George Melly has died. From rum, bum and concertina to family man. He’ll be missed.
Update: good to read the tributes on the BBC site from folk far and wide. And more here. Double damn.
Year: 2007
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They’re Back…
You may recall that last August, I blogged about an Irish company – Steorn – that claimed it had discovered how to get energy for free. I declared myself unconvinced then, and I still stick to that now.However, the company is now back in the spotlight with a demonstration of their "free energy" (i.e. perpetual motion) machine calld the Orbo. I remain unconvinced since Steorn is apparently still pitching to the media, and the demonstration will take place in an art museum fer gawd’s sake. You would think that if there was anything to this device that reputable scientists would have be screaming for it to be displayed in pride of place at the Science Museum. But no, you’ll have to go to Spitalfields (once a haunt of Jack The Ripper) to see it. Alternatively, you can see it via webcam here. Although if you believe that the device is what it claims to be on the strength of a webcam image, then I have a bridge that you might be interested in. -
Public Conveniences
Public bodies, such as government agencies, are supposed to serve the public. But all too often, it seems, they actively take steps to thwart this intent.I came across two such examples today. First up is the UK’s Environment Agency. Amongst the data it collects on behalf of the British public is flood data. When OnOneMap (a site for prospective housebuyers) made the data accessible via Google Maps, housebuyers were delighted, but the Environment Agency was furious, and demanded that OnOneMap withdraw the facility. Read more here.Next up is the UK’s English Heritage, the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, and funded by the taxpayer and by visitors to some of its properties. It has a ViewFinder image gallery website, but this actively restricts public engagement rather than make it easy. Dan Lockton, over at fulminate // Architectures of Control has the story.So at the moment, the score stands at:Housebuyers (the Public, first team): 0, Environment Agency (Wankers United): 1Amateur Historians (the Public, second team): 0, English Heritage (Dickheads Town): 1 -
Getting Hot Under The Collar
An interesting video from the European Commission to publicise the money it puts into European cinema. It’s getting some people hot under the collar. Perhaps they need to loosen up a little. Make love not war… -
The Light Fantastic
While I think these artistic lights by Frank Buchwald look wonderful, I have the feeling that I would never be able to afford so much as a single brass screw. The fact that no prices are mentioned anywhere on the web site instantly kicks in the "if you have to ask, you can’t afford it" feeling. Bugger. -
Oh Dear…
I’m not sure that this is going to be a good idea. It seems as though it’s calculated to stimulate my fight-or-flight response when viewing the next series of Doctor Who. Tom says it all. -
Architect Or Car Salesman?
Steven Poole, over at the excellent Unspeak blog, takes a look at Frank Luntz’s latest book "Words That Work". It’s fair to say that he’s not impressed, and gives ample evidence to back up his opinion. Oh, and I can substantiate Poole’s puzzlement over the meaning of the word napkin. In my lifetime of nearly sixty years, it was never to be confused with the separate word nappy. Indeed I have a dictionary published thirty years ago that clearly lists both words and their totally separate meanings. So much for Luntz’s bizarre theory that thirty years ago, we British believed napkins were nappies.Luntz apparently thinks of himself as a "language architect". On this showing, he comes across more as a particularly oleaginous used car salesman. The only difference between Luntz and a used car salesman appears to be that the latter knows when he’s lying. Best avoided at all costs. -
Miracle Diet Pill?
Mr. Angry deconstructs a drug company’s web site that mentions the side-effects of a diet pill in a rather coy way. Mr. Angry obliterates the coy, and leaves you in no doubt as to what you are very likely to experience. Very, very funny. -
Incompetent Clowns
The shrill reporting by much of the British media over the attempted acts of terrorism in the UK last weekend is beginning to bring on a Victor Meldrew moment in me. Luckily, Lewis Page, writing in The Register, provides a countering voice. It struck me as an odd place to find his piece (The Register reports on IT matters in a manner that reminds me of the satirical magazine Private Eye), but then I discover that Mr. Page has been a bomb disposal expert in the past. So I assume that he knows whereof he writes. -
The Power Of Memes
The wonderful Dan Dennett talks about ants, terrorism and the power of memes… Recorded back in 2002 at a TED conference, it’s only just been posted on the TED web site. I can do little better than to echo the byline on the site’s page: This. Is. Unmissable. -
Horse Trials
The local horse and carriage club held its annual horse trials event last weekend. I didn’t take as many pictures as last year, but I took some. The water pool was popular with spectators for obvious reasons.
