who do you think would win between a 20 year old on a push bike and a rally driver in a renault clio? …..
well on BBC’s Top Gear Britain’s very own Gee Atherton is goin to be racin a clio down the streets of lisbon, it could be very interesting to see who wins because for those who aren’t aware of the lisbon streets terrain well they are pretty steep lots of steps and tight corners round old biddys homes.
A blog all about sex oriented Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games. I have an idea for a Mary Tales (dirty) webcomic that revolves around one of these, with most of the art being done in Poser.
via Fleshbot
Technorati tag: MMORPG
Technorati tag: Global warming
The Soviets put a lot of effort into mapping British towns. It’s fascinating to check out Manchester, circa 1975, with Cyrillic place names.
via BoingBoing
Technorati tag: Map
It’s rumoured there won’t be a bogle next year. Which is a shame. I was thinking of cycling it again (until my bike got vandalised. Anything good enough to ride 70+ miles on wouldn’t last long outdoors.)
apparently rag can’t get enough volunteers these days, which is sad. I’m almost inclined to suggest some sort of old farts rag to utilise the experience of we old hacks who can’t help but turn up to events. I don’t know exactly what we’d do, mind, probably stand around and talk about how things were done in our day.
Which would be no different to what we do now, to be honest.
Technorati tag: moblog
Michael Meacher says what I’ve been thinking about Blair’s headlong charge toward new nuclear power stations.
Today Mr Meacher, a champion of renewable energy, said: “I fear that David King has really taken on the role of spin doctor by suggesting that there is no other way by which we can meet our carbon reduction target under the Kyoto protocol.”
“That is completely untrue: it certainly can be met if we go down the renewables route.”
…..
He said nuclear power was hugely expensive and he pointed to “unresolved” problems over waste. “We need nuclear like a hole in the head,” he warned. “The fact is, the 21st century, in the end, is going to be powered by solar.”
Technorati tag: Renewable Energy, Nuclear Power, Michael Meacher
Make your MP pay attention to you. I’ve used WriteToThem before, a similar tool, and I keep meaning to send my MP rants observations on such matters as ID cards and nuclear power.
via BoingBoing
Technorati tag: MP
Sir Jonathon Porrit is rightly astounded that John Prescott’s home building binge isn’t geared toward low energy accomodation. So much good could be done if they could stop being so short sighted about a slight rise in the initial cost and see the massive savings over the lifetime of a house.
Sir Jonathon said the construction industry had been expecting a “major hike” in the levels of energy efficiency they should be building into new homes.
“As a result, something becomes standard and part of the basic business of building a new house costs all start to come down,” he said.
Technorati tag: EcoHouse, Housing, Energy conservation
“If we do not take the opportunity to seize the apparatus and the brains that developed it and put the combination back to work promptly, we will remain several years behind while we attempt to cover a field already exploited.”
Thus began Project Paperclip, the US operation which saw von Braun and more than 700 others spirited out of Germany from under the noses of the US’s allies. Its aim was simple: “To exploit German scientists for American research and to deny these intellectual resources to the Soviet Union.”
Technorati tag: Nazis, Rocket, World War Two
I picked this up mainly because it had an article about the TSR.2 and I’ve ordered the upcoming Airfix kit. the article gave a potted history of the failed project and backed it up with 1:72nd scale drawings so now I know just how much space I’m going to need for the model. The plane is depicted with the leg of the front wheel extended in an extreme nose up attitude designed to help short take offs. It’s tempting to model it this way, but god knows how much weight I’m going to need in the nose.
Other features included the evolution of the Zero fighter, and a round up of various models of it, and lots of full colour paint scheme illustrations. The F-16s are the dullest of the bunch in different shades of grey.
The magazine is rounded out with reviews and short build articles, previews of upcoming product and an end page opinion piece that returns to the TSR.2.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Scale Aircraft, Model Magazines
Sure, he’s making a list. But it’s the ones who are naughty that he’s really interested in.
