Entertainment stuff from the week 2-8/12/13

 
Hi humans,

So, Nelson Mandela has died, at the age of 95 years. He did so much to change the world for the better, but there is much work to do - the necessary pace of these changes requires longer than a single lifetime. Who will lift the baton? Maybe you. Everyone plays a part in the direction a society takes. Playing a constructive part is what's difficult.

'Nelson Mandela, human rights leader'
http://youtu.be/UxHrSU1-zJo

'Queen - Invincible Hope / The Call - feat Brian May / The Show Must Go On'
"The Show Must Go On feat Treana Morris, Zoe Nicholas and Chris Thompson. Taken from '46664 The Event - Nelson Mandela's AIDS Day Concert' DVD of 2004"
(FYI: 46664 was the number tattooed onto Nelson Mandela when he was imprisoned)
http://youtu.be/g0rtq-8PQXw

There is so much work to do, even in places like the UK, where bigots retain much power. The UK's current prime minister - David Cameron - was associated with a pro-apartheid, anti-sanction campaign, and visited South Africa to wine and dine, while Nelson Mandela was in prison.

He now sits in a Conservative Party cabinet, surrounded by people who wore "Hang Nelson Mandela" badges at the time of Mandela's release from prison. The Conservative Party's leader, at that time, was Margaret Thatcher, who described Mandela as a terrorist!

Remember this when he says he was inspired by Nelson Mandela! Who is he fighting - his own Party?

This is what the world faces, today. We must continue to work hard, wherever we are, to prevent our cultures from slouching back into a bog of avarice and superstition.


'A 15-Year-Old Ad About Racism Is A Great Reminder Of The Power We All Have To Promote Justice'
http://www.upworthy.com/a-15-year-old-ad-about-racism-is-a-great-reminder-of-the-power-we-all-have-to-promote-justice?

Here's a quick opportunity to make a mark:

PETITION: 'Ban gender segregation in British universities'
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/david-cameron-ban-gender-segregation-in-british-universities?


As if to mock the 'forces of evil' here are some stories of extreme, conservative lunacy. Laugh or cry? Laugh or cry? ...laugh! ...and then get angry, and change it.


A fatwa from the 'Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis' has declared that women mustn't touch cucumbers or bananas, because they're phallic :-D
https://twitter.com/RichardDawkins/status/408183959332220928

They have also said that women must not go swimming because the word for 'water' is masculine in gender, and if that masculine water touches their genitals, she will be an adulteress!

"Another fatwa orders that girls as young as 10-years-old be married "to prevent them from deviating from the right path"."

And there's more. Just follow the link.

But why does anyone take any of this horrendous perversion seriously? Well, that's just how religion works. You sign up, to get told what to do by experts in idiocy.


Richard Dawkins on Twitter. Yay :-D

"Miraculous scientific accuracy of Qur'an from 1400 years ago. Ants can talk! http://bit.ly/18REPpA  That settles it. I'm converted."
https://twitter.com/RichardDawkins/status/407080997226696704


In other news, Spain has banned the playing of football in the streets, due to its danger to the public.

The Pamplona Running Of The Bulls, however, is still legal, and the baiting of bulls for pleasure, in 'the ring' is also judged 'bueno'.

I'm not saying the spanish are crazy... because that would be a rash statement about an entire population, when in reality laws are made better by rational people, and worse by irrational ones :-P


Also, Russian bigots have shown a clip of a Swedish kids' TV programme, as anti-EU propaganda, on the premise that the main characters' names (meaning 'wee-wee' and 'poo-poo') were a sign of 'western decadence'!

I'm waiting for UKIP to try this! Though i doubt they have the intellectual vigour to understand the central material :-D


This week in history:

The 4th of December marked the 52nd anniversary of the female oral contraceptive pill becoming available on the UK's NHS. Work, in recent years, has been on producing an equivalent one, that works in men.

The 4th also marked the 184th anniversary of the prohibition of 'suttee' - the ritual burning of a wife with her dead husband, according to Hindu superstition in India. Mass indoctrination into a cult that instructs the scapegoating of an immortal deity, in order to live forever in moral impunity, by ritualistically consuming its flesh and blood, was seen as a good thing, by the British; but the obscure and rarely-practiced self-uxoricide of the suttee ritual was barbaric and had to be banned!

The 5th of December marked the 80th anniversary of the end of alcohol prohibition in the USA. Governments in the most-developed cultures, to this day, still insist on prohibition of other addictive drugs, however, which doesn't work, but does inhibit development of medical applications... and permit dangerous black markets.

The 6th of December marked the 126th anniversary of Thomas Edison's recitation of 'Mary Had A Little Lamb' onto a wax cylinder. The oldest known recording of a human voice dates back further, to the 9th of April 1860, but this was unable to be replayed, until competent technnology came along, a few years ago.


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

'Caro Emerald - The Bullet (Lyric video)'
http://youtu.be/Stdgfwv_SP4
'Caro 007 - Caro Emerald for next James Bond theme'
She would be great. if you agree, have a go at pushing the rolling ball :)
https://www.facebook.com/CaroEmerald007

'10:10 in Watch Advertisements - Numberphile'
Why do they do this? Do the manufacturers think it looks like a smile? Is it just a convenient standard that doesn't hide the extra dials?
http://youtu.be/kOClr_bew38

'Frictionless Ferrofluid Bearings'
http://youtu.be/B99JfNghE-0

'Engineer floats on boat made of mushrooms'
A life raft you can munch on your way home?
http://youtu.be/aNwwkelMdBk

'3D game lets you see through an animal's eyes'
Fascinating. But i imagine rats, cats and dogs don't run straight backwards quite as much, in real life :-D
http://youtu.be/rT3Iz5VA2eQ

'What Happened to ISON?; Water in Exoplanet Atmospheres; The Planet That Shouldn't Be There: SFN #121'
http://youtu.be/tUksMBEjtek

'Unbelievable Faces'
2D or not 2D?
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/69368138002/art-of-face-image-credit-alexander-khokhlov

'Doctor Who Supercut - The Bum Invasion' Via a friend. You know who you are ;-)
http://youtu.be/vUtH_CuEWuo
There's more of this silliness, on the same channel :-D
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU2L9w6FyVKBu21EaYTtsrQ/videos

'Derek had a Double Dose - Swede Mason'
Derek had a... oh, what was it? It's slipped from my gaaaaaaaaping mind........................................ :D
http://youtu.be/Vw6K9UULzP4

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

Word Of The Week: bilewhit -- an old english word (9th century CE) meaning simple, gentle, innocent, sincere

Facebook Quote Of The Week: ""OMG! Tom Daley's boyfriend is 20 years older than him!" Shrieks newspaper owned by a man currently divorcing a woman 37 years his junior." LOL

Quote Of The Week: "Fortune favours the prepared mind" - Louis Pasteur

Anagram Of The Week: CAPTCHA - 'Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart'

Pointless Product Of The Week: 'The Gentleman's Cleaning Brush'

{In case you're left slightly nonplussed: 'The Gentleman's Cleaning Brush' is a brush (still following me?) that is used to wipe smegma off men's bell-ends. And i don't mean it's a campinological tool! I really can't see why anyone would need this?! Can't they just use their hands? It's not like they should feel creeped out by touching it - they're already touching it - with their 'little man'! P.S. 'gentleman' is a euphemism for... 'chap'... 'John Thomas'... 'todger'... 'wang'... 'pork sword'... 'one-eyed trouser snake'... I think i've made myself quite clear :-P }

