From our garden last week.
More nice skies at the Skywatch Friday Site.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Starship pilots: speed kills, especially warp speed - space - 16 February 2010 - New Scientist
via newscientist.com
Star Trek fans, prepare to be disappointed. Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew would die within a second of the USS Enterprise approaching the speed of light.
The problem lies with Einstein's special theory of relativity. It transforms the thin wisp of hydrogen gas that permeates interstellar space into an intense radiation beam that would kill humans within seconds and destroy the spacecraft's electronic instruments.
Interstellar space is an empty place. For every cubic centimetre, there are fewer than two hydrogen atoms, on average, compared with 30 billion billion atoms of air here on Earth. But according to William Edelstein of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, that sparse interstellar gas should worry the crew of a spaceship travelling close to the speed of light even more than Romulans decloaking off the starboard bow.
This is sort of why Santa is a myth.
New York - Transition from 1782
Interesting look at how New York has developed in the last 200 years from @chartporn
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
How do you get a boa constricter off a stripper? Call Gerald Plumbly - Telegraph
via telegraph.co.uk
A man with an eye for the ladies whose reputation was the stuff of legend in London's pubs, he was once called to a Soho club where a stripper had become entangled with a boa constrictor which would not let go. Seeing the girl's predicament, he ordered the curtains to be closed. He then pulled out his lighter and applied the flame to the rear of the snake, which promptly released its hold. As the curtains were pulled back the audience applauded, and the manager rewarded him with a year's free membership and paid his bill (eventually).
Monday, February 15, 2010
Australias national dish: a big pile of meat
via thepunch.com.au
News Ltd put it to the vote earlier this year and roast lamb came out on top as Australia’s national dish after almost 24,000 votes, very closely followed by the meat pie then the barbequed sausage in bread, with salt and pepper squid hardly rating a mention. Meat was the clear winner here (surely to the delight of Meat and Livestock Australia), and we should all be proud that our national dish also doubles as an entire food group. I always thought that the national dish of a country (or region) wouldn’t be something decided by popular vote (which is proving itself a useless way to decide anything – I’m looking at you Cheesybite), but would be a reflection on our actual eating habits. If the top three dishes in this survey are consumed at a level of excess, Australia can look forward to a healthy does of heart disease and high cholesterol caused by a diet rich in saturated fats and whatever else is in a meat pie or the humble snag (but don’t take my word for it, I’m not a doctor or a scientist).
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Biggest Loser - Sick Sick Sick
via theage.com.au
GROSSLY overweight, out of condition and addicted to junk food. This year's Biggest Loser contestants were a sorry bunch when their weight loss ''journey'' began screening a fortnight ago. Many tipped the scales at more than 170 kilograms.
Now, just weeks after taking up exercise, participants in Channel Ten's hit weight loss show are preparing for a marathon.
In a move that has horrified sports physicians, contestants will tackle the gruelling 42 kilometre road race after only 11 weeks of training.
The marathon is expected to provide a dramatic end to the show's fifth series as all eliminated contestants will be eligible to compete, the two fastest finishers re-entering the game for one last chance at the Biggest Loser title and its $200,000 prize.
Health experts have warned the inexperienced participants risk a heart attack or long-term health problems if they attempt a distance roughly equivalent to running from Melbourne to Frankston.
Sports medicine expert Peter Brukner said to safely prepare for a marathon they should be training for up to a year.
''All these people are obese, presumably a lot of them have got cardiovascular risk factors, high cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure … There is a risk of an acute cardiovascular event like a heart attack … The thought of them going from nought to a marathon in 11 weeks is just crazy,'' Dr Brukner said.
Shannon Bourke, the show's heaviest contestant at 214 kilograms, collapsed attempting a four-kilometre run in the first challenge of the series. Doctors discovered the Epping man had fractures in both legs and possible shin splints.
Victorian Institute of Sport medical co-ordinator, Dr Peter Harcourt, warned that attempting a marathon without appropriate preparation could lead to musculoskeletal problems, inflamed joints and acute stress fractures, particularly if runners were overweight.
The concerns come amid allegations that the show's producers are misleading viewers by claiming contestants have lost up to 17 kilograms in a week. There are fears viewers may try to emulate the results instead of aiming for healthy weight loss, considered to be between 0.5 and one kilogram per week.
Dr Leon Massage, who runs a private weight loss clinic, said he had treated a former Biggest Loser contestant who told him weigh-ins - presented on the show as weekly events - could actually take place several weeks apart.
''I think they're trying to impress the audience with the degree of weight loss … They create unreal expectations for the people who are watching it who think that it [weight loss] is weekly … I can't imagine that someone would lose 17 kilos in a week without doing damage to themselves,'' Dr Massage said.
