h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yesterday, K and I spent the afternoon at the Museum of Science and Industry (after having a fab brunch at the veggie Diner). It was sort of a belated additional birthday present (we'd meant to go earlier but things happened), as K wanted to treat me to the Harry Potter exhibition. It was pretty cool!

Here's a link to the exhibition web site:
http://www.harrypotterexhibition.com/

Here's a link to the MSI web site:
http://www.msichicago.org/

We also checked out all the other exhibits, as we paid admission anyway and neither of us had been in years (I think I was last there when I was 11 or 12!). My favorite permanent exhibit has always been Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle dollhouse, as I have a "thing" for miniatures/dollhouses anyway.

http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/fairycastle/

As a special treat, K and I stopped at the museum shop and bought me the hardcover book about the Fairy Castle, with lots of close-up photos.

It was a fun way to spend the day. I think K and I are going to try to visit various cultural institutions on a once-a-month basis instead of so infrequently. It's a better way to spend a weekend afternoon than parked on the couch in front of a DVD or the Playstation.

Speaking of Playstations, I'm thinking of getting K a PS3 for his birthday, along with the adapter for our Logotech Harmony remote. Might as well get a second controller at the same time, and one game to hold him over till God Of War III comes out around Xmastime. Good thing I didn't spend my bonus on a washer & dryer this year.

Hey PCandy! Sounds like y'all had a good time! That's a good idea, to resolve to go to museums and such more often.

I just got up, I'm so sleepy.

Wow, the Fairy Castle looks cool!!!

Hi JEllen! Obviously there's not a lot of interest in museums around these parts. <tumbleweed. That fairy castle was always my favorite exhibit at the MSI.

I've been too busy writing about and researching museums to keep up with hootoo

But who goes to a science museum to look at a dollhouse? There will be so many more geeky things!

OMSI used to be my favourite museum in Portland.

Well, most of the exhibits at the MSI are geared toward grammar school aged children- interactive stuff, etc, that's fun for kids but not quite so engrossing for grown-ups. Not that I didn't enjoy browsing, mind.

Though K did make me laugh at the farm-related exhibit, where they ran video footage of animals next to signage (propaganda, really) meant to desensitize people to the fact that the animals are lving things... he made a comment, just loud enough, to the effect that it seemed a bit too convenient that there wasn't any actual slaughterhouse footage.

Fascinating to learn, however, that they can make electricity from poo. I in no way support breeding animals for the purpose, but certainly think someone needs to explore ways to use human poop for this.

Having looked through that link makes me want to renovate our dollhouse, though

And that's a concept that's been explored I'm currently reading "The Barefoot Architect" - sort of a manual for low-budget building in developing countries - and he advocates using composting toilets and catching the gases...

Very useful book. I now know, at least in theory, how to make a wind tower, or thatch a roof with palm leaves, or build a house from bamboo, mud, and cactus juice, and even how to make a raft for letting pigs graze on magnolias

You can also build a toilet seat on a platform and let the pigs graze on poo.

Yep, that's in the book, too. But that only makes sense if you're raising pigs.

No - you raise the *toilet seat*...Oh. I see.

I may have to check out "The Barefoot Architect"; sounds interesting.

It is! The translation's a bit iffy in places, but you can understand what they mean. Just remember that it's all written for the southern hemisphere (by an architect working in Brazil), so you have to switch north and south for it to make sense here.

I'll keep that in mind. I'll check the library once I renew my card, and see if they have it or can order it in. I've read stuff with "iffy" translation before, so I'm sure that wouldn't be too off-putting.

They just had a translator who was thinking too literally and didn't know all the technical terms for things

The Mexican government liked the book so much they ordered one for every library in the country! It's not terribly in-depth on anything, though, so I hope it doesn't disappoint on that score. But if you ever needed diagrams of various kinds of connections between bamboo poles using only string...

You can try it out here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=AzUOx2kaQJMC&dq=barefoot+architect&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=sVQuSsbqO5KZjAeQ7qmdCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPA357,M1

It reminds me of The Scout Handbook.

In a way, yes.

I've always been a sucker for that kind of thing.

for the link! I'll definitely be checking that out after I finish my reports today and I have down time again.

We had one of those books when we first bought our farm.

We built the chicken coop they featured in it - worked really well, too!

However, we decided to paint it barn red. And the kid at the paint mixing station was new, and didn't know what he was doing.

It ended up neon orange. The (experienced farmer) neighbour nearly fell off his tractor laughing at it, and the chickens were afraid of it... We had to throw dust on it to cut the glare. Ah, happy days...

Like the scratching post I made for Herman from the 2"X4" and the sisal rope. He's apparently afraid of sisal.

(Next time I buy an area rug, it'll be sisal. I may well reupholster the furniture in sisal as well... )

Sisal furniture might be slightly inconvenient in short season!