(Where i heard of it:http://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/richard_herring_lst_podcast/episode_16_russell_howard/)

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

Physics is phun!
http://linknovate.tumblr.com/post/68731451686/science-is-phun

This is the 500-year-old mummy of a 15 year old Incan girl, nicknamed “La doncella”. According to historians, she was a human sacrifice, chosen to go and live with the gods, and was found frozen in 1999 near Llullaillaco’s 6739 meter summit. Her body is so well preserved that it is as if she died only weeks ago. IMO, she could have been depressed.
http://linknovate.tumblr.com/post/68630766975/spectacularuniverse-this-is-the-500-year-old


'Jay Foreman - Stealing Food'
http://youtu.be/xebSF8vRvZI

'The Smiths - I Haven't Got Any Legs (by Jay Foreman)'
http://youtu.be/cPnTFdMpVs8

'Jay Foreman - What Else Has Dick Van Dyke Been In?'
http://youtu.be/Q0UOYY_tgL0

'Jay Foreman - Slightly Imperfect Girl'
http://youtu.be/RpcQrwQgXsY

'Jay Foreman - The Sooty Show'
http://youtu.be/gtiDi5bU5e0

'Jay Foreman - Syllables (Do-Re-Mi and Beatles)'
http://youtu.be/0IgCXI-43b8

'Jay Foreman - No More Colours'
Actually, there aren't infinite colours, due to limited ability to distinguish one wavelength from another. But there are a huge number of combinations that we can perceive!
http://youtu.be/qO3fMFR1ITs

'Jay Foreman - Every Tube Station Song'
http://youtu.be/8jPyg2pK11M


'Kuwait Union for New Teachers (Dubai/Saudi branch)'
If you know why it's funny, you're mature enough to read it :-P
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269837

These organisations were never real, but the Cambridge University National Trust Society almost was!


'Tim Minchin - The Song For Phil Daoust'
http://youtu.be/3Onjdw_FXyw

As mentioned in the first episode of this podcast - RHLSTP (RHLSTP):
http://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/richard_herring_lst_podcast/

'Tim Minchin: Peace Anthem For Palestine'
All around the world, religious people are finding it difficult to get along. It's almost as if the possession of mutually exclusive superstitious beliefs is causing irrational and unresolvable conflict. Nah, that can't be it - just keep on praying to Captain Dinosaur, and i'm sure it'll all wash over :-P
http://youtu.be/T6qA-4PWdsg

'Tim Minchin: Some People Have It Worse..'
http://youtu.be/0GCyMtNl8T8

'Tim Minchin: Happy Little Africuns'
http://youtu.be/b5DJVYRiZv0

'Tim Minchin - 5 Poofs and 2 Piano's - (HD) OFFICIAL'
http://youtu.be/YIm8WgwkTeI


Adam Buxton has also been interviewed on RHLSTP (RHLSTP) which is where i heard of this first song:

'ADAM BUXTON - COUNTING SONG (BUG TV)'
This is fantastic. Cyriak FTW :-D
http://youtu.be/WXvsl8xgRxc

'NO NEWS'
http://youtu.be/Q4pY3QtiGyo

'SONGS OF PRAISE (WITH SUBTITLES)'
More entertaining. Less horrifically zealous. What's not to like? :-P
http://youtu.be/7-ZnPE3G_YY

'MOBY SONG (DIRECTOR'S CUT)'
http://youtu.be/LDHMjO7UbMo

'ADAM BUXTON - COMING BACK FROM HOLIDAY BLUES (BUG TV)'
http://youtu.be/LdoPKtqNhLo

'ADAM BUXTON - AMAZING MUSIC VIDEO (BUG TV)'
http://youtu.be/M3OkPYkzDNc

.

Entertainment stuff from the week 25/11-1/12/13

Hi overgrown prunes,


PETITION: 'BBC: Give scientists proper representation on Question Time'
"Since the last general election, scientists have been less well-represented on BBC Question time than reality TV show contestants."
change.org/qtscience

Surely people who actually know things are more valuable in a political discussion than people who... don't?


The 1st of December is World AIDS Day. Here's the factsheet.


Notorious psychic fraudster Sylvia Browne is dead at the age of 77. She said she'd live to 88.

I suppose that's the crowning failure of her life. A horrendously deceitful woman, she's most famous for telling people whose loved ones had been kidnapped, that they were dead... and then they escaped and were found.

The world is most certainly better off without characters like that! Extorting money out of the desperate. Yuck...


'The Darkness - The Horn'
The Horn's been released as a single, and is now available on iTunes
http://youtu.be/JRl2GTkppHc

They've also redone 'Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)'. Although personally, i can't hear the point. It doesn't sound majorly different/better to/than the original :-?
'The Darkness - Christmas Time [2013]'
http://youtu.be/Zz3gNmnugCg


A surgeon in West Virginia has apparently urged his hospital colleagues to 'fist bump' rather than 'handshake'.

The idea behind it, is that cultural ritual can often be disgusting and filthy, with handshaking an example. The palms of our hands are layered thick with a biofilm of oils and pathogens, which can easily be communicated from person to person, by a handshake.

{I bet someone'll work out that kissing's safer than handshaking... heck, cunnilingus is probably safer than handshaking. I'd rather receive lactobacillus than staphoreus!}

Fist bumps, however, involve touching with cleaner parts of the body. On the other hand, (pun not intended) adults feel awkward doing such a manoeuvre.

I suggest a transitory or compromisory move: a fistshake.

Bump the knuckles together, and hold for a moment, while shaking fists up and down.

Viola! A healthy but satisfying alternative to handshaking :-D


'Damien Hirst unveils fourteen towering fetus sculptures in Qatar'
http://www.designboom.com/art/damien-hirst-unveils-fourteen-towering-fetus-sculptures-in-qatar-10-09-2013/

Haha - Qatar is one majorly conflicted country! With one face, it's an incredibly pious, Islamic theocracy, enacted through an absolute monarchy; but with the other face, it's a progressive, entertaining, hip, funky place to be, where all the cool kids like to be at.

The latter, of course, is how it looks to rich foreigners - the former is how it looks to locals. Massive statues of human wombs and foetuses, replete with full genital display are OK; but alcohol is still illegal, there.

BTW - they really are monstrous to look at - out of all of the juveniles of species to display, the squishy, malformed-prune appearence of an inchoate mammalian body has to be least pleasant to the eye and to the stomach.

