Dramatic skies last night as the storm went through.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Wilma Reading - In My Little Corner Of The World - 1960 - Rex RS-033 - YouTube
via youtube.com
The Beautiful Torres Strait Islander, Aboriginal, Dutch, Australian Jazz singer from Cairns in Far North Queensland with the second of her 3 Rex singles from 1960.
This is a great cover of the Anita Bryant hit 'In My Little Corner Of The World' and doesn't exactly show the Jazz, Cabaret and Nightclub singer that made Wilma so famous overseas, touring with the likes of Duke Ellington and working with people like Liza Minelli and Barbra Streisand.
She never got the recognition she deserved in Australia and whilst many of us havn't heard of her she is in the Performers Hall Of Fame in New York and during the 1970's was a household name in America.
But for now, here's how she started off... in the dingy, dodgy and downright dangerous studios of Festival's Rex (or 'Wrecks' as it was referred to) studio's, Sydney 1960.
Great profile on ABC just now.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday Photohunt: Fluffy
Lots of fluffy clouds around Adelaide this week. This is one from earlier in the week. Very similar clouds today. Lovely.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
RSA Animate - The Divided Brain - YouTube
via youtube.com
Just amazing. Well worth the 11 minutes of your life.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Muhammad Ali shouts breakfast for 100 at McDonalds in Jakarta.
Global Village Champions Foundation founder Yank Barry and good friend Muhammad Ali, traveled to Jakarta Indonesia on one of their many humanitarian missions to feed hungry people in need.
During their stay Muhammad had a craving for a taste of home. Early one morning around 7 am, Muhammad wanted to go to McDonald's Restaurant. It was approximately one block from the Hilton Hotel, but as you can probably guess, he cannot go anywhere without attracting a crowd. The main concern was that he did not have his body guards with him, but he would not be deterred.
Yank, Muhammad and another friend left the hotel and in no time three people turned into seven, and then seven turned into fifteen as the realization hit that Muhammad Ali was out for a stroll. It was a very busy street and one guy jumped out of his car, leaving it in the street and started following Muhammad with the rest of the crowd. By the time they got to McDonald's it was a mob scene!
Muhammad made his way to the counter and ordered an Egg Mcmuffin and coffee and turned to Yank and said "What do you want?" then turned to their other friend and asked him "What do you want?" They both answered "We will have the same!" At this point Muhammad turns to Yank and says "You got alot of money on you?" Yank says sure and Muhammad shouts out "Breakfast for Everyone" Muhammad treated everyone in the restaurant including the staff behind the counter. By this time the restaurant was jammed with over 100 people.
When the bill came it was over $180.00 and Yank was only carrying $130.00. This took place several years ago so there were no debit machines nor ATM's and they did not take credit cards like they do today. Yank had to find a kiosk bank to withdraw $50.00 to pay the bill. Meanwhile the mob in the restaurant was overjoyed to be sharing their breakfast with "The Greatest"
Right place, right time! A memory that these lucky folks will never forget!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Bored of Butlins? Try some of these
via infobarrel.com
If you are looking for some great destinations for your next vacation, there are a number of dangerous tourist attractions that you may want to avoid. Many of these locations have been made into tourist attractions in order to generate an income for the location, but it might not have been the best idea to turn them into tourist destinations. Here are twelve of the most dangerous tourist attractions in the world.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Bobbie Gentry - Ode To Billie Joe (Original Stereo)
via youtube.com
Been listening to a compilation over and over for the last few days. What a great voice.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
via theonion.com
As the debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools continues, a new controversy over the science curriculum arose Monday in this embattled Midwestern state of Kansas. Scientists from the Evangelical Center For Faith-Based Reasoning are now asserting that the long-held "theory of gravity" is flawed, and they have responded to it with a new theory of Intelligent Falling.
"Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, 'God' if you will, is pushing them down," said Gabriel Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied Scripture, and physics from Oral Roberts University.
Burdett added: "Gravity—which is taught to our children as a law—is founded on great gaps in understanding. The laws predict the mutual force between all bodies of mass, but they cannot explain that force. Isaac Newton himself said, 'I suspect that my theories may all depend upon a force for which philosophers have searched all of nature in vain.' Of course, he is alluding to a higher power."
Founded in 1987, the ECFR is the world's leading institution of evangelical physics, a branch of physics based on literal interpretation of the Bible.