When asked by The Sunday Age if weigh-ins were conducted weekly, the show's executive producer Richard Campbell said: ''I don't want to comment on that.''
Channel Ten has promoted the show's fifth season as one that helps not only contestants but also viewers lose weight through weekly ''Masterclass'' episodes in which healthy eating and exercise tips are provided.
But the network has come under fire for an episode last week in which Victorian Caitlin Bottrell - who had a starting weight of 179 kilograms and was said to have lost 15 kilograms in her first week - vomited three times while training with NSW rugby union team the Waratahs.
Cheering her on, Biggest Loser trainer Michelle Bridges was filmed saying: ''I pay respect to anyone that can puke, get up and get on with it.''
Dr Massage believes it set a dangerous example. ''It's a disgrace. The aim of exercise is not to get them sick and make it painful. If you are [vomiting] your body's telling you something … I'm concerned that [viewers] may be led to believe that there is a necessity to exercise themselves to exhaustion or potentially do harm to themselves in order to succeed.''
Mr Campbell insisted no one will be forced to take part in the marathon, which he said would take place in the 11th or 12th week of the 12-week series.
The remaining competitors won't be required to take part to stay in the game but can compete if they wish. Only eliminated players will need to place well to have a shot at the finale.
Channel Ten says the show began filming in October, which means the marathon should have been in January - after 12 weeks. But a spokeswoman said the marathon had not yet been run, suggesting the ''12 week'' program may stretch longer in reality.
Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
via youtube.com
Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves
Blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
The scent of magnolia sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
for the rain to gather
for the wind to suck
for the sun to rot
for the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop
Saturday, February 13, 2010
I love you I love you not
THESE ARE ENTRIES TO A WASHINGTON POST COMPETITION
ASKING FOR A TWO-LINE RHYME
WITH THE MOST ROMANTIC FIRST LINE,
AND THE LEAST ROMANTIC SECOND LINE:
1. My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you has screwed up my life.
2. I see your face when I am dreaming.
That's why I always wake up screaming.
3. Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;
This describes everything you are not.
4. Love may be beautiful, love may be bliss,
But I only slept with you 'cause I was pissed.
5. I thought that I could love no other
-- that is until I met your brother.
6. Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's
empty and so is your head.
7. I want to feel your sweet embrace;
But don't take that paper bag off your face.
8. I love your smile, your face, and your eyes
Damn, I'm good at telling lies!
9. My love, you take my breath away.
What have you stepped in to smell this way?
10. My feelings for you no words can tell,
Except for maybe 'Go to hell.'
11. What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka, one part lime.
WHO SAID POETRY IS BORING
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ASKING FOR A TWO-LINE RHYME
WITH THE MOST ROMANTIC FIRST LINE,
AND THE LEAST ROMANTIC SECOND LINE:
1. My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you has screwed up my life.
2. I see your face when I am dreaming.
That's why I always wake up screaming.
3. Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;
This describes everything you are not.
4. Love may be beautiful, love may be bliss,
But I only slept with you 'cause I was pissed.
5. I thought that I could love no other
-- that is until I met your brother.
6. Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's
empty and so is your head.
7. I want to feel your sweet embrace;
But don't take that paper bag off your face.
8. I love your smile, your face, and your eyes
Damn, I'm good at telling lies!
9. My love, you take my breath away.
What have you stepped in to smell this way?
10. My feelings for you no words can tell,
Except for maybe 'Go to hell.'
11. What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka, one part lime.
WHO SAID POETRY IS BORING
Miracle On Ice, Newly Discovered Original Live Call
via youtube.com
The Winter Olympics were much better when the Commies were involved. What about that Soviet Skating Judge.
Photo Hunt: Broken
A somewhat broken 100 year old school hall, which is being replaced with new classrooms. One of my recent projects.
'Kangatarians' emerge in Australia - Telegraph
via telegraph.co.uk
Peter Ampt, a lecturer in natural resource management at the University of Sydney and a kangaroo meat advocate, said that while some vegetarians loved red meat, they could not justify eating animals that had been poorly treated.
Kangaroos were fair game because they roamed free and were killed humanely with a single shot to the head. The animals were also in plentiful supply, ate only native vegetation and contained no chemicals, he said.
"These people were vegetarians for environmental and ethical reasons, but the more they learned about kangaroo the more they realised it satisfied their ethical and environmental concerns," Mr Ampt said.
"They started eating kangaroo and loved it, then they coined the phrase kangatarians, it was a bit of a joke initially."
