Time for the return of Gossip Friday with the new ten-story format.
1) Starting us off at story number one is a Glee story. In a bid to raise awareness of the BP oil disaster the rights to the Glee version of Over the Rainbow have been handed over for use.
Here’s the video as posted on Perez:
Link to source: http://perezhilton.com/2010-06-18-glee-helps-the-gulf-coast
2) Fancy featuring in a film? Are you an amputee, don’t mind growing your hair and beard, a Latino woman, someone who can ride and owns their own horse or all of the above? Then you may want to audition for a role in the upcoming film “Game of Thrones” which will be filmed in Ireland and parts will be filled by Belfast company Extras NI.
Men wanting the role will have to start growing hair now and will need to leave it until at least January 2011.
Other skills in demand are the rather vague medieval skills so if you know a little something about any such things then why not give it a shot?
Though I may sound rather sarcastic about the auditions the film itself sounds an interesting idea being described as “The Sopranos of Middle Earth”.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/10339677.stm
3) Comedian and new host of the One Show Jason Manford claimed on Twitter to have nearly died in a road accident on Wednesday. According to his tweets both driver side wheels blew out and they were sent across the three lanes of the M6.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a229590/jason-manford-nearly-died-in-car-crash.html
4) Fergie (of Black-Eyed Peas and a short solo career fame – not the ex-duchess else the following would be slightly disturbing) says that Cheryl Tweedy/Cole/I-Am (interchange as needed) is hot enough to turn anyone and that she’d take her out for a date.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a229383/fergie-id-date-cheryl-cole.html
5) Something I didn’t know which shocked me (and follows on from the last story in a way) is that Anna Paquin, star of True Blood and Rogue in the X-Men movies (and for people who don’t know the first two she was also in The Pianist movie) is that she came out as bisexual earlier this year. In a strong show of support her fiancée Stephen Moyer (also of True Blood fame) says he condones what she’s done “100%” and “I’m proud of who she is”.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/s59/true-blood/news/a229274/moyer-proud-of-paquins-bisexuality.html
6) Again in a similar vein (get it? Vampire puns are awesome) is the revelation that Eminem supports (well kind of) gay marriage. The phrases of choice selected by Digital Spy are “I think if two people love each other, then what the hell?”, “I think that everyone should have the chance to be equally miserable, if they want.” and finally “It’s the new more tolerant me!”. To be honest if that’s the best way to vocalise your support then he might have well have kept his mouth shut. Though I’m sure the sentiment is there it seems a bit half arsed and non-committal.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a229142/eminem-supports-gay-marriage.html
7) People who can’t stand Sex and the City being revived once more or just dislike Sarah Jessica Parker will enjoy the new story (though I have to say I’m a fan of both – sorry!). A comedy troupe called Uptight Citizen’s Brigade held a mock funeral for the star in which she took a bit of a roasting including the line “She wasn’t Jewish, but her nose was.”
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a229055/mock-funeral-held-for-sarah-jessica-parker.html
8) Tom Felton (aka. Draco Malfoy) joked about getting lightning bolt tattoos with other cast members on their bums. The thing is it was only a half joke, it seems he wanted them to get a little one somewhere but they wimped out.
Link: http://celebrity.uk.msn.com/news/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=153823239
9) I feel sorry for Matt Smith; he had some really big shoes to fill after following David Tennant in the role of Doctor Who. Turns out he didn’t think he was good enough and spent the first month in the role phoning his dad for support. I’m sure that I won’t be the only one to say that Matt has been a fantastic Doctor so far; he really has captured the spirit of the series.
Link: http://celebrity.uk.msn.com/news/gossip/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=153823645
10) Sometimes I’m sure that everyone has a problem separating the idea of a character from an actor and so when I heard that the Glee cast were picked on and bullied in real life whilst in school I was shocked. Though the examples used in the piece didn’t seem too traumatising I still find myself annoyed that people can get away with ruining peoples lives like that, bullying leaves scars that stay with people for years after it’s happened if they ever fade at all and so instead of ignoring it as a staple of the playground as is the norm shouldn’t we be educating and correcting people about how destructive it is? Anyway I’ll end the rant there.
Link: http://celebrity.uk.msn.com/news/gossip/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=153816580
And so that’s the end for this week as I won’t be able to reach a computer again until next Wednesday just in time for the reviews! So have a great weekend and make sure to check for updates on Facebook and Twitter.
Friday, 18 June 2010
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
The Grand Return - Review Round Up
So the hiatus lasted much longer than I’d originally intended but now once again it is time to bring back the Round Up!
A couple of changes will be made but this should be the general format once again.
Wednesdays will be review day so I’ll be carrying out a top 3 review unless it’s a special occasion.
Thursdays starting from 24th June shall be opinion pieces written by Alex Nicholson so it should be a surprise even to me.
