A new and not-so-nice use for Jello

I dunno... We live in a very bizarre world these days.

A researcher at Montana State University says Jell-O, ultrasound, microwaves and electroshocking are among possible solutions to eliminate lake trout in Yellowstone National Park. Lake trout were introduced illegally into the park and threaten native cutthroat trout in Yellowstone Lake.

I'm wondering and let me state for the record that I'm not a fisher-person, why the two types of trout can't co-exist? Once again through human intervention and most likely because some people with a taste for lake trout thought it would be a good idea to introduce another specie here, we have a situation that should not have been created.

Also, I wonder how Jello feels about the negative image that its product could be used to eliminate a living specie.

Read the whole piece here: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081225/koddities/oddity_lake_trout_jell_o

Doggone shoplifter gets the bone

It's the holiday story that is making everyone smile.

There are your run-of-the-mill stories about people shoplifting items of supermarket shelves but this one can definitely be categorized as "different" or "daring" or even dog-gone nervy!

So a dog casually enters the Smith's Food and Drug supermarket in Murray, Utah. The dog, who appears to be a german shepherd, waits for the store's doors to open, strolls in with a determined gait and appears to know exactly where she/he wants to go. The object of this canine theft is the pet supply aisle 16 and a surveillance video caught the entire heist of a rawhide bone worth $2.79.

When confronted by store manager, Roger Adamson and ordered to "drop it!" the perp didn't bat an eyelash and made a quick exit out of the front door. The entire heist was caught on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anDvU530g2o

This begs the question as to why the perp... that is to say canine thief, chose this particular supermarket and whether he had cased the store earlier. More interesting, will the furry thief return for some dog toys and move up to bags of kibbles?

There is no information provided as to whether the thief has a record and nobody has phoned in any tips to help apprehend the perp...canine.

Talking turkey and it ain't a pretty picture

This could have been his last Christmas but due to the fickle finger of fate and what people perceived to be physicial imperfections, a turkey has escaped being the center piece on a holiday table.

The turkey, Wilbur, is missing tail feathers, has a misshapen body and if that's not bad enough, he walks with a limp. To make matters worse he lives on a "pick-your-own-turkey" farm in Totnes, Devon, England and is the only turkey left.

Leading a life of turkey can be so sad - and short.

The farm owner, Peter Hayford, explained that it was his - Wilbur's - first Christmas and under normal circumstances most likely it would have been his last, however, a lucky quirk of fate (that's what I call it) made him - Wilbur - unappealing to potential customers.

It was something about Wilbur's sad and bedraggled personna that made people turn away.

Some - most -a lot of people -would say that human rejection saved his life. Actually...thinking further, does it really make a difference in the scheme of things whether a turkey has a limp, or has feathers missing when it comes to flavor? But I digress...

The farm owner, Peter Hayford, said that "Wilbur will become one of the family. He might be an ugly old thing but we think he's lovely."

Sure it's easy for Hayford to say that now given his rejection by turkey selectors! Meanwhile, Wilbur has become somewhat of a celebrity and will live out his life, roast-free.


See a photo of Wilbur here: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3132598.html?menu=

(J)elvis lives in a New York Chanukah show

According to the promos, it's going to be a hunka, hunka Chanukah show. He'll shake, he'll rattle and may have some people rolling in laughter in a fun Chanukah music performance to be held on December 25th.

We're talking here about Jelvis, the Jewish Elvis.

The event to take place on the fifth day of Chanukah, is part of the Sephardic Music Festival Light Up the Holidays on Xmas Day at the Highline Ballroom in New York City.

Jelvis, also known as "the King of Lox'n'Roll" will for this night, will put on his blue suede yarmulke (skull cap) and get the audience up and singing with such well known favorites as "Shul House Rock", "Are You Hungry Tonight" and of course, the very popular-ish, "Oy Vey, My Way."

Given that it's also the holiday season for everyone, he will be joined by his back-up group, the
Merry Meshugganah Maccabees and Guitar Hero, Hiro Keitora, belly dancer, Bahita and sword swallower, Adam First Readl Man. There was also be a special appearance by the puppet, Elfis.

A portion of the proceeds will go go Mazon: a Jewish Response to Hunger www.mazon.org

Meanwhile, if you can't make it, you can see the master in action here on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtbMA6ABb1M

Uh-huh...

Christmas is alive and well...but not in Lapland, England

Once again a story focusing on a negative Christmas-related incident that took place in Lapland New Forest theme park on the Dorset Hampshire border, England. Twenty-five staff members were told by their hiring agency to quit Lapland New Forest, while a gate worker fled after being assaulted.

Why were they assaulted, you're probably asking yourself.

Perhaps the assault-ees were somewhat justified given that the entrance was £30 or approximately $44, which offered participants and revelers... Actually not too much again according to those that were there.

One father was so mad - how mad was he? He was so angry having to line up for 4 hours that he - well - physically demonstrated his anger towards Santa. Oh my... As if that wasn't bad enough, three security guards were also attacked and a snowman was so upset with the verbal abuse he received that he just took off.

That's not all.

According to staff members two fathers went at each other in the Gingerbread House over - wait for it - the last 2 spoonfuls of icing sugar! Not sweet, guys! The worst, at least for some children, was catching Santa with his beard off smoking a cigarette. Still more, Santa refused to let children sit on his knee unless they coughed up some extra money.

Not nice!

A total of 1,475 people have joined groups slamming the attraction on social networking website Facebook.

Meanwhile, the RSPCA launched an investigation after dozens of complaints about the treatment of husky dogs, reindeers and donkeys on the site.

Santa - the real one - would not be pleased!

See the photo of Lapland entrance here: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3107561.html

Bah humbug - Brownies banned from singing Christmas carols for pensioners

Some people just don't seem to get the concept of having the Christmas spirit. You reach out and do something nice for people and in turn it makes a person feel good. That's the way it's supposed to work.

The administrators who run the Marlowes Centre in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire in (not so) jolly, old England could use a dose of holiday esprit. For nearly 20 years, Brownies and Girl Guides put on a carol concert for pensioners and the disabled at a shopping centre, however their joyous voices will be heard no more since the powers-that-be have deemed they were/are a safety risk. The risk in this case was the area around a 25 foot Christmas tree where the Guides used to sing. The approximately 100 girls were were/are considered a health and safety risk because they could obstruct fire escape routes.

See...lots of people - happy people and shoppers - used to stop and listen to the girls causing what they believe could be a bottleneck.

Bosses at the centre say a Christmas tree positioned outside New Look and new mobile trade stalls have limited the number of performers the centre can host at one time.

Marketing manager Eileen Gannon said, "with changes made to the centre's Christmas decorations and trade units there simply isn't space for a huge number of performers."

"We're disappointed, but our priority has to be the safety of people inside the centre."

The carolling has been taking place for 20 years and now suddenly they've become a risk?

She said the new rules were open to change in the future, as decisions made on decorations in the centre are different each year.

Another centre worker said: 'There were a lot of Brownies last year and they caused absolute chaos.'

What a wonderful example of holiday spirit they have set for the young Brownies! Maybe shoppers could consider showing their holiday spirit in ways that will make their feelings felt - $$$$$.

Experts study the line up...as in queuing

There are all types of queuing or lining up but it's doubtful that people would assess it as enjoyable...or interesting. For many of us having to wait in a line, for example, at the supermarket or buying fast food, is not a pleasurable experience especially when interlopers attempt to squeeze in front. But I digress.

Unbeknownst to most of us, lining up is now a subject of a study by experts in the field of queuing psychology.

Say what? Yup. Actually, one wonders what type of background would be required to be a line-up-psychologist.

A study is currently being done focusing on the psychology of the reaction of your ordinary people to lining up...and waiting for whatever.

The director of the Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals at MIT, Richard Larson, believes that their findings may not always reduce wait times, but they can cut frustration and make people feel better . He should know having researched queuing psychology for more than twenty years.

Eliminating empty time, for example, makes waits seem shorter, Larson found in his research.

Visitors lining up for attractions at theme parks see this principle at work with queues that often use clever design and technology to make the line itself entertaining.

Read more about Larson's findings and theories here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/11/20/queuing.psychology/index.html

Personally, "line-jumpers" are the worst offenders but here's some basic queuing pschology 101:

- Occupied time feels shorter than unoccupied time

- People want to get started

- Anxiety makes waits seem longer

- Uncertain waits are longer than known, finite waits

Unexplained waits are longer than explained waits

- Unfair waits are longer than equitable waits

- The more valuable the service, the longer the customer will wait
- Solo waits feel longer than group waits

(Source: David H. Maister, "The Psychology of Waiting Lines")

Go figure that waiting in line is now considered a science!

