Good news for caffeine addicts as coffee is cleared in chemical court.
I could have sworn it was supposed to be really, really bad for you, but even the bad things seem pretty minor. The good things are jolly nice and I'm pleased that I can now enjoy my morning coffee without a trace of guilt.
Not Starbucks though. They're still the evil empire.
If you're planning on booking a trip and wondering whether to do it online or through a travel agent, sadly for travel agents, it seems you will always get the best fares online. In some cases, the agencies don't seem able to get any seats at all.
I'm guessing that the big online booking sites like Expedia and Travel Select get their own allocations or at least preferential rates.
Another government think tank has yet another recommendation to change the educational system here in England as they call for pupils to sit GCSEs at 15
Pupils should take GCSE exams at 15 and spend three years, instead of the current two, at sixth form, an influential head teachers' think-tank has recommended.
They don't half make it complicated.
Interesting story about clothing sizes in the BBC magazine. I always suspected as much, but clothing sizes aren't at all standardised. The fact that a 10 in one shop might be a 12 in another is usually put down to the cut of the garment, but it seems that marketing has a bigger say in the matter. Some firms are deliberately making clothes more generous so customers think they're fitting into a smaller size.
It also suggests that manufacturers are aiming towards larger sizes as people become bigger and rounder.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the states. When I lived there 10 years ago, I wore a size 5 pretty dependably. Here in the UK, it's an 8. My last trip to California included a bit of shopping, but almost nothing fit me. When I did find something, invariably it was a size 3, but often a 1 or even a 0! A 0?! Way to make a girl feel insignificant.
Is it any wonder I have to shop in the teenybopper clothing stores as it is? Mutton anyone?
Don't know if it'll work and can't be bothered to read the link to find out how it works, but since I'm absolutely plagued by spam, here's a spambot stopper.
Says them: "Help us stop spam by adding a link to this page from your website. It can catch spam bots into a circle that generates millions of false e-mail addresses. Just add a link to http://www.anti-leech.com/spam/spambot_stopper.php"
Done. Just following orders, guv, and hoping for the best.
(via My Life in the Bush of Ghosts)
Erg. Finally managed to get through the fireplace bit in the dining room. So far there's been three coats of paint on it and it still seems to need more. The tiles are on, and whilst somewhat unusual, I like them. Next is the hearth, the baseboards and another coat of paint on the walls. Bor-ing.
Wee Bruichladdich Distillery on the isle of Islay seems to be of great interest to the Defence Threat Reduction Agency in Virginia for some reason. Apparently the DTRA contacted the bemused boss of the whiskey plant to tell them one of their webcams was faulty.
Oh dear. I do hope my BunnyCam isn't being monitored, but if it is, I want to go on record as saying I have no idea what those wascally wabbits get up to at night. It's nowt to do with me, guv.
What a complete nightmare. It seems like there's nothing in poor beleaguered Iraq that is going right. Via Dr. Menlo comes news of a U.S. soldier who shot a tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. Apparently a couple of soldiers were drunk and tried to hand-feed the tiger through the bars. When one of them was subsequently bitten, the tiger was shot three times in the head.
All day today I've had some difficulties with certain aspects of my web experience, specifically updating my weblog, posting to forums, submitting forms and uploading via browsers. This happened a week ago and a little research led me to understand that it was increased traffic on my node (or whatever it's called), possibly due to the Blaster worm. A call to NTL support seemed to confirm this as the automated message said there was "degraded service" in my area. Anyway, it cleared up the next day and I thought all was OK.
At the time I noticed that my IP address appeared to have changed - it has been the same IP address for many months and so this seemed odd but I figured it was probably fairly normal. Today, however, I noticed that it happened again and the timing along with the "degraded service" seemed significant so I decided to call NTL to see if they were having problems again.
This time, however, there was no notice of issues with the service so I stayed on the line to try and talk to someone. If you have ever had any dealings with NTL, you'll know that their customer service is quite appalling. I wasn't surprised, then, to find myself waiting for a good 20 minutes to talk to someone.
Incredibly, the guy at the other end seemed to know immediately what the problem was and instructed me to enter in details of the proxy server (coincidentally my same "new" IP address) at NTL - something I'd never had to do before.
This sorted my problem and you'd think that would be a happy ending, but it's not.
The problem is that I can't set the proxy on my router, but only on the individual machines. When a proxy is set up, the machines then appear unable to obey the "bypass proxy for local addresses" which is rather a pain in the arse. I'm also unable to access RealPlayer stuff anymore.