Why not display a nice embryonic reptile, instead? :-P


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

'Richard Osman on ISIHAC, hosting the round 'Useless'' (my upload)
http://youtu.be/W-T-bkNSEDk

'A Capella Science Live - "Massless" (Muse Parody)'
Typically brilliant. This man is tremendously awesome. Super... And there's air guitar, too :-D
http://youtu.be/dBxcC8zV46E

'Sleep disorder makes people act out their dreams'
This has to be the scariest video i've ever seen New Scientist publish! Seriously - i'm not pulling your arm :-o
http://youtu.be/3Job__ihh7o

'Four-winged robot flies like a jellyfish'
The reason penguins adapted so esily to swimming instead of flying, is that they are essentially the same - the use of wings to exert thrust, within a fluid medium - the only difference is that air is less viscous than water, and so requires muc harder flapping, as demonstrated by this robot.
http://youtu.be/boxeUaFl3R8

'Halestorm - "Get Lucky" (Daft Punk Cover)'
https://soundcloud.com/atlanticrecords/halestorm-get-lucky-daft-punk/s-gq6jo
This is on their newly-released covers EP, including 'Shoot To Thrill' :)
http://store.warnermusic.com/reanimate-2-0-the-covers-ep-digital.html

'Slow seahorses use head move to snag prey'
Ever since New Scientist got regular with their YouTube uploads, they've come up with some fascinating stuff. More, New Scientist, mowarrr! :D
http://youtu.be/EuVFP1j8qho

'Richards Welcome Message for the German Language Site of the Richard Dawkins Foundation'
This is the only link between Darwin and Hitler - the German language :)
http://youtu.be/5mLOKRwZJ9I

'IGUDESMAN & JOO - URUGUAY'
Is this an advert for Igudesman & Joo, or an advert for Uruguay? ...or is it a music video? [shrugs shoulders]
http://youtu.be/9lHPOU1h9eY

'What Curiosity is Discovering on the Road to Mt. Sharp'
http://youtu.be/W6BdiKIWJhY

'Musical Ferrofluid'
It appears there's a mid-range of frequences that the fluid picks up best, resulting in the greatest deviations of position - peakiness - with higher notes having less effect.
Or maybe the size of deviation is related to the frequency, with the high pitches correlating to short wavelengths and so resulting in miriad tiny peaks that clash with each other and equalise out into flatter overall structures (destructive interference).
So... where are the harmonic frequences of a ferrofluid, then?
http://youtu.be/VNW_gNbvLA8

'87,539,319 - Numberphile'
Simon Singh explains how Futurama has made millions of people accidentaly aware of the greatness of Srinivasa Ramanujan, without ever having heard of him.
http://youtu.be/bJDiZi9dqOg

'10 super simple party stunts' - Richard Wiseman
http://youtu.be/C3OuHUqzGss

'Video: Dead sperm whale explodes as it is cut open'
You might not want to watch this, if you have an anxious stomach!!
http://metro.co.uk/2013/11/27/video-dead-sperm-whale-explodes-as-it-is-cut-open-4204453/

'Bitcoin millionaire throws $7.5m virtual currency in the bin'
This isn't a story of condemnation - they lost it accidentally!
http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/11/29/bitcoin-millionaire-throws-7-5m-virtual-currency-in-the-bin/

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

Word Of The Week: cataclysmic --  pertaining to a violent upheaval that brings about drastic change

Quote Of The Week: "It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money as long as you have got it” - Edmund Way Teale in ’Circle of the Seasons’, quoted by Carl Sagan in ’The Demon-haunted World’.

Slightly-Too-Long Film Title Of The Week: Finding Nemo Delicious

Film Score Of The Week: Spiderman United, Three - Nottingham Forrest, Gump

Fact Of The Week: The burgeoning temperance movement of the early 20th century was funded by the wine industry. Why? Because wine was considered 'of the land' and so 'natural'. Drinks like absinthe, which subdued the wine industry's profitability, were demonised, and the term 'absinthism' invented in the process. Industry-funded hysteria reached its peak when Jean Lanfray shot his pregnant wife, two daughters, and failed to kill himself, having drunk just two glasses of absinthe that day! ...He had also drunk a creme de menthe, two coffee brandys, six cognacs... and three litres of wine. He was an alcoholic, and a vineyard worker. Absinthe was first banned in 1908, and and was only un-banned in its country of origin - Switzerland - in 2005! The only ingredient of absinthe that causes hallucination is the alcohol.

Dodgy Acronym Of The Week: TRAPPIST - a telescope, which stands for TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope. Astronomers have a strong sense of humour, as indicated by the current largest scopes, including the VLT (very large telescope) and the planned ELT (extremely large telescope). The ELT was originally designed to have a 42m aperture (actually 39m) because... 42 is 'the answer' :-D

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

'ROLLIN` SAFARI - what if animals were round?'
In a world like this, the diminutive yet spiky would be the most feared of all animals!
http://youtu.be/yltlJEdSAHw

'Advanced American/British Translation Guide'
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/68121277708

'Ten Germans try to say the word "squirrel"'
http://youtu.be/ejuK8_12Fmg

It looks like i have yet more YT channels to catch up on!

'Funny and weird German words'
http://youtu.be/Eru_0QCEHws


A collection of old 'funnies' that i've uploaded to my tumblr, recently:

'Bullet Proof'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68193715501/bullet-proof-new-scientist-readers-thinking

'Cum Saus'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68193702980/cum-saus-2-10-for-spelling-spelling-9-out-of

'Homosexuality is in'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68193687751/homosexuality-is-in-teehee

'Welcome to 99c plaza'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68193676610/new-scientists-feedback-column-has-almost-devoted

'About a quarter past three...'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68193513153/about-a-quarter-past-three-oh-the-joys-of

'This cartoon wrote a sweary word on your toilet wall'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68193503583/this-cartoon-wrote-a-sweary-word-on-your-toilet

'Carrotcat'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68193421355/carrotcat-you-might-think-this-looks-cute-and

'We can repair anything... apart from the doorbell'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68193194347/we-can-repair-anything-apart-from-the-doorbell

'Maybe using 'let it snow' wrapping paper wasn't the best idea!'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68193063385/maybe-using-let-it-snow-wrapping-paper-wasnt

'Copping A Feel: It's Easier For Koalas'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68193036351/copping-a-feel-its-easier-for-koalas

"Escher! Get your ass up here!"
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/68188134291/escher-get-your-ass-up-here

'Why do people put traffic cones on statues?'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/67952865327/why-do-people-put-traffic-cones-on-statues-one


Fake Science catch-up:

'How Does Perfume Work?'
http://fakescience.org/post/67766373938/updated-science-how-does-perfume-work

'Temperature Conversion Table'
http://fakescience.org/post/66641748961/updates-temperature-conversion-table

'You Can Survive in the Wild…Using Science!'
http://fakescience.org/post/66388946185/you-can-survive-in-the-wild-using-science

'Your Guide to Contact Lenses'
http://fakescience.org/post/64129771625/your-guide-to-contact-lenses

'At the Merry-Go-Round'
http://fakescience.org/post/60192694877/at-the-merry-go-round

'Your Baby’s Developmental Stages'
http://fakescience.org/post/56440413370/your-babys-developmental-stages

.

Entertainment stuff from the week 18-24/11/13

Hiya monkeys,


The Infinite Monkey Cage is back!

The first episode of this series is about risk. Actually, risk's a pet subject of mine; partly because people are so shit at judging it, and partly because it can be deeply fascinating.

In this programme, they mention cycling, nuclear power, ecstasy... and Graeme Garden mentions hornets.

...Oh, did i mention Graeme Garden's on this episode of the show? Damn right, he is! Fyeah :-D

'The Infinite Monkey Cage - Series 9'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03hvn5x/The_Infinite_Monkey_Cage_Series_9_Risk/

If the link doesn't reward you with the show anymore, try a site like castroller
http://castroller.com/search/?cx=006301784352006871957%3A4dq3tss8al4&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=UTF-8&t=e&q=infinite+monkey+cage&sa=Search


North Carolina State University's released news of an immense new newly-discovered dinosaur, that was the biggest land predator for 30 million years, before T-Rex evolved!