According to the ECFR paper published simultaneously this week in the International Journal Of Science and the adolescent magazine God's Word For Teens!, there are many phenomena that cannot be explained by secular gravity alone, including such mysteries as how angels fly, how Jesus ascended into Heaven, and how Satan fell when cast out of Paradise.
The ECFR, in conjunction with the Christian Coalition and other Christian conservative action groups, is calling for public-schools to embrace this information into their curiculums.
American Newspaper Editor: Israel Should Consider Assassinating Obama
via gawker.com
Andrew Adler, the owner and publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times, a weekly newspaper serving Atlanta's Jewish community, devoted his January 13, 2012 column to the thorny problem of the U.S. and Israel's diverging views on the threat posed by Iran. Basically Israel has three options, he wrote: Strike Hezbollah and Hamas, strike Iran, or "order a hit" on Barack Obama. Either way, problem solved!
Who the fuck are these people? Where do they think that they fit into "Land of the Free"
Wankers.................................
Homeless Teen, Top Science Student, to Get House | NBC New York
via nbcnewyork.com
Very inspiring.
The family of a Long Island homeless teen recently named one of the top science students in the nation will how have a home to call their own.
Samantha Garvey, 17, is among 61 Long Island teens, and 300 nationwide, designated as semi-finalists in the National Intel Science Search.
Garvey and her family were offered a rent subsidized three-bedroom home by Suffolk County officials Friday morning. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone says the Garvey family can move in about 10 days.
"This is just the most amazing thing you could ask for," the diminutive Garvey said at a news conference Friday, surrounded by her parents, brother, sister and a cadre of politicians and school officials.
"We're all in tears here," she said. "This is what we've always wanted."
The Garvey family was evicted from their home in December after the teen's parents were injured in a car crash. Samantha, along with her mom, dad and two siblings, moved into a homeless shelter in Bay Shore two weeks ago.
Intolerance and Hatred. The Challenge of Our Generation
via bbc.co.uk
The court heard the leaflets showed an image of a wooden mannequin hanging from a noose and quoted Islamic texts.
The leaflets said capital punishment was the only way to rid society of homosexuality.
They were handed out near the Jaima Mosque on Rosehill Street, Derby, and put through the letterboxes of people's homes in surrounding streets.
The court heard the leaflets were made and used as part of a campaign to publicise a protest in response to the Gay Pride festival held on 10 July 2010 in Derby.
The leaflet called for gay people to be given the death penalty
The men admitted distributing the leaflet but said they were simply following and quoting what their religion taught them about homosexuality and did not intend to threaten anyone.
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Joys of Scottish Weather
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1UjUQBqP-34" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
CIA Spy Drone takes on new form
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zbnDr_IbdIU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Adelaide Street Art
Adelaide has a number of designated spray paint art areas. They are constantly changing. I really liked this guy.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
"The Washing Line" - Our Scotland
Just down the road from where I grew up. Things have to stay on washing lines for weeks to dry.
The only smoking kangaroo, should be on the barbie
via heraldsun.com.au
The Australian Government has hit out at a major tobacco company that is using a kangaroo on cigarette packages overseas. Australian Attorney-General Nicola Roxon says there is nothing the Government can do to stop one of Australia's most treasured national icons being used to flog cigarettes in Europe.
An image of a kangaroo and the phrase "An Australian Favourite" are on packets of Winfield being sold in France.
The branding of the cigarettes, made by British American Tobacco, has angered health groups and the Federal Government.
One anti-smoking advocate dubbed the image the "cancer kangaroo".
Ms Roxon said while the Government is set to force all cigarettes available in Australia to be sold in drab olive-brown packages from December 1, it has no legal control over the packaging of cigarettes overseas.
But it was inappropriate to use Australia as a marketing tool for a dangerous product, she said.
"Frankly I think it's pretty un-Australian," Ms Roxon said.
Ernie Celebrates Rubber Duckie's Birthday!
via pregnancy.org
Today is Rubber Duckie's Birthday! Aside from Bert, Rubber Ducky has been Ernie's faithful companion for many years. We wanted to find out more about this interesting fellow so we delved a bit into his background and found some very interesting facts:
Did you know that:
• Ernie's rubber duck was "born" in 1970.
• The Rubber Ducky song hit Billboard's chart at number 16 the year it was introduced. It was even nominated for a Grammy Award for 'Best Recording for Children,' but it lost to 'The Sesame Street Book & Record,' which, ironically, also contains the song.
