The story of Oedipus – in an 8 minute short film, performed by vegetables. Nicely done, particularly the bit where he puts out his eyes…
(hat tip to In4mador)
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Scientific Alliance
I see that the news about the letter from the Royal Society to ExxonMobil has drawn a response from the Scientific Alliance. Luckily, Steven Poole is on hand to point out the unspeak in the response. Reading their web site, it doesn’t surprise me, it scores high on the Unspeak Meter (which I also like to think of as the Bullshit Meter).Leave a comment
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Face Illusion
An interesting illusion that plays with the way in which we perceive people’s faces. Though to use the face of Margaret Thatcher is enough to give me nightmares in any event.Leave a comment
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English Is A Patient On Life Support
Dr. Crippen is having a Victor Meldrew moment. I can well understand why. The Essence of Care programme has clearly laboured mightily, and doubtless at enormous expense, to produce a load of management-speak – otherwise known as twaddle and tripe.Leave a comment
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Letter From Thailand
Doug Ireland, on his DIRELAND blog, has a report from Alan Platt on the coup in Thailand. It makes interesting reading. Perhaps it is indeed "a step back to make a step forward".Leave a comment
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Camp Coffee
I grew up with foodstuffs such as Robertson’s Jams (with their golliwog labels) and Camp Coffee. And I never gave a thought to the semiotics. Nowadays, of course, we must agonise over the possible offence that we may be guilty of giving. Sepia Mutiny has a wonderful post about the evolution of the Camp Coffee label, an evolution that has been driven by political correctness. And what I really liked about the story was the totally from the left field bit about the Major General Sir Hector MacDonald. We are everywhere and everywhen…Leave a comment
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Impermanence
All things must pass. Everything dies.Perhaps it’s my age, but thoughts such as these increasingly occupy my mind. Not in a morbid way, but simply in the sense that it is so. This entry was triggered by Gelert posting his cosmic law:‘You shall never clean the toilet without remembering you may never use it again’At the same time, I’ve just started reading Joan Didion’s "The Year of Magical Thinking" – her memento mori, about her family, the death of her husband and survival. It opens thus:Life changes fast.Life changes in the instant.You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.The question of self-pity.But ain’t it the truth?And then, today, Dr. Charles posts one of his literary entries: Lantern. His writing is brilliant. Read it.Leave a comment
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Knowledge Dropped…
I mentioned the roundtable of Dropping Knowledge a while back, and mentioned my misgivings that it would be nothing more than a media event.Well, I went back to the web site, and guess what? It was a media event. I love the chutzpah of calling this a global dialog. What I saw was 112 monologues. No dialogue was entered into. Colour me cynical.Leave a comment
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A Most Singular Pavilion
This entry from Curiosities of Literature made my imagination spark into life.Leave a comment
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The Future of Science
A friend has just sent me a link to a live video webcast of the Future of Science conference that is currenly going on in Venice. Today is devoted to the theme of "evolution of matter"; tomorrow is "evolution of life" and Saturday’s theme is "evolution of mind". Here’s the conference programme. Some good things. I particularly want to see Dan Dennett’s talk on Saturday.One response to “The Future of Science”
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Thanks for this – I will try to watch.
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Branding
As Zune, Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s iPod, prepares to be launched, there’s a good overview on the likely impact on the digital music market in today’s Guardian.Also in the article is a reference to a parody video that purports to show what happens when Microsoft’s designers stamp their branding on the iPod packaging. I’d seen the video before, and it’s worth seeing, because it is so very true. But what I hadn’t appreciated until now is that apparently it had been produced within Microsoft itself. An organisation that can laugh at itself can’t be all bad.Leave a comment
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What’s The Number?
British telephone directories dating back to 1880 are being put online. The service is being run by Ancestry.co.uk, whose managing director, Josh Hanna, gushes:”They contain very particular details about the lives of the famous, and the infamous, including the likes of Sir Winston Churchill and Bram Stoker.”
Erm, aren’t those "very particular details" simply the address and telephone number of subscribers, Josh? Hardly earth-shattering revelations, although not without a certain interest, I do concede. Stuart Jeffries, in today’s Guardian, has a humorous take on the news.
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Did You Know?
A nice series of advertisments for Science World magazine. The second one appeals to my inner schoolboy.Leave a comment
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Tenacity
I usually think of the state of being alive as very fragile. So when I come across a story like this, it gives me pause for thought.2 responses to “Tenacity”
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I’m studying in the U.S, and there are a lot of Ductchmen.They are a little loud.hehe
have a nice day~~~
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Yes, and usually very direct as well. Me? I’m not Dutch, I’m Manx. Cheers!
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A Shot Across The Bows
I see that the Royal Society has taken a shot across the bows of the supertanker that is ExxonMobil – telling it to stop funding organisations that undermine research done on global warming. All very laudable, but supertankers take 20 miles to turn. My suspicion is that ExxonMobil will continue steaming ahead as usual.Leave a comment
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The Galaxy Song
2 responses to “The Galaxy Song”
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A litre of snot?? I thought nine spiders in a lifetime (How do they know this?) was bad enough, but a litre of snot – a day?!
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Aah, the highs and the lows of human existence… One minute it’s Beethoven’s 9th, the next it’s a litre of snot…
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Over The Top
Usually I have a lot of time for Sam Harris. But in his opinion piece in today’s LA Times, he does really seem to have made a mountain out of a molehill. Luckily, Steven Poole brings it back to a more manageable chunk.Leave a comment
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Drinking With The Inbetween People In The Last Chance Saloon
An excellent article by Timothy Garton Ash looking at Europe through the eyes of Ian Buruma and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I have Hirsi Ali’s book on my bookshelves, I await that of Buruma with anticipation.Leave a comment
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Great Balls Of Stone
While the trigger-happy among us might point to Intelligent Design or Alien Interference, these stone balls in Costa Rica are apparently a totally natural occurence. Ain’t Nature amazing?Leave a comment
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Soapbox
I see that Microsoft is gearing up to introduce its answer to YouTube – and it’s called Soapbox. The introductory video is suitably bizarre. God bless all who sail in her.Leave a comment
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