There are liars...and then there are liars...

Some people call them fibs depending on the extent and depth of a made-up story. A fib is considered a small, trival lie but a lie is your grand daddy of a fib as in your new and never-met Nigerian friend left you a lot of money because of the spelling of your name.

It could be said that some people make an art of lying and this is the case with competitors who recently participated in the World's Biggest Liar Contest held at the Bridge Inn located in the English Lake District.

The origin of this contest dates back to the 19th century with one Will Ritson who lived and owned a pub in Wasdale Valley and had a reputation for telling stories about the heritage of the area. Some people believed his stories while others thought they were merely tall tales. Over the years Will's tales expanded to the point where it grew into "The World's Biggest Liar" competition held every November.

On November 20, liars from all over the globe gathered together at the Bridge Inn and when all the lies had been told, John "Johnny Liar" Graham took home the honors, again, for the 7th time.

Seven times... Those are some lies he must have told! Thinking further about this, one wonders if politicians are aware of this competition... I mean, it seems like a natural but I digress.

A local farmer, he clinched the title impressing 8 judges with a story/lie detailing the experience of a trip to Scotland in a wheelie bin (definition: A wheelie bin is a type of waste container and is made in several different types-Wikipedia) that went under the sea.

By the way did I mention there's a fortune waiting for everyone if your name contains the letters a, e, i, o, u and sometimes, y. Really...

Watch the liar in action in a video clip here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7741037.stm

Zoo claims poo is gold

For most pet owners, pet feces more commonly known as pet poo, is a by-product of sharing their lives with non-humans. They poop. You scoop and then it's into the trash can, however, the Toronto Zoo has devised a plan whereby they are turning animal feces into fuel.

Talk about recycling.

The zoo currently shares its premises with 5,000 residents and it is proposing to erect a plant to convert animal and food waste into biogas using bacteria.

According to Wikipedia, Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas originates from biogenic material and is a type of biofuel. Now you know.

"These bacteria are going to have a feast on this stuff, this feces that would have gone to waste and put the methane straight up into the air, and they're going to produce more methane quickly that we can use to shove through a generator and produce electricity," said zoo curator David Ireland. "This stuff is gold."

Read the rest of the story here: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/081115/canada/toronto_zoo_poo_1

What's more the the zoo believes it could produce enough fuel to cover its own needs as well as those of a few thousand homes. They estimate the cost of building a facility to convert the poo into fuel would be $13 million to building, it could (always that darn word!) make money back in 5 years selling the end result being electricity.

Energy produced from cow manure at an Ottawa Valley dairy farm won a $50,000 innovation award from the Ontario government last year.

So far there have been no news reports of studies concerning the conversion of cat or dog poo being converted into fuel. Now that would be innovative!

Just how old is the dead parrot sketch?

A customer enters a pet shop.
Mr. Praline: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint.
(The owner does not respond.)
Mr. Praline: 'Ello, Miss?
Owner: What do you mean "miss"?
Mr. Praline: I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint!
Owner: We're closin' for lunch.
Mr. Praline: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.
Owner: Oh yes, the, uh, the Norwegian Blue...What's,uh...What's wrong with it?
Mr. Praline: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with it!
Owner: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.
Mr. Praline: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.

Monty Python fans will recognize the above ramblings as part of the "Dead Parrot" sketch and now an ancestor of the famous comedy sketch has been discovered in a joke book that dates back to 4th century Greece.

Go figure but then again, not surprising given the range of subjects on the series.

Philogelos: The Laugh Addict, which has been translated from Greek manuscripts, contains a joke where a man complains that a slave he was sold had died.

"When he was with me, he never did any such thing!" is the reply.

In the Python sketch, written 1,600 years later, the shopkeeper claims the dead parrot is "pining for the fjords".

The 265 jokes in Philogelos are attributed to Hierocles and Philagrius, about whom very little is known.

Interesting item, actually, on how old (very) jokes and themes travel throughout the ages.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7725079.stm

The rest of the Dead Parrot Sketch for Python-ites can be found here:

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~ebarnes/python/dead-parrot.htm

Other jokes in the book include:

- Someone needled a well-known wit: "I had your wife, without paying a penny". He replied: "It's my duty as a husband to couple with such a monstrosity. What made you do it?"

- An Abderite sees a eunuch talking with a woman and asks him if she's his wife. The man responds that a eunuch is unable to have a wife.
"Ah, so she's your daughter? "

- A misogynist is attending to the burial of his wife, who has just died, when someone asks: "Who is it who rests in peace here?".
He answers: "Me, now that I'm rid of her!"

I guess you had to be there at the time...

And for people interested in finding out about the contents of the allegedly World's Oldest Joke Book, Philogelos: The Laugh Addict, try here: http://publishing.yudu.com/Library/Au7bv/PhilogelosTheLaughAd/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fbeta.yudu.com%2Flibrary%2Fitem_details%2F19544%2FPhilogelos--The-Laugh-Addict---The-World-s-Oldest-Joke-Book

Keep in mind that humor is subjective.

Why not a first family cat for the Obamas?

Just wondering as I'm sure it does many others who have far too much time on their hands, why the pet of choice for first families is a pooch. Don't get me wrong - I'm a dog lover from way back - but it strikes me that there should be equality when it comes to choosing a pet.

According to news reports, President-elect, Obama, will be adding to the family with the selection of a new puppy. See what I mean?

When it comes to the actual selection, Obama said there were two priorities: to have a "hypoallergenic" breed that sheds less hair, because daughter Malia has allergies, and to have a rescue dog.

Nice to note that the first family is setting an example by choosing a rescue dog. Be that as it may, it would be nice I think, to perhaps consider also adopting a pet cat. After all, cats are easy to care for in that they are an independent lot. For example, a cat can be left on its own with food and water and really they're quite content, being independent by nature.

Taking it a step further, why not a pet bird? Parrots are very intelligent and talented birds. There's a lot of entertainment value when visiting heads of state come to call. Think of the impact of a dancing parrot like Snowball:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j_fxs8mUcQ

Meanwhile, everybody is weighing in as to what type of dog the first family will choose and what name will they select.

Read the story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7714480.stm

The article includes background information about former White House pets - but no cats. Or parrots...or rats...hamsters...snakes...

Meanwhile, the Humane Society of the U.S. has some wonderful cats waiting to be adopted should there be a "first cat" in the White House: http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_adoption_information/choosing_the_right_cat.html

They also have a very informative article focusing on how to select the right cat and/or dog here:
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_adoption_information/selecting_the_right_pet_for_you_pure_or_mixed_breed.html

Sarah Palin speaks to - um - Nicholas Sarkozy...in a way

So y'see...Governor Sarah Palin received a phone call from whom she believed to be French President Nicholas Sarkozy and they chatted about - let's see now... their common interest in hunting and geography with Sarkozy informing her that he can see Belgium from his home. You know - important political stuff like that.

After about 5 minutes of this fascinating exchange of information, Palin was subsequently informed that she was pranked by well-known Montreal radio pair, Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel who known as the Masked Avengers, who also pranked Mick Jagger among other celebrities in the past.

See photos of the pranksters here: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/11/01/204813.aspx

Meanwhile, enjoy the phone coversation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_5V_-_aUZo

I did.

Angelfish receives life saving operation

As many fish owners/raisers/whoever will attest, sharing one's life with angelfish is...somewhat interesting. Visually, angelfish are attractive and their means of moving around the fish tank is graceful to watch. However...in the end, they are merely fish.

A couple of years ago - maybe more...one can never tell with fish - two angelfish, Frik and Frak shared a well-appointed tank in our den. Can't say that I played the role of "mom" to them as is the case with other non-watery species but they knew which way their fish food fell. I really liked those fish as much as one can like fish given their entertainment value, but this news item is really over the top. For the record, angelfish cost under $20.

I wonder about some Brits. Seems that an angelfish named Carla, underwent a £500 - five-hundred British pounds - life-saving operation to - wait for it - cure a hernia.

Go figure that a fish is even capable of having a hernia, never mind fixing it.

Anyway, Carla was anaesthetised before veterenarian Sue Thornton used a scalpel, needle and forceps to repair the hole.

I'm no fisher-person but doesn't one use a fish hook, which could be considered a needle-type device that tears a hole in... Well you get what I'm alluding to, here.

To return to the operation water was pumped through her (Carla, the fish) body and over her gills so she could breathe during the 30-minute procedure. She has now fully recovered.

Now I mean - c'mon! Life saving surgery to save a fish, even if it's a pretty angelfish? And a hernia operation to boot? What's next? Lung or gill transplant? Tail re-section?

James Oliver of London Aquarium, where Carla has lived for 10 years, said: "I guess it's a bit extreme to operate on a small tropical fish, but she's almost family."

