Observations on Various Matters

What's Your Personality Type?

2009-03-16T01:44:56Z

Seen by me first at professor_mum's journal:

You Are An ISTP

The Mechanic

You are calm and collected, even in the most difficult of situations.
A person of action and self-direction, you love being independent.
You seem impulsive, surprising, and unpredictable to outsiders.
You are good at understanding how all things work, except for people.

In love, you tend to be very easy going and flexible.
The only thing you can't stand for is someone trying to change you or your life.

At work, you can stay completely calm under pressure. You handle stress well.
You would make an excellent pilot, forensic pathologist, or athlete.

How you see yourself: Logical, flexible, and unconventional

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Indecisive, flippant, and disrespectful

What's Your Personality Type?

Hmmm ...

A Historical Curiosity

2009-03-11T22:36:11Z

THE fabled alligator captured in the Thames some months ago has been surpassed by a hippopotamus disporting itself in the Seine. The scarcity of water has been so great in the Jardin des Plantes, that his majesty had been taken by his keepers to the river for his daily bath, securely held, as was thought, by his chain. One day, however, he snapped his chain during his gambols, to the no small dismay of the blanchisseuses [washerwomen] and steam-boat passengers, one lot of whom he threatened to demolish at a mouthful. Several keepers who attempted to board him were treated to a playful ducking, but after the upsetting of a good number of small boats, he was at length captured and hauled ashore. The poor brute must have thought that the good old times of the pre-glacial epoch had returned.

From: Littell's Living Age, No. 1371, 10th September 1870.

Who Am I?

2009-03-10T00:46:45Z

With obvious thanks to Jackie Chan and ryf.

You know how sometimes people on your friends list post about stuff going on in their life, and all of a sudden you think "Wait a minute? Since when are they working THERE? Since when are they dating HIM/HER? since when???" And then you wonder how you could have missed all that seemingly pretty standard information, but somehow you feel too ashamed to ask for clarification because it seems like info you should already know? It happens to all of us sometimes.

Please copy mine below, erase my answers putting yours in their place then post it in your journal! Please elaborate on the questions that would benefit from elaboration! One-Word-Answers seldom help anyone out.

1. Name: Gavin O'Driscoll

2. Age: 39

3. Location: Suva, Fiji.

4. Occupation: Lawyer.

5. Partner: Frances, married for 18 months, together for 7 1/2 years.

6. Kids: Two. Sean and Esther.

7. Brothers/Sisters: One of each. I'm a middle child. My brother is the oldest.

8. Pets: None currently.

9. List the 3-5 biggest things going on in your life:
(a) Having $92,000 stolen by my secretary through forged cheques.
(b) Organising kids' birthday parties for May.
(c) Getting some repairs done to my house.
(d) Selling the other house.

10. What did you go to school for: I have no idea and may never figure that one out.

11. Parents: Both medical people. Father a semi-retired orthopaedic surgeon, mother a retired rheumatologist.

12. Best Friends: Peter May and Paul McDonnell, neither of whom are on LJ as far as I know. I often see them when not on computers.

Early in the Spring by Robert Louis Stevenson

2009-02-17T01:15:43Z

Spring is nearly here, so I offer this from Making of America

Avoiding the icon space.

LIGHT foot and tight foot

And green grass spread:

Early in the morning—

But hope is on ahead.

Stout foot and proud foot

And gray dust spread:

Early in the evening,

And hope lies dead.

Long life and short life—

The last word said—

Early in the evening,

There lies the bed.

Brief day and bright day

And sunset red,

Early in the evening

The stars are overhead.

Not About R. L. Stevenson

2009-02-10T03:49:08Z

I was going to post about Robert L. Stevenson at some length as I have been reading a lot of his works (both well and lesser known) recently. Instead I grabbed a nearby book,

As seen almost everywhere on LJ lately:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next seven sentences in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.

Well, the first one had less than 56 pages (a Mr. Men book of Sean's), so I grabbed this:

'By now you know the reason. In a minute or two I shall collect myself. Far from loitering, I am racing through a whole life, rushing it through a sieve.

Where was I? - I was nearly sixteen and my days at Santa Maria Novella were drawing to an end. Acting on messer Lanfredino's advice, my guardians decided that next year I should begin work on degrees in theology and philosophy, and so go up to Bologna, to that city of loggias, wonderful little shops, rounded spaces and colonnades. I was to love its huge blocks of well-cut stone, its graceful turnings and soaring towers. And though I lodged with other Dominicians in the friary of San Domenico, Bologna gave me my first heady taste of being on my own.'

