I was just checking a few of the photos in the gallery for comments. These ones are a little disturbing, I much prefer the reminiscences about Rheda Mansion.

Technorati tag: Photos

City Life had an article in its last issue about local activist groups.

I used to be a regular at Critical Masses. Nowadays my involvement tends to be slapping myself on the forehead on the last Saturday of every month in a Homer-ish D’oh! kind of a way. There isn’t a CM website listed in the article but ridemanchester, a collective dedicated to resurrecting abandoned bikes is mentioned.

Other links from the article-
Do Summat
Northern Arts Tactical Offensive
Indymedia
UHC

And one of my own-
Manchester Environmental Resource Centre initiative (MERCi)

Technorati tag: Manchester, Activism

The same psychologist who calculated that January 24th was the most depressing day of the year has worked out that today is the best day make (or reaffirm) any resolutions.

Mr Arnall’s formula is in the great tradition of wacky science. Experts have, in recent years, formulated the equation behind the perfect biscuit for dunking in tea; manipulated the mathematics of the ideal fried potato chip; explored the ideal geometry for stone-skimming across a pond; calculated the relative flatness of pancakes and the plains of Kansas; and even the established the variables in the formula for the perfect joke.

Technorati tag: Resolution, Silly

Apparently we’re falling out of love with tea, with sales of teabags down 16% in the last two years.

Though you wouldn’t be able to tell this from the excess of tea making paraphernalia and supplies at Casa Spinneyhead.

Technorati tag: Tea

The US Patent Office’s 5,000,000th patent is for a strain of E.Coli that can convert biomass to ethanol at 90-95% efficiency. Treehugger examines the pros and cons of industrialising this technology.

Technorati tag: Ethanol

Car Free City USA

CarFree City, USA’s goal is to provide Americans with an alternative: carfree cities. By creating new neighborhoods and cities or redeveloping existing areas on a scale that is for people and not cars, yields a host of personal, community and global benefits. It’s an ambitious task, but not mere wishful thinking. It doesn’t require futuristic technologies, just common sense and a willingness to try something new. And it’s no more expensive than traditional development. The pages of this website describe how carfree districts work and the benefits and challenges of creating them. We hope that you will join with us in creating the first carfree city in the United States of America.

via Treehugger

Technorati tag: Transport

The Official Dukes of Hazzard movie website and the trailer- Large, Medium, Small. A quick appraisal, just from the trailer

For-
Real stunts, not the cut up and cgi that has been passed off in a lot of recent car chases (or if it is all done with effects then the effects have gone to another level). Johnny Knoxville. Seann William Scott being funny. Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg.

Against-
Seann William Scott being annoying- there’s at least one sub Stiffler moment in the trailer. Another example of the movie industry’s inability to come up with anything new and its need to raid old TV series for inspiration.

On balance….. What am I talking about? Balance or no balance I was always going to go and see this movie.

via Sepia Mutiny

Technorati tag: Movies, Nostalgia