Entertainment stuff from the week 7-13/7/14

Hi fanatical monkey obsessionists,


The Infinite Monkey Cage is back!

'TIMC: Numbers Numbers Everywhere 07 July 14'
https://soundcloud.com/the-infinite-monkey-cage/timc-numbers-numbers

'Eric Idle performs new theme song for The Infinite Monkey Cage'
http://youtu.be/1tdN5uEjnKs


I think Weird Al's up to something, LOL:

'Transmission #1'
http://youtu.be/sN6vPOC9eFg

'Transmission #2'
http://youtu.be/yJdJZnH0wrI

'Transmission #3'
http://youtu.be/FLkrLs8kBF8

'Transmission #4'
http://youtu.be/qRFCBOerIaE

Some new sounds seem to be coming, on the 15th of July :0)


Contention of the week:

Are fans fans when they're so fanatical that other fans disown them as ever being actual fans in the first place?

'Kermode Uncut: Stealing Scripts'
http://youtu.be/CPh-1JvmSII

Apparently, someone's leaked a script to an up-and-coming episode of Doctor Who. "Do these people count as 'proper' fans?", Mark Kermode asks.

I sense the 'No True Scotsman Fallacy'!

'No True Scotsman'
http://youtu.be/_HJrAaGJudw

I think these people are fans. I think they just express their fanatacism in a more hands-on way than other fans - but that doesn't mean they're not fans at all.

It is not part of the definition of a fan that "2. A true fan waits until broadcast date to find out the content of the programme" or "3. A true fan never purloins a script to read it and/or share it around, before broadcasting"

The only definition of a fan is "1. A fan is someone with fanatical enthusiasm for someone/something"

If they don't have the emotional self-control to 'keep it in' until broadcast date, then that's an unfortunate cost to them. The best everyone else can do is to make it clear that they do not have mutual intent.


Will contemporary generations die younger than their parents' due to the trend of increasing obesity?

'Will today's children die earlier than their parents?'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28191865

According to More Or Less' explanation, last week, no:

'MoreOrLess: Will we die before our parents? 04 Jul 14'
https://player.fm/series/more-or-less-behind-the-stats/moreorless-will-we-die-before-our-parents-04-jul-14

Obesity might be rising, but healthcare is scheduled to improve too. Which means people aren't dying of obesity, the way they have before.

Instead, and maybe worse, they're living on to suffer the effects of obesity for longer than they were before - noteably vascular dementia, which is expected to become humanity's number one burden as the 21st century proceeds.

Alzheimer's Disease is an actual disease that can be cured, but dementia from vascular effects is not, and that is what threatens modern generations' old-age mental health.

And that is why i get pissy about the completely-useless addition of sugars to food, to encourage people to overeat.

It's not about the aesthetics of personal beauty - it's about long-term effects on health, and ultimately, the manner in which we 'check out' of Life.


In-and-on-or-around-this-date-or-time-of-year:

The 50th anniversary of the NASA Deep Space Network. Here's a 78-minute video lecture about it, which is worth a watch, if you have the time: http://youtu.be/fUlKIV0cZHg

The 100th anniversary of teletext: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-28193738

The 9th of July is 'No Bra Day'. I think it might have originated in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness, but for Northispherians, any excuse to take clothes off during the summer heat must be enough :-D Note that the website's reached its usage limit for the month :-D
http://nationalnobraday.webs.com/

The 11th of July is the 'International Day Against Stoning' - a pseudo-justicial mechanism of bloodthirsty revenge that is commonly employed in Islamic communities. There are more details on Maryam Namazie's website.


In other news:

In what could be the biggest strike since 1926 (in the UK) teachers, firefighters and librarians have taken part in a mass walkout, protesting pensions and employment cuts (firing people unnecessarily to 'cut costs'). The class supremacist, Tory leader, and Prime Minister David Cameron has condemned the strikes, suggesting that doing so should be made illegal, so that people can't protest his dodgy policy choices. Sounds familiar #thatcher. The Media have joined the Conservative condemnation of teachers, despite the fact that no students will be affected - they're all on summer vacation!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-28226042