Fridays will see the return of Gossip Friday which shall now be a selection of my ten favourite celebrity and media stories.
Finally Sundays will see the return of the News Round Up which will also be a selection of my ten favourite stories of the week.
The only warning I can give is that I’m currently in the middle of switching jobs (and cities) which may result in some pieces not making it out on time or at all that week but make sure to follow the Twitter feed or my Facebook status to keep in the know of the latest updates.
Anyway, on with today’s piece – Review Wednesday!
*********************************************************************
Today being a special day with the restart of the blog I thought it best to make an effort and bring a personal review of two cities I’ve visited recently.
Firstly we’ll start with York.
Only getting an evening and part of the next day to get around has meant that I’ve only been able to experience some of the sights of York, for example I would have loved to have gone on a walk of the amazing city walls however I had some more unusual experiences awaiting.
Heading into town in the early evening with friends of my other half to guide me around I first ended up exploring a rather odd shop named “The Trembling Madness”; I’m sure from the name alone you can imagine the oddness I was about to experience.
The front of shop may seem quite small but walking through its true glory is revealed. The back room of the shop contains an extraordinary array of beers from around the globe whilst the floor above is host to South-East Asian themed restaurant. Available in the front of shop is a selection of other alcohol, cheese and various pork based pies (I recommend the pork and apple pie myself) whilst infront of the till itself are some odd confectionary to buy. Curious I sampled a chocolate covered scorpion whilst the other half tried some Thai green curry crickets although chocolate covered spiders were also available. I found the scorpion a bit too crunchy for my liking as well as leaving a numbness of the tongue whilst TOH found the crickets to actually be rather nice. If you fancy treating yourself to one however you may want to think again at a price of £2.99 for one scorpion or a pack of three or four crickets.
Further along the street is a bar run by the owners of the Trembling Madness with another odd name of the “Evil Eye Lounge”. The atmosphere on entering is youthful and energetic with vibrant colours and slightly neo-new-age menus. The selection of beers is once again immense but feeling fruity I opted for a cocktail (or two) which resulted in each time having to pick from the menu what I wanted then being told I’d much rather have something else and have something created off-menu from scratch. Though I do prefer getting what I ask for I must say that these guys know their stuff and the resulting cocktails were perfectly tailored to the flavours that I had asked for (as well as rather alcoholic). If you were going to have a night out around York then the Evil Eye Lounge must be on that list at some point, it would be too good to miss out on.
After indulging in a bit of drink it was time to try the next new thing, a ghost walk. As so many run in the city we opted for a more light-hearted one, no jumpy bits, just more of a tour around the city recounting it’s more colourful days. The walk we took started from the cathedral which runs everyday at 19.30. Though it cost £4 and ran only for an hour it was a fun experience due to the interesting stories and surroundings as well as the pleasant attitude of the guide and genuine good humour.
Following on from there was a tour of just a few of the many bars and pubs of York, none of which were really noteworthy enough to mention due to (unfortunately) poor service as well as a busy environment.
On the following day with just enough time for a quick tour allowed the time for another couple of gems to be found.
Firstly “The Whisky Shop” doing what it says in the name, the shop itself contains a wide selection of whiskies and drinking implements. Good prices and good staff make it a stop on a tour to get a souvenir tipple.
The second and by far my favourite stop however must be the Luxury Ice Cream Company. A small and beautifully decorated shop it was a pleasure just to enter it with its bright pastel colours, camp decoration and almost Carroll-esque seating. My favourite part (and hopefully yours too in the future) was the wide selection of freshly made ice cream for an exceptional price (£2.70 for a 3 scoop tub with a flake). If you ever do get the chance to visit I suggest a mix of chocolate, black cherry and Turkish delight but please make sure you’re hungry before you go, the size of the scoops are gargantuan.
Now for the second stop, Coventry.
The centre of Coventry seemed surprisingly small considering it’s history and importance however there is an odd clash of medieval, 60’s and modern all converging and giving the impression of travelling through time by turning the corner of a road.
The centre of what appears to be the medieval part of the city was the ruin of the cathedral that had been destroyed during the war. Walking around the interior of the ruins can be both beautiful and eerie as artwork with both religious and hopeful statements or imagery. The only way this is spoiled is by the close proximity of the neighbouring church with its modern edges and “in-your-face” art that though beautiful in it’s own way seems more of a badly drawn caricature of the cathedral itself.
Whilst stopping for lunch I found a reasonably priced restaurant with pleasant ambience and an exceptional view of the cathedral as it just sat on the corner of the churchyard with a view of the spire. If you ever want to just relax and unwind in a suitable environment then I strongly suggest you visit the (as they call it) “eatery” with the name “Twenty 4 Bayley Lane”.
Around the corner from the cathedral finds the shopping districts which vary between high and low end swirling together along with the 60s style and modern architecture (as well as a huge statue of Lady Godiva). If the aim is for a day of shopping then Coventry has got to be on that list.
