After reading about plastination, the process of preserving a specimen by replacing the water and fat with plastic, I was very excited to visit the Body Worlds 2 exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Science. Dr. Gunther von Hagens developed the technique of plastination in 1977 and opened the first exhibition featuring human bodies preserved by his plastination method. Today the exhibition is among others that are seemingly just like it.

In addition to von Hagen’s Body Worlds, Premier Exhibitions, Inc. is the developer of two plastination exhibitions: Bodies…The Exhibition (recently on view in the D.C. area) and Bodies Revealed (currently on view in Hartford, Connecticut.) While von Hagens set up a body donation plan 20 years ago, with 7600 individuals pledging to donate their bodies, it is not clear where the bodies exhibited by Premier Exhibitions came from. Premier says the bodies used for the show are unclaimed Chinese corpses, but they’ve been accused of using bodies of executed prisoners and others that did not die from natural causes. (According to the Discover Magazine article published on 04.02.2006, the commercial use of such cadavers may seem immoral, but it is not illegal. “A 1984 law allows the use of their bodies for medical purposes without consent.”)

Regardless of whether the bodies displayed were donated by its owner, or taken without consent, all of these exhibitions stir controversy. But I don’t view the exhibitions as a form of entertainment and I didn’t find the show to be exploitative. Instead, the show was moving and educational. Not only was I able to see the awe-inspiring development of a human embryo, but I was also able to see exactly what it looks like to have metal implants in your joints, the effects of Alzheimer’s on the brain, a heart attack, and (poor thing) what the bowels of a woman who died with massive constipation look like.

Ryan, Jill and I visited the museum on Saturday, February 23, 2008.

Sorry for the long delay.  I've been feeling under-the-weather for the past week.  I'm slowly getting better and will be back to posting soon.

We are having an ice storm tonight. It came out of nowhere and as I found out this evening when I exited the metro station, very few roads and sidewalks were salted for the occasion. On my way home I tried to walk up a very slight incline, but ended up sliding seven feet backwards instead. I lurched for a flimsy road sign and used it to launch myself to the safety of a patch of grass. It was hilarious really, and I'm sad no one caught it on camera. But, as you may imagine, the local news reporters are out in full force and many unfortunate falls have been caught on tape and shown on television - over and over and over again. Local news reporters baffle me. Instead of lending a helping hand to those breaking kneecaps and chipping teeth on street curbs, cameramen scoped out the most dangerous patch of ice and set up shop. By the end of the newscast I felt like I was watching an episode of Jackass.

But aside from the ice, the most noteworthy event of the day is posted on Amy's blog. Alex is standing up! I know this may sound like simple news to some of you, but to me this is huge! I have been so happy being a part of Alex's life. While we were in Florida we cheered him on as he slowly firgured out what crawling was all about... and now he is pulling himself up into a standing position?! It's only been a month and a half. I can't believe how fast he is growing. We have got to get to California before I miss anything more!

Happy Mardi Gras!

In order to celebrate this very important holiday, I decided to make my own King Cakes: a cream cheese filled cake and a simple, braided cinnamon cake. I really wish that I was out celebrating the proper way... on the streets of New Orleans. Alas, I haven't that much longer to wait; Ryan and I depart for the Big Easy in 46 days!