'Colossal New Predatory Dino Terrorized Early Tyrannosaurs'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/67763970610/colossal-new-predatory-dino-terrorized-early


'Selfie' has been chosen as the Oxford Dictionary's word of the year.

'Bedroom tax', 'binge-watch', 'twerk' and 'showrooming' are also new entries to the dictionary. I don't know how twerking didn't convince the judges to pick it as word of the year!? They must not be Miley Cyrus fans :-P


"Circus of Horrors performer Anastasia IV has set a new world record by pulling a 2.5 tonne hearse with her hair."
http://youtu.be/vSyja4NqYsc
She actually pulled it 20 metres, up Shaftesbury Avenue, in London, taking just over a minute. Judging by the video, no-one batted an eyelid!

Shaftesbury Avenue has to be one of the more euphemistically-named places in London, although it's nothing if put up against the various sources of the River Axe, in the South West - Wookey Hole, The Mendip Passage, St. Swithin's Shaft, and Cuthbert's Swallow!


And now for spoilers of this weekend's Doctor Who episode (in grey)

The plot of Doctor Who's become a plot of Red Dwarf!

No - not Series 1, Episode 1 - Series 6, Episode 1 ;-)


Temp character: Now, gentlemen; as we are all aware, we have lost Galifrey. This is not the time for small-minded, petty recrimination. The time for that is when we get back to Earth and The Doctor is court-martialled.

The Doctor: I didn't lose it.

Temp character: Come on, Doctor - you're the one who parked it! You're the one who can't remember which planetoid you left it around.

The Doctor: They're all the same, those little blue-green planetoids - blue, green and planetoidy.

Clare Oswald: There is no advantage in fingerpointing. We didn't lose Galifrey - Galifrey was stolen from us, by persons or lifeforms unknown.


I bet it turns out that Galifrey's been hijacked by some tiny little nanobots that go "mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi"

I'll stake my reputation on this coming true!

"You haven't got a reputation"

No - but i'm hoping to acquire one from this escapade :-P

Actually, there would be many more links between Doctor Who and Red Dwarf than this. Red Dwarf's celebrating its 25th anniversary, this year, btw... well, 3000025th ;-)

'Doctor Dwarf'
http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/news/2013/11/22/doctor-dwarf/

By vast coincidence, it is also the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination, by Lee Harvey Oswald (Series 7, Episode 1)


It's incredible, though, isn't it - the vulnerability of squishy-bodied humans - to be killed by one ideologue, acting alone, equipped only with intense neuroses (including a will to making something of his name, and to hit 'back' at a world he didn't understand) and an ability to shoot straight, through his stereotypically-american obsession with guns.

All suggested conspiracies have been debunked by evidence (link: last sentence of first paragraph), and every single one of them ignores the singular fact that Oswald was the man with a motive, a method, and the ability, working as he did, in The Texas School Book Depository, and possessing the correct firearms, to carry out the assassination, with no involvement from outsiders necessary, other than the glorification of such deeds by the Media.

And how many times do we have to see it, over and over again? The psychometry of people like Oswald (who was psychometrically evaluated twice before his murder of JFK, showing him to be ideologically capable of such a crime), and the various serial killers since him, are sensitive to the popularity devoted by the sensationalist, fear-hungry Press.

"Any publicity is good publicity"

But it is not sensitive to whether that popularity is positive or negative.

Here's a semi-old, semi-new article, to make you wonder, further:
'Did the media help pull the trigger on this shooting spree?'
http://johannhari.com/2010/07/08/did-the-media-help-pull-the-trigger-on-this-shooting-spree/

In my opinion, the numerous conspiracy theories surrounding JFK's death are motivated by more than libertarian distrust of the State's story - they are also motivated by the feeling that such a man must not have died a mundane death. An assassination's hardly mundane, but a lone gunman? That's not good enough.

The same is true of Princess Diana's death. A road-traffic incident? That's not good enough! She was perceived as a star - a heroine - an idol, icon, and inspiration (though not by me). Thousands of people die on the roads, every year, and we care nothing of them. She must not have died in such a mundane way - it's not fitting!!!

But she did. And so did Kennedy.

As plausible as a conspiracy might seem to our eager, plot-hungry imaginations, they both actually died in relatively mundane circumstances.

Heroes snuffed out - one by a car crash, and the other by a selfish psychopath. Therein lies the real tragedy of their respective deaths.


Tragedy: "a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience an accompanying catharsis or pleasure"


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

'The Timber Treetments Sketch - The Pod Delusion' (my upload)
http://youtu.be/MRujiAav8TM

'500th video - Periodic Table of Videos'
Congratulations, PToV. If you're previously unaware of Brady Haran's YT channels, you have a lot of catching up to do :o)
http://youtu.be/pp2WrHc4rmI

'Comet ISON - Sixty Symbols'
Everything you ever wanted to know about comets and Comet ISON... almost ;-)
http://youtu.be/DoypFpi5d4Y

'Two Colour Chemiluminescent Clock Reaction - Periodic Table of Videos'
Wow - that was an interesting reaction :-)
http://youtu.be/fwMvGUNny3o

'The Darkness - Holding My Own - Electric Ballroom, Camden, London, Nov 2013'
An excellent rendition of one of my favourite euphemistical songs. Geogre Formby, eat your heart out :-D
http://youtu.be/EuYx3bj0c38
{I've just found out that their fourth album should be released in the second half of 2014 - they've already got 15 tracks to choose between, one of which being 'The Horn' (see last week's article)}

'"Decisions In Men's Fashion" Tales Of Mere Existence'
http://youtu.be/SLd84kPy7Ds

'Slow Motion - Ferrofluid'
OMFSM - look at it jump! LOL
http://youtu.be/MU7wiveVCbg

'Doctor Who: Draw My Life!' - Bad Teeth
Live & Kicking, LOL. Oh, Mr Blobby... did you know Graeme Garden, comedy genius, wrote some lines for him, in the early days? Absolutely true!
http://youtu.be/8dD4d7Oaye8

'3D-doodling pen lets you draw your own objects'
What the #%£&'$ going on, here!?!?
http://youtu.be/rfkL4l0dKyo

'Taste simulator lets you sample virtual food'
"An electrode that can produce the taste of salty, sweet, bitter and sour food could make gaming tastier and help in healthcare too"
http://youtu.be/38u3e_WT4H4

'Natural Selection'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/67947601743/natural-selection-image-credit-noah-scalin

'Heaven Is For Real - Official Movie Trailer (Atheist Remix)'
There's almost no swearing in this one! I suppose even trailers for the scummiest, exploitative films have to be PG :D
http://youtu.be/keIZmTg-nBI

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

Word Of The Week: sclaunder -- an archaic word, meaning the same as 'slander'

Expression Of The Week: 'fourth wall' -- the imaginary wall, between a cast on stage, and the audience; 'breaking the fourth wall' is a term used in reference to scenes where the actors interact with, or suggest knowledge of, their audience e.g. in 'Red Dwarf: Back To Earth' where the cast realise they're actors in a show

Etymology Of The Week: oi! -- from 'ahoy', which was itself a strengthening of 'hoy' - a call to attention used back into medieval times

The 22nd of November was the 144th anniversary of the birth of André Gide - a french author, and winner of The Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947, so here are a selection of great quotes, from him:

“The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.”

