This page represents only my own views, and not those of any university or other body.
Posted Wednesday 11th January at 7.44pm
Sheep precede every volcanic eruption, say researchers
Researchers today at McGill University revealed that prior to every major volcanic eruption in the last 100 years, there have been a number of sheep born. Several sheep were born in Wales before the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. Sheep rearing was also widespread in Italy in 1906, the same year as the last major eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
The presence of many sheep in New Zealand - which are, moreover, "breeding like rabbits", according to scientists - can only add to the evidence that the volcano lying beneath Lake Taupo is preparing for a super-eruption, researchers said. New Zealanders were warned not to panic, and reminded that kiwi feathers are NOT lava proof and should not be used to make hats.
In other news, scyscrapers have been linked to financial crashes.
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Posted Monday 9th January 2011 at 9.46pm
A fumbling play
A new song from the Shins. I hadn't even realised they were releasing a new album, or that "they" are now just James Mercer and guests.
The production is too much like Wincing the Night Away for my liking. I prefer the subtler sounds of Chutes too Narrow, where the lone violin on Saint Simon, or the pedal steel on Gone for Good, really stood out. Now it's all throbbing bass, chiming guitars and cooing backing vocals, the lighthouse of Mercer's voice beaming out over the top. Still sounds good though, and I look forward to hearing the rest of the album. Actually, for a lead single, this is a bit weird - the top falling off two-thirds of the way through - and you never know, that could be a good sign.
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Posted Sunday 8th January 2011 at 1.49pm
Cav and co (again)
Here is a great blog post from the BBC's Matt Slater about why the British cycling team should have been team of the year in the SPotY awards. Cricket is my favourite sport by some distance, certainly way ahead of cycling, so normally I would be backing Andrew Strauss' men, who can hardly be declared undeserving of their award after beating Australia and India so convincingly. But cycling's world road race was incredible. The stint that Wiggins put in towards the end, and then when it all looked like it was unravelling in a gut-wrenching final minute, only for Cavendish to fly through... that's the kind of skill and stamina that elevates your sport beyond just a game, and makes you an inspiration to others.
If you're in the UK you can watch the last couple of minutes of the race on the page I linked to above, but all you see is Cavendish coming from nowhere to win. You don't see the amazing work the rest of the team put in through the entire race to get him to that point. This video gives a bit of a better idea, but still you have to remember that Britain had been leading the peloton for the entire race, and Wiggins had done all the hard work single-handedly for so long, so when Australia took the front with four minutes to go it seemed Britain was paying for the fact that everyone knew their tactics; Britain had to stop any breaks, had to drive the peloton on, and everyone else could just ride on their backs like rats on an ox until the business end of the race. That Stannard and Thomas had the energy to find the front again, and Cavendish the ability to finish it off against the odds, only made the performance even more special.
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Posted Saturday 7th January 2012 at 11.38am
Oh but I...
Banjotastic!
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Posted Friday 6th January 2012 at 7.38pm
Mmmmmm tastes like chicken...
By request, here's a new recipe, adapted from one I saw by the hairy bikers.
Ingredients (enough for 2 servings):
Vegetable oil
2tbsp honey
2tbsp soy sauce
2tbsp lemon juice
1 or 2 cloves finely chopped garlic
Black pepper
2 chicken breasts
2/3 mug basmati rice, cooked as per packet instructions
1 heaped tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/3 mug peas
1/3 mug finely chopped pineapple
1 large onion, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 lime
Mix 2tbsp vegetable oil with the honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic and black pepper in a shallow bowl. Lay the chicken breasts on a chopping board and cut each one in half parallel to the chopping board (like you're butterflying them, but cut all the way through). Put them in the bowl too and coat in the mixture.
Heat a frying pan until it's *very* hot, and add a small amount of oil. Put the chicken in the pan, pouring over half of the remaining mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then turn them over, pour over the rest of the mixture, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pan and leave to rest.
