Penguin books are releasing A Christmas Carol as a free podcast download, read by Geoffrey Palmer who’s best known to UK readers as the guy from As Time Goes By1. That’s a really great idea. As mentioned by the BBC and Boing Boing, amongst others.
There are countless versions of A Christmas Carol - what’s your favourite? Personally I adore A Muppet Christmas Carol - “this is my island in the sun!”
- two new episodes of which are being broadcast this christmas [↩]
Have you heard of The Game? If so, sorry. If not, the rules are as follows:
- To know The Game is to play The Game. One can never stop playing.
- To think of The Game is to lose The Game.
- When one loses The Game, one must announce to all present that one has lost.
And that’s all there is to it. Barry and I have been playing for probably two years now. Tonight we both caused the other person to lose first, thereby not losing ourselves. Here are two proven strategies:
- Describe fnords. I am assured that it is a word only visible to members of the Illuminati, and brings comfort and joy. Bunnies, for example [UPDATE: Untrue, and I've linked to the wikipedia entry - see Simon's comment]. Chances are, the person will state a word themselves. You then say ‘ah, but you’ve given it away now’. Chances are, this will cause a logical link to The Game, and he/she will be forced to admit his/her Losingness.
- Quote verbatim from Life, The Universe and Everything, specifically the passage regarding the secret to flying unaided being to aim at the ground and miss. Describe how this requires a moment of total surprise nanoseconds prior to hitting the ground, and you must not concentrate on the act of flying, or you will be noticed by gravity and fail. Again, chances are he/she will think of The Game, and be a Big Massive Loser.
Obviously, you cannot attempt either of the two tactics consciously. You must think of them now, and forget the reasoning behind them. This is the path to victory.
Later, after a chance comment regarding the rumoured powers of cornstarch, a visit to Tesco was called for. We stocked up on cornflour, hoping it was the same thing, then proceeded to make one hell of a mess all over my kitchen…
The instructions in Penn and Teller’s How to Play With Your Food were to add a little water and ‘just play’. So we did. It’s such cool stuff! If you push your finger slowly the mixture sloshes like water, but if you scoop up a load it globs and you can roll it around. Once you stop it immediately ‘melts’ back into liquid and flows away. The harder you push, the more resistance there is - it even cracks if you punch it!
It’s more fun than is legal in some countries. It also lends itself to incredibly filthy comments, but we didn’t make any of those; oh no. We messed about for ages, getting mixture everywhere. After a while it becomes a little too solid, but a touch more water fixes that. We added food colouring, which worked surprisingly well…
…and managed to avoid the temptation to start a cornflour-fight. We eventually killed it by adding washing-up liquid. As Tamsin pointed out, we should have realised that wouldn’t work - washing-up liquid is designed to get molecules to separate, after all.
I highly recommend you have a go 
One caveat, though: it’s a complete git to clear up. I’ve wiped down the surfaces twice now and the damn stuff keeps coming back.
Zombies - attack!
In one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard, San Francisco was yesterday invaded by flashmob zombies. The undead prowled from St. Mary’s Square to Union Square, eating any passers-by they came across before supplying them with fake blood and goo to join in the zombie prowl. As Boing Boing reports, they then headed for a picnic in the cemetery. Damn, I’d have loved to have done that There’s not much on flickr as yet, but there are a some cool cellphone shots here.
Update: Via Waxy, some great shots here.
