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Renaissance Ramblin’ Man: An Interview with Musician and HMNS Employee Chuck Leah
Chuck Leah in Death By Natural Causes Spooky season is upon us and in celebration of all things creepy and terrifying, the Houston Museum of Natural Science is hosting a film screening of the 1922 cult classic Nosferatu. Long before vampires sparkled in the daytime, Count Orlek's shadow was haunting audiences' dreams. To make this experience even more special, our very own Chuck Leah, musician and HMNS employee, has written an original score for the film. I pulled him away…
Why Does Satan Like The Violin So Much?
Violins are amazingly versatile instruments; they are equally at home whining their melodies in symphony orchestras in New York as they are on front porches in Appalachia. Apparently, they are even appreciated in Hell. Tartini's Dream (1824) by Louis-Léopold Boilly. Source: Wikimedia Commons. For those of us who have heard the song The Devil Went Down to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band (and I imagine that's most us) the association of Satan with the fiddle is familiar, but the roots of that association go much further back in…
A Peek Inside HMNS’ Secret Education Collections
By Jayme Schlimper, Overnight Program Manager and Curator of Education Collections Hello! Today I want to let you in on a secret. Hidden in the museum is a magical room full of everything you could ever imagine. A Room of Requirement, if you will (and if you are a Harry Potter fan). It’s called Education Collections. You may have heard of Museum Collections, where a museum catalogs and stores all of the artifacts that it owns. Storage in Collections is…
A few things you should know about the Deer Park Fire & Public Safety.
It’s around 1 PM on March 19th, 2019 at the time of this writing, and from the museum district we can all see a billowing cloud rising from the east. As we all know, this is due to the chemical plant fire that occurred last Sunday in Deer Park. Some of you may have questions about the potential repercussions of this disaster that the cursory information presented on the nightly news cannot answer. Others of you may have heard rumors…
Biophilia: A Healthy Obsession
I have an obsessive-type personality, especially when it comes to science and history. I can regale just about anyone with my vast stores of information in a good number of subject areas. I often recount, in sometimes excruciatingly vivid detail, seemingly endless esoteric facts on subjects ranging from medicinal cannibalism to the effects of sexually transmitted diseases on military history or even the implications of Victorian mourning practices on the enforcement of social norms, to name a few . Believe…
The Surprising Origins Of Popular Halloween Traditions
The ghosts of all things past parade, Emerging from the mist and shade That hid them from our gaze, And, full of song and ringing mirth, In one glad moment of rebirth, And again they walk the ways of earth As in the ancient days. - Hallowe'en John Kendrick Bangs I remember the Halloweens of my childhood fondly. Rushing home from school, bursting at the seams with excitement, anticipating the evening’s rituals. We were barely through the door…
Mayan Monday To Forensics Friday And Everything In Between: This Week’s Happenings At HMNS
Behind The Scenes Tour of the Cockrell Butterfly Center Plus Greenhouses HMNS entomologists and horticulturists will take you behind the scenes of the containment room and rooftop greenhouses--areas not open to the public--where staff cares for the Museum's caterpillars, butterflies, other insects, food plants for the butterflies. In addition to the behind-the-scenes zones, you will also tour the Cockrell Butterfly Center rainforest and Brown Hall of Entomology. Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - 6:00 PM Tickets $27, Members $20. GET TICKETS HERE…
Ancient Egyptian Fashion: So Understated We Had To Dig To Find It
Although Egyptian civilization is one of the oldest in the world, they manage to influence our modern society in many ways. One of those ways is fashion. Ever since the original Egyptian craze a century ago, Egyptian fashion has influenced modern designers on an off. The key to the timelessness of ancient Egyptian fashion is that they knew how to keep things simple and elegant. In the nearly 5,000 years of their empire's existence the typical costume of Ancient Egypt…
Secrets Of The Egyptian Afterlife Revealed By HMNS Collections
The journey to the Egyptian Afterlife is complicated and dangerous. First of all there are various evil spirits that will try to lead your soul astray and then there are the judgments. During one judgment you will be asked a series of questions by a council of 42 gods. Each question must be answered in a very specific way and if you get one answer wrong you fail the test. Another judgement involves Anumbis taking your heart out and…
The Top 8 Instagram Spots At HMNS This Holiday Season
It is that time of year where your Instagram feed is #merryandbright. From dogs in Santa hats to beautiful Christmas cookies (seriously when did all my friends become pastry chefs??) to adorable kids crying on Santa’s lap, it seems like everyone is having a holly jolly Christmas. Do you feel like your Instagram is a little lacking in the holiday spirit? No need to change your Instagram handle to @2017grinch, just head to HMNS! We’ve got so…