Wednesday, January 26, 2005
BBC Springwatch
I've just seen a bumblebee, and am going to log it at BBC Springwatch. They're trying to monitor whether spring is occuring earlier. A south african friend was telling me the other day that they do a similar, annual bird count, and that this year all the birds had already migrated before the day of the count. Normally there are 1000s.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Climate crisis near 'in 10 years'
I know everyone here knows about this stuff, but i'm finding the whole thing profoundly fucking depressing at the moment. Think i'm having the "most depressing day of the year" 1 day late. Maybe technology will save us (Bill Gates take on it - he's more concerned with biological terrorism).
Burns Night
It may expose me as a sniggering schoolboy, but I always find this to be one of Burns' greatest works.
Monday, January 24, 2005
Robot Wars
US plans 'robot troops' for Iraq. How long before K9 here is caught making Iraqi prisoners get naked with bags on their heads? That "there are plans to replace the computer screen, joysticks and keypad in the remote-control unit with a Gameboy-style controller and virtual-reality goggles" is particularly disconcerting. Although the batteries only last for 4 hours - which is worse than an ipod.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
War graves
Sometimes the internet is amazing. I stumbled across this site the other day, and looked up my uncle, who died fighting in WWII. This site found him in seconds, told me when he died, where he is buried, and the number of the grave. CWGC.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
'I don't like Monday 24 January'
It's me again, the bearer of glad tidings. Look out, next Monday is the most depressing day of the year, according to a part-time tutor at Cardiff Uni (quite a depressing prospect in itself): 'I don't like Monday 24 January'. At least we'll get it out of the way soon!
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
On Thinning Ice
More environmental doom-mongering, this time from the London Review of Books. It's a review of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment study. High(low?)lights include: in the last 200 yrs, CO2 in atmosphere increased by 35% - a third of which in last 40yrs; an area of reflective sea ice 8 times the size of the UK has been lost in the arctic; melting permafrost releases loads of methane - 23 times better at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2; not only melting ice but expanding water (as it warms) will raise sea levels; up to 37% of terrestrial species could be extinct by 2050; British and Canadia carbon emissions have actually gone up since 97 - most of the reductions are down to the switch to natural gas from coal and oil, that was brought about by Thatcher; worst of all (though hopefully dubious) is the (conspiracy) theory that the US doesn't care because it will emerge relatively unscathed compared to much of the world, and this will strengthen its power base even further.
As if that wasn't enough, there's another scary piece about coal, too.
What can you do? Except resolve never to take an unnecessary domestic flight ever again, as I have just done. And read comics.
As if that wasn't enough, there's another scary piece about coal, too.
What can you do? Except resolve never to take an unnecessary domestic flight ever again, as I have just done. And read comics.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Alliance Against Urban 4x4s
Alliance Against Urban 4x4s. If you're feeling adventurous, hector the owners by downloading fake London borough parking tickets from wastemonsters. Reasonable of them to include the 'Urban' in the title, too.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Thursday, January 13, 2005
another make poverty history link
middle age is definitely creeping up on me - this event was being publicised by the lady vicar on terry wogan's "pause for thought" slot earlier this week...
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Waterstone's employee gets sacked for blogging.
Guardian article here. Actually (though i've not read his blog in any detail) it sounds like he didn't get on with his boss all that well in the first place...
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Advent characters
Why is it always the 'advent of the internet'? Was just reading yesterday's Grauniad media section, and every third commentator talks about the advent of the web, or digital media, or the net etc. I find this irrationally and disproportionately annoying.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Mind Hacks and Tuesday
Anyone read this book yet? Looks pretty interesting.
Also next Tuesday is the 2nd Tuesday of Jan 05. I *think* I should be able to make it - anyone else interested? Was thinking we could maybe go for a curry rather than just drink beer...
Also next Tuesday is the 2nd Tuesday of Jan 05. I *think* I should be able to make it - anyone else interested? Was thinking we could maybe go for a curry rather than just drink beer...