• The bathtub version is the most famous and commonly seen version. It was included in many videos, including Sing Along, Shalom Sesame, Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting and has been dubbed into many different languages.
• In 1974, Ernie sang the song as "El Patito," with a new Latin arrangement and Spanish-language vocals by Jim Henson.
• In 1990, a new version of "Rubber Ducky" was filmed using the original recording with Jim Henson as Ernie.
• Little Richard performed a rock-and-roll version of the song for Sesame Street.
• Bert sang the song once.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
BBC News - Web addicts have brain changes, research suggests
via bbc.co.uk
Web addicts have brain changes similar to those hooked on drugs or alcohol, preliminary research suggests.
Experts in China scanned the brains of 17 young web addicts and found disruption in the way their brains were wired up.
They say the discovery, published in Plos One, could lead to new treatments for addictive behaviour.
Internet addiction is a clinical disorder marked by out-of-control internet use.
A research team led by Hao Lei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan carried out brain scans of 35 men and women aged between 14 and 21.
Seventeen of them were classed as having internet addiction disorder (IAD) on the basis of answering yes to questions such as, "Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back or stop Internet use?"
Specialised MRI brain scans showed changes in the white matter of the brain - the part that contains nerve fibres - in those classed as being web addicts, compared with non-addicts.
No surprises from me.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Australia Day 2012: "Barbie Girl" (Sam Kekovich v Melissa Tkautz v Justice Crew) - YouTube
via youtube.com
This is what it is like everyone. Party on Mateys. Aussie Aussie Aussie!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Saturday, January 07, 2012
Take a pill and your feminism will be cured by the morning.
via about-face.org
From the way women are portrayed as being as easily programmed as robots, to the stereotypical descriptions of feminists as non-shaving, combat-boot wearing man-haters, to the idea that all feminists have a repressed Barbie inside of them just waiting to burst out into a Malibu dream house.
It’s impossible to ignore that as the woman is “progressing,” she loses more articles of clothing.
Worst of all, the final image suggests ways to manipulate her “feminist-tinged interests” to make them palatable to the sex-starved male, and to ensure that he gets some physical action for his efforts in transitioning her to what he considers a “real woman.” Frankly, I consider the last image’s caption to encourage coerced sexual activity, making it actually dangerous.
Feminism is about being judged for your competency and skills, and not for the size of your breasts, or the size of your waist, or the symmetry of your face. It’s about not coding certain actions or characteristics as exclusively “feminine” or “masculine.” Maxim, however, is here to tell me that I’m wrong about that!
Maxim tells us through this article that women who don’t shave aren’t real women, that women who are militant aren’t real women, and that women who protest aren’t “real” women. These are characteristics that Maxim thinks are either masculine or not feminine enough, and therefore, true women would never embody them.
Maxim reinforces the old notions that feminism tries to fight – that women are only worthy of attention if they fit into a terribly narrow definition of being physically attractive, and if they are interested in men. (And here, of course, “attractive” seems synonymous with “nearly naked”.)
Scottish campaigners set out to revive hutting in 2012 | UK news | The Guardian
via guardian.co.uk
Gerry Loose calls it "the long view". Standing a few yards from his moss-carpeted wooden hut in a Stirlingshire forest, Loose gestures towards the hill-line of the Campsie Fells, their peaks and flanks dusted with snow. The air is crisp, sharpened by the winter chill.
The hut is Loose's retreat from urban Glasgow. Built about 80 years ago, its weathered green paint now peeling, the cabin has three small rooms and an outdoor privy built from salvaged timber. Still lit by prewar gas lamps, it has no electricity, no mains water and a brisk walk takes him to the nearest standpipe, which frequently freezes in winter.
Proud to be a "hutter", Loose is a leading member of a new campaign called A Thousand Huts which has sprung up to champion and revive hutting as a way of life. Widespread in Scandinavia, its supporters say hutting promotes low-impact, ecological living and rural regeneration, and puts city dwellers back in contact with the countryside.
In 2012, hutters, landowners and environmental activists will launch a new Scottish hutting federation to spearhead a campaign aimed at reforming planning and land rights laws, to give hutters proper status in the planning system and protect them against eviction and exploitation by landlords.