As it turns out, NTL is having a lot of problems with their DNS and proxy services and a lot of people are having this problem if the NTHellWorld forums are anything to go by. What's even more frustrating is that they've not mentioned or acknowledged this problem.
Bastards.
The good
Tips on how to live a longer life via Joe In Japan (who ought to know - not because he's old, of course, but because he lives there!).
The bad
What kind of sick bastards place bombs at school gates?
The Ugly
Sorry boys, but those beer goggles don't really work for girls. Thank god. (via Small Values of Cool)
Deary, deary, deary me. How extremely unfortunate for GW's PR machine, but how very eerie this photo is.
Mummy, I'm scared now.
Your computer is running software that doesn’t allow you to use Google.
You’re seeing this page because your computer is trying to send you to a website that is pretending to be Google. Over the past few weeks, you may have seen a website that looks like Google, but launches pop-up windows and does not work like Google. That page is not affiliated with Google in any way and is intended to deceive you.
Why is this happening?
Most likely a program was installed on your computer automatically and without your knowledge when you downloaded an otherwise harmless piece of software. Or you may have been tricked into clicking on a disguised download button while visiting a website.
What can I do about it?
This problem can be fixed fairly easily, but will require that you make changes in a file that is part of your computer’s operating system. You should always be cautious when making these kinds of adjustments, as they may affect the performance of your computer. If you are not comfortable doing this yourself, you may want to print out this page and show it to someone whose technical knowledge you trust.
What steps do I take?
The first step is to remove the entry for Google from your hosts file. This entry is telling your computer where to send your computer instead of to Google.
In Windows, open the Notepad program. You can do this by going to the Start menu in the lower left of your screen, selecting “Programs,” then “Accessories,” then “Notepad.”
In the Notepad menu, click on “File,” then “Open.” You will see a new window asking which file to open. You may need to change "Files of type" to "All Files" instead of "Text Documents". The actual file to open is listed below:
If your computer is running Windows XP, Window NT, or Windows 2000, the file is located in the folder found by following this path:
My Computer >Local Disk(C) >Windows >System32 >Drivers >etc >hosts
If your computer is running Windows 98, Second Edition or Windows ME, the file is located in the folder found by following this path:
My Computer >Local Disk(C) >Windows >hosts
Once you have opened this file, remove entirely any line of text that contains “google.com”, “www.google.com” or other Google domains (such as “google.co.uk”). To remove the text, highlight it by dragging your pointer across the line while holding down the mouse button. Once the text is highlighted, hit the Backspace or Delete button, then save the file by going to the File menu and clicking “Save.” You can now exit Notepad.
What else can I do?
You might want to try software that attempts to detect and uninstall programs like this one. While we do not have a relationship with anyone who offers this software and we cannot endorse a particular product, the most popular programs for doing this seem to be Spybot Search and Destroy and LavaSoft's AdAware. The particular program affecting your computer is relatively new, so these products might not be able to detect and repair this type of problem yet.The next step is to learn more. You can visit http://www.doxdesk.com/parasite/ to review information about a number of known self-installing software programs. Several articles on the web may be helpful, such as
· http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/14/1050172507212.html
· http://news.com.com/2100-1023-877568.html
· http://news.com.com/2100-1023-257592.html
Investigate individual programs using search engines. Try keywords such as "spyware," "scumware," and "adware."
Once you’re informed, take action. Help your family and friends avoid these annoying programs. If you can find the site that installed this software on your computer, let them know how you feel about it. You might also want to track down companies that benefit from having your web visits redirected, and share your feelings with them.
Finally, it's quick and easy to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This U.S. government agency handles complaints about deceptive or unfair business practices. To file a complaint, visit: http://www.ftc.gov/ and click on "File a Complaint Online", or call 1-877-FTC-HELP. Or write to:
Federal Trade Commission
CRC-240
Washington, D.C. 20580
If your complaint is against a company in another country, you can file it at http://www.econsumer.gov/.
Just passed the public toilets on Jesus Green (without my camera, of course) and saw that they'd blocked off the whole building as well as the Plane Tree avenue. I asked the council worker what was going on and he said someone had dumped something nasty in the toilets, sending two cleaners who tried to mop it up to A&E. Apparently Cambridge Life Sciences are on their way to find out what it is.
Meanwhile, there's been a car vs. human collision in front of my house (no one hurt as far as we can tell).