A few weeks back I went to a Spice preview evening. I’d read the brochure and thought it seemed pretty interesting, so one Monday night headed into Sutton Coldfield for the free presentation. Like they said at the meeting, it’s easier to describe what Spice isn’t. It’s not an adventure sports club, or a dating agency, or an outdoors club. It was described to me as a large group of people - 10,000 members nationwide and 3,000 in Birmingham - who do interesting things. The thing that surprised me was the sheer number of activities. I hoped that there’d be an event to attend every weekend, or something, but it’s way more than that. Here’s the next week, for example:
Sat 16th:
- Come and Try Mountain Biking Sutton Park
- Flying Lesson Wellesbourne Airfield, Stratford on Avon
- Helicopter Pleasure Flights Gloucestershire Airport, beside M5 J 11
- Jet Skiing Church Wilne, Nr East Mids Airport
- Multi Activity Day Carsington Water Peak District
- Paintball Massacre Bassetts Pole
- Riverboat Shuffle - Jazzamatazz Upton upon Severn, Worcs
- Rudyard Reservoir Ramble Rudyard Reservoir, Northern Peak Dist
- Team Challenge on a Double Decker! Join Brumbus at Colmore Row bus stops
- Wightwick Manor Tour 3 miles west of Wolverhampton
Sunday 17th:
- Aromatherapy Workshop Lea Marston Hotel, just off A4097
- Badminton Afternoon at Barr Beacon Barr Beacon Leisure Centre
- Cannock Chase Improvers Mountain Biking Birches Valley Visitor Centre
- Cruise to Chocolate Heaven Gas Street, Birmingham
- Drumming Workshop at Madhouse Studios Madhouse Studios
- Llama (and Camel!) Trek with Lunch Speech House, centre of Forest of Dean
- Monmouth and Offas Dyke Ramble Monmouth, Forest of Dean area
- Servant of Two Masters Harvington Hall, Kidderminster
- Water Fun Day Darley Abbey, Near Derby
Monday 18th:
- Badminton NIA Community Hall, St Vincent Street
- Preview Evening (Sutton) Ramada Hotel, Penns Lane, Walmley
Tuesday 19th:
- Botanical Gardens Tour Outside Main Entrance, Botanical Gardens
- RAC Control Centre Visit Brockhurst Crescent, Bescott, Walsall
- Unihoc NIA Community Hall, St Vincent Street
Wednesday 20th:
- Bodymoor Heath Evening Ramble Bodymoor Heath - Kingsbury/Sutton area
- Evening Horse Ride Middleton Equestrian Centre
- Lichfield Bike Amble Evening Lichfield
- Pilates Session Club Motivation, Solihull Moathouse, Hom
- Rounders Holly Lane Social Club
- Tamworth Evening Walk By Robert Peel in Market Place
- Wolverhampton Pub Night Goose in the City
Thursday 21st:
- Beer and Skittles at Lea Marston Lea Marston Hotel, on A4097 nr J9 of M42
- Stoneleigh Abbey Evening Tour Stoneleigh, Warwickshire
- Volleyball NIA Community Hall, St Vincent Street
Friday 22nd:
- Beginners Luxury Horse Riding Weekend Peak District & Sherwood Forest
- Exmoor and the Somerset Coast Weekend The Beach Hotel in Minehead
- Luxury Experienced Riders Weekend Peak District & Sherwood Forest
- Owl Prowl / Dusk Walk Wyre Forest Discovery Centre
- Sherwood Forest Bike Amble Weekend Nottinghamshire
- Soul and Motown Party at 52
Damn, why didn’t I think of this kind of effect! Some really great photos here, although it’s a shame they’re licensed under ‘all rights reserved’ - get with the 21st century, guys! Via boingboing.
Via Ben Matcalfe blog:
East Anglian Ambulance Service have launched a national
The Office Weblog pointed me towards t-shirthumor.com, and I just laughed out loud at a few of the designs. I like these particularly:
and, of course:
Genius I’ve gotta get myself some of those.
Google Earth is possibly the most impressive free application I’ve ever seen. Aside from the fascinating maps, the integrated local search and directions are great - all the info is overlayed onto the one map. There’s also an excellent flickr ‘network link‘ that links into geobloggers. Google have apparently pulled the download for a while, but you can get it over at majorgeeks.
This evening BBC1 showed a new film written by Richard Curtis. The Girl in the Café was a rather sweet romance set at a fictional G8 summit. Richard Curtis is one of the major forces behind Make Poverty History, and this film was written to highlight the issues and their importance. I thought it did a great job. As it pointed out, “you don’t know all the facts” isn’t a rebuttal when 30,000 people are dying needlessly per day. Counter that, if you will.
I had a long paragraph here attacking the media (mainly newspapers) for the cynicism they’ve shown toward something so noble. However, I deleted it. If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say it at all; sure it’s a cliche, but I don’t see that it makes such a bad mantra.
In tonight’s film Richard Curtis called Africa a ‘casual holocaust’. I wasn’t going to be travelling anywhere next Saturday because I’m supposed to be dog-sitting. I’ll just have to sort something, though, because I’m now going to Edinburgh. Maybe it won’t do any good, but maybe, just maybe, we can.
——-
Incidentally, fifteen minutes ago I emailed about seat availability and I’ve just received a non-automated reply saying that seats are available and that I’ll be contacted on Monday to book. At 2345 on a Saturday. That rocks.
