This experiment takes me back in time. When I was ten, I discovered this chemical reaction for myself. Except I used sugared almonds and Qualtrough’s best lemonade. The effect was the same. I didn’t try a whole packet at once though. Too much of a good thing can get quite messy.
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Cultural Conditioning
Lauren, over at the Feministe blog, posts a powerful tale about culture, courage, prejudice and a piece of cloth. Go and read it.Leave a comment
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Take The Test
Another fun test that probably means nothing, but passes the time… I certainly don’t feel androgynous – but I do fancy Neo’s leather coat and dark glasses, even though I know they’d make me look a complete prat…Androgynous
You scored 60 masculinity and 63 femininity!You scored high on both masculinity and femininity. You have a strong personality exhibiting characteristics of both traditional sex roles. 
My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: 
You scored higher than 16% on masculinity You scored higher than 58% on femininity Link: The Bem Sex Role Inventory Test written by weirdscience on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test Leave a comment
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RIP, Robert Sheckley
Robert Sheckley, the author, has died. I enjoyed his absurdist SF tales such as The Alchemical Marriage of Alistair Crompton. I should go back and re-read them.Leave a comment
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Justice is Done
I mentioned the case of the sparrow blasted to smithereens last month because it knocked over a domino (or two). Well, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service has spoken and fined the killer 200 euros for the heinous act.It turns out there’s even a somewhat bizarre back story to these events. The evidence of the crime (i.e. the remains of the sparrow) are currently in a freezer somewhere in the bowels of the Public Prosecution Service. There’s talk of sending them to the Nature Museum in Rotterdam. The chief conservationist, Kees Moeliker, is wondering how much actually is left for him to stuff and mount. He would like to display the little fellow in a forthcoming exhibition as "an icon of the love for sparrows". Er, Kees, it was shot… What I mean, protests Kees, is that the exhibition can become "a place of pilgrimage". Yes, thank you, Kees, and goodnight.Meanwhile, the director of the Nature Museum in Friesland (the region where the crime was committed) has mixed feelings. He would have liked the sparrow for his museum… The papers don’t report what his intentions were for the corpse. Better not to ask, I think.Update: I should have recognised the name of Kees Moeliker. He’s the author of that stirring piece of research: The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos (Aves: Anatidae). Silly of me. But today’s entry in the Improbable Research blog has put me right.Leave a comment
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You Cannot Be Serious…
"Serious Organised Crime"? This is obviously a different definition of "serious" than the one I am used to. It might well have been "organised", but I for one would not view it as a "crime". Clearly, I’m not paranoid enough…2 responses to “You Cannot Be Serious…”
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hi
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er, hello.
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The Artistry of the Blaschkas
Rudolph and Leopold Blaschka were a father and son team of artists working in glass in the 19th Century. I first came across them when Martin and I visited the Ware collection of Glass Models of Plants at Harvard University in 1992. The Blaschkas made over 4,000 botanical models of plants and flowers entirely out of glass. They are staggeringly beautiful and accurate models. What I didn’t know, until today, was that the Blaschkas were also responsible for glass models of marine animals as well. Equally staggering.One response to “The Artistry of the Blaschkas”
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lovely work
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Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter will receive the Nobel Prize for literature on Saturday. The text of his acceptance speech has been printed in The Guardian today. Go and read it, for it is powerful stuff.Leave a comment
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Chocolate Fountain
Willie Wonka, eat your heart out! So kitsch, it’s wonderful!One response to “Chocolate Fountain”
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Ooooo I know, I want one for christmas!!(so speaks the true chocoholic…)
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Yo-yo Art
When I was young, I briefly toyed with the yo-yo. I was pretty hopeless at it, and could never be bothered to practise for long. This young man doesn’t seem to have had the same problem.Leave a comment
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Safe Art
It’s a bit late, because I’ve been waiting for better pictures. Here’s what they did in Buenos Aires to mark World AIDS Day…Leave a comment
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Eat More Greens
And, it seems, that means broccoli in particular. At least it isn’t brussels sprouts. Although, if you’re a fan of sprouts, then perhaps you’d care to try Jones’ Brussels Sprouts Soda?Leave a comment
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One Day
That’s how long the civil partnership of gay couple Matthew Roche (46) and Christopher Cramp (37) lasted. And before you jump to conclusions, the reason that it only lasted a day is because Matthew died of cancer yesterday. But it was important to them both that their love and committment to each other be acknowledged by the society in which they lived. Recognition of basic human dignity matters to people. That’s an affirmation of the institution of marriage, not its undermining. Pity that some are so blind that they cannot see that.Leave a comment
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Playboy. In Braille
This must be a hoax. It can’t be genuine, can it? It is just too bizarre for words, or for raised bumps for that matter.One response to “Playboy. In Braille”
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I don’t know, can you think of a better publication to be read by feeling up the raised bumps? It’d be interesting to see a copy in bas relief sometime….