Kangaroos emit a fraction of the methane produced by sheep and cows, making them a much better choice for the climate-change conscious, Mr Ampt said.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Frisbee inventor Fred Morrison dies at 90 | The Australian
Mr Morrison, who died this week at age 90, called his earliest flying disks "Whirlo-Way" and "Pluto Platter," to capitalise on the flying saucer craze of the 1950s.
But it wasn't until he licensed the invention to the Wham-O Manufacturing Co. in 1957 that sales took off. Wham-O rechristened the disks Frisbees and removed the flying-saucer-like portholes. Sales eventually reached the hundreds of millions, making it one of the most popular toys of the 20th century.
In the 1960s, the Frisbee became identified with the counter-culture and with movie stars like Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, who affirmed they were fans. The disks even inspired new sports, including Frisbee Golf and Ultimate.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Wipe your bum with Goat Oil Scented Loo Roll Go for it snobs
via telegraph.co.uk
Cashmere, one of the softest and most prized materials, has been used to add an extra layer of extravagance to the sheets of paper, ensuring consumers enjoy the bottom line in comfort.
The loo rolls have gone on sale in Waitrose, the supermarket with a legion of loyal and discerning middle-class customers.
The supermarket won't reveal quite how much cashmere goes into each roll, but insists it is a "significant" amount. No cashmere fibres themselves are included in the manufacturing process. Rather, the paper is covered in oil extracted from the hairs of the cashmere goat.
Carla Smith, buyer for Waitrose, said: “Cashmere provides that stamp of quality to any fashion garment from a designer suit to the finest luxury knitwear. It’s indulgent, it’s stylish and it’s helping provide that extra softness to our new premium bathroom tissue collection.”
Why you have to be brave to do business in China
via smh.com.au
Google has sent a cease and desist letter to the operators of a Chinese search website whose logo bears a close resemblance to its own.
Goojje's home page is adorned with a Google-styled logo and the familiar paw print logo of China's top home-grown search engine, Baidu.
The website, whose name is a play on words with the final syllable "jje" sounding like the Chinese word "older sister," while the "gle" syllable of "Google" is pronounced like the Chinese word for "older brother," provides search and social networking services.
A Google spokeswoman said on Tuesday that the company has officially asked Goojje to stop copying Google's logo, which is protected by trademark.
And that is nothing compared to Stern Hu.
Mans Best Friend
A guy walks into the bedroom with a sheep on a leash and says,
"Honey, this is the cow I make love to when you have a headache."
The wife, lying in the bed reading a book, looks up and says,
"If you weren't such an idiot, you'd know that's a sheep,
Not a cow."
The guy replies, "If you weren't such a presumptuous bitch,
You'd realize I was talking to the sheep."
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010
World Trade Centre New Aerial Photographs from after the attack
The pilot who took the pictures tells his story here.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Barnaby's Teleprompter Script
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Sunday, February 07, 2010
Saturday, February 06, 2010
For Scots, a Scourge Unleashed by a Bottle- Pass the Buckie
via nytimes.com
Perhaps it is its special caffeine-and-sweet-wine recipe, which allows overly enthusiastic consumers to be tipsy and bouncy at the same time. Perhaps it is its array of snappy nicknames, including “Wreck the Hoose Juice” — hoose being a Scottish pronunciation of house — or its exotic provenance as the product of wine-making Benedictine monks at an abbey in England.
Whatever the cause, Buckfast has emerged as a symbol of Scotland’s entrenched drinking problems at a time when it is urgently debating how to address them. “For a large section of the Scottish population, their relationship with alcohol is damaging and harmful — to individuals, families, communities and to Scotland as a nation,” the Scottish government said in a recent report.
Buckfast does not seem to help. In a survey last year of 172 prisoners at a young offenders’ institution, 43 percent of the 117 people who drank alcohol before committing their crimes said they had drunk Buckfast. In a study of litter in a typical housing project, 35 percent of the items identified were Buckfast bottles. And the police in the depressed industrial district of Strathclyde recently told a BBC program that the drink had been mentioned in 5,638 crime reports between 2006 and 2009 (the bottle was used as a weapon in 114 of them).
A spokesman for J. Chandler & Company, which distributes the drink, said that Buckfast accounted for less than 1 percent of the alcoholic beverage market in Scotland and was being unfairly singled out. Nor, he said, is wine-making a sign that the monks of Buckfast Abbey have strayed from the teachings of St. Benedict, an accusation recently leveled by an Episcopal bishop.
“It’s always wise to remember that Jesus turned water into wine,” the spokesman, Jim Wilson, said in an interview.
