Disappointment

Waking up from a nano-nap on the bus (not to be confused with a "nana nap") I discovered the true meaning of disappointment when I realised I was on the way TO work and not on my way home. (It was an early start this morning, okay!)

Life imitating art

There's an episode of The Simpsons where a crayon, long-embedded in Homer's head, is finally removed, immediately making Homer smarter. A similar thing has recently come to pass in Germany where a 59-year-old woman had most of a pencil that went into her head 55 years ago, removed. She has suffered headaches and nosebleeds from the foreign object for some time. It is only because of improved technology that doctors were willing to try to extract the pencil from Margret Wegner's head. According to Reuters, most of the pencil, some three inches long, was taken out in an operation at a private Berlin clinic, but the tip had grown in so firmly that it was impossible to remove. The report carried no advice as to whether Margret has become more intelligent with the pencil's removal.

Carrots McMMM

So, tell us again who says that advertising doesn't work? Recent research with preschoolers found that, in their taste tests, as long as food was in a McDonalds' wrapper, it tasted better than food that wasn't. Even carrots, milk and apple juice tasted better to the kids when they were wrapped in the Golden Arches packaging. Just two of the 63 children studied said they'd never eaten at McDonald's, and about one-third ate there at least weekly. Or maybe advertising doesn't work as well as some people think - because, surprisingly, not all recognized the McDonalds' logo (but they did know McDonalds!).

Quote from BBC

"Artificial scents are set to be pumped into British pubs to mask the smell of stale beer, sweat and other odours previously camouflaged by cigarette smoke, a newspaper reports." Hopefully this will work on clothes as well - after a (rare) trip to a hotel on the weekend I kept getting whiffs of beer - which I now realise was "odd" because it's usually stale cigarette smoke! Will be interesting to see/smell what scents best mask the eau d'hotel.

Lost in translation

"Raise fewer babies but more piggies", "Houses toppled, cows confiscated, if abortion demand rejected" and "One more baby means one more tomb.": these are but a few examples of slogans from China's one-child policy. Hopefully something has been lost in the translation. But even if not, according to recent reports, there is a push to have the policy explained in "more amiable", AKA less threatening, terms. A list of 190 acceptable slogans is currently being issued, with the older slogans to be banned. The move was explained by the official Xinhua news agency as the result of a decision by the National Population and Family Planning Commission "to win more understanding to the country's population control policy."
Among the new slogans recommended are "The mother earth is too tired to sustain more children" and "Both boys and girls are parents' hearts."
Despite China's 28-year-old family planning policy limits, China has the largest population in the world (1.3 bn in 2005). But without the policy, which limits urban couples to one child and allows some families in the countryside to have a second child if their first is a girl, the numbers would have been much higher. However, critics would also say that it would have prevented forced abortions, female fetus abortions, and sterilizations.

On the nose

You just never know what's going to happen ... We learned today of a colleague who chose to send some perfume using the company's preferred courier. Somewhere along the way the package had a mishap and the perfume was spilled. Now you wouldn't think that that would cause too much of a stink (sorry, couldn't help myself). But wrong ... because our company regularly despatches materials which travel with a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) which gives vital safety information, and because there was no clear indication of what the liquid seeping from the package was, and whether it was dangerous, there was quite a flap. The outcome: it looks as though the company may be fined $50,000. Question arising from this: if the colleague who despatched the package did not have supervisor approval to use (and reimburse) the company account, would s/he be liable for paying the fine?

No MG for me

That's it, you can keep your fancy MGs ... I want a M200G Volantor. It will be Earth's first commercially produced flying saucer, will be able to glide 3 metres above the ground, and carry 2 people. The M200G, which has been referred to as a "Jetsons-like personal flying pod" the size of a small car, is manufactured by US company Moller International. It is designed to take off and land vertically and will reportedly be able to travel over any surface, including water, at speeds up to 50mph.
Depending on demand, the company has said that it will sell the vehicle for around (AUD) $105,000. But well worth it!

No escape

The recent collapse of a bridge in Minnesota (U.S.) was tragic but it has served to remind that that nation is one of many peoples and cultures. Among the victims were Julia Blackhawk, a Native American from the Winnebago tribe, and Artemio Trinidad-Mena, a Mexican. Among the missing is Somali immigrant Sadiya Sahal and her 20-month-old daughter, Hana. Also missing is Christine Sacorafas who was on her way to a local Greek Orthodox Church to teach kids Greek folk dance. It does make one wonder about fate and what congregated them all on the bridge when it went down.

On the run

It beats surgery ... but there could be another way. Indian police recently forced a man to eat 40 bananas in the hope he would "produce" the gold necklace he had snatched and swallowed. He did - but only after a second meal. But it raises the question of "why bananas"? Did they provide bulk to move everything along? Would laxatives not have done the same thing (could all those movies be wrong?)? It's even stranger because I like bananas when I'm feeling unwell in the tummy - and I find it hard to imagine them being used for the opposite efffect. And I suppose the next question is: once your necklace was recovered, how much do you want it back?

Only in America ...

... or other country where they still have pennies (or cents). Starbucks have recently announced that it will increase the price of its U.S. prices for lattes, Frappuccinos and other freshly made drinks. The price increase will be nine cents. Doesn't sound like much - certainly doesn't seem as much as 10 cents - but you couldn't do it here in Australia where 1 cent and 2 cent coins are no longer in common circulation. (Which is not to say that there are not some of us who have a jar or two of them secreted around somewhere!) Or maybe the price would just be rounded up or down to the nearest five cents.

Miss-conception busted

Who talks more ... men or women? Apparently neither. Research released earlier this month suggests that when you actually count the words, rather than relying on anecdotal observations, men and women talk pretty much the same. Hmmm.

Of dragons and dinosaurs

Some people believe that dragon parts have magical properties - as evidenced by the Helen Reddy vehicle "Pete's Dragon" where the dastardly doctor wanted to make his fortune from dragon clippings. And he's not the only one to believe in dragon healing properties. According to recent reports, Chinese villagers had unearthed dinosaur bones which they mistook from dragon bones (a mistake anyone could make) and ground them up for use in traditional medicines.

Joke's on us

Last month a Texas death-rower put out a call on the internet for a joke to tell at his execution. The story was picked up by the media ... which then reported, following his death, that Patrick Knight had had the last laugh ... he did not include a joke in his final statement. But perhaps that was the joke.
And speaking of executions, US style, a colleague (that would be you Steph) recently said that he thought it was shocking that anyone should be put to death in the electric chair. Alas, too late, he realised that he could have chosen his words a little more sagely if he wanted his point to be taken seriously.

