Four people have been trampled to death by cows in just over eight weeks this summer, prompting British farmers and the Ramblers Association to warn yesterday of the potential dangers.
The spate of incidents is regarded as highly unusual; in the past eight years there have only been 18 deaths in total caused by cattle of all kinds – including incidents involving bulls, which have always been known to present risks.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Do not provoke the cows
Hoofed and dangerous: Britain's killer cows
When chickens ruled the earth
Canadian scientist aims to turn chickens into dinosaurs
I can't imagine the likes of PETA being too impressed with this, if it will involve lots of deformed chicks being born.
I didn't think much was known about how to "flip" genetic levers, let alone specific ones.Hans Larsson, the Canada Research Chair in Macro Evolution at Montreal's McGill University, said he aims to develop dinosaur traits that disappeared millions of years ago in birds.
Larsson believes by flipping certain genetic levers during a chicken embryo's development, he can reproduce the dinosaur anatomy, he told AFP in an interview.
I can't imagine the likes of PETA being too impressed with this, if it will involve lots of deformed chicks being born.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
A quick quote
The 10 most historically inaccurate movies - Times Online
Mel Gibson movies keep featuring in this list, and I like this line from the article about The Patriot:
Mel Gibson movies keep featuring in this list, and I like this line from the article about The Patriot:
Gibson (rugby) tackles history again with his turn as an honest farmer drawn into the American Revolutionary War, which historian David Hackett Fischer claimed in the New York Times “is to history as Godzilla was to biology.”
Goldilocks revised
Anne Fine deplores 'gritty realism' of modern children's books - Times Online
So, one English writer of children's fiction says too much of it is too dark and depressing.
Another [Children's Laureate (!) Anthony Browne] disagrees, and tells us about his worryingly re-imagined Goldilocks:
And what is this about her running towards "something" that might be her mother? Does he intend the book to be some sort of psychological test where you can judge your child's outlook by what they think the ending means?
Sack him, whoever has the job of appointing Children's Laureate.
So, one English writer of children's fiction says too much of it is too dark and depressing.
Another [Children's Laureate (!) Anthony Browne] disagrees, and tells us about his worryingly re-imagined Goldilocks:
“There are both types of endings, happier and unhappier. I prefer open endings. I don’t think we are living in an age of depressing, dark endings. If you look at Jacqueline Wilson, she does deal in gritty realism, but her books don’t lack aspiration.”So, I suppose her impoverished background explains why she had to go into the bears' house in search of food? Here I thought kids liked to think she was just a naughty girl.He recently changed the ending to his forthcoming book — Me and You, a retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in which Goldilocks comes from an impoverished background — so that the ending was less miserable. “My original version had Goldilocks being chased out of the bears’ house and her ending up on bleak, dark streets. I decided to give it a more ambiguous ending, so now she is running toward something that may or may not be her mother.”
And what is this about her running towards "something" that might be her mother? Does he intend the book to be some sort of psychological test where you can judge your child's outlook by what they think the ending means?
Sack him, whoever has the job of appointing Children's Laureate.
Khatastrophe
Is Yemen Chewing Itself to Death? - TIME
Well, I knew little of the habit of khat chewing until reading the above fascinating article. Apparently, Yemen is hooked on this legal-for-Muslims alcohol substitute:
Well, I knew little of the habit of khat chewing until reading the above fascinating article. Apparently, Yemen is hooked on this legal-for-Muslims alcohol substitute:
Khat is popular in many countries of the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa, but in Yemen it's a full-blown national addiction. As much as 90% of men and 1 in 4 women in Yemen are estimated to chew the leaves, storing a wad in one cheek as the khat slowly breaks down into the saliva and enters the bloodstream. The newcomer to Yemen's ancient capital can't miss the spectacle of almost an entire adult population presenting cheeks bulging with cud, leaving behind green confetti of discarded leaves and branches. ...And there are other problems, like the water it diverts from useful things, such as growing food. What a problem.