Ms Thornton, who had two helpers, was called in after organs started to squeeze out Carla's side. She said: "I'm thrilled she survived."

I don't want to come accross petty or cynical here but given the cost of this operation/proceedure, a Carla II would have been a cheaper alternative.

See a photo of Carla under the knife in the true sense of the word, here: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1868442.ece

Basil the cockerel is living on borrowed time

It's not always an easy life for the aviary set, hence the expression, "for the birds." It's particularly applicable for a cockerel named, Basil, who has been given his walking - make that flying - orders by residents living in the neighborhood where the bird does his thing.

Seems that Basil, who arrived uncerimoniously in a garden six months ago and currently lives on a Gateshead, UK, housing estate, did what any healthy cockerel would do when the sun comes up, and welcome the day with some loud crowing. Really loud crowing. This didn't go over well with neighbors and complaints were registered with the Gateshead Housing Company and he was subsequently given his flying orders. Most of the residents according to reports, love him but he's got his detractors.

Thing is...Basil is considered livestock and under tenancy agreements, he must leave. Go tell that to the bird!

A spokesperson from the Gateshead Housing Company said: "Gateshead Council's tenancy agreement clearly states that tenants 'must not keep livestock, such as horses, donkeys, goats, pigs, cattle, ducks, geese and chickens at the property'.

"Also, 'animals must not cause a nuisance, annoyance or concern to anyone in the local area including any employee or agent of the council or the Gateshead Housing Company'.

However, Basil has received/is receiving help of the divine type from a group of local nuns who
live in a convent in Gosforth, Newcastle. Sister Mary, a nun at a convent in Gosforth in Newcastle, told her family that prayers had been offered.

There is even a Facebook page set up for Basil that you can join here:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35567441405

Also, fans of Basil have written to Buckingham Palace requesting the Queen back their campaign.
The cockerel has until October 21st to vacate the area but how do you explain this in cockerel-ese?

See the bird in living color here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/7675829.stm

Hello? Anybody out there in space?

One wonders what aliens or non-human species living far (far) away in other galaxies (humming "Star Wars" theme) think about we humanoids of planet earth. Obviously, if they have the ability to study us from great distances, it would indicate a superior intelligence or at the very least they are far more advanced scientifically and technologically-speaking. Why they would be interested in us in the first place is another question worth pondering.

Being the curious earthlings that we are, we'd like to know who, if anybody, is "out there." To this end, messages were recently sent to a planet twenty light years from Earth in the hope that they will reach intelligent alien life. A giant radio-telescope in Ukraine transmitted 501 photos, drawings and text messages that usually track asteroids. The target is any planet deemed capable of supporting life.

Replies, which were compiled by Bebo, a social networking website, invited the network's 12 million users in the form of a competition, to send messages they would like extra-terrestrials to receive. Perhaps somebody - pure speculation on my part - sent the message: 'ET - phone home." Then again, maybe they didn't...

According to reports topics included the environment, politics, world peace, family relationships, Oprah (just kidding) and other stuff.

After being launched at 0600 GMT Bebo's mission commander Oli Madgett said the message "passed the Moon in 1.7 seconds, Mars in just four minutes and will leave our Solar System before breakfast tomorrow".

The beamed messages will be sent 120 trillion miles into space. Organisers hope the hi-tech package will reach its target - the planet Gliese 581C - in early 2029.

Rumor - strictly an unsubstantiated one - has it that when informed about the project, Sarah Palin said she can see Gliese 581C from her home in Alaska.

Read the entire story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7660449.stm

If you want to send your own message via Bebo, here is the coordinates:
http://www.bebo.com/Search2.jsp?SearchTerm=a%20message%20from%20earth

No iffs or butts - filtering out the bad smells of life with Subtle Butt

We've all had those embarrassing moments after eating something gaseous like raw onions, chili, garlic, etc., which have causes - how shall we say - some smelly moments. No matter how hard we try to repress the odor with various physicial contortions, chances are somebody will get the drift. What's a person supposed to do?

Enter Subtle Butt, a garment filter that one places inside one's underwear or wherever (different strokes for different folks!) and worry now more, so claims the manufacturer.

According to the blurb, each 3.25" square filter is made of a soft fabric with an antimicrobial treatment on the side that touches the skin. The fibre is impregnated with activated carbon, which faces the underwear or the pants and has a large surface in which bad odors will get neutralized.

What's more, the people behind the product (excuse the bad pun) have taken to YouTube to promote their product with a video, replete with sound effects. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcXp53Dk48Y

However, the noises remain. Oh well...

Some writers make BIG, big money - ask JK Rowling

As writers many of us dream about success and the subsequent riches that we hope - mainly dream - it will bring us. For most of us... Okay. A large portion of us, it remains in the dream stage. Then there's JK Rowling.

You know...she of Harry Potter fame? Would you believe that she makes £5 every second. Think of what this means! Every second the talented writer makes money even if she doesn't make or write one word! As a freelance writer it sometimes takes days to produce one decent piece of writing, not to mention having to shop it around in the hope of receiving compensation. She can, you know... if the mood hits her, write the letter "A" and the pounds roll in.

"What time is it?" she could ask somebody, during a casual conversation or sharing recipes. "Oh my - I just made five pounds... No - make that ten pounds. No - make that fifteen pounds..." You get the idea.

Impressive writer is an under-statement. Collectively, she has sold more than 400 million copies of her books world-wide making her the world's highest-earning author according to Forbes magazine. She made a total of $300 million last year alone.


Here's a list of the Top 10 Best-Paid Authors:

1. JK Rowling - $300m
2. James Patterson - $50m
3. Stephen King - $45m)
4. Tom Clancy - $35m
5. Danielle Steel - $30m
6. John Grisham - $25m
6. Dean Koontz - $25m
8. Ken Follett - $20m
9. Janet Evanovich - $17m
10. Nicholas Sparks - $16m

Source: Forbes magazine

By the way my name is NOT among them. Obviously it's an error (wink-wink).

Read an article on how Rowlings got where she is today here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7626896.stm

PETA asks Ben & Jerry's to consider using human milk...uh-huh

This is another of those "not-quite-sure-about-this" stories - at least for me, anyway.

At one time or another many of us have indulged in a Ben & Jerry's ice cream treat safe with the knowledge that the source of the dairy product came from cows. Seems that PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - want ice cream lovers to have another choice, an unusual choice most would say.

Recently, PETA sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the co-founders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. requesting them or at least asking them to consider replacing cow's milk with - wait for it - human breast milk.

There are some that must like the idea since a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75% of cow's milk in the food that it serves. The idea, according to the PETA people, is to lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms.

While this is a very admirable aspiration on the part of the organization for sure, using breast milk, at least in my opinion, isn't exactly the most practical idea.

Let's say...for the sake of argument or hypothetically, Ben & Jerry's decided to include breast milk ice cream on their menu. This would entail babies having to share their only food source, at least the new-borns, not to mention new moms having to produce a whole lot of milk to make it viable. One can only speculate that if breast milk ice cream caught on with the public it could start a new industry including breast milk cheese, breast milk yogurt... You get the idea. At some point down the line cows could become obsolete, which would please PETA, but end up as a Sunday roast or on the barbeque, something that PETA would not want.

For its part a spokesperson for Ben & Jerry's thought it was admirable on the part of PETA to draw attention to the issue, they (Ben & Jerry's) were of the opinion that a mother's milk is best used for her baby. Amen.

Read the letters from PETA and Ben & Jerry's response here:
http://www.wptz.com/news/17539127/detail.html

"Facebook" - how many friends do YOU have?

By Eleanor Tylbor

In case anybody reading this is interested - I signed in/up/to Facebook. However, don't look for a photo because there isn't one posted for a few reasons:

a) no photo of me exists that has been doctored sufficiently to hide all my facial imperfections
b) I'm a very private person (true by the way) and prefer to remain a woman of mystery
c) even if I did have a decent photo among the others, I don't know how to post it with my profile

I signed up with Facebook because I'm nosey by nature and have to be a member of this group in order to keep abreast of all my aquaintances/enemies/etc. goings-on. There was a problem initially as to how much information I should provide and I decided to limit it. I mean, IMHO, there is no logical reason why anyone should want to know or should know my religion. Also, there is no logical reason why anyone should know about my political leanings.

So far I have approx. two dozen "friends." In order to get "friends" on Facebook, the person requesting the friendship has to receive permission from the potential "friend."

"Blah-blah added you as a friend on Facebook. We need to confirm that you know blah-blah in order for you to be friends on Facebook. To confirm this friend request, follow the link below..