It's all go around here today...
Dearest peoples,
As much as I love each and every one of you, I find it necessary to inform you of a matter I'd really prefer not to discuss. Unfortunately, however, for the health of my computer I must regretfully suggest that one of you has a nasty e-virus. I know this because for the last week or so I've been receiving the Swen Worm (no, I'd never heard of it either) to my yoyo @ nicelytoasted dot net email address - often as many as 4 or 5 times a day.
So, if you have me in your addressbook, please do run a good virus checker on your system. I recommend AVG, where you will also find a Swen Remover Utility. Thanks very much - I do appreciate it.
Love, Lisa
Am I confused here? The BBC says, 'One in five oppose GM' and "Britons oppose the introduction of genetically modified crops by five to one".
I know I didn't do as well as I'd hoped in the IQ test and maths never was my strong suite, but this seems not quite right to me somehow. Shouldn't that be 5 out of 6 oppose GM?
[Update: they fixed the headline. Good bloody thing. I thought I was losing my mind.]
I'll cheer up, but only a little. How about a gallery of NoHands kittens?
Kitten Keown is my contribution.
I've been feeling a little "funny" lately - a bit morose and perhaps I know why. I haven't blogged a lot of these things because they were too depressing, so I'll get them all out now and get it over with. Last night, the Arctic's largest ice shelf broke in half and spilled huge volumes of freshwater into the sea. Meanwhile, as Joe points out, Australia may be facing a permanent drought.
I don't actually doubt that this could simply be, as a Cambridge University researcher pointed out, a natural occurance - the end of the "little" ice age. On the other hand, our continual rape of the planet isn't going to help things any.
I'm feeling a bit sad and not so much for me, but for my daughter who may find her life, when she reaches my age, is in a world fairly devoid of life other than humans and may even face food shortages, violent, unpredictable weather or worse.
I may have to go back to bed now.
Me no love bunny, me no can do stupid bloody Cursor Love Bunny game.
Did you know that Dictionary.com also has an online translation service? I didn't and only noticed because they are now, apparently, doing Chinese, Japanese and Korean translations. The output is in Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters, of course and so is only useful if you're say, designing a tatoo or something. Still - nice to know.
The Unsexy List by the Nerve.com staff: "fifty genital-retracting people, places and things." Gotta agree with each and every one of 'em...
Bugger. A monster awakens? (via Enthusiasm)
Skippy to the rescue as a kangaroo saves an Aussie farmer who collapsed in a field. Innit sweet?
Who were you in a Past Life?
I was:
female in your last earthly incarnation. You were born somewhere around territory of modern Siberia approximately on 975.
Your profession was designer, engineering, craftsman.
Your brief psychological profile in that past life: You always liked to travel, to investigate, could have been detective or spy.
Lesson, that your last past life brought to present: Your lesson -- development and expansion of your mental consciousness. Find good teacher, spend a part of your time and energy on his wisdom.
(via IdleType)
Nice to see there's some awareness about as the Beeb asks, Why can't we recycle all this plastic?
This is why I prefer the market. Produce goes in little paper bags and they don't offer you a plastic carrier bag unless you ask for it. As opposed to the last trip to the grocery where I came home with triple layers of plastic wrapped around everything.
It pisses me right off, I can tell you.
I've not been doing too many Photo Fridays lately because the themes haven't really sparked anything in me. Today's theme "found" was really no different and judging by the first few entries, a lot of people are having trouble with it.
Nevertheless, biking home from the school run, I found some wheelie bins that made me smile.
The common cows made me smile as well. Bless'em.
Yay: Lib Dems seize Brent East victory.
Boo: The $100K SUV: A 'fearsome machine'. Thirteen miles to the gallon? You're having a laugh.
Not for me, but local gamedevs, Gameware (who also happen to be a client). The new offices are just around the corner from my daughter's school and 'though not Quayside, are very nice and will probably prove much quieter - especially in the summer when the tourists inconsiderately laugh and enjoy themselves whilst everyone else tries to work.
Really only of interest to former co-workers and the odd Creatures Community member who wanders by, but there are photos in "more" of the new offices - mid-moving-in.
Two monkey stories for you today. The first about research that shows that monkeys appear to have an inate sense of justice which suggests that it's an evolutionary trait intended to make cooperation more effective.
But it may be too late, says Bryan Sykes. According the author, the human Y-chromosome is in a bit of a mess and may only have a paltry 125,000 years left. Many thanks to Rachel for that gem.