The UK State has extended its hysterical prohibitions (for the sake of 'national security') by banning uncharged electrical equipment on aeroplanes. Why uncharged? Because if something doesn't turn on, that means it might have a bomb in it, in place of the battery... or something. Despite the fact that it doesn't, necessarily. Plus, if you leave your camera, for example, uncharged, they'll take it away from you: bad news if you want to blow up a plane; good news if you want to blow up an airport. But then they'll post it 'home' to you: good news if you want to blow up anywhere in the UK, but don't want to pay for postage! Cheaper airlines won't be bothering with these measures at all, anyway.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28223150

Burma (Myanmar) has banned the wearing of tattoos of the country's outline, but only below the waist, through superstitious belief that it somehow denigrates the country. Burma contemporarily suffers from horrendous Religious Nationalism - this is a more flippant example of bigotry in the country, where Buddhists are forbidden from marrying non-Buddhists, unless they convert to Buddhism beforehand. Why would a tattoo being below the waist make any difference? No reason. Theirs is currently a highly superstitious culture.
http://arbroath.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/myanmar-bans-map-tattoos-below-waist.html

A fossil of the largest known bird of all time - Pelagornis sandersi - has been discovered in South Carolina. It was twice the size of the largest modern-day bird, at 6-7.5 metres from wingtip to wingtip. Also fascinating about it, is that its immaculately preserved skull showed pseudoteeth, which are made of bone, jutting from the jaw, rather than enamel and dentine. The last of these kinds of birds died out 3 million years ago; and this specimen was found to be from 25 million years ago - long after flying reptiles roamed the skies. In comparison, the largest known flying reptile - Quetzalcoatlus - measured to an estimated 11m wingspan.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28164063

Germany's 7-1 World Cup victory over Brazil was bad news for the landlord of the Roisin Dubh pub in Galway, Ireland, where beers from both countries were selected for an offer in which prices were cut by 50 eurocents for each goal scored. The German brew Erdinger and Brazilian beverage Brahma were on sale for 4 euros at the start of the game, with price reductions for each goal by the respective national team. For the last 11 minutes of the match Erdinger cost just 50 cents.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28237622

Humans might have worn trousers as far back as 4000 years ago, but Archaeopteryx was wearing feathery trousers 150 million years ago! This bolsters the current scientific perception that feathers were evolved for display, before becoming viable for gliding/flight, as such leg trousers would have served only a sexual function. At ~4 centimetres long, and being symmetrical, they would not have worked well for catching air, but could easily have been lined with pigment, as with modern birds, for display.
http://phys.org/news/2014-07-fossil-archaeopteryx-sported-feathered-trousers.html

------------------------------------------------------ contemporary stuff

'Mark Thomas | Carpool'
Carpool is to return! Yay. Note to the more taboo-pandering readers: there will be a few dropped fuck-'w's in this video :-P
http://youtu.be/iWddAW1zBg8

'Airshow visitors given close view of plane'
They should have had a sign saying "Low flying aircraft. Please remove your hat"
http://arbroath.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/airshow-visitors-given-close-view-of.html

'The Magical Match'
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/the-magical-match/

'ScienceCasts: A Summer of Super Moons'
http://youtu.be/D1KKpeW231Y

'Birds Got Swing: A Musical Experiment'
http://youtu.be/svTk5d8kw10

'Little mite suffers from biro aversion'
http://arbroath.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/little-mite-suffers-from-biro-aversion.html

'Where does Cellulite come from? - A Week in Science'
http://youtu.be/wN-89-oc62I

'GermanTasteTest 4'
This week, Tam gets her lips around a big German gherkin :-D
http://youtu.be/3TrTQ-vz7iU

'Mark Kermode reviews Transformers: Age of Extinction (again).'
LOUDEST COMMON DENOMINATOR :-D
http://youtu.be/4v4DQ1OGySs

'How Virals On Web Mocked Who?' (my upload)
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/91635074630/how-virals-on-web-mocked-the-who-seen-in-the

'Luis Suarez’s Barcelona contract to include three chewable Catalans a week'
http://newsthump.com/2014/07/11/luis-suarezs-barcelona-contract-to-include-three-chewable-catalans-a-week/

