Monday, January 2, 2012

Field Museum birthday trip. [Update: goal reached!]

Many thanks to PZ Myers for supporting the cause. Art has already received many generous contributions for his trip to Chicago to see the Field Museum. Thanks to everybody who supports his work on this blog.

If you click the "ChipIn" button here or in the right margin, you can help fund the trip! The ChipIn widget takes a while to update, so contributions don't show up right away. They will, though. They will!

Update! Art has raised 100% of the funds needed to help him get to the Field Museum for his eighth birthday. 100%! Thanks to PZ Myers and everybody who chipped in. You people are the best!

21 comments:

  1. Hmmm... an amazing boy wants to come to my city to see one of the greatest museums on Earth, and all I have to do is ChipIn? Done! I hope you have a great time! And happy birthday!

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  2. Thank you so much, Jenn. He really is an amazing boy and will make good use of this trip. I'll take photos and he'll blog about the whole experience. We are overwhelmed by the support Art has received, and by the generosity and kindness of people all over the world who support Art and his blog.

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  3. Chipped in from PZ's link, and also posted it to my blog and Facebook. Been meeting to get to that museum myself, but the city was swamped with a football game the one time I tried.

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  4. easy decision to donate, though mine went through after the 100%. no matter; treat the future scientist to some gift shop goodies on me!

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  5. Thank you, Matt. We did go over a little bit. It took me a minute to figure out how to end the ChipIn! I'm totally blown away by all the support. We love you guys!

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  6. Since you went over can I have my 10 bucks back?

    Ha! Just kidding! :)

    Art should get some books with whatever extra is left over. I bet they have a great book store at the museum.

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  7. "Life Before the Dinosaurs went to the Field Museum of Natural History and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."

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  8. @Skip: You can absolutely have your $10 back. :-)

    @FlavorDav: Maybe we'll do such a shirt if he ever makes it to the ROM. That trip's gonna take a wagon train and/or an underground railroad. There's a heartwarming motion picture in all of this: Young boy accesses internet, discovers the magic of Canada. Dare to dream!

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  9. Congratulations for reaching your target!

    Hope you have a wonderful visit and learn a lot.

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  10. Ack, I am too late! When PZ's Tweet went round, I only had my phone which hid the chipin thingie from me. Now that I am at my PC, it is closed :(

    Be that as is may Art, I wish you a great and insightful trip to Chicago. And of course a Happy Birthday!

    And if you ever make your way across the pond to Europe, give us a hint, we have lots more natural history museums!

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  11. This is distilled awesome. TMBG's "I Am A Paleontologist" is now happily lodged in my brain...you go, Art!

    I grew up in Chicagoland and dearly love the museums (though I confess the Shedd is closest to my heart). Maybe you'll have time to hit up some of the others?

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  12. Art, have you been to the Natural History Museum in New York? You can see it in the beginning of this movie:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bjRVQvgMlA

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  13. @Ken D.: Oh! That one we can access pretty easily. We can get there by car and we have friends to stay with in NYC. I'll put it on the list. The ROM in Toronto is the next goal, but the logistics are trickier.

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  14. Do they fight dinosaurs in that show? Because if so, the child will be appalled.

    On a related note, he asked if the Chicago hotel we're staying in will have "an infestation" of some kind. He was disappointed to hear me say, "I hope not." He completely sides with the non-humans, particularly if they're invertebrates.

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  15. Check the Bed Bug Registry to find him a suitably infested hotel!

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  16. I should have done that first and found him a really good buggy place. He's particularly keen on centipedes and millipedes, but I'm sure he'd settle for bed bugs.

    I had to inform the child that it probably isn't cool to throw the word "infestation" around in a hotel. Likely makes people nervous and/or angry.

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  17. I love going to the Field museum and I am glad that Art will get the chance to visit. Don't know if it will coincide properly with your plans, but they do a sleepover event!

    http://fieldmuseum.org/happening/programs/overnights

    Imagine roaming The Field Museum at night!
    Join us for a night of family workshops, self-guided tours and fun activities; then spread your sleeping bag amidst some of the most popular exhibitions. Space is limited so reserve your sleeping spots now!

    Overnights begin Fridays at 5:45 p.m. and end Saturdays at 9 a.m. Overnights are only available for families and groups with children ages 6-12.

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  18. I'm so glad you managed to get the money for the trip ! Now I feel bad I never got around to contributing. Oh well. If you ever come around to the UK... :)

    Do they fight dinosaurs in that show? Because if so, the child will be appalled.
    I only saw the first episode, but short answer: yes, they do.

    Long answer: I gather biological and paleontological accuracy wasn't a huge concern on that show. The few episodes I saw had many features that looked like blatant errors, but might not have been, I didn't know enough to be sure. But other more savvy sources I've read since confirm that yeah, it's pretty bad on that score.

    Besides one of the guys in charge was the one who wrote some of the most headdeskingly awful Star Trek episodes, evolution-wise. So that's a red flag...

    But you might enjoy this lady's take on the series, in cartoon form :
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/babbletrish/6188862899/#/
    (and it's so true, too. Srsly people, dinosaurs weren't machine-gun proof and couldn't bite through armored vehicles. Not at that size at least)

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  19. I am a docent at the Field Museum for the "Evolving Planet" and "Sue" exhibits. I will pass this link on to education department. I only volunteer on the weekends, but maybe they can arrange a special tour.

    I have a son about the same age. We are doing a sleep over with his Cub Scout troop in a few weeks.

    I have loved the Field Museum for over 40 years... it's truly a special place.

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