Friday, January 07, 2005
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Heimat
My sister got the DVD of Heimat for Christmas. I watched a couple of episodes and it is superb stuff. I vaguely remember them showing this on telly 20 years ago (20!). Imagine them showing a 16-hour, partly black and white masterpiece with subititles on British TV these days. I intend to steal it from her when I get the chance.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Friday, December 17, 2004
The Polymeal
Stick to this diet, reduce your chances of getting cardiovascular disease by more than 75% and increase your life expectancy by 6.6 years. It's true, the BMJ says so.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Google to scan famous libraries
Google to scan famous libraries. This sounds good. Has anyone ever tried that 'look inside the book' thing on Amazon.com?
Sunday, December 12, 2004
rock and roll circus several minutes on
shit - yoko ono is part of john lennon's supergroup and it's all gone downhill rather rapidly...
Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus 1968
On as I type on BBC 4 - the who have just followed jethro tull and it's all compered by the stones 1968 lineup in a big top. Apparently it's legendary but has never been seen before or something - has anyone else ever heard of this?
Friday, December 10, 2004
More goats for Christmas
I'm getting my grans goats and chickens from Oxfam Unwrapped, since they're both in their late 90s and don't really know who I am anymore.
John - Bis! You pulled that one out of the vault.
John - Bis! You pulled that one out of the vault.
This bares out what I was saying in the Fitzroy about the Blair government I think
Blair's rule full of gaffes, spin and control freakery, says mandarin.
I was a bit disappointed to find it wasn't Manda Rin out of Bis making the damning indictment though...
I was a bit disappointed to find it wasn't Manda Rin out of Bis making the damning indictment though...
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Monday, December 06, 2004
Good Gifts
Wonder if my nephews will thank me if I buy a goat for some Africans instead of fighting my way through the wild-eyed desperate Hamleys hordes to get them some overpriced plastic Thunderbirds toy for their Christmas.
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Friday, December 03, 2004
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Neighbourhood Statistics
Home owners - enter your postcode at Neighbourhood Statistics to find out the truth about your council ward!
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Monday, November 29, 2004
Geeks Grants
Geeks - sorry, Pro Ams - make a positive contribution to society and should receive Govt funding to pursue their hobbies, according to Demos.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
You know you're a bit homesick for Scotland...
...when you find yourself looking at travel webcams for the central belt's road network. Ahh, the Newbridge Roundabout...
Friday, November 26, 2004
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Pub Tonight?
Are we still up for it? I'll probably be there closer to 7, but see you there. Think Tom's on childcare duties.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Christmas Threatened by Ukraine Unrest
I hope Santa sorts out the electoral chaos in Ukraine in time to deliver presents to all the children...
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
The Man Who Fell Asleep
Met this depressed and boring bloke at a party last week. Turns out he's a genius - check out his blog
Monday, November 22, 2004
No Blogo
Naomi Klein's websites recommendations: www.democracynow.org, iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk, empirenotes.org.
Friday, November 19, 2004
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Mastering the race
Nature reports that apparently humans are the shape they are because they're good at long distance running. Don't know what happened to me.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Election result maps
In case you haven't had enough yet, these election result maps redraw the red and blue states according to population density, county level constituencies, electoral college, shades of purple etc.
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Monday, November 01, 2004
Following up on a couple of earlier posts...
Further to the ancient bittorrent discussion, I've just discovered uknova.com which links to torrents of British TV and radio media. They've got the first two episodes of "The Power of Nightmares" (I can put them up on fitzroytuesday.homelinux.net if anyone's wanting them for conventional download). Terry Jones Medieval Lives series plus loads of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue also available - fantastic!
Also, my Neal Stephenson posting spurred me toward buying "Quicksilver." Amazon delivered end of last week - started reading it immediately and it is astoundingly good, can't recommend it highly enough etc.
Also, my Neal Stephenson posting spurred me toward buying "Quicksilver." Amazon delivered end of last week - started reading it immediately and it is astoundingly good, can't recommend it highly enough etc.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Monday, October 25, 2004
Saturday, October 23, 2004
MP3 players
I'm thinking of buying one, preferably with quite a lot of storage capacity, but not too bulky. I know that a lot of techie-minded people are very anti-ipod, but what do they recommend instead? Anyone know?
Fear and Loathing, Campaign 2004
Entertaining piece by Hunter S Thompson in Rolling Stone, apparently written during the optimistic blip following Kerry's debate wins: Fear and Loathing, Campaign 2004.