“Envying another man's happiness is madness; you wouldn't know what to do with it if you had it.”

“Work and struggle and never accept an evil that you can change.”

“Fish die belly upward, and rise to the surface. It's their way of falling.”

“Fear of ridicule begets the worst cowardice.”

“Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.”

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

'If I Ruled the World clip #1'
Comedy gold, from 1998, with that man again - Graeme Garden. Oh Graeme - "I can't get you out of my head"
http://youtu.be/4gNG4dsOX6c

'Giraffe Manor'
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/crazy-animals/giraffe-manor/

'¿Dónde está Wally el 50% de las veces?'
Where's Wally? Well, 50% of the time, this is where Wally is:
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/67704938844/donde-esta-wally-el-50-de-las-veces

'El punto ciego de un camión' (The blind spot of a truck)
This is scary! Be a good driver, and/or be a wary cyclist!
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/67698312991/el-punto-ciego-de-un-camion

'El sprint de un Guepardo en cámara lenta' (The sprint of a Cheetah in slow motion)
Cheetahs go so fast, don't they. It's easier to see them go fast, if you... slow them down!? Ah, just watch the film :-P
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/67601988244/carrera-de-un-guepardo-en-camara-lenta

'El empleo' (Employment)
In a world where overpopulation were rampant, and every task anyone had ever enjoyed had been devolved to the robots and software programs, what would you be doing for money?
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/67515510836/el-empleo

'Geology'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/67947714738/geology-via-cibertimanios

'Funny Ikea Prank' via Richard Wiseman
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/fun-ikea-prank/

'Sam the Bellhop' via Richard Wiseman
This is an incredible sleight-of-hand trick. Absolutely incredible! ...at least, i think it's a trick ;-)
http://richardwiseman.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/sam-the-bell-hop/

.

Entertainment stuff from the week 11-17/11/13

Greetings, children of the universe!


First up: I must mention the Typhoon-damaged Phillipines. Every time a 'natural disaster' happens, charities get really noisy and unfortunately it's the least hardest working that divert most effort into clamouring for our money.

And every time I take a look at what they do, I'm worried by their lack of secularity. In the bad ol' days, missionaries were cast as missionaries, and the poor exploited victims were cast as poor exploited victims.

In modern times, charities are more two-faced. They turn to us and exhort charitability; then they turn to the needy and start proselytising.

I'm afraid i just don't trust charities unless they're explicitly secular -- Médecins Sans Frontières is one of those -- all of the money given to them is spent on improving lives - not used to prey on people's fears.

'Philippine Typhoon Relief'
Through the 'Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science', 100% of donations go through to MSF. These are who i opt for.

"The Philippines was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, leaving nearly 5,000 dead as of November 14th, with hundreds of thousands more lacking food, shelter, and clean water."


In 1954, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed that the 20th November would be 'Universal Children's Day'. It's an event established to encourage all countries to institute a day, firstly to promote mutual exchange and understanding among children, and secondly to initiate action to benefit and promote the welfare of the world's children.

Countries around the world have various different dates, but that Universal Children's Day falls, this year, in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, makes little difference to the fact that, all year around, there are children living in poverty, fuel poverty, receiving poor education, poor healthcare, poor diets, suffering maltreatment at the hands/mouths of unempowered and superstitious adults, and more.

All of this happens every day, and millions of children grow up thinking their situation is immutable - an inextricable part of their life, their personality, and their prospects.

When/if you donate to spare children and adults from suffering, give a thought for the fact that big changes have been made to our own well-internet-connected lives, in our own families' pasts, and big changes must happen to theirs, in their futures, but also in their presents.


On a much lighter note:

Series 60 of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue is here!

'I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue - Series 60 - Episode 1'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03gvsln/Im_Sorry_I_Havent_A_Clue_Series_60_Episode_1/

The guest, for the first two shows, is John Finnemore, of 'Souvenir Show' and 'Cabin Pressure' fame. He also wrote sketches for Mitchell and Webb.

I've uploaded a couple of his sketches to YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/notsyort/videos

And this rendition in the round 'One Song To The Tune Of Another', from Episode 1:

'Barry Cryer on ISIHAC - I Predict A Riot, A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square'
http://youtu.be/7kD6huFFb8I

Tickets are already being sold for 2014's tour dates. Catch them if you can!
https://twitter.com/isihaclue


Formula E - a new class of motor racing - is due to start in 2014.

'Up close with the new 'Formula E' car'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24918209

Ten races; ten teams; twenty drivers; forty cars.

The difference - all the cars will be electric! It's going to be exciting - not just to see the races, but also to see how the technology performs.

There's going to be a hell of a noise though - they're only silent when they're going really slowly :o)


Of interest to those of us who are Darklings:

'The Darkness - 'The Horn' [Live] NEW SONG - Electric Ballroom - 12/11/13'
http://youtu.be/ZBwqc6AZT3w

If that style's going to be typical of their next album, which should be released in 2014, then i want to hear more :-)

I've never heard this song at a gig, before!

'The Darkness - Curse Of The Tollund Man [Live] - Electric Ballroom - 12/11/13'
http://youtu.be/60o8Mot-Efk

And i've never heard a studio version of this one, before!

'The Darkness- Second Fiddle'
http://youtu.be/iZqZxSqqTcY

You can get a proper-quality audio of this by signing up to their mailing list, at the web-site, here:
www.theactualdarkness.com/music/


'Cuban Fury - Trailer'
OMFSM - Lovejoy, in the same film as Colly - didn't think i'd ever see that. IMDB says it'll be on from 14th Feb 2014
http://youtu.be/vEj-d7aXG8c


You might have heard/read claims or PR about a thorium-powered car that can run for 100 years.

Is it true? Um... nope.

'Thorium Powered Car, Drive 100 yrs on 8 grams of fuel!'
http://youtu.be/568iDYn8pjc

And yes, he does use the word 'bullshit' a lot, in this video :D


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

Top billing:

'Doctor (123456789) - a parody/spoof of the Tommy Tutone song Jenny (867-5309)'
http://youtu.be/TMjnEFrrTjY

It's a song about epidemiology, and how the numbers help patients and doctors to reach good decisions about their healthcare. Btw, there is a lot of information in the video - like James says, you might want to watch it several times!

