davidstwistedmind

Woo

2011-05-21T20:12:00.002+01:00

The law has just changed so that it is no longer illegal to rip a cd onto your computer. However, you can't copy a vinyl LP onto a cassette because "Home taping is killing music". :-D

2011-05-20T08:02:00.000+01:00

I don't "believe in...", I "believe that..."

2011-05-16T09:17:00.002+01:00

I wish people would stop saying that they believe in something, because it is too imprecise and open to misinterpretation. The statement "I believe in peace" might mean "I believe that peace is possible" or "I believe that peace is preferable to conflict". Similarly, if someone says "I believe in [insert name of locally popular deity]" they might mean "I believe that [insert name of locally popular deity] exists" or "I believe that [insert name of locally popular deity] is omnipotent and omniscient" or "I believe that the teachings of [insert name of locally popular deity] gives guidance of how to live one's life."

What is needed is to replace "in" with "that" because it forces the explanation. The imprecise "I believe in love" would have to be explained as "I believe that one day I will find love" or "I believe that love makes a lot of people happy" or "I believe that being loved is the preferred state" etc.

Truths?

2011-05-16T09:13:00.002+01:00

Whilst watching a religious debate online recently I became increasingly irritated by one participant who repeatedly used the word "truths" when describing the content of her preferred book of myths. The contents of the book are not truths. They are not undisputed facts or descriptions of reality. By misusing the word "truths", she was able to make such claims as "My truths are of equal value to your truths". This is blatantly wrong. She was claiming that opinions are the same as facts and unsupported assertions are the same as accurate descriptions of reality. Wanting something to be true does not make it true. Wishful thinking should not be mistaken for reality.

Recreation of a t-shirt I saw today

2011-04-11T15:48:00.002+01:00

Girl - My Number

2011-03-31T16:13:00.000+01:00

applause

2011-03-14T17:58:00.000Z

Within Temptation - Faster

2011-03-09T09:10:00.000Z

CEBIT 2011: Asus motherboard box doubles as PC case

2011-03-03T16:01:00.000Z

How to ruin your image

2011-03-02T10:35:00.002Z

Method 1, name changes.

Johnny Cougar ---> John Cougar Mellencamp ---> John Mellencamp.

Siouxsie - Peek-a-Boo

2011-02-20T19:07:00.000Z

The Move - California Man

2011-02-19T19:03:00.000Z

Bands seemed to have more fun in 1972.

Volkswagen Commercial: The Force

2011-02-11T11:02:00.000Z

Gamarjobat on Comedy Rocks funny japanese lol

2011-02-05T19:59:00.000Z

Rory Gallagher: even Jimi Hendrix said he was the best.

2011-02-04T09:21:00.001Z

Suddenly it's 1983

2011-02-03T09:14:00.000Z

	Various Artists - White Lines - Grandmaster Flash .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Epic Steam Bike

2011-01-15T08:00:00.000Z

I have seen the future!

Obi Wan Kenobi town?

2011-01-15T07:27:00.001Z

Homeless Radio Announcer Ted Williams on CBS - NEW VIDEO INTERVIEW (Orig...

2011-01-07T09:06:00.001Z

Homeless man with awesome radio voice- get him a gig! (TED WILLIAMS)

2011-01-07T09:06:00.000Z

TV/Movie insult

2010-12-19T08:12:00.004Z

This happens in many movies and it seems like half of all CSI episodes. Our hero is watching a low quality CCTV recording on VHS when he turns to the technician and says "Zoom in and enhance that reflection on the victim's eye" et voila, we see a high quality image of the killer. One pixel becomes a million different pixels thanks to a magic "enhancer". I might suspend belief if the story was set far in the future where the technology is so advanced that it seems like magic to the primitive 21st century viewer but to suggest that it can be done in the present is an insult to the intelligence.

Your faith is a joke

2010-12-16T18:00:00.000Z

Virus

2010-12-13T12:10:00.002Z

This post contains a text version of a virus.

Please email a copy of this post to everyone in your email address book and then delete all the important files on your hard disk.

Roughage vs dietary fibre

2010-12-12T10:54:00.004Z

I started thinking about the fact that everyone has stopped using the word "roughage" and have substituted "fibre" or "dietary fibre". I wondered how this happened. My suspicious, cynical mind wondered who could benefit from this financially. My conclusion is that "roughage" is a vital component of human diet that occurs naturally in many types of food, whereas "dietary fibre" is a vital component of human diet identified on food labels used as a selling point or added to food products as an "extra" to justify higher prices. The sad thing is that healthcare professionals have fallen for this ruse and are using the food manufacturers' marketing term thereby conferring credibility.

