As I'm sure is the case for many of you, I'm often planning new events and activities. Now, I do have a degree, of course, and yet I find that most of the time I'm not planning events about rocks, fossils, dinosaurs or prehistoric Britain (my degree was in Geology and Archaeology). I've got a fairly good working knowledge of a wide range of historical and scientific topics, but still whenever I'm event-planning I like to have a look around on the Internet for some more specific information.
The point of this post is really just to share a couple of fascinating articles I found this week whilst doing some googling. Maybe they'll inspire you into some event or activity planning of your own.
BBC News - CIA Secrets - from the US and Canada branches of the BBC I found this fascinating article about declassified CIA secrets from the first world war. There's some fabulous ideas for making invisible ink that I'm pretty sure you could do in practice with museum visitors for a start, not to mention some great stories about etching messages into toenails that kids will love and parents will squirm awkwardly at.
Wikipedia - Fife - whilst searching for information about the 'fife and drum' that is referenced so often in the Sharpe-esque music of John Tams and his contemporaries, I learnt an awful lot about their use in military units. Did you know you can hear a fife and drum being played from 3 miles away, even over the sound of artillery fire? Neither did I, but we both do now.
Visit Worcester - Vesta Tilley - star of the Victorian and Edwardian music hall, Vesta Tilley was a popular entertainer who was a male impersonator. Apparently she was so famous and well-loved that when she retired she received a series of books signed by over 2 million of her adoring fans, including famous names such as Charlie Chaplin, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini!
So have any of you found anything interesting recently that you'd like to share? I'm always on the look out for interesting information and quirky facts and ideas. You never know what will inspire you next.
Saturday 28 May 2011
Saturday 21 May 2011
The Real Deal
I was on a bit of a busman's holiday today. Or maybe more like a busman's day off; since it was a weekend where I didn't need to be in my own museum I went and found another one to look around.
Whilst wandering around, I overheard a child defiantly tell his mother "but this isn't real. It's fake" to which she replied "It's got to be real. We're in a museum."
I wasn't sure whether I should be heartened or worried by this point of view. On the one hand, I was pleased to hear someone of the opinion that a museum is truthful and honest and presents the world as it is. On the other, I was somewhat concerned that perhaps people do just assume that everything in museums is 'real', and that perhaps we need to be a bit more obvious (not to mention careful) when we do include replicas and best-guesses.
It also reminded me that no matter how hard you try people don't read what you put in front of them; it was clear in the museum's introductory exhibition and in their guide map that some of the things on show were replicas or reconstructions.
But that's by the by.
What does everyone else think? Is this opinion of 'everything in a museum is real' as widespread as I think it might be? And should I be pleased or worried about it?
Whilst wandering around, I overheard a child defiantly tell his mother "but this isn't real. It's fake" to which she replied "It's got to be real. We're in a museum."
I wasn't sure whether I should be heartened or worried by this point of view. On the one hand, I was pleased to hear someone of the opinion that a museum is truthful and honest and presents the world as it is. On the other, I was somewhat concerned that perhaps people do just assume that everything in museums is 'real', and that perhaps we need to be a bit more obvious (not to mention careful) when we do include replicas and best-guesses.
It also reminded me that no matter how hard you try people don't read what you put in front of them; it was clear in the museum's introductory exhibition and in their guide map that some of the things on show were replicas or reconstructions.
But that's by the by.
What does everyone else think? Is this opinion of 'everything in a museum is real' as widespread as I think it might be? And should I be pleased or worried about it?
Friday 20 May 2011
Back to Nature
I've been exploring the wildlife in and around the pond at the museum this evening with a group of Scouts, and it's reminded me of the profound impact that the natural world can have on everyone, kids and adults included.
I think that those of us who work in natural settings often take them for granted, and it's easy to forget that actually most people who live in towns never get the chance to be up close and personal with a water boatman or a pond snail. Newts are ten a penny to me, and though I do like them I'm never surprised to see one. For families from the city, though, even a duck is a foreign species to a lot of them, let alone a moorhen.
Kids always get rambunctious in the outdoors, especially when it's after hours and they're the only ones on site. But the focussing power of a tray full of water fleas and bloodworms was quite startlingly effective. Not even the draw of playing lightsabers with the fishing nets was greater than the total engrossment of staring at a damselfly nymph for the first time.
I guess it comes back to the fact that nine times out of ten the simplest things are the best. And a story about bloodsucking water worms probably didn't hurt, either.
I think that those of us who work in natural settings often take them for granted, and it's easy to forget that actually most people who live in towns never get the chance to be up close and personal with a water boatman or a pond snail. Newts are ten a penny to me, and though I do like them I'm never surprised to see one. For families from the city, though, even a duck is a foreign species to a lot of them, let alone a moorhen.
Kids always get rambunctious in the outdoors, especially when it's after hours and they're the only ones on site. But the focussing power of a tray full of water fleas and bloodworms was quite startlingly effective. Not even the draw of playing lightsabers with the fishing nets was greater than the total engrossment of staring at a damselfly nymph for the first time.
I guess it comes back to the fact that nine times out of ten the simplest things are the best. And a story about bloodsucking water worms probably didn't hurt, either.
Monday 2 May 2011
Vinylmation
Hi everyone. Sorry for the extended silence; I've been out of the country for a while. Following a beautiful pre-Easter wedding, we enjoyed a lovely honeymoon out in Florida. I've come back with a mind buzzing full of ideas, which you can expect to see coming out in the blog here in dribs and drabs over the next few weeks.
A short post today to get me back into the swing of blog writing. Do you remember the Munnys that I talked about a while ago? Well, whilst in Florida we found that Disney have their own version of the Munny figure. The trend is called Vinylmation, and it's a Mickey Mouse blank canvass figure. They also sell a lot of pre-decorated versions, available in various designs of famous and more obscure Disney characters.
You can find out more about them here: http://vinylnation.net/ or by searching 'vinylmation' in Google.
Personally, I like the Star Wars ones...
And yes. I did buy a blank one to have a go myself. Results will be forthcoming, as long as I don't make too much of a mess of it!
A short post today to get me back into the swing of blog writing. Do you remember the Munnys that I talked about a while ago? Well, whilst in Florida we found that Disney have their own version of the Munny figure. The trend is called Vinylmation, and it's a Mickey Mouse blank canvass figure. They also sell a lot of pre-decorated versions, available in various designs of famous and more obscure Disney characters.
Personally, I like the Star Wars ones...
And yes. I did buy a blank one to have a go myself. Results will be forthcoming, as long as I don't make too much of a mess of it!
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