Uri Geller, Busted!

From boing boing, a classic video clip of uri geller being exposed as a charlatan.

you tube video

Apparently, he used bent spoons, which he would switch with the straight ones. Yet another childhood icon exposed as a fraud.

How to Wiki!

What a great way to waste a bit of time!
For example, you log onto The wikipedia Main Page , and notice an article with a link to Floyd Landis , this year's maybe winner of the Tour de France, and notice that he comes from a conservative Mennonite community. So, you read all about the Mennonites (I love the idea of a religious sect, following a guy called Menno) and this leads you on to The Batenburgers. What could be more fun? And educational, too!

You're Nicked!

Thanks to the Wiltshire police for these lovely two photo's of the back of my car. Bastards.
I pulled off the motorway at Swindon, and on to a lovely clear dual carriageway and hastened on my way, only to notice a flash in my rear view mirror, and a sign reducing the speed limit to 40 mph. You can see I was doing 55mph. So, that'll be £60 and 3 points, please. Bastards.

I won't bore you with the rights and wrongs of Speed cameras, entrapment, revenue generation, etc, etc. I just feel cheated.

On a positive note, the summons contained a web address where you can enter your details , and see the evidence that "they have taken down & will use against you". Banged to rights (whatever that means)

:(

Bye Bye Ethel

Going

Going

Gone..........

After 22 years of service, with the mumbles lifeboat station, a grand old lady, The Ethel Anne Measures has retired, and is off to pastures new.

Royal International Air Tatoo, Fairford

we took the kids to Royal International Air Tatoo, Fairford last weekend, and fun was had by all, despite it being 35 degrees in the shade. pictures to follow.

The highlight for me was the display by the Harrier , a truly amazing piece of kit, and the red arrows of course.

on the ground, the boys got to sit in a martin-baker ejector seat and have their photo's taken, and we wandered around various jets & choppers.

Oh, the the wiki of MiG-29 was mind blowing. After a vertical climb, it just seemed to stall and then fall like a leaf before regaining control and screaming towards the deck. Awesome. This prompted me to look up my fulcrum's, floggers, hornets and fighting falcons on Wiki, leading to a very interesting article, wiki Comparison of 21st century fighter aircraft just to see which jet is better nat yours.

The Annual Mumbles Raft Race

It's that time of year again, and the mumbles lifeboat Raftrace was held last Sunday.

After a request from the polis, we moved the start time to 11.30 this year, which means we don't have to pay them £5000 hard won charity cash to police the event.

Despite this, it was a major success, raising over £20,000 for the RNLI; A record amount. Much fun was had by all, and a big metion to Garry Tanner, who labours tirelessly all year round in the face of increasing beauracracy to make this the success that it is. Well done Garry.

I'm a troll, fall-di-ar-roll

From boing boing a truly great story. : -

Psychedelic bridge troll arrested

Robert Hibbs, 19, was arrested for demanding $1 tolls from joggers and bikers crossing a bridge in Boulder, Colorado. Hibbs claimed to be a troll who owned the bridge. He was apparently tripping on LSD. Hibbs was arrested after demanding that an off-duty deputy pay up. From TheDenverChannel.com:

The off-duty deputy, who was not identified, told police the confrontation with Hibbs started after the man hit his bike with a broken golf club when he forced his way past without paying. The two became involved in an altercation and Hibbs hit the deputy with a golf club, the police report stated. The deputy said he took the golf club away from Hibbs and struck him in an attempt to defend himself...

Police said they confiscated a large marijuana joint rolled in $1 bills at the scene and then searched (the apartment of Bradley Boville, who was on the bridge with Hibbs) and recovered drugs and drug paraphernalia. Hibbs was arrested for investigation of menacing and possession of a controlled substance, according to police.
Link

My li'l' Girl Starts Work!

Hari started work this week at Langland Bay Golf Club, after her grandfather presented her with a fait a complis of a job starting at 10.30 tomorrow!

After the initial shock, and being presented with £23 earth pounds, She seems happy with the arrangement, and is working again next week. I have told her that if she doesn't work hard for her A Levels, then she could always make a career of waitressing...

mission impossible 4?

