Guy Fawkes - 'Remember, remember the Gunpowder Plot'

Guy Fawkes being arrested in 1603.

Guy Fawkes was born in April 1570 at York. He was brought up in a family and country of Protestants. However, he was Catholic and refused to attend Protestant services.

At the age of 21, Fawkes sold his estate and went to Europe to fight for Catholic Spain against the Protestant Dutch. In 1603 he was made captain. That same year he appealed to King Philip III of Spain to support a rebellion in England against James I. Philip refused to give his support.


While fighting for Spain at Flanders, Fawkes meet Thomas Wintour, who asked him to join a plot which would become known as the Gunpowder Plot.

After 18 months of planning, the plot failed when Fawkes was arrested at midnight on 4 November 1605 under the Houses of Lords. With him they found 36 barrels of gunpowder was found in a cellar directly below where the King would have sat to open Parliament the next day.

He was tortured for two days by James I's spymaster, Robert Cecil. After which, Fawkes confessed to it all. He was then sentenced to death - to be hanged, drawn and quartered. However, he jumped from the gallows, breaking his neck and so avoiding the horror of being cut down while still alive, having his testicles cut off and his stomach opened and his guts spilled out. His dead body was then hacked into quarters and his remains were sent to four corners of the Kingdom to serve as a warning.

Google's Art & Culture - Online Galleries

Now Google's Art & Culture is an really interesting and probably is the biggest of the on-line museum and art galleries catalogs out there. Maybe, because Google is a billion pound company or as they have started this project a long time ago and they have built it up to what it is today from there. Now I am not going to take a look at all about this amazing site has to offer, as this would be like reviewing the internet itself, a impossible task.

When the Art Project first started in 2011, the site had a huge collection of scanned works of art. For the first time you could take a close look at works of art and learn about the pieces; and the artiest who made them. You could see the artist brush strokes and the detail of the art work which you might have never been able to do at a art gallery. The project has evolved and now you can do and see so much more. 

At the moment I believe the site is a beta test and might be changed or updated to something even better than what's up at the moment but I see this as really unlikely.

You can take a look at articles, artefacts, art work, museum collection, Google Earth drop-in historic and museum/art galleries; historical accounts on events, people and so much more. 

Now with the artefacts, art work and museum collections you take a close look at individual objects with high detail. The site allows you to look close to objects for the first time. This makes you feel like you are looking at the object face-to-face or with a magnifying glass. Allowing you to see everything from the artist's brush strokes to every tiny detail.

Now there is a fabulous section of the site were you can digitally drop into a historic locations or museum/art galleries. In the same style as the drop-in setting of Google Earth, this allows to take a virtual tour of the location. This gives you idea of what the place it like and also allows to take a closer look of the highlights of the exhibits, giving you a taster of what you can see.

Now I could go on and on about this site as there is so much of it to take about.

The whole site is amazing. However, the only thing that I can say which is bad is the size of the collection they provide you. Now to many that's not a problem and it isn't but it is a problem if you can't search through all which they have. For example you have 1,692 of them. You get a search engine to search things, this is great if you know what you are looking for. However, can't possible know what they have to offer if you don't know and you are simply browsing. In my opinion it would be far easier with a filter system allowing you to select specific theme, century, topic etc. In the way they provide you, you would need to sieve through all what they have to find something you wish to take a look at. The other problem is the search engine itself as if you spell anything wrong, the search engine will not recognize it or give you alternatives search. So at the end you will turn up with your search with practically nothing.

Although it has some problems I must give Google a huge amount of credit. This site is what museums should inspire to with their own on-line catalog or gallery. 

My Build: The Face

'The Face' was something that was a first for me to do, a unplanned build and with no real design what so ever. The build was originally inspired by Nathan Sawaya's amazing Lego artwork, such as many of his builds at 'The Art Of The Brick'. 

Very much unlike this model, Sawaya's artwork is planned, only builds with simplest parts, such as 2x4 or 2x2 bricks and also uses a uniform colour. Now this model was built up of anything I had to hand which seemed to make the build structurally sound. 

