three successes

Yesterday I took a trip back into the world of academia when I spent the day doing research at the University of Bristol’s archives. I was basically going through their collection of materials on Isambard Kingdom Brunel to survey what materials we might be able to put to use in our workshops for the upcoming Brunel 200 celebrations. It was quite a day, first off it was nice just to step back into the student world and be surrounded by people rushing to class, doing research, and looking worn out from the student life – It made me miss it in a few ways but it was also nice to know that I was there for work and not school.

I was in heaven sitting in the small little archive room of the library surrounded by ancient books on all subjects and completely absorbed into the smell of musty archive collections… I’ve done the archive research thing in Canada, but in some ways this was a completely different experience as the materials that I was handling dated further back than anything I had ever investigated before. Amid searching out drawings of the Great Western Railway from the 1830s and looking for posters and advertisements that we could reproduce for use in workshops, I took some time to peruse through Brunel’s personal diaries that dated as far back as the mid 1820s.

As a self proclaimed history and museum geek I’m aware that handling anything dating from that long ago would be enough to get me going on a intellectual high, but as I’ve done more research I’m starting to get very fond of this Brunel character and so I found it even more interesting to revel in his private musings from almost two centuries ago.

My investigation only proved the many theories that call Brunel an over ambitious eccentric and a genius, but there is nothing like turning through the pages of a diary written by the man himself. My most favorite piece is a letter he wrote in the middle of his first diary in 1829, after four o’clock in the morning after he had been faced with an apparition of an early death. He wrote a lengthy letter to his closest friend, to whom he dedicated the diary for after his passing after realizing that it was probably the only thing he had of value in the world. What a character! It was so fascinating to read, not only because he proclaims himself to be overly ambitious, but because he also obsesses over his own ambition, constantly referring to his building Castles in the Air in planning his entire life… here is my favorite quote I dug up…

“My ambition or whatever it may be called (it is not the mere wish to be rich) is rather extensive; but still I am not afraid that I shall be unhappy if I do not reach the rank of hero and Commander in Chief of his majesty’s forces – in the stream (gas) boat department. This is a rather favorite castle in the air of mine. Make the gaz engine answer, fit out some vessels (of course a war), take some prizes nay some island or fortified town get employed by government, construct and command a fine fleet of them and fight – fight in fact take Algiers or something in that style. Build a splendid Manufactory for gaz engines a yard for building the boats. At last be rich and have a house built of which I have even made drawings”

Funny that he calls his life plans castles in the air, but then has already made drawings of the house that he plans to build upon completing his dreams.

Needless to say I found lots of good materials that we can use in our workshops.

Actually it has been a week of success at work… to celebrate Black History Month the museum designed a trail for visitors to follow through the gallery that highlights the black experience in the empire… unfortunately the first trail was quite wordy and not very family/kid friendly so Hannah and I set out to design our own family friendly trail while still keeping in mind social history and sensitive nature of the issues.

In the end we came up with a really cool booklet that introduces children to black history by investigating culture in Africa and India, and then tracing the different ways that black populations moved (or were moved) across the globe. We came up with some interesting activities, my favorite one is where the trails asks the child to draw a picture of the west African bracelet that a person might wear around their wrist, and answer questions about what it indicates about culture before the slave trade - and then next to it draw what an African person might wear around their wrist after being taken to America (handcuffs from a slave plantation)… this brings up the question of what each might symbolize between the life of a person enslaved and a person living freely.

I’m really happy with it – and the trail was so well received that the museum managers have recommended that the design and style should be followed for all future events and exhibits. It’s nice to have been able to work on something that has a direct effect as most of my work is relating to projects that will not come into fruition for some time – as Brunel would say “What Castles!”

Anyway, I’m starting to feel a little more accomplished at work because I’ve been here long enough to see things starting to get done and I’m starting to feel like I’m having an impact on the work being done here.

On another completely unrelated (but fun) note, I had great success last night as I successfully made rice for the first time since moving to Bristol. I know, those of you who have eaten my food and know how fond I am of cooking are probably gasping at the thought that I was struggling to make rice – but apparently I had lost the skill since receiving a rice cooker last Christmas. It’s not that rice is so difficult to make in the first place, but I suppose having a rice cooker makes it so much easier, that when moved to a new country and left without the “set-it-and-forget-it” convenience of my rice cooker I was complete crap at the job. I guess the laziness facilitated by having my rice cooker made it all the more challenging to do what had previously been a simple task in the kitchen. But after several occasions of eating curry with soggy rice, you’ll be happy to know that I enjoyed a fine meal last night.

All in all it’s been a good week!

- Chris

p.s. photos of my first night volunteer-bartending at the cube cinema to come soon!