Illusion of superiority

2010-12-11T07:32:00.000Z

Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Stats - ...

2010-12-01T09:10:00.000Z

Who knew statistics could look so cool?

Nicolas Cage Losing His Shit

2010-11-25T17:37:00.000Z

4 minutes and 14 seconds of Nicholas Cage freaking out.

I never realised just how bad his acting is.

Baby Monkey (Going Backwards On A Pig) - Parry Gripp

2010-11-13T09:43:00.000Z

Stupid Ikea online system

2010-11-12T09:07:00.004Z

I created an account and the system automatically logged me in. However, the next time attempted to log in, it won't let me because my password is longer than 10 characters. This is true but why did the system accept it in the first place and log me in?

Loving this job

2010-11-04T14:30:00.004Z

It's been a while since I blogged about teaching. This new job is turning out to be every bit as good as I'd hoped. The first half term is over and I've got to know all the students' names and marked their tests and homeworks. What prompted this post were a few incidents over the last three days where I had been explaining a process/phenomenon to a certain point and was about to ask a question about what this suggested about either a related example or the next stage of the process when, unprompted, the students asked the exact same question and proposed an answer or explanation. Each time, I involved the rest of the students in a discussion whereby they all agreed with the proposed answer and I happily confirmed that they were correct. Happy, confident, young people developing critical thinking skills. These are going to be some great scientists.

Funny kids

2010-11-03T18:00:00.002Z

I just overheard my two youngest start a word association game. The first one said "Spanish". The second immediately replied "Inquisition" to which the first said "I wasn't expecting that!" and all three of us both fell about laughing.

THE WORST LAUGH IN THE WORLD!™

2010-10-27T09:28:00.000+01:00

BBC dumbing down

2010-10-09T19:23:00.002+01:00

The dumbing down of the BBC as exemplified by the movie review show presenters:
Past-->Present-->Future
Barry Norman, Jonathan Ross, Claudia Winkleman, Timmy Mallet, Jedward.

Batshit crazy

2010-09-30T10:53:00.002+01:00

I've just discovered the meaning of transubstantiation. I assumed that the bread and wine in the catholic communion was meant to symbolise the body and blood of Jesus. It turns out that Catholics beleive that it actually is the body and blood of Jesus. They still look and taste like bread and wine but have been magically changed into Jesus. They are serious.

Belief: Acceptance of a premise to be true without proof.

Gullibility: Tendency to believe too readily

Foolish: Devoid of good judgement

This is a strange year

2010-09-17T14:06:00.002+01:00

In April I experienced 3 weeks of autumn in New Zealand. Then came late spring and summer in the UK and now it's autumn again, only 5 months after the last one. I feel like as though I've missed a winter and a have the nagging feeling that I've forgotten my birthday and Christmas. It's very disorientating.

Confusing statistics

2010-09-16T10:28:00.003+01:00

On the radio news this morning I heard "A report revealed that 5% of children in primary schools have reading levels below the average". Surely the existence of an average means 50% are above and 50% are below?

Get a fcuking grip!

2010-09-10T09:55:00.001+01:00

When a whackjob announces the mass burning of the rule book of your private club there are two possible responses.

Correct response: A shrug of the shoulders and the words "What a dickhead".

Incorrect response: Threats of hysterical riots, violence and murder.

Haiku

2010-09-10T08:16:00.000+01:00

Haiku are easy

But mine don't always make sense

Hippopotamus

Weird dream about the Pope

2010-09-09T08:52:00.002+01:00

His entourage walked into the place where I was working. They approached me and the Pope extended his arm so that I could kneel and kiss his ring. In my head, Admiral Ackbar's voice said "It's a trap!" and I noticed that he was accompanied a pair of albino monk assassins. So I smashed a window with a chair and ran away. I then went into hiding like in the Bourne Identity, plotting my revenge.

23 letters from T-Mobile yesterday!

2010-09-04T09:55:00.002+01:00

Who's been a naughty girl?

2010-09-02T09:04:00.002+01:00

No comment needed.