Excerpts:
When young Bush was at Yale in the Sixties, he told the same joke over and over again for two years, according to some of his classmates. One of them still remembers it:
There was a young man named Green
Who invented a jack-off machine
On the twenty-third stroke
The damn thing broke
And churned his nuts into cream.
"It was horrible to hear him tell it," said the classmate, who spoke only on condition of anonymity. He lifted his shirt and showed me a scar on his back put there by young George. "He burned this into my flesh with a red-hot poker," he said solemnly, "and I have hated him ever since. That jackass was born cruel. He burned me in the back while I was blindfolded. This scar will be with me forever."
There is nothing new or secret about that story. It ran on the front page of the Yale Daily News and caused a nasty scandal for a few weeks, but nobody was ever expelled for it. George did his first cover-up job. And he liked it...
BULLETIN
KERRY WINS GONZO ENDORSMENT; DR. THOMPSON JOINS DEMOCRAT IN CALLING BUSH "THE SYPHILLIS PRESIDENT"
"Four more years of George Bush will be like four more years of syphilis," the famed author said yesterday at a hastily called press conference near his home in Woody Creek, Colorado. "Only a fool or a sucker would vote for a dangerous loser like Bush," Dr. Thompson warned. "He hates everything we stand for, and he knows we will vote against him in November."
Thompson, long known for the eerie accuracy of his political instincts, went on to denounce Ralph Nader as "a worthless Judas Goat with no moral compass."
"I endorsed John Kerry a long time ago," he said, "and I will do everything in my power, short of roaming the streets with a meat hammer, to help him be the next President of the United States."
Excerpts:
When young Bush was at Yale in the Sixties, he told the same joke over and over again for two years, according to some of his classmates. One of them still remembers it:
There was a young man named Green
Who invented a jack-off machine
On the twenty-third stroke
The damn thing broke
And churned his nuts into cream.
"It was horrible to hear him tell it," said the classmate, who spoke only on condition of anonymity. He lifted his shirt and showed me a scar on his back put there by young George. "He burned this into my flesh with a red-hot poker," he said solemnly, "and I have hated him ever since. That jackass was born cruel. He burned me in the back while I was blindfolded. This scar will be with me forever."
There is nothing new or secret about that story. It ran on the front page of the Yale Daily News and caused a nasty scandal for a few weeks, but nobody was ever expelled for it. George did his first cover-up job. And he liked it...
BULLETIN
KERRY WINS GONZO ENDORSMENT; DR. THOMPSON JOINS DEMOCRAT IN CALLING BUSH "THE SYPHILLIS PRESIDENT"
"Four more years of George Bush will be like four more years of syphilis," the famed author said yesterday at a hastily called press conference near his home in Woody Creek, Colorado. "Only a fool or a sucker would vote for a dangerous loser like Bush," Dr. Thompson warned. "He hates everything we stand for, and he knows we will vote against him in November."
Thompson, long known for the eerie accuracy of his political instincts, went on to denounce Ralph Nader as "a worthless Judas Goat with no moral compass."
"I endorsed John Kerry a long time ago," he said, "and I will do everything in my power, short of roaming the streets with a meat hammer, to help him be the next President of the United States."
My Life As A Morrisons Employee
Fascinating. My Life As A Morrisons Employee. Sample quote: "it's christmas here at Morrisons and has been since the 3rd September".
Friday, October 22, 2004
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
reminder about tonight's telly
The Power of Nightmares
BBC2
Wed 20 Oct, 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm 60mins
Baby It's Cold Outside
In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares. The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams weren't true, neither are these nightmares.
This series shows dramatically how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion. It is a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media. At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neoconservatives and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. These two groups have changed the world but not in the way either intended. Together they created today's nightmare vision of an organised terror network. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.
The rise of the Politics of Fear begins in 1949 with two men whose radical ideas would inspire the attack of 9/11 and influence the neoconservative movement that dominates Washington. Both these men believed that modern liberal freedoms were eroding the bonds that held society together. The two movements they inspired set out, in their different ways, to rescue their societies from this decay. But in an age of growing disillusion with politics, the neoconservatives turned to fear in order to pursue their vision. They would create a hidden network of evil run by the Soviet Union that only they could see. The Islamists were faced by the refusal of the masses to follow their dream and began to turn to terror to force the people to 'see the truth'.