As you can see the model is made up multiple amount of colours from Lego's palette. What might not be obvious is that I used a lot of different types of bricks to create the model, these included, corner, technic and slopped bricks, etc. 

The whole thing is hollow but to keep some of the structure together there are some technic beams to hold a lot of it all up.

I don't know about you but I think as a first try at sculpting with Lego, that bad. I might later on build another out of one colour, like Sawaya. You never know it might even look 10x better than this one.

Brickmania Tiger I Ausf. H Review

The Tiger I Ausf. H German Heavy Tank by Brickmania is a black box edition, a large, detailed and extremely limited kit. Amazingly designed by the leading designer and owner of Brickmania, Daniel Siskind. 

This is a huge kit has equal amount of detail throughout the model. I would say this kit is very accurate to the original vehicle and is up there with the best of the Brickmania kits.  

The instructions are displayed in a high quality booklet. Right at the front of the booklet you have the history of the tank, with images of the real thing. The step by step stages of the build is very easy to do and understand. The booklet itself is better than those provided by Lego with their own kits.

This kit only comes with one exclusive Panzer officer minifigure and one Brickarms' MG34 .

The kit comes with two types of stickers to allow the builder to choose what type of Tiger they want to have. You can have to choose for a Schwere Panzerabteilung 501 or 502.

The stickers are of high quality and not likely to peal off anytime soon. In someway I would say the stickers are better then those done by Lego.

However there isn't just stickers in this kit. You get two of these exclusive printed 1x1 round tiles for the exhausts of the engine.

As I said before you also get interior details which you don't normally get in Brickmania kits. You only get these sort of detail with a black box edition. You get seating for the driver and the gunner. On top of this all of you get the engine located at the back of the tank.

What you also don't see often in smaller kits is suspension. This is because the way to do this at a smaller model is really hard to pull off. With a large model the technique to do this is able to be put in as there is enough space to do so. 

 The only problem I can find with this kit is there are some weak-points which you sometimes get with Brickmania's kits. However, as I normally say to get this type of detail you have to sacrifice stability to achieve accuracy.    

The historical kit comes to $395/£301.60 and it is worth every penny. I have to say that the Brickmania black box edition kits are always expensive but are the most detailed and high quality item which Brickmania produces.

The Weirdest Museums!

A few weeks ago I went into one of the most weirdest museums I have ever laid my eyes on. Now this inspired me to go and find out more about other really weird museums that might be out there. Surprisingly there are a lot. However, there was nothing on the one I went to, the National Poo Museum. Yes you read correctly, a museum about Poo. Now I will go into what they actually have on display and other weird museums below.

The National Poo Museum

Sandown, Isle of Wight.

Now they don't have open excrement simply placed on a shelf for you to examine, they aren't that weird. Each donation which the museum has is clinically displayed within a transparent plastic globe to preserve the specimen in its natural state. Now you can see a wide range of excrement, from human baby to lion. But be sure not to miss the cat poo in a kid's shoe.

Icelandic Phallological Museum
Reykjavik, Iceland.

This museum is the home to 215 penises and other peniles of most of the land and sea mammals found in Iceland. Now if you think I am joking about this, you couldn't be more wrong. But do take a look at their range of items, from the blue wale to mice. The subject matter of the museum is unusual and strange, the museum itself is totally serious. In entering you will be able to learn all about the world of Phallology, the study of penises, and their place in history, art and society. 

Currywurst Museum
Berlin, Germany.

The Germans love their sausages so why not have a museum dedicated to the Currywurst. At the ketchup-red museum display is a multi-scenery exhibit allowing the visitor to experience the sounds of sausages sizzling and smell exotic spices as they go around the rest of the museum. The museum has even recreated a food cart so visitors can go in and imagine making their favorite snacks. 

The Museum of Bad Art
Brookline and Somerville, Massachusetts, USA.