The most ununusual request came from a virtual stranger who wanted to be my friend. Although his photo and name didn't ring a bell, I checked out his profile just in case we knew each other in earlier years but it was obvious we had never met. At least not in this world, anyway. So I refused his friendship and then worried I had hurt his feelings. I mean, what happens if he had no friends to speak of and reached out to me being a writer and a communicator, and I had rejected him! Oh the guilt of it all!

Through joining Facebook, I am now a member of a cooking group with the leader being a well-known cookbook author. Interested family members and close friends can surf on to my page and discover - well - nothing much to be candid.

There is a competitive element to Facebook in that it could become a competition as to the number of friends one has since the number of friends everyone has is posted for all Facebook members to view. I suppose in the end it's a kind of virtual voyeurism in that you can keep up with what Facebook-ers are doing at that particular moment, what's happening in their lives and all the latest news.

To think we had to depend on a humble telephone to do that for us not that many years ago! By the way - wanna be my friend?

Something new to worry about in cell phones

Perhaps out of habit and/or for the sake of convenience, some males reading this story, store their cell phone in talk mode in a pants pocket. It might be wise to re-think this habit since a new report reveals that mobile phones left on/in talk mode in said pocket can hurt sperm quality.

In a study semen samples from 32 men were collected and brought to the lab where the study was taking place. Each man's sample was placed into small, conical tubes and divided into two parts: a test group and a control group. The control group was unexposed to cell phone emissions, but kept under the same conditions and temperature as the test group.
The semen in the test group was placed 2.5 centimeters from an 850 MHz cell phone in talk mode for 1 hour. Researchers say that 850 MHz is the most commonly used frequency.
They used the measurement of 2.5 centimeters to mimic the distance between the trouser pocket and the testes.

Overall, researchers found an increase in oxidative stress such as a significant increase in free radicals and oxidants and a decrease in antioxidants. Agarwal says that equals a decrease in sperm's quality, including motility and viability. Evidence of oxidative stress can appear under other conditions, including exposure to certain environmental pollutants or infections in the urinary genital tract.

The findings are interesting so read the rest of the story here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/09/18/cellphone.sperm/index.html

...and the entire study here: http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/18/effectsofradiofrequencyelectromagnetcwaves2008.pdf

Given the negative possibilities and findings, it wouldn't hurt guys to re-think storing their cell phones in pants pockets. They could be stored for example, in a jacket pocket. See...females have an alternative in that they can store them in their purses, which are also used by males.

As Roseanne Rosannadanna used to say: it just goes to show you, it's always something.

The God Particle - it's not nice to play God

It is seen as the most ambitious and expensive civilian science experiment in history, based on the biggest machine that humanity has yet built. That statement in itself is scary for we mortals.
There is the fear among many that this experiment could/might/may create a black hole, which could tear the earth apart.

The concept behind the construction of the largest man-made machine ever is to recreate ‘The Big Bang’ by accelerating particles to near light speeds in opposite directions and forcing them to crash into each other. The Large Hadron Collider -- a $9 billion particle accelerator designed to simulate conditions of the Big Bang that created the physical Universe, was switched on at 0732 GMT to cheers and applause from experts gathered to witness the event.

The first phase got underway on Wednesday and what is most unnerving is that the end result is unknown. How many times have we read/heard about experiments that went awry in spite of good intentions and controlled conditions?

For the love of me (and the rest of the world), I cannot see any sense in attempting to discover or duplicate the origin of the universe when there is so much at stake. I'm referring to the chance that the experiment could become unstable and - poof! - we become matter again. Given the problems in the world today and the amount of people who are dying of starvation all over the globe, a better experiment would be to see how many people can be saved and how many stomachs can be filled.

Be scared. Be very scared.

Photos of Large Hadron Collider here:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/09/05/lhc-safety.html

Heavy metal...C&W? Taste in music indicates personality type

Playwright William Cosgrove wrote, "music has charms to sooth a savage breast" and according to Professor Adrian North of Heriot-Watt University, musical taste is an indicator of personality type.

Sounds plausible.

The good professor recently conducted a study involving 36,000 people around the world and he found that a person's taste in music is related to her/his personality. In Professor North's words, the research is "significant" and "surprising."

It suggested classical music fans were shy, while heavy metal aficionados were gentle and at ease with themselves.

Participants in the study were asked to rate 104 musical styles and questioned about aspects of their personality. So why conduct the research you're probably asking yourselves?

"If you know a person's music preference you can tell what kind of person they are, who to sell to.

If you have some spare time, the study is continuing and Prof North, who is head of the university's department of applied psychology, is still looking for participants to take part in a short online questionnaire here:

http://www.peopleintomusic.com/

Interesting that the questionnaire has two categories for those people between the ages of 16-23 and those older than 24.

Here are some of his findings:


MUSICAL STYLES VERSUS PERSONALITY TRAITS
BLUES
High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle and at ease

JAZZ
High self-esteem, creative, outgoing and at ease

CLASSICAL MUSIC
High self-esteem, creative, introvert and at ease

RAP
High self-esteem, outgoing

OPERA
High self-esteem, creative, gentle

COUNTRY AND WESTERN
Hardworking, outgoing

REGGAE
High self-esteem, creative, not hardworking, outgoing, gentle and at ease

DANCE
Creative, outgoing, not gentle

INDIE
Low self-esteem, creative, not hard working, not gentle

BOLLYWOOD
Creative, outgoing

ROCK/HEAVY METAL
Low self-esteem, creative, not hard-working, not outgoing, gentle, at ease

CHART POP
High self-esteem, not creative, hardworking, outgoing, gentle, not at ease

SOUL
High self-esteem, creative, outgoing, gentle, at ease

Death row prisoner opts for unusual last meal

Once again, the only phrases that spring to mind upon reading this story is "gimme a break" followed by "I dunno.."

It's not uncommon for prisoners on death row to ask that their last meal be favorite foods like steak, fried chicken, cream pie...before they check out of this world. However, fish food definitely falls into the unusual category, especially when the request specifies that the prisoner be turned into fish food and fed to your run-of-the-mill gold fish.

This is exactly what convicted murder, Gene Hathorn requested if his final appeal fails. This begs the question as to why would he want to become fish food. Right?

Actually, it's all the name of art and he has given permission to allow artist, Marco Evaristti, to use his body as an 'art installation" that will be part of a larger project focusing on capitol punishment.

Fish food...capitol punishment...? Is there a connection I missed?

The artist who lives in Denmark, will deep freeze Hathorn's body following which it will be turned into fish food. Once this is achieved visitors to his exhibition will be able to feed - well - the former Hathorn to a shoal of goldfish.

It is hoped that work will begin within a year if Hathorn is refused an appeal for the third time and he hopes he can stage the show in North America, somewhere like the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

O-kaaaaay... For sure the museum will jump at the opportunity to display feeding goldfish. It's so...artsy (cough-cough...).

Read the entire story, which includes the legal ramifications of this type of request and other related information here:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10530546

No swat - flies know when they're being stalked

by Eleanor Tylbor

One can hear them flitting around the room, the drone of their buzz reaching human hearing range. The "normal" reaction is to grab the nearest object and wait until they are within swatting range in an attempt to rid the source of the annoying noise. The end result, however, for the most part is the fly lives to fly another day.

Once again and all in the name of important scientific research, U.S. scientists think they have solved the mystery of why flies are difficult to swat.

Given the scientific and medical issues and questions requiring their attention, one would think that there are more pressing issues than studying why harrassed humans miss swatting flies. Be that as it may...

They think - presumably unproven - that the fly's ability to sustain its life cycle is due to its fast acting brain and ability to plan ahead. Go figure that flies can plan ahead!

The study includes high speed, high resolution video recordings revealing that the insects quickly work out where a threat is coming from and prepare an escape route. Furthermore,
the research suggests that the best way of swatting a fly is to creep up slowly and aim ahead of its location.

So, the swat-er being the human, must anticipate the landing spot of the swat-ee being the fly, and wait and hope that the fly will at some point land in the vicinity of the waiting newspaper/ fly swatter/whatever, to hit the mark.

Read the entire story for hints on more effective fly-swatting and an explanation on how the research was conducted here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7586868.stm


The study has been published in the journal Current Biology. One wonders how much money was involved in this important scientific research.

For those who care, see a close up of a fly's head here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8463947@N08/701598636/

Barbie and company win big bucks and we're not talking about monopoly money

After a legal fight that left Barbie, the plastic fashionista and her rivals, the Bratz not on speaking terms, Barbie's "parent", Mattel, was awarded $100 million dollars in damages from MGA Entertainment, the creator of the popular Bratz, in a copyright spat.

