Edinburgh New Town plans

The excellent Edinburgh Blogger has posted about the fact that the original plans for Edinburgh’s New Town will be returned to display (under special conditions) in the Museum of Edinburgh.

Now, for a girl who often functions as an unofficial tour guide for any friends or acquaintances visiting Edinburgh, I thought I knew quite a lot about my adopted home town. Who the King, Queen and Princes are that the New Town plan is based around. Where the remnants of the old city walls can be found. Where John Knox’s grave is. Why students rub the toe of the statue outside the High Court of Justiciary before exams. Why people spit on the Heart of Midlothian. Where Deacon Brodies workshop is (and the name of the literary character he inspired). Where the most active poltergeist is. What building a mummified cat was found inside the walls of during renovations. Where Jacobs Ladder can be found…

But I didn’t know about the Museum of Edinburgh.
I’ve walked past that building so many times, yet I never knew it was a museum! Right, that’s it, I’ve got to go investigating!

Spot the stereotype

So, Channel 5 have got a new TV show (originally a Japanese game show, and then an MTV show) called Silent Library.

Can you guess what elements are involved?

  • Sexy-but-prim female Librarian: glasses, hair in a bun, in both human and cartoon form?

Check

  • Librarian standing behind an issue desk, piles of books around her?

Check

  • Irritated librarian shhhh-ing people in the library when they make noise?

Check

  • Large “Silence Please” sign?

Check

  • Librarian aggressively using stamp and ink pad?

Check

My, what an exciting and novel idea they have here…not.

The Production team had a similarly inspired approach to asking for contestants

“Do you think libraries are dull? Can you suppress your laughter and hold your nerve whilst all those around you are losing theirs? Do you want to win up to £2000 in cash? We are currently producing a new TV series for Channel 5 based on a cult Japanese game show. We are looking for fearless, game for a laugh, up-for-it teams of six mates for a TV challenge like no other… Do you think you can avoid cracking up in the face of physically challenging, irresistibly silly pranks in the one place where the universal rule of SILENCE applies – a library?”

The one place with a universal rule of silence, eh?  They’ve obviously not set foot in a library for a long time then!
I can think of other silent places, with a similar response of “official disapproval” when too much noise is made…why aren’t they trying this format in a monastery? A church? A temple?
Oh wait: no chance to show an obviously-must-be-a-bit-repressed-but-she’s-still-sexy female librarian for those places, eh?

I can understand this show being acceptable in Japan (gameshows there are notoriously sexist), or even on MTV (not exactly known for its highbrow programming), but what made Channel 5 think this’d be a wonderful show here?

Perhaps we should campaign to Channel Five for some equally patronising programme for other stereotypes… anyone want to make any suggestions?

The confusion of the Public Data Corporation

This press release was posted by the Land Registry yesterday, and it’s left me a bit confused.

  • What are these Public Data Organisations (PDOs) the Government is creating? I had never heard mention of these before.
  • The Met Office, Ordnance Survey, and Land Register are moving into this PDO? Why?
  • The Land Registry was part of the Ministry of Justice? Really? 
  • The Land Registry will be part of the Department for Business, Innovations and Skills – that seems like an odd combination.
  • Why are there no links to any of the supporting materials mentioned in the press release. The “previous work on the Feasibility Study”? The “findings reported to ministers”?
  • Why was this not announced earlier than on the day it actually happened?
  • Why is the enabling legislation coming into force after the change happens – why was it not made and in force in advance of this move?

So…the moneymaking Government departments are being hived off into a mysterious body called a PDO, which there are no links to the justification for, there’s no information on what it will do, and a consultation will happen “in the summer” (we’re halfway through it now, so they’d better move fast!) which will establish “membership, structure, and commercial strategy” based on the consultation, “later this year”…this just seems a bit chaotic, vague, and thrown together!

And these new PDOs.. they sound like they’re all going to be commercial enterprises, to exploit the data the Government agencies produce…what does this mean for the public trying to access this data?

Anyone know more about this stuff?

Digging about in the library

Libraries are great places to dig about to find unusual items…and even more fun is doing it using the European Digital Library (Europeana). There’s information on all sorts of interesting things held in libraries, museums and archives all over Europe to be found on there.

I decided to go on an online animal-themed hunt: after all, animals (apart from the obligatory Library Cat, or occasional dog) are not generally encourage in libraries.

So, you can find this mongoose in Sweden, this Canadian octopus in the UK, this frog in Italy, a confused sloth in the UK, a deevloping axolotl in Italy, an aye-aye in the UK, a marmoset in Romania, and a miraculous quail in Shrewsbury.

And of course, some African wild ass, which is actually found in the Netherlands.

What’s the oddest thing you can find on there, animal or otherwise?