'Jogging, swimming, pumping iron's a waste of time' - Fitness - Health & Fitness - Life - The Times of India
Researchers at the University of London found that nearly 20 per cent of people who follow regular aerobic exercise
did not gain any significant health benefits which are determined by our genes and can vary substantially between individuals.
Principal investigator James Timmons, from the Royal Veterinary College, said other ways of keeping healthy, such as improving diet or taking medication, may work better.
“We know that low maximal oxygen consumption is a strong risk factor for premature illness and death so the tendency is for public health experts to automatically prescribe aerobic exercise to increase oxygen capacity,” the Telegraph quoted Dr Timmons as saying.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Senator Barnaby States His Case
JABBERWOCKY
Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872) `Twas brillig, and the slithy tovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
What was that again Barnaby?
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You have got to be (double) yolking
via telegraph.co.uk
She bought a half-dozen box from supermarket Morrisons and had been looking to scramble eggs one recent Sunday morning.
But after starting her preparation, she could only stare in amazement as every egg she cracked contained a double yolk.
The British Egg Information Service said the chances of getting one double yolk in a box of eggs was one in 1,000.
The chances of getting all six double yolks in one box, therefore, more than one in a trillion.
Farmer Who Secretly Built A Castle And Concealed It In Straw, Loses Battle To Stop It Being Removed | UK News | Sky News
via news.sky.com
Robert Fidler built his dream home stealthily because he knew he would not get planning permission for the property from the council.
When it was finished in 2002, complete with ramparts and a cannon, the 60-year-old moved in with his wife and son and lived there clandestinely for four years.
He removed the camouflage in 2006, hoping to exploit planning legislation that states that if a property has been complete for four years then it is immune from planning enforcement.
But Reigate & Banstead Borough Council said the removal of the tarpaulin formed part of the building operation and issued an order to demolish it.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Kevin Rudd, Captain Invisible
via thepunch.com.au
If anyone out there stumbles across the real Kevin Rudd, could they please call his wife and kids. They are very worried because they haven’t seen him for a while and have apparently lodged a missing persons report with the police.
There have been images of Rudd on television and in the newspapers, usually smiling and joking, often with toddlers, but there is no proof it is really him. Or anybody, really. He just looks and sounds like a clone of someone he wishes he was.
Like some alien body snatcher he slithered into John Howard’s skin one night towards the end of 2006 and wore it comfortably all the way through the 2007 election to convince people they were electing a fresher, more modern version of Howard.
Obanal????
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Ha Ha Tony fakes real on Climate Change Policy
Ha Thanks Grogs Gamut
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Randy Kiwi Parrot gets Government Job
via telegraph.co.uk
The New Zealand prime minister has given the country’s most famous parrot a job in his government, it has emerged. An endangered kakapo parrot, named Sirocco, which rose to fame last year after it attempted to mate with the head of Mark Carwardine, the wildlife presenter, during the BBC’s 'Last Chance to See' series, has been appointed by John Key as the world’s first “spokesbird for conservation”.
Footage of the incident attracted more than half a million hits on the video-sharing website, YouTube.
Mr Key claimed that the notorious and rare bird will be the ideal ambassador for conservation.
“He’s very media-savvy, he’s got a worldwide fan base – they hang on every squawk that comes out of his beak. He’ll be a great official spokesbird for New Zealand,” he said.“Sirocco can speak very loudly on this topic and by the end of this campaign people will be a lot more aware of what’s going on.”
Mr Key said Sirocco would focus attention on the plight of endangered species.
Kakapos are endemic to New Zealand – there were only 51 known kakapo in 1995 but thanks to extensive conservation efforts the number has risen to 124. Some 33 chicks have been transferred to sanctuary islands in southern New Zealand, where it is hoped they will continue to boost the recovery of the species.
“New Zealand is home to the world’s only flightless and nocturnal parrot, the last surviving member of a dinosaur family and the world’s smallest marine dolphin. This is our biodiversity to protect and Sirocco can help spread that message,” said Kate Wilkinson, New Zealand’s conservation minister.
* See Sirocco’s website and video – www.spokesbird.com
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Monday, February 01, 2010
Blue whales are singing in a lower key
via latimes.com
Blue whales have changed their songs.
It's the same old tune, but the pitch of the blues is mysteriously lower -- especially off the coast of California where, local researchers say, the whales' voices have dropped by more than half an octave since the 1960s.
No one knows why. But one conjecture is that more baritone whales indicate healthier populations: The whales may be less shrill because they're less scarce and don't have to pipe up to be heard by neighbors.
The discovery was accidental. Whale acoustics researcher Mark McDonald was trying to track blue whales' movements using data from Navy submarine detectors. He had created a program to filter out the blues' songs from a din of ocean noise captured by these instruments.
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