Beng the random decorator that I am, I've decided that the black and red faux-painted fireplace in the dining room isn't really working for me. It's not working with the new tiles either, so I've decided I'm going to need to do something drastic. Part of the problem is that it's a big mantlepiece and is made all the bigger by its blackness. And frankly, the current paint job is not all that anyway.
So, I have a couple of choices. I can go for white or I can go for a faux light-coloured marble finish. Now, I already had my paint effects stage back in the 90s and I've pretty much got it out of my system, but marble never goes out of fashion in my eyes, so this Faux Painting Techniques site was a good find. Lots of cool ideas, including some interesting metal effects that I've not encountered.
I do think I'll start with plain white and see how I get on, of course...
According to the BBC, International Education figures show that "women have overtaken men at every level of education in developed countries around the world".
Add to that a one percent population advantage and a longer life expectancy and boys, you can get your coats. ;-)
Oh we do love our quizzes here at Burnt Toast. And so do the BBC, it seems, as they've got a new one today: Islam: How much do you know?
I got 9 out of 10, but I'm going to go on record as saying I misread the one I got wrong. I'm very pleased with myself today...
Via Spinneyhead
Aazmnig!!
Aoccdrnig to a rscheeahcr at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
(although I'd add that it appears to need additional context as well)
I found an Ecological Footprint Quiz over on Barsophy just now.
My total footprint is 2.6 hectares in comparison to the UK average of 5.3 global hectares per person.
Slightly disappointing as there are only 1.8 biologically productive hectares per person worldwide. If everyone lived like me, we'd still need 1.4 planets.
Jag has created a clever "thing" he calls Blog shady over at Route 79. It's a sort of blog association art piece which is very clever indeed. And big. And I'm in it! Wee! (I'm really quite honoured - thanks Jag!)
I had big plans for some cool mosaic design to replace the brown tiles on the fireplace in the dining room, but in the end, I realised that I didn't have a first idea what I wanted to do and changed my mind at least four times standing in the tile section of B&Q. Then I saw these pretty pebble tiles and decided to use them instead. They're not in keeping with the age of the house in any way, so I'll probably mount them on board and attach that to the surround.
I quite like them myself, but more importantly, the rabbits seem to approve...
Last night we said goodbye to our friend Pete who is off to the big city to find fame and fortune. Coincidentally, it was nearly the one-year reunion of the Half-head challenge that Pete organised in aid of the Big Issue and Jimmy's night shelter.
We'll miss you Pete! Stay in touch and have fun (as we know you will!).
Half-headers 1 year on.
Mad Petey-poo.
It could very well be the most outrageous thing anyone has ever said as Israel 'considers killing Arafat'. It appears that Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that "Killing [Mr Arafat] is definitely one of the options."
How anyone can support the Israeli government is quite beyond me. Why is the entire world not angered by this?
A little "10 things we didn't know this time last week" snippet says:
A new Network Rail directive that maintenance workers will have to wear hard hats on the railways at all times will cost £1m in new hats and £3m in signs reminding workers to wear them.
One wonders how many signs this is and if people are so thick that they needed to be reminded every 5 meters, are they too thick to be charged with maintaining the rails? Will they even be capable of reading the signs, in fact?
I'll whip up a few signs for them...
I wondered when this would happen. The Beatles are suing Apple over iTunes and I'm on the Beatles side in this one. They had an agreement and it was pretty obvious what was intended. You know that Apple would be the first to sue over trademark issues themselves. An agreement is an agreement.
Oh, this should keep you occupied for most of the day. Barsophy offers a fair and balanced look at the Top 25 Censored Media Stories of 2002/2003.
Twenty-five-tacular!
A few bits and bobs I've been saving up before I go off on the schoolrun...
Market avocados at 6 for a pound and Lush products at more than £5 per 100 grams encouraged me to search out a homemade avocado facemask recipe. Funnily, I also ran across this brilliant MakeStuff.com website with loads of recipes and instructions for everything from homemade toothpaste to glow-in-the-dark ink.
Ever heard of the 5-second rule? Me neither. But apparently it's this: "If food falls to the floor and it's in contact with the floor for fewer than 5 seconds, it's safe to pick it up and eat it." Sounds dubious to me, even though I have few qualms about picking up food off the floor in certain circumstances. In any event, an apprentice at the University of Illinois has investigated the issue and found it not particularly true, but learned some other interesting things in the process. (via the Prandial)
Being the evil bringer of toast, I was quite interested to see what my soul is worth on the open market. It appears that it's worth £11469. Not too bad considering that 73% of people have a purer soul than me. Evil, naughty me.
