The Voice of Reason

Lady Gaga Telephone by Pomplamoose

2010-03-27T08:12:00.002Z

Another great little cover from the talented Pomplamoose.

It's fair cheered me up anyway!

Owl City - Fireflies

2010-03-25T21:02:00.002Z

Beautifully constructed little video: one of those where you notice another little detail each time you watch it. Nice upbeat little song too.

Death In All Its Many Forms

2010-02-20T22:46:00.005Z

I see dead people: lots of them. Primarily in my job as a doctor in a geriatric ward, I have issued dozens of death certificates. For the vast majority of these patients death came after "a good innings", and for a lot of these people death came as a blessed relief from pain, or other distressing symptoms. For most folk, death is something they rarely come across, and it remains very much a taboo subject for much of the UK population, even in the 21st Century. For me, and the doctors and nurses I work with, death is very much part of life. Some might see this response (or lack of it) to death as a form of desensitisation, and I certainly think my response to my father's death was influenced, and probably blunted, by my medical experience.

Today I'm on call for the Police. At 17.00, when I was thinking of going for a curry, I was asked to go and examine a 25 year old man who had put the barrel of a rifle in his mouth and pulled the trigger. He had left a suicide note. I can still see his face.

If that sort of death ever stops touching me I should probably "hang up my spurs".

"Typography" by Ronnie Bruce

2010-02-19T22:36:00.000Z

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

This excellent little video from Vimeo features the words of the poet Taylor Mali. Don't you find it irritating the way some people have a regular "upstroke" at the end of their sentences, or finish every sentence with "Know what I'm saying?"

You do? Well this video is right up your street!

Nothing To Blubber About?

2009-12-31T20:26:00.003Z

Busy Doing Nothing 2
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

In July the Sog family visited the United States of America. Our first port of call was the lovely city of San Francisco, home of the celebrated Fisherman's Wharf. Fisherman's Wharf has many appealing attractions, not least San Francisco's branch of Hooters (but that's another story). One of it's most memorable features for us, not only from a visual but an olfactory point of view, was the colony of sea lions basking in the sun at Pier 39. These guys have been a tourist attraction for about 20 years, although I'm not sure if the locals loved them quite so much! Imagine my dismay, therefore, to read in this Wired Science Article that Salty and his chums have mysteriously disappeared!

It seems officials at the Marine Mammal Center aren't worried about the animals’ disappearance. They point out that sea lions are migratory animals and they say it’s natural for them to move around. I did hope to visit San Francisco again, and maybe the smelly, noisy but somehow quite loveable old so-and-sos will have returned by then?

Single Ladies - Beyonce

2009-12-28T13:38:00.004Z

This is an interesting cover version of Beyonce's song "Single Ladies" performed by Indie rockers Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte who form the group Pomplamoose. Not quite as sexy as the original version, but catchy in its own way. If you want to find more from Pomplamoose check out their YouTube Channel.

There's a bit more info about the group here too, and especially here. Apparently, they are in the top 100 most subscribed to musicians on YouTube. Their cover of Beyonce's song above has had over 2.5 million hits, and they have been able to give up their day jobs because they make enough money from their music.

Well I've just come across them, so there!

The Credit Crisis Visualised

2009-12-16T19:22:00.003Z

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

This brilliant little Vimeo video explains the origins of the credit crisis with great lucidity.

The rest, as they say, is history...

The Ascent of Money Part 1

2009-12-03T14:56:00.004Z

Many thanks for my friend JumpinJack on Flickr for pointing me in the direction of the Channel 4 series The Ascent of Money. This first programme traces the history of money from ancient times to the bond market. It is made more interesting for me because I've visited several of the places in the film including Venice, Florence and the east end of Glasgow. I've not visited sub-prime USA, but maybe that is no great loss!

Well worth setting aside 45 minutes of your time to watch this and start to get some idea how banks have become so powerful: how we have reached the situation where the directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland, into which taxpayers have paid millions, are now trying to blackmail the same taxpayers into allowing them to be paid their obscene bonuses.

Fiona Apple - Across The Universe

2009-11-29T21:32:00.002Z

I always wondered what this Beatles song meant: I suspect they were "chemically altered" when they wrote it! Having watched this little video of Ms Apple's excellent cover version, I am none the wiser, but greatly entertained nevertheless!

We're Number 37!

2009-09-14T19:06:00.003Z

Another YouTube video about the American Healthcare Debate. I suppose the NHS in the UK "could do better", but we do get our system for around half the percentage of GDP that the Americans do.

The French pay 11% of GDP for their highly regarded set-up compared to 8% in Britain.

You Know It Makes Sense

2009-08-30T08:06:00.003Z

As you know, I don't often find the time to blog these days but the debate about health care reform that rages in the US and simmers in the UK has finally overcome my natural lethargy. This brilliant little animated video spells out in terms that are difficult to argue with why the United States should provide universal health care that is funded by taxation and not by greedy, self-serving insurance companies. When you stand at the top of the Empire State Building in NYC some of the most lavish buildings you can see are owned by insurance companies, which should be telling us something!

These companies and their right-wing supporters have a lot to lose if Obama is successful: hence the vitriol and scare-mongering that is coming forth just now. America makes a big thing of its Christian values, but many US citizens apparently don't see that failing to provide large chunks of the population with health care is inconsistent with this.

On this side of the Atlantic, I am pleased to see that the debate is showing up major fault lines in Cameron's façade of the new "caring, sharing" Conservative Party. The Tories' commitment to the British NHS has been shown to be a total sham, but I don't know if this will be enough, in itself, to lose them the next election, unfortunately! Labour's increasing attempts to part-privatise the NHS in recent years have been shameful, and a genuine commitment to a publicly funded system, free of the need to pander to the demands of shareholders in private companies, might allow voters in the next election to chose a party that appreciates the true values upon which the NHS is based.

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party

2009-06-18T18:59:00.003Z

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Another Vimeo video: this time with an astronomical theme. The galactic centre of the Milky Way captured with a modified Canon EOS 5D.

Pretty awe-inspiring, huh?

Beards on a Boat

2009-06-13T06:04:00.003Z

This video is from the World Beard and Moustache Championships (I kid you not) which was held at Anchorage, Alaska on May 23rd.

Maybe I should enter for the one in Trondheim, Norway in 2 years time?

DEADLINE post-it stop motion

2009-06-12T04:32:00.003Z

I love this little stop motion video. If you want to know how it was made, there is a video of that as well.

2009-05-02T20:14:00.003Z

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

This is an incredible little video from Vimeo of some totally crazy guys wingsuit base jumping in Norway. I couldn't even stand at the edge of these cliffs, far less throw myself off them like these maniacs.

It takes all kinds to make a World, I suppose...

More on the Graffiti Theme

2009-04-23T20:38:00.003Z

Papergirl #3 from Papergirl on Vimeo.
This group, rather than spray painting or puting up posters, chooses to cycle round and give their art work away.

Interesting concept...

C215

2009-04-22T20:25:00.004Z

When we were in Venice recently we came across four brilliant pieces of graffiti with a mysterious logo attached to each one. I uploaded the images to Flickr in the following order: 1, 2, 3, 4. Almost as soon as I uploaded the last picture my Flickr contact Simon Crubellier from London recognised the pictures as the work of a stencil graffiti artist called C215. Simon added the tag c215 to the picture and within minutes C215 had asked me to add the pictures to his group on Flicker devoted to his art.

The video shows C215 giving London the same treatment: simply amazing!

Yet another example of how wonderful the Internet can be...

