Nobody wanted to be tricked, so we ended up with 2 kids with hyperglycemia. Fortunately, it is Neil's turn to put them to sleep...
14 years ago
31 Oct 2008
Portuguese Halloween
Why does Google Portugal celebrate Halloween with this image, while the other googles ignore it?
The perfect cheese sandwich
Luke is very particular about his cheese sandwiches and always insists on bread, butter and cheese, but with butter first and then cheese.
Mark demands bread, cheese and then bread again. That is if he is not using the bread as a plate and just eating the cheese...
Just so there are no confusions!
Mark demands bread, cheese and then bread again. That is if he is not using the bread as a plate and just eating the cheese...
Just so there are no confusions!
Happy Halloween!
Five years ago today, we used the image below to make a Halloween card to break the news to the family. This was before we found out that there were two babies... Were we tricked or treated???
Our choice of costume for trick-or-treating this year: bacon and... egg!! It's been a while since I last mentioned eggs...
30 Oct 2008
Trick or Treat?
Prepare for Halloween! Trick or Treat? Fruit or Vegetable? Did you know a pumpkin is a fruit? And that vegetables can also be carved? Yes, turnips again!
Pumpkin (a fruit!) Jack-o'-lantern by Toby Ord
Turnip (a vegetable!) Jack-o'-lantern by Geni
Great Carving Masters:
PumpkinWay Carving:
Tom Nardone - Extreme Pumpkins on "Halloween's Most Extreme":
Weird and Wacky Pumpkins Celebrate Clients, Causes, and Creativity
For most of the year, Duarte Design, Inc., is known as the go-to communications firm for Silicon Valley's heavy-hitters. Companies such as Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Symantec and TiVo rely on them to produce world-class business presentations.
Every Halloween however, employees put their creative energy into decorating pumpkins, transforming them into works of art featuring pop culture icons, good causes and even their clients! "iPumpkin" gives a nod to Apple, a long-time client, while "Al Gourd" cheers the firm's most famous celebrity client, Al Gore.
Previous entries have included a realistic carving of a Star Wars' characters, Napoleon Dynamite, and even Chucky. The competition is open to all employees of Duarte Design and the firm encourages the public to vote on their favorite pumpkin at http://www.Duarte.com/Halloween and browse pumpkin designs from previous years.
More in Silicon Valley Design Firm Holds Thirteenth Annual Pumpkin Contest, Market Watch
For most of the year, Duarte Design, Inc., is known as the go-to communications firm for Silicon Valley's heavy-hitters. Companies such as Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Symantec and TiVo rely on them to produce world-class business presentations.
Every Halloween however, employees put their creative energy into decorating pumpkins, transforming them into works of art featuring pop culture icons, good causes and even their clients! "iPumpkin" gives a nod to Apple, a long-time client, while "Al Gourd" cheers the firm's most famous celebrity client, Al Gore.
Previous entries have included a realistic carving of a Star Wars' characters, Napoleon Dynamite, and even Chucky. The competition is open to all employees of Duarte Design and the firm encourages the public to vote on their favorite pumpkin at http://www.Duarte.com/Halloween and browse pumpkin designs from previous years.
More in Silicon Valley Design Firm Holds Thirteenth Annual Pumpkin Contest, Market Watch
Pumpkin Pi at Duarte Pumpkins
Picasso's Dream at Duarte Pumpkins
An old classic, now on DVD: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
And the Great Pumpkin (1689 pound = 760 kilo pumpkin; 2007 World Record) is here:
Because cheesecakes are so much better than pies:
ALMOST-FAMOUS PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted (divided use)
2 1/2 cups graham-cracker crumbs
2 3/4 cups sugar (divided use)
1 teaspoon plus a pinch salt (divided use)
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin
6 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups sweetened whipped cream or whipped topping
1/3 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.
Brush a 10-inch springform pan with some of the butter. Stir remaining butter into crumbs with 1/4 cup sugar and pinch salt. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of pan, packing it tightly and evenly. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
Cool on a rack, then wrap outside of springform pan with foil and place in a roasting pan.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar and beat until just light, scraping down sides of bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in the sour cream, then add pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and beat until just combined. Pour into cooled crust.
Without pulling rack out, gently place roasting pan in oven and pour boiling water into roasting pan until it comes about halfway up side of springform pan. Bake until outside of cheesecake sets but center is still loose, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Turn off oven and open door briefly to let out some heat. Leave cheesecake in oven for 1 more hour, then carefully remove from roasting pan and cool on a rack. Run a knife around edges of springform pan, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Bring cheesecake to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Unlock and remove springform ring. To finish, place a dollop of whipped cream on each slice and sprinkle with toasted pecans.
KITCHEN TO KITCHEN, Pumpkin cheesecake aspires to greatness, Houston Chronicle
ALMOST-FAMOUS PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted (divided use)
2 1/2 cups graham-cracker crumbs
2 3/4 cups sugar (divided use)
1 teaspoon plus a pinch salt (divided use)
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin
6 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups sweetened whipped cream or whipped topping
1/3 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees.
Brush a 10-inch springform pan with some of the butter. Stir remaining butter into crumbs with 1/4 cup sugar and pinch salt. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of pan, packing it tightly and evenly. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
Cool on a rack, then wrap outside of springform pan with foil and place in a roasting pan.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar and beat until just light, scraping down sides of bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in the sour cream, then add pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and beat until just combined. Pour into cooled crust.