Amazing story

2010-08-20T11:47:00.003+01:00

Whilst waiting for my order in a local Chinese Takeaway yesterday I couldn't help but overhear a conversation between the elderly chef and another customer. When asked about his health the chef said "I go to the gym every day. My doctor says I'm in perfect health but he has no idea why. Three years ago I was diagnosed with liver cancer but today I'm completely clear. I have had no medicines or medical treatments. Three years ago I couldn't lift a box of mushrooms, today I can lift a woman!"

Arrgh Kelloggs no!

2010-08-19T07:58:00.002+01:00

I thought my Cornflakes tasted sweet this morning so I looked at the ingredient list and discovered that they are now using glucose fructose syrup. There is a lot of bad publicity for this stuff.

What's the deal with Gas Marks?

2010-08-17T12:23:00.003+01:00

Every recipe has a "gas mark" number quoted next to a proper temperature setting. Why can't gas cookers have temperatures marked on their dials? Oh wait, they do! Enough off this silly gas mark nonsense.

In my Neighbourhood

2010-08-16T12:52:00.001+01:00

Predictions

2010-08-15T10:08:00.002+01:00

I predict that within a year there will be a SatNav/GPS system with a Bluetooth connection to glasses to display an overlay on real life. Initially this will be for drivers following a route but very soon businesses will pay to have tags on their buildings advertising their business, special offers etc.
Now that robots can really run, there will be a robot Olympics on a full sized athletics track.

Windows login is sarcastic.

2010-08-14T16:37:00.002+01:00

"Did you forget your password?" Fcuk off. I didn't forget, I mistyped.

To the Bat Cave! There's not a moment to lose!

2010-08-14T11:51:00.001+01:00

The problem with digital cameras

2010-08-13T08:30:00.002+01:00

...is they look boring.

Where's the fun in pointing a box the size of a cigarette packet someone.

Look at this old cine camera. It's obviously a Flash Gordon ray gun. Much more fun to point at someone.

Misguided reasons for giant clock in Mecca

2010-08-11T16:28:00.003+01:00

Muslims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia plan to build a clock tower a dozen times larger than, and in the style of, the clock tower (incorrectly) known as Big Ben in London. Their intention is that this would become the clock by which all time is set. They mistakenly believe that Big Ben is connected to Greenwich Mean Time and they are obviously unaware that GMT was replaced by Coordinated Universal Time, based on world-wide network of atomic clocks, decades ago. As far as I can tell they think that a giant clock tower magically relocates zero longitude. I think what they secretly want to build is a giant penis with the name of their god on it.

Based on the reasoning of Epicurus (Greek philosopher, BC 341-270)

2010-07-31T12:49:00.010+01:00


.                 .-----------------------.---------------------.
.                 | God is willing to     | God is not willing  |
.                 | prevent evil          | to prevent evil     |
.-----------------|-----------------------|---------------------|
| God is able     | Then whence  cometh   |  God is malevolent  |
| to prevent evil | evil?                 |                     |
|-----------------|-----------------------|---------------------|
| God is not able | God is not omnipotent | Why call him God?   |
| to prevent evil |                       |                     |
'-----------------'-----------------------'---------------------'

Faulty logic, faulty science.

2010-07-24T09:15:00.007+01:00

"Scientists prove the chicken came before the egg!"

This story was in many newspapers and on dozens of news and science websites. It was also false. The scientists in question have discovered a protein in the ovaries of birds which is responsible for binding calcium. Without it birds eggs would have no calcium in their shell. Big deal! Reptiles have no calcium in the shell of their eggs. Birds and reptiles have a common ancestor. What the scientists have demonstrated is something we already know - at some point in their evolution, birds acquired the ability to produce eggs with hard shells whilst their close relatives did not. Hardly headline news is it?

Puppet politicians

2010-07-23T13:31:00.003+01:00

US oil companies, who are competitors to BP, own US politicians and have ordered them to further attack BP by attempting to link BP to the terrorist who planted the bomb which destroyed the plane over Locherbie in 1988. Just look at those puppet senators jump.

Blog refocus

2010-07-23T12:02:00.002+01:00

I need to remind myself of why I started this blog in 2002. It was to be a place where recorded what was going on in my life or in my head. I was aware of the fact that other people might read it but that didn't have much bearing on the content. It was never intended to be a digital noticeboard to show what I've stumbled across.

NZ Fish and Chip shop menu

2010-07-06T11:14:00.002+01:00

What do you expect if you stand on a dolphin?