The First PostSecret Picnic

2009-04-19T12:51:00.003Z

I first posted about PostSecret almost 4 years ago. It is interesting to see how the concept has not only persisted but developed. The power of the Internet to connect people in various ways fascinates me and gives me far more hope for the future of the human race than I get from listening to the jabbering of most of our politicians.

But then I am on old cynic...

I'm On A Boat (ft. T-Pain) - Clean

2009-04-15T05:07:00.002Z

Hilarious take off of certain music videos----you know the sort of thing.

Beautifully done!

Little Red Riding Hood For The Electronic Age

2009-04-12T21:41:00.001Z

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Another brilliant little Vimeo Video.

It Makes You Think 4

2009-04-04T15:09:00.006Z

Three quotes relevant to the current economic crisis:

"There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers." Richard Feynman.

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." Thomas Jefferson.

"Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt." Herbert Hoover.

It seems history really does repeat itself...

Squirrel Attack!

2009-04-03T10:44:00.000Z

I find this quite funny, but certain aspects of my sense of humour are quite puerile.

You have been warned...

Bathtub IV

2009-03-21T22:27:00.003Z

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I periodically post videos hosted on the site Vimeo. Here is another brilliant little film created by a guy called Keith Loutit.

Duplicity

2009-03-21T22:03:00.001Z

Went with Wosog to see the film "Duplicity" with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. The latter is quite "flavour of the month" just now, and we also recently enjoyed his film "The International". I've always thought Julia Roberts was a pretty good actor with one of those faces that looks beautiful one minute then not so the next.

Generally, with films like this, I have to rely on Wosog to keep me up to speed with the plot, but I think I followed most of it. All in all it was an entertaining little film that is worth a visit.

Taking the Biscuit

2009-03-20T07:03:00.004Z

The current global financial crisis has thrown up so many examples of how morally bankrupt, if not financially bankrupt, our financial institutions have become. I have referred previously to the outrage in the UK about bailed-out banks continuing to pay staff bonuses and the ongoing "disquiet" about Fred Goodwin's pension. I think in the USA public unhappiness about the bail-outs is all the more palpable because it seems such an "un-American" thing to do.

It is perhaps ironic, then, that probably the worst example of a rescued financial institution, to use the vernacular, "taking the piss" is in the United States. According to this article in the New York Times, the insurance company AIG, which is already under fire from Congress over executive bonuses, is quietly suing the American Government for the return of $306 million in tax payments! This is the same AIG in which the government has an 80 percent stake and into which it has poured nearly $200 billion in an attempt to avert its collapse. Even more incredibly, it appears that AIG is spending taxpayers' money to pursue its case, something it is legally entitled to do!

Words fail me...

Weird but Wonderful 2

2009-03-17T20:47:00.000Z

The second story that caught my eye in the Sunday Times' Weird but wonderful section concerned attempts to breed Cherry, the last remaining female blue duck in Britain, with either Ben or Jerry, the last remaining UK male blue ducks.

It seems that Ben and Jerry are much less interested in Cherry than they are in each other! According to Paul Stevens, the warden,

"They stay together all the time, parading up and down their enclosure and whistling to each other as a male might do with a female he wants to mate with."

One wonders if a civil partnership is in the offing?

Weird but Wonderful 1

2009-03-16T20:32:00.001Z

The Sunday Times' "Weird but wonderful" section has again provided me with howls of laughter this week. Their first story concerned a Shetland pony called Mayflower in the Southampton area.

Apparently, ramblers in the area have been putting in repeated calls to the local fire brigade in the mistaken belief that Mayflower has been stuck in the mud on the banks of the River Test. However, as soon as the fire engines and specialist lifting equipment arrives, the pony calmly walks off! What the ramblers don't seem to appreciate is that Mayflower, like other members of her breed, has SHORT LEGS!

The owner has considered putting up a sign to warn the ignorant walkers of their foolishness, but has avoided doing so in case one day Mayflower actually DOES get stuck in the mud.

George Carlin - Saving the Planet

2009-03-15T08:27:00.004Z

I really like stand-up comedy. I've already seen Jack Dee and Omid Djalili live. Later this month Wosog and I are going to see Ed Byrne in concert, and later this year the hilarious Eddie Izzard.

We don't tend to see many American stand-up comedians on the TV in the UK, so I'm not so familiar with them. However I have come across numerous quotations from George Carlin, who, sadly, died last year. The video above I think shows Carlin's intelligence and his ability to "cut through the crap" that we encounter in our day to day life and especially in our exposure to the media. You may not like the way George says things, but you will find it hard to argue against him! Unfortunately, as I say, George died in 2008: I would love to have heard his comments on the global financial crisis!

Here are a few more words from the great man:

"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."
"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, 'You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.'"
"Just when I discovered the meaning of life, they changed it."
"By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth."

Well said, George, well said...

This is hilarious!

2009-03-12T15:14:00.001Z

Experts Agree Giant, Razor-Clawed Bioengineered Crabs Pose No Threat

Dontcha just love The Onion?

Not Funny

2009-03-08T22:14:00.001Z

There is generally not a lot of laughter about these days, but according to an article in the Sunday Times today, a motorist has been stopped by the Police for excessive laughing at the wheel of his car! Gary Sanders was chuckling at a joke while talking on a hands-free phone when flagged down in Liverpool. He was then questioned for 35 minutes.

According to the officer involved, "Laughing while driving a car can be an offence." Sanders couldn't believe the situation and reported "The officer accused me of throwing my head back in a dangerous way."

Never mind, if the economy continues to go down the tubes at the current rate the chance of anybody laughing excessively, while driving or doing anything else, will be reduced drastically!

World Builder

2009-03-07T18:33:00.000Z

World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.

Another superb video hosted on Vimeo. A strange man builds a world using holographic tools for the woman he loves. This award winning short was created by film maker Bruce Branit. It was shot in a single day followed by about 2 years of post production. Branit is the owner of Branit VFX based in Kansas City.

How to create a digital human in 18 minutes

2009-03-01T13:33:00.000Z

Amazing TED talk about the technology behind The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Impressive stuff!

Greed is Good?

2009-02-28T13:48:00.006Z

Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in the 1980s assured us that "Greed is Good!", but I'm not sure how many victims of the current global financial crisis would agree with him. Personally, I think much of the responsibility for the state of the World lies with each of us individually. The general population, particularly in the US and UK grew addicted over the years to easy credit, and a "buy now pay (maybe) later" mentality. How anyone could have thought that a position where personal debt in the UK exceeded the GDP of the country was sustainable I do not know! The situation where someone in the South East of England could earn more from the rise in the value of their house in a year than they could from their job clearly could not continue for long!

There is no doubt, however, that people in general, and politicians in particular, would like to make out that it was those greedy senior bankers that got us into this mess. The furore over bonus payments, particularly for RBS employees, has been closely followed by equally impotent rage over the pension that Fred Goodwin is apparently going to receive: £693,000 a year!

It is easy to take pleasure in watching Goodwin squirm when quizzed about his pension by the Commons Treasury Select Committee. Many people would like to see him suffer in a much more painful and prolonged way. However, at the end of the day, Goodwin and his cronies were really only doing what their shareholders wanted: trying to make them (even) more money.

As Lao-tzu, the Chinese Philosopher, said:

"There is no calamity greater than lavish desires.
There is no greater guilt than discontentment.
And there is no greater disaster than greed."

Happy Up Here by Röyksopp

2009-02-27T22:50:00.001Z

Happy Up Here from Röyksopp on Vimeo.

Nice little music video. Fair cheered me up!

What Next?

2009-02-08T07:38:00.002Z

Further to my last post, it seems the Government now feels the need to record on a database every trip that I make! Without any consultation, as far as I am aware, computerised records of all 250 million journeys made by individuals in and out of the UK each year will be kept for up to 10 years!