Finally, fancy a little kickabout? See how you do in this Magical Kicks game-ette.
I've been waiting to pick a wall colour for my dining room until after I've decided what else will be going in the room. One of my biggest problems is what to do about the rather disgusting tile on the fireplace surround. It could be from any time period really, and although I doubt it's of value, I don't want to remove it, simply cover it up. I've looked at some pretty tiles at Fired Earth, but all were the wrong size, meaning I'd have to cut the tiles to fit. Besides which, at up to £24 per tile, I'm feeling les than enthusiastic about their products. Another idea, and one popular in the art nouveau movement is mosaic, so I found a decent looking online stockist called Earth, Wind & Tiles. A-shopping I will go!
Another urban myth repudiated as scientists prove that duck quacks do echo after all.
I knew that.
I've got a bit of a busy week coming up, but I've got a couple of interesting decorating links I want to log before I go away from bloggy distractions.
Via Sugarfused is a clever Shockwave colour mixer. I'm not 100% sure what it's doing, but they call it a "toy" so perhaps it doesn't matter. It does, however, make some rather lovely colour combos.
Since my house was built in 1897, I've been trying to ensure that anything semi-permanent I do is in keeping and I've found a few nice links to Arts and Crafts movement resources. It probably would have been a bit high-brow for this middleclass house, but there's some lovely stuff to draw from nevertheless.
The Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum has a nationally-important collection of the Arts & Crafts Movement in Britain and a website as well. Unfortunately the site seems to be struggling at present. I can only hope it will snap out of it soon.
Another site, called Head, Hand and Heart is a better functioning, yet private site with a lot of information, but sadly, few images.
Another - California-based site - has information about the movement, focussing, not surprisingly, on Arts and Crafts in the US. California has some particularly beautiful examples, especially the lovely Gustav Stickley homes. There are loads of these in Long Beach alongside Ocean Avenue, as well as some fabulous ones in New England.
Moving onto Art Nouveau, the Art Archive has some good links and for actual images from which to draw inspiration, there's Bare Wall's catalogue of Klimt paintings.
Finally, whilst trying to figure out what the dining room fireplace surround was made of, we ran across an interesting guide to cast stone.
Now, I'm stepping away from the computer and picking up pencil and paper. Move along, move along. Nothing to see here, me old son.
One of the unexpected benefits of my daughter's new school is that I see a slightly different bit of the city on a regular basis now. Our trip takes us through the common and into one of my favourite parts of town. On the way back, I take a slight detour onto my local high street (for my American friends, a high street is a bit of town with shops on it)....
All but disappeared in most of the US, the high street has a bakery (which shuts mid-day, presumably because the staff are up early baking and are knackered by lunchtime), a butcher's, a greengrocer and a variety of other small shops. I can get the day's supper out of the way and avoid the supermarket for most of the week.
Going back to pick her up is even nicer, because there's a lovely little corner with a couple of pubs and John Cook's, a very old-fashioned grocery/off license that I love. I've started going early, because I can stop in one of the pubs for a half before school gets out. On Friday I noticed that one of the pubs, The Cricketers, does Sunday lunch and we decided to break with tradition and give it a go.
The Cricketers is, according to a plaque on the wall, the oldest continuously occupied pub in that part of town. Built in 1838 when the area was known as "the Garden of Eden", the pub was originally called the "First and Last" but was renamed the Cricketers when the famous Hayward family became landlords. Three of the Haywards played cricket for England, the sign tells us. Not that I'd know anything at all about that.
Anyway, the pints are somewhat pricey - £2.75 for a Guinness - but the Sunday lunch was fab. Three thick and very tender slices of lamb with good crunchy roasties, yorkshire pudding and 3 kinds of veg - all cooked very nicely indeed.
I thought this was kind of amusing. The image above is CNN's International edition next to their US edition. The story is the same, but the headlines tell a different tale - depending on where you are... (click for a larger view if you like)
All the building has been done and it's time for me to start my work now. But actually, I'd rather shop and obviously I'm starting online. B&Q has an excellent selection of flooring and is much as I'd like to go for natural wood, I'm afraid my budget only allows for laminate.