The only museum dedicated to celebrating bad artwork in all its forms. Why go to see quality art when you can see terrible pieces of art which some people may relate to or make them feel talented. As you walk through the galleries you will see artworks with clashing colours, out of proportion figures and lack of talent. So if you are feeling down about your art course, or even think you aren't good enough to make it as artist, then just spend a day here and you'll never worry about it ever again.

Parasite Museum
Tokyo, Japan

This museum is home to over 300 varieties of parasites including a 30 foot tapeworm. On top of this the museum has set up a scientific research center to study the small and the huge of the parasitic world. You might very eat or go to exotic place ever again but at least you will learn something about these disgusting critters. 

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets
New Delhi, India

This museum looks at the entire evolution of the toilet throughout history. The museum as been able to trace the toilet back through history till 4,500 years ago. You'll be able to see all, from chamber pot to Victorian toilet seats. In this museum even the rest rooms are in someway a exhibit.

Museum of Funeral Carriages
Barcelona, Spain

This museum is a basement at the city's Municipal Funeral Services. Here visitors are taken to the dusty basement by a security guard. Down there you can make your way around the exhibit's ornate carriages, some of which date back to the 18th century.

Hair Museum
Avanos, Turkey

This museum was created by Chez Galip, in rural Turkey. The museum is home to his huge collection of more than 16,000 women's hair samples. To make things even creepier the museum is located in a small, dark cave. Don't worry they let you keep your hair on.

Paris Sewers Museum
Paris, France
 

When I say sewers museum, I mean a museum in the sewer. Paris has a network of tunnels were visitors are introduced to the world of sewage disposal from the 13th century drainage systems to the first closed sewers in the late 19th century. Guides talk about the history of keeping Paris clean and for the stronger stomached  visitor you can have a walking tour of the tunnels.

Museum of Broken Relationships
Zagreb, Croatia
 

This museum is revolve around the concept of failed relationships and their ruins. Visitors are welcome to add to the collection with their own experiences and gifts from broken relationships. The artifacts include rings, clothing, Valentine's Day gifts and the occasional fuzzy pink handcuffs. However, I wouldn't go with you other half, as they might just contemplate on the relationship they are already in. 

International Cryptozoology Museum
Portland, Maine, USA
 

Cryptozoology is the study of hidden animals and search for animals who haven't had their existence proven yet. These include Bigfoot and the Yeti. The collection includes specimens and artifacts which relate to mythical creatures. These are hair and poo samples, and native art which supposedly  support the idea of the existence of the creature. Who knows they might even convert you to a believer. 

Museum of Witchcraft
Cornwall, England

Did you know that Cornwall is the home to the largest collection on witchcraft. The museum has categories of everything from devil worship and satanism to the persecution of witches. Visitors can see dipping chairs used to 'prove' a woman was a witch and voodoo dolls, which were used to inflict pain on others. Along side all of this, the museum has a library of over 3,000 books on witchcraft. This is especially great if you are thinking of taking up the art of witchcraft, so this museum is a great starting point for you.

Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments
Amsterdam, Netherlands

This museum is home to over 100 torture devices with the exhibit dedicated to the history of human cruelty. Which is a bit unsettling. The gruesome displays include a guillotine, stretching tables, screws to crush fingers, head and other parts of the body and the Judas chair, a chair of nails. However, the museum does advertise a serious message on that there are executioners still being employed and the death penalty is still exists in many countries around the world today. 

Dog Collar Museum
Leeds Castle, Kent, England

The museum is home to over 100 dog collars. These include a range of different dog collars spanning from five centuries, these include strong collars designed to control haunting dogs, to the fashion item of the 21st century collar. So this is a interesting museum for all dog lovers alike. 

Ice Cream Museum
Los Angeles, USA

Saving the best to last is one of the delicious museums I have ever heard of, the Ice Cream Museum. A brightly coloured environment where your imagination can go wild. From giant ice lolly and jelly bears art work to a pool of sprinkles you can mess around in. The museum's goal is to bring people together and think they do it well, with their exhibits help people have fun, be inspired and gain amazing new memories. Might be on the list of weird museums but should also be on the list of best and awesome museums you must go to.