As far as I am concerned, if this is the price we have to pay to try and ensure absolute security, the terrorists have already won the war...

Talk of the Steamie

2009-02-05T20:14:00.004Z

There is a Glaswegian phrase "Talk of the Steamie": this refers to the chatter that people (almost exclusively women) would have while washing their clothes in a communal wash room. As you may surmise, the expression dates from the time before individual washing machines in the average home were commonplace. I always think that the Web is the ultimate steamie: providing a truly global forum where ideas and opinions can spread with breathtaking rapidity.

One of the things that is the talk of the steamie just now is Google Latitude. I have always admired Google's relentless innovation. I love Google Mail, Google Calendar, and Google Earth. However, I'm not so sure about Google Latitude. People in the UK, it seems to me, are monitored to an increasing and disturbing degree. I believe there is a higher number of CCT cameras in the UK per head of population than practically anywhere else in the World. The so-called War on Terror has led the government to propose that they should be able to read every e-mail and text message that we send, and have access to details of every web page that we visit. Although, I don't feel I've got anything to hide, my instinct is to oppose stubbornly these creeping infringements of our civil liberties. I can't really imagine why anybody would want to allow themselves to be tracked using Google latitude and it seems I am not the only one to have concerns about its privacy implications.

Clearly, use of this application is voluntary, but if it becomes widely used I would be concerned that systems like this could develop into yet another way for Big Brother to watch us.

Texting the Obvious?

2009-02-01T19:41:00.004Z

I was not previously a fan of sending text messages. My old Nokia phone had predictive text, but I could never get the hang of it. As a result, I needed to perform multiple key presses, making sending even the simplest of messages a slow and painful chore. Wosog is quite a dab hand at predictive texting, as are my children. I believe my daughter's friend can even text at amazing speed using predictive text on her phone without looking at it! How the Hell does that work? Anyway, I've now got a BlackBerry Curve smartphone with a separate key for each letter, so texting is a dawdle.

I've heard of text messages being used for a few medical purposes: reminding patients about their clinic/ surgery appointments; reminding asthmatic children to monitor their peak flow measurements etc. This article on the BBC website describes a trial of the use of text messages to warn patients with seasonal affective disorder of impending overcast weather. To quote the article:

"Under the pilot project, alerts are sent to participants before gloomy days warning them to spend 20 minutes in front of their light box, and to read the accompanying advice that day.
This should help them to prepare for the dark weather and know what to expect when they draw the curtains."

Maybe I'm being stupid here, but unless these folk have very thick curtains (which would not seem a good idea in someone who craves light exposure) can't they get a pretty good idea what the light level outside is by examining the light coming through the curtains?

Revolutionary Road

2009-01-31T22:24:00.002Z

Went with Wosog to see the terrific movie "Revolutionary Road" before finishing the evening with a curry. The film is basically about the dreams that you have as a young adult and whether you should, as most folk do, compromise when you get older or try to stay true to your dreams. This is the second Kate Winslet film we've seen recently (the other one being "The Reader") and her performances were brilliant in both. Leonardo DiCaprio's acting was superb too, although I find it a bit disconcerting that he never seems to get any older!

It's been a long time since we've seen so many films in such a short time, but we've not been disappointed with any of them.

Fussy Eaters

2009-01-29T15:58:00.005Z

One of Wosog's favourite TV programmes is "I'm a Celebrity! Get Me Out of Here!". For those not familiar with it, the idea of the programme is that a small number of so-called celebrities are placed in jungle conditions in Australia for around 2 weeks. The objective is to see how they respond to the privations of jungle life, including the consumption of various bizarre foods. These include things like kangaroo testicles as well as live insects and grubs. As you can imagine, many of the people prepared to endure this treatment are not individuals whose careers are heading for the stratosphere. A lot of them are folk who you have almost forgotten about, like ex-stars of soap operas etc. I wouldn't say I am a fussy eater but the texture of certain things definitely "turns my stomach". I can't imagine ever being desperate enough that I would consider consuming a live widgety grub on or off TV!

The video above was found on a site called Uglyfood.com, which, sadly, doesn't seem to have been updated since October last year. Although I've tasted frog's legs---and they do taste like chicken---the idea of eating a still-beating raw frog's heart fills me with revulsion! Without Uglyfood.com I wouldn't know about Vietnamese duck blood soup or boiled duck embryo from Cambodia.

But, then again, maybe I'd be better off not knowing!

Eminemmy Hill

2009-01-27T22:01:00.003Z

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

According to CollegeHumor.com, "Statistically speaking, there's at least one person on Earth who's a fan of Eminem and Benny Hill and Doctor Who. This video is for that freak."

Surely, I can't be the only one?

Like A Virgin

2009-01-26T21:34:00.004Z

I'm not a great fan of flying, but I do love to travel. If I could be beamed from place to place, as in Star Trek, it would suit me just fine.

One of the things I hate about flying is hanging around airports for hours on end. The current obsession with security seems to give the airports carte blanche to insist on you turning up ridiculously early. I suspect this has less to do with the War on Terror than it has to do with giving you the opportunity to buy more gadgets you never realised you needed in Duty Free Dixons and yet another overpriced greasy bacon roll at one of the airport eateries.

We never fly anything other than tourist class, so the second thing I hate about flying is spending interminable hours with my knees millimetres from the back of the seat in front, and my nose inches from the head rest of the selfish sod in front who has decided that he really needs to recline his chair to the max.

The third thing I hate about flying is what the airlines laughingly call "food". Banging elbows against those of the folk on either side, you wrestle to get into the little plastic bags of unidentified nutrients, or prize the lid off a rectangular tray of indeterminate sludge which you are told was carefully crafted by some overpaid celebrity chef. I've had a few pretty awful airline meals in my time but none quite as bad as the one described by this Virgin Airline passenger.

Maybe I need to complain more?

The Milk of Human Kindness

2009-01-25T13:26:00.006Z

Went with Wosog and Gdog to see the brilliant film "Milk" yesterday. Sean Penn's performance was breathtaking as Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to achieve public office in the US. Harvey Milk has a pretty large Wikipedia entry even though I, and I suspect most Brits, had never heard of him before now. Scanning through it, it seems the film was a pretty accurate portrayal of his life, though I believe he had a reputation for being bad tempered that was not reflected in the screenplay. Acceptance of gay people has come a long way since then, in the UK and the US, but the Internet Move Database Entry on the film still recounts someone's experience of watching the film in a cinema where the audience cheered when Milk was shot and booed the film at the end. I suspect ignorance and bigotry will, sadly, always be with us.

The dramatisation of Milk's success gives the achievement of relatively minor public office almost the feeling of a presidential race. Barack Obama's success in actually gaining the presidency is several orders of magnitude more impressive. It carries at least as great a significance for the non-whites of America as Milk's accomplishment did for his gay constituents. It is important to remember that, although Obama achieved 365 electoral votes versus McCain's 173, only 53% of the electorate voted for him. Some members of that 53% are even less happy about having a black man in the White House than that cinema audience were about Milk's lifestyle.

America has a sad history of assassinations, and I fervently hope that Barack Obama survives to enjoy the fruits of his success....

It's not been a good week...

2009-01-15T05:52:00.003Z

I have been fortunate, up till now, to have had very good health. I've had very little time off work. This week one of my partners is on holiday, so being ill was a particularly bad idea. There have been a lot of nasty viral illnesses around this Winter and I was congratulating myself on avoiding them all when, at the weekend, I had a slightly runny nose and a mild sore throat. On Monday morning I felt pretty normal. "Clever old me" I thought, "to shrug that little sucker off so easily!"

