Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Jean van de Velde golf collapse 1999 Open at Carnoustie
via youtube.com
Watched this live in Singapore. The nuttiest finish to a golf tournament ever. Hello? Hit it with a putter. Not if you are French. Go for glory.
Team plans to row to the North Pole - Scotsman.com News
Scottish explorer Jock Wishart, pictured, is intent on leading a five-strong crew through some of the harshest conditions on Earth as they navigate 450 miles of Arctic waters on a route only now accessible due to global warming.
The Old Pulteney Row, as the expedition has been called, will be the first polar expedition to involve rowing since Ernest Shackleton and his men took to their boats to save their lives during the legendary Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1916.
The challenge will take place in July and August next year and is being promoted as of global significance, being both a pioneering maritime adventure and an environmental expedition.
The planned 450-mile route across the Arctic starts in Resolute Bay in Canada.
Timing is key to the expedition's success, as the final section of the journey is navigable for only a few weeks of the year before the area refreezes.
Organisers say it has only recently become possible to consider a bid, due to the increase in seasonal ice melt and the deterioration of the Arctic landscape.
Cameras will follow Wishart's preparations for the row, which is expected to last between four and six weeks, to when his team will face dramatic ice-bound coastlines and shifting sea-ice barriers on their voyage.
They will also have to haul the boat overland to complete the gruelling journey.
Wishart, who is a descendant of the Bard, Robert Burns, will row for hours at a time with his crew in challenging weather and subzero temperatures, with little opportunity for rest or shelter.
"A few years ago a good rowing friend joked that a row to the pole would be the ultimate challenge for someone like me, who is passionate about both polar exploration and boating," he said yesterday.
"It's therefore incredible for me, after three years of planning, to be unveiling this expedition."
He added that it would be "the greatest challenge of my life".
Born in Dumfries, Wishart is one of the UK's leading adventurers and explorers, with a successful background in polar exploration, rowing and extreme navigational feats.
He led a team that established 15 new world speed records for powered circumnavigation and captained a crew that broke the London to Paris rowing record in 1999.
Wishart has a lifelong interest in polar exploration, and in 1992 he was part of the first team to walk unsupported to the Geomagnetic North Pole.
The expedition is being sponsored by Old Pulteney whisky, a brand with a maritime heritage and history of supporting sailing and seafaring adventure.
The whisky is distilled at Wick at the most northerly distillery on the UK mainland.
Yesterday, senior brand manager Margaret Mary Clarke said: "Old Pulteney is extremely proud to be a partner in this great adventure, and to be working with Jock, who is an inspiration for all of us who are passionate about maritime adventure.
"We will be supporting Jock and his crew throughout the process, and look forward to being part of this exciting project as it unfolds over the coming months."
No thanks. Ta Mr Englishman
Volcano chaos as Iceland eruption empties skies in Britain | UK news | The Guardian
via guardian.co.uk
The ash cloud, almost invisible to the eye, began to spread across Europe on in the early hours of Wednesday before stretching east to northern Norway, Sweden and Finland and south across Scotland and the UK, engulfing Britain totally by Thursday afternoon.
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Excellent! A Solid Argument for Cutting Back on Housework - Excessive Cleaning Linked to Allergies
The conditions have become increasingly widespread in developed countries with hay fever, eczema, hives and asthma are on the rise.
The study, by Guy Delespesse, a professor at the University of Montréal Faculty of Medicine, linked the trend to the sterile environment created by the cleaning habits of today.
Allergies can be caused by family history, air pollution, processed foods, stress and smoking, but Prof Delespesse said a lack of bacteria in the world around us may be the biggest factor.
"There is an inverse relationship between the level of hygiene and the incidence of allergies and autoimmune diseases," says Prof Delespesse, who is also director of the Laboratory for Allergy Research at the University of Montréal. "The more sterile the environment a child lives in, the higher the risk he or she will develop allergies or an immune problem in their lifetime."
In 1980, 10 percent of the Western population suffered from allergies. Today, it is 30 percent. In 2010, one out of 10 children is said to be asthmatic and the mortality rate resulting from this affliction increased 28 percent between 1980 and 1994.
"It's not just the prevalence but the gravity of the cases," says Prof Delespesse. "Regions in which the sanitary conditions have remained stable have also maintained a constant level of allergies and inflammatory diseases."
"Allergies and other autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis are the result of our immune system turning against us," says Prof Delespesse.