'Teachers being on strike is brilliant, insists 8 year-old sat in front of Xbox'
“I don’t care if it takes me until the summer holidays start, I will sit here and do it. For them.”
http://newsthump.com/2014/07/10/teachers-being-on-strike-is-brilliant-insists-8-year-old-sat-in-front-of-xbox/

'Robin Thicke knows he wants it, confirms Robin Thicke'
http://newsthump.com/2014/07/02/robin-thicke-knows-he-wants-it-confirms-robin-thicke/

------------------------------------------------------ of the weeks

Word Of The Week: prestidigitation -- the performance of skills that involve the hands, especially 'magic' tricks that involve sleight of hand

Etymology Of The Week: croupier -- someone who clears winnings from a gambling table; from french for the person who rides on the 'croup' the rump of a horse, thereby riding second

Quote Of The Week: "Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better" - att. Sam Beckett, and the tattoo on Stan Wawrinka's left forearm

Fact Of The Week: There are currently 11 known classical states of matter (not including hypothetical states) which are: Bose-Einstein Condensate, Fermionic Condensate, Superfluid, Rydberg Molecule, Photonic Matter, Solid, Liquid, Gas, Plasma, Degenerate Matter, Quark-Gluon Plasma

------------------------------------------------------ non-contemporary stuff

'Mongolian incredible version "I Want to break free"'
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xiwjgl_mongolian-incredible-version-i-want-to-break-free_fun

'BAD NEWS on Wogan'I should have posted this sooner. RIP Rik Mayall
http://youtu.be/_lIbZyUG1sY


'Cat Cat'
Feline pareidolia :-D
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/91635239070/cat-cat-feline-pareidolia-d

'Earth Cake'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/91635268630/earth-cake-via-cibermitanios

'Tornado in the Making'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/91635282620/tornado-in-the-making-image-and-text-credit


Dirty Brit-Com Confessions

The dirtybritcomconfessions website exhibits comedy fans' fantasies, involving their favourite comedians. They get quite dirty. And some don't. I don't know which are funnier :-D

They're listed in no particular order of reverse chronology :-P

(Please note that we have no idea of knowing whether these are written by men or women... :-P )

Stephen Fry
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/69301471553

David Walliams
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/83946852390

Ed Byrne and Dara O'Briain
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/70612595414
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/68488025094
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/61128524523

Alexander Armstrong
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/84150628810

Ben Willbond
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/83848030512

Mark Watson
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/83749786883

Jeremy Hardy
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/83742021513

David Baddiel
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/83639491063

Robin Ince
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/83340303581

I'm noticing a pattern: the most docile, benign people attract the most overenthusiastic fantasies... :-D

John Finnemore
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/81613530938
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/82611986538
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/82508257592
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/83126619350

David Mitchell
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/76261054553
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/71141812836
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/68816182715
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/62530659674

Richard Herring
{The man who brought all this to my attention}
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/83229298688
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/82321998321
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/82402874055
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/79386659348
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/78244397306
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/78136686583

Henning Wehn
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/82711416263

Adam Hills
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/82615708818
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/82501405132

Tim McInnerny
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/82309593837

Laurence Rickard
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/82010805490

Sue Perkins
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/82014138494
{Music directors!? Must be something to do with commanding strokes :-D }
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/61133307827

Mark Gatiss
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/79908296251
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/61774894784

Jon Richardson
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/79288696697

Frankie Boyle
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/78467764335

Tim Minchin
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/78464117097

Robert Llewellyn
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/78362356486

Greg Davies
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/78041603600
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/69616059711
{But trees can't climb!?}

Nina Conti
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/76037371628

Jack Dee
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/76025985899
{This really doesn't sound like a compliment}

Jessica Knappett
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/71335535060

Monty Python
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/69505674776

Paul Merton
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/69194425886

The Goodies
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/68804221891

Robert Webb
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/68398691623

Michelle Gomez
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/62655302654

Roger Allam
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/61613696783

Simon Pegg & Nick Frost
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/61343568649/edit-the-person-who-submitted-this-informed-me-it

Anna Chancellor
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/61231015754

Craig Charles
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/58536003994

Brian Cox
http://dirtybritcomconfessions.tumblr.com/post/48291840967

Josie Long
http://thepurplekoala.tumblr.com/post/85752480597/richard-herring-reads-out-someones-anonymous
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