By mid-afternoon on Monday I had virtually no voice. I've never had significant hoarseness before, and I didn't realise how tiring it is to try and conduct a consultation when you are having to make a supreme effort to squeeze the words out. I was mildly amused to note, as I have observed before, that the patients I saw either didn't notice I was unwell or were too polite to comment on it! I decided to take Tuesday off so that I could make a concerted effort to fight off the virus.

I struggled through yesterday at work, but last night felt my left eye was a bit uncomfortable. This morning I awake with pretty florid acute conjunctivitis---something else I've never had before!

I have always felt that doctors empathise much better with patients if they have experienced the patient's symptoms themselves, but, if anyone's listening up there, I've had enough for one week thanks!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T22:27:00.003Z

Two Faced
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

A rare picture of my naked face(s) to wish my dedicated readers a Happy New Year. I just hope the black to red progression of the years is not too prophetic!

Less Is More

2008-12-30T19:00:00.002Z

Thanks to my friend Julie (sungazing on Flickr) for pointing me in the direction of this video clip about a guy that makes sculptures small enough to fit in the eye of a needle. I must admit I still find the story hard to swallow, not least the punch line about how much the artist has sold his collection for.

The story has been investigated by Snopes.com, and is apparently genuine.

More Clever Stuff...

2008-12-28T14:52:00.002Z

Here's another amazing animation from Vimeo. It's made up of 26,000 photos and took about a year to make:

Ten Thousand Pictures of You from Robin King on Vimeo.

A Merry Christmas To All Our Readers!

2008-12-27T21:30:00.002Z

A Merry Christmas To All Our Readers!
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

Just in case you all (?) thought I had died (and gone to Heaven), here is the Christmas Picture from me and the missus.

Hope you had a great Christmas. You never know I might start blogging again in 2009.

You just never know...

Amazing Piece of Animation

2008-05-15T15:05:00.003Z

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

This is an amazing piece of animation from Argentina. I have no idea how they did it.

High Tech Noon

2008-02-21T07:49:00.000Z

I'm not a great fan of cowboy movies, but this video is really clever!

Big Mac, Anyone?

2008-02-18T06:01:00.003Z

I see from this article that the US Department of Agriculture is going to recall 143 million pounds of beef "processed" by a slaughterhouse accused of mistreating animals. That amounts to 2 hamburgers for every man, woman and child in the USA! When I read this, I was starting to get a bit giddy trying to get my head around how much meat this slaughterhouse must produce in a year, but it seems the recall dates back to February 2006. It appears that "the great majority" of the meat has probably been eaten already. It's unclear from the article whether all the meat was distributed within the USA

It seems that in January, the Humane Society of the United States accused Hallmark/Westland of abusing "downed" cattle, releasing video that showed workers kicking cows, jabbing them near their eyes, ramming them with a forklift and shooting high-intensity water up their noses in an effort to force them to their feet for slaughter. Cattle that have lost the ability to walk are not supposed to enter the food chain unless they have been examined to rule out chronic illnesses.

All this reminded me of a post I wrote a long time ago about Kentucky Fried Chicken. I'm proud to say I haven't had a carry out from them since.

I'm not so proud to admit that I'm still a carnivore and telling myself that the animals "don't feel a thing".

There Will Be Blood

2008-02-17T21:48:00.003Z

Went with Wosog last night to see "There Will Be Blood". I had heard so much about the film and Daniel Day-Lewis's performance. I thought I knew what the story was about, but it took a rather different turn from the one I expected. Wosog and I both agreed that Day-Lewis's performance was impressive, but Wosog didn't think he was a believable character, and she didn't really enjoy the film. I suppose it comes down to whether you think someone could be as driven as this man undoubtedly was, and so ruthless in pursuing his ends. Personally, I thought the film was probably, in general, a pretty accurate account of the rush for oil in those days, and I'm sorry to say that I do think people as amoral as Daniel Plainview did (and do) exist.

Sounds from Windows XP and 98: Strangely Hypnotic

2008-02-15T07:16:00.000Z

PostSecret - A Valentine Video

2008-02-14T08:43:00.000Z

Happy Valentine's Day from Sog and Wosog!

Learning the Lessons of History

2008-02-12T08:25:00.001Z

Thanks to The Huffington Post for pointing me in the direction of this video. Given the lack of evidence for overall benefit from the US-led military intervention in Iraq, it amazes me that right-wingers in America can even suggest a military strike against Iran.

The video reminds us that the UK and the USA have previously interfered with the government of Iran. Then it was supposed to have the aim of stemming the march of Communism, but it was really about oil and money. This time it's supposed to be about preventing the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction (does that sound familiar to you?), but again it's really about oil and money.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!

It Makes You Think 3

2008-02-10T19:15:00.000Z

Three quotes on the subject of ageing:

"The really frightening thing about middle age is that you know you'll grow out of it." Doris Day.

"I tend to live in the past because most of my life is there." Herb Caen.

"You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there." George Burns.

Which is your favourite?

That Ole Devil Called Love

2008-02-05T07:08:00.001Z

Wosog and I went to the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow to see Alison Moyet in concert last night. Gdog had given her mum the tickets for Christmas. It was a very enjoyable performance with a good mix of newer stuff (most of which I'd never heard before) and old favourites.

At one point, in the middle of the concert, a woman in the crowd shouted "Alison, please sing 'That Ole Devil Called Love.'" and the band instantly switched from their planned play list to the song requested: really quite impressive.

The concert seemed a little short, but I'd certainly go back and see Ms Moyet again.

The Magic Boomerang Hits Grand Central

2008-02-04T16:38:00.000Z

One of my favourite tv shows as a kid was an Australian programme called The Magic Boomerang. In this show the main character, Tom Thumbleton (I kid you not), had a boomerang that, when thrown, had the power to freeze time and allow our hero to foil the plans of any sinister baddie: of whom there appeared to be many in that part of Australia! For some reason, it appealed to my childish brain that someone could chose to freeze the people around them.

In a brilliantly executed exercise, an improvisation group recently decided to plant 207 people in Grand Central Station in New York and get them to suddenly stay still and remain so for 5 minutes. The reactions of those not "in" on the exercise is fascinating, including one guy who decides to prod one of the "living statues" and the little bloke in the electric cart who is unable to move and calls for assistance.

A list (with links) of Improv Anywhere's other pranks is given here.

Snouts in the Trough

2008-02-03T10:43:00.000Z

Regular readers of this blog (if there are any) will know that I am not a great fan of politicians. Any of you living in the UK cannot have failed to be aware of the case of Tory MP Derek Conway who paid his student son £40,000 of taxpayers' money for, it seems, rather ill-defined work to do with his parliamentary duties. Conway has been suspended from the Commons for 10 days and ordered to return £13,161 of the money he paid his son. According to this article, he claims that he is "not a crook", and says that numerous other MPs are doing very similar things. Another wonderful quotation from the non-crook is "A lot of students do part-time work. He was working for his father rather than working in McDonald's.". I wonder how many student workers in McDonalds are paid £40,000 per year?

Gordon Brown must be quite enjoying Mr Conway's discomfiture, which has successfully diverted media attention from the various Labour scandals about undeclared campaign contributions, although I see the same article mentions the fact that former cabinet minister Peter Hain has been claiming that his 80 year old mother works for him as a part-time secretary and she was paid £5,400 last year. You really do wonder what other amazing revelations are going to crawl out now that the MPs' Expenses can of worms has been prised open!

Recently, we had the unedifying spectacle of MPs apparently agonising over whether or not to give themselves a sub-inflationary pay award this year---like the ones they were expecting other public sector workers to swallow. They finally seemed to accept that not to do so could have very serious consequences. If these are the sort of fiddles they get up to with their expenses, though, you can see why they could afford to be so magnanimous!