2010-07-06T11:10:00.002+01:00

Seen in New Zealand.

I don't believe it.

2010-07-05T15:19:00.003+01:00

extra-terrestrial visitors to earth
ghosts
evil spirits
gods
astrology
santa claus
tooth fairy
good luck charms
superstitions
supernatural beings
magic
fortune tellers
mediums
loch ness monster
tarot cards
fung shui
reincarnation
unicorns
yeti
miracles
horoscopes
hell
heaven
demons
leprechauns
devil
life after death
omens
witchcraft
zombies
vampires
fairies

When an irresistible force meets an unmovable object

2010-07-05T09:22:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I was in a supermarket, walking along an aisle carring my hand basket, when a teenage girl who had been stacking shelves began walking rapidly towards me from the opposite direction intent on reaching a point somewhere behind me. When she was about five feet away she started looking at the floor and carried on walking right at me. She clearly was pretending that she hadn't seen me, though she certainly had, and I had better move or she would walk into me. I merely stopped walking and stood looking at her as she continued to rush towards me. At the last minute she looked up and was clearly amazed that I had not stepped out of her way. I just looked at her wearing my "Fuck you" face. She quickly realised that I knew what she had tried to do and stepped aside blushing.This is obviously something she has done before and assumed it would work again. She was wrong.

Something not quite right here.

2010-07-02T16:23:00.001+01:00

I received this email from a cashback website. Normally they make perfect sense.

Hi [name],

Weve got some good news - weve just made a payment of £[payment amount] into the [Bank/Paypal] account you selected in your account settings.

You should receive it within the next [x] days, but if you have any queries then please contact us

It does matter what people believe.

2010-06-15T11:31:00.003+01:00

Beliefs inform actions and actions have consequences for the believer and others.

Scam formula #1

2010-05-29T15:05:00.003+01:00

Scam: Advance Fee Frauds
Approach: "Give us money now and you'll get loads of goodies later".
Examples: Nigerian 419 Scam, religions.

Commandment

2010-05-21T09:29:00.003+01:00

"Thou shalt not kill"
Those four words forbid killing. There is no "except" in there.
If killing is forbidden that means that humans, animals and plants cannot be killed.

If commandment meant "Thou shalt not murder" it should say so. If it doesn't say it, it doesn't mean it. Wanting it to say "murder" does not make it happen.

Presumably the commandment applies only to humans so it's alright for other species to kill. Humans are commanded to waiting around for animals and plants to die naturally before they can be eaten.

Immortality

2010-05-20T11:54:00.002+01:00

It's funny where my mind wanders off to if I let it:

That's a Disney DVD.
Walt Disney's body has been frozen in the hope that he can be brought back to life in the future.
Maybe they only needed to preserve his head and then it could be attached to a machine.
Maybe they only need his brain.
It could be attached to a machine. Or inside a robot!
They probably only need to store his mind/memories electronically.
They don't need to store them, they could be transferred to a robot as soon as he died.
If the technology existed.
Which it didn't... and doesn't... yet?

Hidden gem

2010-05-18T14:14:00.002+01:00

I heard a rumour about the Playstation 1 and so I checked it out for myself. It's true, the sound quality from an audio CD played on one of these things is extremely high quality, in fact I don't think I've ever heard better.

Honky?

2010-05-18T10:52:00.005+01:00

White rappers should start calling each other "my honky". Mind you, it's a pretty feeble racial insult. What else is there? Cracker? That's already been used for computer hackers and thin crisp wafers.

Captain's Log

2010-05-18T10:48:00.003+01:00

A question occurred to me. Why do the inhabitants of the Star Trek universe refer to their present time in terms of Star Date but refer to their past or future in terms of Earth's Gregorian calendar?

Why not Bulgaria?

2010-05-15T10:32:00.002+01:00

All week I have been driving past a poster posing the question in the title of this post. Today curiosity got the better of me and I parked my car and walked to have a closer look at it. At the top of the poster in letters too small to be seen from a distance were the words "Looking to invest in property abroad?" Well done to whoever designed the sign. It got my attention. If I was considering entering into property speculation I might well indeed consider Bulgaria.

Superweeds

2010-05-08T13:50:00.002+01:00

Just as the overuse of antibiotics promoted the evolution of resistant strains of bacteria, the practice of routine spraying Monsanto weedkiller onto Monsanto's GM crops has produced strains of resistant weeds. Are we surprised? *sigh*

Police bears?