More from John Finnemore. Gets about a bit, doesn't he! He's noticed something rather disturbing:
'Ho Ho... No, No, God No!'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/67064324883/ho-ho-no-no-god-no-ah-christmas-is

'HOW TO PLAY GUITAR'
Thanks, Hannah - this video was utterly uninstructional - but at least we got to hear some Halestorm :o)
http://youtu.be/VT0X33Ynm0o

'WHAT YOUR MUSTACHE IS REALLY SAYING'
Frankly, my dear, if you think your moustache is saying anything, you ate the wrong fungi - they weren't movember mushrooms!
http://youtu.be/qp0FZ6WxNjI

'Shapes and Solids of Constant Width - Numberphile'
These will blow your mind... even harder than Harto's guitar playing :-P
http://youtu.be/cUCSSJwO3GU

'Roger Taylor - Sunny Day (official promo video)'
Beautiful song; but i'd expected to at least see one shot of a woman, somewhere. Oh, well - the flowers'll have to do :D
http://youtu.be/5tw5-Iflbhk

'Horny sea slugs stab each other in the head'
http://youtu.be/TpPj7d5YcDQ

'How To Be A Real Man. (According To The Internet)'
Dusty Smith swears his way through the internet's attempts to tell him how to be a 'real' man :-D
http://youtu.be/jLS1oAQQuc8

'Ice proved cool way to move stones for Forbidden City'
The Chinese could have utilised their icey-cold winters to construct temporary ice roads, researchers have suggested.
They say the massive stones found in the ancient buildings of Beijing would conventionally require about 1500 men; but with ice roads, it could be done with fewer than 50.
Other researchers have derided the idea of moving 112-tonne sledges with fewer than 50 people pulling; but the mechanism still seems viable as a method of transport, and one that the locals could easily have thought up.
http://www.nature.com/news/ice-proved-cool-way-to-move-stones-for-forbidden-city-1.14090

'Roger Taylor - 'Dear Mr Murdoch' (Nude Mix) (taken from 'Fun On Earth', 'The Lot' version)'
Yeah - Roger's the political one - did you know he did a cover of John Lennon's 'Working Class Hero' on 'Electric Fire'? Well he did.
http://youtu.be/snFLtFZvcrM

'Unbelievable domino tricks'
A month ago, this guy celebrated having 20,000 subscribers, by creating a course with 20,000 dominoes in it. This video's had more than 8,000,000 views, earning him another 80,000 subscribers! 100,000 domino course coming up?
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/66906076908/trucos-domino

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

Word Of The Week: juncaceous -- belonging to the family of plants called the juncaceae

Expression Of The Week: 'kangaroo court' --  a makeshift court, set up to speedily or cheaply deal with a matter of justice; originally meant entirely derogatorily, as kangaroo courts were dodgy alternatives to real ones, and often purposely employed to commit injustice

New Scientist Video Title Of The Week: 'Horny sea slugs stab each other in the head' (see 'contemporary stuff')

Quote Of The Week: "It’s funny when people accuse science of being narrow merely because it asks for proof. Science expanded the number of elements from four to over 100. It expanded treatment options from bloodletting, herbs and purgatives to the untold riches we have today. It expanded the universe from a series of armillary spheres to the current, nigh-endless void. It expanded the number of worlds from two to billions upon billions. It expanded the age of the universe from 7,000 to 13.5 billion. Science expanded our senses from a tiny range of sound and light to an endless modulation of wavelengths revealing whole worlds we knew nothing about. It extended our senses from millimeters to angstroms, from kilometers to light years. Science discovered volcanoes under the oceans, terrible lizards who ruled our murine predecessors, asteroids that shattered the world, glaciers that circled the globe, the origins of man in ape rather than god. Science exposed the lie of vitalism, extended lives, cured cancer, discovered vitamins, discovered radiation (then found it was bad for us). And in the last group of discoveries, quacks were poised to kill the discoveries and loot their corpses." - William Lawrence Utridge

Fact Of The Week: Passengers on the Jubilee Line, in the London Underground network, inhale one fungal cell per minute - twice as much as in a park, and four times as much as in a hospital.

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

Charles Trenet was based the tune of 'La Mer' on this song:

'Heart and Soul-----Bea Wain with Larry Clinton 1939'
http://youtu.be/h9-WLXm_faE

And here is Trenet's version. With french lyrics, of course.

'La mer - Mr Bean holiday'
http://youtu.be/KViGUKQPfks

Mr. Bean's Holiday has been on several times, on UK linear TV, in the last week. I suppose the motive is our inexorable descent into Winter!


Too big, hmm...
cynicalsongs.tumblr.com/post/52701895275/deducecanoe-myflawedfairytale-rebloggable-by

They get bigger than that, too. He must be one chunky fella!
http://youtu.be/sFTFNR1Og7k


Who the hell thought this stock photo up?
"young attractive dangerous woman aiming at gold fish"
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-7970011/stock-photo-wishes

There are plenty more, with many of them listed here:
'Awkward Stock Photos'
http://awkwardstockphotos.com/archive


A special kind of mat
http://payyourchildsupport.tumblr.com/post/66716597046

Ratatouille - the snowboarding opossum:
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/uncategorized/snowboarding-celebrity/

'The Unbelievable 3D Paintings of Keng Lye'
Just one question: why do it this way, when it's easier, and more effective, to paint a 3D model and suspend it in the resin!?
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unusual-art-and-fashion/the-unbelievable-3d-paintings-of-keng-lye/

Funky driving, by Ken Block:
'NEED FOR SPEED: KEN BLOCK'S GYMKHANA SIX -- ULTIMATE GYMKHANA GRID COURSE'
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/66729159231/ken-block

'Singing Ringing Tree, escultura sonora de Tonkin Liu'
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/67108785379/singing-ringing-tree-escultura-sonora-de-tonkin
Wiki file on the Singing Ringing Tree, near Burnley, in Lancashire, UK

'Secret nuclear bunker? Right this way...'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/67251566311/secret-nuclear-bunker-right-this-way-kelveden

Junvenile humour... YES PLEASE :o)
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/66552019676

It's not as bad as a decapitated Santa Clause, i suppose...
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/66617848288

"Where did you come in the grammarbee, honeybun?" "I came, um..."
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/67251596963/jacksonrodstewart-the-3st-is-real-where-did

I leave you with Nvidia shooting Mona Lisa's face. Tara :D
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/67204151868
.

Entertainment stuff from the week 4-10/11/13

Hi bangers,


The solution to last week's Hallowe'en spooky quiz:

'Solution: Halloween Mystery - Ghost Flame'
http://youtu.be/w8pmu0lh3XY

The key is that the area of combustion (where you see the flame) can be disconnected from the fuel source.

With a match, the combustion can only occur where the match is, and so immersing it in the CO2 also extinguishes the flame.

Butane from the lighter, however, can flow through the CO2, and combust as it reaches already-combusting butane, at the flame.

Notice that, if the flame were ever allowed to go out, the experimenter would have to start over, by withdrawing and hitting the sparker again.

Combusting butane emits enough energy to ignite more butane, as it comes through the CO2 fog, but warm butane is not.

Also notice that the distance of the flame from the lighter is inversely correlated with the size of the flame (it's smaller).

This is because the butane disperses as it travels away from the lighter nozzle, and so there is less available for combustion in the specific spot where the flame is.

Cool experiment. Spooky science!


And this week's quiz: Which trees are helping us to fight cancer?

{Hint: It's not Willow - aspirin is derived from Willow}


There have, unfortunately, been at least two disasters, this week:

'YouTube comment changes ruined my life'
http://youtu.be/1od3CCAAsOw

...and seriously:
{Even more seriously than Greg's grass}

'One of strongest typhoons in history hits Philippines'
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24549-one-of-strongest-typhoons-in-history-hits-philippines.html

Due to lack of data available, atm, it's difficult to tell where has been worst affected, and how many people are involved.


