Bodies

Last week, I finally got to see one of the Body Worlds exhibits at Science World here in Vancouver. I can't post a photograph - the business that runs these exhibits all over the world is very careful with them - and now that I've seen it, I understand why.

First, let me tell you that this is not an exhibit for the squeamish. But it is absolutely amazing. And if you're not squeamish, I think you'll find it beautiful. I did. And you'll learn a whole lot - things you wouldn't even have thought about learning.

If you don't know what Body Worlds is, here are the Coles Notes. A German doctor invented a way - I think it's called plastination - to preserve human bodies so they can be exhibited. Some bodies are shown whole, with specific parts exposed - say muscles, or internal organs, or whatever. Some bodies are used to show only very specific parts - such as lungs or hearts or the nervous system.

I understand that some people might be offended or uncomfortable about this use of human bodies, but for me, I felt as if I were seeing an homage to the humanity of us all.

In many cases, the poses they're in - to exhibit a specific part of a body, or a particular system within it - are exquisite. Bodies in sports poses (baseball, soccer, figure skating), in yoga poses, in ballet poses. There is the X-Lady - who is, to me, so beautiful I see her as a piece of art. Her inner organs are exposed, her lovely lean muscles, her skull - all these things that are inside of us are beautiful.

Or the Drawer Man - where different body parts are opened as drawers so we can see what happens underneath the skin. Or the nervous system - the nerves spread out from the brain showing how everything is tied together. One of the things that blew me away was the various exhibits of the blood vessels. Wow! Not just thinking about how they worked in my body, but the care and skill and time it must have taken to create these things.

On a purely aesthetic level - this exhibit was art. It was sensitive and creative and wonderful - in all senses of that word.

I think very few people would come out of this exhibit without having gained knowledge of how things work inside our bodies, without having experienced awe and joy and sorrow, without saying thank you to the man who brought this to us, allowing us to see so much which has been hidden from us.

Kate

One sunny Saturday

One sunny Saturday is all we've had in the past six or eight weeks, so I took advantage of it last weekend and walked all along the shores of False Creek - called false for a reason. It's really not a creek at all (though it may have been at one time) but an inlet from English Bay and the Pacific Ocean through the heart of the newest part of downtown Vancouver - Yaletown which was built en masse after Expo 84 - and a relatively new development on the south side of the inlet called Fairview Slopes.

We walked from our place on the northern shore of the entrance to False Creek right around to Granville Island and then took a ferry back across to the foot of our street. We even had lunch outside at Bridges, though the last half hour was getting a little cool and we made it home with only the first few raindrops hitting us.

This is the view once we hit the corner to turn back to the west on southern half of the creek.


I don't have kids but I still love Science World, especially the huge and surprisingly lovely sound sculpture right outside the front door. It fascinates me and I can get stuck there for an hour, just watching the balls drop and create all kinds of lovely music. It's hypnotic.

But there's a lot more to Science World than the sound sculpture. It's home to all kinds of scientific experiments which are a whole lot of fun - for adults as well as kids. There's also - at the top of the ball - an IMAX theatre where they're always showing great movies. Definitely worth a visit.

The two photos at the top of the page are views across False Creek to the north. The greenery is a part of Granville Island (also incorrectly named as it's not really an island but an isthmus) and the towers are part of Yaletown, with the Granville and Burrard Street bridges spanning False Creek.

It's a terrific walk - a couple of hours, I'd guess - and there's a whole lot to see.

There are the amazing grounds and buildings that make up the Olympic Athletes' Village - gorgeous and are now up for sale at huge prices. There are lovely lounging chairs big enough for three or four people, benches, a beautiful span bridge for pedestrians, all kinds of interesting sculptures, including a huge - and when I say huge, I mean 20 or 30 feet tall - bird right in front of the Village.

A pond full of geese and ducks and seagulls. Keep your eyes out for the best friends at the dog park - a tiny long-legged dog who spends most of his time chasing a swallow. The swallow allows him to get so close - one big jump close - and then flies up a few feet and the game begins again. It's definitely entertaining though it's clear from the start that the dog will never ever catch the swallow.

There are restaurants and bars and several marinas filled with all kinds of boats. There are bikers and roller bladers and every type of person imaginable, especially, as you can guess, on the first sunny Saturday in weeks.

As you head closer to Granville Island, you begin to see the houseboats on the far side of the Island, the hotels and restaurants and bars that help make the Island so vibrant, the Granville Island Brewing Company where you can sit and test several of the beers made right there, as well as take a tour of the brewery. There is one of my favorite places in the world - the Granville Island Market. And on a Saturday like this one, it's noisy and cheerful, full of colors and aromas and people. Everything to keep you entertained for hours.

And then, at the end, there's a short ferry ride across False Creek and we're home.

What do you do on a sunny Saturday?

Kate