One final place I must mention is an exhibition titled “Life in Coventry” which can be found at the Glass House Exhibition Hall on Earl Street. The exhibition itself is a display of artwork made by refugees and migrants reflecting their personal views, how they view Coventry and images of what they miss or have left behind. Though few have training in art it won’t matter as even the pieces submitted by children won’t fail to have an emotional effect.
Anyway, that’s all for the Review Round Up this week but stop by again soon to check for more updates.
A couple of changes will be made but this should be the general format once again.
Wednesdays will be review day so I’ll be carrying out a top 3 review unless it’s a special occasion.
Thursdays starting from 24th June shall be opinion pieces written by Alex Nicholson so it should be a surprise even to me.
Fridays will see the return of Gossip Friday which shall now be a selection of my ten favourite celebrity and media stories.
Finally Sundays will see the return of the News Round Up which will also be a selection of my ten favourite stories of the week.
The only warning I can give is that I’m currently in the middle of switching jobs (and cities) which may result in some pieces not making it out on time or at all that week but make sure to follow the Twitter feed or my Facebook status to keep in the know of the latest updates.
Anyway, on with today’s piece – Review Wednesday!
*********************************************************************
Today being a special day with the restart of the blog I thought it best to make an effort and bring a personal review of two cities I’ve visited recently.
Firstly we’ll start with York.
Only getting an evening and part of the next day to get around has meant that I’ve only been able to experience some of the sights of York, for example I would have loved to have gone on a walk of the amazing city walls however I had some more unusual experiences awaiting.
Heading into town in the early evening with friends of my other half to guide me around I first ended up exploring a rather odd shop named “The Trembling Madness”; I’m sure from the name alone you can imagine the oddness I was about to experience.
The front of shop may seem quite small but walking through its true glory is revealed. The back room of the shop contains an extraordinary array of beers from around the globe whilst the floor above is host to South-East Asian themed restaurant. Available in the front of shop is a selection of other alcohol, cheese and various pork based pies (I recommend the pork and apple pie myself) whilst infront of the till itself are some odd confectionary to buy. Curious I sampled a chocolate covered scorpion whilst the other half tried some Thai green curry crickets although chocolate covered spiders were also available. I found the scorpion a bit too crunchy for my liking as well as leaving a numbness of the tongue whilst TOH found the crickets to actually be rather nice. If you fancy treating yourself to one however you may want to think again at a price of £2.99 for one scorpion or a pack of three or four crickets.
Further along the street is a bar run by the owners of the Trembling Madness with another odd name of the “Evil Eye Lounge”. The atmosphere on entering is youthful and energetic with vibrant colours and slightly neo-new-age menus. The selection of beers is once again immense but feeling fruity I opted for a cocktail (or two) which resulted in each time having to pick from the menu what I wanted then being told I’d much rather have something else and have something created off-menu from scratch. Though I do prefer getting what I ask for I must say that these guys know their stuff and the resulting cocktails were perfectly tailored to the flavours that I had asked for (as well as rather alcoholic). If you were going to have a night out around York then the Evil Eye Lounge must be on that list at some point, it would be too good to miss out on.
After indulging in a bit of drink it was time to try the next new thing, a ghost walk. As so many run in the city we opted for a more light-hearted one, no jumpy bits, just more of a tour around the city recounting it’s more colourful days. The walk we took started from the cathedral which runs everyday at 19.30. Though it cost £4 and ran only for an hour it was a fun experience due to the interesting stories and surroundings as well as the pleasant attitude of the guide and genuine good humour.
Following on from there was a tour of just a few of the many bars and pubs of York, none of which were really noteworthy enough to mention due to (unfortunately) poor service as well as a busy environment.
On the following day with just enough time for a quick tour allowed the time for another couple of gems to be found.
Firstly “The Whisky Shop” doing what it says in the name, the shop itself contains a wide selection of whiskies and drinking implements. Good prices and good staff make it a stop on a tour to get a souvenir tipple.
The second and by far my favourite stop however must be the Luxury Ice Cream Company. A small and beautifully decorated shop it was a pleasure just to enter it with its bright pastel colours, camp decoration and almost Carroll-esque seating. My favourite part (and hopefully yours too in the future) was the wide selection of freshly made ice cream for an exceptional price (£2.70 for a 3 scoop tub with a flake). If you ever do get the chance to visit I suggest a mix of chocolate, black cherry and Turkish delight but please make sure you’re hungry before you go, the size of the scoops are gargantuan.
Now for the second stop, Coventry.
The centre of Coventry seemed surprisingly small considering it’s history and importance however there is an odd clash of medieval, 60’s and modern all converging and giving the impression of travelling through time by turning the corner of a road.