There's nothing to indicate one has to say what book the extracted text is from, thus, unless anyone asks I withhold the information.

Back to Tusitala in a moment, but first,

As seen at horridporrid

This is the "explain your lj page" meme.

1. My username is Goddlefrood. This is an amalgam of three elements of myself. Without conceit my initials are GOD. dle is part of my father's childhood nickname for me. Frood comes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as in he's a frood dude, no need to be so froody, etc.

2. & 3. My journal is titled "Observations on Various Matters" as that's exactly what it is. It used to have the secondary title of "Things you may have missed", but because little is missed by today's oh so astute blogger ;-), I removed that. It now has the subtitle of: "Ramblings of a Loon", hopefully for obvious reasons.

(If not obvious it's because I am a small bird)

4. My friends' page is called "Perilous Reading Material" due to the fact that it often isn't.

5. My default userpic is of Marvin the paranoid android from the BBC TV series adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Marvin is possibly my favourite character in all of fiction and my ideological twin.

Anyway, Treasure Island, what's it all about? But first,

This was the result of a little quiz - I say little, but it had 70 odd questions - as espied at elfundeb:

Your result for The Golden Compass Daemon Test...

Gruff Soul

You are a bold and fearless person, with a strong sense of self. People, especially people who don't know you well, might think that you are unfeeling or callous, but your loved ones know that you are a loyal and fierce friend. Your loyalty does not come easily, though. People need to earn your affection and respect.

You like to be with your favourite people, but you don't have much patience for the rest of humanity. Even your close friends and family can drive you crazy some times, so you need your space from them every now and then. You often hide your feelings behind offensive or rude jokes, and you rarely let your true feelings shine through. If an emotion does shine through, it is likely to be masked as aggression or through a joke.

Your daemon's form would represent your clannish, loyal nature, your self confidence and your aggressive, joking exterior. He or she would probably help you mock the people whom you dislike and disrespect.

Suggested form:
Hyena, Coati, Maned Wolf, Raven, Dingo.

Take The Golden Compass Daemon Test at HelloQuizzy

It's not a bad result really, however I'm not enamoured of the hyena.

Next time: Robert Louis Stevenson.

Jaunt to Cheshire etc.

2008-12-01T02:41:39Z

On 16th December, all being well, I'll touch down at Manchester Ringway Airport. This being an infrequent visit home, if there's anyone who may want to meet from that time until mid-January 2009 or so, then let me know by replying here.

Nothing Faked

2008-11-05T22:58:13Z

Ride 'em cowboy
Children in Burkina Faso playing with their friend.

Anyone for chase?
Crocodile jumping for chicken

Leopard v Crocodile
It seems there's a lack of easy prey in the Kruger National Park. Croc tastes quite good, though.

In Case You May be Interested

2008-09-17T23:25:46Z

Borrowed from macloudt via dumbledore11214

COMMENT HERE AND I WILL:

a) Tell you why I friended you

b) Associate you with something -- a fandom, song, colour, photo, etc.

c) Tell you something I like about you

d) Tell you a memory I have of you

e) Ask you something I've wanted to know about you

f) Tell you my favorite userpic from your list

g) In return, you need to post this on your own

You'll have to excuse delayed reactions due to a bout of dengue fever (don't ask).

A letter from Russia to George W.

2008-08-13T02:32:04Z

Go on, have a laugh:

http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/12-08-2008/106067-bushshutup-0

Recent Goings on Chez Goddlefrood

2008-08-08T00:49:38Z

Lament for a Computer

My old Dell at home has seemingly died. Around two months ago Sean was given a green light to use the same on his own after school for games and a little schoolwork. He has had a Noddy game, with word, number and logic puzzles for around two years, but had previously only been allowed access to the hallowed machine under supervision. He's also into Escape from Monkey Island, Warcraft III and sundry other PC games. Mostly Noddy though.

Last weekend I was attempting to connect to the Net at home for the first time in about a week when an error message relating to plug and play devices appeared. On checking, I found the modem was loose (it comes out of its slot quite regularly). I opened up the case and got the modem back in its slot, closed up and tried again. Nothing. As there are better things to do than spend hours fixing hardware I went to watch DVDs.

On Monday afternoon I arrived home and thought I'd fire up Freelancer - a game involving the Sirius system. Switching on the machine a strange noise was heard, something like a pregnant hippo trying to expel its young. Nothing, but nothing, will now induce the machine to boot. I can't even get into the bios to try something with them. Ah well, it was old (second or third hand when I bought it) and I'd had it around 6 years. I've lost very little because I tend to store things I want to keep online, so that's alright then.