The award followings a ruling in July that MGA and its CEO, Isaac Larian, stole conceptual drawings of the Bratz, who are now more popular than Barbie and friends. The federal jury involved in the case also ruled that Bratz designer, Carter Bryant had the idea while still working for Mattel, also finding that MGA aided in breach of contract and that Larian played a role in the deal.

Such goings-on but read the whole story here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/08/28/cnbratz128.xml


Barbie reacts in a press conference

Barbie, obviously disturbed by all the legal wranglings, was concerned how this would affect her image.

"I'm just happy it's all over," Barbie commented in a hastily called press conference after the ruling. "Now we can get back to what's really important in life: this year's fashions."

Her signifigant-other, Ken, also seemed relieved although it was difficult to tell at times.

"What was the question?" Ken asked and finally after staring off into space repeating the phrase, "surfing rules!"

"You know the Bratz are nothing but interlopers who are trying to horn in on my territory!" Barbie jumped in while distributing photos of herself, Ken and G.I. Joe. "Now you look at us! Aren't we more beautiful than...than...them?" she asked members of the press while signing each photo.

"You tell them babe!" added G.I. Joe who was listening and watching from the back of the room . "Any of youze reporters give my Barbie bad press will have to deal with me!"

The room was almost cleared when a hand grenade propelled from somewhere in the room landed near the reporters. However, the press conference continued upon the realization that it was a toy.

"How about the fact that Yasmin, Jade, Cloe and Sasha have knocked you out of first place," she was asked, "and they have their own TV series and a feature film."

"All a bunch of lies!" Barbie retorted.

"Also...aren't they much younger than you?" another reporter asked. "Aren't you - like - almost fifty?"

"Age has nothing to do with it. Look at me - do I look like I've aged? Not one wrinkle anywhere. Anyway, that's a lie too."

Suddenly, the press conference ended as fast as it had begun. Barbie was over-heard to have asked Ken as they exited, "do I look old?" to which Ken replied, "surf's up!"

Pooches audition for doggie choir

Here's some news that might make you wonder, "what the..."

Some people enjoy singing or at least limit their singing in the shower, while others prefer to blend their voice as a member of a choir. Then there are others of the non-human types like dogs who recently auditioned in the hope of being part of a chorale.

You read it right: D-O-G-S as in bow-wow...woof-woof.

This project is the concept of one Cardiff-based artist, Richard Higlett, who is hoping and planning for his canine choir to record in September, before an actual performance in a special concert in October.

The choir will create and perform a new song entitled, "A Song for Jack" a musical tribute to dog hero, Swansea Jack, a black retriever and hero pooch in the 1930's that was a legend for rescuing drowning swimmers from Swansea docks.

Judges auditioned dogs eager to earn a place - or their owners were eager for them to earn a place - in the choir at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. The auditionees all had to start singing after hearing a piece of music or after a direct command.

There is no information available as to who made the final cut but word has it that they all had a barking good time.

Watch some of the auditions here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/7566950.stm

Recognize any of the songs? Happy Birthday perhaps? Any?

"Black hole" mystery solved

There was a piece on the BBC.com science site focusing on the mystery of the black hole. Scientists have focused, discussed and analyzed the black hole mystery for a long time. Now they think they have an answer:

"Astronomers have shed light on how stars can form around a massive black hole, defying conventional wisdom.

Scientists have long wondered how stars develop in such extreme conditions. Molecular clouds - the normal birth places of stars - would be ripped apart by the immense gravity, a team explains in Science magazine. But the researchers say stars can form from elliptical discs - the relics of giant gas clouds torn apart by encounters with black holes. They made the discovery after developing computer simulations of giant gas clouds being sucked into black holes like water spiralling down a plughole."

While this is very good news for people who devote their lives in this scientific sphere, we "dull normals" have had the answer to this enigma since the birth of the automatic clothes washing machine.

Black holes are the place where one-socks from a pair disappear and are never seen again. It's so simple and logical one wonders why scientists have never considered this possibility. Although they may be loathe to admit it, probably every household all over the world has a collection of one-sies that could date back possibly to the turn of the century, even!

"Their findings are in accordance with actual observations in our Milky Way galaxy that indicate the presence of a massive black hole, surrounded by huge stars with eccentric orbits. "

It would have to be eccentric orbits in order to transfer so many socks from point 'A' being a house to point 'B', being the aforementioned hole in space. Somehow, perhaps through molecular breakdown of sock fibres in the clothes dryer, socks end up in said black hole. Of course it's only a theory and definitely not scientific in nature but then what is?

Read the entire story and decide for yourselves here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7574255.stm

Now you know.

Puerto Rican man remains upright - even in death

This is yet another of those "I-dunno-'bout-this' type of stories that you read and wonder, "why?"

A man who lived in Puerto Rico was granted his final wish, which was to remain standing even in death.

You read it right: even in death.

This feat was accomplished by a funeral home that used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpose(!) of one Angel Pantoja Medina, in an upright position during his 3-day wake.

Now anyone reading this can imagine the impact of dropping by to give your sympathy and being met by the dearly departed dressed in a Yankees baseball cap and sunglasses, in his mother's living room.

His brother Carlos told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper the victim had long said he wanted to be upright for his own wake.

"He wanted to be happy, standing."

According to the funeral home who took care of the arrangements, the mother did this to fulfill her son's last wish.

Now perhaps it's just the cynic in me but why would someone - granted he died young - want to be propped up against a wall when she/he dies? Certainly - pure speculation - visitors must have been shocked.

Different strokes for different folks, especially those who are corpses.

Photos of the corpse, visitors and story here: http://www.islandpacket.com/weirdnews/story/582626.html

That's SIR penguin to you, bud!

There are many people who have been knighted - Sir Paul McCartney springs to mind, Bono, Sir Michael Caine...and others. There's a lot of pomp and circumstance involved, which includes a ceremony where swords are involved. No sword play or anything dangerous - just some touching here and there.

Nils Olav who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, has already acquired medals for good conduct and years of faithful service and was even made a honorary colonel-in-chief of the elite Norwegian King's Guard in 2005. This in itself is a lifetime achievement but what makes Mr. Olav stand out in the true sense of the word, is that Nils is a - wait for it - penguin.

You read it right: a penguin as in black, white and flippery.

As expected, there's a history connected to how he achieved this honor with the original Nils Olav who was made an honorary member of the King's Guard in 1972, after being picked out as the guard's mascot by lieutenant Nils Egelien. The guards adopted him because they often toured the zoo during their visits to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, an annual military music festival, according to zoo spokeswoman Maxine Finlay.

The king penguin was named after Egelien and Norway's then-King Olav V. When the penguin died — Finlay said no one at the zoo knew exactly when — he was replaced by a second penguin, who inherited Nils Olav's name and rank.

The current Nils Olav III, the third penguin to serve as the guards' mascot, was promoted from honorable regimental sergeant major to honorary colonel-in-chief in 2005, Finlay said.

It was all very proper and royal-like with the ceremony actually starting on Friday morning with speeches and a fanfare before Nils arrival under escort with the King's Guard Color Detachment. Nils then reviewed the troops lined up outside the penguin enclosure at the zoo, waddling down the row of uniformed soldiers, occasionally stopping to crane his neck and peer inquisitively at their crisp uniforms before being guided forward by his handler.

Nils was then knighted by British Maj. Gen. Euan Loudon on behalf of Norway's King Harald V. Loudon dropped the king's sword on both sides of Nils's black-and-white frame, and the penguin's colonel-in-chief badge, tied to his flipper, was swapped for one symbolizing his knighthood.

Rumor has it that fish was on the banquet menu - raw of course. At least Sir Nils never has to worry about wearing a tuxedo for formal occasions.

See a photo of SIR Nils Olav, the Edinburgh Zoo penguin and Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian King's Guard, here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080815/ap_on_fe_st/odd_penguin_knighted

and here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/aug/15/norway?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

A tale of two cities: Birmingham city council makes boo-boo on its location

Seems that the members of Birmingham City Council aren't sure exactly where their city is located.

More to the point in a recent marketing campaign to promote the achievements of residents and their participation and achievements in recycling, somehow the city council of Birmingham, England instead promoted the city of Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.A.

It must have been really embarrassing since the photos that were supposed to show places like the Selfridges building and the Rotundra located in the UK city, instead showed a shot of downtown Birmingham, Alabama.

Go figure that they look exactly the same...at least to some people.

The error was spotted by a resident of Birmingham - the UK city - who just happened to be a regular visitor to the U.S. location, and upon retrieving a pamphlet stuffed in his mailbox noticed what was supposed to be a photo of Birmingham, UK. but was instead the American city. Upon further checking it out in Google, he found the very same photo as on his pamphlet but this one was in Birmingham, Alabama.

That's some mix-up!