Late news

This item has been languishing on my PDA since the start of the year (or was it the start of last year?) ...
An American woman who received an ornate box for Christmas from her brother returned it to her local Wal-Mart because it was damaged. Fair enough - until Judy Money's brother pointed out that the box contained their sister's ashes. Oops - especially when Wal-Mart had already thrown the box out in the garbage. But the story has a "happy" ending. The Money box was found amid garbage piles at an area landfill. (Which raises questions like: is trash not compacted in the US; how long did Money and her brother spend looking for the box; was someone able to tell them the approximate whereabouts of Wal-Mart's rubbish?)
"My prayers have been answered," Money told the Omaha World-Herald. "Just the thought of having her in the dump was awful."
If the ashes had been lost, they would not have been able to consider using the services of someone like Canadian artist Luke Seaward. He has started a business which offers to draw a portrait of the departed from their ashes. It only takes about a tablespoon of the ashes which are incorporated into a pencil which is then used to draw the portrait - but currently only in shades of grey. His newly formed company, Honor Industries, will market the concept to funeral homes (and has applied for a patent for the pencil-making process). Cost of the portrait - starting from $A5,500 depending on the size and complexity of the work which can take between 30 and 200 hours.

Thirsty?

I admit the Wired heading intrigured me: "What's Inside Red Bull: Meat Sugar, Caffeine, and Bile!" Yum. But it's not really that bad: the "meat sugar" is actually Inositol - and while it is a carbohydrate found in animal muscle, it is by no means the main ingredient in Red Bull. That would be glucose (non-technically: sugar water). You'll also find caffeine (which could have something to do with the "wings") and some other stuff including Taurine (aka 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid) which was originally isolated from bull bile in 1827 but is now made synthetically.
But back to Inositol which could stand to be a starring ingredient given research which suggests it's a wonder drug that significantly reduces depression, panic attacks, agoraphobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Of course to get that affect now, says Wired, you'd need to drink 360 cans of Red Bull (with current inositol levels) a day - and it would probably only be available at pharmacies!

Right to know?

How hard must it be to have people ask you what you do for a living and not want to answer because you don't want everyone (anyone?) to know you are an executioner. Missouri has just introduced a law which allows its executioners to sue anyone, even the media, who discloses their names. But there are some who don't think it's such a good idea - especially The Missouri Press Association (MPA). They have complained that the measure would violate the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of the press (and that's probably already received enough of a knocking around under anti-terrorism measures).
One of the reasons for the bill is to solve a small problem the Missouri State Corrections department seem to be having - they are unable to recruit a doctor with expertise in anaesthesia (as required by Federal law) to assist in executions. Until they can do that, executions in the State will remain on hold and the 48 peoplle scheduled to be executed will remain on Death Row.
So really, why has all this come up? And what are the implications? The MPA is reported as acknowledging that there is a need to protect the identity of prison employees especially if they could be harmed if exposed. But, their arguments is that if you don't know who is carrying out an executions - how do you know they are qualified to do it? For example, if an executioner has been sued 20 times for malpractice, does the public have a right to know that that individual is the executioner? What about the prisoner? Would he or she have the right to request another executioner? Where does the State's responsibility to duty of care begin and end on Death Row?

Movie outing

We took the opportunity of a relatively free day yesterday to catch up with the newly released The Simpsons Movie which we purposefully attended at a certain cinema because they were advertising a "free poster" offer - which didn't eventuate because they had "run out". Seems like pretty poor planning - since we were there on Day 4. But that was the only disappointment from the show. Not surprisingly The Simpsons Movie was "pure Simpsons" and certainty felt like a complete experience rather than 3 episodes strung together. The producers are also to be applauded for their use of trailers. Even though there were several released in the lead-up to launch, none gave the plot away. And, even though it's billed as Maggie's first word, what she utters during the credits, is in fact her second (The first [voiced by Elizabeth Taylor] was uttered in an episode some time ago.). Rating: 9.
But what about the other big movie out at the moment: Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix. Well, we managed to see that yesterday as well and while it was a masterpiece of special effects, I found it oddly unsettling, partly because Delores Umbridge is played as such a vile character it hardly seemed like entertainment to see her wielding her wretched influence at Hogwart's. I know there are characters we "love to hate" but this is not one of them.
I am now faced with the dilemma of whether to go back and re-read HP 6 before reading HP 7 as I appear to have forgotten what happens. Hmmm. Are there any study guides out there - or perhaps a good review? And how odd would it be to be reading Fight Club, Lost and Happy Potter & The Deathly Hallows at the same time.
And why is it that JK Rowling and others refuse to release their tomes as ebooks? Maybe they could meet us halfway - we buy a hardcopy book - in miniature form - which has the eversion of the book (suitably coded to our credit card or similar) which has a sticker we can place on our reading devices to show what book we are reading!!

Staying alert

In the news earlier this week .... Airport security officers have been advised to look out for terrorists doing "dry runs" - practicing to carry explosive components onto aircraft. The alerts were based on four separate incidents at different airports where people had been found carrying strange things. Investigations are continuing.
The four seizures were described this way:
* San Diego, July 7. A U.S. person -- either a citizen or a foreigner legally here -- checked baggage containing two ice packs covered in duct tape. The ice packs had clay inside them rather than the normal blue gel.
* Milwaukee, June 4. A U.S. person's carryon baggage contained wire coil wrapped around a possible initiator, an electrical switch, batteries, three tubes and two blocks of cheese. (The bulletin said block cheese has a consistency similar to some explosives.)
* Houston, Nov. 8, 2006. A U.S. person's checked baggage contained a plastic bag with a 9-volt battery, wires, a block of brown clay-like minerals and pipes.
* Baltimore, Sept. 16, 2006. A couple's checked baggage contained a plastic bag with a block of processed cheese taped to another plastic bag holding a cellular phone charger.
While it is possible that the two cheese incidents were part of a new cheese-smuggling ring, it's not likely.

Headline act

I am in awe of some of the sub-editors (and/or others) who are responsible for intuiting the headlines - because surely it is more than merely writing! News today told of unsubstantiated claims of at least two astronauts who had turned up for flights into space while still being intoxicated. The headline to go with this the Sky network: Sloshed in Space.

A matter of honour

The war dead from the Iraq coalition forces continues to rise. Twenty soldiers sent to Iraq from Fort Lewis in Washington State were killed in May. This was a new monthly high. There are now moves there to change how the dead are honoured and remembered. Rather than holding services as casualties (I think that's the US euphemism for "deaths") occur, a once-a-month collective service may be held instead. Strange, you might have thought that they would think more about the number of people they were putting in harm's way, rather than working out how to cut down the time it takes to arrange/hold the services. Or maybe it's not about the logistics at all. Or maybe it's a bit like not showing photographs of plane-loads of coffins arriving home. It's easier to make out there are not so many "casualties" if you don't have individual services.

Smoking harms ...