One day I'll get the hard drive out and extract whatever's worth salvaging, but in the meantime I will have weekends and evenings free to watch films and TV and also read. These are my preferred activities anyway, so no great loss. When I replace the home computer I'll get a laptop. A new one.

Farewell old friend.

Random DVDs

The continued onslaught against the movie industry continues. Pirate DVDs aplenty have been purchased and viewed recently. Seven of the more notable follow.

1. Dark Knight - Question: What's with Batman's voice? Much of the time he speaks so low it's almost off the scale. The Joker's story as to how he got his smile changes just about every time he appears in either a film or TV series (cartoons included). This time he says his father did it to him to give him a fixed smile. The special effects ruled the film, overshadowing just about all the performances. If Heath Ledger's peers think his performance merits an Oscar then I can only be thankful that they do not decide on such issues. He was pretty good, but an Oscar? In the UK there's been a debate over whether Dark Knight meritted its 12A rating. It's really not that bad in terms of the violence, and 12 is quite old enough to see this film unaccompanied. Needless to say, the UK is somewhat of a nanny state, but then where isn't these days?

Personally I preferred Batman Begins. I also think the old TV series with Adam West is light years ahead of all the films to date. I did grow up on them, amongst other such fare. Maybe the films are closer to the original comics, but so what?

2. Bridge to Tarabithia

Had been meaning to watch this for a while and thought it would be good for the kiddies. Their attention wasn't held for long, although they often sit through full length films. It really didn't go enough into the imaginary land of Tarabithia, which as far as I can gather is the main point of the book from which this was adapted. Over this I would take Neverwas or The Spiderwick Chronicles any day of the week.

3. Night Watch & Day Watch

These Russian films have some excellent elements to them. The first shades the second in terms of entertainment value, IMO. The age old battle between good and evil is played out between the dark and the light. I liked the supercharged trucks and the Tamerlane sequence best. I would recommend these to any who hadn't seen them, even if it's just to see how good foreign language films can be without being dull or French ;-)

4. Bourne Trilogy

Watched all three Bourne films on consecutive evenings. James Bond has the same initials, don't you know.

Disturbing Image

2008-07-28T04:15:36Z

It's easy to overlook what's happening elsewhere in the world. Three eggs in Zimbabwe cost $100 billion in the local currency. And, Mugabe is still there why exactly?

In Brief

2008-07-17T02:14:33Z

1. Sovereignty's all very well, but there is an International Court of Justice for a reason. The US might remember that it signed a Convention binding itself to said Court and it's one occasion where George W deserves some praise. See:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7510073.stm

(No fancy links in this post)

2. You want an extra clean car? Park it in a swimming pool:

Just make sure you have a crane handy to get it out:

Bats

2008-07-16T00:55:00Z

Bats in the belfry, fine, but bats in your bra? The Fiji Times carried an odd story last week about a young woman finding a bat asleep in her bra. I thought it might be a hoax (The Fiji Times is not the most reliable paper in the world, despite being the first published daily). I looked for the story and found it at the BBC. Our heroine had this to say:

"When I realised it was a bat the first thing that occurred to me was how did it get in there."

Well, I can only advise that underwear should be checked before one wears it. At least it wasn't in her panties.

The Lost Weekends

2008-07-07T02:09:36Z

I never now work on weekends because generally there's not much that could be done that couldn't be done the following week, despite what certain clients might think. If they ever wanted to cross my palm with silver to work at the weekend my attitude might change. Weekends should be a time for relaxing and enjoying time with family and friends. A typical weekend chez Goddlefrood consists of anything but this due to two frantic infants, here's how the last weekend went:

Saturday - Unusually, I drink one cup of coffee on a weekend morning. It's not a drink I've ever taken to, but I do value its restorative properties. The Saturday just gone this was accompanied by a coconut bun and an essay from A Capote Reader. The kids were very good (they usually are of a morning being not yet fully awake) and ate their Milo Pops.

Once breakfast was over and everyone was changed we went to town for the normal Saturday shopping. This included a visit to Prouds for me to look at their books section (nothing I wanted - it's a pretty bad selection, but second only to the University bookshop in terms of recentness of titles stocked). Crossing the road we went to Jack's. There I bought a bula shirt (like a Hawaiian shirt) for my brother for his birthday. I haven't sent it yet, must remember to do this because his birthday was last week.

