Sunday, June 12, 2011

Checking out the museum

The Royal Alberta Museum opened a new temporary display this weekend, Creatures of the Abyss (pdf). This is a favorite theme for us, and my older daughter and I both really enjoy the museum, so we made a point of checking it out. We like to head over on the weekends (half price admission before 11am on the weekends), hang out in the displays until the cafe opens, have a delicious lunch (very reasonable prices and generous portions - almost too generous!), wander around some more, checking out any new stuff, then hit the gift shop before we leave. A lovely way to spend a few hours. :-)

Today was a bit of a surprise, just as I drove into the parking lot. Some time ago, I'd found myself driving behind a vehicle with the back end painted. It rather perplexed me. When the vehicle turned, I could see it had paintings on the doors, but I couldn't make out what they were (one side was just a glimpse in my rear view mirror). It was a bit of a surprise to pull into the parking lot and see it again - with more paintings added, since I last saw it, including one that was unfinished. I couldn't resist getting photos.

If the owner of this vehicle happens to read this, I'd love it if you'd leave a comment explaining what it's about.

This is the view I had when driving behind the vehicle, the first time I saw it.

Painted

Click on the image to go to my flickr page and see the other views, including the writing at the top.

None of the others are giving the finger, except the one showing the top of the trunk.

Based on the photos, I get the impression the driver 1) hates cell phones, 2) hates God and 3) hates people.

But I could be wrong.

As for in the museum itself, we had a lovely visit. Here is what greeted us when we went into the new display.

Deep ocean

Except there's a side view on entry.

The eye on this guy moved. :-D

Once again, click on the image to see more.

I have to admit, we were a bit disappointed in the display. With how much there is to explore in the deep oceans, we really expected more. There was a lot of open space around the displays, and a fair number of hands on stuff. Parts of it were preachy in an eyerolling sort of way. We think it was really aimed more at young children, and it seemed rather dumbed down to me.

We loved seeing the hagfish, though. That's one of my daughter's favorite creatures.

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