The centre of what appears to be the medieval part of the city was the ruin of the cathedral that had been destroyed during the war. Walking around the interior of the ruins can be both beautiful and eerie as artwork with both religious and hopeful statements or imagery. The only way this is spoiled is by the close proximity of the neighbouring church with its modern edges and “in-your-face” art that though beautiful in it’s own way seems more of a badly drawn caricature of the cathedral itself.
Whilst stopping for lunch I found a reasonably priced restaurant with pleasant ambience and an exceptional view of the cathedral as it just sat on the corner of the churchyard with a view of the spire. If you ever want to just relax and unwind in a suitable environment then I strongly suggest you visit the (as they call it) “eatery” with the name “Twenty 4 Bayley Lane”.
Around the corner from the cathedral finds the shopping districts which vary between high and low end swirling together along with the 60s style and modern architecture (as well as a huge statue of Lady Godiva). If the aim is for a day of shopping then Coventry has got to be on that list.
One final place I must mention is an exhibition titled “Life in Coventry” which can be found at the Glass House Exhibition Hall on Earl Street. The exhibition itself is a display of artwork made by refugees and migrants reflecting their personal views, how they view Coventry and images of what they miss or have left behind. Though few have training in art it won’t matter as even the pieces submitted by children won’t fail to have an emotional effect.
Anyway, that’s all for the Review Round Up this week but stop by again soon to check for more updates.
Friday, 6 November 2009
Ooops!
I forgot to post a hiatus message - sorry! On holiday from work at the minute and being kept busy and away from a computer but expect normal service to resume next week!
Sunday, 25 October 2009
News Post Week 4
Here it is, bit shorter than the last two weeks but then again I've already explained why.
- The Decline of Language
A professor of Linguistics has released a book about the birth and death of languages. It reveals that every year around 25 languages die out and this is most likely due to the effect of certain languages being commonly used. It also focuses on how some languages that would die out have been brought back from the brink by the efforts of individuals and governments.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427311.800-vive-la-difference-of-languages.html
- Augmented Reality to Increase Safety
An augmented reality system has been developed to allow people to see around corners and through walls. It is hoped that it can be applied to cars in the future allowing drivers to see around corners and therefore avoid accidents.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18036-augmented-reality-system-lets-you-see-through-walls.html
- Moon Tube
The first lava tube has been discovered on the surface of the moon and has given hope that it might be used as an area to build an outpost to allow for exploration.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18030-found-first-skylight-on-the-moon.html
- HIV Vaccine Caution
The results of the trial in Thailand for a HIV vaccine are in and after some analysis it appears that the results aren’t as amazing as they would appear, in fact the data is quite uninspiring as two of the analysis of data are not statistically significant with the final analysis, the only one to be released before publication, was only just statistically significant. One researcher says that the results could just be due to chance.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091021/full/news.2009.1035.html
- Drug Counteracts the Effect of Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation has been known to have a negative effect on memory however a drug has been made which can prevent this from occurring. It has been tested on mice recently but has proved to have some side effects. It is hoped that the drugs could become more targeted.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091021/full/news.2009.1036.html
- Sneaky Spiders
Research has shown that males that sneak onto a female’s web and have sex with her after she has been courted by another male can avoid being eaten.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091021/full/news.2009.1020.html
- Colourless Coral Causes Calamity
Due to the increasing temperature and acidity of the sea coral is being bleached. Not only can bleaching of coral lead to death but also it means that more colourful fish will loose their camouflage leading to more predation.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091021/full/news.2009.1023.html
- Morrissey Collapses
Former Smiths frontman has collapsed onstage and was taken to hospital with breathing difficulties.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8324492.stm
- Guardian Website Hacked
The Guardian jobs website has been hacked but it has been announced that the site is now secure. Anyone involved has been contacted.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8324630.stm
- BNP Gets Further Rejection
After the news in the week that the queen is urging other royals to reject the BNP the former Arch Bishop of Canterbury Lord Carey is urging Christians to stand together to reject them also. This comes after Griffin, the BNP leader, has said he represents Christian Britain.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8324455.stm
- Sydney Picnic
Harbour Bridge, one of Sydney’s architectural icons was closed so that it may be carpeted with grass to allow for a day of picnics as part of a month long food festival.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8324527.stm
- Drink-Drive Chair to be Auctioned
A customised lounge chair will be auctioned off by police in Minnesota as the owner (a 62 year old) had crashed it whilst drunk. As you could probably guess the customisation is that it can be driven!
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8323997.stm
- Football Team Killed
The bodies of a kidnapped Columbian football team have thought to have been found. All 10 suffered gunshot wounds. At the moment authorities are still trying to identify the people as the members of the football team but some local newspapers have been stating it as fact.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8324496.stm
- Lloyd Webber has Cancer
The famous composer has been diagnosed with prostate cancer but his spokesman states that it’s in the early stages and he is currently undergoing treatment.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8324689.stm
- Irish Sports Star Comes Out
Donal Og Cusack is a goalkeeper for the Cork hurling team and has recently announced that he’s gay. Being from a conservative country, with a conservative family and being well known in a masculine sport must have made it difficult but well done to him!
