The Museum Game

Greetings, one and all, from slightly overcast Toronto! After all the panic and stress of the last few months (see earlier posts), I finally find myself precariously connected to you through Canadian hostel wifi. Damned exciting stuff, that's for sure. Well, that's what I keep being told at least: "It's so exciting; you'll have a wonderful time - what grand adventures you'll have!" Honestly, I have yet to experience this excitement myself - or even accept the reality of having to live abroad for a year. A year. It seems like such a long time right now, and yet giving myself a month and a half to find a job... That seems like it'll be no time at all. All these thoughts and anxieties, and I'm only just finishing day two.

Despite the fact it's actually been going extremely well so far, I've already broken down once. I know that in the past I tend to collapse under multiple stresses, and after talking to my dad for about ten minutes, it all hit me quite suddenly. Thankfully I have a friend who's rather an expert at living abroad for long periods, so I was provided with some top tips, told firmly that I was being silly (albeit understandably so), and to go and do something to take my mind off the whole thing. 

Which, to me, translated as a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum. Sadly museums in Toronto aren't free, which is a shame, but they are well worth the visit. The ROM has an excellent selection of permanent displays, from dinosaurs to samurai, and so on. In London terms, it's like the British Museum and the Natural History Museum had one huge baby that covers almost every topic under the sun. It's four floors of wonder and joy.

And that brings us, dear reader, to the name of the game. Or, more accurately in this case, the name of the post. The Museum Game was invented by yours truly as a way to kill time whilst waiting for friends in museums (by far the most interesting place to waste time). In the case of the British Museum and the Natural History Museum, I've visited them both multiple times: I needed a way to jazz it up a bit. Et voilà, the Game was born. A very simple idea, the aim is to find and photograph as many bizarre things as possible during your visit.

Since this was my first time at the ROM, I used the Game as a way of looking more carefully at the displays; if I look for interesting objects, I'm more likely to look at everything on offer, rather than just lazily glancing over it all. And it turned out fabulously. Below I have provided a small selection of the wonders to be found in the ROM, but this is by no means the extent of the collection I curated today.

Look at that. Practically threatening you with knowledge. Powerful stuff.

Dinosaur butt.

Every good samurai knows the most fearsome part of one's armour is the moustache.

So happy.

A surprising number of people punching horses in this museum.

This is carved from a whale vertebrae.

Yup, a vertebrae.

Is it a bird? Yes, actually. Is it a plane? No, but it's about the same size as one.

Aye-ayes don't like being stuffed and put on display it would seem.

"I immediately regret this decision."

Opal, I think?

A pot. Not sure what it's modelled after though.

The Chubby Vase. Apparently the Romans were fans of pottery with limbs.

See what I mean?

I was considering not including the bugs, but come on. Who the hell wouldn't like these guys?

This one puts the media's view of women to shame, for a start.

And these three are just gorgeous.

Does the one on the right have legs for antenna? Don't care; still awesome.

Flying fish! Anyone? Oh, come on, that one was good.

Wouldn't be a complete set without at least one sloth picture.

So it's a good job I took two, isn't it?

"Hey Frank, what's crackin'?"

No clue what these are, but I think they take the cake for the 'weird' category.

Currently reading:
Clare, C. (2009), The Mortal Instruments: City of Glass, Margaret K. Elderry

Further information:
Royal Ontario Museum website: http://www.rom.on.ca/en