L-R: norm, remembrance, TLO™, belinda ridgewood, Glen The Plumber, Lusty
I am bound for this year's Netroots Nation, and I headed out to the Bay Area a bit early so I could spend a few days in San Francisco. I told navajo I wanted to go to the Exploratorium, San Francisco's innovative hands-on science museum, which was the brainchild of blacklisted physicist Frank Oppenheimer. I hadn't been there since it moved to a new and larger location at Pier 15, and I was determined to visit. Although out of town, navajo managed to round up a group of SF Kossacks who wanted to accompany me, and set up a trip and a wonderful dinner for us, so on Saturday afternoon, I met norm, Lusty, and The Plumbers (Glen The Plumber, remembrance, and TLO™) outside the museum entrance. Join me for photos below the orange Mandelbrot set.
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It's a nice walk along the water from Market Street, where I got off the train, up to Pier 15. I found the assembling group, we exchanged hugs, and off we went for our adventure! |
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Almost immediately, we got Glen seated in this experiment about which elements of overheard conversations one notices, but when he got up, he still didn't know how to re-install Spock's brain. (I am quite sure he could fix Spock's kitchen sink, though!) |
But there was an actual preserved human brain on display, and TLO™ took this picture of it! |
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The museum had two drinking fountains side by side; one was ordinary, and the other was made from a perfectly clean and new toilet. It was all about preconceptions, but not only the Plumber was fearless -- Lusty also had an open mind. |
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The three scaled chairs had nothing to do with the Three Bears. The scientific point was about proportion, but we had fun swapping seats, and norm ended up king of the hill. |
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TLO™ shows norm a demonstration about creating color images by overlaying three colors of light. |
I know it looks as if I terrify small children into hiding their faces, but in fact, this was an experiment about dizziness in which you spin in the chair with your head down, and TLO™ was just about to start it up as I finished snapping the safety bar. |
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Then there was this interesting sculpture. Here's the side view. But if, like Glen below, you go down the room a bit and look back through the viewfinder, a very different shape emerges. |
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None of us could believe we'd been there for three hours when the closing bell chased us out of the Exploratorium! We could definitely have stayed another three -- we left a lot of stuff unseen, for next time. But off we went, to the excellent and nearby Il Fornaio. |
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This brings us to the food pr0n portion of our program. Please avert your eyes and scroll down to the people photos at the end, if you do not wish to view tasty Italian food at this time. |
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Even the chicken tenders from the kids' menu were pronounced delicious, and were tastefully served on a fancy doily. |
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I had a very lovely time with these lovely people, and it seemed that everyone enjoyed the museum, the food, and the company. Many thanks to the absent navajo, and to all who attended. |
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Special thanks to The Little One for putting up with so much foolishness from the silly grownups. (I guess when your dad is Glen The Plumber, you get used to it...) |
Some photos by me, some by Glen The Plumber, and panoramic photo at the top by Lusty.