Without pulling rack out, gently place roasting pan in oven and pour boiling water into roasting pan until it comes about halfway up side of springform pan. Bake until outside of cheesecake sets but center is still loose, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Turn off oven and open door briefly to let out some heat. Leave cheesecake in oven for 1 more hour, then carefully remove from roasting pan and cool on a rack. Run a knife around edges of springform pan, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Bring cheesecake to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Unlock and remove springform ring. To finish, place a dollop of whipped cream on each slice and sprinkle with toasted pecans.
KITCHEN TO KITCHEN, Pumpkin cheesecake aspires to greatness, Houston Chronicle
29 Oct 2008
King Henry Died Monday Drinking Chocolate Milk
An east London market trader is to launch an appeal against a conviction for breaking metric laws.
Janet Devers, 64, used imperial weighing scales on her fruit and vegetable stall at Ridley Road Market in Dalston.
She was convicted this month of eight charges under the Weights and Measures Act at Thames Magistrates' Court.
Mrs Devers' appeal comes as the government acts to end the prosecution of so-called "metric martyrs".
The government will shortly issue new guidelines to local authorities to encourage "proportionate" action.
Innovation Secretary John Denham said it was hard to see how the such legal action was in the public interest.
Mrs Devers said: "I was convicted just before the minister announced that such prosecutions should not be brought and I hope the courts will see that my conviction was unfair."
"I believe I have been made a scapegoat in all this because the council wanted to make an example of me."
More in 'Metric martyr' launches appeal, BBC.
See also:
Metric 'martyrs' win fight to save imperial measures, The Telegraph
Martyrs win fight against prosecutions over imperial measures, Times Online
Victory: Metric Martyrs finally win the right to sell their fruit and veg in pounds and ounces, Mail Online
Janet Devers, 64, used imperial weighing scales on her fruit and vegetable stall at Ridley Road Market in Dalston.
She was convicted this month of eight charges under the Weights and Measures Act at Thames Magistrates' Court.
Mrs Devers' appeal comes as the government acts to end the prosecution of so-called "metric martyrs".
The government will shortly issue new guidelines to local authorities to encourage "proportionate" action.
Innovation Secretary John Denham said it was hard to see how the such legal action was in the public interest.
Mrs Devers said: "I was convicted just before the minister announced that such prosecutions should not be brought and I hope the courts will see that my conviction was unfair."
"I believe I have been made a scapegoat in all this because the council wanted to make an example of me."
More in 'Metric martyr' launches appeal, BBC.
See also:
Metric 'martyrs' win fight to save imperial measures, The Telegraph
Martyrs win fight against prosecutions over imperial measures, Times Online
Victory: Metric Martyrs finally win the right to sell their fruit and veg in pounds and ounces, Mail Online
To metricate or not to metricate? That is the Metrication Controversy. Not metricating could mean becoming a Metric Martyr. Metricating could mean... starting to make sense of the world? I am sorry about this, but what about all the children and foreigners that had to try to understand imperial units? Are they not martyrs too??
Why is a mountain measured in feet and distances in yards or miles? Why do ounces measure mass or volume, depending on being solid or liquid? Oh, it is all perfectly clear: a foot is 12 inches and a yard is 3 feet and a mile is 1760 feet; 1 pint is 20 fluid ounces and 1 quart is 2 pints and 1 gallon = 4 quarts = 8 pints; one pound is 16 ounces and one stone is 14 pounds and 1 quarter is 28 pounds and 1 ton is 2240 pounds. Trying to cook with recipes in teaspoons, tablespoons, ounces, cups, pints, quarts is easy peasy. Help! I am starting to get HOT! And temperature in Celsius = (5/9) * (temperature in Fahrenheit - 32). Where is my Conversion Calculator? Moneywise, at least, and even without the euro, things make a bit more sense now. Look at this mess (pre-Feb 1971): 1 penny = 4 farthings; 1 shilling = 12 pence; 1 crown = 5 shillings; 1 pound = 4 crowns = 20 shillings; 1 guinea = 21 shillings (Ahm?).
And the title? It's equivalent to Kangaroos Hop Down Mountains During Cold Months - try these English mathematics mnemonics.
Insey Winsey Spider
Insey Winsey Spider climbed up the water spout;
Down came the rain and washed poor Insey out.
Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain;
And Insey Winsey Spider climbed up the spout again.
Down came the rain and washed poor Insey out.
Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain;
And Insey Winsey Spider climbed up the spout again.
28 Oct 2008
Turnip Prize
Turnip Prize:
The Turnip Prize is the antidote to the Turner Prize, an art competition based in the UK which annually dazzles the public of the World with a dire tribe of pseudo artistic litter.
The artistic press gasp in awe as a line of what appears to be a line degenerates and fruitcakes queue up in front of the world to give verbose justifications about how their "piece" should be "appreciated" by everyone and what "inspired" it. The rest of us just stand gaping at the wanton peddling of crap and are then astonished as some "more money than sense" business man snaps up the winner's output for hundreds of thousands.
Lets face it, the Turner prize set out to be new, innovative and shocking, maybe even anti establishment. Now it is the establishment, if they wanted to be really shocking they should give it to someone who actually shows some talent and ability (and someone normal with no obvious outward psychological problems)....
Whilst the motto of the Turner Prize appears to be "We know its art, but is it shit?" the Turnip Prize clearly states its motto as "We know its shit, but is it art?"
The Turnip Prize is the antidote to the Turner Prize, an art competition based in the UK which annually dazzles the public of the World with a dire tribe of pseudo artistic litter.
The artistic press gasp in awe as a line of what appears to be a line degenerates and fruitcakes queue up in front of the world to give verbose justifications about how their "piece" should be "appreciated" by everyone and what "inspired" it. The rest of us just stand gaping at the wanton peddling of crap and are then astonished as some "more money than sense" business man snaps up the winner's output for hundreds of thousands.
