(not really!) But I have been knitting the past several evenings, which is what has kept me from blogging. It keeps my hands too busy to type! 🙂

I do want to post a little review of the Lord of the Rings Exhibit at the Museum of science. Peter mentioned that we were going to see it a few days ago and I thought I’d let y’all know what I thought. But really, there are two Rebeccas that need to review it… The regular ole me and the “museum professional” me.

First off, as a fan of the movies, I loved the exhibit. From the first, startling first image to seeing the actual costumes and sets to trying out some of the special effects it was an exciting experience. I loved seeing Galadriel and Arwyn’s costumes and jewelry and the weapons and costumes of the warriors were incredible.

The exhibit was full of families and couples, many of which seemed to be LoTR fanatics 🙂 The little boys were so cute using the green screen technology to fight like elves or orcs (peter, too for that matter!) And we had fun using the ‘double shot-perspective cameras’ that made one of us hobbit sized and on Gandalf sized, while sitting on the same wagon seat. Fun, fun.

As a museum person I have a bit of a different perspective. (a good example of a little knowledge being a bad thing,,,) Despite the positive review above, I found the exhibit lacking in a few aspects. First off, with the exception of a few computer-tech features (which were more fun than scientific) there wasn’t anything sciency about it. I also thought that there was a lack of explanations about how things work. There were several opportunities that went unused. I wonder if the Science Museum was really the best place to host this exhibit.

Secondly, I thought the exhibit had a poor floor plan. There was no real flow to the room. I kept feeling like if I went in one direction I would keep moving and miss something on the other side of the room. The map provided with the exhibit guide was little help as it only identified the different sections of the room, but not the divisions made by free standing walls.

Just a small note: I really don’t think that this was worth the $19 bucks a person that we paid in admission…but it was a fun splurge.

Also, and not really museumy, but, I thought that the exhibit maybe has gone on tour a bit too close to the showing of the movies. As I walked through the room I found myself thinking, ” that’s cool, but I feel like I just saw it in the movie” and “It’s not an ancient relic or anything, it’s just a movie prop”. Perhaps if they had waited a few years there would be some ‘nostalgia’ involved.

Anyhoo, to recap, I liked the exhibit alot, I had a couple of minor criticisms and I think that if you liked LoTR you would probably like the exhibit. the end.