At around $5 for a bag (the amount typically consumed by a single regular user in a day) it's an expensive habit in a country where about 45% of the population lives below the poverty line. (Most families spend more money on khat than on food, according to government figures.)...
"You sit up discussing all your problems and think you've solved everything, but in fact you haven't done anything in the last four hours, because you've just been chewing khat and all your problems actually got worse," says Adel al-Shujaa, a professor of political science at Sana'a University and the head of the Yemen Without Khat Association. Plus, he says, "all the decisions you've made are bad because you've made them while on khat."
RealClimate looks into Plimer's questions
RealClimate: Plimer’s homework assignment
A detailed examination here of Ian Plimer's questions to George Monbiot, for those who are following the story.
Andrew Bolt seems to be avoiding it, for one.
A detailed examination here of Ian Plimer's questions to George Monbiot, for those who are following the story.
Andrew Bolt seems to be avoiding it, for one.
Kennedy strikes a pose
St Mary's in Exile of the Trades and Labor Council has had a new website up for a few weeks now, but they seem very slow to post new videos of the weekly liturgies. It wouldn't be because, as far as I can guess from the last one I viewed, congregation numbers are dwindling somewhat?
Anyhow, for more amusement, have a look here to see Peter Kennedy in full Christ-like pose in a photographic work entered in the Blake prize for religious art. George Pell has noted "There is almost an element of kitsch about it", and he's not far wrong.
For more self-aggrandisement from the supposed leadership of the group, have a look at Terry Fitzpatrick's article in July Green Left Weekly:
With so much mistreatment, why did they ever want to stay?
Anyhow, for more amusement, have a look here to see Peter Kennedy in full Christ-like pose in a photographic work entered in the Blake prize for religious art. George Pell has noted "There is almost an element of kitsch about it", and he's not far wrong.
For more self-aggrandisement from the supposed leadership of the group, have a look at Terry Fitzpatrick's article in July Green Left Weekly:
On April 19, a huge mob of St Mary’s people made a pilgrimage out of a church and into the Trades and Labor Council (TLC) building, home of the Queensland Council of Unions.As for the Church they didn't want to be told they were no longer a part of:
They walked out of the church to the TLC, 200 metres down the road in silent vigil with candles and lanterns, banners and balloons - not unlike the Jews of the Old Testament escaping from the slavery of the Egyptians to the liberation of the Promised Land (minus the balloons).
We too feel liberated from the shackles of a failing institution caught up in dogmas and creeds that belong to another age. We felt it was time to take a stand from the constant bullying we have experienced for many years.He then goes on to list the things for which they have been "bullied": blessing gays and lesbian relationships, not using "sexist" language, signing a treaty with local aborigines.
With so much mistreatment, why did they ever want to stay?
Well deserved
Regular marijuana usage robs men of sexual highs - New Scientist
Stoners may be trading sexual highs for the chemical kind. Males who smoke marijuana daily are four times more likely to have trouble reaching orgasm than men who don't inhale, finds a new study of 8,656 Aussies...It's interesting to read the comments that follow the story, many of which are somewhat amusing:
Even though many male smokers experienced sexual problems, they reported more partners than non-smokers. Marijuana users were twice as likely to have had two or more sex partners in the previous year than men who didn't smoke pot.
Pitts' team found an even stronger trend for increased sexual activity among female smokers, who were also seven times more likely to have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection in the last year than non-smokers. However, female smokers had no more problems in the bedroom than abstainers, Pitts' team found.
Perhaps stoners are just twats and that is why these problems occur. Yeah - from those I've known that hypothesis fits the data pretty well. I never met a stoner who wasn't a total wanker. Someone needs to do the necessary research to confirm it.And:
Here are my (unscientific) theories
1) more partners
the stoners just can't be bothered to put up with each other's crap all the time and thus split more readily
2)trouble reaching orgasm
the stoner just can't stop thinking about that new cushion recently purchased, how do they make them that fluffy!?