We are regularly told that politics in the UK is much less corrupt than in many other countries. I wonder if it's more the case that we are a bit more subtle about our corruption in Britain?

Shed of the Year 2008?

2008-02-02T17:01:00.001Z

The New Shed 2
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

When we moved to our current house 15-16 years ago the shed in the garden was in an advanced state of decrepitude. We did store some stuff in it, but the roof started leaking and the whole thing just went from bad to worse.

I've wanted to get a new shed for a while, and the opportunity arose at the end of last year. I was hoping to avoid maintenance, so I looked at various metal sheds, some of which were very expensive. We had some work done in the garden at the same time and I asked the guy in charge if he and his men would be prepared to build a metal shed for me. He said that they had previously agreed to construct a metal shed for a lady in a nearby town, but it had turned out so complicated that his men were still mentally scarred as a result! They really didn't want to get involved in the process again. Hence, I ended up getting this lovely wooden shed supplied and constructed from an excellent firm in Kilmarnock.

Although I'm very pleased with my shed, I don't have the emotional attachment to it that some men seem to have. This, for example is a shed made to look like a Roman Temple, and owned by a guy called Tony. The bizarre structure won the title of Shed of the Year 2007. While my shed is new and shiny I was thinking of submitting it for the 2008 competition, but looking at the contenders, I don't think I'm in the same league as these guys.

To be honest, though, I don't think I want to be!

Every Car Should Have One

2008-02-01T20:06:00.001Z

I'm not a great fan of gadgets in cars. To me things like electric sunroofs and heated seats are just more things to go wrong. It was one of my favourite blogs, Bifurcated Rivets, that made me aware of the Trunk Monkey.

Now I wouldn't go anywhere without my little furry friend.

Cutting Remarks

2008-01-27T13:32:00.001Z

Wosog and I went to see the film Sweeney Todd last night. We've been to see quite a lot of movies recently. I've said before that we often have difficulty choosing films to go to together because our tastes differ. I like horror films, but Wosog doesn't. Wosog likes musicals, but as a rule I don't. This film has had such good reviews that I decided I had to see it. I really like Tim Burton's style of film-making, and for Wosog I think the fact that Mr Depp was in it might have had an influence!

I was under the impression that Sweeney Todd was a real person, but it seems this is not actually true. The Wikipedia entry on the subject is very informative. He certainly fits in with the modern obsession with serial killers, probably best exemplified by the Hannibal Lecter films. The theme of cannibalism is another one they share.

Anyway the film is a superb bit of cinema, and may be the one that finally gets Johnny Depp his Oscar. Helena Bonham Carter is great too as Mrs Lovett, and Sacha Baron Cohen has a surprisingly impressive cameo role. The whole look of the film is superb, as you would expect from Tim Burton. It even has the best film website I have ever seen!

As you will gather, I was pretty impressed! I suggest UK readers go and see this film while it is still in the cinema.

Down in the Mouth

2008-01-26T15:26:00.000Z

I must admit I have never fancied being a dentist. When I was a medical student we shared pre-clinical classes with dental students, and I could never understand why it was felt that dentists, who are solely concerned with affairs above the neck, required a training as long as that of a doctor. Most medical students are driven to at least a small degree by a spirit of altruism, but as far as I could see most dental students were motivated by a heart-felt desire to make as much money as possible and retire as early as possible. I may be doing them a disservice here, but somehow I doubt it!

Even though I have always felt that most of the dentists I knew were financially better off than I, I really didn't envy them. Several decades of poking around in mouths afflicted by halitosis does not appeal to me, and I don't think I would find the work very varied. I hadn't, however, thought of the degree to which these guys were exposed to litigation as well.

In the usual way that trends tend to flow across the Atlantic from the USA, litigation has been increasing in medical practice in the UK. So far, general medical practice has not been affected too badly, although my Defence Union subscriptions have increased a fair bit over the years. According to this article, however, legal claims against dentists have increased dramatically in recent years. Much of this seems to relate to increasing amounts of private dental work.

I wonder if the people making these claims care about the fact that their successful litigation will inevitably lead to escalating costs for them and everyone else in the future? I suspect not.

Celebrity Beliefs

2008-01-23T19:31:00.000Z

There can be few Internet enthusiasts who have not seen or at least heard of the infamous video showing Tom Cruise talking about his belief in the Church of Scientology. I must confess I haven't been able to watch it all the way through because I am pathologically impatient and have little tolerance of someone who uses hundreds of words to say very little. This is especially true if the "very little" makes no sense at all. Cruise has been mocked to varying degrees for his beliefs for a number of years, but this video seems to have stimulated a frenzy of criticism and numerous parodies including:

and

This article in Gawker describes how various Internet-based groups are mounting a concerted opposition to the Church of Scientology, which most of its opponents would describe as a dangerous cult. I can't say I have a detailed knowledge of the subject, but it does seem a somewhat sinister organisation and I would not like my family to have anything to do with it.

In the interests of balance, and just to show that I have reservations about forms of religion other than Scientology, I present to you this quotation from Richard Gere, who I believe is a Buddhist:

"I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe, and someone said I was a snake, I'd think, no, actually I'm a giraffe."

I rest my case.

Big Yellow Taxi

2008-01-19T00:10:00.000Z

On the way to Times Square 1
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

There are apparently over 12,000 yellow cabs in New York City. Certainly any tourist in The Big Apple can hardly fail to notice them.

Don't you think, therefore, these taxi booties for your infant are a great way to commemorate your visit to NYC?

Well maybe not....

The Emperor's New Laptop

2008-01-18T20:10:00.000Z

Hot on the heels of the sexy MacBook Air comes the even more orgasmic iNvisible iBook.

Our Hero Steve Jobs has really surpassed himself here, but I'm not sure if I'm cool enough or smart enough to even see today's ultimate gadget. I would certainly agree it's a steal at $2,999.

It could be enough to make me forsake the joys of Windows Vista: and that is serious!

Talking with your eyes shut

2008-01-17T19:32:00.001Z

Grouchofied Version
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

I recently came across this collection of freaky images so I thought I'd have a go myself. I'm afraid my Photoshop skills are not good enough to blend the skin colour around my mouth with the colour in the area of my eye sockets.

I don't think any of the transformations make the subject look more beautiful, but some are relatively inoffensive. I must admit, though, I didn't think any trick photography could make Hilary Clinton look more scary or Vladimir Putin more sinister!

It Makes You Think 2

2008-01-13T18:53:00.000Z

Here are two similar quotations on the subject of parenthood, especially with reference to the dreaded teenagers:

"By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong." Charles Wadsworth.

and

"Few things are more satisfying than seeing your own children have teenagers of their own." Doug Larson.

So true, so true...

People in Order by Lenka Clayton and James Price

2008-01-12T07:56:00.001Z

This is a video of people from 1 to 100 years old beating a drum with varying degrees of enthusiasm. It was featured on Boing Boing. Although the idea may seem a strange one, it is a fascinating 3 minute film that speaks volumes about the general behaviour of different age groups but at the same time shows that age is not a good indicator of a person's physical and mental fitness.

There is just something very heartwarming about it, I think.

Another Wonderful Product of Canada

2008-01-10T20:50:00.000Z

As a teenager I was a great fan of Joni Mitchell, so I suppose you could say I have a longstanding penchant for Canadian singer-songwriters. I first came across Leslie Feist when I saw the video clip for the song 1 2 3 4 on Bill Adams' blog. I subsequently made the decision to buy her latest album, The Reminder, and I think it's excellent.

Her songs are amazingly varied and she has a simply superb, haunting voice.

Why not check her out?

