I Surreptitiously Photograph Dead People.

(Note: Since photography of the exhibit is strictly verboten, some of my shots turned out a little goofy as they were taken from inside my pants.)

This past weekend Girlie and I made the relatively short, but extremely well paved trip to Houston to visit my cousin and his lady-friend. Our purpose was two fold. First, we wanted to see those rockin’ guys before we fled the county and the natural poverty of youth kept us from seeing each other for a year or so. And secondly, Houston, specifically the Houston Museum of Natural Science, is currently hosting a very cool exhibit called Body Worlds 3.

While you can read extensively about it on-line, I’ll just give you the Cliff’s notes. Basically, this guy Dr. Gunther von Hagens and his staff, take real folks (and the occasional fuzzy animal) and replace all of the rotty bits that are prone to go all posthumously oozy with stabilizing plasticy compounds that don’t smell or squish.

The result is an amazing blend of science and art that brings a real sense of awe to the study of anatomy.

The process preserves colors so you can literally see yourself from the inside out. It lets them isolate individual systems like the entire circulatory network and strip away everything else. What emerges is a perfect representation of a man or bunny or whatever, composed entirely from an incredibly complex tapestry of veins, arteries and capillaries.

Basically, it’s really cool. Oh, and the disturbing lung exhibit is definitely a strong impetus to never smoke. Ever. Or stop very soon. Good lord.

The exhibit is open until September 4th, so if you’re in the Houston area I highly recommend making the trek to see it. Not only is it extremely informative and amazing to look at, it also has the added bonus of pissing off the prudish and misinformed.

Stay tuned for further Houston updates where our intrepid adventures partake of possibly the best pizza in Texas, if not the lower 48. Chris Bianco, does Marco Wiles have your number?  (Probably not.)

-L.Pants

Comments

[Exmortis]

It's not the prudish and misinformed who are taken aback by his work. Mr Gunther von Hagens almost certainly suffers from a variety of mental disabilities and anti-social impairments. That you applaud his work without reservation is disconcerting. Objectively re-evaluate his purported "studies in anatomy", and realize that he's not just doing it for science and social commentary -- rather, he's quite sick.

You may write this off as some self-absorbed attack of conservativism based on abstract moral standards, but you shouldn't.

[Boots in the Oven]

OK.

I think we're going to have to disagree here, but thanks for stating your opinion.