Anatomy of Love

For Valentines Day, my husband got us tickets to Union Station's latest exhibit, Bodies Revealed. Talk about amazing! The exhibit is a mix of art and science. You can see all the veins inside a person's arm, what an Atrophic brain looks like, and all the muscles used in your face when you smile. All displays are of REAL people. Real muscles, bones, nerves, veins, diseases, etc... I couldn't get enough!
A STRONG word of caution... Bodies Revealed is not for young eyes. The exhibit is of a pretty mature nature. The bodies are FULLY exposed. Part of the exhibit focuses solely on reproduction, fetal development, and the problems that can arise. It could be disturbing to any sensitive eyes, but especially those of children. I was shocked to see young kids there, but not at all shocked when those little ones covered their eyes when they saw something that "scared" them. Personally, I don't think anyone under the age of 12 is really mature enough to handle Bodies Revealed.
However, Union Station has a LOT of other things geared toward the whole family: Science City, the Planetarium, the Rail Exhibit (which my husband actually helped design), more traveling exhibits, etc...

You Ruined It!

Last year, one of my favorite musicians, Alison Krauss, paired up with legend Robert Plant, and put out an amazing album, called Raising Sand. From that album came one of my new favorite songs, Killing the Blues. Well, on Sunday night I was watching the Academy Awards (like every other good American woman), and a commercial for JCPenny aired...with said favorite song playing in the background. I was kinda pissed. I realize good songs get put in commercials all the time...but Killing the Blues is a REALLY good song...and JCPenny is NOT what I want to think of whenever I hear it play! It's like serving a really great wine with hot dogs...and not even all beef hot dogs...the kind of hot dogs made from all things raised on a feed lot.

Good news though... Alison Krauss and Robert Plant will be playing in St. Louis in June..I'm sooooo going!

The "Kemper"

This past Saturday our family visited the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. I think it's a great museum to take smaller children, because it's smallish (four rooms total), never very crowded, frequently has a new visiting artist on display (NOT the actual artist, but his/her work), and it's FREE! We go there as often as we can. Currently, a photographer by the name of Stephen Shore has a rather extensive Autobiographical Landscape exhibit showing at the Kemper. His work is fascinating. He photographed all these things that should be perfectly ordinary, but by using light, positioning, and other artistic mumbo jumbo, Mr. Shore made these ordinary things beautiful. I really enjoyed it...heck even my 18 month old liked it. I bet you would too. Take the family. It's a good time. www.kemperart.org. Oh yeah, the picture to the left is by Stephen Shore. It's entitled U.S. 97, South of Klamath Falls, Oregon, July 21, 1973, and is from Uncommon Places, Aspect One, 1973. It was my husband's favorite. There were a couple photos of some mountains in Montana that really stood out to me.

A Rockin' Good Time

After a long week of all work and no play, our family's favorite place to unwind, on a Friday night, is...at a bar. WTF! you shout? Why, on God's (or any higher power's) green Earth, would you take your small children to a bar??? The answer my cyber friends, is The Doo-Dads!
The Doo-Dads are a rock band of four dads, who write and play children's rock-and-roll music. They have two CD's (one of which was just released last month), and sing about everything from potty training, to dinosaurs. About once a month, they play at the Record Bar in Westport. The bar goes smoke free for the concert, so we don't have to worry about our kids clouding their little lungs. Also, the bar serves kiddo-approved fare such as pizza, mac n' cheese, and hot dogs. There are bubble machines next to the stage, and all the TVs in the bar play Sponge Bob instead of ESPN. And, while our kids are dancing to the music, my husband and I can enjoy a nice cold glass of Boulevard Wheat and dine on a hot Ruben sandwich (a house special). The concert is always on a Friday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. We always go a tad bit early to make sure we get a table...they fill up fast!
Go to www.thedoodads.com for the band's calendar of events. Their website also has music samples from their latest CD. Pretty fun stuff.