... especially if you're James Oyebola. He was shot, and critically wounded, at a London nightclub after he asked three men to stop smoking. Smoking is now against the law in public places in England and he was helping nightclub staff who were receiving no cooperation from the men when they asked them to stub out their cigarettes. Doctors are unsure if Mr Oyebola, a former UK champion boxer, will survive.
Update: Mr Oyebola did not survive the injuries sustained in the shooting. His life-support was turned off on July 27 and he died soon after.

Early arrival

I wonder if those conceiving life in Star Trek's 24th Century ever imagined that things like self-opening doors or their advanced medical techniques would make their way into the real world 200 years earlier. Perhaps they did. I think I read somewhere that the Star Trek folk consulted/played with key academics for input. May have been life imitating art - or vice versa. So it may come as no surprise that Star Trek medical procedures are becoming a reality like operations where you don't have to cut into someone - or which can be done across distances. The US military are said to be working on the latter so wounded soldiers can be treated from a safe distance. And NASA is also interested - although their distances will be slightly larger ... especially as there are plans to launch astronauts further and further into space.

Highlights?

On the bus on the way home last night I realised I was not going to be home in time for the "new" neighbours. I rang home - no-one there - so I resolved to check out the episode guide on their site (www.neighbours.com) and find out all I could. Yeah, right. I found out that the driver of the van had escaped - how else would he have been breathalysed? There was no word on his condition, nor on girlfriend Steph's. We know that ex-novice Camilla survived unscathed but her underage romantic interest is not yet out of the woods - nor the medically-induced coma he is in. As to the other passengers - we'll need to consult someone who saw the episode. But they have to be found first ... which is why I raised the question with the hairdresser at lunchtime. Yes she does watch Neighbours she said - getting my hopes up - whose hair did you like? Gulp - no-one thanks, I thought, thinking of all those who had ever fronted a salon clutching a magazine with a picture of their-soon-to-be new hairstyle. No, I managed to say, I want to know who died in the crash?! Alas she couldn't tell me as she had also missed the ep. As long as the bus stays on schedule tonight, I'm hopeful I'll catch the next ep and get some answers.

Dead unlucky

Spare a thought today for the 36-year old diver who was killed recently off Florida when lightning hit his oxygen tank as he surfaced. He was dead on arrival at hospital.

Birthday boys

Who would have thought that John Howard and Sir Mick Jagger would have a birthday in common? It's this Thursday - July 26 - when John Howard, who has recently been described as old and out-of-touch, will be 68; while Sir Mick hits 64. You have to wonder if this rather timely article about their joint birthdays is somehow intended to promote a perception of "youth" by association, promoting the idea that one is as young as they feel - and be blowed what the electorate or political opponents think. Co-incidentally the only ad on this same page of The Daily Telegraph was a free pass coupon for the Annual Sydney Retirement & LifeStyle Expo which runs from July 27-29.

Changing Neighbours

Some time ago Channel 10 (which broadcasts Neighbours) had a teaser spot saying "a change is coming" (or similar words) - and I dutifully tuned in at the allotted time - 6:30pm 23 July - to see what the fuss was about. And what do you know - there were new opening credits, and a wedding - and a young boy mucking around at the controls of a large truck so that he released the handbrake in time for it to career backwards into a mini-bus of Ramsey Street regulars returning from the wedding. Yes, there certainly will be some changes on Ramsey Street - but we'll have to wait until tonight, or perhaps even later this week, to see who, if anyone, will survive the fiery wreck. Something tells me that Neighbours will never be the same. (Not sure, but I think they may also be filming the show on a different medium - the images looked slightly "different".)

Phantom questions

I need to do more reading - or perhaps it's just a specific Google search. The Phantom (aka Ghost Who Walks aka Mr Walker) when required to take someone out of action for a while, punches them - leaving a skull imprint at the point of contact. This "looks like it was stamped in with a sledge hammer" and cannot be rubbed off - ever. So what is the secret of the Phantom's ring? Surely the Phantom, mere mortal despite his PR, can't hit someone that hard? Or is some special jungle "juju" at work here? To mix superhero taglines: to the computer cave ... Log-in!

Unkind cut

A clan elder in Egypt was kidnapped recently and his moustache shaved off before he was returned to his family otherwise uninjured. The man will spend the next weeks indoors, waiting for his moustache - the size of which indicates a man's honour in his part of the world - to grow back. The shaving was apparently by way of revenge following a coffee shop altercation. (See coffee is bad for some.)

Black out

It's hard to imagine what a world without electricity would be like - but we got a small taste of it this afternoon when the lights went out for over an hour. I was in a cafe in Camperdown at the time and thought it was just theirs, but it turned out to be a much wider blackout - spreading at least as far as Marrickville. I'm watching the news at the moment to see if there is any mention of it (the power came on in time - and there had been nothing on the radio) - and how wide the outage was. Luckily we had headlamps (so there all those who have previously sniggered at my insistence of having two on the premises) to use around the house until the lights came back on - and even though we made it home in one piece, I know that the lack of traffic lights undoubtedly created a couple of bingles that may not otherwise have happened. But it does make you wonder what it would be like if the power was out for a long time. We have come to rely on it!

Rats ...

Some people are just better entrepreneurs than others. Take the folk in China who have seized the opportunity of a rat plague and turned it into a windfall by trucking the rats from Hunan province to Guangzhou where, it's said, people will eat most anything that moves. The rats are being sold as a gourmet dish - and it's okay if the Guangzhou locals develop a taste for it because there appears to be no shortage of supply. The plague is the result of flooding of a lake which has displaced an estimated two billion (yes, that was TWO BILLION) rats.

Harry Potter and the ... art of misinformation

With now only days to go until the release of the latest (and supposedly last) instalment in the Harry Potter series, there's no shortage of leaks about the plot line. In one case, someone has posted photographs of every page of the book to the web (which is more than the publishers will do ... Sorry, can't help myself - just take it as yet another plea - falling on deaf ears - for an ebook version of the young wizard's adventures!). But it's hard for the impatient among us to know which spoilers, excerpts and leaks to take as the genuine article - some of the versions on the internet have different endings; and, wrote The Daily Telegraph's Justin Vallejo, "punctuation and spelling errors a seasoned wordsmith like J.K. Rowling would be unlikely to make". Looks like we'll all just have to take our turns lining up first up at 9.01am Saturday Sydney time to get our copies. (Hopefully there will be enough time to finish reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before The Simpons Movie hits the big screen next week!)

Leaping from rooftops

Want to be part of the newest fad doing the rounds - shouldn't be that hard - just find yourself a "great height" - could be a tree or the top of a building - and jump. According to The Daily Telegraph, the activity is supposedly based on the French sport of "parkour" and has been described as the "art" of defying gravity. Hmmm. Seems like a great way to end up with a spinal cord injury (or worse). Not sure if having your leap filmed is part of this new sport though - seems to be because there are a few YouTube videos available showing youngsters leaping off school roofs and carparks in Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle. Somehow I don't think this one's for me.
* Parkour, also known as PK, involves making one's way from Point A to Point B in the most efficient manner using only the power of the human body. It is supposedly more akin to a form of martial art than a sport. (Paraphrased from Wikipedia.)