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8324347.stm
- The Decline of Language
A professor of Linguistics has released a book about the birth and death of languages. It reveals that every year around 25 languages die out and this is most likely due to the effect of certain languages being commonly used. It also focuses on how some languages that would die out have been brought back from the brink by the efforts of individuals and governments.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427311.800-vive-la-difference-of-languages.html
- Augmented Reality to Increase Safety
An augmented reality system has been developed to allow people to see around corners and through walls. It is hoped that it can be applied to cars in the future allowing drivers to see around corners and therefore avoid accidents.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18036-augmented-reality-system-lets-you-see-through-walls.html
- Moon Tube
The first lava tube has been discovered on the surface of the moon and has given hope that it might be used as an area to build an outpost to allow for exploration.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18030-found-first-skylight-on-the-moon.html
- HIV Vaccine Caution
The results of the trial in Thailand for a HIV vaccine are in and after some analysis it appears that the results aren’t as amazing as they would appear, in fact the data is quite uninspiring as two of the analysis of data are not statistically significant with the final analysis, the only one to be released before publication, was only just statistically significant. One researcher says that the results could just be due to chance.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091021/full/news.2009.1035.html
- Drug Counteracts the Effect of Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation has been known to have a negative effect on memory however a drug has been made which can prevent this from occurring. It has been tested on mice recently but has proved to have some side effects. It is hoped that the drugs could become more targeted.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091021/full/news.2009.1036.html
- Sneaky Spiders
Research has shown that males that sneak onto a female’s web and have sex with her after she has been courted by another male can avoid being eaten.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091021/full/news.2009.1020.html
- Colourless Coral Causes Calamity
Due to the increasing temperature and acidity of the sea coral is being bleached. Not only can bleaching of coral lead to death but also it means that more colourful fish will loose their camouflage leading to more predation.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091021/full/news.2009.1023.html
- Morrissey Collapses
Former Smiths frontman has collapsed onstage and was taken to hospital with breathing difficulties.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8324492.stm
- Guardian Website Hacked
The Guardian jobs website has been hacked but it has been announced that the site is now secure. Anyone involved has been contacted.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8324630.stm
- BNP Gets Further Rejection
After the news in the week that the queen is urging other royals to reject the BNP the former Arch Bishop of Canterbury Lord Carey is urging Christians to stand together to reject them also. This comes after Griffin, the BNP leader, has said he represents Christian Britain.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8324455.stm
- Sydney Picnic
Harbour Bridge, one of Sydney’s architectural icons was closed so that it may be carpeted with grass to allow for a day of picnics as part of a month long food festival.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8324527.stm
- Drink-Drive Chair to be Auctioned
A customised lounge chair will be auctioned off by police in Minnesota as the owner (a 62 year old) had crashed it whilst drunk. As you could probably guess the customisation is that it can be driven!
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8323997.stm
- Football Team Killed
The bodies of a kidnapped Columbian football team have thought to have been found. All 10 suffered gunshot wounds. At the moment authorities are still trying to identify the people as the members of the football team but some local newspapers have been stating it as fact.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8324496.stm
- Lloyd Webber has Cancer
The famous composer has been diagnosed with prostate cancer but his spokesman states that it’s in the early stages and he is currently undergoing treatment.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8324689.stm
- Irish Sports Star Comes Out
Donal Og Cusack is a goalkeeper for the Cork hurling team and has recently announced that he’s gay. Being from a conservative country, with a conservative family and being well known in a masculine sport must have made it difficult but well done to him!
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8324347.stm
Saturday, 24 October 2009
Gossip Friday Week 3
Yet again this is a late Gossip Post, this also relates to why the Wednesday post was quite short. We (my family) have noticed that our dog has been losing quite a bit of weight and her eyes have been going white at the centre, after the initial panic we got an appointment on Wednesday for Thursday night and found that she had diabetes. We spent Thursday night discussing our options and have decided to put her on insulin treatment and try to take care of her the best we can even after she becomes blind. We went to the vets again last night to learn how to inject her and as such I had no time to write up the post yesterday.
As I've been up since 6 this morning however I've managed to put together the post due yesterday, I hope this makes the grade!
- Unnecessary Sequel of the Week – Mamma Mia 2
Amanda Seyfried one of the stars of the first Mamma Mia movie has stirred speculation of a sequel being made. Nothing definite yet but you never know.
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-mamma-mia-here-we-go-again
- Timberlake’s Daily Crazy
Justin Timberlake had to get a restraining order on a fan who broke into the grounds of his house and refused to leave, she was arrested a short while later.
