L

Lucien Nunes

I'm delighted to announce that some time in the next few days / weeks, BBC Breakfast will be airing a short piece about MEET (The Museum of Electrical and Electronic Technology.) I'm expecting it to include an interview in which I explain our original plan and the impact of my declining health on being able to achieve it, plus a couple of demonstrations of how the MEET concept generates exciting STEM learning potential from some of our vintage exhibits. If they give me advance warning of the TX date and time, I'll post it in this thread.

In the meantime, my physical abilities are diminishing to the point of finding it increasingly difficult to walk. As I put it in the interview, we are 'some weeks away' from finally having to pull the plug on MEET, as we have not found anyone to lead the project as a whole once I am gone. Sam Battle of the Not Obsolete Museum is very much in the loop and there is still scope for extensive collaboration with him and others, but as with all these options time is against us to devise a holistic solution.

Disbanding would be a huge blow that negates most of the last 15 years of my life but I have to accept that if it gets left too long I won't have the strength left to oversee dispersing, rehoming and scrapping the collection. The latter sounds dramatic, but in reality there are many objects in the collection that are not 'collectables' in the normal sense, and equally unattractive for other museums to take on if they are not in a position to use them as educational resources in the way that we would within MEET.

As I have said elsewhere, above and beyond the collection I am keen to preserve and promote the MEET concept. Dispersing fuse boxes to a fuse box museum, radios to a radio museum, computers to a computer museum etc. works contrary to MEET's principle of making all these things accessible and inviting to non-specialist and non-technical audiences, therefore that kind of 'Plan B' is very much a last resort.

In the present moment however we are still alive and kicking. Please keep this thread alive and kicking too, with ideas and suggestions of things you might enjoy seeing / doing at MEET!
 
Definitely let us know if you get to know the date and time.

And keep fighting the fight.
 
Im excited to see this. Ive followed your work from fairly early on on different platforms. Truly saddened to hear it may disbanding - ive enjoyed sending you the odd bit over the years; where i've already had a duplicate or simply not the space to store - but knew must be preserved. The museum will be a sad loss - as there aren't many of us who have the passion to preserve such every day, albeit obscure objects
 
I'll be looking out for any info regarding the program.

Sorry to hear about your increasing problems and thoughts are with you.

Keep it going, mate.
 
I don't know. I'll record it off-air but it would be nice to get a source version that has not been through the ghastly DVB-T compression for broadcast. Will check with the production team.
It might cost a fortune to get the source film.


Years ago, late 90’s, there was a programme on STV called “Scotland Towns” which featured my home town of Kelso.
Whilst talking about one of the old hotels and its history, they showed a bride and her father on the steps getting photos taken.

That bride is my wife.

I contacted STV to ask for a still from the film, to make something special for a major anniversary… but they just directed me to their archive unit and said it would cost an arm and a leg over the phone, so I didn’t take it any further.

Booked a cruise instead.
 
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Surely it should be recorded on Betamax. Or maybe even open reel tape.
 
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Surely it should be recorded on Betamax. Or maybe even open reel tape.
We have got it on vhs…. Didn’t even know they were filmed. We only recorded it because of the town featured.
 
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We have got it on vhs…. Didn’t even know they were filmed. We only recorded it because of the town featured.

Ah sorry, I was meaning Lucien's museum interview.
 
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Ah sorry, I was meaning Lucien's museum interview.
Where’s the laughing like a loony emoji….


There must be a way of recording digitally and uploading to YouTube or whatever. I don’t think there’s a way to convert skyQ recordings??
 
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Can't wait to watch with mother..
 
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Can't wait to watch with mother..
It's in the morning, buzz, WWM was afternoon.
'Playschool' might have been am.
I know it's not aimed at them, in particular, but it might do some good for the toddlers, youngsters or even youths of the country to get interested in MEET or something similar and learn more about their heritage.
Great to see Lucien getting airtime on TV, giving some a chance to.
 