2010-05-02T08:04:00.002+01:00

Apparently a bear's sense of smell is seven times greater than that of a bloodhound. It seems logical that the police should replace their dogs with bears. Bears would be more successful in tracking fugitives and abductees. The sight of sniffer-bears are airports would be amazing and I imagine the use of attack-bears to control riots would be very effective.

3 weeks in paradise

2010-04-24T12:26:00.009+01:00

It was warmer in the NZ autumn than in the UK summer.
I drove right round the south island of NZ (a couple of thousand miles) but I soooo did not want to go home.

Some graffiti makes me smile

2010-03-19T17:59:00.002Z

Mystery Shopper

2010-03-19T11:19:00.000Z

I am the new office hero for refusing to disclose information to an undercover member of the audit team who just showed up today. His enquiries seemed plausible but I was unable to confirm his identity so I declined his request for info. He immediately smiled and revealed the true purpose of his vist and his real identity. We passed the information security breach test.

One of these things is not like the others

2010-03-17T19:41:00.003Z

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Spotted in one of the kitchens at work today.

Holy cow!

2010-03-13T07:41:00.002Z

Google Street view shows my house clearly enough to count individual bricks.

Yay!

2010-03-13T07:25:00.002Z

Our first and second sons have both accepted offers of places at University starting in September/October.

New Zealand, Part 2.

2010-03-13T07:10:00.002Z

Next month we will be returning to New Zealand for another holiday, in the south island this time. The north island was the most beautiful place I'd ever been to and photographs of the south island look even better. On the down side, I'm not looking forward to flying 12,000 miles each way.

This can't be normal

2010-03-09T06:52:00.003Z

My youngest two sons (twins) turned 14 at the weekend. Last night our second oldest asked me whether I'd seen what one of the twins was writing on his laptop and I told him that I hadn't. He suggested that I took a look. He was 17 pages into an article with the title "An independent study of the universe." He was just completing a section about the "event horizon" of a black hole. I took a look at the article and was amazed to see that he was referencing his sources and was critically evaluating current theories as he understood them. This isn't what 14 year old boys do.

A view from my workplace

2010-03-05T17:50:00.004Z

This view might disappear when the area in foreground is redeveloped. The large building in the background on the left is the college that two of my sons attend and behind that on the right is a football stadium. Just to the left of the hills is the coast.

View from my teaching room

2010-03-05T17:48:00.002Z

From my 4th floor window. The rear entrance to the railway station can be seen behind the row of black taxis (with yellow rears).

Feeling tired.

2010-03-04T21:28:00.001Z

The new job is great but there's a lot to learn quickly and the new routine is tiring at the moment. On the plus side I have a 4 minute walk from my home to the station and only 1 minute walk at the other end.

Headhunted again.

2010-02-24T16:29:00.002Z

Well sort of. I'm currently working for a teacher supply agency but I've been approached by an organisation with a government contract to train unemployed adults who need a Numeracy and Literacy qualification to assist them in gaining employment. I'll still be registered with the agency but I'll work for the training agency for last three weeks of their contract but potentially for a full year from April if they win the next contract.

Laugh a minute

2010-02-08T11:49:00.001Z

Whilst out walking yesterday with my two youngest sons one mentioned the "mark of Cain" to which the other responded with "Oh, yes Cain. He used to hang around with Abel", and then smiling said, "Whatever happened to Abel?"

We then saw in the distance a man sitting beside his car with one of the rear wheels on the ground beside him. One son said "I wonder what's wrong with his car", to which the other replied, "One of the wheels came off".

Simple pleasures

2010-02-06T11:30:00.002Z

It's amazing how a slice of toast, with just the right colour and topping can raise a smile in almost anyone.

Stupid alert!

2010-02-05T21:08:00.002Z

The results of an opinion poll have just been published. It seems that since November there has been a marking increase in the number of climate change sceptics. This is exactly as I expected. People walk outside and see snow and when someone asks "Do you believe in global warming?" they answer "No". It's winter you morons. It's cold. It happens every year, remember? I can't believe it takes just one fall of snow for people to forget the fact that the average temperature of the planet has been going up every year. The last decade was the hottest ever recorded and the one before that was previously the hottest ever recorded.

http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/indicators/C51/

DAMN! There are too many stupid people!

Dangerous idiot alert.

