It was a genuine, honest question following a guided tour.
The gent had no idea why half the tour group were trying not to laugh.

I have been searching for images of display cabinets, diorama displays, museum drawers, cabinets with drawers, diorama cabinets etc etc in order to get some mood boards together for an upcoming project. It's been a bit tedious, but necessary.

Thankfully (?) my searches have yielded occasional spitting-tea-across-the-keyboard-in-shock moments as slightly tangential images have popped up amid the sleek glass, antique wood and bespoke panels. 

Here are some of the top finds that had me re-aligning my brain after their appearance.

I've not referenced where the images have come from, as most were far detached from their original source or any kind of clear identifier. If anyone (and someone must) knows who makes evil flying squirrels, or where to find dioramas of confused skeletons, feel free to clue me in!

This happened once a month or so at a site where I worked with hand held audio tours. We would get a coach of old dears, some of whom instantly shoved the handset in a pocket and ignored it, some of whom stabbed buttons and confused it, and some of whom eagerly listened to every word going. 
And the one who forgot that they needed to put their hearing aid on for a change, or turn it up.

(Brilliantly, there are a couple of handsets which are screens, with the full tour in British Sign Language, rather than just offering profoundly deaf people a print out of the script.)

If you've worked as, known, or met people who play costumed characters helping to interpret historical sites for visitors, then you'll have encountered some laugh out loud tales of the thoughtless or heartless questions asked.

So imagine the questions which were asked of Azie Mira Dungey, when she played various black characters from history, in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area. Yup, because she was a black actress, Azie, in her own words "must have played every black woman of note that ever lived... I liked to call myself the time-traveling black girl. "

You don't have to imagine what Azie was asked, as she's turned her experiences into a comedy series, currently two episodes in. In character as Lizzie Mae the slave, she fronts it as if on a talk show, where she gives funny and thought provoking answers to some occasionally dumb, and sometimes outright painful questions. And she's darned funny, giving a unique voice to a much misunderstood group from the past, as well as challenging some of our assumptions about the era's attitudes and America's founding fathers.

Find out more, and go to her site to watch the rest of the show!

Aahhhhh, one of those days when the phone doesn't stop ringing, and three of your colleagues are away, but amazingly all of the customers you talk to are cheerful, pleasant and don't expect you to bend the laws of physics at a moments notice; so when you can help them, they are surprised and thankful.

 It begins with helping a man currently in Taiwan arrange UK trains and book in advance so it didn't cost a fortune and take hours (this has nothing to do with us, and it often irks when someone expects us, rather than say, a train company or ticket website, to help them. However, he was so bewildered, yet clear and patient, he was a delight to help.)

Then there was a phone call commencing "Hello, I'm calling from Afghanistan, and would like to arrange a visit in December. For reasons I can't explain, as this isn't a secure line, I won't have access to the Internet for a while, so can I sort things now? It'll give me something to look forwards to." Our answer was pretty much "yes to everything mate, Nd we really hope we see you in a few months."

A rather international day!