Cramped quarters

As if air travel isn't uncomfortable enough what about those willing to smuggle wildlife on the flight with them. There was a case a few years back of a woman with a "fish apron" with pockets which held bags of life fish; or the man who had a vest for smuggling bird eggs. Imagine sitting in economy for a 20-hour flight with that kind of apparel.

Too good to be true

At the time, it seemed like just one more ingredient of a fantastic story - that the female astronaut was accused of racing half-way across the country to confront her fellow (that is female) astronaut who was after her fellow astronaut wore a daiper for the trip so she wouldn't have to waste time stopping to use restrooms. But according to her lawyer it wasn't so ... she did not wear a daiper ,,, and maybe that means she didn't do the rest of it either!

Similarities

What do the stealth bomber, nicotine patches and NSW's Hunter Valley have in common? It seems that Don Panoz, American billionaire, will have a part to play with all of them: he was head of teams involved with inventing the nicotine patch and designing parts for the bomber, and how he has his sights on breathing new life into the Hunter's tourist industry. Will be interesting to see what this former US agent can achieve.

A friend in need

And from America, news of the kindness of strangers ... actually, it's not that at all ... it's about a young college student who lost his leg in a car crash. Police report that while the man was still in hospital, his roommate told them that he was the injured man's brother - and took possession of his wallet, and went on a $22,000 spending spree. It seems a lot to keep in a wallet but ...

Wages of War

At what point will more US personnel have been killed in the Iraq war than were killed in the 9/11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon? It must be getting close because figures I saw yesterday suggest the US Iraq toll now stands at 3,560. It's not overwhelmingly surprising that US support for this aspect of the "War on Terrorism" is waning. (No doubt Iraqi support is too - especially as some research has suggested the death toll for non-combatant Iraqis, aka civilians, over the four years of the war is already over half a million lives lost.)

On the hunt for ...

It's a shame there wasn't some kind of visual recording medium in Noah's day. That way there might have been a comprehensive record of the animals that were herded on to the Ark and researchers in Michigan who are about to mount an expedition in search of BigFoot would know if they were likely to be as lucky as 27 out of 30 previous expeditions who have had a sighting or some other "evidence" of the normally elusive (or perhaps just shy) BigFoot. It's not clear if places on the expedition are available to amateur cryptozoologists. But if you are after something to do you may want to answer a recent call by the European Space Agency for volunteers to help scientists study the effects of long-term space travel. Alas the volunteers won't actually get to go into space but will be confined for some 17 months in an enclosure to simulate a long-range space vessel aka an isolation tank. The plan is that the volunteers would not be released until the end of the experiment/trial! (Hmm - sounds very like Big Brother.) They do have a few requirements though: 25-50, in good health, up to 185 cm tall; no smoking or other addictions (but does this include video games?) - and a working knowledge of both English and Russian would be a plus.

Guilty!

It's not often that you have a chance to realise just how deeply gender stereotyping is ingrained. I was referred to a new doctor and this morning, when I arrived for my appointment, I checked the Tenant Board to make sure I was off to the correct floor. I was amazed (shocked!) to see the doctor's first name was "Alice". I hadn't for a moment considered that the doctor would be a female - and I was extremely happy that I had found out before I saw her - especially as no-one could ever accuse me of having a poker face! This is not to say that I was at all concerned about having a female doctor - it was my preference but as my first choices (recommendations from mates in the medical area) were unavailable, I had made an appointment with one of their "associates" - and with the neutral term of "Doctor" had, without giving it another moment's thought, assumed it would be a male doctor. What did I say ... ingrained!

Cover up

It's still raining in Sydney and a thought has occurred to me. How many umbrellas go missing from the umbrella holder at the front door of cafes? Will my wonderful rainbow umbrella (a splash of colour amid the usual sea of black) still be there when I'm ready to leave. Or will a passer-by without wet weather cover see it as a better alternative than purchasing one. (Or is this just paranoia ...?)

Simpson trials

Homer Simpson, of cartoon fame and soon to be a movie star, has been cast in fibreglass along with the rest of his family. Which is how two Malaysian students were able to "lift him" from a cinema there. But thanks to the vigilance of a bystander, the perpetrators were tracked through their vehicle number plate - and Homer has been returned, unharmed, to his rightful place on the couch. Not so lucky is another Homer in Sydney - who is now armless after someone made off with his arm (complete with remote control - or was it a block of chocolate?) While Homer's arm has since been returned by an unknown man, Bart who was also taken, remains at large - or at least "life-sized" as reported in The Daily Telegraph - although I'm not quite sure what constitutes life-sized for a cartoon character.

The cost of friendship

A man is dead after coming to his friend's aid after he accidentally hit a girl with his car in a parking lot in Texas. When the driver got out to check the girl, a group of people from a festival being held in the park across the road set upon him. That was when his friend stepped in to help and was himself attacked by the mob who beat him to death. The killing is being investigated by local Homicide police.
The young girl was taken to hospital with "non-life threatening" injuries. The driver managed to escape relatively unharmed by driving away - and when the reports say "unharmed" you have to add your own "physically" because it's sure to have left him psychologically traumatised.

Frog chaser

Hot on the heels of frog juice comes news of the hagfish, considered an aphrodisiac in South Korea. The fish itself isn't a great looker ... the Yahoo report I read described it thus: The hagfish is a bottom feeder so repulsive it had a cameo on TV's "Fear Factor." It slimes its enemies, has rows of teeth on its tongue, and feeds on the innards of rotting fish by penetrating any orifice. For more, and pictures of the slime (which can goop up a bucket of seawater in moments), go to the Oceanlink entry for hagfish*
So back to its medicinal qualities. Hagfish has a "modest" following among older Korean men who reportedly savor it as an appetizer broiled in sesame oil, sprinkled with salt and accompanied by a shot of liquor. Yummm ... enough to have over 9 million pounds of hagfish consumer there each year!
*And be sure to follow the link at the bottom of the page to "to learn more about the uses and properties of hagfish slime".

Unkindest cut

A 93-year-old man in England has "fatally knifed himself". Granted, this might not seem as dramatic as the man who recently decapitated himself with a chainsaw after allegedly inflicting fatal injuries (not with the chain saw) on his father - but it does make you wonder why he would want to do it? Was it accidental? Intentional? And is it possible that the police finding (that the man, who was found on a communal grassy area with a knife a yard away from him, was not attacked by some-one else) was correct.

I just called to say ...

