So, I mentioned the book that a seemingly unlikely trio have collaborated on. I’ve now got a copy, and it’s not bad at all. Suitable for a wide age range of people who are interested in science. There’s even a web page with a new riff by Brian May on it to publicise the book. Brings back memories of Queen!
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The Gender Genie
Do you write like a man or a woman? Try pasting in an example of your writing at The Gender Genie, and see if the genie gets it right. It did it my case, but then, it only has two options to choose from…(hat tip to Rachel for the the link)Leave a comment
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Hop-tu-Naa
When I was growing up on the Isle of Man, we children always celebrated Hop-tu-Naa on the 31st October. I’ve always assumed that it was simply a Manx version of Halloween. There are a lot of similarities – although the Manx custom of carving turnips into lanterns I’ve always thought to be far superior to the pumpkin (it takes more effort, so the sense of achievement is greater). But it turns out that the two festivals are unconnected. You’re never too old to learn something new…Leave a comment
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RIP Nigel Kneale
So, Nigel Kneale has died. Although born in Barrow-in-Furness, he came from a Manx family (Kneale is a common Manx name), and grew up on the Isle of Man.I was too young to be allowed to watch his masterpiece, Quatermass and the Pit, when it was shown on TV, but I did see the Hammer film version years later.Update: Mark Gatiss has a particularly nice tribute to Kneale in today’s Guardian.Leave a comment
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Domestic Science
Yet another cookery series started on BBC TV last night. This one is a bit different from the usual run of the mill, though. It is Heston Blumenthal demonstrating his method of cooking. Last night he did bangers and mash, and treacle tart with ice cream. At least, those were the names of the two courses he did, but his methods were so impractical for ordinary mortals that we haven’t a hope in hell of being able to serve them up in our own humble homes. I mean, liquid nitrogen and dry ice? They are not items that I can buy from my local village shop, Heston…Sam Wollaston, TV critic of the Guardian, gives a flavour of what the show was like. Mind you, I have to agree with Wollaston, it’s worth it just to watch Blumenthal perform his alchemy in the kitchen (and please tell me that that perfect kitchen, with its pastel tones and not a utensil out of place, was just a studio set). But I despair of ever being able to attempt any of his recipes.2 responses to “Domestic Science”
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Yes, the liquid nitrogen was laughable, how many ASDAs stock it anyway? Even the dry ice would probably send most of us to the Tesco freezer section, but I found him easy on the eyes and easier to watch than most chefs.
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Easy on the eyes? Well, true, he has something appealing about him. It’s a strange mixture of nerd and bruiser, I think. And I do wonder whether I’d actually like his food. Perhaps one day I’ll get a chance to taste it. But I’m reminded about the judgement of a friend of mine (whose judgement I trust) about a similar chef/restaurant. That’s the excreable El Bulli. Pretentiousness taken to an extreme level (take a look at their truly abominable Flash web site as a clue). Frankly, they should have stuck to minigolf. The world would have been a better place.
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Torchwood Again
OK, so I’ve now seen episode 3 of Torchwood. And I’m still not sure whether I like it. The scene at the shooting range, in particular, I found hard to take. I mean, what the F… was going on there? Satan corrupting Innocence, aka Jack putting the moves on Gwen? I dunno, but it left a somewhat nasty taste. Literally a whiff of cordite. To be honest, apart from the Gwen character, the Torchwood team seem to have totally lost their moral compass, and she seems as though she will go through the series having temptation spread liberally before her.It’s strange, Doctor Who had a mixture of innocence and world-weariness that worked very well. Torchwood gives off a stench of moral decay. I hope I’m wrong, and that the better parts of humanity will win through in the end.More views from Actually Existing…One response to “Torchwood Again”
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[…] see that Torchwood is returning to our haunted fishtanks next month. While I’ve been pretty disparaging about the series in the past, I have to say that I thought that it redeemed itself with the […]
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Rabbit
It’s an animated film by Run Wrake. It illustrates the importance of karma. It is bizarre. It is worth watching. It is for Chris and Ed.Leave a comment
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The Power of Art
BBC TV is broadcasting a series called The Power of Art at the moment. It’s been written, and is fronted by, the historian Simon Schama. There have been two episodes so far, the first on Caravaggio and the second on Bernini. I have found both to be riveting. Not because of the tiresome dramatised reconstructions, but because of the power of Schama’s words. I get quite irritated at watching hammy actors acting out something that Schama has just said; it’s a trend in today’s historical doumentaries that should have been drowned at birth. The series is at its best either with Schama speaking direct to camera, or showing the art, with Schama’s voiceover giving his view of the work.The series has had mixed reviews from the critics, and Schama replies in typical fashion with Bugger the Brickbats… Quite right, too. I’ll be there watching Schama deliver the rest of the series. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing his Rothko, since I’ve never thought much of that artist. I’m intrigued as to whether Schama can persuade me otherwise.Leave a comment
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The God Conundrum
Sean Carroll takes on Terry Eagleton’s review of Dawkins’ The God Delusion, and holes it below the waterline. An excellent article that shows up Eagleton’s hand-waving for the nonsense it it.Leave a comment
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Searching Spaces
One of the apparent limitations of Windows Live Spaces is the difficulty of tracking down topics that I’ve written about in my blog. You know the sort of thing: I remember writing about the BBC’s series of The Apprentice, but I can’t for the life of me remember when… Using Google or Windows Live Search returns millions of results, so how to narrow it down?Well, of course, it turns out that it’s relatively straightforward, if you know how.Google does have a blog search, and using the Advanced settings, it’s possible to narrow down the search to just my blog entries. That screen will build the search query for you using Google’s query syntax. So, the Advanced settings screen builds the query: "apprentice" blogurl:gcoupe.spaces.live.com.Windows Live Search has a similar capability, in fact their Advanced settings screen has more options to tune the search than Google does. Once again, using the Advanced Settings screen will build the query: apprentice site:gcoupe.spaces.live.com. You’ll notice that Microsoft’s query syntax is not the same as Google. Standards, doncha just love them? Rob has more about the Microsoft query syntax over at The Space Craft.One interesting thing about searching for the word "apprentice" in my blog: Windows Live Search finds all three instances; Google only finds two…2 responses to “Searching Spaces”
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Note Google’s advanced search options (http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/help/operators.html), which include the site: keywork. Apparently the blogurl: keyword is unique to their blog search itself, which I suspect is based off of their RSS reader engine rather than the proper search engine – interesting to see if they integrate the two.