Lets face it, the Turner prize set out to be new, innovative and shocking, maybe even anti establishment. Now it is the establishment, if they wanted to be really shocking they should give it to someone who actually shows some talent and ability (and someone normal with no obvious outward psychological problems)....
Whilst the motto of the Turner Prize appears to be "We know its art, but is it shit?" the Turnip Prize clearly states its motto as "We know its shit, but is it art?"
How to Enter:
Everyone is welcome to enter the turnip prize except the judging team (they are a secretive bunch), previous winners and politicians (they are so used to producing and justifying shit that they have an unfair advantage).
Please either drop your entry into the New Inn in Wedmore before noon on the 19th of November, or contact us if you wish to submit from further afield. The winner will be announced at 6.30pm on the 3rd of December.
Everyone is welcome to enter the turnip prize except the judging team (they are a secretive bunch), previous winners and politicians (they are so used to producing and justifying shit that they have an unfair advantage).
Please either drop your entry into the New Inn in Wedmore before noon on the 19th of November, or contact us if you wish to submit from further afield. The winner will be announced at 6.30pm on the 3rd of December.
2007 Turnip Prize winner:
“Tea P” - Bracey Vermin
Used tea bags in the shape of a P
Judges felt that this entry most fully fulfilled the judging criteria of:
1.) Lack of effort
2.) Alliteration or pun used in title
3.) Is it shit
“Tea P” - Bracey Vermin
Used tea bags in the shape of a P
Judges felt that this entry most fully fulfilled the judging criteria of:
1.) Lack of effort
2.) Alliteration or pun used in title
3.) Is it shit
More:
Turnip Prize - wiki
Turnip Prize - wiki
27 Oct 2008
P. D. James
There was a moment in which, not touching the scar, he scrutinised it in silence. Then he switched off the light and sat again behind the desk. His eyes on the file before him, he said, 'And you have waited thirty-four years to do something about it. Why now, Miss Gradwyn?'
Ther was a pause, then she said, 'Because I no longer have need of it.'
The Private Patient, by P. D. James
Ther was a pause, then she said, 'Because I no longer have need of it.'
The Private Patient, by P. D. James
The odd murder aside, this is a book about the way we live now. Not for the first time, PD James depicts a contemporary Britain where it is hardly possible for anyone to be happy, such is the level of class warfare and the daily desperation brought about by the general ungraciousness of this dystopian island.
The lower middle classes see “their morality despised, their savings devalued...their children taught in overcrowded schools where 90% of the children spoke no English”, while an upper-class couple speak in “an unselfconscious distinctive accent...which would have effectively banned them from any hope of a job at the BBC or even a career in politics, had either unlikely option appealed to them”. “Winterfest” is decreed in city centres, while on the outskirts of those cities, “the rain-soaked lanterns and faded bunting...seemed less a celebration than a desperate defence against despair”. The social services are breaking down, a welfare officer casually admitting that an absconding miscreant has slipped through the net. Even Commander Adam Dalgliesh's brilliant and respected Special Investigation Squad is not immune from governmental chaos: it is about to be rationalised, its functions defined “in contemporary jargon devised to obscure rather than illumine”.
Dalgliesh is distracted from planning his wedding to the elegant Emma Lavenham by being required to solve the murder of an investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, at Cheverell Manor, a private clinic in Dorset, where she had gone to have a disfiguring facial scar removed. With her customary crispness, James announces that Rhoda's days are numbered in the first sentence of the book, immediately establishing an atmosphere of twitchy foreboding.
More in The Private Patient by PD James, Times Online
See also:
The Private Patient by P. D. James, Times Online
An inspector palls, The Guardian
Book review: The Private Patient, The Scotsman
The lower middle classes see “their morality despised, their savings devalued...their children taught in overcrowded schools where 90% of the children spoke no English”, while an upper-class couple speak in “an unselfconscious distinctive accent...which would have effectively banned them from any hope of a job at the BBC or even a career in politics, had either unlikely option appealed to them”. “Winterfest” is decreed in city centres, while on the outskirts of those cities, “the rain-soaked lanterns and faded bunting...seemed less a celebration than a desperate defence against despair”. The social services are breaking down, a welfare officer casually admitting that an absconding miscreant has slipped through the net. Even Commander Adam Dalgliesh's brilliant and respected Special Investigation Squad is not immune from governmental chaos: it is about to be rationalised, its functions defined “in contemporary jargon devised to obscure rather than illumine”.
Dalgliesh is distracted from planning his wedding to the elegant Emma Lavenham by being required to solve the murder of an investigative journalist, Rhoda Gradwyn, at Cheverell Manor, a private clinic in Dorset, where she had gone to have a disfiguring facial scar removed. With her customary crispness, James announces that Rhoda's days are numbered in the first sentence of the book, immediately establishing an atmosphere of twitchy foreboding.
More in The Private Patient by PD James, Times Online
See also:
The Private Patient by P. D. James, Times Online
An inspector palls, The Guardian
Book review: The Private Patient, The Scotsman
I've just finished this book and, though some say it is not James at her best, I really liked it. Where is the next one?
Modern life is bedevilled by political correctness, PD James, the crime author, said last night.
There was a growing risk that Britons would live in "ghettos" and experience little contact with other people, she said in a speech on policing in the 21st century.
Baroness James of Holland Park, who is best known for creating the detective Adam Dalgliesh, told an audience in the Palace of Westminster: "Our society is now more fractured than I, in my long life, have ever known it.