Wandering up the main drag through Suva (Victoria Parade) we then stopped in at Courts Homecentres to look around the furniture department before going to the Suva Municipal Market for vegetables, fruit, fish and a little meat. Sean rode in the wheelbarrow while Francis and Esther visited her aunt who sells grog (kava) upstairs. Self did the shopping. Bliss.

Upon returning home at just before lunchtime I then read some more. Can't actually remember what exactly, but I do know that I am currently reading:

A Capote Reader by Truman Capote
Voyages and Discoveries by Richard Hakluyt
The Penguin Complete Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton; and
Tales of Terror by Edith Nesbit (perhaps surprisingly - she did write other things apart from stories for children).

Lunch consisted of luncheon meat from Wahley's and bread. Then it was time to play computer games with Sean. We're currently playing Worms World Party, which is satisfying because the worms have an arsenal that would put Kim Il Jung (or whomever) to shame. Probably also read some more, but as all weekends blend together I couldn't say for sure.

Just before supper Francis, Esther and I went to Comsol, a pirate DVD dealer with a large selection of films and TV series and bought:

(i) Mercenary for Justice
(ii) A film Francis wanted, but which I will never watch whose title escapes me
(iii) Nanny McPhee
(iv) Doom
(v) Bridge to Tarabithia
(vi) Replacement Killers
(vii) Another one
(viii) and yet another

The deal was 8 films for $10, and they're yours to keep.

After dinner we watched Doom, Nanny McPhee and Mercenary for Justice in quite a marathon session. Nanny McPhee was highly enjoyed by all, Doom was enjoyed by Sean and I was the last man standing when Mercenary for Justice ended. Francis had seen it before and the kids were, by the time it was put in, you may be glad to hear, asleep.

Sunday - Same as Saturday, morning wise. Went to the supermarket and returned in time to put the leg of lamb in for Sunday lunch. I prepared mashed potatoes, cucumber and lettuce to go with the lamb and a cheesecake for dessert. Nothing fancy, just a Jello one that one mixes butter with for the crust and milk with for the filling. Had a shower.

More Worms World Party was played after lunch until we watched The Replacement Killers (Francis and I - Sean continued game and Esther slept). Supper was left overs from lunch.

All rather average probably, but all punctuated by the rabble of two screaming and screeching and being thrown onto settees (they both enjoy this, and I don't throw them very far). And, that's all anyone needs to know about the weekends, as I say they blend into one with variations on films, books or games, watched, read or played.

It's Monday now, another exciting legal week is in store. One more week of the school holiday remains.

Test Feed from Goodreads

2008-07-04T04:34:21Z

Another Topsy Turvy House

2008-06-30T03:25:43Z

There's still hope for the world when houses like this get built:

Human Rights

2008-06-30T02:30:41Z

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that everyone has the right to life. The last time I looked it did not say that everyone has the right to be invited to their classmates' birthday parties. Let the BBC tell the next part, its headline:

Birthday party snub sparks debate

The introductory paragraph reveals further:

'An eight-year-old boy has sparked an unlikely outcry in Sweden after failing to invite two of his classmates to his birthday party.'

Apparently the school teacher noticed that invitations were not proffered to a boy who had failed to invite the 8-year old in question to his own birthday party and another boy with whom our hero had had a disagreement. The school teacher confiscated all of the invitations stating that the two uninvited childrens' rights had been breached. What rights?

You know, if I hadn't been invited to a schoolmate's birthday party back in the day I might have felt a little peeved; I certainly wouldn't have expected my school to intervene on my behalf. Where would it end? Each child would have to give and receive the same presents, presumably. The little dears would each have to provide a birthday party at the same level as their classmates, whatever the disparity in their parents' means. I don't think the story is a hoax, it should be, but I don't think it is.

Big Brother is here whether we want him or no. I just hope the boy's father's complaint to the Swedish Ombudsman is upheld otherwise I'll be checking into the nearest madhouse shortly (I may do this anyway).

Once more unto the books dear friends, once more

2008-06-28T11:29:46Z

Several of the old flist had this, and it seems quite similar to one of a few months ago. Number 4 of the instructions is only left in for anyone taking this for their own blog. It should not apply to too many people, at least I would hope, but of course there are those who don't read, at least so I'm led to believe. Actually one is my wife, who wouldn't have read a single one of the below, but she is not on LJ so won't likely be tracked down by that sinister 'we'.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read
2) Italicise those you intend to read
3) Underline the books you LOVE
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (Not a big priority, maybe one day)

2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (The Peter Jackson directed films were good, however the books are so much better)

3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (As 1)

4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (poorly concluded and as such I wouldn't recommend or reread it, excepting possibly to my kids when they're older)

5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (Read very long ago and may ultimately be reread)

6. The Bible (Read and transcribed a good chunk of it. The transcription was a punishment for misbehaviour in RE classes at school. It did mean I got the top grade in my year for RE. Also loved parts of it, especially the Pentateuch).