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Ken Mackintosh
I was speaking to my brother yesterday and he told me that Ken Mackintosh had died aged 86. Ken Mackintosh was a popular saxophonist and band leader. He and his band often played at the Villa Marina in the Isle of Man, and spent several summer seasons on the island. The trombonist of the band, Gordon Langhorn, stayed in my parent’s hotel (the Ivanhoe, on Loch Promenade, demolished in 1998), and through him, my parents got to know Ken. I think I met him a number of times – but my clearest memory of him is when I was seven. He came to visit me in hospital, following an operation. I suspect that I remember it most clearly, because he brought me a toy aeroplane – a Vickers Viscount, which I subsequently played with incessantly.Leave a comment
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Bette Bourne
The Guardian today carries an article on Bette Bourne – one of the UK stage’s great institutions. I recall going to see Bette and her Bloolips troupe a number of times during the 1970s and early 80s, and always having a hoot. Theatre at its most outrageous. Long may she reign.Leave a comment
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Civil Partnerships
So today is the day that same-sex civil partnerships become legal in the UK. Needless to say, most of the UK media is carrying the story, although the Daily Telegraph is somewhat stingy with its coverage, preferring instead to concentrate on Christianity.Hopefully, at some point the law will permit full civil marriages, just as here in The Netherlands, but this is a good start.And for those who think that the institution of marriage is somehow under attack, a review through history will show that marriage has always had a wide range of expression. My favourite of these historical examples is also the very earliest: the tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep – dating from around 2,400 BC. Although even here we’re not free of the stereotypes, it would seem. They are both described in the hieroglyphs as having the title of "Overseer of the manicurists in the palace of the King". Honestly, if we’re not all supposed to be screaming hairdressers or make-up artists, we’re bloody manicurists…Leave a comment
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Farewell SCI FICTION
There was once a host organism called SCIFI.COM. It was an online presence designed to market the Sci Fi cable channel in the US. It hosted what I would describe as a symbiote: SCI FICTION – the division of the company that published Science Fiction short stories online. The symbiote, embodied by its enlightened editor Ellen Datlow, did well, and the quality of the material was recognised by awards from the science fiction community at large.Alas, the host organism appears to have decided that the symbiote is a parasite, and will be excising it at the end of this month. So a valuable channel of new (and old) science fiction short story writing will soon be silenced. One can only hope that the existing stories will remain archived at the site – but there’s no guarantee, and some have already been removed.I find the announcement of the closure typical of the "we’re throwing the baby out with the bathwater, because we’re a bunch of philistines" school of not recognising something good when it’s staring them in the face: As SCIFI.COM gears up to expand with exciting new ventures utilizing the newest technology, it will discontinue SCI FICTION, the online publishing division of the site, at the end of 2005.David Schwartz has come up with a good idea to commemorate the writing, and the work of Ellen Datlow, over at the ED SF Project. It’s a collection of appreciations of the stories. Go and visit. Who knows, you might feel inclined to read some of the original stories, even if you are not a fan of SF.Leave a comment
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Ice Age Ahead?
A rather worrying report in the New Scientist this week, about the fact that the Gulf Stream may be changing. It’s the Gulf Stream that prevents us from having really severe winters, and if that goes, then we’ll definitely be holding the Elfstedentocht every year.Leave a comment
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We All Scream For Ice Cream
But probably not for some of the flavours that are out there. Such as Squid or Soy Sauce. Mind you, I wouldn’t mind trying the wasabi ice cream mentioned in that second link.One of the most memorable ice creams I’ve had is currently on the menu at Dekxels. It’s a mango-chilli ice cream, which is served with a warm basil tea and a mango fruit shake. You put a serving of the ice cream onto a chinese spoon, pour on the tea and eat it. The warmth of the tea, combined with the coldness of the ice, plus the mingling of the flavours of the basil and the mango, with the last sensation being the kick of the chilli is quite extraordinary.2 responses to “We All Scream For Ice Cream”
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I keep meaning to try and recreate the green tea ice cream in the passion fruit(?) soup I had at Dekxels.A chain of gourmet creamaries over here, Coldstone, recently had a wasabi flavor that I believe has been discontinued. Unfortunately, it didn’t translate as well into ice cream as I would have liked. Maybe with the right sauces and accompaniments…
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Good luck with the recreation – let me know how it goes. Pity about the wasabi ice – it sounded intriguing. Still, there’s always Jones’ Soda – with its Brussels Sprout flavour, I suppose: http://www.jonessoda.com/files_new/turkey05.html
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