I’m trying this instant messaging lark again. As almost everyone I know is on MSN Messenger I’ve signed up for Hotmail (I’ve been online for near a decade and I’ve only just got a Hotmail account!!!!!). I’m feeling silly talking to Clare when she’s just on the other side of the living room so contact me- spinneyhead{at}hotmail{dot}co{dot}uk
Technorati tag: Hotmail
Just a few Daily Mail stories from the last few days.
Holy diversity! Look what’s happened to Batwoman
Holy sad comics news story cliche number one!
The new Batwoman is to be a “buxom socialite” lesbian and (Gasp! Choke!) comics in general are becoming a bit less white.
Harry Potter heroine ‘encourages violence in girls’
I haven’t read the books, but I have seen the films and Hermione is portrayed as a geek most of the time. So why isn’t there a shocking rise in girls studying as a result? I think someone has a book to sell.
Professor James Garbarino, author of the book, See Jane Hit: Why Girls Are Growing More Violent and What We Can Do About it
There’s a surprise.
(Harry Potter stuff on Amazon
Farmer who builds gallows accused of profiting from death
So it would be okay if he did it for charity? From that offended headline they managed to twist the story round to suggest the return of capital punishment mightn’t be so bad, especially for child murderers.
Brown’s billions are ‘sovietising’ the north
Wythenshawe just looks like a gulag, okay. I know, let’s privatise everything.
Downloads of Net porn hit record high
More than nine million men – almost 40 per cent of the adult male population – logged on to sex websites last year, more than four times as many as the estimated two million in 2000.
The number of women downloading Internet porn soared 30 per cent to 1.4million.
So more women are looking at porn but, somehow, it’s only the men who have “unrealistic” expectations because of what they see? Is Britain a country of hot studs with big dicks and perfect six packs?
And no, dear Daily Mail reporter, adult pornography does not lead to child porn addiction.
Why won’t internet bosses stamp out web porn?
Or, rather, “Why won’t they do what we tell them to do?”
Old graves may be used for double burials
The idea involves reopening untended graves more than 75 years old and transferring the remains to a smaller container, which would be buried deeper in the same plot.
Another coffin could then be lowered into the original space.
Why does Ken Loach loathe his country so much?
Because of people like you?
Technorati tag: Daily Mail, Reactionary, Harry Potter, Porn
Ken Livingstone has proposed a “London Plan” to cut carbon dioxide by 20 per cent by 2015, and by 60 per cent by 2050. We need the Government to be this ambitious.
Planners and developers will be required to connect new buildings to decentralised local energy supplies, meet high sustainable building standards and achieve a 20 per cent emissions reduction using onsite renewable energy.
Technorati tag: London, Ken Livingstone, Microgeneration
It’s a big Khan news week. After finding that there were Marras descended from him, tody I’ve found out about a Mongolian rock opera about the beardy raper and pillager.
“He was a good husband, a good son, and a good friend and I wanted to show him that way,” said the lyricist, Dojpalem Ganzorig. “Not as a tyrant or someone with a bad character which is how some people see him.”
Non-Mongolian historians beg to differ; they say Genghis and his Mongol hordes murdered about 40 million people as they created an empire from Asia to eastern Europe, raping and pillaging as they went.
Technorati tag: Genghis Khan, Musical, Mongolia
In the rather nasty, smelly, smoking brown corner Jeremy Clarkson.
Sir Jonathon Porritt stepped up his campaign against Clarkson by branding him an “outstandingly bigoted petrolhead” whilst opening a classroom at Rendcomb College in Gloucestershire.
Previously: The Case Against Clarkson
Technorati tag: Jonathon Porritt, Jeremy Clarkson, Environment
Of course, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was only three feet tall. So, by having himself photographed in front of his creations he could make them look a lot bigger.
The Science Museum has some rare Brunel photos on display.
Technorati tag: Brunel, Photographs
Descendents of Genghis Khan may be living in Cumbria.
DNA testing has revealed that Tom Robinson, of the University of Miami, shares a key chromosome with the leader renowned for his ruthlessness and savagery.
….
“I obviously haven’t conquered any countries and, though I’ve headed up accounting groups, I’ve done nothing as big as Genghis Khan,” Prof Robinson said.
Technorati tag: Genghis Khan, Cumbria, DNA
What an utter twat the king of self important miserableness is. His message to employees of an Oxford animal testing lab- “we’ll get you“- makes him deserving of a serious slapping. The be-quiffed moron has every right to say he’s against vivisection, and I’d love to see him try to have an intelligent argument about it with a doctor or other expert, but this does his cause no good.
