Friday, 30 May 2008
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Sir David Attenborough Quote of the Day
Has he seen the film Grizzly Man, in which amateur naturalist Timothy Treadwell comes to a sticky end after getting too pally with the grizzly bears he is studying? Attenborough is familiar with the case. He sees Treadwell's soppy reasoning as symptomatic of the spoilt, modern world in which people "aren't used to being uncomfortable; they think the world owes them a living and the idea that they might be cold or hungry is alien ... There are a number of people in that mad, green [circle] who say nature is wonderful, lovely, and mankind has distorted it, and if you go out there with an innocent heart ... well," he huffs. "If you go out there with an innocent heart, you're eaten."
This is not to say that it is "disreputable" to get all maternal about baby mammals. "It's just wrong. You see a little fawn with large eyes, like Bambi ... oh, oh, little darling. But, in fact, half of them get killed in the first month and we all die and are subject to disease. Life is full of tragedy."
Full article here (very old).
London Expo - The full report
So Lou-Lou and I went to London Expo at the weekend. It was my first time there and I was really impressed by how many stalls there were. We had a very thorough look around on Saturday and returned for more on Sunday (I somehow managed to get in for free on Sunday because I blatantly strolled in past the ticket collectors when trying to take a picture of an Optimus Prime cosplayer - see below).
It was also my first time cosplaying - though not very well. My Kuchiki Rukia was so unconvincing that anyone attempting to make conversation with me simply looked at me and said "oh you're... from Soul Society?" hmm. However, Lou-Lou's Inoue Orihime was great and I think she looked beautiful so that made up for it. See below for pictures...
See what I mean?
Check out the authentic hair
Meh
Stay Puft
Some frightening Hello Kitties and a female Pyramid Head
Ken-chan amuses Ichigo and Orihime over lunch
Her 'proton pack' looked heavy...
Contrary to what it looks like, it's a mirrored surface rather than a window revealing his leopard print underwear (I'm looking at you Mat)
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Friday, 16 May 2008
Silent Hill 4: The Crash
Okay, so my housemates and I have been going through the Silent Hill games and we were making our way through the tunnels of SH4 last night when to our 'horror' it wouldn't load the next area. It just hung there whilst the logo danced around the screen and my boyfriend discovered you could make the cult symbol bigger, smaller, fatter, thinner... this amused us for a little while and then the panic set in. Okay, I fell for Clive's joke that it was loading that 30 min cut scene that he had read about, but that's beside the point. Will we ever get to finish the game? Wah...
Also, I found these Silent Hill wallpapers...
Sir David Attenborough Quote of the Day
"It’s all about celebrity, which is a disaster; it’s ghastly. The celebrity cult means you are famous without talent. The BBC is as guilty as the other channels. Popularism has pervaded our society. It is a distorted form of democracy and egalitarianism. Celebrity is a legacy from the time when the BBC was seen to be patrician and condescending, and knowing what was best for the rest."
Read full interview here.
London Expo - the debut cosplay
So Lou-Lou and I are going to London Expo next weekend and we're actually going to do the cosplay thing. It's very frightening actually as most people tend to look awful when the try to replicate a perfect, petite, manga character. Unfortunately humans can't look good from every angle and their hair can look crap, and if they're really unluckly they might have a bad case of 'red eye' in photos... So it is with great aprehension that I delve into this world of 'costume play'.
We're going as Rukia and Orihime from Bleach (Lou-Lou as Orihime and myself as Rukia) - see below. The fact that we both have the right colour hair for the characters is a good start at least...
We'll see I suppose - we'll keep you posted...
Radiohead, i love thee
I've recently signed up to w.a.s.t.e. even though i've greatly enjoyed the works of Radiohead for some years, and it was mainly because my boyfriend sent me a link to this blog entry on their site and I decided to official register my support... I apologise for the length of the entry and also for my recent lack of posting. Essays, work, recording of Beekeeper and... I suppose a bit of Silent Hill 4 have all been conspiring against me getting anything else done.
"Where to play? Where to play? The Best Foot Forward report identified fan travel as the single biggest contributor to our carbon footprint. Public transport moves further up the list of importance, but venue availability, power, space, truck parking etc etc are still priority. A nice clean, sterile arena would have been sufficient, but having more adverts than character is not appealing to any of us. So the needs of the product override the ideals of the project and thus this plan came together.