'The Unbelievable Truth' now has a book:

Written by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith, with a foreword by David Mitchell

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unbelievable-Truth-David-Mitchell/dp/1848094191/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382608911&sr=1-1&keywords=unbelievable+truth+the


Not-quite-on-this-days:

The 8th of November marks the 48th anniversary of The Race Relations Act coming into effect, banning racial discrimination in public places in Britain. Half a century later, and it's pretty much only quacks and religionists who consider this advancement to not apply to them.

The 10th of November marks the 220th anniversary of the The French Republic's abolishment of worship of the Christian god, establishing a 'cult of reason' in its place. I know - a cult of non-cultiness - we'd never make that mistake, in the 21st century! [coughs: "Atheism+"]

And in contrast, the 15th of November marks the 72nd anniversary of the Nazi movement in Germany's declaration that homosexual members of the SS and police shall be executed.

What nice people.

Here, in the UK, the beginning of November is most strongly associated with bonfires and fireworks (see 'How they do fireworks in Scotland' in 'contemporary stuff'), to celebrate the time a bunch of Catholics tried to kill a bunch of politicians, by blowing up the Houses of Parliament.

For British Protestants, that pretty much seems a win-win situation. I'm still not sure exactly what we celebrate - their attempt to kill pollies, or their failure and subsequent executions?!

I expect people do it just for the bangs, nowadays... I hope :-/

#britishbloodlust


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

'Miss Ping Debunk'
http://youtu.be/W8sGTh7ZpoY

'ATP Tennis: Top 10 Hot Shots Of The Year'
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Media/Video-Landing/*/Tennis/Media/Videos/Uploaded/2013/11/6/Holding-Court-Live-Presented-By-Barclays-Top-10-Hot-Shots.aspx

'Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2013 Thursday Highlights: Federer and Gasquet'
http://www.atpworldtour.com/Media/Video-Landing/*/Tennis/Media/Videos/Uploaded/2013/11/7/Barclays-ATP-World-Tour-Finals-2013-Thursday-Highlights.aspx

'Snoopybabe: Flat-Faced Feline Sensation'
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/crazy-animals/snoopybabe-flat-faced-feline-sensation/

'Macro photographs of Nikon Small World contest 2013'
http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/66561507138/100cias-macro-fotografias-del-concurso-nikon

The British monarchy welcome a new 'little soldier' to their ranks:
http://privateeyenews.tumblr.com/post/65783472236/from-eye-1352

'How they do fireworks in Scotland'
I dearly hope this isn't fake. But it probably is. Captain Disillusion - you have a new mission, almost immediately :-D
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/65883559665

More cock-related humour :-P
'Sexy "Orthodox Priests" calendar features men of the cloth sans cloth' via Johann Hari on Facebook
Actually, none of the models are priests, or even clergy - just affiliates of the RC Church - but don't let that stop them. It's blasphemous enough for me :-D
http://www.nextmagazine.com/content/sexy-orthodox-priests-calendar-features-men-cloth-sans-cloth

Does this count as topical? It does? Here you go, then:
'11 terrifying kids from vintage adverts who will freeze the very marrow in your bones' via Sunday Driver
http://usvsth3m.com/post/66372953934/11-terrifying-kids-from-vintage-adverts-who-will-freeze
{"Eating out gives life a lift!" ...but you should still ask her permission, first :-P }
{{Sunday Driver is a steampunk band that features Kat Arney, of the Naked Scientists}}

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

Word Of The Week: labile -- liable to change, easily changed; sometimes used in the context of emotional state

Expression Of The Week: "no holds barred" -- from wrestling, meaning no holds... barred. It now means 'free from limitations' in any context

Misplaced Metaphor Of The Week: "A good book should do exactly what it says on the tin" - Judy Finnigan, on The One Show

Science Article Of The Week: 'University physicists study urine splash-back and offer best tactics for men'

Sporting Event Of The Week: The 'Man versus Horse Marathon' run in Llanwrtyd Wells. In 33 events, a man has won only twice!

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

'Dolls'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/66561719440/dolls-this-is-mindnumbing-aaaaargh-why-do

'Inspiration Night - Animation'
http://youtu.be/EatL6gdS9M8

'The Delectable Spaghetti Trees of Switzerland'
Ripley's looks back to BBC Panorama's April Fools' Day hoax, back in 1957. I'm not sure why. It's six months 'til April Fools' Day. Is the Ripley's calendar hanging back to front?
http://www.ripleys.com/weird/daily-dose-of-weird-wtf-blog/unbelievable-but-true/the-delectable-spaghetti-trees-of-switzerland/

Feline sleeping places - then and now
http://micro.cibermitanios.com.ar/post/66410594339

'3D Latte Art by Kazuki Yamamoto'
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/66561779113/3d-latte-art-by-kazuki-yamamoto-see-more-here

Modern... um... art? :-P
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/65226901521

Don't laugh! I find it difficult to get proportions right, too :-D
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/65226986750

Minecraft: what can you do with just blocks? Well...
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/65484860285

'The best of Ken M'
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/65875211333

'Self checkout'
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/66449908069

A compilation from clientsfromhell.net:
http://goldspandexleggings.tumblr.com/post/66044737548

'Russians on facebook'
Loving the girl with the fish :-D
http://9gag.com/gag/adN5oPD?ref=fb.s

What the hell are "fushing" and "dinking"?
http://tapejarascience.tumblr.com/post/66561861040/what-the-hell-are-fushing-and-dinking


Feedback updates:

Jim Jobe was intrigued by an offer in Morrisons supermarket for "Mini Man-Sized Tissues": "These were for mini-men, no doubt... and of course they were offered at a reduced price."
28 Sep

HOPING to go for a walk along the coast of Northumberland in north-east England, Alan Robinson checked out the "Walking Britain" website. The description of the scenic Dunstanburgh Castle walk there gives the starting point of the walk as "OS grid reference NU256197 Lat 55.4704199170077 + Long -1.59455186840724 Postcode NE 66 3TW".
Alan reckons this corresponds to a precision of something like ±0.1 micrometres – but the site adds that this is the "approx. location only". Alan wants to know: "What would they regard as sufficiently precise?"
28 Sep

SEVERAL Australian readers have gleefully told us about what Neil Speirs calls "a major attempt to boost your catalogue of unusual units". A press release from the country's Clean Energy Council on 3 September celebrates record levels of energy produced by wind farms in four Australian states. It tells us: "Australia's wind farms generated 1024 gigawatt-hours in August, enough to make more than 6 billion (6,144,000,000) toasted sandwiches using an average sandwich press."
A stack of these sandwiches, the press release goes on, "would go around the Earth more than three times". What's that in blue whales?
28 Sep

Rachel Burton sends us a screenshot of a BBC weather page during the first week of August. The forecast for the night ahead on the first day of the week reads: "UK overnight. Very warm and sunny for many. Cloudier in northern Scotland."
"Do they know something we don't?" asks Rachel.
28 Sep

AMERICAN fondness for guns never ceases to amaze. Barry Cash alerts us to a report in USA Today at bit.ly/gunsfortheblind stating that blind people in the state of Iowa are being granted permits that allow them to purchase guns and carry them in public.
The report explains: "State law does not allow sheriffs to deny an Iowan the right to carry a weapon based on physical ability."
According to the article, officials in Iowa's Polk County say they have already issued weapons permits "to at least three people who can't legally drive and were unable to read the application forms or had difficulty doing so because of visual impairments".
"No one [in Iowa] questions the legality of the permits," USA Today says, "but some officials worry about public safety." Indeed.
Meanwhile, officials in Deer Trail, Colorado, have received 983 applications, each with a cheque worth $25, for a licence to shoot down any government drones that fly over the town.
No such licences exist at present, but thanks to a Deer Trail citizen's initiative, a citywide referendum on the idea is to take place on 8 October. Enthusiastic would-be drone hunters are putting in their orders early – see bit.ly/droneshooters.

