I'm gonna burn through the Germann U-boat exhibit at the museum of science and industry... I know, I know.. this was the 'best' part according to my trusted source, John, but I really can't stand modern military history. The only cool part for me at this exhibit were the PR posters promoting local women and men to promote and support the war effort.... Sorry...... I liked the storm exhibit the best :)
The only thing that was really cool about this was how they 'built' this huge amphitheater around this submarine. the time lapse video was great.


Jim and the boys checking out the anchor for the uboat


here's a view from the front of the Uboat



Here's the plaque that tells about the nazi war flag


Here's the nazi war flag that was on the Uboat. The only reason I took this pic was 'cause my friend John collects Nazi memorabilia.


Jacob looking through a periscope.


Judd looking through a periscope.

different photography styles

I recently took a "Chimpsy" photography class In Indianapolis that emphasized the power of "Thirds". I had realized this long before this class, but here's a perfect example.
Notice the picture of Jim and the boys. This is how I take a picture. tight framing of the faces, off center, something in the background that gives you an idea of what is going on in the picture.

Now look at the picture of me and the boys. This is habitually how Jim takes snapshots. me, the kids, centered, usually too much leg, and thankfully, I've kept him from cutting off my head entirely. Not a bad snapshot, but just an example of centering your subject. Not as interesting or pleasing to the eye as the other photo.

Jim knows I give him a hard time about cutting off my head when he's taking pictures of me and the boys, he's done it for years. I think I've finally broke him of it.

Grow your own corn!

Having been raised in the midwest corn belt, I laughed heartily at the quarter vending machine that was stashed in the corner of the agriculture exhibit of the Museum of Science and Industry. I couldn't fathom spending 25¢ on a tiny handful of corn kernels. You see, we can just walk along nearly any county road in Indiana during harvest season and get 5 gallon buckets of the stuff off the roadways for free. The grain haulers inevitably overload their wagons and spill it willy nilly all over the place.

the power of water and light

In the Science of Storms exhibit, there was a section that had three spotlights on the floor. These spotlights were not ordinary. There were concentric rings of light bouncing endlessly in a repetitive pattern. I couldn't understand how they got the lights to 'dance' like that. I looked up and understood then. They had pushed their lighting through a clear tray of water that had divisions in strategic places so you could understand how 'waves' or vibrations were affected by the placement of land masses. A slow drip of water into the trays provided the ripples of light movement. It was beautiful.

I'm looking at this and thinking: Am I the only one that thinks this would be really, really cool to have in a house? Use it as an art piece some how in an open area? or in a garden seating area?

science of storms

There was a display about avalanche science at the museum. This is a photo of a giant spinning disk that was angled toward the viewer. Imagine an inverted frisbee that's 15 foot wide leaning against the wall. Now spin it.... most impressive. Filling this giant frisbee like disk was garnet sand and some smaller, lighter sand for contrast. It was mesmerizing to watch it spin. The effect is like a constantly drifting sand dune. Made out of garnet. beautiful to watch the patterns appear.

Getting there

There was lots to see and do at the Museum of Science and Industry. There's a predominant display of Train history, Airplanes and a newer section entitled science of storms.

The museum of Science and Industry

We went to Chicago the first week of April. In a whirlwind tour of a freezing, foggy town- we tried our best to see as much as possible in 24 hours. Whew!

We visited the museum of Science and industry on day 2 of our tour of Chicago. The taxi ride there was so frantic. Almost scary fast as we whizzed by traffic going 70MPH in a 50 zone. Slamming on brakes to avoid slower traffic. The museum foot traffic wasn't terrible. but busy enough.

Fog in Chicago

Driving in the taxi cab to our hotel- the fog just ate the buildings in the distance.