In which I visit the Field Museum with mf_luder_xf!
The lovely mf_luder_xf was in town this week, so misanthropic Rhyme got herself together and drove into Chicago to meet her, LOL.
We met at her hotel, with her all sophisticated and smart and beautiful and working on a PhD and me all fat and old and unemployed. Gah! We figured out that we had known each other for close to eight years from way back in X-Files RATales days. I may have been less weird-looking and round back then.
Because the Chicago CTA doesn't take credit cards nor gives change back from their automated ticket machines to ride the subway (what is this, I asked, 1955?), I owe her $5. Stupid Chicago! Oh, and you have to *pay* to transfer to a bus! The hell?
We walked around the Field Museum for a few hours. Oh, the poor Field. It is antiquated even for a museum. There were so many artifacts that were casts or reproductions that it was disappointing. Their Central and South American Native Peoples exhibit was extensive, but nothing on the Mayan calendar or their rituals. Then it went right into the Arctic and Northwest Coast Peoples, skipping over all of the center of the US. Which was kind of weird.
And man, the rocks and minerals section hasn't been updated since the 70s at least. You know that giant Meteor Crater in Arizona? They had a display on that with a large image of the crater. Except when I got closer I realized it wasn't a high-definition photograph, but a *painting* from like 1975 or something!
I understand that not every museum can have *everything*, but hell, almost all of the interactive exhibits we played with didn't work. You know those type of "Press a button to see the parts of a cell light up!" kind of displays. Sheesh.
The ten-foot giant sloth skeleton was pretty cool. I think that was my favorite. Actually, no, the fact that the museum was practically empty on a Thursday afternoon was my favorite thing.
Anyway! After the museum we stopped for a bite to eat, and then it was time for my 2+ hour drive home in bumper to bumper traffic. Stupid Chicago with its ONE ROAD to get out of town. Who the hell laid this out?
But next time my dear mf_luder_xf is in town, I can brave the traffic for another visit. I had a great time.
We met at her hotel, with her all sophisticated and smart and beautiful and working on a PhD and me all fat and old and unemployed. Gah! We figured out that we had known each other for close to eight years from way back in X-Files RATales days. I may have been less weird-looking and round back then.
Because the Chicago CTA doesn't take credit cards nor gives change back from their automated ticket machines to ride the subway (what is this, I asked, 1955?), I owe her $5. Stupid Chicago! Oh, and you have to *pay* to transfer to a bus! The hell?
We walked around the Field Museum for a few hours. Oh, the poor Field. It is antiquated even for a museum. There were so many artifacts that were casts or reproductions that it was disappointing. Their Central and South American Native Peoples exhibit was extensive, but nothing on the Mayan calendar or their rituals. Then it went right into the Arctic and Northwest Coast Peoples, skipping over all of the center of the US. Which was kind of weird.
And man, the rocks and minerals section hasn't been updated since the 70s at least. You know that giant Meteor Crater in Arizona? They had a display on that with a large image of the crater. Except when I got closer I realized it wasn't a high-definition photograph, but a *painting* from like 1975 or something!
I understand that not every museum can have *everything*, but hell, almost all of the interactive exhibits we played with didn't work. You know those type of "Press a button to see the parts of a cell light up!" kind of displays. Sheesh.
The ten-foot giant sloth skeleton was pretty cool. I think that was my favorite. Actually, no, the fact that the museum was practically empty on a Thursday afternoon was my favorite thing.
Anyway! After the museum we stopped for a bite to eat, and then it was time for my 2+ hour drive home in bumper to bumper traffic. Stupid Chicago with its ONE ROAD to get out of town. Who the hell laid this out?
But next time my dear mf_luder_xf is in town, I can brave the traffic for another visit. I had a great time.