And joy of joy, Ikea's gone one step further into online land and has put their entire catalog online. Still have to go to Ikea hell to buy stuff.
Bah.
Expenditure thus far:
£1090.99 French doors
£ 171.84 Radiator
________
£1262.83 total
What a nutter! My friend Michael loves that word, and of course, it's an entirely appropriate way to describe the bizarre Italian Prime Minister who is quoted as saying of the country's judges, "To do that job you need to be mentally disturbed, you need psychic disturbances.
"If they do that job it is because they are anthropologically different from the rest of the human race."
I can't leave things on such a dire note, so how about this story of a submarine crew who rescued a drowning budgie. Never underestimate human's capacity for kindness.
Mario Vargas Llosa reports from Iraq.
Iraq is the country with the greatest freedom in the world, but since freedom without law and order is chaos, it is also the most dangerous.
And for yet some more scary reading, former environment minister Michael Meacher writes that this war on terrorism is bogus. You only need to look at dictators throughout history to believe that this is not entirely impossible. Never underestimate human's capacity for evil.
It might have been the combination of sun and Fridayism, but today was a very smiley day. From the very nice plumbers who installed a radiator for me (and did a little painting just 'cause they're nice) to next-door neighbours to random strangers, everyone had a smile today. I did my bits and pieces, late lunched with my newly grown up secondary school girl, visited a client and thought about what a splendid city I live in. I have bloggy photos and bloggy thoughts but they will have to wait, I think.
So, following from the earlier post, which - as Joe pointed out - hit a rich vein of comments, I'm off to drink responsibly and act civilised. You do the same, m'kay?
Tarrah and happy Friday y'all!
A sad tale of unbelievable cluelessness is this BBC Magazine story, Tales from Faliraki in which a young man goes to a beautiful Greek island and attempts to give himself alcohol poisoning. The entire trip is spent drinking, playing drinking games, pub crawling and drinking. If that's your idea of a good time, you're a terminally sad bastard as well.
But just to drive home why this sort of holiday is only for the brainless and scummy, he closes by saying, "Me and the lads will find somewhere else next summer. But before that, in November, the tour company have a big reunion at Butlins Skegness. I'll be there."
Ah - hahahah.
Loser.
To me, this seems like nature's way of stopping people from eating carnivorous animals.
Thinking about Mars being so close to the earth made me wonder what the world's astrological chart had to say. You can check the Current Astrology Weather at Astrolabe. The reading is rather interesting, I thought. See more for more...
Applying Sun Square Pluto
This transit brings strategy sessions, power-brokering, quarrels, and other turbulent conditions. Change may be demanded now and leaders may be forced to share power. It’s a time for secrecy, purification, healing, and rehabilitation.
Moon void in Sagittarius
Playing with others is not very satisfying. Winners are not clearly distinguished from losers. Travel plans go adrift.
Applying Mercury Square Pluto
Challenging announcements and agendas for change are made now. Talks take place in a tense atmosphere. It’s a time of transportation upsets, disturbing events, explosions, storms, and stories of covert operations. Who’s telling the truth?
Applying Venus Square Pluto
Stressful events may occur during this challenging transit. Cooperation and participation is forced and demanded. It’s a difficult time for open talks, trust, and sharing.
Applying Mars Opposite Jupiter
Energy needs to be expressed. Sports, enterprise, and risk-taking are possible outlets. Confident beliefs and convictions meet opposition. Conflicts of opinion strain relations. The urge to extend one’s sphere of influence is strong, but the probability of conflict and disagreement with others is high.
Applying Jupiter Sextile Saturn
This transit indicates a time of stability and sometimes positive developments in political and economic matters. Progress is made in handling social problems and making crucial decisions.
Saturn void in Cancer
Formalities are the rule; traditions are maintained. Groups of old friends, family, and comrades assemble to remember the past. Conservatism rules; experiments fail. At this time leaders are under pressure and laws are put into effect. It’s a time for staying with tradition and not experimenting with new forms of social behaviors. The past triumphs.
Uranus void in Pisces
Actions are unconventional, radical, or surprising. Not everyone agrees on how things should go, therefore there is discord within groups. Others, who have a specific agenda, persevere to make their point despite fierce opposition. Social conditions are volatile now. The bottom could fall out. It’s a time for experimentation and deviant behaviors. Sudden, unusual, and disruptive conditions occur now that reveal deep inequalities in society and culture.