It seems quite easy these days to pick up the phone and call someone - but have you ever wondered about the "Hot Line" (not sure of its official title but it's usually depicted in movies with a red telephone*) between the Kremlin and the White House? When/why was it instituted between two countries who were locked in a '"Cold War". Did it really help communications between the leaders of the two countries? And if it had been in place before 1963, would the Cuban Missile Crisis - after which the hot line was instituted - have been averted? Of course, the "hot line" wasn't a telephone until the 1970's. Before that it was a teletypewriter - and messages still had to be translated, typed, transmitted - and then undone at the other end.
* The US referred to it as the "hot line", the Russians referred to it as the "red telephone".

Common theme?

What do Harry Potter and Charles Dickens have in common? Theme parks. Dickens World opens soon in the UK, and a theme park based on the adventures of the young wizard is slated to open in the States in 2009.

Juiced up

What natural substance supposedly cures asthma, bronchitis, sluggishness and low sex drive? If you didn't say "frog juice" first, you're probably not alone, but that's the current thinking in some Andean cultures. Of course, they don't usually drink it neat. One recipe calls for ladles of hot, white bean broth, honey, raw aloe vera plant, maca (an Andean root) to be placed in a blender - and then for a frog to be banged against something hard to kill it, make two incisions along its belly, and off with its skin ... and then drop the frog in the blender as well. A blender burl later and voila - frog juice which supposedly stings a little as it goes down but, as one of the people interviewed for the Topix story is reported as saying "it gives you power".

Man in the moon

... or moon in the man? Scientists are apparently investigating the possible threat posed to astronauts from inhaling lunar dust. Question is: how? Surely the de-contamination system they put into the lunar modules had a way of blowing the dust off their space suits before the astronauts climbed back in after frolicking on the lunar surface? Or maybe not.

Crossing over

There's been a lot in the media today about the Vatican's release of a set of "10 commandments" for motorists to promote safer driving. Included in the commandments are calls for respecting speed limits, refraining from drinking before driving, and, of course, no cussing. But most interesting is a suggestion for road rage - Roman Catholics are urged to make the sign of the cross before setting out - so prevent them getting cross on the road.

What's in a name

If you'd tried to throw a Frisbee 51 years ago, you would have been out of luck. It had been invented - based some say on the Frisbie Pie Co. pie plate - but it was not totally aerodynamic - and it went by the name of Pluto* Platter. Toy company Wham-O Inc. successfully made it fly better and changed the name of the mini flying-saucer 50 years ago this week. Credit for the work was given to Ed Headrick, who died in 2002.
In an interview in 2001 (as reported by Reuters) Headrick acknowledged the special power of the Frisbee: "I felt the Frisbee had some kind of a spirit involved. It's not just like playing catch with a ball. It's the beautiful flight," Headrick said.
"We used to say that Frisbee is really a religion -- 'Frisbyterians,' we'd call ourselves," he said. "When we die, we don't go to purgatory. We just land up on the roof and lay there." Which may in fact be where part of Headrick is right now. Word was that after his death, it was planned to have Headrick's ashes moulded into a limited number of "memorial flying discs" which would be distributed to family and friends, and sold to help fund a future Frisbee/disc golf history and memorabilia museum.
* And speaking of Pluto, following its demotion from planet status a little while ago (read "too xxxx to look up when that was"), it has recently lost its status as "biggest dwarf plant" - a position now filled (not literally of course) by newcomer Eris.

Squirrel goes nuts

Three people were attacked in Passau, Germany, last week ... by a squirrel. The first reported victim was a 70-year-old woman, who was attacked from behind and bitten on the hand. Initially unable to shake the squirrel off, she ran into the street where it then scampered onto a building site and onto a construction worker who was injured on the arm and hand. Using a measuring pole, the construction worker was able to dislodge the squirrel which then ran into the garden of a 72-year-old man where it attacked him on the arm, hand and thighs. Then, said the report I read on Reuters, the man "killed it with his crutch." Motives for the attack have not been released although experts are reported as saying that it could have been linked to the mating season or perhaps the squirrel was ill. The latter would be my guess - because it certainly doesn't seem like the actions of a well squirrel. (Rabies shots anyone?)

Laugh and the world laughs with you

- well that's what they say - and now it appears to have been borne out with research. Apparently our brains are wired so that we laugh when other people do. Which could be the reason for canned laughter on television shows - or perhaps it's because they know they're just not funny.

Bee Sting

I wish I could remember when I copied this item from the RSS feeds: Snopes - Einstein on Bees. Did Albert Einstein predict that if something eliminated bees from our planet, mankind would soon perish? This is interesting because recent items on some of the feeds have told of the death of large numbers of bees in the US. The cause was unknown. So what was Einstein's bee prediction? You'll have to go to Snopes to find out.

Shoot first

A Sydney woman suffered fatal mauling injuries earlier this week - the question is whether the 11 dogs savaged the woman after she had already received life-threatening injuries - or died. Reports as to when she did die are unclear - in some she was still alive when she reached the hospital; in others she was alive when found but deceased by the time the ambulance arrived. In any case, even if it is found that the dogs attacked post-mortem, it will do them no good as they have already been destroyed. (If you were a crime writer there could be a story here somewhere, possibly about inciting the dogs to attack the woman to conceal other injuries.)

Word play

One of the clues in today's crossword was "Mouselike animal". Surprisingly the answer was "Shrew". I was puzzled especially as I have never thought of shrews (as in Taming of The ...) as "mouselike". Quite the opposite in fact - more an " ill-tempered scolding woman". It's funny how words work.

Watch this

Well, was President Bush's watch stolen during a "meet and greet" in Albania as has been suggested - and later denied by the White House - or did the President put his hand behind his back and have his minders take his watch off, or did he himself take it off and put it in his pocket. And if either of these alternate scenarios did happen - why? Was it because President Bush was concerned that his watch would be stolen? Hmmmm.

On a roll

If you're at all tempted to buy a pair of those shoes that have rollers built in you may want to first consider news from the US that the shoes contributed to 1,600 injuries last year - and that's only the ones that made it to the emergency ward.

Elephant (h)ears

We all know the joke about elephants making "trunk calls" but apparently there's something else scientists now know about elephants ... although they have large ears, they apparently also use their feet for hearing calls from other herds - and they react most if the calls come from elephants they know.

Bus help

I was checking out goods at the convenience store near the bus stop this afternoon when I noticed someone - familiar but not - waving from the doorway and trying to attract my attention. It turned out to be a fellow traveller on my usual bus and she had spied the bus coming up fast and thought I might miss it - hence the warning. What a lovely person!

Not getting your goat

In Jurassic Park they used a goat to lure Tyrannosaurus Rex out. In India they're using a similar method to capture leopards which wander out ofthe jungle into villages and sometimes attack people.
But this time they're using special effects ... mobile phone ringtones of cows mooing, goats bleating and roosters crowing. Local rangers download the tones, attach their phones to speakers behind a cage then play the sound continuously until the leopard arrives, and walks into the cage looking for the animal. The method was introduced last month and already 5 leopards have been captured and released back into forest areas. Wildlife activists welcomed the new initiative saying that previous methods of trapping the cats using pits often resulted in the animals getting injured - and it wasn't very good for the goats either!

