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Monthly Archives: December 2006
Test Your General Knowledge
This year’s edition of the King William’s College General Knowledge paper is now available. For those of you who don’t know about the tradition, each Christmas, the school sets this paper as a test for its pupils. It is always … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment
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North Pole, Alaska
Jon Ronson is an excellent writer who seems to specialise in describing the stranger shores of the human species. His The Men Who Stare At Goats, for example is a book both hilarious and chilling about some of the bizarre characters … Continue reading
December Mist
It’s only this week that the weather has become noticeably colder, and thus more in keeping with the season. Last Monday, the mist rolled in, so the daily walk in the woods took on an additional air of mystery. … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
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Natural Family Planning
As the old joke says, the majority of those who use natural family planning turn out to be parents… Never a truer word was spoken… And don’t even begin to ask about the appallingly stupid dandelions versus thornless roses that … Continue reading
Posted in Society
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Die, Blitcon Zombie Meme, Die!
That bizarre piece by Ziauddin Sardar that I mentioned recently has garnered support from (to me) an unexpected quarter: Sunny Hundal. Fortunately, J. Carter Wood from Obscene Desserts is at hand to unpick the arguments.
Posted in Society
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Rosa Parks Lives…
Same old, same old… Meh, what can I say? It’s my species… But why is it usually the male that is the mishuggenah? (hat tip to Onegoodmove for the link)
Posted in Society
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Another Bookish Wunderkamer
Oh dear, Not Saussure has brought Bibliodyssey to my attention. Like Giornale Nuovo and the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society, Bibliodyssey seems set to prove to be another addictive timewaster. I just can’t help it.
Posted in Books
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Stadhuis in the Fog
This is a very evocative photo of the Gouda Townhall (stadhuis). Wish I’d taken it.
Posted in Art
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Another Quiz…
This time, I feel comfortable with the outcome, being as I was trained to be an engineer… You scored as Engineer. Military Engineer. Your job is usually overlooked, but without you nothing gets done. While you sometimes annoyed at … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment
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Meet Clint…
…The Christmas Cowboy Merman. Okaaay… What’s the backstory on that? Our tree doesn’t even have a fairy this year (more’s the pity, but then I’m not in charge of the tree decorations this time around).
Posted in Folklore
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For Carl
… That was the dedication on the film Contact, the best film of exploring the wonder of the universe by the scientific method I’ve ever seen. The stunning opening three and a half minutes that takes you travelling out across the universe and … Continue reading
Posted in Science
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A Bunch of Bankers
Here’s a salutary tale from an overseas student at Cambridge. He received a letter from his bank (the HSBC Group) telling him that they no longer wished to provide him with banking services, and that he had 30 days to … Continue reading
Posted in Organizations
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Hearing Voices
And another tip of the hat to Mind Hacks. This time for the entry illustrating schizoaffective disorder, with a link to an article describing the symptoms, written by someone who suffers from it. Hell on earth comes closest to what … Continue reading
Posted in Health and wellness
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The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow
Mind Hacks has an entry on Professor Temple Grandin. It includes a link to the BBC Horizon programme made about her. Unlike many of recent Horizon programmes, this particular episode is well worth watching. Grandin is a fascinating individual, and … Continue reading
Posted in Society
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Pilobolus and the Lungworm
In a post that is reminiscent of Carl Zimmer’s fascination with parasites, Jack writes about the relationship between the Pilobolus fungus and the lungworm parasite. Nature is a marvel.
Posted in Nature
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Merry Mithras
I adore QI, the slightly bizarre quiz show hosted by the urbane national treasure that is Stephen Fry. Last week’s episode on BBC Three was the Christmas Special (it’ll be repeated this Friday on BBC Two). It contains this somewhat … Continue reading
Posted in Humour
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Films To See
There’s a couple of films that have gone on my "to see" list. One is The Fountain and the second is El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth). As you can probably guess, I have a soft spot for the cinema … Continue reading
Posted in Film
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FizerPharm Inc.
I’ve blogged about this FizerPharm Inc. presentation before. But now I see that it has come to the attention of PZ Myers, so I feel that it’s worth repeating. What I didn’t realise the first time around is that Peter … Continue reading
Posted in Science
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