2010-02-02T17:07:00.003Z

The Pope has urged British Catholics to fight the Equality Bill. This law is intended to ban discrimination in the basis of sexuality. The Pope wants to continue to the church's ban on employing openly homosexual people as priests. How can anyone be surprised at this? The Pope's homophobia is already well established. He is a member of an organisation that pretends to have invented human morality and thinks it is automatically entitled to respect and deference. Sorry Mr Pope but you should wake up to reality. There are too many free-thinkers in Britain. You should concentrate your power plays and fairy stories in those countries where there are more ignorant and vulnerable minds. Better still, just stop doing it altogether. Your invisible sky friend doesn't exist and soon everyone will know.

Blog in the style of Monet.

2010-02-02T08:35:00.003Z

Blogger has a tab by which I can Monetise my blog. However when I click on this the page does not look like it was painted by Monet as I expected, it merely offers to add advertising. How disappointing.

Funny kids

2010-02-02T08:31:00.002Z

I just remembered an incident that happened late last year. I was driving home with my two youngest in the car when one of them read aloud a sign by a farm gate - "Christmas Trees and Potatoes". To which the other replied "Ah yes, the traditional Irish greeting at this time of year, 'Good day sir, Christmas trees and potatoes to you.'"

It's official

2010-01-30T12:50:00.002Z

The test results from the Health Protection Agency have confirmed that my wife and two of our children have Swine Flu. As the rest of us have been unwell too we assume that we have also had/still have the same strain but with milder symptoms.

Disappointed

2010-01-27T17:34:00.004Z

Last night we went to a concert that had been rescheduled after being canceled with 2 days notice in December due to illness of one of the band members.

After the support act finished, the road crew removed their equipment and the road crew of the main act set up their equipment and tested microphones, guitars etc. The stage lights dimmed and the audience began to cheer in anticipation. Then a solitary figure walked a few feet onto the stage and read a statement to the effect that due to illness of one of the members of the group they are regret that they are unable to perform and please contact the box office in the morning for refunds. It sounded like a joke. The audience looked around, the lighting crew looked at each other with puzzled expressions as did the venue staff. After a few minutes we realised that it was true. The group had canceled again. I think my mood was a perfect match for the dictionary definition:

disappointed
–adjective
depressed or discouraged by the failure of one's hopes or expectations:.

Overheard today

2010-01-23T21:40:00.001Z

World War I started when someone shot Archbishop Franz Ferdinand.

Hopeless optimism

2010-01-23T08:57:00.000Z

I'm using anti-antiperspirant in January.

Gah!

2010-01-22T22:01:00.000Z

Why do I do this to myself? Somehow I got to thinking about "over-exaggeration" and "exaggeration". Are they the same? What is the opposite of over-exaggeration? What is the opposite of exaggeration? Are they the same?

Mind expansion time again

2010-01-17T19:46:00.004Z

In addition to my continuous informal self-education in art, music, literature, philosophy and history I've decided to enroll on another formal course. Next month I begin my Masters in Science.

Two things which always make me jump

2010-01-11T09:39:00.002Z

1. When my mobile phone begins to ring and vibrate in my pocket.
2. When toast pops up in a toaster.

No matter how many times these things happen my reaction is always "Argh! What's that?"

Snack attack

2010-01-11T09:07:00.006Z

I decided to tidy one of our kitchen cupboards after a jar of cardamon pods fell out and hit me on the forehead. The first thing I took out was a bag of gram flour (chickpea flour). As I did this, the words "onion bhaji" popped into my mind. Instead of tidying the cupboard I'm going to make onion bhaji for lunch accompanied by some of the special Christmas Chutney (a gift) and our own home made plum chutney.

This is what I made:
(click photo to see larger version)

Another official insult to the intelligence.

2010-01-11T08:38:00.004Z

Today I heard on the radio a government sponsored campaign to reduce carbon dioxide emission. The phrase which annoyed me was "If we all drive 5 miles less a week it will reduce carbon dioxide emissions". At first this seems reasonable but isn't it a bit insulting? This is 2010, nobody needs telling that less driving means less CO2. But why specify 5 miles? Will 4 miles not reduce emissions? Wouldn't any reduction in driving reduce emissions? I can see some bright spark on a committee saying "We must set the plebs SMART targets or they won't be able to do it". We're adults, we understand the relationship between motor vehicles and CO2. We don't appreciate being treated like idiots by patronising bastards. Are all lorry drivers are supposed to park their vehicles half a mile from their destination and carry the goods on their backs to the delivery points? Are commuters to park their vehicles half a mile from their home each evening? The alternatives to driving are well understood by everyone. Only those who don't give a damn about the planet are using their vehicles more than they need.