Initially, City Council officials claimed no mistake had been made and the "generic skyline [was] intended to symbolise an urban area".

Of course! After all - a city is a city is a city, even if it's in another country! I knew that! Didn't you?

A spokesperson who was not named (what a surprise) commented: "We accept that the wrong photo was used, but the text and detail contained in the leaflet is wholly correct which is the most important message."

Of course. The medium is the message...unless it's in the wrong place.

Young chinese girl deemed not pretty enough to sing at opening of Olympics

If ever the expression "gimme a break!" was appropriate, it's the latest news that the little girl who was slated to sing at the opening ceremony, 7-year-old Yang Peiyi, who is believed it just so happens to have the best voice, was replaced since her replacement was more...how shall we say...TV-friendly. Meaning that lip synching was used to match the voice to another face. What a display of sportsmanship!

Perhaps the powers-that-be have forgotten the purpose in holding the Olympics in the first place.

This from CBSnews.com: "A 7-year-old Chinese girl was not good-looking enough for the Olympics opening ceremony, so another little girl with a pixie smile lip-synched "Ode to the Motherland," a ceremony official said - the latest example of the lengths Beijing took for a perfect start to the Summer Games."

Full story here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/12/world/main4344591.shtml

As if this wasn't enough to make a person spit - read the entire story - seems that those beautiful opening fireworks were helped along with the addition of digitally inserted images for TV. Kind'a makes a person wonder how much of the competition is real.

Well, doesn't it?

Kangeroo burger anyone? Pass!

I dunno about this one.

I'm beginning to ponder - correction - not beginning... I ponder the thought process of some scientists (not all).

Seems that there's a school of thought by one Australian scientist no less, that switching from - wait for it - beef(!) to kangeroo burgers/flesh can significantly help in reducing the greenhouse gas.

Huh? Say what?

Kangeroo? As in those cute adept jumpers with big feet and built-in handy pockets?

Are we as in your ordinary North American or even European and beyond, expected to actually eat those animals??? Can't speak - or write - for others but for me it's a big: NOT!

According to a report the methane gas produced by sheep and cows through burping and flatulence is stronger than carbon dioxide in the damage it can cause to the environment. Furthermore, kangaroos produce virtually no methane because their digestive systems are different. Dr George Wilson, of the Australian Wildlife Services, urges farming them.

Oh the horror of it all! Raising 'roos for the specific purpose of food for humans. It's so-so...canibalistic, IMHO.

Sheep and cattle account for 11% of Australia's carbon footprint and over the years, there have been various proposals to deal with the problem.

Problem?

Since when did kangeroos become a problem?Australia already produces 30 million kangaroos farmed by landholders in the outback. What next? Panda burgers?

This begs the question as to where and what all the sheep and cows living on planet earth are expected to do with all the accumulated gas? Perhaps - just a suggestion - if a ways could be discovered for all that smelly air to be made commercially viable, we wouldn't be discussing eating 'roo meat. Right?

When it comes to politics, Paris Hilton is not amused

Humor is subjective in that what amuses one person, will be considered offensive to another. In the world of politics it appears everyone is fair game, especially if you're a rich and high profile celeb who usually loves the limelight, like Paris Hilton.

Seems that Paris's feelings were hurt since her image was used along with Britney Spears who is also no stranger to media attention, in an ad by the McCain team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Za-Mx1y3A

Being Paris and all, she has created her own video in the way of a response: "an ad for the Presidential Campaign. Paid for by Funny or Die."

Actually, it's very entertaining - and funny -and maybe Paris should consider giving up her so-called show-biz aspirations and consider a change to a political career. Here's what she had to say:

http://www.funnyordie.com/

Scary thought. Given her access to $$$, what happens if she does decide to go into politics - and succeeds!

Smile! The Brangelinas price is $14 million

So y'see...Angelina Joli and Brad Pitt, two very popular i.e. hot, personalities right now recently had twins. Like most parents they are proud of their offspring and want to immortalize their newborns in photos. What makes these particular children unique is that their photos are rumored to be worth $14 million dollars on the market.

People magazine nabbed the rights and guaranteed they will sell lots of magazines.

"A person involved in the negotiations for pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's newborn twins says the rights have fetched $14 million.

The person asked not to be named because he was not authorized to release the figure. People magazine scored the photos in a joint deal with the London-based Hello! magazine, and the two will split the bill.

It is the second time People magazine has won the North American rights to the couple's exclusive baby pictures in exchange for a hefty donation to charity."

Read the story here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/01/brangelina.photos.ap/index.html

(Sir) Paul takes Quebec and leaves people smiling

"He" came, he played and certainly conquered according to the media reports in today's, Montreal Gazette (Montreal's daily newspaper). Given the historical significance of playing a gig on the Plains of Abraham, 200,000 plus Quebekers and visitors from all over the planet, welcomed Paul McCartney with open arms.

Fans were welcomed in French, a nice touch, with "bonsoir les québécois!" (good evening, Quebecers) and "bon soir toute la gang!" (good evening everyone!").

He opened with "Jet"and continued with picks that included Drive My Car and Only Mama Knows among others. There was a mixture of old favorites but he also included newer numbers. Quebec's 400th anniversary was aknowledged with the song, "Michelle" dedicated by McCartney in French to a "a lady who is 400 years old." Again, nice PR touch.

I, unfortunately, was not among the masses who attended the show. Insert big sigh here.

"I would have loved to attended that concert," I told my husband who also happens to be a McCartney fan, while watching clips from the show.

"How much of fan are you, though," he responded. "Enough to line up the day before the actual concert takes place to get a good place in front?"

He had a point.

So next up in August, Celine Dion will take centre stage and the spotlight. Absolutely the spotlight given her hubby Rene Angelil's managerial prowess and it will be interesting to see if she will draw the same numbers. She's a star for sure but perhaps not the same calibre as McCartney, IMHO.

For more information and photos:

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2008/07/20/6214161-cp.html
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080721/national/music_mccartney_quebec
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7516711.stm

There are also some clips on YouTube but the sound is almost indistinguishable and the visuals are taken from the big screen for people who weren't lucky enough to be within visual range of the singer.

Got some spare urine?

Most of us don't concern ourselves as to what happens to our urine once its deposited into the toilet bowl. We flush and forget about the end result. NASA, however, would like to share some and it's all in the name of science.


"A NASA contractor is seeking urine from space-program workers to test the toilets on the Orion space capsule.

Space program contractor Hamilton Sundstrand is seeking urine from workers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, as part of its work on the new Orion space capsule that eventually would take astronauts to the moon, according to an internal memo posted on the Web site Nasawatch.com. The need is voluminous: 30 liters a day, which translates into nearly 8 gallons. Even on weekends."

Seems that NASA itself collects urine samples from workers to help design better space toilets.

The Connecticut-based company building the Orion toilet needs the large volume of urine (about the daily output of 30 people) to work on urine acidity problems, said spokesman Leo Makowski.
The memo seeking daily contributions from July 21 to July 31 was not meant to go public, he said.

So I'm thinking here: since this has gone public and there are people reading this that might want to help out - in the name of scientific progress of course - one wonders how they would go about doing it...donating their urine. Would they say...fill up a cup, wrap it up in a box and send it by mail in care of NASA? A typical letter from a donator would probably include something to the effect:

Dear NASA and to whom-this-may-concern,

Please find my donation of one cup of urine to be used towards your on-going research. As a person interested in space-related issues, it's the least I can do.

Bon voyage,

I.M. Lazee
Chair Tester

Also, do "contributors" receive some type of acknowledgement:

"Dear DOF - Donator of Urine,

We would like to thank you for your generous gift of urine. Your contribution was instrumental on (insert date) whereby it was used for scientific research towards the pressing issue of what to do with stored urine on the moon. As an aside we always accept multiple donations if you feel so moved."

Yours truly,

I.C. Pee

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/07/16/nasa.urine.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Political correctness gone too far?

Many people reading this will recall as children, participating in a sack race or three legged race during sports day and ending up no worse for wear. Well that was then as they say, and this is now with a school in Washington banning the two old and popular events due to what they claim is fear of injury.

"PC" school officials who were concerned that the primary school pupils could fall over and suffer bruising, were assailed by critics for banning the two events.

Yeah so what? I mean, so the children fall down and get grass skids...or a bruise here and there. All part of the game and being kids!

Teachers at the John F Kennedy Primary in Washington, Tyne and Wear, dropped the events after talks with Beamish Open Air Museum, where an Edwardian-themed sports day is being held today. The day called for children to dress up in period costumes and play old-fashioned-type games, which included running, hopping and throwing ping-pong balls into pails.

Laura Midgely, founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness group, said: “It’s health and safety gone mad, completely over the top.”