Can't help myself
Look, I'll stop obsessing about the fact that Inglorious Basterds got good reviews and has opened strongly. Any day now, I promise.
But in the meantime, I have a few observations:
* The geography of critical reaction is puzzling. Reviews from the United States were good overall, with the notable exceptions of the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, the New Yorker and Slate.
Yet in England, it was hard to find a good review. The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, the Telegraph are all bad reviews. The Times, for example:
I thought the explanation may be that the closer you get geographically to the reality of the War, the more offensive the film may look. But in Germany, the reviews are apparently enthusiastic. Oh well, it's not as if German sensibilities were ever easy to comprehend. I suspect that giggling about the moustache alone would have prevented Hitler's rise to power in any other European country.
In Australia, it's all positive reviews as far as the eye can see. You would have thought, given our cultural position straddled somewhere between the United States and England, there would be some negative review somewhere, but there isn't, as far as I can tell. Odd.
* The fans are a worry: those sophisticates who aren't worried about the empty rattling sound made by the space in his head where Tarantino's maturity should reside should at least worry about the types of fanboy they are probably sitting next to in the cinema. I base this on the ridiculously aggressive response you see in comments whenever there is a bad Tarantino review. The worst ones I saw on Rottentomatoes, referring to a desire that the reviewer's wife be raped, have (I think) now been deleted. Let's face it, a lot of his fans get off on the violence.
Full marks to Kenneth Turan at LA Times who wrote:
* What is it with the Left and movie violence now? Back in the 1960's and 1970's, it seemed that it was primarily the Left that used to disdain unnecessarily graphic movie violence. Revenge and vigilante movies were (correctly I think) seen as an angry right wing phenomena, at a time in which there were still identifiable right wingers working in Hollywood.
Now, virtually all reviewers, and all of Hollywood, come across as Left wing, yet they have embraced a nerdy director with a revenge and violence obsession. They have also, more generally, made their peace with graphic violence and gore, no matter what the context or reason for for it. Even apart from Tarantino, think of the Saw movies and the other examples of an especially grotesque and sadistic slasher genre that has come into its own in the last 10 years.
Yet, as with the extensive amount of real sex in Shortbus, having seen something once or twice seems to mean critics - even those who presumably might be somewhat middle of the road in their politics - won't question the morality or wisdom of what's on the screen anymore. The only issue you will sometimes seen raised is the feminist aspect of a story. A movie perceived as anti-feminist will be still be in for an ideological hiding, but that's about the extent that lefties worry about movie morality now.
Well, that's just not right. Sure, some critics take Tarantino to task for his morally vacuous use of violence, but it's damn few, and to Lefty luvvies like David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz it doesn't matter a hoot.
Grow some moral testicles again, Lefties, and make a call on the morality or social effect of what you are watching on the screen for a change.
But in the meantime, I have a few observations:
* The geography of critical reaction is puzzling. Reviews from the United States were good overall, with the notable exceptions of the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, the New Yorker and Slate.
Yet in England, it was hard to find a good review. The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, the Telegraph are all bad reviews. The Times, for example:
"When we finally get to it (Tarantino has never been one to cut to the chase when he can masturbate through endless pages of smarty-pants dialogue) , the film’s climax proves to be its downfall."This surprises me, as I hate most other cultural movements in England at the moment, but at least their critics seem well and truly "over" Tarantino.
I thought the explanation may be that the closer you get geographically to the reality of the War, the more offensive the film may look. But in Germany, the reviews are apparently enthusiastic. Oh well, it's not as if German sensibilities were ever easy to comprehend. I suspect that giggling about the moustache alone would have prevented Hitler's rise to power in any other European country.
In Australia, it's all positive reviews as far as the eye can see. You would have thought, given our cultural position straddled somewhere between the United States and England, there would be some negative review somewhere, but there isn't, as far as I can tell. Odd.