7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (Next up on the nightstand, probably be got to next week)

8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (Didn't love, but would reread)

10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (Actually had read to me by English teacher, have not read by myself, may do so one day)

11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (Have read a few times and like a good deal. It is a tad bleak, though)

13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (I think I have read them all, my mother had the complete works and both of us are [in my case were] great theatre goers)

15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks (Avoid at all costs)

18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20. Middlemarch - George Eliot

21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens (It's a lawyer thing possibly, but this involves Jaundice v Jaundice, which I have cited in Court on occasion, often to perplexity from the bench)

24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (Despite Mostly Harmless petering out a little, this series is superb)

26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (See 10, this teacher liked Dickens and read a good number of them to his class)

33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34. Emma - Jane Austen (Again, not a priority)

35. Persuasion - Jane Austen (")

36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis (Presumably whoever compiled this list, despite advocating literacy, didn't realise this was part of the Chronicles of Narnia. Otherwise, why is it separate?) - That's somewhat of a rhetorical question, btw.

37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38. Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres (Don't know what the fuss was about with this one)

39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

41. Animal Farm - George Orwell

42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (I did hold out until earlier this year, in my defence)

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (One to read to the kids really, more than for myself)

47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50. Atonement - Ian McEwan (This is often noted as his best work. Enduring Love and Saturday, both of which I have read are OK without being really memorable)

51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52. Dune - Frank Herbert (My brother's favourite when he was a teenager and one day I will read it, despite being a teenager squared)

53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (As with other Austen's this is not high on the list to read)

55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Have had this on the shelf for quite some time now without actually getting to it. I will)

57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (That teacher again)

58. Brave New World- Aldous Huxley

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (Am I alone in not having liked this?)

60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt (Have read, but probably wouldn't a second time)

64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac (Wish I hadn't read, it's very very dated)

67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (The only Hardy novel I've yet to read)

68. Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding

69. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie (Another one that's been on the shelf for a long time)

70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville (The story it flows from is even better)

71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72. Dracula - Bram Stoker (Would reread, but wouldn't say I love it)

73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson (Bryson grates after a few books, but if any of his should be read this would be the one)

75. Ulysses - James Joyce

76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78. Germinal - Emile Zola (I like Zola, but I doubt I'll get this in Fiji)

79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80. Possession - AS Byatt

81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83. The Colour Purple - Alice Walker

84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87. Charlotte's Web - EB White

88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (This is tentative because it would have been 30 years or so ago. I'm pretty sure I did read it as a child)

93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94. Watership Down - Richard Adams

95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole (This too is near the top of the list of the to read books)

96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare (Must have been outside his complete works, for some reason best known to whoever compiled the original 100)

99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

A few more than 6 then.

Why Pravda is the greatest news site

2008-06-19T10:18:09Z

I don't say this lightly, but when one comes across a picture such as this:

and then finds that the caption reads:

'These are girls of Russian pop trio Serebro (Silver). The band, like other similar girl bands or solo pop artists enjoy very little popularity. However, such artists receive heavy promotion and rotation on television and radio channels. They can neither sing nor dance. The only thing that they can offer the general public is their physical attraction.'

You have got to love Pravda. Telling it like it is online since 1999.

I didn't make this up, who could? other than, of course, the peerless Pravda. The relevant page is at this link.

They have a nice line in flowers too.

Oh, and stamps.

Actually, the last may not be from Pravda, but I liked it anyway.

PS - S of E now appointed, a lady from New Zealand no less.

Birthday fact

2008-06-08T23:03:12Z

130,082 People

And, if you know the date that Sharon Tate was murdered, you will know the day.

The Greatest Crocodile Story

2008-06-03T04:35:04Z

That picture comes from this story, which is in my opinion perhaps the greatest ever crocodile story. Possibly I'll now stop posting about crocodiles because I can't foresee this being surpassed.

Just a Little Something to Pass the Time

2008-05-31T04:20:39Z

Poorly captioned newspaper photograph
Jackhammers may cause trouble, I'll grant you. That tubular thing you're holding could be problematic too.