Potter power

Missing girl Madeleine McCann's parents have made indirect approaches to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling to include a bookmark with a photograph of Madeleine in the new, and last in the series, Potter book due out on 21 July. Ms Rowling is said to be considering the proposal - which is part of the ongoing attempt by the McCann's to keep their daughter's disappearance firmly in the public eye in the hope that someone may come forward with information that will reunite them with their daughter.

Corgi and mash

British artist Mark McGowan likes projects he can get his teeth into - like corgis. In a protest aimed at probably the world's most famous owner of corgis, the Queen, Mr McGowan ate meatballs made from a dead corgi to protest against animal cruelty - specifically '"that the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, of which the royal family is a patron, had not prosecuted Prince Philip, the Queen's husband, for hunting and killing a fox" (Reuters & Sky News). Apparently the corgi, which is reported to have died from natural causes, may not become a favoured repast as it "tasted terrible". But hopefully his next project will remove any remnants of bad taste. He's to be buried in a box under about a metre of mashed potato. He did not say why.

Titanic - an interactive experience

... That would be the old type of interactive experience ... i.e. the wonderful world of paper engineering and pop-up books. I have somewhere in my collection two fabulous books by Jan Pienkowsi (not sure of that spelling) who does the most wonderfully detailed pop-up books. But back to the Titanic. While walking through various bookstores in Newtown today I came across the Titanic book - perfectly sized for a coffee table book with its eye-catching silver cover. As well as pop-ups throughout, including one of the ship which folds out on either end, there are un-covers and slides-ups.
Other curios seen on my bookshop trek were a watch with the numbers in randon order, a storybook for Shrek the Third including 40 images from the movie (I didn't look at this closely - I'm planning to go to the movie when it is released later this week and didn't want to spoil any of its surprises), a Moleskin City book where it comes with a map of the city eg London, and lots of blank pages so you can fill in all the details of your stay there. There was also a new version Kama Sutra (not sure if it was illustrated or not); The Erotic Museum of Berlin - which was on a shelf too high up for me to reach; a collection of old Dickens' volumes; and a talking book on Neuro Linguistic Program(m)ing. I could also have purchased a mini construction kit for my desk, or "The Writers Block" which was filled with ideas which, should they stall, would get one's creative juices flowing again. Oh, and an Itty Bitty Buddha (in a tin).

Time off

I read somewhere last week that some US prisoners currently serving life sentences want the death penalty. More detail than that would be helpful - but I can now not find reference to the article - but I do know that I read it the same day I read that Jack Kervorkian had been released from prison. This raised the question - what if Kervorkian had not been released early (for good behaviour) but had been transferred to those prisons where the long-term inmates would prefer their stay not be so "long term". Funny too that there would be such a thing as "good behaviour" if you've been imprisoned for what some consider "bad" behaviour eg assisting terminally ill people to kill themselves.

Fantastic work

It's car registration time again and this year has turned out to be easier than I could ever have imagined. Who knew that you could register on-line even if you needed a safety inspection because your vehicle is 'old'? Thankfully my mechanic did and, sure enough, by the time I logged in to the RTA site they had received details of my insurance and registration inspection. It was easy then to check details, give credit card info and rejoice in another job I wouldn't have to do on Saturday morning. Well done RTA.

Shot but still at large

But before getting on to the monitor lizard which is still at large somewhere in Florida - it was shot twice but escaped before local police could get to it - who knew there had been an alligator at large in Los Angeles for two years. It "a media darling named 'Reggie'"was finally captured aka "wrestled into captivity" last week. But back to Florida where more than a Disney land is in the offing. The 4-foot lizard had been in the neighbourhood for some months, and although it hadn't bitten anyone, authorities believed it posed a risk to animals and children. Locals agree ... they are keeping their children and pets indoors un til proof of the lizard's demise (its carcass) is produced. (Do follow the link to read about Reggie's life in the wild - and his capture which included live TV helicopter footage of his passage to the zoo!)

Last Supper

It's an interesting notion as raised by Wired in May 1999 (who said I was behind with my reading?) ... they were commenting on Da Vinci's Last Supper and that it has been restored so many times over the years that purists argue that it is no longer a Da Vinci. This reminds me of an axe at the Tower of London that Darien, a colleague at work talks about, that has had it's handle and head replaced so many times, it really is no longer the original, genuine article. I wonder how many important historical artifacts or relics are like this?

Missed opportunity

When talking with my brother yesterday, I mentioned the "Significant Date" and he suggested it would be fun to actually schedule a meeting with someone for then. Darn ... I wish I'd thought of that, rather than taking a rather trivial interest in it!

Significant date

What's special about 31 August 4500? It's the last date you can make an appointment in Microsoft Outlook. (Thanks Colin.) Stay tuned for more exciting trivia!

A disappointment of sorts

A few weeks ago a rocket carrying the ashes of Star Trek actor James Doohan blasted into space - something "Scotty" was never able to do. Alas, it didn't leave him there as I had (mis)understood from the initial reports. Instead, as planned, the rocket and its cargo returned to earth in New Mexico in its designated recovery zone 20 days after Connecticut-based UP Aerospace sent it up. The rocket had achieved 4 minutes of sub-orbital flight so "Scotty" did get to space - just not for that long.

Prayer-conditioning

Back in March (I know this has been a while coming ... but better late than never) British church property specialists Congregational & General Insurance ran a competition to find the number one religious slogan - you know, the puns found on notice boards outside churches like "Fight truth decay"; "Come in for a free faith lift"; "Chxxch -- Have you guessed what's missing.UR!" and "God, you're great!". The prizemoney was worth $US985 (or the equivalent in British pounds). I had a look on the net to see if a winner had been announced yet - but, no luck. However, the good news (heh heh) is that you can buy a book of church signs.

What I learned today

I often wish I had a little more time for surfing the internet because you never know what you will find out. Take today ... I started at antisf.com (reading some speculative flash fiction) and followed a link from one of the author's bios to their website. Once there, I had a look at some of his links - including Real Life Horror Stories - about the bombing of Dresden, and then Images. The image that intrigued me was of Ayers Rock aka Uluru - which I have often seen in photos - but never from the top and which I have always assumed was cigar-shaped (as noted by Andrew J Lloyd - whose website it is). And here's the more traditional view for comparison:
It would be interesting to know which side is shown here. I'm thinking top right of the triangle, but it's hard to know.

But is it art?

Paris Hilton has been the subject of much news lately, but she's also been the subject of art ... as a "prom queen of the dead" which sculptor Daniel Edwards says is a warning against driving while drunk. In his sculpture, the heiress is shown naked, dead, cell phone in hand, tiara on head, and legs asunder, or what that be akimbo, or possibly even apart. Other works by the same artist include a giant head of Cuban President Fidel Castro, and a life-size nude of Britney Spears giving birth on a bearskin rug. (Thanks to the annals of Reuters, Oddly Enough, for this tidbit.)