* The fans are a worry: those sophisticates who aren't worried about the empty rattling sound made by the space in his head where Tarantino's maturity should reside should at least worry about the types of fanboy they are probably sitting next to in the cinema. I base this on the ridiculously aggressive response you see in comments whenever there is a bad Tarantino review. The worst ones I saw on Rottentomatoes, referring to a desire that the reviewer's wife be raped, have (I think) now been deleted. Let's face it, a lot of his fans get off on the violence.
Full marks to Kenneth Turan at LA Times who wrote:
"As it goes on and on, 'Inglorious Basterds' feels increasingly like the kind of hollow, fanboyish cinema that is all the rage these days.""Hollow" seems the perfect word when talking about Tarantino.
* What is it with the Left and movie violence now? Back in the 1960's and 1970's, it seemed that it was primarily the Left that used to disdain unnecessarily graphic movie violence. Revenge and vigilante movies were (correctly I think) seen as an angry right wing phenomena, at a time in which there were still identifiable right wingers working in Hollywood.
Now, virtually all reviewers, and all of Hollywood, come across as Left wing, yet they have embraced a nerdy director with a revenge and violence obsession. They have also, more generally, made their peace with graphic violence and gore, no matter what the context or reason for for it. Even apart from Tarantino, think of the Saw movies and the other examples of an especially grotesque and sadistic slasher genre that has come into its own in the last 10 years.
Yet, as with the extensive amount of real sex in Shortbus, having seen something once or twice seems to mean critics - even those who presumably might be somewhat middle of the road in their politics - won't question the morality or wisdom of what's on the screen anymore. The only issue you will sometimes seen raised is the feminist aspect of a story. A movie perceived as anti-feminist will be still be in for an ideological hiding, but that's about the extent that lefties worry about movie morality now.
Well, that's just not right. Sure, some critics take Tarantino to task for his morally vacuous use of violence, but it's damn few, and to Lefty luvvies like David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz it doesn't matter a hoot.
Grow some moral testicles again, Lefties, and make a call on the morality or social effect of what you are watching on the screen for a change.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Unpleasant household duties
Yes, that's how my Sunday morning was spent - in the roof space tracking down a dead animal which had chosen - with a sense of revenge, no doubt - to die directly above the linen cupboard. Hence, when getting new towels on Saturday night, we were greeted with a strong dose of dead animal smell. I don't think it has gotten into the sheets and blankets, but it's a little hard to tell.
At least this time the culprit was easily found: as expected it was a dead rat. They are frequent noisy visitors to the roof space during winter. Baits laid a couple of months ago evidently were still doing their job. It was full of maggots, so at least I got to it in time to avoid the mystery plague of flies getting through the exhaust fan into the house which we have had before.
On two previous occasions, dead smells from beyond the ceiling have been hard to find, mainly because there is fibreglass insulation up there. When you think about it, putting insulation in the ceiling, while no doubt sensible, must look to rats like a gigantic housing estate made especially for their benefit: rat-scale acres of nice, soft fluffy stuff under foot that's easy to tunnel through and make a nest out of.
Anyway, while I was up there I did move around more insulation, and found two other mummified rat bodies. If only they made roof cats....
Speaking of dead bodies, and apologies for making light of a human tragedy, didn't that American model who was (apparently) killed by her husband looked remarkably like an android kewpie doll, or something artificial, in the most common photo the media seems to be using.
At least this time the culprit was easily found: as expected it was a dead rat. They are frequent noisy visitors to the roof space during winter. Baits laid a couple of months ago evidently were still doing their job. It was full of maggots, so at least I got to it in time to avoid the mystery plague of flies getting through the exhaust fan into the house which we have had before.
On two previous occasions, dead smells from beyond the ceiling have been hard to find, mainly because there is fibreglass insulation up there. When you think about it, putting insulation in the ceiling, while no doubt sensible, must look to rats like a gigantic housing estate made especially for their benefit: rat-scale acres of nice, soft fluffy stuff under foot that's easy to tunnel through and make a nest out of.
