Monday, August 15, 2011

Walking down memory lane ...

Facebook interaction sparks the weirdest things. A friend shared a hari raya song that made me crave to be home and baking cookies and the ensuing conversation unearthed the following video. Ah, recollecting songs of one's youth ... this was before Elton John went Disney-fied and my liking turned to loathing.



It is amazing to note that once upon a time, models in video clips actually look like real people.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

How David ate Goliath

In nature, size sometimes do not matter. It's all about your strategy (bite location, poison etc). In the case of ground beetles, it takes bite location, sheer cussedness to hang on to a wildly bucking prey and poison to fell the stronger and bigger toad.

Don't click on video if you do not want to see nature red in tooth and claw. As in live consumption of prey by said beetle. You have been warned.



Ah, Toad. R.I.P.

Courtesy of New Scientist.

Riding like a boss

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like ...

                                                                                                 - Bicycle Race (Queen)-

Riding the bike is a green transportation strategy. Many cities, particularly in Europe, embraces biking in the cities as a means to reduce pollution and traffic congestion.The Netherlands is popular for both canals and bicycles (with no doubt a number of the latter ending up in the former, thanks to great beers that the Netherlands are also famed for). To encourage more people to opt to cycle, these cities set aside a bicycle lane for cyclists' safety.

But of course, where there are space near the curb (or affectionately known in Malaysia as shoulder of the  road), so shall appear assholes who want to park there. In developing countries, drivers don't even bother with space; double and triple parking is pretty normal. How to overcome this? The mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania decided that a drastic approach is needed.




What I am interested to know is, can we do this here too? The crushing of inconsiderate motorists' vehicles, I mean.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Oh dear God ...

... let this film come to our shores on the date displayed ...



Yes, I have a thing for Mr Hardy. He is gorgeous, articulate, naughty and has a voice and lips to die for. I am shallow *shut up*.

But you put Mr. Hardy with Mr Benedict Cumberbatch and Gary Oldman and Cieran Hinds and Mark Strong and oh my Lord ... *topples from palpitation*

Sin no more?

Easier said than done. Especially with the discovery of this site.

*facepalm*









How goeth your Ramadan?

*sigh*

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Indispensible ...

... is this diagnostic tool to most modern doctors. The CT scan (X-ray computed tomography), or more affectionately referred to as the Cat Scan, became more widely known to the general television watching population, thanks to drama series such as ER, General Hospital and most popularly, House.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear if there are people (hypochondriacs, most likely) who insist on having their aches and pains examined using the Cat Scan in order to rule out major problems. Of course if they know how much it really costs (ask your local friendly hospital services marketing personnel!), they may swallow their indignance and ask if blood tests (some of which may cost nearly as much) are sufficient.

However, in the interest of levity and fun, I invite you to visit the Cat Scan site  for more of gems like the following:



People do the darndest things

Gentlemen, when you visit a lady (or gentleman) of the night, kindly ensure that you have sufficient remuneration to compensate them for their time and enthusiasm; lest you end up like this poor soul who had to visit the surgeon for an embarrassing outcome (see page 2, 2nd column at the top).

Christmas candles should NOT be found in ANY bodily cavity, thank you very much.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

(Semi) Clean humour for Ramadhan, yes?

A little geek humour to start with ...


 

 Segue into the war of the sexes ...

Well, maybe this one ain't so clean (or those following it).

You are what you read?


At least, according to Markus Appel, an associate professor at the Johannes Keppler University of Linz, Austria. He conducted an experiment where the subjects read a really dumb story about a really stupid fellow and then gave them a general knowledge test. It looked like those who read the tale of the idiot did worse at the general knowledge test than those who didn't. It was not known whether the test subjects were daft to begin with.

                                                                             
If that is so, will reading urban fantasy make me into a supernatural monster?




Anyway, who cares what is the capital of Libya?