The horsepower came in all shapes and sizes. I was rather taken with these little beauties:
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With Friends Like These…
…who needs enemies? I know I’m coming late to this story, but I’ve finally seen the video of Mika Brzezinski refusing to lead with the so-called "news" story of Scunthorpe Motel (aka Paris Hilton) being released from jail.While I knew that I would be siding with Ms. Brzezinski, until I saw the video I hadn’t quite appreciated just how sickened I would feel by the behaviour of her co-presenters. What a pair of absolute wankers. -
Poor Planning
With apologies to the good people of Glasgow, but this raised a wry smile.(hat tip to Justin, over at Chicken Yoghurt) -
Binaural Recording
If you’ve got a pair of headphones handy, then use them to listen to this sound recording. It’s been recorded binaurally, rather than stereophonically. That means that the aural illusion is very strong indeed. Just listen.(hat tip to PZ Myers) -
When Tim Met Jim
A good article in the Observer about the continuing gulf between art and science. It worries me that so many of the scientific facts that I had at my fingertips when young are beginning to slip away from me now. Time for a refresher course, I think.But perhaps even more worrying is the fact that ignorance about science seems to be on the rise. -
Before The Bang
Phil, over at the Bad Astronomy Blog, writes about some of the very latest research theories that are coming out about what may have been going on when time started and maybe even before it started. Fascinating. -
It’s The Stupid Theologians
Of course, one of the issues about interpreting theology is that sometimes the interpreters give every indication that they are at least sixpence short of the full shilling. Here’s some senior Church of England bishops who appear to think that us gays are to blame for the flooding in the north of England. Sigh. -
It’s The Theology, Stupid
Yesterday, the Observer carried an interesting opinion piece by Hassan Butt, calling on his fellow Muslims to renounce terror. Butt was, until recently, a member of radical group Al-Muhajiroun, raising funds for extremists and calling for attacks on British citizens. He appears to have had a change of heart.What I found most interesting about his piece was that he downplays the role of Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war as a major factor in the radicalisation of young British Muslims. In effect, he says it’s the theology, stupid. That seems to be to be the crux of it. Yes, Iraq has been, and continues to be, a disaster, but until we manage to focus on the real wellsprings of power – the theology itself and the life-destroying interpretations of it that currently hold sway – little progress will be made. Rachel picks up on this theme over at her blog. -
Grow Old Along With Me…
It’s fifteen months now since we moved into the farmhouse that is now our home. The farmhouse has always been known locally as "De Witte Wand" – the White Wall. This struck us as a bit odd, since there is no white wall in sight anywhere on the property. It’s a brick building. We asked our neighbours about the name, and one of them said that originally, the farmhouse on this site was not built of brick, but of wattle and daub. The walls would then have been whitewashed, hence the name.
At some point in the farmhouse’s history, the wattle and daub walls have been replaced by bricks. The original timber frame was kept during the rebuilding, but the roof was enlarged. You can see the original roof frame in the attic, inside the larger frame that now supports the bigger roof.
We don’t know when that was done. We do know that the farmhouse has been on this spot since at least 1828. We know that because it is marked on a Kadaster (Land Registry map) that was made in that year.
Here’s a photo of the farmhouse taken at some point in the 20th century, when it was still a working farm. As you can see, it is a brick building by the time of this photograph.
The original of this photo is in the possession of the family that originally farmed here. It shows the front of the farmhouse, where the family would have lived. The rest of the farmhouse was the stall for the cows and the stable for the farmhorse. The outbuilding was where the pigs were kept. The family sold off the farm and some of the land, I think in the early 1970s. The farmhouse was bought by a doctor, who used it as a weekend cottage until 1980. At that point it was put back on the market and sold to the people who lived here until we bought it from them last year. Here’s an aerial shot of the farmhouse as it was in 1980.
You can clearly see what was originally the large entrance to the cow stalls at the rear of the house, although by this time the doorway has been replaced by French windows. The couple who bought the farmhouse in 1980 did extensive renovation and remodelling of the interior space. They also developed the gardens that surround the house.
Since buying the house, we have done little major work on the interior, apart from putting in a new kitchen. The gardens are being reshaped by Martin to become his concept and design. We’ve had no regrets about moving here, and hopefully we can continue to enjoy this house for many years to come.
Geoff Coupe's Blog 