Second time in a year? He appeared on that London Underground programme, wasn’t it??

Strictly, I’m a celeb and naked attraction have all tried to book him.
 
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Well this is great timing. I was going to 'watch with mother' but I'm back in hospital and not sure if I'll even get to see it live. We'll see how the day pans out. Got brought in early this morning with acute pain that we thought was related to the left kidney vs. lymph node contest that's going on at the moment. Turns out it wasn't that, so more detective work needed. As usual, excellent service by the Royal Free Hospital so far.

it might do some good for the toddlers, youngsters or even youths of the country to get interested in MEET or something similar and learn more about their heritage.

One of the important things about MEET is that it is not just about heritage. Although our collection is mainly of old things, in many cases we plan to use them to teach about modern or timeless ideas. For example, the old electromechanical lift controllers are not there just to admire old switchgear, they make great demonstrators of simple logic concepts that are easier to grasp when you can see them working in 3D in from to you, instead of within a program or anonymous IC package.
 
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Well this is great timing. I was going to 'watch with mother
Andy pandy on weed again with drug muffin the mule, and bill and Ben out of the minds looking at the picture card.
No wonder the Peaple working for the bbc were out of the minds at the time.
 
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Andy pandy on weed again with drug muffin the mule, and bill and Ben out of the minds looking at the picture card.
No wonder the Peaple working for the bbc were out of the minds at the time.

Remember Patricia Driscoll with 'Picture Book' on Monday.
'The Woodentops' on a Friday, a fore runner of Z cars, maybe :)
Oh, and that one with a name suited nowadays, to many a domestic multi tasking firm.....Rag, Tag and Bobtail...:)
 
I hope it goes ok. Good luck and rest well.
 
BBC Breakfast have just been in touch to apologise that because some live programme segments inc. Keir Starmer's overran, they had to postpone some pre-recorded ones inc. mine. Will let you know when it gets re-scheduled.

Much rather listen to your piece than Kier Starmer. I bet you'd give more straight answers than he did this morning!
 
And I was really looking forward to watching 3 hours of breakfast tv tonight on skyQ….

How dare they. I’ve got a good mind to cancel my tv license

Another day.
 
For anyone watching it on recorded…. MEET was on just before half 7 news.

Who won pong?
 
Just watched on iplayer and was fantastic to see Lucien but tinged with sadness at the future for you. Lucien has more knowledge in his little finger than i will ever have and has been so informative and interesting for me to read that knowledge over the years. Hopefully you can find someone to take this on as it would be such a shame to lose all of that.
Keep fighting Lucien.
 
Anybody wanting to see it (and who wouldn't) should go to BBC iplayer, search for BBC Breakfast and forward the timeline to about 1 hr 24 mins.

Very good article, cheers Lucien.
 
Really great piece.
I was on TV news myself many years ago, and I can recall spending all day with a "film crew" (one guy with a camera, and one reporter) for just one minute on-screen. I imagine it was much the same for you, recording loads of "footage" (for the youngsters out there, it used to be on something called film, and it was measured by the length - in feet, then new fangled tape came along) only a small amount of which makes it into the piece.
 
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Watching tonight, her indoors won't be pleased ;-)
 
There’s an old “grandstand” arcade machine in my parents attic. Tennis, soccer, and a toy gun which you can aim anywhere in the room, not just at the screen and it still takes a “hit”

Also “Astro wars” space invaders type game.

I must get them rescued from there.

And my brothers TI99/4A home computer from 1984 maybe???
 
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There’s an old “grandstand” arcade machine in my parents attic. Tennis, soccer, and a toy gun which you can aim anywhere in the room, not just at the screen and it still takes a “hit”

Also “Astro wars” space invaders type game.

I must get them rescued from there.

And my brothers TI99/4A home computer from 1984 maybe???

Never caught on the Texas home computer. Astro Wars was a classic though.
 
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A great interview, so nice to put a face and sound to you, Lucien. Hope you can find the right person to continue your work.
 

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