uptown to the museum.
In front of the Museum
So confront my fears I did, as you will see from the pictures below. Margot, Eddie, these are for you guys too. Confront your fears.
These blue babies are both beautiful and terrifying at once.
Believe you me, I didn't bother to read all the info on them.
Now this one, which is slimy and looks kind of like a lump of snot, turns into:
THIS monster. Can you believe it?
These ones are beautiful and dangerous. Just touching them can be fatal.
This shot gives a better idea of their actual colours. They look like toys.
Don't mind the reflection of the great big frog-creature in the glass.
This one is also very beautiful, and looks like a statue.
I wouldn't want it leaping towards me, though.
This one is a cute one. That's right. I said "cute".
I think this is a close-up of one of the beautiful blue frogs, but I could be wrong.
I think it's also called a Chinese Gliding Frog. It flies, hello.
The place was teeming with schoolchildren.
How monstrous can you get?
Probably as monstrous as this. This is a bullfrog, by the way.
Dress him up in soldier's clothes.
This is me watching videos of frogs catching their prey. Oh yeah.
OK, so I faced my fears and came out laughing. It was really a fascinating exhibition. But there were no West Indian tree frogs, much to my dismay (and good cheer).
After the frog exhibition, we went to see the Space Show. We'd purchased super saver passes to the museum ($30 apiece), which got us into all the special exhibitions and shows and stuff, so after the frogs, which we enjoyed tremendously (I'm still tremenduling), we went off to look at the heavens and hear Harrison Ford's voice lecture us on life in the universe. It was very interesting, but I kept seeing frogs in the constellations and in the close-ups of the planets. Afterwards we went into the permanent display about space and the universe, stood around and listened to Maya Angelou's voice tell us about the Big Bang, and then we walked down a pathway that gave us the different points in the history of the universe. People appear right at the end, just as you're about to step out.
After that we were scheduled to go and watch an Imax film about the Lewis and Clark expedition. Of course, we had to find it first. With the help of a map and of many museum employees we finally found our way to the Imax theatre.
The film was very good. Brought back many memories, as when we drove to Victoria, we followed the Lewis and Clark trail through Montana, on into Idaho, and across Washington. Their ending up in Oregon was really nostalgic, especially as they had to pass a winter there. All I could think of was Portland on our way back from Victoria: underwater driving. But what struck us both about it was that without the help of the Native American tribes that they came across, the explorers and their party would have died. By helping them, the Indians sealed their fate, and opened the door to their losing their lands.
We left the museum by another way; here's the photo of that entrance/exit, which is by the Planetarium.
Posted: Thu - October 7, 2004 at 06:00 PM
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Published On: Oct 09, 2004 09:19 AM
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Published On: Oct 09, 2004 09:19 AM