Simply Alsome

2008-01-09T07:55:00.000Z

I never cease to be amazed at the range of things people, particularly women, talk about---often in surprisingly public places. I wonder if you, like me, love the experience of coming into a room and catching the bizarre-sounding tail end of a conversation? Isn't it a joy to mull over in your mind what the participants might have been discussing?

If I've got you sussed, Overheard in the Office is the website for you. Although the flavour is distinctly American, many of the themes covered are basically universal: fetishes, penis size, and whether or not to start a career as a stripper (to name but a few). The most popular section is a riot, although I'm sure that first one was made up!

Alsome, indeed!

The Scourge of Overprotectionism

2008-01-07T19:13:00.000Z

Wosog got me a great little pair of Nikon binoculars for Christmas. Like many Japanese products they came with a surprising amount of documentation. This included admonition to read thoroughly the safety precautions before use. Alongside sensible advice about not looking through the binoculars while walking, I was amazed to find instructions such as:

"Do not swing the binoculars by their straps. They may hit someone and cause injury."

"If you use the rubber eyecups for a long period of time, you may suffer skin inflammation. If you develop any symptoms, consult a doctor immediately."

"Be careful not to pinch your finger when adjusting interpupillary distance or diopter."

"Do not leave the polythene bag used for packaging witihin small children's reach. Children may put it into their mouths and suffocate."

I am a great fan of TED Talks, and I spotted this one today that seemed to be on a similar subject: namely the irresistible rise of overprotectionism. The speaker advocates, far from protecting children from every conceivable threat, that we should be deliberately exposing them to activities that could be dangerous:

The activities recommended include exposure to fire, using a pocket knife, throwing a spear. dismantling electrical equipment and driving a car: all under appropriate supervision, of course. It's surprising how wild these suggestions appear to a modern audience, including myself, but then I remember how many of these things, as well as even more hazardous activities I actually did when young!

The comments on the TED site are almost universally supportive of Gever Tulley's suggestions, so why are we and our American fellow parents still overprotecting our children, and why do manufacturers feel obliged to put this ridiculous advice on their products?

Fear of litigation is undoubtedly part of the explanation, but I don't think we can lay all the blame at the feet of the despicable lawyers!

It Makes You Think 1

2008-01-06T12:46:00.000Z

I've always loved quotations, and I've planned for a while to post occasional quotations that hopefully will provoke thought, and entertain at the same time. I recently came across this quotation, and I wasn't sure if I should call this post "Our Wonderful Political Readers 2" as a sequel to the preceding post about the up-and-coming American Election.

The statement is from US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, just to show that, even if we have reservations about our future World leaders we can have confidence in the current administration:

"I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started."

There, that made you think, didn't it?

Our Wonderful Political Leaders

2008-01-05T19:41:00.000Z

I don't know as much as I probably should about American politics, but I think I know enough to be sure I would vote for the Democrats. That said, I don't think I trust Hilary Clinton with her annoying cackle. I like what I have seen of Barack Obama, although I think he is a little naive when pinned down to specifics.

Just as I would never vote for the Conservative Party in this country, I suspect I would never vote Republican in the US. Apart from their right-wing views the Republicans also have the major turn-off (from my point-of-view) of rampant religious fundamentalism. It may not be politically correct to say it, but the idea of having a Mormon American President in the form of Mitt Romney fills me with horror. I am put off Mike Huckabee for two reasons: firstly by his known illiberal views; and secondly by evidence to suggest that he may be an idiot:

But don't think I reserve my scorn for US politicians. At the moment, I don't think there is any UK political party I would vote for!

Shock Tactics

2008-01-04T09:18:00.001Z

On this date in 1903 Thomas Edison electrocuted an elephant called Topsy. He was making a lot of money from the patent for direct current and this was threatened by the proposed use of the new-fangled alternating current. He had embarked on a series of staged electrocutions of various unfortunate animals in an attempt to show how dangerous alternating current was.

Topsy the elephant had squashed 3 handlers in 3 years, and park officials at Luna Park on Coney Island decided that enough was enough. They considered hanging the poor beast, but the SPCA vetoed this. Edison was only too glad to provide an alternative means of execution.

In order to ensure that Topsy definitely died, she was fed cyanide-laced carrots moments before a 6,600-volt AC charge. Officials needn't have worried. The elephant was killed instantly and Edison, in his mind anyway, had proved his point. The "event" certainly provided a lot of publicity: a crowd put at 1,500 witnessed Topsy's execution, which was filmed by Edison and released later that year. Ultimately, of course, alternating current proved superior and became the standard.

Greed is a terrible thing, isn't it?

More Frightening than the Average Rollercoaster

2008-01-03T09:00:00.000Z

This video represents US house prices from 1890 to the present day adjusted for inflation and plotted as a roller coaster. The equivalent graph is given here. The question is "Where to next?"

The sub-prime crisis that has already started to affect US house prices is very well explained here. The article suggests that the the effects of the crisis are likely to play out over the next 2 years. Who was it that said that "When America sneezes the World catches a cold."?

What did I say about Happy New Year?

Ready for my Close-up?

2008-01-02T10:09:00.000Z

According to an article in the latest EOS Magazine (the mag devoted to Canon's EOS camera system), research has shown that 86% of Brits believe they are unphotogenic. The survey of 1,700 UK residents also showed that the increasing used of digital cameras and social networking sites often meant that these subjects were being reluctantly thrust into the public gaze and their images preserved on the Internet forever.

Body weight was an issue, with 52% of people admitting to holding in their stomachs in photographs.
Having a double chin was perceived to be a problem too, with 25% of people happier to look slightly odd by thrusting their heads back when pictures are taken.
Apparently, 19% won't be photographed in direct sunlight and 3% insist on being lit from below.
Twenty percent of people admit to digitally retouching pictures to make themselves look better.

I actually love photographing people, but I do find that many folk are unhappy about being photographed. Partly for this reason, many of my Flickr photographs are only visible to friends and family. I'm sure a lot of these problems result from media images of the "beautiful people" (enhanced in many cases by Photoshop, sophisticated make-up, or even cosmetic surgery) making the rest of us feel inadequate for some reason.

Why can't we just celebrate the variety of humanity, with all its many imperfections, and above all be happy?

It runs in the family...

2008-01-01T11:53:00.001Z

Star Quality
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

This is my great nephew Charlie who visited me at Christmas. You can see the family resemblance, can't you? Charlie has asked me to wish you/ you both/ you all a tremendously Happy 2008.

Off now to eat even more food...

Not a Windows Vista Fan?

2007-12-29T19:53:00.000Z

I've now got 2 computers running Windows Vista Home Premium. As usual, it seems to be fashionable to criticise the latest version of Windows, but having used Windows 3.1, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP, I find the latest incarnation more visually attractive and no more likely to crash or freeze than any of the previous versions. Perhaps I should have higher expectations than this, but having worked with computers for 20 years or so I have learned not to hope for too much!

I'm periodically tempted to defect to a Mac, and their machines certainly look trendy. The user interface looks good too, but at the end of the day most of the software I use runs just as well, I suspect, on pc's as it does on Macs. The rest of the stuff I do is on the Internet, and I doubt if it matters what sort of computer I use to access the Web.

As far as work goes, it seems to me that it tends to get done more often in spite of the computers rather than because of them.

But maybe I'm just an old cynic?

Sex Still Sells

2007-12-26T21:24:00.001Z

Teflon Girl 2
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

A while ago I discussed the history of this fine image and compared its popularity on Flickr with an image accidentally showing this young lady in the background and holidaying Wosog, Gdog and Gsog in the foreground. Surprising as it may seem, this picture appeared to be the more popular of the two. I thought regular readers of the blog would be interested to hear how the two images have fared in terms of popularity in the intervening period of more than two years.

