Road trip!

While it wasn't all that far as the crow flies our visit yesterday to the new Perot Museum of Science and Nature was quite a trip.  K has a few days off (and I've been "off" for a long time), so we thought it might be a good time to avoid the weekend crowd and go see this new wonder.  It's located in Uptown Dallas just across the freeway from the Arts District.

Your first reaction is WOW!  The architecture is stunning.  I learned the horizontal cast concrete ridges in the facade are meant to replicate geologic strata.

They have 11 permanent exhibit halls in 180,000 sq ft on 4 levels, a 300-seat digital theatre, a bead-and-trinket store, etc.  As a builder I was awed by all the angles and curves and ramps, wondering how many times they had to re-do them to get everything to fit just right.  Turns out they got it right the first time thanks to the 3-D digital model where they built it just for practice.  And I saw the complete blueprints....stacked 6 inches thick.

Smart folks they are!

K liked the "Expanding Universe Hall" which was about the universe (duh!), stars, exploration, the Big Bang, etc.  It was extremely detailed yet understandable. 

Trust me....this photo doesn't do it justice.  The large exhibits and special effects were awesome.

I preferred the "Gems and Minerals Hall" and the "Dynamic Earth Hall".  They had an earthquake shake platform you could stand on and dial in the magnitude of the earthquake you wanted to experience.  Cranked all the way up the floor rose and fell and moved side-to-side with extreme, unpredictable violence.  It was an interesting sensation for someone who's thankfully never experienced a real one.

In Gems and Minerals, among other things, they explained in detail how the climate change way back there created oil and natural gas and showed how we extract it today.  This sounds rather sophomoric, but I promise you it was very professionally presented.  They explained offshore drilling platforms...

and the various kinds of drill bits and how they work....

and how a blowout prevention "Christmas Tree" works, too....

I also enjoyed the weather exhibits, including one that showed how colliding fronts form tornadoes....

They also had exhibits about critters and birds and such, and a bones room, too....

We were there about 3 hours and that was just a "get acquainted" peek.  To really see and experience everything would take several days at least.  It's the sort of place where you might go once a quarter and spend the day on just one floor reading, listening, and interacting.  If you could do that, by the time you were finished you'd probably have the equivalent of an advanced degree in any number of disciplines.

Kudos to the Perot family and their uber-rich friends who funded this beautiful museum.  (It opened debt-free.)  It truly is world class.  If you're just passing through Dallas go see it.  You won't be disappointed.  If you live nearby, go see it over and over.

I'm not easily impressed, but this really blew my socks off!

S

EARTHQUAKE!

Saturday I got fed up with my Texas Tech team in the second quarter and turned off the TV.  We went on to lose in grand style to Texas....no big shock.  (I suspect Tech coach Tubbyville now two days later is still trying to pull his head out of his ass.)  Turning to retail therapy to soothe my disappointment we headed out for me to buy some new hiking boots, finding what I wanted at Mountain Hideout.  (Vasque's....very comfortable.)  Later we met up with a small mob at Desperado's Mexican Restaurant for a surprise 50th birthday party for my brother.  His b-day isn't until the 29th, so he never even thought of a surprise party this far in advance.  It was quite an affair....open bar, good dinner, great cake.  


We made it back home in time to watch the end of the LSU-Alabama football game, then stayed tuned afterwards for the local news.  That's when they announced there had been a magnitude 5.6 (?) earthquake east of Oklahoma City, and said it was felt as far south as Dallas.  (I didn't feel a thing.)  As things turned out my daughter Kristan and her husband Chris were in nearby Norman, OK to attend the Texas A&M-Oklahoma game blowout.  


They were back in their 6th floor hotel room when the earthquake hit.  Chris was lying on the bed watching TV and Kristan was in the bathroom removing her makeup.  She told me she had to brace her stance and hold on to the door frame to keep her balance, and Chris thought for a second he was on one of those vibrating beds.  Chris said he was prepared to stay and try and get some sleep, but Kristan was nagging him mercilessly wanting to pack up and leave town.  Naturally she won, so at 2 AM they checked out and headed back to the civilized side of the Red River.  Everyone is home now safe and sound, thank goodness. 


That was my weekend.  Not the "same old" for sure.  ;)


S

Where's FEMA??

So there's an earthquake in Washington, DC, and Wall Street responds by going UP 322 points.  Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it almost looks like....  :)


S

I did it! I really did it!!

I watched an entire basketball game start to finish.  That might not sound like it's any big deal, but you have no idea how quickly my short attention span can lose interest in basketball.  For one thing I don't understand the game. Sure, you put the ball through the hoop more than the other guys, I get that.  But is there any strategy?  


It seems like a game for simpletons.  That, or it's an extremely complex game requiring immense intelligence and cunning, which makes me the simpleton for not getting it.  It looks to me like 5 guys just run around and around and pass the ball back and forth and back and forth until they catch the other guys a half-step out of position and then take their shot.  *yawn*  Is that it? 


Oh well, the home town team (Dallas) won, so to be able to participate at the water-cooler post-game back-slapping party today I did my homework and watched.  "Did you see 'ol Tyrone Bigfoot do that trip-fall with a half-twist hook shot at the buzzer?  Hot damn!!  I ain't never seen nuthin' like it!"  I'm ready.


On to more exciting news...we had an earthquake in Dallas yesterday.  It registered 2-point-something.  I think I saw my ace earthquake-predictor dog Emma Belle wake up, give a little yelp, then go back to sleep.  At the time I just thought she had gas, but then I heard about the 'quake on the news.  I don't think my friends in California would have been too impressed.  Which is just as well.


Stay cool.


S