London Museum 2010

[furtech]

London is always a lot of fun: so much history, good food and things to do. I met up with Karen (with whom I was seeing "Warhorse" later that evening) and we went off exploring. Since the British Museum was just a few blocks away, that seemed to be the obvious choice. On the way there we stopped at a comic shop that had a decent selection of European comics and small press works. Still, the preponderance of American comics was depressing. I also got to see London's version of the new rental bikes that are popping up all over the world: pretty neat concept!


Complete Flickr set

All the usual sights were there: the Rosetta Stone, mummies, etc. The interesting new exhibit was a project where the creators took the medical records of two "average" people (a man and a woman) and figured out exactly what pills they took over their lifetime and then obtained those pills and sewed them into a giant piece of mesh fabric. Over time the types of pills they took changed, from childhood cold/aspirin pills to birth contro and later, to age-related pills. Thousands upon thousands of pills. People (like us) would look at a certain section and try to figure out what the medications were based on the person's age and sex. Also, how our own pill-taking might compare (mine would be a LOT more, based on the vitamins and supplements I take).

I took some shots of some Japanese glazed bowls just for Jon Singer: I love this glaze but I'm not sure if it's just pretty or if there is some forgotten technique involved:




There was also an awsome display of compasses orreries that iisaw would enjoy:



These were part of an exhibit about "new" sciences (like vacuums) and "magic" and how the two overlapped. I think this area of the museum has displays made up of items the museum owns that they rotate out for the public to see, since there were very different items there the last time I visited.

Comments

[vandringar.livejournal.com]

I love the British Museum. I went to school a couple blocks from there, and was in there all the time. I think I've been in that comic shop you mentioned, too.

[iisaw.livejournal.com]

I love that place and have spent far too few hours in it!

Fantastic shots of the astrolabe and orrery. Of course, I love them! Can I get copies?

[dustmeat.livejournal.com]

Been there!