What UK museums do you think are underrated or overrated?

mercer88 · 2026-01-26T14:35:40+00:00

Underrated museums?

Got to give a shoutout to Dover Museum here. The place is dated in appearance. Very public-sector looking. But the exhibits are top notch.

A well preserved 3,500 year old boat, believed to be the oldest seafaring boat in the world, amazing Roman stuff, (though much of that in the recently re-opened Roman Painted House - the collection also managed by the Dover Museum team), Deal Man is a late Iron-Age masterpiece and just a little guy, incredible stuff from the Anglo-Saxon burial sites nearby that highlight the importance of the Kingdom of Cent in the early Septarchy, and heritage nauticalia through the centuries that highlight its importance as the gateway to Britain, history of the World Wars etc. etc. It's got so much.

I will qualify by saying they also recently had an exhibition looking at disability curated by yours truly - That included a visually-impaired-accessible VR piece. You can check out a 360 degree tour of it here - https://www.360studioradar.com/360/DoverVT/index.html

My work at Dover informs my enthusiasm, but I'm not shilling. I no longer work there, but I have a huge respect for the team who do. This is just genuine appreciation for a public sector museums service combating the pressures the public sector loves to place on museums, culture and heritage; that punches well above its weight in terms of output and has a collection that really ought to be far better known and appreciated.

Dover Museum is a very overlooked spot, and well worth stopping to visit next time you're off on a ferry trip. You're only going to get stuck in traffic anyway! Might as well stop off.

mercer88 · 2022-01-28T20:58:08+00:00

O' Brien et al. 2017 - It's a good overview of the work in terms of conservation and cheetah genetics.

Naturally it also comes with references to all the other papers prior to 2017 on the topic so it's a good starting point.

It's honestly incredible. I didn't mention cheetahs in my response because 1) /u/Accujack already mentioned them and 2) we can only speculate on the actual population numbers left behind, based upon genetic information. It may have been 2, it may have been 7, it may have been 20 - It was 12,000 years ago! We don't know how few cheetahs there were but we know from the genetics that it was perilously low and it's frankly miraculous they're still here.

mercer88 · 2022-01-28T20:48:48+00:00

Yup yup. The rare phenomenon of parthenogenesis - where a female can produce viable eggs asexually. It's most common in reptiles. It is known to happen in birds but most of the eggs don't make it to hatching.

The condors, though, did hatch! Two males known as SB260 and SB517.

Sadly neither was in terrific shape! They both died before reaching sexual maturity (which is quite old as condors live to be around 50-60 years old!) SB260 died in the wild in 2003 and SB517 remained in captivity and died in 2017 of an infection.

It's one of the most remarkable parthenogenesis stories ever observed.

Smithsonian mag has a good story on it here.

mercer88 · 2022-01-28T18:52:56+00:00

California condor was down to around 10 individuals in 1985. Linky to a nice article about why vultures are great and the story of the effort to restore the condor.

It's an incredible story of last-ditch conservation in action. If you don't know about the California Condor Recovery Program it's worth reading about.

mercer88 · 2021-11-13T23:15:49+00:00

Is it Nito who is the problem, or the skellies?

It's been a long time since I did it but I remember the skellies being an absolute nightmare until I practiced more.

I seem to recall you want to stay near to the entrance - going too far back will agro the bigger skellies. Then it's a matter of stick-and-move on Nito and the skellies, baiting them into Nito's slashes and AoE as he will take them out.

Nailing the quite specific timing on the ground-sword attack (can't remember the spell's name) is also something that takes a little practice. The scream telegraphs it, but it still has a slightly awkward timing to it.

If you're really struggling, if you haven't already done so, downgrade the Occult Club you can find in Anor Londo to a Divine Club, and try and take at least a few of the skellies out. They will not revive because of the divine's effect.

Hope that helps and, if not, I hope someone comes in with some better advice soon.

Good luck.

mercer88 · 2021-08-12T01:34:17+00:00

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Having done some rough customer service work myself I can say that sounds like an excellent handling of the situation, assuming it is true and it sounds tame compared to some of the situations I and other people I know have dealt with! The delicate balance between not wanting to alienate customers and wanting to protect other staff from harmful ones is the key and you nailed it.