As the secretary for the Carbeth Hutters in Stirlingshire, Scotland's best-known and largest hutting colony, Loose says the attractions are immediate and obvious. A poet, playwright and garden designer, he and his daughter Marie first got their hut 13 years ago as a weekend retreat and an escape from Maryhill, a tough neighbourhood in north Glasgow.
"I was living in a 22-storey high-rise and the local lads were fond of Buckfast [tonic wine]; a lot of broken glass around. I had a wee daughter. I didn't necessarily want her to see this was the only possible way to live in the world," Loose said. "And just getting the hut meant that there was an avenue of escape; just mooching about, getting away from the city.
Wind turbines can't cope with UK weather as 3 more blown to pieces | Mail Online
via dailymail.co.uk
The impact of the devastating weather which has swept the country is shown by the state of these wind turbines - which couldn't withstand the strength of the gales. The huge blades - 15ft long - flew off three turbines including one on the aptly-named Windmill Lane in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
The firm which made the turbines in the Hepworth and Upper Cumberworth areas of the town has promised a full investigation.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2083149/Wind-turbines-cope-UK-weather...
My Unwelcome Stranger: Master of St Trinians, Ronald Searle
I don't know all that much about him myself, but I do know about what or who he created - those smart, wicked, inventive girls of St Trinians who delighted adults and kids in films with antics that became the stuff of legend.
I don't even know as much about his cartoons as I should, but Ronald Searle's enduring fame rests on them. What I can see now with crystal clarity is that his style of cartooning influenced that great and mysterious art form for a generation. Others who know this black art will speak on that with the authority I lack, and I leave it to them.
Friday, January 06, 2012
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Twins born: One white, one black - The Local
via thelocal.de
According to a report in the Bild newspaper, 40-year-old dentist’s assistant Grit Funke and her Nigerian partner were completely taken by surprise at the birth. “First came a light girl, and then out popped a dark girl!” the happy mother told the paper. “The midwife couldn’t believe it either.”
“My boyfriend and I didn’t actually want any more children,” Funke told the paper. “We already have a son together, and I have two boys from my first marriage. But then we found out about the pregnancy, and then came the news that it would be twins.”
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Stephen Lawrence trial: Gary Dobson and David Norris found guilty of murder | Mail Online
via dailymail.co.uk
Gary Dobson and David Norris were today found guilty of the murder of Stephen Lawrence in a landmark conviction which has taken 18 years to secure.
The verdict is a hard-won victory for the black teenager's parents Doreen and Neville who have fought tirelessly to see justice for their son, who was 18 when he died.
The guilty verdict is also a tribute to the dogged journalism of the Daily Mail which on February 14, 1997 named five young white men - among them Dobson and Norris - as the murderers.
Today, Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail, described the verdict as a 'glorious day' for the Lawrence family.
As the foreman of the jury of four women and eight men announced the guilty verdict, Stephen's parents began to weep.
They had sat separately at the back of the court and kept their composure throughout the case but as the result sank in Mr Lawrence covered his eyes and Mrs Lawrence was handed a handkerchief.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079782/Stephen-Lawrence-trial-Gary-D...
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Mr. Unexpectedly
“Thing is, I really need you here, Unc. We’re nowhere near EOY, and my guys–the guys I work for, a really great group of guys, I love ‘em, not in a may-I-cornhole-ya-after-one-too-many way but bro love, man–they won’t look me in the eye since, like, late June. I’m saying, I only got about 30% of the way through that second mortgage last year. And whatever you’ve heard about housing bubbles, that Hamptons hubba bubba ain’t popped, so I don’t even know what that thing’ll be worth in a year. We did refi what’s left on the penthouse, but One Sweet Deal Doth Not a Summer House Make, as my mentor used to say. Plus Dylan’s only starting 4th, Max is barely a pre-schooler, and that school’s tuition makes exotic derivatives look like a Family Dollar endcap. I got bills, man, and I’m not talking about the kind you stack. We got maybe a two-year cushion of cash. With the severance, maybe another six months.
“Truth be told, there’re rumors on the Street, and I’m not just talking layoffs–the hoi polloi is whining about “insolvent banks” again. A, so what if we are, welcome to 21st-Century finance, and B, we don’t let that kind of “rumor” out the revolving door. Sure, we take care of whistleblowers: with a broken kneecap, a Gowanus dive, and a nice kettle ball coat. So I don’t know where this bullcrap is coming from, but it is threatening to bring down capitalism as we know it.
