Michele & Paul: Am I getting under your skin?...or dinner at Grant's......or how to stop a jihadist.

This past weekend we took Sammy up to the Twin Cities to show Sammy the "Body Worlds" exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Basically it was a display of cadavers preserved in plastic or silicon or vinyl or papier-mâché (or something like that). The epidermis has been removed so you can see the muscle, nerve, funny-bone, and other tissue/material.

Aunt Diane & Aunt Anne went with us -- Aunt Anne kindly got us the tickets. Also with us was Grant and Hank. Hank works in the medical profession as a sandman (think about it), so we were able to get the skinny on the exposed corpses.

Afterwards, Grant kindly invited us to his tastefully decorated home (Grant...do you want to sell us that chair?) for an excellent evening of food, drinks, and coversation. Inevitably discussion ended up at one point talking about what is and what is not allowed onto an airplane. Since some of the people there work for one of our government's security, Paul decided to enlighten them to what he thinks is the next terrorist plot involving airplanes. He first asked those in our midst if a bag of flour and some newspaper was allowed carry-on to an airplane...to which he heard a clear "yes." What follows is the nightmare scenario that Paul fears will soon happen:

"If people are allowed to carry on a sack of flour and some newspaper, I fear that some jihadist will attempt to use papier-mâché to bring the airplain down. The way they would do this is by locking themselves in the bathroom and using the water, flour, and newspaper to fabricate their weapon. They would then carry it back to their seats where they would use the overhead air vent to quickly dry it off. What would they make? A piñata of course. And how would this threaten the aircraft? Because it would be a TROJAN piñata...with a jihadist hidden inside. The other terrorist (I hypothesize this scenario would take a minimum of two conspirators) would bring the Trojan piñata to the cabin door of the cockpit and the pilot would be fooled into thinking there was a harmless party outside."

Sadly, the gravity of the threat was not grasped fully by those there. Strangely enough Michele seemed more interested in keeping Paul away from the little umbrellas that were in the drinks. But at least the food was good, the surroundings comfortable, and the conversation engaging.

Science Museum of Minnesota Body Works Exhibit