"Increasingly there is a risk that we live in ghettos with our own kind, with a strong commitment to our local community but little contact with those outside it.
"Mutual respect and understanding and recognition of our common humanity cannot be nurtured in isolation. And in our relationships we are bedevilled by the cult of political correctness."
She added: "If in speaking to minorities we have to weigh every word in advance in case inadvertently we give offence, how can we be at ease with each other, how celebrate our common humanity, our shared anxieties and aspirations, both for ourselves and for those whom we love?" It would be "unfortunate" if the police became "enamoured" of political correctness, which she described as "a pernicious if risible authoritarian attempt at linguistic and social control".
Modern day police forces were also hampered by a "culture of blame" and red tape, the 87-year-old peer said.
"Perhaps the time has come when we need to look at the whole structure of our police service to see how far it meets the challenges of our changing society."
She concluded that police deserved "our respect and gratitude" for a "complex and demanding" job.
PD James: Political correctness ruining society, The Telegraph, May 2008
There was a growing risk that Britons would live in "ghettos" and experience little contact with other people, she said in a speech on policing in the 21st century.
Baroness James of Holland Park, who is best known for creating the detective Adam Dalgliesh, told an audience in the Palace of Westminster: "Our society is now more fractured than I, in my long life, have ever known it.
"Increasingly there is a risk that we live in ghettos with our own kind, with a strong commitment to our local community but little contact with those outside it.
"Mutual respect and understanding and recognition of our common humanity cannot be nurtured in isolation. And in our relationships we are bedevilled by the cult of political correctness."
She added: "If in speaking to minorities we have to weigh every word in advance in case inadvertently we give offence, how can we be at ease with each other, how celebrate our common humanity, our shared anxieties and aspirations, both for ourselves and for those whom we love?" It would be "unfortunate" if the police became "enamoured" of political correctness, which she described as "a pernicious if risible authoritarian attempt at linguistic and social control".
Modern day police forces were also hampered by a "culture of blame" and red tape, the 87-year-old peer said.
"Perhaps the time has come when we need to look at the whole structure of our police service to see how far it meets the challenges of our changing society."
She concluded that police deserved "our respect and gratitude" for a "complex and demanding" job.
PD James: Political correctness ruining society, The Telegraph, May 2008
Children Of Men Trailer:
More:
P. D. James - wiki
Adam Dalgliesh - wiki
The moral dimension of the crime novel, by P. D. James, British Council
P. D. James - wiki
Adam Dalgliesh - wiki
The moral dimension of the crime novel, by P. D. James, British Council
Art is what you can get away with
Art is what you get away with, by Andy Warhol
Art lovers have been queuing to get their hands on free artworks by some of the UK's leading and emerging contemporary artists.
More than £100,000 worth of art is being given away at the Free Art Fair, in London.
Some people have queued overnight to get their hands on work by artists like Gavin Turk and Stella Vine for nothing.
Free Art Fair founder Jasper Joffe said: "This gives anyone the chance to own a serious piece of art."
He said the idea was to provide an antidote to the hype that surrounded Damien Hirst's recent record-breaking sale at Sotheby's, which raised £111m.
Peter Harris, one of the exhibitors at the fair, which kicks off at 1800 GMT on Sunday, is offering a piece of paper said to have been touched by the multi-millionaire Hirst.
More in Art worth £100,000 up for grabs, BBC, 19 October
More than £100,000 worth of art is being given away at the Free Art Fair, in London.
Some people have queued overnight to get their hands on work by artists like Gavin Turk and Stella Vine for nothing.
Free Art Fair founder Jasper Joffe said: "This gives anyone the chance to own a serious piece of art."
He said the idea was to provide an antidote to the hype that surrounded Damien Hirst's recent record-breaking sale at Sotheby's, which raised £111m.
Peter Harris, one of the exhibitors at the fair, which kicks off at 1800 GMT on Sunday, is offering a piece of paper said to have been touched by the multi-millionaire Hirst.
More in Art worth £100,000 up for grabs, BBC, 19 October
For the Love of God, by Damien Hirst
See the Telegraph's slideshow and
Damien Hirst’s diamond encrusted Skull & Jeweled Skulls in Archaeology,
Anthropology.net
See the Telegraph's slideshow and
Damien Hirst’s diamond encrusted Skull & Jeweled Skulls in Archaeology,
Anthropology.net
By the end of Sotheby's pioneering two-day auction of new Damien Hirst works only one thing was incontrovertibly clear the artist has enjoyed a spectacular triumph.
Against a backdrop of carnage in the global financial markets Hirst walked away with £95.7 million last night for two years' worth of pickled animals, spot paintings, dead butterfly collages and stubbed-out cigarettes. But what the sale means for his dealers, other artists and the art market in general is anybody's guess.
At the elite end of today's art market, where records have been tumbling for years, the stakes are now so high that nothing is ever quite as it seems. Last year Hirst unveiled and apparently sold the world's most expensive piece of contemporary art, a diamond-encrusted platinum cast of a human skull. It turned out, however, that he was part of the consortium that had bought it for £50 million.
More in Damien Hirst makes £95m in Sotheby's sale, despite global slump, Times Online, 17 September
Against a backdrop of carnage in the global financial markets Hirst walked away with £95.7 million last night for two years' worth of pickled animals, spot paintings, dead butterfly collages and stubbed-out cigarettes. But what the sale means for his dealers, other artists and the art market in general is anybody's guess.
