h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today we have no hot water, no toilets and VERY LOUD DRILLING IN THE ROOM NEXT DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you're on the south coast and see someone wandering around, dazed and confused, they're probably a member of staff from here trying to find the nearest toilet...

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Pastey
IMO
Old school is good, when it comes to museums.

I hate the modern ones which are full of interactive bits and pictures, but no facts, and no means of getting any additional information.

Nothing against interactive stuff in itself, but it needs to be integrated with the traditional stuff, not replace it.

In Southampton, the new SeaCity Museum recently replaced the old Maritime Museum, and has some of their displays. One rehoused display is a collection of small ship models. When they were in the Maritime Museum, each model had a paper label next to it saying what the ship was and when it was built. Now these exhibits are no longer labelled but have a number, 1 to 30 or 40.

There is a single touch-screen display on which to type in the number to learn the ships' identities, but only one person can use it at a time and it is quite a large display case, so you can't see the model furthest from the screen very easily. And it takes ages to load each of the 30 or 40 ships' info. The label next to the model method provided all the information required in an instant, and large numbers of people could use it at once.

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I *much* prefer the old school museums. I actually really hate the ones that have totally changed themselves to aim purely at groups of school kids. Yes, kids should be engaged, but not by dis-engaging all the adults

It's worse, they have dumbed down to infants school level, I notice even the older Junior school parties (11 ish)look bored to death within about 20 minutes.

When I was that age our teachers could dump us at any museum, probably with a preset question sheet or project work and leave us too it for an hour.

While they sat around drinking tea and looking after the pile of bags.

I quite like old school museums - I really like the King George III Gallery in the British Museum, because it feels like going back in time, but unfortunately I'm not quite tall enough sitting down to see into the traditional display cases in the middle of the room, so it's a bit of a struggle. My favourite items are the statues and Greek Vases, though, and they are well displayed.

I visited the University Museum in Liverpool the other day, and that was the best of both worlds - they have traditional display cases, but they are set at a lower height, so I had a good view as well as appreciating the old schoolness. The Museum of Liverpool is also good, especially given that it is very modern - there are plenty of items on display quite traditionally but easy to see, as well as interactive bits and pieces that add to the experience rather than detracting from it, such as music listening posts and recordings of people talking about their experiences in the past.

Putting labels on to a single computer doesn't seem like a good use of technology, though... The Liverpool Maritime Museum was rather disappointing to me in a similar sense, as I last visited quite a few years ago, and I particularly remembered the collection of ship models being displayed excellently in a bright and spacious room, but when I visited this year, they had been relegated to being squeezed into a dark corner under the stairs with labels written on glass so you could only see them from certain angles... Made more room for copious numbers of boards with text on, but not many more artefacts...

Sounds like you need a scissor lift built into your seat to raise you up.

I miss some old museums, not least the Electrical Museum in Christchurch and the original Dinosaur museum on the IoW. Perhaps we could have a meta-museum to keep the old collections in? A museum of museums.

On the subject of old-school; I managed to engage the younger members of my family in the Telegraph museum in Porthcurno, but they are probably too old and cynical by now. I'm hoping to see the National Museum of Computing in the near future - my father in law wants to go.

[SIO2]

I just mis-read that as the National Museum of Camping

Mind you, that's one I'd definitely go to ...

Mol

It would be mostly guys....

Just received the following e-mail:

'Today jack hammers [will be] knocking down concrete walls near the front end of your building today. As it gets closer to offices on the north side, the noise and vibration levels will obviously get worse.'

Nice.

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Yesterday 'morning' at 1:30 they started working on the street, new asphalt etc. At 6:30 they started doing something with a jack hammer which lasted almost all day. I know how you feel BB.

1:30am?

Mind you, I can't see any workman doing that sort of thing over here. If they're digging up a road and it turns 4:30pm on a Friday, they'll happily leave the hole in the road with a few easy-to-blow-over fences around it untouched until 9am on Monday morning.

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Yes, 1:30 am. I have no idea why they started that early because the road was closed all day anyway, and it's not even a very big road. It's not like they had to do it at night because otherwise it would block any important traffic.

[Bagpuss]

Today is quiet so far – but it is only 8:40am. There is a funny industrial smell everywhere and all the carpets have been covered in what is labelled 'flame-retardant carpet shield', presumably so we don't start spontaneously combusting...

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*wakes up from under a sleeping toddler* oh sorry must have dozed off. The mouseling is walking! ( eeek ) and growing up far too fast. Luckily though it looks as though he is going to become a big brother. ( scan is next Wednesday (13th) and I will make a public (Facebook) announcement then ( provided all is well). So nothing elsewhere uuntil then please) february/march next year. Exciting and terrifying at the same time!

Mini

Fingers crossed for you Mini!!

Oooooooh. *crossing more fingers*

*the crossed-fingers pile doesn't stop getting higher*