The family picture is my 9th most popular photograph in terms of views with 890. The "lonely girl" photograph is my most popular image with 4072 views.

I wonder why that should be?

Merry Christmas 2007

2007-12-25T13:06:00.000Z

If anybody out there is reading this, I wish them a Merry Christmas. I'm having a great one so far, even though I've not had anything to drink yet.

Speak to you later after several units of alcohol and several kilocalories.

Robosexuality

2007-12-23T15:33:00.000Z

I've been fascinated by robots since I had a teenage interest in science fiction. Isaac Asimov, who wrote "I, Robot" was one of my favourite authors. At the time that I was reading these science fiction books I don't think I considered it likely that many of the things the stories prophesied would come about in my lifetime. I've posted several times on this blog (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) about robots, referring directly or indirectly to the amazing progress currently being made in robotics.

One of my other obsessions is the website Wordie, and it was there I first came across the term "robosexuality". There was a link to the Uncyclopedia on the subject from the Wordie page, and the whole thing was treated in a lighthearted manner. Imagine my surprise, however, to read in this article that a Dutch artificial intelligence expert is predicting humans marrying robots by 2050! "At first, sex with robots might be considered geeky" he says. I'm not sure that "geeky" would be the first adjective that would spring to most people's minds. Again according to Levy, "It may sound a little weird, but it isn't. Love and sex with robots are inevitable."

The Dutchman seems extremely sanguine about the prospect of romantic and sexual relations with these machines but I'm not so sure. He sees it as a dream come true for people who for one reason or another have difficulty forming close relationships with other humans. On a more lighthearted note, he sees it as a solution to the "randy husband-wife with headache scenario".

Postscript: For those who want to read more on this subject there is an interview with David Levy here.

Killjoys at Christmas

2007-12-22T13:03:00.000Z

I can't actually find it on the website, but I'm reliably informed that the NHS Information Centre is able to tell us that there were 1,328 admissions to hospital in England in 2006/07 after people fell in slippery conditions. Another 4,235 were admitted after falls involving ice skates, skis, rollerblades or skateboards. The implication seems to be that crossing the threshold of your house is too hazardous to contemplate at this time of year. Indeed, staying indoors may be too dangerous if your lino is on the slippery side!

Other festive potential sources of trauma include contact with plant thorns, spines and sharp leaves (238 admissions) and climbing ladders (6,002 admissions). It's even worth giving mulled wine a body swerve since 1,638 people were admitted after contact with hot drinks.

I say all this with my tongue resolutely pressed against my cheek, but don't you get the feeling in the UK that our 21st Century politicians seem to have an irresistible urge to try and legislate any activity considered remotely risky out of existence?

To me this undoubted trend is a far bigger threat to our civil liberties than any form of terrorism.

Quite simple, really....

2007-12-21T14:08:00.000Z

I've always wanted to become a famous blogger, sharing the stage with Cory Doctorow and other Internet Luminaries at international conferences in exotic places. It seems the process of becoming a famous blogger is simpler than I thought. This flow chart explains the process in an easily assimilated visual form:

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

I'm going to get right onto it, pronto...

Wake up Cat

2007-12-16T19:30:00.001Z

Continuing the cat theme, anyone who has ever had a cat will recognise how accurately the beginning of this little video represents a cat's attempts to wake up a reluctant human.

Hopefully, the latter part will be less familiar....

Now I've Heard Everything....

2007-12-09T08:40:00.000Z

Wosog and I are both great fans of cats, and we have had a few cats as pets in the past. Unfortunately, Wosog started developing increasing allergic reactions to them, however: initially in the form of conjunctivitis, but later in the form of asthmatic symptoms. We ultimately had to find new homes for the two cat brothers we had at the time.

Some people are even more fond of cats than we are, and a tiny minority are virtually obsessed with the furry little creatures. On Flickr, these folk's photostreams are riddled with feline portraits. I've not been aware, up till now, of cat obsession in the blogosphere, but I think this blog definitely "takes the biscuit"! Purrcast not only talks about cats in great detail, but features streamed soundclips of purring cats: hence, Purrcast!

I believe there is evidence that having a cat and listening to it purring has beneficial psychological effects. Maybe reading and listening to this blog has similar effects?

Or maybe not...

No Strings Attached

2007-10-28T07:35:00.000Z

I've heard the term String Theory for quite a while, but I've never had any idea what it meant. This brief video gives an interesting account of String Theory aimed at the layman:

I've still not got much idea what the theory means, but doesn't the presenter have a great "sexy scientist" voice?

Maybe it's just me?

Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London

2007-10-01T20:56:00.001Z

I've always loved Warren Zevon's music. I don't know what made me play "Excitable Boy", the album that this song comes from tonight!

My favourite verse is as follows:

"He's the hairy-handed gent
Who ran amok in Kent
Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair
You better stay away from him
He'll rip your lungs out, Jim
Hunh, I'd like to meet his tailor."

They just don't make lyrics like that any more!

Happy Birthday?

2007-09-23T20:00:00.000Z

My previous post about the world's oldest man suggested at 111 he was not too happy. It seems, however, that now he has reached his 112th birthday he wants to live forever.

Mr Tanabe looks and sounds like a bundle of laughs, attributing his longevity to total abstinence from alcohol, drinking milk and reading a newspaper every day.

The question is do any of the rest of us want him to live forever?

Kate Nash

2007-09-16T20:15:00.001Z

I've been thinking of buying Kate Nash's album "Made of Bricks" for some time. I finally saw it for £7.00 in the supermarket, which seemed a pretty good deal.

Her voice has some similarities to that of Lily Allan, who I like too, but I think her lyrics are more interesting and varied. It will be interesting to see how her career develops.

Weird Al Yankovic - Jurassic Park

2007-09-12T19:37:00.001Z

Thanks to JumpinJack for making me aware of this hilarious video. Like him, I love the bit about the lawyer approximately half way through.

I can't imagine why!

Save the Vale

2007-09-08T21:56:00.001Z

Public Opinion
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

Today I and over 10,000 others attended a protest regarding the proposal by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde to downgrade severely the services provided at the Vale of Leven Hospital. The hospital has had its services reduced over several years first by Argyll & Clyde Health Board and latterly by NHS GG&C. Many in the local population feel that if further cuts are made this will ultimately lead to the death of the hospital.

The turnout exceeded the expectations of the organisers and gives a clear indication of the local strength of feeling on the subject. An independent review of the proposal is being undertaken at the moment and we can only hope that the new SNP administration in the Scottish Parliament pays more than lip service to listening to the wishes of the people.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

2007-09-03T07:12:00.001Z

Many thanks to Bill Adams in Hawaii for showing me this video---I really needed a laugh.

This yoga business is not as complicated as I thought!

For the Person who has Everything

2007-08-31T07:12:00.000Z

Some time ago I blogged about a hi-tech toilet seat that I had come across while on holiday in Kefalonia in Greece. The seat in question rotated when you left and cleaned its surface, protecting you from all the hazards of bum-transmitted infections, and the unpleasant "calling cards" of males with aiming problems . I thought this was the ultimate in toilet seats but science never sleeps, and I have just stumbled on a quantum leap in toilet technology: the washlet.

Up till now we have had to be satisfied with toilet paper to do the necessary after we have done the inevitable, but according to the Toto Website, toilet paper merely "moves the problem around". To feel truly happy about your personal hygiene you really need a very sophisticated electronic device to---lets be frank---wipe your bum. The site is very nicely designed with friendly music, and pictures of attractive bottoms and faces. Buttons on the webite direct you to every facet of the washlet you could possibly want to know about. The gadget doesn't just clean the relevant area with scientific precision using water at the prefect temperature, it also dries you at the right temperature, and even controls the rate at which the toilet seat goes down. I think you still do have to remember to put the seat down yourself, though!