From samizdata : -

Mr Phelps:
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to explore an ultra-secret North Korean missile launch facility located several kilometers inland from a section of due south facing coastline not far from the Chinese border. There is a small town about 1-2km south of the pad, directly under the most probable launch trajectory. A mad ruler is thought to be building nuclear capable ICBM's at this site. We do not believe their technological level makes them capable of success at the task at present, so we recommend you do not use the town as a base of operations.
Find the various facilities and report back to us. Should you be captured or your computer be eaten by starving North Korean peasants, Samizdata will disavow all knowledge of your existence.
Your targets may be found near N40°51'17" E129°39'58" via http://maps.google.co.uk/ at the 50 meter per 2.5 centimeter scale.
Good luck and good hunting.

Syd Barret

Syd Barret died last friday. A strange influence on my youth, through the music of the latter Pink Floyd. This led me on to discover the earlier stuff, and play it over and over again. Much sadness.

the wiki of Syd Barret

What happens if you mix 2 kids & 1 can of paint?

What happens if you mix 2 kids & 1 can of paint?

(notice how they have avoided their toys)

thanks to Boing Boing

The Bulls get even

News from San Fermin.........

Video link from BBC


wanna see some pictures?

Pamplona San Fermines in pictures

The trouble with football

I'm afraid that Fifa have got it wrong. the amount of games this world cup that had to be settled by penalty shootouts has made the results a farce. (3 in the last 7 games) Surely, if you can't settle a game by normal means of scoring, then the game rules are wrong. So, change the rules! make the goals bigger, do away with the offside rule, give minus points for fouls, but do something.

Don't get me wrong, penalty shootouts are exciting, and make good TV, but they have nothing to do with football, and they are a poor way to decide on which is the better, more worthy football team. At best, they are a lottery.

A point highlighted by the final, where France played the best football, but lost the world cup. Italy are the world champions because 5 of their guys took good penalties.

Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil

Schnappi, das kleine Krokodil weedled his way into our hearts whilst on holiday in Calpe this year.

I had the bright idea of taking my MP3 player, car FM transmitter device, and no other music with us. This turned out to be not so bright, as Spanish radio also broadcasts on the frequencies used by the transmitter.

So, in a fit of desperation, we resorted to playing Daniel's cd's on the car player. On a cd called pop jr we discovered Schnappi. You can hear the english version here

It turns out that Schnappi is one proof that p2p music sharing isn't 'killing the industry'. After being discovered and shared on the net, a cd was released, and it became a huge hit on the continent and down under. So there.

the wiki of Schnappi

The 7th day of the 7th Month

Dunno how long the link will last, but heres a terrible american dude explaining a bit about San Fermines NTL travel monkey

nb, once you have clicked 'pamplona bull run', there are several chapters on the drop down menu.

L'il Theo's diary

unusually, clive davis's blog mad me laugh today : -

PS: I've just been sent an exclusive extract from Theo Walcott's summer diary. All human life is there...
In Germany the grown-up's are going to play football, my grandad says we beat them in the olden days before my mum was born. That is a long time ago.
While the grown up's went to play football, I went shopping with Auntie Vicky and some other girls she bought me a big ice cream and got herself a little one but she said she was full before she had eaten any and threw it away. She bought lots of shoes and handbags and let me play with Brooklyn. She says she used to be in a pop band and sang me one of her songs, I think she was telling fibs.

Will the real Jack Sparrow please stand up?

From fox news via boing boing : -

Keith Richards to play Johnny Depp's dad in next Pirates flick

Rolling Stone Keith Richards has agreed to play Jonny Depp/Jack Sparrow's father in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Depp's pirate-captain character is clearly lifted from Keith Richards' stage moves, so this makes a lot of sense (and shows an admirable sense of humor on Richards' part).

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer said Richards would have a cameo role as the father of the flamboyant Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Depp, in the third"Pirates"movie, which is due to resume filming next month in California.

Depp, 43, has said he adopted the body language and mannerisms of the veteran guitarist to create Captain Jack's character.

"We're all looking forward to the idea of Keith coming in and doing a cameo,"Depp told a London news conference to promote"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,"which opens in Britain on Thursday.

The other 7th day of the 7th Month

San Fermines will always now be marred for me by the terrible events of 7.07.05.