Anyway, while I was up there I did move around more insulation, and found two other mummified rat bodies. If only they made roof cats....
Speaking of dead bodies, and apologies for making light of a human tragedy, didn't that American model who was (apparently) killed by her husband looked remarkably like an android kewpie doll, or something artificial, in the most common photo the media seems to be using.
Friday, August 21, 2009
A Tarantino antidote
The Dawn Treader – Now with Tail (Updated!) | Narnia Fans
While I continue to gnash my teeth over the fact that critical success presumably means Tarantino will get to make another film, I can take some solace from the fact that, not too far from my house, they have built a full scale Dawn Treader for the next Narnia movie.
Good pictures of it are at the link above.
They are also allowing people to visit and watch filming from 31 August.
Very cool.
UPDATE: this very Catholic blog, which you can get to via the above link, has many, many more photos. One thing I am curious about: as you can see from some of the photos, the tide goes out a fair way at this part of Moreton Bay, leaving an un-photogenic rock-and-mud flat behind. Even when the tide is in, the water is not particularly blue and clear close to shore. How do they get around that when filming? Special effect sparkling ocean inserted later?
While I continue to gnash my teeth over the fact that critical success presumably means Tarantino will get to make another film, I can take some solace from the fact that, not too far from my house, they have built a full scale Dawn Treader for the next Narnia movie.
Good pictures of it are at the link above.
They are also allowing people to visit and watch filming from 31 August.
Very cool.
UPDATE: this very Catholic blog, which you can get to via the above link, has many, many more photos. One thing I am curious about: as you can see from some of the photos, the tide goes out a fair way at this part of Moreton Bay, leaving an un-photogenic rock-and-mud flat behind. Even when the tide is in, the water is not particularly blue and clear close to shore. How do they get around that when filming? Special effect sparkling ocean inserted later?
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The strangest bridge
300kg man trapped in Brisbane apartment
What makes this story noteworthy is that it was not your normal "apartment" that this guy had to be rescued from - it was a residence inside Brisbane's Walter Taylor bridge.
I think nearly everyone in Brisbane knows that the towers at either end of the old bridge are rented out and occupied. (I once drove over it while people were at a party on a balcony on the inner side of the towers.) But for people not from Brisbane who are curious as to what it looks like, here's a good photo.
It really seems a quite unique place. The fact that a person weighing nearly 4 times me lives there just adds to the fascination.
What makes this story noteworthy is that it was not your normal "apartment" that this guy had to be rescued from - it was a residence inside Brisbane's Walter Taylor bridge.
I think nearly everyone in Brisbane knows that the towers at either end of the old bridge are rented out and occupied. (I once drove over it while people were at a party on a balcony on the inner side of the towers.) But for people not from Brisbane who are curious as to what it looks like, here's a good photo.
It really seems a quite unique place. The fact that a person weighing nearly 4 times me lives there just adds to the fascination.
The navel gazed
The male gaze: I see it at Larvatus Prodeo
Well, Larvatus Prodeo has a long thread about why there are few Australian women political bloggers.
It is, without doubt, one of the most tedious threads ever to appear on LP. (Even a Tim Train appearance makes no difference.)
I'm feeling cranky today, so may I suggest: maybe it's because the current limited number of Australian women bloggers with overtly political interests come across as humourless and dour commentators who (as a group) span the political and feminist ideological field all the way from A to B? What women would want to join in that jolly crowd?
Well, Larvatus Prodeo has a long thread about why there are few Australian women political bloggers.
It is, without doubt, one of the most tedious threads ever to appear on LP. (Even a Tim Train appearance makes no difference.)
I'm feeling cranky today, so may I suggest: maybe it's because the current limited number of Australian women bloggers with overtly political interests come across as humourless and dour commentators who (as a group) span the political and feminist ideological field all the way from A to B? What women would want to join in that jolly crowd?
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