I love the bit in the technology section where the guy says that the washlet toilet seat "has more in common with your laptop computer than any toilet seat you've ever come across". When you think about it that's not saying much! The nice folk on the Toto site cover several racial groups and they all seem so happy and secure that their personal hygiene needs are being taken care of.

I really don't know if bog roll is going to be enough for me any more.....

PS If you think there is something fishy about the washlet, try this!

An Interview With LizardMan

2007-08-26T19:12:00.001Z

I have never been keen on the idea of tattooing or body piercing. Both Wosog and Gdog have their ears pierced, and I don't really have a problem with that. Two or three years ago Gdog got a tattoo. I still don't think this was a good idea, but clearly an 18 or 19 year-old is entitled to take their own decisions.

This interesting article shows pictures of folk that have altered their bodies in very extreme ways by means not only of piercing, and extensive examples of tattooing, but also subcutaneous inserts, etc. The leopard man, for example, has over 90% of his body surface tattooed and has altered his dentition quite drastically to make him look more like a big cat. If you watch the video about him, however, he seems a very pleasant well balanced individual! The LizardMan featured here again has extreme tattooing and altered teeth, but he also has a split tongue that, frankly, gives me the creeps. The video shows that he is quite an articulate and intelligent individual, however.

The question is "Why do they do it?" Do they alter their bodies simply to "dress themselves up" in a similar way to someone else donning a designer suit or carrying an expensive bag? It seems to me that there must be more to it than that! A Flickr contact from New Jersey with the Flickr name perhapsiam is a tattooist and body piercer. He says:

"I really don't view most types of body modification as anything more extreme than, say, a haircut. It's more about making what you were given into what you feel it should be than anything else. We all do this in some way or another. What these people have done is nothing more extreme than basic corrective or cosmetic surgeries, and with less potential risk in most cases."

You might argue that perhapsiam has a vested interest, but at least he practices what he preaches, having one or two body modifications himself. Perhaps he's right that these people are not really doing anything more abnormal than a woman having breast implants? Perhaps folk like myself, with a fairly conventional view of the World should be less judgemental about people like the LizardMan and celebrate his individuality and creativity?

I'll give this some thought---but I won't be getting any piercings or tattoos done any time soon!

Amy Winehouse

2007-08-22T07:03:00.001Z

One of my favourite singers is Amy Winehouse, and I was sorry, but not surprised, to hear that she had been admitted to hospital recently with either "exhaustion" or a drug overdose (depending on who you believe). She has a fantastic voice and, I think, great potential, but I'm not sure she has the temperament to stay the course of a long career.

It would be a shame if she either dropped out of the music scene or, worse still, joined the ranks of those who died tragically young.

Global Worrying

2007-08-18T09:05:00.000Z

Reasons to be Cheerful
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

I have previously confessed to being a terrible worrier. It should be fairly obvious from my various geeky activities that I am also a great enthusiast about the internet, and other forms of mass communication. Acres of text have been produced in the last year or two about the perils of Global Warming, but I think Global Worrying is an equally disturbing modern trend.

War is awful, and every death in combat is a tragedy for the person involved and their family, but deaths in war are inevitable. Modern mass communications mean that if even one or two British soldiers are killed in Iraq it is splashed across our newspapers and computer screens almost immediately. You could argue that this is a good thing, and makes us constantly aware of the reality of the conflict, but there is no doubt in my mind that it also raises anxiety levels in the countries affected.

Recently, concerns about the American mortgage market led to huge effects on stock markets throughout the Globe within days. Central banks have felt obliged to pump huge amounts of money into the system to stabilise the situation. Opinion is divided on whether this is a temporary blip or represents a fundamental weakness in the US economy. Only time will tell, but the speed and the magnitude of the short-term effects only serve to remind us what a connected World we live in.

Sometimes it's true that "ignorance is bliss".

Pooper Scoopers

2007-08-17T20:16:00.000Z

From the "You know you have too much money when" file
Originally uploaded by behindblueeyes.

Many thanks to behindblueeyes on Flickr for making me aware of this service. I might even go out and buy a pet just so that I can make use of it! I was a bit disappointed that they didn't quote their prices though.

I was intrigued to find that Scoops is a member of aPaws (The Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists). However, it seems this profession only exists in the USA and Canada. Apparently, pet owners in the rest of the World have to "do it themselves", so-to-speak. My Flickr friend The Rocketeer lives near Atlanta, Georgia. I must let him know about the aPaws 5th Annual Scooper Convention & Turd-Herding Contest scheduled for next January.

Unsung Heroes

2007-08-14T18:36:00.001Z

Many folk, myself included, find this little Dilbert clip hilarious. The question is "Why?" I've always been interested in humour and the reasons why certain people find certain things funny. It seems to me that the main reason people find this video humorous relates to the surprisingly low social standing that engineers have compared to other professions.

This chart shows the IQ ranges for a wide variety of occupations. As a medic, I smugly noted that "Medical occupations: MD and equivalent" occupy the top slot, but as you can see engineers of various types are not far behind. I don't have the figures to hand, but I suspect that, on a global basis, engineers are paid significantly less than doctors.

Much of the hi tech world that we take for granted---the machines we use, the roads we drive on, the internet we enjoy---owe their existence to engineers of various sorts. So why do we treat these guys as figures of fun? Why is Dilbert's mum so upset that he is destined to join their ranks? Maybe it is something to do with the name? The term "engineer" conjures up an image of rolled-up sleeves and hairy arms covered with machinery oil.

Perhaps engineers need to call themselves something else to try and get the respect from us all that they undoubtedly deserve?

Royksopp - Remind Me

2007-08-12T06:13:00.001Z

This is a clever little video and the song is quite hypnotic, but I'm not sure what the message is.

Ballooning in Luxor

2007-08-11T08:30:00.001Z

Our "Sister Balloon"
Originally uploaded by Son of Groucho.

A while ago I posted extensively about a balloon flight that I did from Perth, Scotland. At that time Wosog declined the offer to join me, but she did take some excellent photographs of the event. At the end of the first week of our holiday in Egypt I had the chance to take a flight in Luxor, and this time the wife decided to join me. I thought there were some interesting differences between the flight in Luxor and the flight in Perth.

The first difference was the fact that the Luxor flight was early in the morning. This had the twin advantages of (a) being cooler, and (b) allowing us to see the sun rising over the River Nile. The second difference was in the number of personnel involved in the process. On the Virgin flight in Scotland (which was much more expensive) the passengers were expected to help the pilot and his assistant inflate the balloon and carefully fold it up after the landing. In Egypt a veritable army of burly wee guys was provided to (a) inflate the balloon, (b) literally lift the female passengers into the basket, and (c) hastily bundle up the balloon after the landing. Virgin would claim that their set-up provides the passengers with a more complete experience of ballooning but I suspect the difference has much more to do with relative labour costs in the two countries!

The balloon in Egypt was much larger and carried almost twice as many passengers as the Virgin one. The crew timed the launch to perfection, and we got a great view of the sunrise. We also had great views of several other balloons flying at the same time. Highlights of the trip included Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple and an amazing overview of Karnak. The views of the river as we crossed the Nile were stunning. The only slightly scary part of the flight was when we came down in a fairly small piece of waste ground next to a road in the middle of a built-up area. This was definitely more worrying than coming down in a field in Scotland. If anyone is interested we have gathered pictures from both of us of both flights in a Flickr Group called "Flights of the Sogs".

All in all, it was a marvellous experience, and one I'd highly recommend!