"Where to play? Where to play? The Best Foot Forward report identified fan travel as the single biggest contributor to our carbon footprint. Public transport moves further up the list of importance, but venue availability, power, space, truck parking etc etc are still priority. A nice clean, sterile arena would have been sufficient, but having more adverts than character is not appealing to any of us. So the needs of the product override the ideals of the project and thus this plan came together.As varied as they all are, venues around the world present a specific set of hurdles when it comes to eco policies. There are so many layers of contractors who deal with all the areas (i.e. consumables like paper plates having been pre-bought for the whole year) and they have no obvious reason to help us. We are, however, benefiting greatly from the network of communication that exists between Live Nation. What? The big multi national helping out the common man? It's true. With their national venue network and buying power, they have been able to dive head first into some of our incentives. Senior management have been overtly supportive.
Our efforts started in December with the appointment of Katie, our tour Eco Coordinator. Despite national ownership, the beer, food and operations are, more often than not, contracted out to regional companies. With a whole range of different policies, sorting all this out is a full time job (Katie also manages our IT as well, so we keep her really busy!)
Our next move was to enlist some expert help in drawing up a hit list of practicable measures to action at the venues. Our top ten included....
· Give car poolers preferential parking and promote this option through communications with concert goers
· Use low energy light bulbs in all areas
· Purchase green power or power from renewable sources from electricity provider· Use reusable cups rather than disposable ones
· Use recycled paper for all office stationery, tickets, posters, flyers and napkins
· Use compostable recycled paper crockery and wooden cutlery not plastic· Install recycling points for all cans and bottles
The current arrangements at each venue were checked against our ten points, which then produced a short list of things to concentrate on. A plan was made to research solutions to the issues; it's no good requesting something without having some idea of how to achieve it. This part of the big green push relies solely on the venues actions, and for the most part, our suggestions have been met with great enthusiasm. Car pooling has been North America wide, some of the additional recycling plans have been venue specific. Having determined the level of existing eco action, our plan is to encourage improvement. A 1950's amphitheatre is going to be starting from a worst position than a modern one, but their efforts are just as valid.
Car Pooling and composting have shown particular promise, with an average 12% reduction on the total number of cars used, and an average of over 1000 spots taken each night on the car pooling lot. Preferential parking locations were offered, although a better incentive would be for Live Nation not to include the parking charge in the ticket price, so car poolers would actually save money!
Compostable food waste from the venue backstage kitchens has been collected and used by venue grounds keepers and local gardening clubs. Live Nation have independently started to supply compostable beer cups for all their venues. The provision of organic locally grown food for the audience was one area that we had no influence over.Consumer demand prevails and we are told the consumer demands mass produced burgers and chemically enhanced beer - maybe time for a little customer feedback?The ultimate goal is to introduce schemes that, once proven effective, will be perpetuated by the venues and demanded by other acts.You can read our full venue reports at www.radiohead.com/tourdates/"
My w.a.s.t.e. url is: http://www.waste-central.com/profile/kaleidoscopicdancesofdeath
Monday, 12 May 2008
Caterpillars
The quality of this appears to have suffered through being uploaded - sorry - but we saw this in an apple tree whilst walking home yesterday. I don't think it shows up at all on here, but the dark mass inside the silk is even more of them wriggling away. Does anyone have a clue as to what kind of butterfly this caterpillar belongs to and what they are doing? (We assumed hatching.) David, it's over to you I think...
Thursday, 8 May 2008
Happy Birthday Sir David
“What do you think this is?” asks Sir David Attenborough, handing me a heavy rock. We are sitting in his Richmond home and I have been drawn into playing a game of ‘guess the fossil’. The specimen turns out to be vertebrae from an ichthyosaur, which Attenborough found in his neighbour’s garden while looking for rocks for his aquarium. “I went over and there was this, just lying about!”
His fossil collection sits behind his sofa, which itself faces a large collection of wildlife paintings, tribal artefacts and one unexpectedly massive state-of-the-art television. From outside, the house is immediately identifiable for it lacks the patios and SUVs of its neighbours and instead has a winding path surrounded by lush greenery.
Attenborough is very much as you would expect from his on-screen appearances—knowledgeable, eloquent, a consummate storyteller and extremely excited about wildlife. He is as happy enthusing about a turtle mating frenzy as he is about the grisly habits of the caecilian, a burrowing worm-like amphibian whose young feed by tearing strips of fatty skin from their mothers. And what about the most interesting thing he’s eaten himself? “Big moth caterpillars in New Guinea. You put them on a fire and they come out like Twiglets.”
Read more here.
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
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