Sunday, February 28, 2010

The dead, merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars and thieves




An interesting confusion reigns in North America. From Wiki:-

The caduceus (above) is sometimes erroneously used as a symbol for medicine, especially in
North America, due to confusion with the traditional medical symbol, the rod of Asclepius , which has only a single snake and no wings.

in
Roman iconography was often depicted being carried in the left hand of Mercury, the messenger of the gods, guide of the dead and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars and thieves.

How apt.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

The Great & the not so good.....


Great Aunt & niece who met on the 11.15 from Paddington :-)

Boat spotting with Dyl


We saw this and this :-)

Canoe around Anglesey?

Rob, David & I once circumnavigated Anglesey, The Isle of Wight, and the lengths of the serpentine Wye. A mere bagattele compared to Helen Skelton, on her epic in aid of Sport Relief. Hat's off & rrrrrrrespect.

Amazon Adventure

Pedigree Dogs ad shot 1000 FPS using the Phantom camera

Superb images
Hat tip David H
Cheers

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

It's Egyptastic!




Fresh in the wake of all things egyptological (?) comes:-

http://www.egyptastic.co.uk/

Definitely not endorsed by TV's Dr Zahi Hawass, as seen on all TV shows with the word Egypt in.

One Gem:-
Hawass Launches Satirical Hawass-Bashing Website

One man archaeotainment phenomenon Zahi Hawass has extended his media empire this week by launching a satirical Egyptological website. The website, www.drhawass.com, features spoof articles ridiculing the Egyptian 'archaeologist' Zahi Hawass. It has already been hailed by anonymous Egyptologists worldwide as 'savagely hilarious' and 'a spot-on parody of a grotesquely funny character'. Masquerading as an official media outlet for Hawass, the site has been produced with an impressive attention to detail, with touches of authenticity including a news archive going back some years and a section dedicated to Hawass's fans worldwide.

The site's content targets Hawass's perceived habit of making self-aggrandising statements and his lack of professional integrity. Hawass is also lampooned via a series of spectacularly crass and insincere comments about the world figures he has met through his incessant globetrotting. Indeed, it is only the grossly exaggerated chutzpah of some of these statements that reveals the site's status as a cleverly constructed parody.

One post, dated April 2008, implies - rather tastelessly - that Hawass felt the need to replace the late Princess Diana as his 'favourite princess' after her death, choosing a princess of Thailand to fill the position. "Before I met Princess Maha [Chakri Sirindhorn]", the fictional version of Hawass is quoted as saying, "I used to say that my favourite princess was Princess Diana."

A more recent story takes advantage of the recent real-life announcement that Hawass will be appointed to the position of Vice Minister of Culture. In a show of solipsism and condescension that the real Hawass would no doubt balk at, the fictional Hawass seems to claim that his personal triumph brought so much joy to the people of Cairo that they collectively interrupted their day to launch a spontaneous celebration. The fictional Hawass writes: "All the people of Cairo, rich and poor, the taxi drivers and doormen and everyone was so happy."

The website has also been laced with a number of repeated in-jokes. One will certainly raise a smile amongst those who know Hawass in his professional capacity as a television personality and nominal author of ghost-written popular books: the spoof site refers to Hawass throughout as an 'Egyptologist', as the 'discoverer' of an archaeological site actually discovered by a donkey and as the author of various theories that pre-date his career by decades.

Another in-joke refers to Hawass's famous child-like obsession with Indiana Jones, as reflected by his adoption of the film character's trademark hat. In an article purporting to report on Barack Obama's recent visit to Giza, the spoof Hawass calls the headwear "my famous 'Indiana Jones' hat" in one sentence before going on to claim preposterously that "it has become more famous than Indiana Jones" in the very next.

In producing his parody of Hawass, Hawass has a keen ear for statements which would have a delicious irony, were they to be made by the real Hawass. In one article dealing with a 'jealous critic', Hawass, renowned for his reluctance to publish in peer-reviewed scholarly journals says: "I do not believe that I need to prove to these people the quality and worth of my scholarship - my publications speak for themselves." Later in the same piece, Hawass's numerous and very public campaigns to smear other archaeologists and ruin their careers are sent up, as he is quoted as saying "I am also proud to state that I never pay any attention to these internal jealous feuds."

The new site's instant popularity comes as a blow to the authors of the internet's second best satirical Egyptological website, www.egyptastic.co.uk. Benny Hassan, Egyptastic's pseudonymous author, told us: "We can't compete. This guy is hilarious. I think the best thing we can do now is to publish an article with 25 mentions of the word 'Hawass' in a desperate effort to steal some of his hits. Actually, maybe 26 will do it."

The Kings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9r9sQ6PHOM

Sunday, February 21, 2010

New URL

Thanks to NJB, you can now follow me at :-

http://5z8.info/snufffilms_b0l6z_taliban-meetup

:-)

Monday, February 15, 2010

Ireland choose new kicker

View the selection process here

Congratulations to G Flannery. What a boot. Alan Wyn Jones hang your head in shame.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

VBS.tv Swansea Love Story Trailer



Nick beats the BBC to it - published 1st

BBC came second

Well done Nick

Driving off?

from The Evening Post website:-

Rugby star Andy Powell arrested after golf buggy taken

Sunday, February 14, 2010, 14:44

WALES forward Andy Powell was arrested after driving a golf buggy towards a motorway hours after defeating Scotland in a thrilling Six Nations match, sources revealed today.

Back row forward Powell, aged 28, was arrested with another 28-year-old man at a service station near junction 34 of the M4 motorway, close to the spa hotel in the Vale of Glamorgan where the Wales team were staying.

Inspector Tony McAlinden, of South Wales Police, said: "I can confirm that two 28-year-old males were arrested on suspicion of taking and driving away a golf cart.

"One of the males subsequently failed a breathalyser."

The identity of the other man is not known and police would not confirm who failed the breathalyser. The men did not drive the buggy on to the motorway.

both men were from the Brecon area of mid Wales, police said.

The four-star Vale Hotel, Golf and Spa Resort in Hensol is the official hotel used by the Wales squad where they train and host press conferences.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Either we own 84% of RBS or the whole thing is a sham

More power to Billy Bragg

Musician Billy Bragg has taken his protest against excessive bonuses for RBS bosses to Edinburgh, the home of the bank.

He is calling on Chancellor Alistair Darling to cap bonuses for chiefs at the bailed-out bank to £25,000.

The campaign currently has 30,000 online supporters.

facebook page

main site


The Mixtures - The Pushbike Song [totp2]

did we really dance like that?

Saturday, February 06, 2010

Who should pay for the Pope's visit?




Who do you think should pay for the Pope's visit to the UK? £20million estimated.

If you think it's not us, join the petition here:-

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ask the Catholic Church to pay for the proposed visit of the Pope to the UK and relieve the taxpayer of the estimated £20 million cost. We accept the right of the Pope to visit his followers in Britain, but public money would be better spent on hard-pressed schools, hospitals and social services which are facing cuts.

http://www.secularism.org.uk/petition-the-pm.html

The Great Bill McLaren


http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/emp/pop.stm

Ali G - Speaking Welsh

Ali rapping with a welsh male voice choir?
yes!

Friday, February 05, 2010

Great Siege of Gibraltar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Siege_of_Gibraltar

What a great story! Boy's Own stuff

The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American War of Independence. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers, particularly the Grand Assault of the 18 September 1782. It was the longest siege endured by the British Armed Forces, as well as being one of the longest continuous sieges in history.