Watch out you 5-year olds

2008-05-06T00:33:10Z

Here's the real answer, with the questions answered honestly by me:

27

27's not too bad, so best be careful Sean's class, you have been warned.

Now, here's the maximum with a little dishonesty:

39

As you see, even with all the advantages only 12 more could be taken. Thus, Kill Bill Volume 1 was a cartoon. Even The Bride probably couldn't manage if faced with 40 5-yearolds.

Blake's 7

2008-04-26T10:05:47Z

The old digest I receive from The Telegraph tells me that Blake's 7 is to be revived by Sky One. The Telegraph's piece, which is here would tell you, should the heresy of unfamiliarity be with you, a little of the program. As would the site linked earlier.

It's true that the villain of any given episode was more memorable than the heroes, that being in the main Servalan. Personally I liked Gan, one of the 7.

The program had similar production values to Doctor Who of Blake 7's time and may well have been filmed in the same quarry. I haven't invested in the DVD release of Blake's 7 because I'd prefer to remember it as I do and not potentially come to the realisation that it really wasn't all that good. Due to that I may avoid any revival, but probably won't, and may even dig deep to get the original series (there were 4).

News, Views and Other Matters

2008-04-21T09:39:17Z

Greetings. Haven't had much energy recently to either blog, comment or post anything very much anywhere. I have been following events on others' blogs. I'm glad various weddings, meetings up, group formations and personal matters seem to be moving along apace, even if the occasional bone gets broken whilst initially having a good time. Hope that heals! Good luck to those of you embarking on new relationships and what have you.

Great things are afoot in Fiji just now, with a manslaughter trial having started today, problems with the new Supervisor of Elections - whom I supervise - and a relatively complex fraud case winding its way to a conclusion. That's without mentioning an intricate land matter, the trials and tribulations of the home life or the forthcoming visit of the MV Doulos from 15th May - 3rd June, an event that is highly anticipated by me as it may give rise to my snapping up some decent reading material to wile away the cold winter nights. Yes, we're on the verge of the cold season when the temperatures can plummet to a chilly 75 F, or thereabouts.

Within there are some interesting photos - at least I found them interesting - a few news items, one concerning self and whatever else comes to mind in the next several minutes.

Satellites and a Newly Discovered Galaxy

First some pictures, or rather graphics, of the multitude of satellites orbiting this planret of ours; satellites of which only around 800 work or are in contact with the ground.

A close up view, with the inner orbit satellites clearly depicted

A wide view showing the higher orbit satellites

With a little halo added in this further CGI impression

Satellites orbiting Earth, a CGI impression

An image from NASA showing a galaxy situated approximately 15 million light years from Earth

The last above is a galaxy recently discovered by NASA, and from which organisation the depiction is taken. Hadn't got a name, other than a long gobbledigookish sequence of letters and numbers. Let's call it: Z8890AKLPW9.

Recent News Stories of Note

The inevitable crocodile story. This one will tell you what to do if a crocodile ever attacks your wife. Bravo Mr. Petherick. Let us hope that none of us ever find ourselves in this situation. The sharp eyed will note that the picture is one used by the BBC on a previous crocodile story noted on this blog some time ago.

Meanwhile in Sweden, some Arab coins have been excavated, as would be explained at this link. I found this fascinating in that the vikings really spread out their arms to all parts of the world. The coins are probably worth a few quid and no doubt will be on display in a museum somewhere, probably Stockholm, in due course.

Other than Charlton Heston, another Hollywood great has passed on in the last couple of weeks, albeit a man whose face would perhaps be unfamiliar, but whose characters and input to Disney will live on way beyond his 95 years. The last of Disney's old men, Ollie Johnston, moves on to pastures new, or not as the case may be.

Lastly in the news items, Darwin's collected papers have now been digitised and are available online. There is a link to them within this page from The Telegraph's website.

Hoodwinked and Joinings

I am a member of the Constitutional Offices Commission, a body that appoints various posts within the civil service including the Supervisor of Elections. Around six weeks ago we interviewed prospective candidates for this vacant post and selected the man we thought best suited for the job. Personally I still think he would be the best man for the job, but he didn't fully disclose his history. The minor inconvenience of having been disbarred from legal practice for dishonesty was not disclosed. There's a story about that here.

Finally, never having read a published word of Guy Gavriel Kay I joined a discussion group dedicated to him this week. It's name is fionvarrebc. Hopefully the MV Doulos will provide material to discuss.