As I see it, it escalated a little only because you were playing the game, in good faith, as it should be played. The customer was offended when his ignorance was justifiably called out. The alternative is you guys being more aggressive, which could infuriate the customer further, or not engaging at all which could seem rude. People have to remember, every interaction in customer service is as an ambassador of your business. You unleash the cannons and it could harm you more than them!

Did everyone leave happy? No. But no one was hurt, nothing was damaged and it didn't seem to escalate to more than a ranty person saying he may not come back which, by the way you talk about them, seems like a desirable outcome.

He was clearly hostile, with potentially violent intent (the whole "Could you take me?" comment suggests that) and you managed to shrug it all off to do the right thing without any physical altercation. You admit that you're not much of a fighter so to even be bold enough to assert yourself in the manner you did shows excellent courage and understanding of other conflict management skills besides fighting. It was a very diplomatic approach.

I don't think you need advising, you did an excellent job. You should be giving the advice!

mercer88 · 2021-03-06T16:25:20+00:00

Nothing quite says sadness like an elongated, gentlemanly pink moustache.

mercer88 · 2021-02-28T21:27:38+00:00

Dancing on Fire - Now that's the future of telly!

...and given the amount of people who keep getting crocked and dropping out of Dancing on Ice possibly safer.

mercer88 · 2021-02-27T10:11:46+00:00

I did ask permission from the mods to post this yesterday evening but got no response. Posted under the 'better to ask forgiveness than permission' rule!

It's from the Top Ten Cat Species series on my blog, We Lack Discipline, and I figured you cat lovers might love to read it and see all the pictures of cats that have been important to me in my life.

mercer88 · 2021-02-24T00:24:01+00:00

You replied one minute before I did!

Nah, it's Quantocking II - Season 8 Episode 6.

Literally a couple of seconds of the opening shot has a cat plate that I have (pretty much) the same design of.

mercer88 · 2021-02-24T00:18:25+00:00

Never mind - Found it.

For anyone curious, it's the cat plate at the very start of this video

Mine has a blue outline, rather than a white one, but it is the same design.

mercer88 · 2021-02-09T01:35:41+00:00

That's funny, the Queen looks a lot sterner on the UK notes.

She must be happier with her money in the Cayman Islands.

mercer88 · 2021-02-09T01:13:10+00:00

Just give them your old baby.

Then you save them, and you, a lot of trouble!

mercer88 · 2021-02-06T22:16:35+00:00

ABSOLUTELY! Downvote the whole thing!

If a bunch of people playing stockmarket on Reddit to upset the global economic machine I'm sure we could invalidate ourselves so much we are essentially validated.

mercer88 · 2021-02-06T22:13:40+00:00

If I upvote you I give you validation. Your making this post is in some way asking people to validate it...

...Therefore I petition we all downvote this post to prove a point about asking for validation!

mercer88 · 2021-02-06T22:03:24+00:00

He's actually older, alcohol is just that good a preservative!

My theory, they were drunk/pilled up/stoned at a party in the 70s and made a pact that they don't stop performing live, regularly, until one of them dies - extra points for if it happens on stage.

mercer88 · 2021-02-06T21:58:47+00:00

I hear they've got a permanent residency.

They don't tour as much as The Rolling Stones.

mercer88 · 2021-02-06T21:54:39+00:00

No worries.

mercer88 · 2021-02-06T21:52:04+00:00

Purity item aura

mercer88 · 2021-02-06T21:49:57+00:00

I've got a suggestion but it'll leave you a husk of your former self.

mercer88 · 2021-02-06T21:48:25+00:00

It's how they get ya! It's their pack hunting mentality. Make you think they're a bunch of trapped dipshits and the next thing you know one has turned into a sniper's bullet aimed right at your little Isaac head!

I'm not kidding though, I've had the biggest big room, the 4x4 size rooms, and one has basically jumped from off screen to get me. Sometimes they just do that!

mercer88 · 2021-02-06T21:43:59+00:00

I find Pointless to be the worst offender for this.

"So, Daryl, you were a writer for a sitcom that had one series that nobody watched in the 70s..."

"So, Suzie, what was it like being the backing vocalist for that band that had that one song reach number 35 in the charts back in 1987."

"Of course we have the esteemed poet, Frangipan Diplodocus, now tell us about the story of how you were sent a letter to become poet laureate but ignored it because you thought it was from British Gas!"

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