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-jt-gets-a-restraining-order
- The Never-Ending Story
Katie Price and Peter Andre are still whinging about their marriage. Katie says the marriage was a sham, Peter says that he wants to talk to Katie privately but she’ll just tell everyone their business. Yawn!
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-jordan-katie-price-likes-to-hear-herself-talk-just-keeps-on-doing-it
- When Will the Penny Drop?
Madonna, not learning her lesson about virtually destroying every movie she’s been in, is writing and will be directing a movie. It will be based around the story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson and Guy Ritchie has even been offering her help.
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-madonna-to-write-direct-and-possibly-star-in-film
- Pamela Anderson in Debt
After the renovation of her Malibu home she has revealed that she’s got over a $1 million debt. Currently she’s being sued by construction companies and living in a trailer park, classy! She’ll be appearing in pantomime around Christmas over here and she may appear on one of our reality TV shows.
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-pam-anderson-opens-up-about-her-massive-debt
- Posh Wedding
Victoria Beckham’s little sister is getting married and Victoria has offered £50,000 to cover the costs even though the fiancé wants to pay for everything himself. I wonder who’ll win?
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-victoria-beckham-wants-to-pay-for-little-sisters-wedding
- More Katie Price Oddness
For her book launch she got her boyfriend and three other men to dress up as her. Have to admit that this is a better way of getting publicity that selling any intimate details of your private life.
Link: http://msnukentertainment.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!3C09FD3E7B34CEFB!43839.entry
- French and Fry
Dawn French and Stephen Fry topped a popularity poll asking which celebrity we’d like to spend our time with. Have to say that I’d agree with either of these choices, they’re both great!
Link: http://msnukentertainment.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!3C09FD3E7B34CEFB!43751.entry
- Reject Factor
Leona Lewis, previous winner of X Factor, was attacked during a book signing. It turns out the culprit was an auditionee for a series of the show and didn’t get past the first round; he launched his attack after becoming jealous of her fame.
Link: http://msnukentertainment.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!3C09FD3E7B34CEFB!43739.entry
- Jackson Portrait to be Auctioned
A Painting of Michael Jackson as made by Andy Warhol will be put up for auction on 10th November in New York.
Link: http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/celebrity/photogalleries/article.aspx?cp-documentid=150428140
- Middle Aged Men Behaving Badly
Neil Morrissey, one of the stars of the show Men Behaving Badly, has said that he’d be interested in bringing the show back. Co-star Martin Clunes has also spoken about it.
Link: http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/tv/news/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=150420886
- Wild Wild West
Kanye West has been given 50 hours community service after fighting with photographers last year and damaging equipment. Classy as always Kanye…
Link: http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/music/news/nme/article.aspx?cp-documentid=150426476
- Even Celebs Have Controlling Parents
Mr. Spears has apparently taken over his daughter’s life to try and clean up her image. Sources say she has become isolated and people around her are afraid that they’ll get replaced on his command.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a183422/spears-father-leaves-star-isolated.html
- Another Celeb Restraining Order
LiLo threatened her father recently with a restraining order but he has sent a letter into the American magazine In Touch that has been published. The quotes are completely cringe-worthy and I couldn’t stand to repeat them.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a183283/lohans-dad-publishes-letter-in-magazine.html
- Original Sugababe Line-Up Doesn’t Look Likely
Keisha has denied all rumours that there were plans for the original line-up of Sugababes to reunite. Anyone else glad?
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a183388/keisha-rules-out-sugababes-reunion.html
- Harris Not Happy
Calvin Harris is REALLY not happy that GMTV wouldn’t let him perform his latest song on their show. From the looks of the quotes he’s having a bit of a sulk. Come on Calvin, cheer up, I like your song and really dislike GMTV too!
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a183372/calvin-harris-furious-over-gmtv-snub.html
- Whedon Not Fussed
After Dollhouse returned with its lowest ratings yet it will be put on hiatus in November. The rest of the episodes will be shown back to back in December. He has said that he isn’t as depressed as everyone else about it. Still haven’t seen Dollhouse yet – is it any good?
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/s63/dollhouse/news/a183437/whedon-prepared-for-dollhouse-break.html
- Hart’s Career Resurfaces
Melissa Joan Hart, star of Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch will be making a come back in a new ABC family comedy. At this stage she’ll only be in the pilot but she’s hoping that it’ll be made into a series. I for one have my fingers crossed, I loved her shows, but the photo used of her doesn’t look to good, not aging well.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/news/a183341/melissa-joan-hart-discusses-new-tv-role.html
- Poor Fearne
I feel really sorry for Fearne Cotton right now; TV critics have stated that she’s famous for doing nothing. How dare they! She’s a popular radio 1 DJ and has hosted quite a few TV shows for a number of years now. Though I’m not really a fan I do think that she deserves some credit for the amount of work she does.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a183303/fearne-cotton-slams-tv-critics.html
- X-box Say No to Blu-Ray
Microsoft has said that they will not be adding a Blu-ray drives to the X-box 360.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a183377/microsoft-dismisses-blu-ray-for-360.html
- DSi Slip Up
On a customer support page for the Nintendo DSi the latest function ‘DSi speak’ channel was revealed before the official announcement. Oops.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a183374/nintendo-inadvertently-reveals-dsi-speak.html
- Magneto No More?