Taking the Mickey (Mouse)

His ears are smaller and jowls bigger but it's definitely a Mickey Mouse lookalike (aka Farfur) now appearing on Hamas TV telling kids to drink their milk and pray, oh, and there's also something about arming themselves with AK-47s and striving for world domination "under Islamic leadership". Use of the character has been dubbed "pure evil" by Diane Disney Miller, the only surviving Walt Disney child.

An exercise in home invasion

A South African man found himself in a sticky situation last week when armed robbers ransacked his house and drank his best Whiskey. They also made him strip before they superglued him to an exercise bike and glued his mouth shut! Despite the awfulness of this, it does seem like it could be a way to get the exercise-averse motivated - especially if you believe The Simpsons episode where Bart glues novelty items to his face and Dr Hibbard removes them by making Bart break out in a perspiration of pure terror.

Passing time

It's become a tourist attraction of sorts - an elderly man in a remote village in India who spends his days lying in a grave, waiting to die. He's been doing it for six years now - ever since his wife died in the late 1990's. After he buried her, he dug his own grave nearby, and settled in to wait for an as yet elusive death to claim him.

The deep questions

The Associated Press recently obtained a document from NASA (the American space agency) under US Freedom of Information laws. Based on the report written about it (and it would have been nice if I could have found the original article not a report on the report), the document would make interesting reading . It focuses on "what to do" or 'how would you handle" and it raises questions (but doesn't necessarily answer them) about issues to be addressed should NASA mount missions to "deep space" eg:

• If an astronaut dies on the 3-year mission to Mars, what do you do with the body.
• How long do you keep an injured/ill astronaut on life support especially if they're using up all the oxygen!
• Should genetic testing be done to exclude astronauts who might contract a disease en route?
• Should preventative surgery, eg appendectomies, be mandatory for prospective astronauts?
• How do you cope with URST (unreleased sexual tension) en route with mixed and/or same-sex crews?
• How do you cope with astronauts break-ups (romantic and otherwise)
• Should there be an astronaut age limit?

Cough it up

A report in today's The Daily Telegraph tells of a man on a flight from Vietnam to Australia who started to become ill - and then coughed up a nylon bag of white powder which was suspected to be heroin. The plane, already an hour into the trip to Australia, returned to Vietnam where the man coughed up two more bags of white powder after the plane made an emergency landing. 30 more bags of the powder were found in the man's stomach.

India in the news

Burning of witches seems to be something that should have stopped somewhere way back in history, but it's still happening in India according to a recent Reuter reports. Dozens of women accused of witchcraft are burned each year in India. The latest was a couple who were burnt to death after villagers accused them of practicing black magic, tied them together on a pyre and set them on fire. Both were farm laborers near the southern city of Hyderabad who also practiced traditional medicine. Six villagers have since been arrested.
Still in India, the Supreme Court there has been a stay on the death sentence of a former politician who shot his "unfaithful wife", dismembered her, and roasted her in the tandoori oven of a restaurant. The man is appealing against his death sentence.

Cat 1, Post Service 0

I know one of our cats sometimes seems to have a split personality - rolling over to receive pats one minute, and then lashing out with claws the next - so I believe the Canada Post service which ways it can no longer deliver to a house in Winnipeg, Manitoba, after a mail carrier was scared away by a "very threatening cat". Shadow's owner has a very different view of the eight-year-old, declawed, black cat. He (that would be Shadow) is docile, "likes to eat and sleep and cuddle. You could drop a bomb and he'd just open one eye, take a look, then close them and go back to sleep," owner Samborski, told a local paper (as reported by Reuters). Hmm a likely story - but anyone who nhas cats know they are capable of secret lives and activities!

War dead

You'd feel pretty lucky to have survived tours of both Iraq and Afghanistan - but perhaps not so much if you were attached to the 763rd Maintenance Squadron. While the squad has not a wartime casualty on location, three of its members have died on home soil in the last two years. The earlier two were from traffic accidents, the latest the shooting of Senior Airman R'Chardrick Markray, 22, who had served a total of 360 days overseas. A second man was also shot and wounded outside the baby shower in a residential neighbourhood in Las Vegas. No suspects, or motive, have yet been identified.

Just a bit to the left

Instructions of where to sit are usually issued at dinner parties and when someone's posing you - but reports of a different type of set-up is in the news today. It seems a man in the US asked his estranged wife Carolyn to sit near the front window of the house and told her he'd be right back. He was right about that - except he left out one tiny detail - that he'd be back with his pickup truck through the front wall of the house in an alleged attempt to kill her. The woman was not injured in the event and she, and her daughter, escaped out the back door. The husband, David E. Monroe, has been charged with attempted murder, criminal recklessness with a vehicle and disorderly conduct.
It seems this was not the first inkling that something was awry. Carolyn told police that she and her teenage daughter had already fled because he had threatened to kill her. It's not clear if it was then or after this attempt that Monroe told police he hoped his wife died and that "I hope to go to prison for this."

Rubik's remembered

Do you still have your Rubik's cube tucked away somewhere? Do you drag it out every so often to practice - and see if you can beat your previous personal best - or the current world record of 10.36 seconds. Yes, that was 10.36 SECONDS. Of course, to get speeds like this the chances are that you'd have to lubricate your cube with silicone spray and/or loosen the screws to make them faster - and do lots and lots of practice. And when you're down to your best speed - why not try something a bit different - like doing solving the cube blindfolded (record: 1 minute 42 seconds).
Me, I'll just settle for getting solving it once. Looks like I might have to think about investing in another cube - bringing Hasbro's total sales of the plastic cubes ever closer to 300 million. Or I could just use the Sudoku cube that's currently in local shops - oops not enough colours.

The big cheese

Well, there was a good possibility it was not going to be an internet success - but that seems to not be the case. So to find out what all the fuss is about, check out the cheesiest show on a television and join the 1 million other visitors who are watching cheese ripen. The Westcombe cheddar from West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers has been on the net since February and has attracted visitors from 119 countries. There's still time to visit - it takes a year for the cheese to mature. Or you can follow the link from their site to see the timelapse of progress to date on YouTube.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it - whether there are sites out there where you can watch grass grow, or paint dry.

Hawking takes flight

Professor Stephen Hawking has realised a lifelong ambition - to fly in space. He went in a specially modified Boeing 727 which took off and landed from the space shuttle's runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The plane did parabolic manoeuvres (big ascents and descents - commonly know as 'vomit comets') and it is during these that the feeling of weightlessness occurs. The flight was with US firm Zero Gravity which reportedly waived the usal fee ($US3,750) for the Professor. So, the question is - is it worth that money to find out if my Fisher Space Pen really will write in space (or maybe that's what the Professor was trying to find out).