Celine Dion and Sir Paul McCartney to face off on the Plains of Abraham?

Two well known singers and entertainment personalities in their own right, Celine Dion and Sir Paul McCartney, will be doing a gig in honor of Quebec City's 400th birthday. I mean, not at the same time but it's a coup for sure.

Great idea! Right?

Maybe so but then it would depend on where said gig will be taking place.

See...Celine is scheduled to perform on August 22nd in the sports field located at the west end of the Plains of Abraham and 100,000 Celine fans are expected to attend. They had to line up to get their free tickets. Everything was fine until Rene Angelil, Celine's hubby AND manager got wind that Sir Paul would be performing a f*r*e*e* show on July 20th, one month earlier, in a natural amphitheater at the other end of the plains, with no tickets necessary.

Rene is not a happy man.

In fact he is demanding(!) a change of venue for her concert.

Angelil is demanding the same first come, first-served access as well as the same venue for Dion. The National Battlefields Commission denied the request and organizers of the 400th anniversary are caught in the middle.

As Rosanne Roseannadanna used to say: it's always something...

Talk about egos and insecurities surfacing.

BTW and in case anyone reading this wants to see Celine, word has it that scalpers are selling those free Dion tickets for $700 a pair. In as far as McCartney's appearance is concerned, this will be his only North American concert so you can expect to be among hundreds of thousands of other fans.

Wanted: naked cleaning person. Experience optional

If you happen to be vacationing or perhaps back-packing in England and looking for a job that has a loose - very loose - dress code, then perhaps this would be of interest to you.

A job vacancy for a naked cleaner is being advertised at a Jobcentre, the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed today.

The advertisement, placed in Southampton, Hampshire, by a company called Knobs 'n' Knockers, is looking for applicants of both sexes to do washing-up and ironing in the nude.
Why? According to the ad, it wants to make the tasks more erotic for customers in the South East.

"Required for household cleaning duties in the nude. Pinny provided. Must have pleasant nature." the ad states.

A "pinny" for those people unaware of the term according to Wikipedia, "A pinafore (colloquially pinny in British English) is a sleeveless garment worn as an apron."

Successful applicants will make £10 per hour compared to £6 for regular clothed cleaners. I suppose this could be considered unfair hiring practice but I digress.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said it could not legally refuse to carry the advertisement.

"Jobcentre Plus has a duty to advertise any legal job. Legal vacancies within the adult industry come within this, a requirement which was confirmed in a legal test case brought by the Ann Summers company in 2003. The High Court overturned Jobcentre Plus's policy which did not accept certain types of adverts connected with the sex and personal services industries. We have safeguards in place to ensure customers are fully aware of the nature of these jobs."

So? Anybody planning to apply?

Sending it "snail mail" in the true sense of the word

The expression, "send it by snail-mail" has taken on a whole new meaning for Muriel, Austin and Cecil. In fact people using their mail delivery service just might have to wait for their package or mail to take weeks, maybe even months to arrive.

What makes this delivery service unique is that the trio are...snails. As in the gastropods that live in back yards. As in the real live thing(s).

These snails have been fitted with equipment to allow them to send e-mails on behalf of visitors to a website and it's all part of a "slow art" project called Real Snail Mail at Bournemouth University in the UK which will be showcased in Los Angeles in August.

Each snail is fitted with a tiny capsule which holds a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip. RFID allows objects to communicate over short distances.

Users of the service send a message via the Real Snail Mail website which is routed to the tank at the speed of light to await collection by a snail "agent".

Read the entire story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7458531.stm

BTW - to date the snails have managed to deliver 14 messages.

There's also a web site devoted to the system and perhaps the site coordinates says it all:
http://www.boredomresearch.net/rsm/

The Web site also provides background profiles for the trio:


Agent 001

Also known as Cecil

Hours of service: 978
Deliveries made: 4
Current status: Carrying message
Average delivery time: 3.26 days


Agent 002

Also known as Austin

Hours of service: 2493
Deliveries made: 10
Current status: Available
Average delivery time: 1.96 days


Agent 003

Also known as Muriel
Hours of service: 978
Deliveries made: 0
Current status: Available
Average delivery time: None as yet

Interesting that Agent 003 - Muriel - hasn't made any deliveries yet... Too slow...too shy... One can only speculate.

A snail-cam will be available during the trio's visit to Los Angeles while participating in the Slow Art Exhibition from August 11-15 here:
http://www.boredomresearch.net/rsm/snailcam.html

Don't expect any quick deliveries, though.

New Canadian law passed for illegal downloading of copyright material

Chances are that anybody working in the creative field will be happy with the news that Canada has passed a law to deal with downloading copyright material, the problem is how do the police and the legal field enforce said law?

"New legislation against downloading copyrighted material comes with one big problem. Nobody knows how fines could be doled out because nobody knows how violators could be caught, York Regional Police said yesterday. The current copyright law carries a maximum fine of $20,000 but has been geared towards nabbing commercial distributors and high-volume bootleggers."
http://money.canoe.ca/News/Economy/2008/06/13/5867376-sun.html

"The federal government has introduced a controversial bill it says balances the rights of copyright holders and consumers — but it opens millions of Canadians to huge lawsuits, prompting critics to warn it will create a "police state."

"We are confident we have developed the proper framework at this point in time," Minister of Industry Jim Prentice told a news conference in Ottawa on Thursday. "This bill reflects a win-win approach."
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/06/12/tech-copyright.html

At present anyone caught disobeying the copyright law, which is focused on dealing with commercial distributors and bootleggers, can be fined $20,000. The new legislation will focus on
deterring individual downloaders and purchasers of scammed content.

When it's all said and done, however, the main question or issue is: how do you catch individual downloaders?

No cheering allowed at high school graduation

Talk about over-zealousness on the part of high school officials and perhaps even on the part of the police.

So a group of enthusiastic young people made it through high school and were part of graduation ceremonies. Perhaps they got caught up in the moment and cheered when their friends received their diploma. That's a natural thing to do - support your friends. Right? Since when is it a crime, anyway, to cheer out loud? Obviously in some places it is.

I mean - gimme a break!


"When Rock Hill school officials tell commencement crowds to hold their applause until the end, they mean it — police arrested seven people after they were accused of loud cheering during the ceremonies.

Six people at Fort Mill High School's graduation were charged Saturday and a seventh at the graduation for York Comprehensive High School was charged Friday with disorderly conduct, authorities said. Police said the seven yelled after students' names were called."

Read the entire story and shake your head in wonder and puzzlement as I did wondering what this world is coming to:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25083792/

With the exception of one case that includes resisting an arrest charge, all the cases will be handled in city court with the punishment(!) being a maximum of 30 days in jail(!) and a $1,000 fine.

Here a rabbit...there a groundhog - garden pests dealt with severely by gardeners

Gardeners as a rule are a protective lot, especially when it comes to the fruit of their labor so to speak. There are some who sow crops of carrots, lettuce, cukes, tomatoes etc. in their backyard suburban garden, anticipating a fresh salad al fresco. However, not only do humans enjoy freshly picked veggies - so do all the local wildlife and therein lies the problem. It's a case of the humans versus the wildlife with a not-so-happy end result in some cases.

Take the article in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/garden/05animals.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
with some gardeners finding a solution by taking things into their own hands. There are those who take more drastic measures using guns and other weapons to solve the problem. Here is the opening of the story:

THE homeowner, a city-boy artist and illustrator who had moved to rural Pennsylvania, never wanted to kill the woodchucks. Sure, they were ruining the garden and digging up the foundations of outbuildings, but it was a moral issue: the artist, who is still so uncomfortable about what transpired — and so concerned about how his New York clients would feel about it that he is not willing to be identified — did not want to take a life.

"I posted a sign in the backyard (positioned close to ground level) with a recipe for rabbit pie. I think the bunnies got the message."CE, Plano, TX

Given the size of the property — a 12-acre former horse farm — fencing was out of the question. He bought a Havahart live animal trap but did not catch a thing. And he worried that releasing woodchucks down the road would only be dumping the problem on a neighbor. So he moved on to that tried-and-true landlord’s tactic: harassment. He attached a hose to the exhaust pipe of his old pickup truck and stuffed it into a burrow — not to kill the woodchucks, just to encourage them to move on. That didn’t work, either.
Finally, the artist decided he would have to shoot the animals. First, though, he went to each hole and made an announcement.

“I said: ‘I intend to kill you. You have 24 hours to get out,’ ” he recalls. “I wanted to give them fair warning. I said, ‘If I were you, I would find another place to live.’ I also promised them I would not take a shot unless I knew it would be fatal.”