The X-Men film focusing on the origin of Magneto may not be made. It is apparently last on the list to be made and Sir Ian McKellen would not appear.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/comics/news/a182511/magneto-movie-may-never-be-made.html
So thats the end for today and I'll try to get a post done for tomorrow but it might not appear until Monday for the reasons I've mentioned at the start. Check back again soon!
As I've been up since 6 this morning however I've managed to put together the post due yesterday, I hope this makes the grade!
- Unnecessary Sequel of the Week – Mamma Mia 2
Amanda Seyfried one of the stars of the first Mamma Mia movie has stirred speculation of a sequel being made. Nothing definite yet but you never know.
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-mamma-mia-here-we-go-again
- Timberlake’s Daily Crazy
Justin Timberlake had to get a restraining order on a fan who broke into the grounds of his house and refused to leave, she was arrested a short while later.
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-jt-gets-a-restraining-order
- The Never-Ending Story
Katie Price and Peter Andre are still whinging about their marriage. Katie says the marriage was a sham, Peter says that he wants to talk to Katie privately but she’ll just tell everyone their business. Yawn!
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-jordan-katie-price-likes-to-hear-herself-talk-just-keeps-on-doing-it
- When Will the Penny Drop?
Madonna, not learning her lesson about virtually destroying every movie she’s been in, is writing and will be directing a movie. It will be based around the story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson and Guy Ritchie has even been offering her help.
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-madonna-to-write-direct-and-possibly-star-in-film
- Pamela Anderson in Debt
After the renovation of her Malibu home she has revealed that she’s got over a $1 million debt. Currently she’s being sued by construction companies and living in a trailer park, classy! She’ll be appearing in pantomime around Christmas over here and she may appear on one of our reality TV shows.
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-pam-anderson-opens-up-about-her-massive-debt
- Posh Wedding
Victoria Beckham’s little sister is getting married and Victoria has offered £50,000 to cover the costs even though the fiancé wants to pay for everything himself. I wonder who’ll win?
Link: http://perezhilton.com/2009-10-23-victoria-beckham-wants-to-pay-for-little-sisters-wedding
- More Katie Price Oddness
For her book launch she got her boyfriend and three other men to dress up as her. Have to admit that this is a better way of getting publicity that selling any intimate details of your private life.
Link: http://msnukentertainment.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!3C09FD3E7B34CEFB!43839.entry
- French and Fry
Dawn French and Stephen Fry topped a popularity poll asking which celebrity we’d like to spend our time with. Have to say that I’d agree with either of these choices, they’re both great!
Link: http://msnukentertainment.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!3C09FD3E7B34CEFB!43751.entry
- Reject Factor
Leona Lewis, previous winner of X Factor, was attacked during a book signing. It turns out the culprit was an auditionee for a series of the show and didn’t get past the first round; he launched his attack after becoming jealous of her fame.
Link: http://msnukentertainment.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!3C09FD3E7B34CEFB!43739.entry
- Jackson Portrait to be Auctioned
A Painting of Michael Jackson as made by Andy Warhol will be put up for auction on 10th November in New York.
Link: http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/celebrity/photogalleries/article.aspx?cp-documentid=150428140
- Middle Aged Men Behaving Badly
Neil Morrissey, one of the stars of the show Men Behaving Badly, has said that he’d be interested in bringing the show back. Co-star Martin Clunes has also spoken about it.
Link: http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/tv/news/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=150420886
- Wild Wild West
Kanye West has been given 50 hours community service after fighting with photographers last year and damaging equipment. Classy as always Kanye…
Link: http://entertainment.uk.msn.com/music/news/nme/article.aspx?cp-documentid=150426476
- Even Celebs Have Controlling Parents
Mr. Spears has apparently taken over his daughter’s life to try and clean up her image. Sources say she has become isolated and people around her are afraid that they’ll get replaced on his command.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a183422/spears-father-leaves-star-isolated.html
- Another Celeb Restraining Order
LiLo threatened her father recently with a restraining order but he has sent a letter into the American magazine In Touch that has been published. The quotes are completely cringe-worthy and I couldn’t stand to repeat them.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a183283/lohans-dad-publishes-letter-in-magazine.html
- Original Sugababe Line-Up Doesn’t Look Likely
Keisha has denied all rumours that there were plans for the original line-up of Sugababes to reunite. Anyone else glad?