At the elite end of today's art market, where records have been tumbling for years, the stakes are now so high that nothing is ever quite as it seems. Last year Hirst unveiled and apparently sold the world's most expensive piece of contemporary art, a diamond-encrusted platinum cast of a human skull. It turned out, however, that he was part of the consortium that had bought it for £50 million.
More in Damien Hirst makes £95m in Sotheby's sale, despite global slump, Times Online, 17 September
The Golden Calf, by Damien Hirst
Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, Sotheby's (press release)
Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, Sotheby's (press release)
The bull is called The Golden Calf and it's headed to market at Sotheby's in London, where it will be the star of a much hyped two-day sale of 223 works by Hirst that begins on Sept. 15. This will be the first time any auction house has sold a quantity of work fresh out of an artist's studio. As auction prices for contemporary art have rocketed ever higher, galleries have been dreading this very possibility: that a famous artist would bypass his dealers — who usually get a cut of roughly half of a work's sale price — and make straight for the auction houses. (The auctioneer's fee is paid by the buyer on top of the sale price, which means Hirst will walk away with pretty much every dollar his work gets hammered down for.) If it meets expectations, the sale could put about $120 million into Hirst's already well-lined pockets, a payday unlike anything any living artist has seen. And The Golden Calf will be the prime lot, with a presale estimate of $14.6 million to $22 million. Sometimes a bull is truly a cash cow.
And also a very witty performance. The Golden Calf is a white bullock preserved in a tank of formaldehyde that's mounted on a high marble plinth. His hooves and horns are 18-carat gold. His head is crowned by a gold Egyptian solar disk. Seen head-on, he's a false idol whose headgear is simultaneously silly and mesmerizing. (Hirst is assuming his buyers know the Bible story about worshipping a false god, just like the one they are about to worship.) But the beast is best seen in profile, the view that leaves you to reconcile as best you can his hieratic gravity with the laugh-out-loud abundance of his genitals. When Hirst is good, he's good, and The Golden Calf is a nimble concoction, designed to all at once beguile, flatter and parody the big-swinging billionaires who are likely to bid on it.
More in Damien Hirst: Bad Boy Makes Good, Time, 4 September
And also a very witty performance. The Golden Calf is a white bullock preserved in a tank of formaldehyde that's mounted on a high marble plinth. His hooves and horns are 18-carat gold. His head is crowned by a gold Egyptian solar disk. Seen head-on, he's a false idol whose headgear is simultaneously silly and mesmerizing. (Hirst is assuming his buyers know the Bible story about worshipping a false god, just like the one they are about to worship.) But the beast is best seen in profile, the view that leaves you to reconcile as best you can his hieratic gravity with the laugh-out-loud abundance of his genitals. When Hirst is good, he's good, and The Golden Calf is a nimble concoction, designed to all at once beguile, flatter and parody the big-swinging billionaires who are likely to bid on it.
More in Damien Hirst: Bad Boy Makes Good, Time, 4 September
God, by Damien Hirst
As the whole world—not just the art world—puzzles over the latest spectacle in the Hirst phenomenon, we try to make sense of his unwieldy oeuvre. Where did his various artistic series come from? What are their critical and commercial highs and lows? What kind of artist has he become?
More in In and out of love with Damien Hirst, Making sense of spots, sharks, pills, fish and butterflies, The Art Newspaper, 27 October
More in In and out of love with Damien Hirst, Making sense of spots, sharks, pills, fish and butterflies, The Art Newspaper, 27 October
Damien Hirst record sale at Sothebys, BBC: Damien Hirst's The Golden Calf sells for £9.2 million (the estimate was £8-12 million; the total with premium was £10,345,250) to a telephone bidder at Sotheby's in the first session of their Hirst megasale Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, 15 September.
Damien Hirst talks about "A Thousand Years": It is a very provocative work that actually contains an entire lifecycle of several maggots. The maggots hatch out of a minimal white box and then feed on a cow's head conveniently placed in the larger glass case. Some of the flies then die in the "insect-o-cuter" while other survive to continue their rather revolting cycle.
Damien Hirst's Shark at the Met: This fall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will present one of the most arresting works of art by the British artist Damien Hirst: "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living." Originally created in 1991, the piece consists of a preserved shark in a tank of formaldehyde. But the shark that will appear at the Met is the second version of this work: The first began to decompose within the tank. Mr. Hirst then recreated the work with a second shark, a 13-foot tiger shark preserved professionally for the future.
26 Oct 2008
Sarah & Drosophila - I kid you not
Does she think the Fruit Fly being studied is this one? Super Fly - Joe Cartoon:
Happy Smurfday!
The Smurfs smurfed their 50th Smurfday on the 23rd of October - here's a belated Happy Smurfday!
According to BBC, They're Smurf a fortune: The Smurfs celebrate their 50th birthday this week with a feature-length movie and new television series in the making. But what makes the blue goblin-like creatures so popular?
105 is the grand total of Smurfs / Schtroumpfs so far
A giant Smurf has travelled the world in an attempt to sell 500 of the fancy dress costumes his company was stuck with.
Mr Tomkins, who works at costume shop Jokers' Masquerade, in Newbury, Berks, was sent on the journey by his boss Mark Lewis.
The shop was initially keen to meet the demand from fans of the Smurfs - which celebrate their 50th birthday today - but was left with excess stock when their Chinese supplier refused to sell less than 500 at a time.
Mr Lewis then suggested the round-the-world idea after watching French film Amelie, where a garden gnome is photographed at famous landmarks around the world.
Mr Tomkins said: "When Mr Lewis first suggested the idea I thought it was great - I was going to see some countries I had never been to before and all I had to do was wear the costume.