I’ve been rasturbating madly for the past hour, and this is the result. The site can take any image and ‘rasturbate’ it to a size you specify, then create a pdf file that’s easily printable. And it actually does work very well - the effect really is quite impressive at a distance. That’s A4 paper, btw. What Mum and Dad will say when they get home and see what I’ve done to the hall, I don’t know
Google Maps UK now has satellite imagery! This could distract me all afternoon…High-definition pictures apparently aren’t available for the entire country yet. I’m at the red pin…
Update: I do them a disservice, as the entire world is now available, with most major cities in high-definition. Check out the London Eye too.
Who else is running Skype? Anyone? I’ve just downloaded the newly out-of-beta 1.3 and it seems most swanky, but I have nobody to talk to…
I’ve also signed up for a Skype phone number. I don’t know why, but for
This afternoon, Bob Geldof stood in front of a packed press conference and launched Live 8 with the following words:
Still 20 years on [from Live Aid], it strikes me as morally repulsive that people die of want in a world of surplus.
Bloody right. He pointed out that more people die in Africa from hunger every day than die of AIDS, conflict and other major diseases combined. It’s ridiculous, appaling, stupid and disgusting. But we can do something about it, and thousands of people are doing their best to get the message out.
However, in a hideous display of irony, this is a comment on the BBC Website regarding Live 8:
I was 14 when Live Aid was on and donated my pocket money to help. I wont donate anything this time because it’s nothing more than a political racket!
Let me make this clear: Nobody is asking for any money. Live 8 is not asking for your money (the tickets are free). Make Poverty History is not asking for any money. While they could and would be entirely justified in doing so, they are simply asking for our voices. The G8 conference is in Gleneagles on July 8th. The G8 has it within its power to eradicate poverty by 2025. The point of the concert is to draw attention to the Make Poverty History campaign, the aims of which are:
The first two aims are for long-term benefit. Africa currently pays more back in debt than it receives in aid. That’s insane. The third is for the short-term while the effects of the first two are felt.
Incidentally, Bob Geldof and Bono studied under Jeffrey Sachs, a professor of economics, until they gained an understanding of how the international economic system works. They’re not seeking publicity, they genuinely believe in this. Hell, everybody believes in this. It’s just a matter of convincing those in power to act.
Please, please visit the Make Poverty History website. Spend a couple of minutes reading up on their goals and aims. If you agree, and I expect you will, send emails to your MP and Tony Blair. Every voice counts. If you can march in Edinburgh on the 8th, brilliant. I want to and am going to try. It’s not marching against anything or anybody. It’s not politically biased or based on complaint. It’s for the greater good, the betterment of humanity, of standing up for what we know to be morally right.
This is no hollow cause, no political racket, no publicity stunt. Just imagine what we could do.
I don’t like banks very much. I’m not a “I’m going to keep all my money under the mattress” loony, but I agree with the Radio 2 financial adviser who said that banks are the enemy and should be treated as such. Aside from the whole you-clearly-don’t-have-as-much-money-as-you-thought-you-did-so-we’re-going-to-charge-you businesswank, it’s the completely archaic systems of money transfer that gets me the most. Four days to clear a cheque? Four days? How stupid do you think I am? You put the two account numbers, both of which can be read automatically, into the computer, which then checks to see whether funds are available. If they are, money is transferred. If not, it isn’t. Exactly which part of this takes four days? Physically moving the cheque to the correct bank, I suppose. Because that’s necessary, I’m sure. Similarly money transfers via the internet. They can’t even use the paper-confuses-us excuse there, since it’s all electronic anyway. And don’t pretend the computers can’t take it, because if I use my debit card the money’s gone instantly. So there.
Who got me started? Who did it? Bad person! Ah yes, I remember now. It was this article, which says that the Office of Fair Trading has told banks to speed up money transfers to within one day. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA. Sorry. Actually, I’m not. And the following is delightful news, too:
Later this year the OFT will investigate the amount of time it takes banks to clear cheques.
Consumer groups are hoping that the OFT will decide that the three to five days it takes to clear a cheque is too long.
“Cheques must not become the Cinderella of the bank payments system,” Ed Mayo, National Consumer Council chief executive said.
“A donkey could deliver cheques faster than banks can put money into customers’ accounts.”
It’s not often I agree with consumer groups, but HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. If I could cackle, I would.