More Learning.

At the Natural History Museum today in the section with the mummies and the cavemen:

"Mommy, what's that?"
"That's a caveman."
"Oh, are cavemen nice?"
"Well, yes most of them were."

Finding out that most cavemen were nice was oddly reassuring.

More Things We Saw.

The Blackbird underwent testing for two years before the US Government acknowledged that it existed. During that time period the few people who lived near Groom Lake and saw the plane in flight assumed it was a UFO due to its unconventional shape. The Government found it convenient to allow people to have these theories rather than know about classified aircraft development. Here the SR-71 looks especially alien.

Why don't they sell replicas of this in the gift shop? I want this as a mobile in my room.

You're Enola Gay.

The actual plane that actually dropped the bomb. I'm not 100% convinced that this is something we want to be showing off in the same museum that we brag about our innovations in flight.
I think it should be preserved and remembered, but it's disturbing how casually it is mixed in with the rest of the collection.
(Although much more disturbing were the B-52 themed ties in the gift shop. I didn't realize I was such a hippy about these things, but I don't see how someone would want to wear a tie with images of M16s or tanks on it. But I guess this is why I don't work for the Defense Department.)

Lucas is gonna be pissed when he finds out.

It's really sad when NASA is so short of funding that they have to sell C-3PO's skin.

Ugh, I hope there wasn't any learning involved.