"But it was one thing to suggest the idea, and another to stand in front of these famous monuments wearing it.
"The worst part was putting the costume on - but once I got it on and visited the landmarks it was fine."
Although the trip cost around £3,000 the surge in requests has meant the shop has ordered thousands more costumes.
More in Smurf travels the world to try to sell surplus fancy dress costumes, The Telegaph
Mr Tomkins, who works at costume shop Jokers' Masquerade, in Newbury, Berks, was sent on the journey by his boss Mark Lewis.
The shop was initially keen to meet the demand from fans of the Smurfs - which celebrate their 50th birthday today - but was left with excess stock when their Chinese supplier refused to sell less than 500 at a time.
Mr Lewis then suggested the round-the-world idea after watching French film Amelie, where a garden gnome is photographed at famous landmarks around the world.
Mr Tomkins said: "When Mr Lewis first suggested the idea I thought it was great - I was going to see some countries I had never been to before and all I had to do was wear the costume.
"But it was one thing to suggest the idea, and another to stand in front of these famous monuments wearing it.
"The worst part was putting the costume on - but once I got it on and visited the landmarks it was fine."
Although the trip cost around £3,000 the surge in requests has meant the shop has ordered thousands more costumes.
More in Smurf travels the world to try to sell surplus fancy dress costumes, The Telegaph
If anyone wants to join in on the fun (?!?!): Jokers' Masquerade are offering you the chance to win a £50 voucher. All you have to do is email a photo or video of yourself dressed in a Smurf costume to photos@joke.co.uk and we'll put you on our Blue Gnome Travelling Map. The prizes will go to the best photo of the month.
Most people dressed as Smurfs, Guinness world records:
Where on earth would you find a town full of Smurfs? Castleblayney, Ireland that’s where! On Friday 18 July 2008, the participants of the Muckno Mania Festival in Castleblayney broke the record for the most people dressed as Smurfs.
Guinness World Records adjudicator, Erica Holmes-Attivor, arrived in the town centre to find everyone was getting into the spirit of all things blue and Smurf-like. There were baby Smurfs, papa Smurfs, chef Smurfs and Smurfettes. There was even a brainy Smurf fully equipped with glasses and an encyclopedia! It was clear the participants really had put a lot of effort into this Guinness World Record attempt, from making the Smurf hats, providing the blue grease paint, having spare blue t-shirts and disposable white trousers.
Despite the dismal weather, the Smurf brigade marched through the town to the beat of a samba band. They passed through an alley way single file singing the Smurf song as Erica made sure they were wearing the required Smurf costume and counted the participants as they entered a cordoned off area. Once all the Smurfs had been counted, they had to stay in their costume for the full five minutes before the record could be approved.
In order to announce the final number of participants, Erica took to the stage and faced a sea of blue as far as the eye could see! The Smurfs were delighted when it was announced that they had broken the record – 1253 people dressed as Smurfs! They had more than doubled the previous record of 451 set by the students of Warwick University in June 2007.
Where on earth would you find a town full of Smurfs? Castleblayney, Ireland that’s where! On Friday 18 July 2008, the participants of the Muckno Mania Festival in Castleblayney broke the record for the most people dressed as Smurfs.
Guinness World Records adjudicator, Erica Holmes-Attivor, arrived in the town centre to find everyone was getting into the spirit of all things blue and Smurf-like. There were baby Smurfs, papa Smurfs, chef Smurfs and Smurfettes. There was even a brainy Smurf fully equipped with glasses and an encyclopedia! It was clear the participants really had put a lot of effort into this Guinness World Record attempt, from making the Smurf hats, providing the blue grease paint, having spare blue t-shirts and disposable white trousers.
Despite the dismal weather, the Smurf brigade marched through the town to the beat of a samba band. They passed through an alley way single file singing the Smurf song as Erica made sure they were wearing the required Smurf costume and counted the participants as they entered a cordoned off area. Once all the Smurfs had been counted, they had to stay in their costume for the full five minutes before the record could be approved.
In order to announce the final number of participants, Erica took to the stage and faced a sea of blue as far as the eye could see! The Smurfs were delighted when it was announced that they had broken the record – 1253 people dressed as Smurfs! They had more than doubled the previous record of 451 set by the students of Warwick University in June 2007.
24 Oct 2008
Ó pá, é fixe!
O Luke está sempre a dizer Ó pá e o Mark hoje disse-me que o lego era fixe. Só falta o bué! E já começaram a dizer um palavrão, se bem que mal aplicado e sem o perceber. Aos 3 anos, já tinham vindo da escola a falar do rabinho sexy. Sou eu que estou a ficar velha, ou é muito cedo para tudo isto?
Emmy Noether
You were not of clay, harmoniously shaped by God's artistic hand, but a piece of primordial human rock into which he breathed creative genius.
Funeral speech by Hermann Weyl on Emmy Noether's funeral on April 18, 1935, Emmy Noether and Hermann Weyl, by Peter Roquette
School Tally
6 school weeks (= 30 school days)
14 days with at least one kid ill at home ... and counting!
14 days with at least one kid ill at home ... and counting!
23 Oct 2008
There's probably no God
Woke up grumpy but the Atheist Bus put a smile in my face. Where can I get the T-shirt?
Welcome to AtheistCampaign.org! Our aim is to raise the profile of atheism through innovative and exciting advocacy projects, starting with the Atheist Bus Campaign.