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Thanks, Mike. But interestingly, I then used the site: operator to construct my search query apprentice site:gcoupe.spaces.live.com. This turns out to be the same search string that I used with Windows Live Search. And this time, Google returns no results at all… Dunno what’s going on, but it proves that you shouldn’t trust technology…
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A Portrait of Pervasive Pachyderm Dysfunction
Charles Siebert authors a fascinating article in the New York Times about the evidence that elephant society is breaking down. The parallels with our own are uncomfortable.(hat tip to Apophenia for the link)Leave a comment
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Say My Name…
Coboró visits Ypres, and pens a typically powerful piece about both the futility of war, and its insidious way of breeding future conflicts. Read it.Leave a comment
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Torchwood: Thumbs-up or Thumbs-down?
Well, there’s a spectrum of reactions to Torchwood. Ranging from Nicholas’ positive review to Justin’s burial. While I think that Justin was unnecessarily harsh, I can see what he means. I watched the two opening episodes with a feeling that I wanted it to succeed, rather than being bowled over by it. Oh well, episode 3 tonight, we’ll see whether it starts to get its pterodactyl claws into me or not.One response to “Torchwood: Thumbs-up or Thumbs-down?”
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Funny enough, I saw this while in Holland. I watched the first episode and the early bits of the second. I had much the same reaction – it seemed to me that if it lives long enough to settle down a bit, it’ll actually be quite good. If.
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Religion Explained
PZ Myers over at Pharyngula has posted this link to Lewis Black explaining judaeo-christianity. Dunno who this bloke Lewis Black is, but he hits the nail on the head a number of times for me…One response to “Religion Explained”
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Outstanding American comedian – did a stint as a reporter on The Daily Show for quite a while. I think you’d really appreciate a lot of his humor. That said, I can’t lay hands on any of it at the moment, making this a rather useless comment – ah, well.
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The Blind Watchmaker
And sticking with the theme of 1980s TV, here’s a link that will lead you to a TV special from that time starring a younger Richard Dawkins, talking about the Blind Watchmaker… Terrific stuff!And I can’t help but note that this programme was made by the BBC’s Horizon team. That was then, when programme makers were not afraid to have experts, such as Dawkins, address the camera directly to put across complex ideas without the need for flashy graphics, bizarre camera angles and loud music. Today’s Horizon, by comparison, seems to embody the very worst of bad ideas from generations of meeja-studies graduates. Damn them all to hell.Leave a comment
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Max Headroom
Thanks to Alun, over at Archaeoastronomy, I’ve just seen the backstory to the 1980s TV character known as Max Headroom. The pilot episode actually holds up pretty well, even today.Leave a comment
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Plus Ça Change…
Tim Adams has an interesting article in today’s Observer about Second Life – the online virtual world where a million people have gone to escape from their real lives – and ended up doing exactly the same things as people do in the real world. Wetware or software – it’s all the same, it seems to me. The attraction of Second Life continues to baffle me.Leave a comment
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Lipstick on the Pig
Steven Poole, over at Unspeak, draws our attention to some of the wilder shores of Dubya’s rhetoric. As if we needed to be reminded that there is a buffoon in the White House.Leave a comment
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The Power Of Divs
Stewart Lee has a good video exploring the inanity of religion-driven prejudice. What’s wrong with blasphemy? Absolutely nothing, Stewart. But where’s the rest of your polemic? I’d like to see it…Update: oh, here are the various parts, chopped up to fit on YouTube. Well done, Mr. Lee. what you said was worth saying.Leave a comment
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