all the shocks flesh is heir to,

Food for Thought Plates by C.S.Anderson

Well darlin' reader--if last weekend's "deep thoughts" concerned themselves with lofty-- more spiritual goals--this weekend was a big meaty slap in the face. To quote my philosophical sophomore, "Oh! big surprise! Humans are meat." We attended the Detroit Science Center's controversial exhibit Our Bodies Within. Although I could ramble on about how well done the displays (Paulie you would be proud) were-- and in fact how lovely the whole museum was. (five stars. totally) I think my most astute observation was one of two concepts I can't seem to shake.

The first was that upon viewing the bit of some dead prisoner's lower extremity I immediately thought--"ooh good soup stock". The foot had been cleanly sliced about four inches above the ankle and was displayed so that the bones were in cross section. It looked remarkably like a a ham hock. I am not sure what Freud would say. Several times the gross dissection was just too reminiscent of carving a roast. I did some careful breathing here and there, especially by "splodo man".

Artistically, the two most eye catching displays were either this dude (Zoli named him Splodo--actually Z named most of the corpses--we'll get to Elmo n a minute) whose muscles had been splayed out as if he were being peeled. Vaguely like a bloomin onion (tm).

The second most artistically presented cadaver was the "Million Slice Guy". Pete & Matt both confirmed this was their favorite. The body had been sliced into 1 inch thick slabs from the feet up. This gave the body the appearance of being like twenty feet long. Much like the neonate display (which I completely avoided) I did not study this as closely as I might have.

I was kinda having a hard time.

Pete however was all sparkly eyed & bouncing around lecturing the kidlets. Which gets me to my second big observation.
My husband is perverse.

But we all knew that. I wish you all could have seen him bouncing around like a kid in a candy shop. He was so keen; so excited-- and just really having a good time. Prly, the way I look when I am in Stratford! I was very proud of the self restraint he showed when Izzy was getting a little green around the gills. He took her over to the--"Ewww I can't handle this anymore" couches and sat with her for a minute. He was eager to relinquish his fatherly post and dive back in after I was finished with "Elmo".

"Elmo" was absolutely fascinating. yes, Z. named the display "Elmo" which was an excellent moniker as the similar appearance was remarkable. All the corpse needed was big googley eyes. The plastic process used to preserve the flesh is fantastic. The fuzzy appearance of all the trillions (dare I say it? brazillions) of each of tiny corpuscles and the highway network of veins and arteries..absoo lutley fucking amazing. The kidneys & liver are not so much flesh, as I had imagined them, but really just incredibly dense, like a sea sponge-- little branches of coral. A rain forest canopy in our fingertip. Stunningly beautiful and so intricate. This time it was breath taking but I didn't feel faint.

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Swooning however might have been a option later that day. After lunch at Hella's in Greektown (which was as always delish) we came home-- let the doggies out, took a walk & a nap and then we all toddled down to the State where the flesh was a LOT easier to look at! Oh friends! If you like Frank Miller's art (he sure can puddle a cloak!) and rock hard chiseled abs go see the spectacle that is 300. This film was a blast. Historical inaccuracy aside--it was a beautiful blood bath. The movie like the graphic novel was of course extremely violent but in a way that between the slo mo and the color treatments was pure art. Our friend Pace (an artist himself and a connoisseur of things visual) said--"It was like watching a moving painting."

It was very much like a the cutscene at the end of a kick ass video game. If you don't like video games or naked men...don't go. I am thinking it might be a fun thing to do again if it rains today!