[thought for the day] monday evening

You're only young once but anyone can be immature!

[higham exposed] incredible green man

Taken by my computer ten minutes ago. :)

[iceland] and the non-graffiti solution

Where to spend your summer in Iceland

Iceland used to be a prime source of material for this blog but I don't know what happened - perhaps westernization - but things have paled somewhat of late. Now we're back again with an important new phenomenon:

The Graffiti Painter-Overers

A “gang” of mystery painters who go by the name of Betri baer (“Better town”) painted over graffiti in central Reykjavík in the shadow of darkness on Wednesday night in protest of the lack of action taken by city authorities to fight graffiti.

And in classically quaint Icelandic reporting style:

The boys who were responsible for the latest wave of graffiti on Laugavegur were arrested and will probably have expensive fines.

Expensive fines! Wild times in Old Reykjavik these days. If you'd like to see the original post on this humble blog, here 'tis, still open for comments if you'd care to.

[mobiles] another nail in the coffin

Mobile phones will overtake asbestos and smoking as a leading public health danger, a top neurosurgeon says.

Research by Canberra Hospital’s Vini Khurana found that in the next four years, the full impact of brain tumours caused by mobile phones would be revealed.

Read the full report here.

The previous report on this growing menace is here.

[blogfocus] from ef to el

Meandering through the F to L of my roll this morning, I picked up these gems:

Gavin Ayling with what must be the classic quote of the day:

Poetry, as I said recently, has only just made sense to me and, of course, science always has been deeply important to me so I thought it appropriate that I share it with you.

Grendel is one year old - yo! And the Gypsy Haven also has a real birthday plus a shot at paradise [pic at the top]


Guthrum the Old reminds us of a very special day coming up and Ian Parker presents a poem on the topic:

The French and the Germans may call themselves such
As may the Norwegians, the Swedes, and the Dutch.
You can say you are Russian, or maybe a Dane,
But don’t dare say you’re English ever again.

... do read the rest of this.

Helena, in creating a likeness, presents her goddaughter [see pic below].

Iain Dale presents some quite frankly horrifying stats about our fair land:

* 27% of UK 15 year olds have been drunk 20 or more times compared to 12% in Germany, 6% in Holland and 3% in France
* 44% of UK teenagers are frequently involved in fights compared to 28% in Germany.
* 35% of UK 15 year olds have used Cannabis in the last 12 months, compared to 27% in France, 22% in Holland and 18% in Germany.
* 40% of English fifteen year old girls have had sexual intercourse, compared to 29% in Sweden, 24% in Canada, 20% in Holland, 18% in France and 14% on Spain.

Verlin's Lil Bit has scored her first goal in soccer so you'd best get over there and catch the video of said event! She's a great player!

Jams poses the quite important question - how many 5 year olds could you take on at one time? Do go and test your strength out against the wee mites.

John Trenchard presents a video illustrating the prowess of the Honey Badger ...

... whilst Juliet presents the cardiologists' nightmare and describes her attempt to make it in truly Juliesque terms:

Though I realise now that the lovely moist texture is due to the oil, I still can't get over that we ate a cup of oil in addition to the cake being covered in cream cheese, butter and icing sugar, and that we were willing to believe that the inclusion of a couple of grated carrots could somehow mean it was 'healthy' when in fact all it needed was a couple of spoonfuls of glaucoma-inducing MSG to make the horror complete.

[thought for the day] sunday evening

A torchlight procession, marching down your throat

[O'Sullivan, 1898]

[kate's back] you probably already know

[history quiz] sunday memorizer

1. In which war did jet aircraft first fight each other?

2. Only one South American country had a Monarchy. Which was it?

3. Parker and Barrow were the surnames of which famous couple?

4. Rorke's Drift was a battle in which war?

5. Sitting Bull belonged to which tribe?

6. The Condor Legion was the name of the German air force flying for Franco's nationalist side in the Spanish Civil War. What was the name of the Irish volunteers on Franco's side?

7. The eruption of Mt Vesuvius that buried Pompeii also buried another town. Which one?

8. What was Operation Sea Lion in the Second World War?

9. Which American City is named after a British Prime Minister?

10. Which civilization built Machu Picchu?

No peeking, now:

The Korean War, Brazil, Bonnie and Clyde, The Zulu War, Sioux, The Blue Shirts, Herculaneum, The invasion of Britain, Pittsburgh, The Incas

[surveillance] doing well, thank you

Thanx Banxy

Englisc Fyrd summarizes some of the latest moves:

* CCTVcore.co.uk reveals how the government plans to roll out a mugshot database. You can read the article here.

* The idea of a database containing naughty children's details has been touted for a while. Tony Blair was for the idea, but it seems said database is coming closer to fruition to help with "spotting future offenders". This is London reports on it here.

* The Telegraph reports that CCTV is slowly creeping into schools, their article here details the complaints from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers who fear school rooms are becoming Orwellian. The article reports that:

"Schools are believed to have first installed classroom CCTV four years ago, with an academy in Middlesbrough using cameras to monitor pupil behaviour and protect expensive equipment."

I could go on and on but you'll need to read for yourself. However, there's more from David Farrer:

But BAA says the fingerprinting at Terminal 5 has been installed under orders from the Government.

It says a working group, which included the Home Office's Borders and Immigration Agency, decided it was the "most robust system" to protect Britain's borders.

Truly wonderful. And let's never forget this, from December 2006:

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

[home] tongue in cheek

It's all very well coming home unless:

1. you're not sure which one is your home;

2. it's not there when you get back [or not in the same form].

Sandy Denny sang, in Farewell, Farewell:

"No, I will never cut the cloth
Or drink the light to be
But I'll swear a year to one who lies
Asleep along side of me"

Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travellers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call

The immortal Sandy Denny. This is home.