I feel sufficiently cultured
Last weekend I went to the Holocaust museum. Still can't really talk about it, but I was quite traumatized. Understandably so, of course.
Moving on, today I was visiting with friends (and their cuuuute baby) and decided to go to some museums after, since I was already in the city. And I did a good job of it, if I do say so myself. First stop was the National Air and Space Museum. Turns out I'm much more interested in space than air, but I did stop by a kid's presentation about "how planes fly" and let me tell you, I needed it. I only vaguely get how planes stay up, so it was a nice refresher. But I still think it's magic. And it freaks me out!
It's interesting to read about the space race from an American perspective. They do a good job talking about the various Russian firsts at the museum, but I still think it's funny that America "declared" that the main objective of the space race was a manned moon landing. Sure, that's one way to "win." You just keep telling yourselves that, American friends. :)
The planets exhibit was nice and Pluto was still on display and mentioned as a planet. So now the question it, was it deliberate? The International Astronomical Union redefined planets in 2006, I think. Plenty of time to re-do the exhibit. So, is the museum defying the definition? Or have they just not gotten around to creating new exhibits?
After I saw all the space-related things, I realized that it was still quite early and headed to the Museum of the American Indian. It's a gorgeous building, with various New World (funny name for it) crops growing outside of it. I wanted to yoink a tomato, but it wasn't ripe. I was a little nervous that there would be depressing things (which is partly why I was glad that we didn't linger there last weekend and only had a lovely lunch in their awesome cafe). But it is really quite uplifting, curated by people from various First Nations tribes. I think the museum is still in the process of growing, but so far, they've done a great job. And there is a lovely exhibit called "Songs for the Horse Nation" which is a lovely way to refer to the special relationship that native people had with horses for a long time.
I can't believe that in less than a week I'll be in NYC.
Moving on, today I was visiting with friends (and their cuuuute baby) and decided to go to some museums after, since I was already in the city. And I did a good job of it, if I do say so myself. First stop was the National Air and Space Museum. Turns out I'm much more interested in space than air, but I did stop by a kid's presentation about "how planes fly" and let me tell you, I needed it. I only vaguely get how planes stay up, so it was a nice refresher. But I still think it's magic. And it freaks me out!
It's interesting to read about the space race from an American perspective. They do a good job talking about the various Russian firsts at the museum, but I still think it's funny that America "declared" that the main objective of the space race was a manned moon landing. Sure, that's one way to "win." You just keep telling yourselves that, American friends. :)
The planets exhibit was nice and Pluto was still on display and mentioned as a planet. So now the question it, was it deliberate? The International Astronomical Union redefined planets in 2006, I think. Plenty of time to re-do the exhibit. So, is the museum defying the definition? Or have they just not gotten around to creating new exhibits?
After I saw all the space-related things, I realized that it was still quite early and headed to the Museum of the American Indian. It's a gorgeous building, with various New World (funny name for it) crops growing outside of it. I wanted to yoink a tomato, but it wasn't ripe. I was a little nervous that there would be depressing things (which is partly why I was glad that we didn't linger there last weekend and only had a lovely lunch in their awesome cafe). But it is really quite uplifting, curated by people from various First Nations tribes. I think the museum is still in the process of growing, but so far, they've done a great job. And there is a lovely exhibit called "Songs for the Horse Nation" which is a lovely way to refer to the special relationship that native people had with horses for a long time.
I can't believe that in less than a week I'll be in NYC.