NationStates Jolt Archive

I don't know whether to laugh of cry at this muppet.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/01/30/britain.museum.ap/index.html
CAMBRIDGE, England (AP) -- A museum visitor shattered three Qing dynasty Chinese vases when he tripped on his shoelace, stumbled down a stairway and brought the vases crashing to the floor, officials said Monday.

"It was a most unfortunate and regrettable accident, but we are glad that the visitor involved was able to leave the museum unharmed," said Duncan Robinson, the Fitzwilliam's director
(i.e. so we can kick the crap out of him later)

Mr. Bean visits the Museum? :(

Mr. Bean visits the Museum? :(
Didn't you see the movie? :rolleyes:

Heh, the guy must have been mortified.

Didn't you see the movie? :rolleyes:
I own The Movie - along with a whole tin full of Beans.

Why else would Lisa be Moan'n? ;)

Heh, the guy must have been mortified.

..we are glad that the visitor involved was able to leave the museum unharmed," said Duncan Robinson, the Fitzwilliam's director.

"Grab yer torch & pitchforks!" :eek:

Haha....thats the funniest thing iv ever heard. Its like a Mr. Magoo goes to the museum.

Or....If you like the Pink Panther. I didnt know Inspecter Clouseau was in England??:D

We should take three modern (non-antique) vases and smash them over his head. J/k

Well, there's always superglue.

Poor guy. I think it was great the museum kept his name from public. Maybe I sympathize too much because it sounds like something that would happen to me !! lol:D

Poor guy. I think it was great the museum kept his name from public. Maybe I sympathize too much because it sounds like something that would happen to me !! lol:D

Perhaps they should show there are no hard feelings, by dedicating a wing of the museum to him...

"Welcome to the John Smith Memorial Wing... but we're not going to tell you who broke the.... d'oh!"

Oh man... that bites XD

He'll probably sue the museum for emotional distress..

I think if he does they should sue him for damages

I think they'd win and also get a ridiculus amount of money awarded

The moral of this story is always tie your laces before going to museums.
[Or, if you curate, put your Qing Vases on secure pedestals]

Ah, surely the museum should've forseen this and put up a sign or something. ''WARNING! TIE YOU SHOELACES!!''

Ah, surely the museum should've forseen this and put up a sign or something. ''WARNING! TIE YOU SHOELACES!!''

Well, it was pretty stupid of them to put three priceless Qing vases on a window sill instead of behind glass or something.

Lunch at trendy restaurant downtown, 75 dollars.
Tickets to special Chinese vase exhibition at the museum, 25 dollars.
Kicking over three vases and saying you accidentally fell and broke them, PRICELESS...

Yay Velcro
LOL! :D

Moron. He should be flogged.

Moron. He should be flogged.

If he tripped on a shoelace and fell on the trip-line for a claymore you'd be lambasting the military, not the man.

In my humble opinion, they shoulda made sure the vases were more secure then they apparently were.

2 lessons to be learned:
1 - people are clumsey
2 - do not leave fragile stuff out, it WILL break

If he tripped on a shoelace and fell on the trip-line for a claymore you'd be lambasting the military, not the man.

In my humble opinion, they shoulda made sure the vases were more secure then they apparently were.

Faulty logic - the difference between the vases and the claymore mine is that he theoretically wouldn't know that the mine was there.

Ergo, it's simply stupidity, not lack of knowledge.

And stupid should be painful - therefore, I agree he should be flogged.

I'm surprised they were placed so someone could make contact with them. The guy seems pretty clumsy, but people trip and fall all the time, I guess. Anything so valuable, in that setting, should have been better protected, in my opinion.

I thought this story was going to be more along the lines of the asshole that intentionally attacked Michelangelo's Pieta with a hammer.

Faulty logic - the difference between the vases and the claymore mine is that he theoretically wouldn't know that the mine was there.

Ergo, it's simply stupidity, not lack of knowledge.

And stupid should be painful - therefore, I agree he should be flogged.
so if we replace that with a large sign that read in every possible language that there was a tripwire/claymore mine... include velvet ropes, and he still trips, then would you blame the military?

I agree FLOGGING WITH A DAMP NOODLE! :D

HOLY SHIT NS GENERAL FORUM! A GUY TRIPPED! AND BROKE A VASE! Obviously he's an idiot because everyone on this forum is totally infalliable and has never done anything wrong, so the man should be flogged because everyone here is better than him

HOLY SHIT NS GENERAL FORUM! A GUY TRIPPED! AND BROKE A VASE! Obviously he's an idiot because everyone on this forum is totally infalliable and has never done anything wrong, so the man should be flogged because everyone here is better than him

Yes, even I, the infallible spawn of Thor's loins have been known to trip on my showlaces.

HOLY SHIT NS GENERAL FORUM! A GUY TRIPPED! AND BROKE A VASE! Obviously he's an idiot because everyone on this forum is totally infalliable and has never done anything wrong, so the man should be flogged because everyone here is better than him

i'm not infalliable, but i have never done anything on the same level of stupid as him.

i'm not infalliable, but i have never done anything on the same level of stupid as him.

That's just because you haven't been given the opprotunity. :p

EDIT: Is it just me, or are there a lot of people saying that a man should be flogged for destroying stolen property who would call flogging a man arrested for a DUI (or just about anything else) "cruel and unusual"?

That's just because you haven't been given the opprotunity. :p

EDIT: Is it just me, or are there a lot of people saying that a man should be flogged for destroying stolen property who would call flogging a man arrested for a DUI (or just about anything else) "cruel and unusual"?
well, for one vase, that would be fine... but he broke THREE Vases...

forget flogging with a damp Noodle, he should be made to sit in...