Technorati tag: Morrissey, Wanker, Vivisection
Coop has been in Japan, photo blogging his travels. This set, including customised Hot Wheels, set me looking for other customised Mattel cars. Such as these at JT Kustoms, or Terry L’s page with links to builods and how-tos. I’ve got a few Hot Wheels in a drawer somewhere. It might be time to attack them with the Dremel.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Hot Wheels
Gomez are back! Excellent!
New single Girlshapedlovedrug comes out this week and their new album How We Operate next week.
Wire had been strung between the trees above the tunnel mouth to catch the radio waves bounced off the atmosphere. Lensman took the coded pages and translated them with a one time pad. There was a simple request and a number of suggested map references.
The squad assembled under the evening sun around a roasting goat. Lensman laid a large map on the flat stone that served as a table. “We have been asked to carry out harassing attacks and sabotage on the enemy in certain regions.” He circled six areas with a wax pencil. “I know some of these targets are on the Plains,” he pre-empted Mov’s complaint, “and there is further to fall back. But they are unlikely to search for us in the mountains.”
Rey leaned over the map. “These three areas are closely grouped. If we coordinate attacks the confusion should allow us time to withdraw.”
“And they are closer to the hills.” Kess added, with relief, “We can block any pursuit easier where the land has proper contours.”
“Four day’s march. Assemble all the equipment you need and we shall leave in the morning.”
Heavensent 4.6
Heavensent 4.4
Heavensent 1.1
Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent
Top evolutionary biologist Steve Jones doesn’t bother arguing with Creationists any more.
Technorati tag: Creationism, Evolution
I finished work on the Pop all in one big burst. After a lot of faffing around with seats from the Cararama Morgan Plus 8 I decided not to do an interior and build the car as a slammer with mirrored windows. The fact that the supplied vacformed windows didn’t fit was another factor in this decision. The Pop’s windows are made from tin foil, held in place by white glue.
The body was then superglued to the chassis. It only really became obvious at this point that the front wheels are sitting a little far back. It’s too late to do anything about that now, but I’ll keep it in mind for future models.
The final details were a rear number plate (from the Spinneyhead Small Scale Customs range) and side mirrors from Taylor Precision Models. The mirrors were fixed with super glue and a lot of swearing. The language was justified when one of the mirrors fell off and became a prized possession of the Carpet People.
After its photo session Pop Music was glued onto a Cararama base for display and storage.
Every build’s a learning experience. The photos show up imperfections in the paint job that the naked eye can’t discern. The lesson there is that I need an air brush and painting booth. I also need a cleaner work surface so I don’t lose fiddly little bits. And, most importantly, I need to work faster, because this build dragged on for a bit too long.
Previous Pop Music posts-
Project Pop- chassis and painting
Additions to Spinneyhead’s little garage
Ford Pop Hot Rods
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Ford Pop, Hot Rod, Custom Car
Navigation in the mountains was all about landmarks, triangulating one peak against another gave a plane’s location. Over the ocean, there were no visual pointers and Jay was triangulating to radio sources.
By now they had flown into the new day and in all directions they could see the haze grey where the sky and horizon merged. Occasional specks of white trailed behind boats, but they were the only indications of life.
The directional receiver in the nose had located four radio sources. The angles to these tallied with Jay’s mental arithmetic on air speed and wind direction. “Come about two degrees south.” She told Reed. The plane banked lightly and the rest of the wing followed. They had been describing a shallow zig-zag about their plotted course. “The wing drop tanks are almost empty. I will empty them and release them. No point in wasting fuel dragging them.”
“We must be nearing the point of no return.”
“We just passed it. I only hope we can keep our feet dry in this direction.”
Heavensent 4.5
Heavensent 4.3
Heavensent 1.1
Technorati tag: Fiction, Heavensent
Does anyone have a monitor that would work with a Mac Quadra that I could borrow? I was given the computer ages ago and haven’t checked if there’s anything useful on it.
Alternately, would anyone like a Mac Quadra? Free to a good home.
Which bra used to promise to “Lift and separate”.
Or am I having odd lingerie fantasies?
Went to the Oldham Festival yesterday to see the Fun Lovin’ Criminals play a belting set outside Woolworths. there’s a longer report, and links to photos, at Spinneyworld.
Technorati tag: Spinneyworld, Oldham Festival, Oldham
This is so cute. A photo blog on the travels of a toy Mini.
