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

Entry: The Millennium Dome - A87782872
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

A Flea Market Rescue of:
A414163 - Millennium Dome by
U146479 - Isabelle

An article concentrating on the Millennium Exhibition open during 2000 rather than the Dome's subsequent use.

Quite a challenge combining an article written when the Dome was still open and a daily news story with the perspective of someone who had visited the Dome in the dim and distant past, is writing over 12 years later and has the benefit of hindsight. I hope I've done Isabelle justice and haven't inadvertently edited out what attracted me about the original entry in the first place.

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Good rescue !

<> needs a few tweaks:

Even by that calendar, the Millennium Dome should have been opened on 1 January, 2001, as that was the date on which we entered the new Millennium.

Is there room for my photo of the god of the Millennium Dome and perhaps a brief mention of the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition I snapped it from?



GB

I didn't see that exhibition, I'm afraid, but if you wish to write a little about it, when it was etc, I'll be happy to include it and give you a 'Additional Research By' credit. I've added the photo and reworded that sentence as suggested!

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There was a Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition which ran from November 2007 – August 2008. The huge statue of the Egyptian jackal-headed god of the dead Anubis could be seen from miles away, up close it was extremely impressive! Entrance to the exhibition was by ticket only and they were timed to avoid massive queues. Part of the cost of the ticket was to help fund a new museum in Cairo to rehouse the priceless treasures. Certain artefacts, particularly the Death Mask of the 'boy king' Tutankhamun, are not allowed to leave Egypt now due to their fragility. There were plenty of other treasures to admire, including a Canopic jar fashioned in Tutankhamun's image, which once housed his liver. The walls of the exhibition were adorned with paintings, hieroglyphs and symbols, one of which was particularly memorable as it was an unusual running ankh. For fans of everything ancient Egyptian, this was a must-see, especially if travel to Egypt itself was not possible.

Thanks for that contribution - I've added it to the article!

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Very enjoyable article!

I visited the Millennium Experience too, and found it rather underwhelming. I didn't see many of the exhibits mentioned, but probably because it was very busy and we didn't have time to wait to go on all the interactive things.

I definitely remember the body and what a disappointment that was. I was also rather disturbed by the pessimism of most of the things, like the work zone, and the beach. I also remember a sensory nightmare room, with bright flashing lights and loud noises at all kinds of frequencies, so I went into meltdown until my mum pulled me out, which wasn't fun

The highlight for me was the forest of knowledge - a dark room with trees with lights on and mirrors on all 4 walls of the room, so the forest went on forever. There were quizzes on computers in the middle of the room and it was quite quiet in there, so I enjoyed that a lot

The other highlight was getting there, as I had never been on The Tube before

One question:
The Eiffel Tower wasn't built to last, either, was it?

Hello SashaQ – glad you enjoyed the article. I too didn’t get to see everything – the room you described as the 'sensory nightmare room' I think was one of the ones in the Play Zone that were just too crowded and so we didn't bother queuing to do whatever it did. I do remember voting in all the voting machines, though I've no idea what the result of the voting was or what any of the questions were.

Ah yes, I love visiting the Tube. My brother-in-law once went on a trip to London with his friends, and they spent all their time just travelling around the Underground going up and down all the escalators and catching trains to different stations, and not going to the shops or tourist sites at all – who needs to, when there are escalators there that go on for miles? I remember how clean the Jubilee Line looked, and very futuristic as the station had a glass wall to stop you falling onto the rails and the train's doors stopped exactly where the doors in the glass wall were.

But overall I agree that the Dome was a strangely pessimistic celebration. (And I've corrected the Eiffel Tower bit )

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The Tube is great if you're just visiting London. I would hate to live there and depend on it though.

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

I went to the Dome and wrote about it here: F33494?thread=43188 I was rather underwhelmed, but the Millennium Show was much more spectacular than this entry suggests, with Peter Gabriel A442810 writing the music and 160 performers, it was the best part of the day for me. I suppose it was a small scale forerunner for the kind of thing we saw in the Olympic openings and closings this summer.

In 2008 I went there to Dr Gunther von Hagens Body Worlds exhibition "The Mirror of Time" and wrote about it here: F33494?thread=6069830 I was much more impressed with the use of the Dome then (although a little disappointed by the exhibition).

Shouldn't the snitty comment: "..has also been described as an unsightly wok upturned upon Canary Wharf, glaring out across the water like a giant contraceptive diaphragm held in place with outsized knitting needles" be attributed? I've googled and the only links are back to this entry. Has it actually been described like this? Who said it? Anyone famous or well respected? Why make this rather clunky reference without describing the actual properties of the construction. This is an entry called The Millennium Dome, but in fact only makes reference to what was inside the structure and not the Dome itself. And we do have an entry on PTFE to link to: A2953 . Also since the 12 yellow towers represent the hours on a clock face - and the Prime Meridian line passes though the Dome - how about a link to the entry on Longitude: A306758

Greenwich - the home of time (and birthplace of this old fish).


GB, you should use next time you're in London. I hardly ever use the Tube. Buses will take you from A-B with very little additional walking or lengthy escalators or corridors between lines. At the last London meet I went to, the bus stop was right by the front door of the pub. Handy!

Also, footnote 5 about 'The Heart of Eternity' blue diamond: "Presumably named after 'The Heart of the Ocean' jewel in the film Titanic" Is there any evidence of this? I'd be inclined to think it was the other way round.

Hello Coelacanth – good points raised, I certainly hope that when a sub-editor is assigned to this article they read what you have written, and I will direct them here if given a chance.

I didn’t realise Peter Gabriel was involved, and yes, this information and link should be added, as should the link to Longitude.

Similarly, the Dr Gunther von Hagens Body Worlds exhibition "The Mirror of Time" deserves to be mentioned, probably as a bullet-point in the Legacy section.

The 'snitty comment': "..has also been described as an unsightly wok upturned upon Canary Wharf, glaring out across the water like a giant contraceptive diaphragm held in place with outsized knitting needles' was part of the original entry, so unfortunately I don't know where Isabelle got that quote from or whether she wrote it herself. It could be a quote someone said when the Dome was under construction in the late 90s, when far fewer news stories made it online than today. Not how I would have described the Dome, but I do like to try to keep a few key phrases from the original when doing the original, and that is a strong image. (Even if it was a famous politician who said it, that doesn't necessarily mean they are either famous or respected )

I agree that the PTFE entry should be linked to, when mentioned that the canopy is PTFE covered.

I've looked up the Heart of Eternity diamond online – it seems to have been discovered in 'the mid 90s', but I haven't found exactly when it was named. The diamond plot from Cameron's 1997 film Titanic originated in the 1943 Nazi propaganda film Titanic. So it seems that the film diamond came first, the actual diamond being named later, but I am prepared to be proved wrong depending on evidence to the contrary.

But thanks for your hard-thought comments – hope this brought back some memories for you!

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