5 Oct
{I feel compelled to point out, in the context of Iowan law that refuses to deny access to lethal weaponry on the grounds of ability, the congruence with laws around the world, that do not deny anyone the right to run a country, on the grounds of mental ability. At least in this respect, the USA is not so out of touch!}

FEEDBACK'S eye was caught recently by a report in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that fluoride compounds exported from Germany to Syria were declared as being destined for toothpaste manufacture – not for chemical weapons, oh no. It was the amount that struck us: "more than 97 tonnes" of various fluoride compounds during 2005 and 2006.
We reached for a calculator and headed for the bathroom. Its cabinet reveals toothpastes with fluoride doses of 1450 and 1100 parts per million by weight. We don't have a breakdown of the exact quantities of the different compounds that were shipped from Germany, but the one containing least fluoride is sodium fluoride at 45 per cent fluoride by weight – so in round numbers we can say that the compounds contained around 25 tonnes of fluoride per year (roughly half of 45 per cent of 97 tonnes). That's enough for 25,000 tonnes of toothpaste.
The CIA estimates Syria's population at 22.5 million and does not report toothpaste as one of the country's major exports. So every child, woman and man in the country could be supplied with 1.1 kilograms of fluoride-containing toothpaste per year; maybe more.
Surely Germany's reputedly meticulous bureaucrats could have spotted how unlikely these amounts were?
5 Oct
{I get through a few hundred grams per year. Syrians must have beautiful teeth!}

[While] searching for other peoples' translations of the Süddeutsche Zeitung story [] above, Feedback was saddened but not surprised to find that fruitloops were instantly on the case. First up was a YouTube video with the description "Fluoride is used to make Sarin gas, yet they say it is okay for your drinking water and toothpaste?"
Yes, yes, but both of these contain much more of the notoriously dangerous substance "dihydrogen monoxide" (chemical name H2O), the vicious trade in which Feedback has oft exposed since 18 May 1996.
2 Nov

AUCTION site ebay now lists its fees to the nearest 0.000001 penny. Martyn Ellis sends a screenshot showing a charge of £1.878252 to include a photo of the item he's selling.
5 Oct
{I smell exchange rates..... :D }

Jeff Dickens was provoked by our proposition that a written notice apparently intended to be read by rabbits and hares – "Rabbits and Hares this gate must be kept shut" – indicates that these furry animals must be very intelligent (7 September).
Jeff responds with scorn: "These rabbits and hares can't be that intelligent if they need signs to remind them not to leave gates open in sheep country. Tsk!"
5 Oct

Stephen Stent sends us a photo of a sign by the road in Whangarei, New Zealand, offering "DRY T-TREE FIREWOOD $100 CM2". What can that possibly mean?
12 Oct

Des Mahon was struck by a notice to drivers in the bus station in the UK city of Dundee: "Engines must be switched off at all times"
19 Oct
{THEN HOW ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO LEAVE THE STATION?!?!?}

ELEPHANTS, says Steve Carper, are "fast becoming the premier unit of all work. Not only are they used for mass, they are also a unit of volume."
Steve cites an article from the 12 August issue of The New Yorker, in which Ben McGrath writes about the construction of the new Second Avenue Subway in New York. He quotes Michael Horodniceanu of MTA Capital Construction, who was standing about 30 metres below Eighty-fourth Street, "in a cavern so vast that he said it could hold fifty-five thousand elephants".
"Maybe," says Steve, "we should redefine density in terms of elephants per elephant."
19 Oct

READER David Curl had to go to the vet to get some Indigo, an anti-inflammatory medication needed by his daughter's guinea pig. The receptionist handed him the bottle and, repeating the printed instructions, told him to "give Indigo 3 kilograms once a day".
"Shouldn't that be 3 grams or 3 millilitres or something?" David asked. "Three kilograms sounds like rather a lot."
"Oh, that's OK," replied the receptionist. "Guinea pigs have very fast metabolisms."
19 Oct


The Domino's Pizza leaflet that dropped through Charlie Wartnaby's letter box defies logic by promising "Savings of up to and over £350"
26 Oct

WHAT on earth could an "alcohol shot gun" be?
Richard Lucas sends us a scan of an ad he saw in the CPC catalogue promoting the "Shootndrink" gun, describing it as a "high speed spirit delivery system" to "take drinking games to another level".
The gun comes with a cartridge – you "fill the cartridge with the spirit of your choice", which is then "shot out at high speed into the drinker's mouth". It is, says the ad, "ideal for stag and hen nights".

Feedback was greatly taken by the whistle-in-the-wind statement concluding the promotion: "NB. Please enjoy Alcohol Shot Gun by drinking responsibly."
26 Oct

THE photo of a charming little hedgehog sniffing a bowl of food in Rachel Cave's recent CJ Wildlife catalogue carries a caption stating that the bowl contains "Organic Paté for Hedgehogs".
"This easily digestible food is akin to their natural diet, so our prickly friends are sure to enjoy this meaty feast," the brochure explains. It continues with the product's composition, starting with "meat and animal derivatives from organic chicken and turkey".
Rachel says she is now afraid to go into the garden at night for fear of encountering hedgehogs that snack on chickens and turkeys – considering how large they would have to be.
26 Oct

{Hogzilla!!!}

"Tapioca must be a hitherto unknown superfood," says Terjei Jensen. According to nutritiondata.self.com, a 28-gram serving provides 728 grams of carbohydrates and 3033 calories – a day-and-a-half's worth
2 Nov
{A handy rule of thumb: dietitians are the ones who know what they're doing; nutritionists are just quacks}

From New Zealand, Rosemary Fineman sends a document awarding a Pressure Sewerage Equipment Supply contract to Ecoflow Ltd of Auckland – giving as contact person at Ecoflow one Karl Stench.
2 Nov
{I thought nominative determinism had been abolished from Feedback's inches? They do seem to be creeping back in...}

FINALLY, the International Journal of Latest Research in Science and Technology told Andrew Kirk in an email soliciting papers that it is an "academic Online Open 'Right to Use' Pear Reviewed International Journal".
Andrew wonders how the pear review process is conducted – and whether it makes the journal more likely to accept fruitloopery.
26 Oct
{Haha - someone give that man a medal :-D }
{On a more serious note, though -- i do hope this isn't indicative of some nefarious body-shape-ism, where people with figures other than 'pear-shaped' are subjugated by the Journal, and condemned to live in self-loathing, shame and ignominy! I do hope not.... :-P }


And the answer to this week's quiz is:

It's Yew trees that are helping us to fight cancer. Docetaxel is from the needles of the European Yew, and paclitaxel is from the bark of the Pacific Yew.

'Yew clippings to make chemotherapy'
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/about-cancer/cancer-questions/yew-clippings-to-make-chemotherapy
.