"The bacteria in our digestive system are essential to digestion and also serve to educate our immune system. They teach it how to react to strange substances. This remains a key in the development of a child's immune system."
Although hygiene does reduce our exposure to harmful bacteria it also limits our exposure to beneficial microorganisms. As a result, the bacterial flora of our digestive system isn't as rich and diversified as it used to be.
Prof Delespesse said consuming probiotics - foods like yogurt that contain a mixture of beneficial organisms - can help combat the problem by artificially introducing bacteria into the gup.
"Consuming probiotics during pregnancy could help reduce allergies in the child," said Prof Delespesse. "They are not a miracle remedy, yet they are one of many elements that improve our diet and our health."
via telegraph.co.uk
Not sure my wife will buy it however.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
George Nissen - Inventor of the Modern Trampoline - Bounce in Peace
George Nissen
Apr 7, aged 96. Invented the modern trampoline after watching trapeze artists bounce off a safety net when he visited a circus as a teenage gymnast. Tested his first workable prototype, made of inner-tube rubber, in 1934. After graduating three years later, he somersaulted his way around the United States and Mexico as one of The Three Leonardos, performing what was then called "rebound tumbling". Coined the term "trampoline" (and patented it) after hearing the Spanish word trampolin, for "diving board" or "springboard". Trampolining first became a medal sport in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Also invented padded seats for watching sports events, and inflatable seat cushions for hunting and fishing.
via telegraph.co.uk
George Nissen, My kids salute you!
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Pornographic magazine for the blind launched - Telegraph
via telegraph.co.uk
The book, the brainchild of Lisa Murphy and called Tactile Minds, is designed to be 'enjoyed' by the blind and visually impaired - and is on sale for £150.
Among the 17 raised images include a naked woman in a 'disco pose', a woman with 'perfect breasts' and a 'male love robot'.
Canadian Lisa says that she made the book to fill a gap in the market, adding: "There are no books of tactile pictures of nudes for adults.
"We're breaking new ground. Playboy has an edition with Braille wording, but there are no pictures."
She said that she made the book after realising that the 'blind have been left out in a culture saturated with sexual images'.
Between 1970 and 1985 Playboy printed copies of its famous magazine in braille - but without raised pictures.
Argentina criminals 'evade capture by dressing up as sheep' - Telegraph
via telegraph.co.uk
Maximiliano Pereyra and Ariel Diaz, who were jailed for robbery offences, dressed up as the animals after escaping from a maximum security jail in Argentina more than a week ago.
Pereyra, 25, and Diaz, 28, dressed in full sheepskin fleeces with realistic looking heads as they tried to evade capture, The Sun reported.
They had stolen the sheep hides from a local ranch, it was claimed.
They used their disguises to fool officials for more than a week despite more than 300 members of the local constabulary searching for them.
The local police have been left embarrassed by the episode after locals reported seeing the pair running through local fields at night.
"They were wearing grey clothes but had full sheepskins, including the sheeps' heads, over their heads and backs,” said a farmworker at La Almeda.
Details of what the prisoners were behind bars remain unclear.
Police sources said it appeared that identifying the pair among thousands of other sheep was "almost impossible".
"They can't pull the wool over our eyes forever,” one officer deadpanned.
ABC The Drum - To hell and back again: meet Shane Dolan
via abc.net.au
Very inspiring story about sustainable development, depression and recovery. Onya Shane
Shane's letter moved me deeply. Depression works in part by distorting your view of yourself in relation to others, so that you lose sight of how greatly you are valued by others. For Shane Dolan, going back worked literally like a cure.
"For many years", he writes, "I felt like such a failure ... Returning after 17 years and witnessing what has been achieved and the respect from the people has allowed me finally to validate my experience and start the process of rebuilding my self-esteem. So after crying a river of tears, and many reunions and hugs, the healing process has begun. It feels like I have been holding my breath all these years."
Now that he can (metaphorically) breathe, Shane Dolan is working for Ethiopia again. Having identified gaps in the supply of quality construction equipment, he's organising a shipment, financed by the Australian NGO Planet Wheeler Foundation.
Treating Aussie internet users like a bunch of dodos | Article | The Punch
via thepunch.com.au
Attention Senator Conroy: Forget about filtering the internet. Instead please pour your energy, time and (our) money into providing Australia with an internet – and a phone system for that matter – that works, is accessible and affordable.Great personal story from Lyall Mercer, recently returned from internet nirvana in the US to Bedrock, Antipodes. Wind up the phonogram Fred?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
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