We’ve linked to all the leading atheist, humanist and secular organisations and initiatives. Please visit them to learn more about the resources and support available to non-religious people. You can join the BHA or NSS (or FFRF if you’re in the US), subscribe to New Humanist magazine (or Free Inquiry), renounce your religion, and maybe even decide to set up your own atheist blog (if you do, let us know). If you’d like your site to be included on this list, please write to us using the form on the contact page.
We’ve also enabled comments to encourage discussion of all campaigns and topics. We hope you enjoy AtheistCampaign.org, and look forward to your suggestions for changes and new campaigns.
More in the Atheist Campaign. See also the Just Giving page.
We’ve linked to all the leading atheist, humanist and secular organisations and initiatives. Please visit them to learn more about the resources and support available to non-religious people. You can join the BHA or NSS (or FFRF if you’re in the US), subscribe to New Humanist magazine (or Free Inquiry), renounce your religion, and maybe even decide to set up your own atheist blog (if you do, let us know). If you’d like your site to be included on this list, please write to us using the form on the contact page.
We’ve also enabled comments to encourage discussion of all campaigns and topics. We hope you enjoy AtheistCampaign.org, and look forward to your suggestions for changes and new campaigns.
More in the Atheist Campaign. See also the Just Giving page.
In the news:
All aboard the atheist bus campaign, The Guardian
Arriving soon: atheist bus campaign gets off to a flying start, The Guardian
'No God' slogans for city's buses, BBC
Prof Richard Dawkins drives support for London's first atheist bus advert, The Telegraph
'There's probably no God' slogan to be carried on City buses, The Daily Mail
All aboard the atheist bus campaign, The Guardian
Arriving soon: atheist bus campaign gets off to a flying start, The Guardian
'No God' slogans for city's buses, BBC
Prof Richard Dawkins drives support for London's first atheist bus advert, The Telegraph
'There's probably no God' slogan to be carried on City buses, The Daily Mail
Richard Dawkins - "What if you're wrong?"
22 Oct 2008
Increased family - new primes!
Sorry, the title only works in portuguese! (primos = primes / cousins)
Titanic Primes Raced to Win $100,000 Research Award
Researchers have discovered the two largest known prime numbers, a whopping 12,978,189 and 11,185,272 digits long, as part of a 12 year old, world-wide volunteer computing project, the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search ("GIMPS"). The primes can be written shorthand as 2^43,112,609 - 1 and 2^37,156,667 - 1. The larger number qualifies for a $100,000 research award, most of which GIMPS will donate to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and to charity.
In recognition of every GIMPS participant's contribution, credit for the qualifying prime goes to "Edson Smith, George Woltman, Scott Kurowski, et al", and the other to “Hans-Michael Elvenich, George Woltman, Scott Kurowski, et al".
A nearly decade-long competition for a $100,000 award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation ended closely when the larger prime surfaced on a UCLA computer managed by Edson Smith, just two weeks before the second prime was found by Hans-Michael Elvenich’s computer, in Langenfeld near Cologne, Germany. Both are among the 100,000 computers in GIMPS PrimeNet, a "grass-roots supercomputer" as Science magazine describes it, which has been running continuously since 1996 and performs 29 trillion calculations per second. Had Elvenich’s prime been discovered first, it would have qualified, instead.
“We're proud be to participants in GIMPS and grateful to the UCLA Mathematics Department for providing computational resources to the project,” said Edson Smith, Computing Manager. Hans-Michael Elvenich, a German electrical engineer and prime number enthusiast, adds, “After four years of searching for a prime on GIMPS, finally a great success!”
"These exciting discoveries are literally at the Internet’s ‘electronic frontier’," says PrimeNet inventor, Scott Kurowski, a software technologist in San Diego, California. “Developing technologies and methods to apply the incredibly vast power of cooperative research computing is why the Electronic Frontier Foundation set up their grand challenge awards. It’s serious research, but fun and educational, too.”
GIMPS founder George Woltman in Orlando, Florida said, "In addition to congratulating and gratefully acknowledging the vast contributions of our hundreds of thousands of participants over the years, we're committed to giving $25,000 to charity, $50,000 to UCLA for its part in the discovery, and most of what's left to other GIMPS prime discoverers." He adds, "Our research project will soon offer the chance to achieve the next challenge, the $150,000 award for an immensely more difficult 100-million-digit prime. All you need to participate is our free software download, and a lot of patience!"
More in Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS)
Researchers have discovered the two largest known prime numbers, a whopping 12,978,189 and 11,185,272 digits long, as part of a 12 year old, world-wide volunteer computing project, the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search ("GIMPS"). The primes can be written shorthand as 2^43,112,609 - 1 and 2^37,156,667 - 1. The larger number qualifies for a $100,000 research award, most of which GIMPS will donate to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and to charity.
In recognition of every GIMPS participant's contribution, credit for the qualifying prime goes to "Edson Smith, George Woltman, Scott Kurowski, et al", and the other to “Hans-Michael Elvenich, George Woltman, Scott Kurowski, et al".
A nearly decade-long competition for a $100,000 award from the Electronic Frontier Foundation ended closely when the larger prime surfaced on a UCLA computer managed by Edson Smith, just two weeks before the second prime was found by Hans-Michael Elvenich’s computer, in Langenfeld near Cologne, Germany. Both are among the 100,000 computers in GIMPS PrimeNet, a "grass-roots supercomputer" as Science magazine describes it, which has been running continuously since 1996 and performs 29 trillion calculations per second. Had Elvenich’s prime been discovered first, it would have qualified, instead.
“We're proud be to participants in GIMPS and grateful to the UCLA Mathematics Department for providing computational resources to the project,” said Edson Smith, Computing Manager. Hans-Michael Elvenich, a German electrical engineer and prime number enthusiast, adds, “After four years of searching for a prime on GIMPS, finally a great success!”