Neptune void in Aquarius
Trends are unclear. Not everything is known, there is much to suspect. The fabric of reality seems to be ripped asunder. Faith in leadership is low. Social and economic conditions are unstable and subject to devaluations. The future looks uncertain and no one is taking any chances. Beliefs about reality are challenged. Some feel overwhelmed, even flooded, literally and figuratively.
Pluto void in Sagittarius
There is movement toward displaying outright power. Tolerance and patience are pushed aside in favor of drastic actions. Old wounds are reopened and confrontations forced. Power plays occur. Secret forces make their presence known. Some seek to act on their urges, others attempt to stop them. Deep secrets are revealed. A collective cleansing is in order.
I find it fairly incredible that people are so stupid - especially farmers, who, theoretically, should have a clue about the plants and animals that they raise. Apparently 300 farms in Wales are illegally dipping their sheep in chemicals normally used on crops.
And just to be extra-specially stupid, they're then dumping the chemicals in the rivers, killing insects and the fish that feed on them.
So, that's Welsh lamb off my rapidly dwindling menu...
And not a moment too soon: EYE want my country back!
Eye see it too and am so glad that others do.
(cheers to Rogi for this gem)
Much hammering, banging, hammering and whistling later, I have pretty new doors. The rabbits weren't impressed with the smell of the wood stain and there's now no way for the cat to get out, but more importantly, I need to decide what colour to paint the room.
And while I'm here - how's about another quizzlette? This one tests "Britishness" for those wanting a British passport. Now, I am planning on applying, but if the questions are as hard as these, I'm majorly fecked. Granted, they are hypothetical questions, but what bright spark decided that people need to know about Westlife? Or the party affiliations of former prime ministers? Or even, I should add, the first minister of the Welsh Assembly?
6 out of 10. You?
Sounds like entrapment to me.
And advertised in job centres? That's a bit shit if you ask me...
Via McFilter comes this set of public art proposals for our local music venue, the Junction. Interesting ideas (as public art often is), although some strike me as bit out there for sleepy Cambridge. Not as elaborate as some of the others, I like the Alphabet Billboard which proposes an interactive portrait of Cambridge and surrounds sent in via picture-messaging. Quite blog-like, really and very community-space as well.
The WTO is meeting again, and the Beeb takes a look at how the anti-globalisation movement is doing these days.
But nevermind that - this is a blog and obviously we're only interested in the quiz.
5 out of 8, me.
Stupid schools and their stupid new-fangly websites. The site said that today was first day of term and we duly got up extra early, abluted and took the obligatory first day at secondary school photos only to find that today was a training day and therefore, no school. Bugger.
Oh well, nice practise run, I guess. At least the builders showed up...
Echoing* Sarah's praise for Scary's ability to say what I'm thinking but am too much of a fucktard to write down in any coherent form, the mighty rubber duck defends Aunty Beeb.
(*Sarah didn't call herself a fucktard, of course, and quite right too, because she can write. Coherently an'all.)
Damn those Mayan Elders - all that astronomical knowledge and they still manage to be a whole year off. Erm...
The Kings will be of churlish spirit, violent temper,
And will be ever addicted to falsehood and wickedness.
They will inflict death to women, children, and cows;
They will seize the property of subjects, be of unlimited power,
And will, for most part, rapidly rise and fall; their lives will be short,
Their desires insatiable, and they will display but little piety.
The people of various countries intermingling with them,
Will follow their various example;
And the barbarians being powerful in the patronage of princes,
Whilst purer tribes are neglected, the people will perish.
Wealth and piety will decrease day by day,
Until the world shall be wholly depraved.
Property alone will confer rank, wealth will be the only source of devotion,
Passion will be the sole bond of union between the sexes,
Falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation,
And women will be the objects merely of sensual gratification.
Earth will be venerated only for its mineral treasures;
The brahminical thread will constitute a brahmin;
External types will be the only distinction of the several orders of life,
Dishonesty will be the universal means of subsistence,
Weakness will be the cause of dependence,
Menace and presumption will be the subterfuge for learning,
Liberality will be devotion, simple ablution will be purification.
Mutual assent will be marriage, fine clothes will be dignity,
And water afar will be esteemed a holy spring . .
Thus, in the Kali Yuga shall decay flourish,
Until the human race approaches annihilation.
Vishnu Purana
How rich am I? How rich am I? Pretty bloody rich, according to the Global Rich List
There are almost 6 buh, buh, make that, buh-billion people poorer than me. Poor them.
(via little things)