BBC2
Wed 20 Oct, 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm 60mins
Baby It's Cold Outside
In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares. The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams weren't true, neither are these nightmares.
This series shows dramatically how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion. It is a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media. At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neoconservatives and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. These two groups have changed the world but not in the way either intended. Together they created today's nightmare vision of an organised terror network. A fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age. Those with the darkest fears became the most powerful.
The rise of the Politics of Fear begins in 1949 with two men whose radical ideas would inspire the attack of 9/11 and influence the neoconservative movement that dominates Washington. Both these men believed that modern liberal freedoms were eroding the bonds that held society together. The two movements they inspired set out, in their different ways, to rescue their societies from this decay. But in an age of growing disillusion with politics, the neoconservatives turned to fear in order to pursue their vision. They would create a hidden network of evil run by the Soviet Union that only they could see. The Islamists were faced by the refusal of the masses to follow their dream and began to turn to terror to force the people to 'see the truth'.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Guardian Clark County campaign
Tom - prepare to do no work for the next few hours: 'What WERE you thinking?'
The Guardian's (pretty misjudged) letter-writing campaign gets big Blog reaction.
The Guardian's (pretty misjudged) letter-writing campaign gets big Blog reaction.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Team America
Have you heard about this new puppet action movie from the South Park guys. It's either going to be hilarious or absolutely terrible (he says, hedging his bets).
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Cornwall
Back last night from a few days in St Mawes, Cornwall. St Mawes is fantastic - stayed courtesy these people who I can highly recommend. Enjoyed the Lost Gardens of Heligan v. much - my holiday snaps are up at http://johnmain.fotopic.net.
New Onion Out
I quite like Cheney vows to attack America if Kerry elected. Also, has anyone noticed that the people in the BBC news site's 'Voters Views' panel look strangely like the vox pop panel on the Onion?
Friday, October 08, 2004
More music...
...for the rest of you... ;)
Actually, I had to get Quicktime to play this, and realised how much I hated the damn program. So, if you're sick of Quicktime and Realplayer being just generally crap, go to this site and get Real Alternative and Quicktime Alternative. You won't regret it (this is assuming you've got Windows).
Actually, I had to get Quicktime to play this, and realised how much I hated the damn program. So, if you're sick of Quicktime and Realplayer being just generally crap, go to this site and get Real Alternative and Quicktime Alternative. You won't regret it (this is assuming you've got Windows).
Classical music
I know John is a refined man who'll appreciate some fine classical music, so this site is for him...
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Monday, October 04, 2004
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power
Excellent - hope this one takes off: How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power.
Homage to Gaudi splits community
Anyone else seen this interesting storefront up Muswell Hill way? Personally I'm not sure if the style makes the Catalonia - North London transfer that successfully...
Sunday, October 03, 2004
Guardian Unlimited | Life | Guardian life bad science
bad science - inspired by John's dirty bomb debunking...
Saturday, October 02, 2004
Blogger templates
I've revisited some of the blog settings - there's now a title field for posts and I've enabled the new "official" blogger comments rather than the third party system that was in place.
Friday, October 01, 2004
Shameless lift from the popbitch mailout. Definitely worth watching though - I deliberately avoided the drama thing last week...
Radiation bombs are a government fantasy
Last week’s BBC drama about a dirty
bomb in London has helped keep everyone
terrified about terrorism.
But a forthcoming documentary shows that
dirty bombs are actually a fantasy. The
Americans should know: the CIA tried for
years to make one, before realising that
blowing up radioactive material won't hurt
anyone. Radioactive dust disperses so
quickly you'd need to be exposed to it
for about a year before any real
damage occurred.
The documentary, The Power Of Nightmares,
shows how politicians are using fake stories
like the dirty bomb to keep people scared,
and themselves in power. It also demonstrates
that the claim that Al-Qaeda is a global,
hidden, terror network is also a myth.
So what channel is this BBC-debunking
documentary showing on? Er, BBC2.
The Power Of Nightmares. BBC2, 20th October, 9pm.
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