Technorati tag: moblog
Ray Harryhausen talks about the effect that King Kong had on his life.
Technorati tag: King Kong, Ray Harryhausen
Oral sex can lead to cancer of the mouth, say scientists
Mouth cancer can be caused by a virus contracted during oral sex, a new Swedish study has shown. People who catch a high-risk variety of the human papilloma virus, HPV, at that time are more susceptible to falling ill with mouth cancer, according to new research.
GENDER IDENTITY AND THE ALLEGORICAL BICYCLE IN PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE
On its most basic level, PWBA is a film about a stolen bicycle and its owner’s journey to recover it. However, when considering its exploration of the complex issues of sexual and gender identity, it may be the most comprehensive coming of age film of our time. In PWBA, bicycle is never just a bicycle. The film’s simplistic storyline and light-hearted humor belie a darker struggle to restore one’s identity in the wake of stolen innocence.
You have to wonder what type of bike “PeeWee” was thinking of when he was arrested in the porn cinema.
Technorati tag: PeeWee Herman, Bicycle
There are moments of pitch black comedy, and even farce, in Joachim Fest’s account of the final days of the battle for Berlin.
Soviet General Chuikov was caught off guard by a German delegation to discuss surrender or ceasefire terms and was without his senior staff. Uniformed members of his immediate entourage had to stand in. A civilian composer, there to write about the liberation of Berlin, was stuck in an antechamber and told to remain absolutely quiet. As the debate dragged on, the composer eventually passed out and fell out of the closet. He was carried away, and no-one present thought to mention the strange event.
The book also has some interesting observations on Hitler’s character, that fit well with the back story for my in-development webcomic. Both Hitler and Goebbels spoke at different times of how, when they fell, they would take the German people, and as many others as possible, with them. “Hitler’s bomb” is a popular conspiracy/ alternate history theory. It is entirely conceivable that Hitler, in possession of an atomic bomb but surrounded and unable to launch it at Moscow, London or Manhattan would detonate it as Russian forces approached. This leads directly to the situation at the start of the story, with the the city a mass grave and memorial to the greatest crime of all time and the Berlin wall going around the city to keep scavengers and trophy hunters out and a lot of secrets in.
Technorati tag: Berlin, World War Two,Hitler
via ScreenHead
Technorati tag: Sex Pistols, Tony Blair
Today’s hybrid vehicles use electricity stored in batteries to assist the gasoline engine in acceleration and to completely power the vehicle while idling or at steady low speeds (generally less than 25 mph). Vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and Ford Escape Hybrid include drive-train management systems that automatically decide when to use the batteries or internal-combustion engine.
I wanted a T34 for photo reference for the webcomic I’ve just started working on. It’s actually in the centre of the very first frame, advancing up a shattered Berlin street, so I can’t go any further until I’ve built this. The plan was to get a cheap kit for a fast build- it’s an alternate reality tale, so historical accuracy isn’t so important- but this one (bonus) comes with a Berlin colour scheme.
I don’t know what the current state of the art for small scale armour is, but I’ve read reviews hinting at assembling tracks from individual chain links, a long way from the bendy soft plastic tracks I remember from my youth. Thankfully this kit manages to hit an acceptable middle ground, with the tracks formed from five or six separate pieces of varying lengths with long flat stretches under and atop the road wheels and shorter links going round the drive and end wheels.
Despite it being a fast build I’ll try to do the model justice, with an amount of painting if not major detailing. Expect pictures of the beast going together.
The Airfix Russian infantry were bought to go with the T34, but I could almost have gotten away with any 72nd scale figures milling around. They’re not awful, but the detail is soft and only the occassional pose is distinctive. I don’t know if any other companies do World War Two Russian figures in this scale. These guys could make up the massed ranks backing up the more detailed frontline troops or would be ideal for wargaming.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, T34, Airfix, Revell
I couldn’t make it, but most of Britain’s hardcore modellers will be in Telford this weekend for the IPMS(UK) Scale Modelworld event.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, IPMS, Exhibition