"These exciting discoveries are literally at the Internet’s ‘electronic frontier’," says PrimeNet inventor, Scott Kurowski, a software technologist in San Diego, California. “Developing technologies and methods to apply the incredibly vast power of cooperative research computing is why the Electronic Frontier Foundation set up their grand challenge awards. It’s serious research, but fun and educational, too.”
GIMPS founder George Woltman in Orlando, Florida said, "In addition to congratulating and gratefully acknowledging the vast contributions of our hundreds of thousands of participants over the years, we're committed to giving $25,000 to charity, $50,000 to UCLA for its part in the discovery, and most of what's left to other GIMPS prime discoverers." He adds, "Our research project will soon offer the chance to achieve the next challenge, the $150,000 award for an immensely more difficult 100-million-digit prime. All you need to participate is our free software download, and a lot of patience!"
More in Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS)
Buy the poster... and a magnifying glass!
More on this:
Big and bigger: New prime numbers claim top two spots, Scientific American
Why 2 to the power of 43,112,609 - 1 = $100,000 for prime number hunters, The Guardian
Gimp search turns up new prime number, The Telegraph
UCLA group discovers humongous prime number, The Herald Tribune
Big and bigger: New prime numbers claim top two spots, Scientific American
Why 2 to the power of 43,112,609 - 1 = $100,000 for prime number hunters, The Guardian
Gimp search turns up new prime number, The Telegraph
UCLA group discovers humongous prime number, The Herald Tribune
More primes:
Prime number - wiki
Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search - wiki
Prime numbers - MacTutor
The Prime Pages
Prime number - wiki
Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search - wiki
Prime numbers - MacTutor
The Prime Pages
PS This must be the only post in the blogosphere with labels maths and money!
Boys and Princesses
Lots of times the kids refer to girls as princesses. Where on earth did they get that?
Stereotypical Dillydale
Recently, we've bought the new Mr Men Show DVD: Mr. Bump Presents: Trains, Planes and Dillymobiles! and Neil noticed that Mr Rude has a french accent and Mr Pernickety a german accent (hasn't he?). Stereotypical or what? Apparently, there has been a lot of dicussion about this, especially regarding Mr Rude's french accent (AND the fact that he farts a lot!) like in the IMDb comments, and wikipedia even bothers to list the following, among other information:
- UK version - Mr. Stubborn has a Scottish accent.
US version - Mr. Stubborn has a Nigerian accent. - UK version - Mr. Bounce has an Irish accent.
US version - Mr. Bounce has an Indian accent. - UK version - Mr. Messy has a Liverpudlian accent.
US version - Mr. Messy has an African-American accent. - UK version - Mr. Small has a posh British accent.
US version - Mr. Small has a Welsh accent. - UK+US versions - Mr. Rude has a French accent.
We should add this, as it must have been forgotten:
- UK version - Mr. Pernickety has a German accent.
US version - Mr. Persnickety has a British accent.
Should we read too much into this? Well, while we ponder, we can make Mr Rude fart here!
Mr Rude, the original one!
LONDON (Reuters) - Zut alors! The popular British cartoon and television series "Mr. Men" has come up with a malodorous Mr. Rude who speaks with a bad French accent.
"Pardon me," says Mr. Rude in comedy Franglais as he breaks wind when his finger is pulled on a game played on the television show's website www.mrmen.com.
"Ohhh, don't seem so surpriiised," Mr Rude exclaims when loud noises and a noxious-looking gas erupt from his behind. "I'll geeve you rude," he tells children as he blows a raspberry in a promotion for the new series which will run on British television on February 25.
The French embassy in London declined to comment to Reuters on whether the coarse Mr. Men character, the only one on the show with a foreign accent, would offend.
But a source at the embassy told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper that this kind of humor won't go any distance toward easing a centuries-old rivalry between the two nations.
"It is obviously meant in a light-hearted way, but it won't improve Anglo-French relations," the source said.
More in Mr. Rude is French and flatulent?, Reuters, 2008
"Pardon me," says Mr. Rude in comedy Franglais as he breaks wind when his finger is pulled on a game played on the television show's website www.mrmen.com.
"Ohhh, don't seem so surpriiised," Mr Rude exclaims when loud noises and a noxious-looking gas erupt from his behind. "I'll geeve you rude," he tells children as he blows a raspberry in a promotion for the new series which will run on British television on February 25.
The French embassy in London declined to comment to Reuters on whether the coarse Mr. Men character, the only one on the show with a foreign accent, would offend.
But a source at the embassy told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper that this kind of humor won't go any distance toward easing a centuries-old rivalry between the two nations.
"It is obviously meant in a light-hearted way, but it won't improve Anglo-French relations," the source said.
More in Mr. Rude is French and flatulent?, Reuters, 2008
Don't worry, be Happy!
More:
Mr Men - wiki
Roger Hargreaves - wiki
Adam Hargreaves - wiki
The Mr Men Show - wiki
List of Mr. Men - wiki
List of Little Miss - wiki
The Mr Men Show
The Mr Men Show blog
Mr Men World - unofficial
Mr Men Toybox - Guinness World Record collector
Mr Men - wiki
Roger Hargreaves - wiki
Adam Hargreaves - wiki
The Mr Men Show - wiki
List of Mr. Men - wiki
List of Little Miss - wiki
The Mr Men Show
The Mr Men Show blog
Mr Men World - unofficial
Mr Men Toybox - Guinness World Record collector
Mr. Rude & Mr. Stubborn vs. the aliens:
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