A fitting tribute to those who died can be seen Here , thanks to the BBC.

Seeing all these faces saddens me deeply, thinking that each of these people were loved and are missed by parents, children, relatives and friends.

There can be no justification for such horror, and I condemn the perpetrators of this foul, cowardly, deed.

You Shall go to the ball!

Rites of Passage.

Hari goes to the Year 11 Summer Ball aka the leavers ball.
(the Oil Baron's next?)

Hari,

And the possie, waiting for the Limo @ Pennard Cliffs

Sam Wall, Amy Pendry, Jennie Jones, Katherine Bowen, Angharad Howell, Matthew Nicholson, Ellie Whettleton , Hannah Maggs, Becca Christie and Owen Watts

If you played for brazil, what would your name be?

to find out, click Here

Grumunkinhosa

Media 'Proud' of National Football Team !

No, don't get too excited, it's the German media we're talking about : - fifa world cup site

This could not happen in the UK, whose media seem to delight in building up our sportsmen to unfeasible proportions, and then pillorying them when they fail to realise these dreams. Perhaps we should take a leaf out of Germany's book.

Anyway, after watching a dire 100 mins of unproductive football with Germany vs Italy, I have now settled on the opinion that 'the Beautiful Game' is, indeed, pants. (I missed the two goals after changing channels in frustration at the prospect of another awfull penalty shootout with the Germans favorites to win).

If the standard of footie played by the top 8 teams in the world is anything to go by, then footie is too hard for footballers. How can you play for 100 mins and not score? Should Fifa insist on bigger goals? or even blindfolded goalkeepers?

The amount of uncompleted passes, missed shots at goal, missed penalties, cynical fouls and even more cynical 'diving' and pretend injuries is unbelieveable. (with the notible exception of Zinadine Zidane, who seems to be from another planet). Even the feted Brazillians didn't seem to be able to control the ball. I think I'll retire as a spectator after the finals.

Guess Who's a fan of Big Brother ?

According to the big god blog.com , He watches BB :-


On the Day of Lunae 07:03

DO YOU WATCH BIG BROTHER

I don`t care what anyone says, but Big Brother is the greatest show ever made. Not the American version. The British version. I watch every single episode – it`s the closest thing I`ve ever seen to how I run the world. The producers of the show have it down perfectly: they manipulate plots and people with sinister ease: creating factions and friction – andm the result is a JOY to watch: heart ache, tears and shouting. Big Brother has figured out what God (me) does for a living, and they do it better than me.I urge anyone who does not live in England to move there, IF ONLY to watch Big Brother. Picked to win: Pete, the Tourrettes sufferer. And if I pick him, you know he will win.

How much is a penny worth?

From the daily gut : -


PENNIES COST MORE THAN A PENNY

For the first time, the U.S. Mint has said pennies are costing more than 1 cent to make this year, thanks to higher metal prices. "The penny is going to disappear soon unless something changes in the economics of commodities," says Robert Hoge, an expert on North American coins at The American Numismatic Society.

AOL (read article)

blogging from the palm of my hand

blogging this from my new palm tlx , over the wifi , sitting in the lounge, watching england throw it away ........

What Would God Do?

Ever wondered what He is doing these days?

check out the big god blog to find out.

from today's entry: -

On the Day of Thor 06:29

I ADORE ROSE WINE

I'm trying to quit drinking beer. Because it's making me fat, slow, and lazy. You can pretty much blame almost all the recent tragedies of the last year on my beer drinking. I sit down, pour a pint, have a smoke, and I'll go start a hurricane. Then I'll have another pint, then another and then four hours later I'm a babbling mess. Then Jesus calls and says, "The hurricane! The hurricane! You didn't turn off the hurricane!" So, now I'm drinking nothing but rose wine. I love rose wine (God's Big Tip: Chateau de Lascours 1998). Instead of making you sleepy, it animates you. It was a beautiful day yesterday, so I split three bottles with Jesus outside. I got very drunk, but kept it together, and even returned back to my place without flooding a country. I did however, urinate all over Canada.


Hope that clears things up...

There's also links to the daily gut

the adventures of keira knightleys jaw

and al zarqawi's mom's blog