Karaoke rules

A recent headline on one of the weird news sites was "Plumber breaks karaoke record". I didn't follow it up - fear it be about the plumber actually breaking A karaoke record ... afterall there are some who might say that ALL of them should be broken so never again would the human race be forced to listen to ... but I'm not one of them!

Random musings

• How close to your own reality would another dimension need to be for you to stay? Reference Homer Simpson's world without donuts - but perfect otherwise - and Mallory Quinn's where everything looked okayn except that in this reality his father was still alive.
• If you lost your pressurised suit in space, apparently you wouldn't explode - yes, you may bloat a bit, but besides that you'd be preserved forever. Well, that's what they say, but, really, how do they know?
• I'm not sure if the ultime leap of faith would be letting someone else pack your parachute - or rolling your own.
• What moment in your life has been the "most cinematic"?

Just taking a look

Amora, an erotic museum has just opened in London - joining a growing list of major cities with one. So what are the others? Best not to try to find out from the work computer - especially using 'erotic museum' as the search string. A sure way to have the corporate filter kick in.

A thought ot two

Mortin Williams, a Californian psychologist, said of the recent Virginia Tech massacre that Cho's ramblings were similar to those of Charles Manson but unlike Manson, Cho had no ability or inclination to organise or inspire followers.
Initial media coverage of the event: was it the "girl who sparked a massacre" or the "victim - 18 year old country girl"? (Police now report that there was no apparent link between the gunman and his first female victim.)
The death toll from Virginia Tech - 32 or 33. The number varies depending on whether that particular media outlet is counting the gunman's death in the total.

Appearance opportunity

Kate Moss will pose as a mannequin in a shop window in London to launch her new range of clothing. As she was paid $7 million for the range, guess that makes her no dummy.

Superman is a Serb ...

Kryptonite, or something very like it, has been found in Serbia - prompting proud countryfolk to claim Superman as their own. Granted, that they also took it as scientific proof of their being God's children may have been a trifle excessive but the discovery of sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide was cause for celebration. Pity though that the newly discovered mineral is white, not standard Kryptonite green and that the new find cannot be called Kryptonite. Under international naming rules, that's already taken - by krypton the gas (a real element on the Periodic Table).
NOTE: this is not the first time there have been rumours of Superman in Siberia. Way back in August 2005, Ananova carried reports of a Serbian Superman.

Quote of note

Each month in our corporate Thinking Matters! publication, there's a section called: Ingenuity Quotes of the Month. I thought I'd share one from this month's:

"A good photograph is knowing where to stand": Ansel
Easton Adams, American prolific black and white photographer, 1980.

Break-up

On the occasion of my parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary it's no surprise to realise that relationships are seldom lasting that long these days. What will be a surprise is that if you're in Berlin, and wanting to end a relationship, you can engage the services of one Bernd Dressler, who will deliver the message that "it's over" to your not-so-anymore-loved one. The service will cost you 50 euros - and as he told the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper (as reported by Reuters) he's ended 200 relationships in the last 11 months. Breaking the bad news only takes about three minutes and often leaves the message recipients in a state of shock, said Dressler, a trained economist. People wanting to dump their partners in person can make use of coaching sessions given by Dressler, who also offers help for those wanting to save their relationships or apologize for going astray.
So what ever happened to breaking up by text message?

Out of Order

I chanced upon Law and Order: Criminal Intent while I was checking out our new digital set-top box last night - and saw a familiar face. After some time trying to work out who the actor was, it finally dawned that it was in fact Michelle Trachtenberg who played Buffy the Vampire Slayer's sister Dawn . In the Law & Order ep, she was playing Weeping Willow - an aspiring actress - which is strange because one of the other characters on Buffy was called ... Willow. Very confusing! But at least my facial recognition skills are improving (a little). Could it be that the Advanced Brain Training program I purchased for the Palm is starting to work - after only 3 days!?
I have thought about buying a Nintendo DS for a while - it's a handheld computer game - because it has a "brain training" program so when I received a promotional email from PalmGear earlier tbhis week with an for Mobile Brain Trainer - I thought it was worth a look. But talk about frustrating! It has 3 modules when you start - and the choice of two coaches - each with different styles. (But if it's working ....)

Big Fish

There is so much doom and gloom in the media at the moment, that it's interesting to see the stories that aren't making the front pages:

Miami - Sharon Touchton, 50, canoeist was found injured face-down in the water in Florida's Suwannee River recently. When asked what had happened she simply said "big fish". Chalk up another one - bringing their total to 11 - for the local sturgeon, which jump out of the river, hitting people. Sturgeon can grow to 2.5m long and weigh 91kg - so you know when you've been hit in the face by one!

London - Omar Abdel-Gowd, 26, has amassed an impressive shoe collection - unfortunately some of it from robbing women of shoes they were wearing. Apparently Omar, a footwear fetishist, turned to robbery after moving to London and finding more "fashionable" women there. He walked free from court yesterday with a suspended sentence despite having a wardrobe "crammed with hundreds of shoes" when he was arrested.

Somewhere on the net: It's been said that the problem with global warming will be water - too much of it (flooding) or too little of it (drought). But the answer could be as simple as "look to the skies". Water has been detected for the first time in the atmosphere of a planet outside our Solar System. Now we just have to work out how to get it back here.

Seeing the light

The man at the next table at the cafe this morning was wearing magnifying glasses - the kind you can buy in a small tube from chemists or optometrists (or in an oversized pen if you're at OPSM at Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast). They have standard magnifications eg 1x, 1.25x etc and they can cost up to about $50. So as I sat there I found myself thinking "that's a lot of money for a pair of glasses" - and then I remembered how much I paid for my last pair! No contest.

No bones about it

If only I'd know it was happening, and had a spare half a million dollars lying around, I could have now been the proud owner of the skeleton of a prehistoric mammoth. I wonder if it's like Ikea furniture - and you have to assemble it yourself? And how much would it cost to ship?
The $421,200 paid for the lot at a Christie's auction was a new world record.

200,000+

• The number of Australians who went on a cruise last year (up 18% on last year; 90% since 2002) - 221,000 to be exact.
• The number of people ticketed in New Jersey for last year for not wearing a seatbelt - 271,182.

Death tolls

In the news: 33 people dead following the Virginia Tech massacre; another 100+ dead from suicide bomber attacks in Iraq. Which is the greater tragedy? Could either have been prevented?

Day One

Today's Daily Telegraph carries the story of a 17-year-old plumbing apprentice's first day on the job in the UK. His soldering efforts turned to smoldering efforts after a spark from the torch he was using caused a fire which left the $12million mansion gutted. Even though his co-workers refused to say who was responsible for the conflagration, local residents had no such reservations. It's unclear whether the owner still plans to convert the house into a luxury hotel.