MI Magazine: Sensei Brady and Aikido in the UK
…Public perception of martial arts is a major contributory factor in their credibility. Over the years, Hollywood films and the media in general have not done real martial arts any favors at all. The notion of one man taking on 100 armed men has done much to fill the coiffeurs of the movie men
David Sheppard (1929–2005)
Observer: Former bishop of Liverpool dies
David Sheppard, the former England cricket captain turned Bishop of Liverpool, died last night after a long struggle with cancer. Today would have been his 76th birthday.
I don't have much time for bishops, but David Sheppard was undoubtedly one of the better ones—and, unlike certain other churchmen I could mention, he did at least bother to reply to his correspondence.
The hidden message
BBC: Lib Dems unveil election slogan
The Liberal Democrats will present themselves as "the real alternative" in the forthcoming general election campaign, Charles Kennedy has said.
The real alternative isn't a slogan; it's a crossword clue!
As any cryptic cruciverbalist knows, when you see the word alternative, you should immediately look for an anagram of the word(s) preceding it. And what is an anagram of the words the real? That's right:
LEATHER!
I can see what you're up to, Charles, you old perv. Clever of you to go after the Tory vote like that.
Fingers and toes
No it isn't.
The BBC's headline is committing the common (and sloppy) mistake of confusing a correlation with a causational relationship. Here is what the article actually says:
The length of a man's fingers can reveal how physically aggressive he is, Canadian scientists have said. The shorter the index finger is compared to the ring finger, the more boisterous he will be…
The trend is thought to be linked to testosterone exposure in the womb.
In other words, finger length and aggression are both thought to be affected by a common factor (you'll note I didn't say cause), namely testosterone. But to say that finger length is the 'key to aggression' (albeit in quotes) is like saying that the coldness of my toes is the 'key to the snow' in my garden.
Time to get off my hobby-horse and put on some thicker socks.
Another one bites the dust
BBC: Saddam's half-brother 'captured'
A half-brother and one-time aide to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has been captured, according to Iraqi interim government sources. Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti was number 36 on the US military's list of 55 most wanted former regime members.
It would appear that Saddam Hussein isn't the only member of his family to bear an uncanny resemblance to someone else. His brother is the spitting image of Queen's dead frontman, the late, great Freddie Mercury:
Totally, totally uncanny!
You don't say
Guardian: Report doubts future of wind power
Wind farms are an expensive and inefficient way of generating sustainable energy, according to a study from Germany, the world's leading producer of wind energy.
The report, which may have ramifications for the UK's rapidly growing wind farm industry, concludes that instead of spending billions on building new wind turbines, the emphasis should be on making houses more energy efficient. Drawn up by the German government's energy agency, it says that wind farms prove a costly form of reducing greenhouse gases.
See also:
Postscript: Oh yes, and while I'm at it…
RSPB: RSPB lodges official objection to world's largest onshore wind farm
The RSPB is formally objecting to a massive wind farm development proposed for the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides.
The proposal by Amec and British Energy (Lewis Wind Power Ltd) would involve the construction of 234 wind turbines on an extremely fragile and special wildlife site on the north Lewis moor. The wind farm would have a 25-year lifespan.
The RSPB is objecting in the strongest terms to the proposal because the turbines would be spread across the Lewis Peatlands Special Protection Area (SPA) - an area protected under European law for a variety of important birds, including golden eagles, merlins, black-throated divers, red-throated divers, dunlins and greenshanks.
'We believe this wind farm proposal is not just bad for birds but bad for the development of renewables as well,' said Anne McCall, RSPB Planning and Development Manager.
No, not that right; the other right!
New Scientist: Gay men read maps like women
Upside-down, presumably.
Whoooooosh!!!
Ladies and gentlemen, they said it would never happen out here, half-way up a hill in the back of beyond, but, wait for it…
We have broadband!!!
My, that was fast! Where should I go next?
…and meanwhile back
I recently discovered what Ann would no doubt describe as a snookie—an obscure, roundabout route which is actually quicker than going the sensible way, provided you don't get lost—near her old house in Liverpool. Liverpool is mad busy with roadworks at the moment, thanks to the Capital of Culture thing. Out of necessity, I have been discovering a lot of new snookies lately.
So it was that, yesterday evening, I found myself playing the Beatles' Drive My Car while actually driving my car down Penny Lane. Yes, that Penny Lane.
Talk about spooky synchronicity or what?
I didn't see any sign of a barber showing photographs, a banker with a motor car, or a fireman with an hour-glass, but I did see a Wash-o-Rama laundrette, a Sgt. Pepper's restaurant, and about a dozen speed bumps. Signs of the times, I guess.
Say what you like about the Beatles, but they did have a gift for song titles: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Norwegian Wood, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da—pure genius.
Only Lennon and McCartney could spot the potential of a name like Penny Lane. It's the perfect song title.
If it had been down to me, I would probably have plumped for the adjacent road: Croydon Avenue.
Oy vey!
I originally misread this as Oldest fossil 'rabbi' unearthed.
Now that would have made an interesting story.