He is making this into a funny story, he says, but when he killed his first woodchuck he “literally felt sick.”
“I went outside and knelt down to it and said a little prayer to whatever the powers that be that when my turn comes, I will do it as gracefully and uncomplainingly.”
Eventually, though, he embraced his mission, and grew so obsessed with it that an aunt began to call him Woodchuck Johnny. How many did he kill that summer?

“I stopped at 19,” he says. “One was a suicide. It realized its days were numbered and ran in front of a car.”

There are a lot more stories about how plain ordinary, "normal" gardeners like you or me, handled the situation. As an aside 325 gardeners , some who agree with garden guerilla tactics and many others shocked, who let their feelings be known with e-letters to the editor of the New York Times.

Read the entire story and decide for yourself.

Attorney fights to be slow

There are people who are actively involved in many causes to help humanity and there are others who run around like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off. Then there's 73-year old attorney, Edgar S. Cahn, who is making a point of people's right to be lazy.

My kind of person.

He is head of the "slow movement", a national campaign that believes that speed kills.

The slow movement backs random acts of slowness, such as turning off the BlackBerry or spending time with friends.

Its leaders say that Americans are so starved for time and that the need for speed is destroying health, families and communities.

Read the whole story here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/06/06/balance.slow.movement/index.html

There are groups people can join including:

• The Long Now Foundation, a group based in San Francisco, California, was established to provide an alternative to a "faster/cheaper" mind set and promote "slower/better" thinking.
• Take Back Your Time, a nonprofit group based in Seattle, Washington, is leading a national campaign to address time famine by using conferences and teach-ins to wean people off of their need by be busy.
• Slow Food USA is a nonprofit group that offers an alternative to fast-food eating and industrial food production. It encourages members to plan communal meals and use farmer's markets. It has at least 80,000 members in 100 countries.

Slow movement members don't fit one profile. They're journalists, lawyers, chefs, farmers. Yet they cite the same factors for our inability to slow down: longer work hours, longer commutes and technological advances like BlackBerrys that keep many employees chained to work.

Perhaps this is a movement whose time has come.

You think you have problems department: no flush in space

International Space Station astronauts are eagerly awaiting the arrival of shuttle Discovery since it'sbringing a new pump to mend their broken toilet.

I bet they are! Can you imagine no flushing mechanism in space?

The station's urine collection unit, as opposed to its solid waste unit, has been malfunctioning for several days. NASA said it thought a separator pump was at fault and the three male crew members were operating it manually.

To make room for the new part, NASA has had to remove other equipment from the shuttle, which launches on Saturday.

"Clearly, having a working toilet is a priority for us," shuttle payload manager Scott Higginbotham said.

The Discovery mission is the second of three to take up key components of the Japanese-built Kibo laboratory.

Read the full story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7425180.stm

It goes without saying that a working toilet is an absolute necessity, given the gravity situation. One wonders what and how they are disposing of the urine. One shudders to think...

Thought du jour: if a person flushes in space, does anyone hear it?

Gloucester cheese chase was downhill all the way

They came, they ran and when it was all over, the biggest cheese chaser (say that fast a dozen times) was 19-year old, Christopher Anderson. He took first place - and a back brace for his efforts - in the annual Bank Holiday Cheese Rolling Contest at Cooper's Hill. One might ask the reason for people chasing after a circle of giant Gloucester. Go know but the prize being a big chunk of cheese certainly must be some inspiration.

The challenge was even greater given the weather conditions being less than satisfactory with a torrential rain pelting down. Approximately 3000 specatators cheered on the cheese chasers with contestants coming as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Japan attempting to climb Coopers Hill and then sliding down after their fromage.

Photos of the contestants in action here: http://www.cheese-rolling.co.uk/the_event.htm

Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum

There's gold in them thar California hills...again

Price of gas got you bloated? Running a little short of cash? You might consider visiting or even moving to California where there's a new Gold Rush, 160 years after gold fever struck.

It hit a new high of in excess of US$1000 per ounce earlier in the year and some believe there is money to be made from this precious mineral once more.

"You can pay your bills, if you live meagrely," says John Gurney, who gave up his job six months ago to become a full-time gold prospector.

John is standing in a shallow river in Jamestown, California, in the heart of Gold Country: in 1849, the same dream brought hundreds of thousands of people to towns like this.

He is panning for gold: he shovels rocks and dirt from the river bed into a bucket, sifts out the bigger pieces, transfers what's left into a ridged plastic panning bowl, and then, using a light movement back and forth, shakes the bowl, separating the lighter material from the heavier, including gold.

Each 20-minute session usually turns up a few tiny flecks.

"It's not a lot of money," John says, "but it adds up quite a bit... But you never know - you may hit the jackpot sometime."

This is the simplest way of gold prospecting.

The original 49ers - as they've become known - used this technique, as well as mining. Fortunes were made - and lost - in the wild towns that sprang up almost overnight along 200 miles of central California, an area they called the Motherlode.

Tourism is big business in the former gold-mining areas. Places like Jamestown and Columbia - which, in its heyday, nearly became California's state capital - have been mining tourists ever since. But now these ghost towns are stirring again, as more and more amateur prospectors try their luck.

Read the full story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7378281.stm

Given the precarious financial situation with people losing homes and no income, perhaps gold fever will strike again.

Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum

Something definitely cheesy afoot

Cheese lovers rejoice! The annual Cheese Race to take place in Gloucestershire, will go on rain or no rain.

Well that's good news. I mean, nothing should stop people from taking a perfectly good and tasty chunk of Gloucestershire cheese and rolling it down a hill. Why? Go know! However, the event must have something going for it since it's more than 200 years old.

The event is more than a little cheesy if you ask me but here are the details so you can plan to attend.

Organisers of the annual cheese- rolling event in Gloucestershire have insisted that it will go ahead on Monday whatever the weather. In the event participants chase a 7lb Double Gloucester cheese in four races at Cooper's Hill, near Brockworth. BBC weatherman Ian Fergusson said: "The steep slope at Cooper's Hill, which is challenging even in good weather, will prove especially slippery and muddy."

In 2007, several people were injured during the event. Safety concerns led to it being called off in 2006 after rescue volunteers were unable to assist as they had been called to help with the aftermath of an earthquake. The race has been held at Cooper's Hill for the last 200 years and is believed to date back to Roman times. The winner of each race gets to keep the Double Gloucester.

Anyone can enter if one feels so inclined and according to the official site, the rules are simple:
"You do not need any type of application form to enterThere are no qualifications and no entry fee! All you have to do is arrive at the top of the hill, make the decision (possibly check that your 'Last will and testament ' is up-to-date!) make sure that you won't need that pair of jeans ever again and ......... GO!!!!"

That's good news - no fee, mind you who would pay to enter is another whole issue, here.

Rumor - and keep it mind it's strictly a rumor here - has it that some owners of local cafes have been seen under the cover of night, collecting the cheese remnants and using it for the next daily special being macaroni and cheese.

Here's the official site for the contest: http://www.cheese-rolling.co.uk/


Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum

Shocking news - truffles in danger!

by Eleanor Tylbor

Directly from France (where else!) where things like this are tres important comes the devastating and shocking news that - wait for it - truffles are in danger of being wiped out!

Mon Dieu! Pas possible!

But yes it's true! So if you're a truffle lover...or liker...or even someone who occasionally indulges in a few truffles, you might be out of luck. Just to clarify we're not talking about the chocolate type with a gazillion calories. It's the kind that only piggies can find in certain geographical locations.

Mais oui!

Narrowing it down further, the Perigort Black Truffle to be exact and the cause is an alien interloping Chinese truffle.

Uh-oh...! Call in the gendarmes or french borner patrol!

Scientists fear it will be wiped out by an invading Chinese truffle they have discovered growing in European soils. Hmmmm... I smell if you'll excuse the pun, a plot afoot - or a-nose. Perhaps yet another means in which to introduce cheaper truffles and spoil the truffle market.

According to people who know about these things who then informed New Phytologist journal, the incomer is a particularly aggressive and fast-growing species.The Perigord black truffle is one of the most highly regarded truffles, fetching around 600 to 800 Euros per kg this season.

"It is the most famous and appreciated among the black truffles, and is the most important truffle in French cuisine," says Claude Murat, a fungus expert based at the University of Torino, Italy.

Somehow, when somebody uses the term "fungus" even though it is referring to a gourmet item, my mind switches to less savory images. Toe nails for example but I digress.

Only Piedmont white truffles fetch higher prices. Hey - we all knew that! Right?

Read the entire story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7405004.stm

So...like...how upset are you regarding this...this shocking news???? More to the point, would you know the difference between one truffle and another?

Perhaps it would be a good idea the next time you're dining out at a fast food restaurant and truffles are on the menu, you might want to think twice. I mean, one just never knows, does one?