Meanwhile, put a wok containing some oil and the coriander seeds (these are essential... I love 'em) on a high heat, and once the seeds start to pop, add the onions and fry for a few minutes. Then add the red pepper and peas, and a minute later, the cooked rice, turmeric powder, and pineapple. Stir for a couple of minutes or until the rice starts sticking.
Ladle out onto plates, then chop the chicken diagonally into strips and place on top of the rice. Squeeze lime juice over the top.
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Posted Friday 6th January 2012 at 3.46pm
The lesser-spotted Andrew Lansley
Is that actually Andrew Lansley, or just a video screen showing Andrew Lansley?
This seems like a good excuse to listen to the Andrew Lansley Rap again.
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Posted Wednesday 4th January 2012 at 2.08pm
I've been to the year 2000...
...not much has changed but the horse in harness is as scarce, if not even scarcer, then than the yoked ox is today.
I have no idea whether this is genuine, but if it is, some of the predictions are quite spectacular! Click for full-size.
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Posted Tuesday 3rd January 2012 at 10.59pm
And lol, there was a goal at last!
"...and even when Ipswich pressed hard against the sometimes desperate Forest defence, the Lord blinded their strikers with scorpions so that their efforts bore no fruit. And lol, before calamity could strike, there strode forward the mighty McClearly who with angel's feet danced forward towards their goal and did strike a thunderbolt into the top of the net, and there was great rejoicing amidst the Forest faithful but in the Ipswich ranks there were curses low and deep and fists raised to heaven."
From Stress and Pie.
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Posted Monday 2nd January 2012 at 12.29pm
Trains
I basically have no problem with trains in the UK. Prices are higher than I would like, but that's true of most things! Sometimes trains are overcrowded, but that's the exception rather than the rule and I understand that it's difficult to micro-manage timetables to avoid this problem when you have such a complex system that must have reliability as its prime concern.
However, I have been travelling on trains in the UK regularly for over a decade. I understand the system better than probably 99% of people in the UK. I know when cheaper fares are likely to be available, I know that I should try buying tickets for different parts of my journey separately because they may be run by different operators whose fare systems don't interact well, and I know that, even if I buy an advance ticket that specifies which train I have to travel on, if I turn up in time for an earlier train and it's not too busy then I can ask the guard nicely and I stand a good chance of being allowed to travel. I also know that different websites charge different booking or delivery fees, but that the East Midlands Trains site is easy and quick to use and charges no fees. Most people in the UK don't know all of these things, and people from outside the UK - who are visiting as tourists or on business - are very unlikely to know any of them.
I don't know the full story about the privatisation of British Rail - it happened in the mid-90s, when neither politics nor rail travel was a large concern of mine, and is not such riveting subject that I have ever been tempted to read up on it since. But it seems to me that the main reason behind privatisation is usually to introduce competition, thus spurring at least one of innovation or value for money. And privatisation of the rail network, at least in the way it was introduced, was never likely to introduce competition. Say I'm in Nottingham and I want to travel to Bath. It's not like I can say "oh, Virgin Trains' prices are too high, I'll travel with East Coast Trains" or "First Great Western's service is often delayed, I'll travel with London Midland". Virgin cover part of the route, First Great Western another, and if I want to make that journey I have no choice but to travel with them. So there is barely any competition between the rail companies. They're competing against car, bus and plane travel, of course, but the same would be true of one centralised company, be it state-run or private.
I imagine one centralised company would also be able to offer a more consistent pricing structure and would find it easier to manage the network. Personally I think the state-run option is a clear winner here, since the other option would be a government-subsidised monopoly, but at least a central government-subsidised monopoly might be better than a piecemeal and inconsistent government-subsidised monopoly.
I have no idea how much it would cost to renationalise the railways, or whether there are better options, but it might be a good idea to have a study looking at the possibilities.
This blog post was inspired by the letter G, the number 8, and the article "Help fight fare rises and push for rail renationalisation" from the Guardian, which is badly referenced and misses (what I think is) the main point.
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Posted Saturday 31st December 2011
Life through a different lens
Sorry to beat you about the head, but sometimes it just has to be Jens.
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