“What I’m saying is, these last two years, we worked hard for you B. You said bring those averages up, kickstart the recovery? I went out, four or five days a week, forty-six, forty-seven weeks a year I hit that buy button at 9:31 a.m. and that sell button at 4:01 p.m. Day in and day out, I personally stuck the turnkey in and wound up every bot on the floor. All that crap on the balance sheet? We cold-called the world and we kept selling it, and when they didn’t want to buy we shouted them down: ‘Why do you hate America? What do you have against a little honest business?’
“I don’t get on my knees here for just any guy Benny. Nah but seriously: I’m not some fat slob who can’t get off the couch, begging for handouts, sponging off honest taxpayers. I can’t do that, it’s not in my nature. So when you step up to that mic tomorrow, I need you to deliver. Family-style: five percent across the indexes. Or six, but hey, whatever you think is right. I know I can trust you to do right by us.
“Uh, ‘Amen’.”
EXCLUSIVE: KIM JONG-IL A GREAT DAD SAYS HEIR KIM JONG-UN; OTHER BROTHERS LESS ENTHUSIASTIC | Daily Telegraph Joe Hildebrand Blog
THIS WEEK countless thousands of North Koreans bade a final farewell to Kim Jong-il at a state funeral in Pyongyang but none of the mourners was so grief-stricken as his son and successor, Kim Jong-un.
Now in yet another extraordinary exclusive the Joe Hildebrand blog has uncovered a transcript of Kim Jong-un’s moving eulogy for his father…
(TAP, TAP) Testing… Testing… Testing… Wow, I just realised that’s the first time I’ve said ``testing’’ without the words ``nuclear weapons’’ in front of it. Boy, things change quickly around here.
Well thanks very much for coming ladies and gentlemen, especially those of you who did so voluntarily.
What can you say about Kim Jong-il? For me it’s nothing but good things _ and for so many reasons: his warmth; his kindness; People’s Edict 117A: Thou Shalt Only Say Good Things About Kim Jong-il. The list goes on.
I remember when I was little Dad said to me: ``Son, one day all of this will be yours.’’ Then he handed me a cyanide tablet. He was always kidding around like that.
The funny thing is that when I was a teenager I didn’t want to follow in my father’s footsteps _ I wanted to be in a rock and roll band. I remember having a fight with the bass player over who’d sing lead vocals. Next thing I knew the bass player was working in a coal mine and his parents had been sent to a re-education camp. Dad was always looking out for me that way.
Actually it’s a little known fact that Dad was a bit of a muso in his youth as well. He once told me he was the best singer/songwriter/lead guitarist in all of Korea. Of course I didn’t believe him at the time so he went and made a phone call and sure enough the next day it was on the front page of the newspaper: ``EXCLUSIVE: Kim Jong-il best singer/songwriter/lead guitarist in all of Korea’’.
I was still a bit suspicious so I asked Communications Minister Stephen Conroy if the Korean People’s Army Daily was a propaganda sheet that unquestioningly parroted the government line but he said it looked pretty good to him so I guess it must be true.
In fact all his life Dad loved to let his hair down and have a good time. I remember all the parties he used to have and all the amazing guests that would visit us: Mao, Brezhnev, Sarah Hanson-Young…
We’d all just sit around drinking vodka and eating turnips. Sometimes we’d play charades which I was really good at, and not just because the answer to everything was always ``Kim Jong-il’’.
Sometimes to mix things up a bit he’d change the answer to ``Kim Il-sung’’. That was Dad _ always full of surprises.
This is What Happens When You Give Thousands of Stickers to Thousands of Kids | Colossal
This December, in a surprisingly simple yet ridiculously amazing installation for the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, artist Yayoi Kusama constructed a large domestic environment, painting every wall, chair, table, piano, and household decoration a brilliant white, effectively serving as a giant white canvas. Over the course of two weeks, the museum’s smallest visitors were given thousands upon thousands of colored dot stickers and were invited to collaborate in the transformation of the space, turning the house into a vibrantly mottled explosion of color. How great is this? Given the opportunity my son could probably cover the entire piano alone in about fifteen minutes. The installation, entitled The Obliteration Room, is part of Kusama’s Look Now, See Forever exhibition that runs through March 12. (via stuart addelsee, sccart, and heybubbles)
Monday, January 02, 2012
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