(Gasp)


The Comfy Chair! :eek: :p

i'm not infalliable, but i have never done anything on the same level of stupid as him.

He tripped, it just so happened to be in a museum, and into vases that weren't properly secured or safe. It could hardly be called stupid, maybe he had an inner ear infection.

You, on the other hand, have failed to capitalize both the first letter of a sentence and the word "I", that's stupid, twice

Don't worry, boys and girls:
They are in very, very small pieces, but we are determined to put them back together.
All the King's horses and all the kings men are on the job!

But, whatever, I really think you all are taking this far too seriously. The museum got what it deserved for putting priceless objects on a window sill near a public area. I fucking hate it when people are just to goddamn lazy to be careful with things, and musems especially should know better.

Well, it was pretty stupid of them to put three priceless Qing vases on a window sill instead of behind glass or something.
It's highly likely they were only replicas anyway. Most of the stuff you see on display are. Exactly for reasons such as this one.

Please God don't let him be an American...

Anyway, it seems kind of dumb to have vases exposed like that. They were probably just recreations, so hopefully it's not a serious loss by financial or historical standards as a result.

Please God don't let him be an American...
If he were a USian, then the story would have mentioned it somewhere.
My bet is that he was a Royal.

See, if this was a Japanese headline it would read: "Clumsy oaf destroys three priceless artifacts."

See, if this was a Japanese headline it would read: "Clumsy oaf destroys three priceless artifacts."

Don't you mean Chinese? Of course, then it would read, "Clumsy Imperialist Dog Destroys Three Priceless Artefacts Stolen From the People of China".

Don't you mean Chinese? Of course, then it would read, "Clumsy Imperialist Dog Destroys Three Priceless Artefacts Stolen From the People of China".
No, I mean Japanese. They don't dick around with their news titles, at least when translated to english.

"They had been sitting proudly on the window sill beside the staircase for 40 years."

stupid assholes. period.

No, I mean Japanese. They don't dick around with their news titles, at least when translated to english.

Well, I'm sure the Japanese probably would have said something more along the lines of, "Clumsy Oaf Destroys Three Old Pots".

I can top the tourist.

In RL I'm an archaeologist who specialises in artefact work, with a specific focus in ceramics studies.

Some 10 years ago, I was giving a talk to the public, using a 19th-century plate found on an important historic site to illustrate one of my examples.

Unlike the Qing vases in the tourist story, it wasn't particularly valuable in financial terms, but it was reasonably important to the interpretation of the site in question, and I had spent the best part of a week painstakingly putting the individual pieces back together again.

So what does this so-called expert do in the middle of this talk to the eager and fascinated members of the general public?

I drop the damn thing. In front of an audience of 20. And watch it fall apart into its constituent fragments

The best I could do was stand there like an idiot and say "don't try this at home, I'm a trained professional".

At least they had the grace to laugh with me, instead of at me.

Well, I'm sure the Japanese probably would have said something more along the lines of, "Clumsy Oaf Destroys Three Old Pots".
Actually, that is probably what it is.

The best I could do was stand there like an idiot and say "don't try this at home, I'm a trained professional".

funny as hell. :p

Is it just me, or should the museum staff have known better than to put antique vases anywhere near a staircase?

snip
I remember seeing on TV years ago a Southeby auction where they were selling off a bottle of wine owned and signed by some US president (Lincoln I think it was). The guy came out to show it off and dropped it just before the auction started. In front of everyone, TV cameras included.
He didn't look too happy about it.

http://www.benovsky.com/bean/bean9.jpg

Moron. He should be flogged.

When I was 10, a tripped on a carpet runner in a friend's house, and wound up breaking a bowl that had been owned byt my friend's great great grandmother. Way more valuable then a bunch of old pots. Should I have been flogged?

Eh. It could happen to anyone.

Could happen to anybody.Its just a ' D'oh' moment.You have to laugh at it though.;)

Ouch :(

But exactly what the hell were three Qing-dynasty vases doing somewhere where they could break easy? Those things are pretty damn expensive.

When I was 10, a tripped on a carpet runner in a friend's house, and wound up breaking a bowl that had been owned byt my friend's great great grandmother. Way more valuable then a bunch of old pots. Should I have been flogged?
Well, of course. Why even ask the question? I think the more pertinent question is why weren't you?

Fuck.. That would suck.

Bah! Who cares? They were old. It's not like they were brand new or anything. :p

Haha. This is just funny, nobody in the UK is taking this too seriously at least anyway. I'm just glad he wasn't hurt too much, falling down a flight of stairs kinda sucks.

And yes, leaving priceless vases balanced precariously is silly, luckily their insurance should cover it, and a few students should have fun glueing the vase back together for a few years :p

I guess he's now on the "Idiots not to invite the museum" list.

lol. Kinda harsh and very funny. He shouldn't be flogged, just shouted at for a minute by the museum superviser before the superviser gets shouted at by his boss for leaving the vases on the window sill :rolleyes:

I remember seeing on TV years ago a Southeby auction where they were selling off a bottle of wine owned and signed by some US president (Lincoln I think it was). The guy came out to show it off and dropped it just before the auction started. In front of everyone, TV cameras included.
He didn't look too happy about it.

how embarissing, i don't know what i'd do then, except stand there and look at the puddle of wine forming around the shattered bottle

Bah! Who cares? They were old. It's not like they were brand new or anything. :p
yep... practically worthless.

after all, wern't they price-less?

They were old vases anyway. This just gives the museum an excuse to go out and buy new ones.

yep... practically worthless.

after all, wern't they price-less?

I believe so. They had no price. *nod*