Monthly archives: January 2012

Daily Blog 01/28/2012

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  • The Interstellar Space Sex Fallacy : Discovery News

    What’s more, although sex is one of the most basic of human functions, space sex is one of the greatest unknowns in the history of manned spaceflight — apart from a few hushed rumors, sex in space has never been attempted. However, as we are about to discover, future human sexuality in space — particularly in interstellar space — may not be very familiar… or even desirable (for procreation purposes, at least).

    tags: space sex

  • Mice sing ultrasonic love songs to their sweethearts

    If you’ve ever seen a common domestic mouse, your first thought probably wasn’t, “You know, I bet that guy has an amazing singing voice.” But it turns out male house mice are rodent crooners, singing ultrasonic love songs to woo females.

    tags: mice

  • “Tweedland” The Gentlemen’s club: Oxford Bags

    Oxford bags were a loose-fitting baggy form of trousers favoured by members of the University of Oxford, especially undergraduates, in England during the early 20th century from the 1920s to around the 1950s. The style had a more general influence outside the University, including in America, but has been somewhat out of fashion since then.

    The style originated from a ban in 1924 on the wearing of knickers by Oxford (and Cambridge) undergraduates at lectures. The bagginess allowed knickers to be hidden underneath easily. The style was invented by Harold Acton of Christ Church.

    The style made a comeback in 1970s Britain, often worn with platform shoes. A popular 1970s Scottish boy band, The Bay City Rollers wore a variant of oxford bags with tartan trimmings that fell short of ankle-length.

    tags: fashion 30s

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Canadian Lego Man in Spaaaaaaaace!!!!

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via Jalopnik

The two Toronto teens, Matthew Ho and Asad Muhammad, purchased a weather balloon and outfitted it with cameras, a GPS-equipped cellphone, and a Lego minifig holding a tiny Canadian flag in a custom-designed Styrofoam box.

As soon as the winds shifted to keep the balloon inside the Canadian border they launched it and waited, hoping their amateur spacecraft would get a few pics. Roughly two hours after letting the balloon go they were notified by the cellphone of the craft’s successful return. It travled approximately 15 miles up into the stratosphere and roughly 75 miles laterally, capturing some stunning images along the way.

Daily Blog 01/26/2012

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  • Knobkierrie – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Knobkierrie, also spelled knobkerrie, knopkierie or knobkerry, are African clubs used mainly in Southern and Eastern Africa. Typically they have a large knob at one end and can be used for throwing at animals in hunting or for clubbing an enemy’s head. This knob is carved out of a treetrunk and the shaft is simply the branch that protruded from the tree at that point.

    tags: stick weapons

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Daily Blog 01/22/2012

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Lollipop Ladies are a tool of the oppressors!!!! 1

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You might think that lollipop ladies (and men) are a quaint but useful bunch. After all, they protect vulnerable members of society and make our roads safer.

But no. According to one blogger at the Libertarian Alliance they’re part of a scheme to control society– starting with an attack on the poor downtrodden motorist.

Perhaps they’ve been ordered to inconvenience the traffic as much as possible, maybe to cause deliberate “congestion”, so that further charges may be brought in? Since “Councils” soviets now employ these buggers, and are of course riddled to the core with the destroying-worm of GreeNazism and other forms of socialism, there’s grounds for suspecting an anti-car conspiracy.

Or they might be doing their job, which is to get children from one side of the road to the other safely. The blogger does comment that back in the good old days the children had to wait for a break in the traffic before the Lolly was deployed, because to do otherwise ‘would be considered both rude and inconvenient to “motorists”‘. So his problem is really that nowadays drivers are expected to act responsibly and don’t get the preferential treatment he feels they deserve. It appears that David Davis believes that the right of a child to be protected is less important than that of a driver to be smug in their metal box. This characterises the outlook of so many people who call themselves Libertarians- selfishness and self interest rather than anything which might actually increase the overall liberty of the population as a whole.

Private White VC

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Private White VC is named for Jack White, who won the Victoria Cross in 1917 for his actions during an ambush in Iraq. After the war he apprenticed as a pattern cutter in a Manchester garment factory, going on to become manager and then owner. After his death the company went through a number of owners until recently being purchased by his great grandchildren.

PWVC makes its clothes in Manchester, sourcing material locally. However, they currently only have a shop in London, though I found out about them because of a banner draped across a building near the town hall, so maybe they’re coming home.

The clothes line is based upon uniforms, after some of the factory’s historical business. A whole White outfit would be a bit fogeyish for me, but I could go for some of their shirts and jackets. They’re a bit expensive (from my perspective, tend to outfit myself from vintage and charity shops), and I’m sure many of my friends can tell me where to find similar stuff army surplus, but I like the idea and if I’m ever rich enough I think I shall have some.

Daily Blog 01/06/2012

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  • A Thatcher state funeral would be bound to lead to protests | Seumas Milne | Comment is free | The Guardian

    But most shocking are the secret preparations now being made to give Thatcher a state funeral. In the 20th century only one former prime minister, Winston Churchill, was given such a ceremonial send-off. Churchill had his own share of political enemies, of course, from the south Wales valleys to India. But his role as war leader when Britain was threatened with Nazi invasion meant he was accepted as a national figure at his death. Thatcher, who cloaked herself in the political spoils of a vicious colonial war in the South Atlantic, has no such status, and is the most divisive British politician of our time.

    tags: Thatcher politics

  • Cephaloporn, a critique | Pharyngula

    Try to respect the erotic properties of the mollusc that make it an interesting subject for porn: texture. It’s the wet slickness, the velvety softness, the muscular rubberiness* that fascinate. I suspect it’s hard to capture in crudely representational figures, and should be more a subject of abstract art.

    tags: squid

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Daily Blog 01/05/2012

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Daily Blog 01/04/2012

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