Workshy?

2010-01-09T08:10:00.003Z

Yesterday my wife was waiting in the snow for her train along with 30 or so others. When the train was 10 minutes late one person announced "I'm not waiting here any longer!" and walked away followed by a handful of others. Over the next 5 minutes another 20 people left the platform. The train arrived 17 minutes late and was boarded by 5 passengers. I don't think it was a co-incidence that they were the 5 oldest people on the platform. The expected delayed arrival time had been displayed on the electronic board all the time so everyone knew that the train was on it's way. What is it with young people that they think they can declare a snow day? They don't behave like that when trains are delayed in the summer.

Let's not call the roads treacherous.

2010-01-08T20:14:00.006Z

Snow or ice-covered roads are dangerous or hazardous.

There is no need to give them human characteristics.

Treacherous
Origin: 1300-50; ME trecherous < AF, equiv. to trecher deceiver (trech(ier) to deceive + -er -er 2 ) + -ous -ous. Cf. F tricheur trickster

Roads are not traitors or betrayers or treasonous.

More stupid people.

2010-01-08T14:33:00.002Z

Stupid person #1
Whoever is responsible for printing "-22c" (lowercase "c") in a newspaper headline instead of "-22˚C"

Stupid person #2
The TV reporter who said "Look at the size of those icicles" to show how cold it has been. Icicles are formed by freeze-thaw-freeze which means that temperatures have been above zero. Above zero temperatures! I should be so lucky.

Brrrrr...

2010-01-08T12:53:00.004Z

The satellite photo on the BBC News homepage says it all.

Last night was at least -10C here. Today the temperature gradually climbed to -4.5C but now it's cooling down again.

It's a bit chilly.

davidstwistedmind

Woo

I don't "believe in...", I "believe that..."

Truths?

Recreation of a t-shirt I saw today

Girl - My Number

*applause*

Within Temptation - Faster

CEBIT 2011: Asus motherboard box doubles as PC case

How to ruin your image

Siouxsie - Peek-a-Boo

The Move - California Man

Volkswagen Commercial: The Force

Gamarjobat on Comedy Rocks funny japanese lol

Rory Gallagher: even Jimi Hendrix said he was the best.

Suddenly it's 1983

Epic Steam Bike

Obi Wan Kenobi town?

Homeless Radio Announcer Ted Williams on CBS - NEW VIDEO INTERVIEW (Orig...

Homeless man with awesome radio voice- get him a gig! (TED WILLIAMS)

TV/Movie insult

Your faith is a joke

Virus

Roughage vs dietary fibre

Illusion of superiority

Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Stats - ...

Nicolas Cage Losing His Shit

Baby Monkey (Going Backwards On A Pig) - Parry Gripp

Stupid Ikea online system

Loving this job

Funny kids

THE WORST LAUGH IN THE WORLD!™

BBC dumbing down

Batshit crazy

This is a strange year

Confusing statistics

Get a fcuking grip!

Haiku

Weird dream about the Pope

23 letters from T-Mobile yesterday!

Who's been a naughty girl?

Amazing story

Arrgh Kelloggs no!

What's the deal with Gas Marks?

In my Neighbourhood

Predictions

Windows login is sarcastic.

To the Bat Cave! There's not a moment to lose!

The problem with digital cameras

Misguided reasons for giant clock in Mecca

Based on the reasoning of Epicurus (Greek philosopher, BC 341-270)

Faulty logic, faulty science.

Puppet politicians

Blog refocus

NZ Fish and Chip shop menu

What do you expect if you stand on a dolphin?

I don't believe it.

When an irresistible force meets an unmovable object

Something not quite right here.

It does matter what people believe.

Scam formula #1

Commandment

Immortality

Hidden gem

Honky?

Captain's Log

Why not Bulgaria?

Superweeds

Police bears?

3 weeks in paradise

Some graffiti makes me smile

Mystery Shopper

One of these things is not like the others

Holy cow!

Yay!

New Zealand, Part 2.

This can't be normal

A view from my workplace

View from my teaching room

Feeling tired.

applause