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a183388/keisha-rules-out-sugababes-reunion.html
- Harris Not Happy
Calvin Harris is REALLY not happy that GMTV wouldn’t let him perform his latest song on their show. From the looks of the quotes he’s having a bit of a sulk. Come on Calvin, cheer up, I like your song and really dislike GMTV too!
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a183372/calvin-harris-furious-over-gmtv-snub.html
- Whedon Not Fussed
After Dollhouse returned with its lowest ratings yet it will be put on hiatus in November. The rest of the episodes will be shown back to back in December. He has said that he isn’t as depressed as everyone else about it. Still haven’t seen Dollhouse yet – is it any good?
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/s63/dollhouse/news/a183437/whedon-prepared-for-dollhouse-break.html
- Hart’s Career Resurfaces
Melissa Joan Hart, star of Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch will be making a come back in a new ABC family comedy. At this stage she’ll only be in the pilot but she’s hoping that it’ll be made into a series. I for one have my fingers crossed, I loved her shows, but the photo used of her doesn’t look to good, not aging well.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/news/a183341/melissa-joan-hart-discusses-new-tv-role.html
- Poor Fearne
I feel really sorry for Fearne Cotton right now; TV critics have stated that she’s famous for doing nothing. How dare they! She’s a popular radio 1 DJ and has hosted quite a few TV shows for a number of years now. Though I’m not really a fan I do think that she deserves some credit for the amount of work she does.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a183303/fearne-cotton-slams-tv-critics.html
- X-box Say No to Blu-Ray
Microsoft has said that they will not be adding a Blu-ray drives to the X-box 360.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a183377/microsoft-dismisses-blu-ray-for-360.html
- DSi Slip Up
On a customer support page for the Nintendo DSi the latest function ‘DSi speak’ channel was revealed before the official announcement. Oops.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a183374/nintendo-inadvertently-reveals-dsi-speak.html
- Magneto No More?
The X-Men film focusing on the origin of Magneto may not be made. It is apparently last on the list to be made and Sir Ian McKellen would not appear.
Link: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/comics/news/a182511/magneto-movie-may-never-be-made.html
So thats the end for today and I'll try to get a post done for tomorrow but it might not appear until Monday for the reasons I've mentioned at the start. Check back again soon!
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Short Review Post
It’s a short post this week I’m afraid, however to make up for it here is a review for the new Rihanna song released yesterday and a short internet cartoon to keep you occupied.
Rihanna – Russian Roulette
The PR machine churned out another odd idea yesterday, as Rihanna’s album is released on 23rd November the song had to be played at exactly 11:23 am in America meaning 4:23 pm here. Worked well though, a lot of people have been talking about it; anyway time for a review….but first a detour….
So has anyone else heard the rumour about a lyric in her song referring to her ex Chris Brown? On Radio 1 today they did ask the people who handle publicity for Rihanna but they declined to comment. Anyone have an opinion about this?
The opening to the song has a great 80’s feel to it. As the song continues the slow beat and melodic vocals fit together really well. Though usually not a fan of her music in general I do quite like this song and in my opinion is probably her best song yet.
Enjoyment rating: 4 stars, altogether great but not really what I like.
Internet distraction – The Cheese Family
Short cartoon from the makers of Weebl and Bob set around a family of cheeses. The style is like that of a children’s book whilst the plot is more like that of an awful soap. Sometimes sweary, funny throughout and features Brian Blessed so of course it’s worth a watch.
Link: http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/The+Cheese+Family/
Time spent: Couple of minutes.
Distraction rating: 3.5 stars, worth a watch, quite funny, but it might not be to everyone’s taste.
Work distraction: NSFW.
Rihanna – Russian Roulette
The PR machine churned out another odd idea yesterday, as Rihanna’s album is released on 23rd November the song had to be played at exactly 11:23 am in America meaning 4:23 pm here. Worked well though, a lot of people have been talking about it; anyway time for a review….but first a detour….
So has anyone else heard the rumour about a lyric in her song referring to her ex Chris Brown? On Radio 1 today they did ask the people who handle publicity for Rihanna but they declined to comment. Anyone have an opinion about this?
The opening to the song has a great 80’s feel to it. As the song continues the slow beat and melodic vocals fit together really well. Though usually not a fan of her music in general I do quite like this song and in my opinion is probably her best song yet.
Enjoyment rating: 4 stars, altogether great but not really what I like.
Internet distraction – The Cheese Family
Short cartoon from the makers of Weebl and Bob set around a family of cheeses. The style is like that of a children’s book whilst the plot is more like that of an awful soap. Sometimes sweary, funny throughout and features Brian Blessed so of course it’s worth a watch.
Link: http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/The+Cheese+Family/
Time spent: Couple of minutes.
Distraction rating: 3.5 stars, worth a watch, quite funny, but it might not be to everyone’s taste.
Work distraction: NSFW.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
Sunday News Post
- Placebo Effect has Origin in Spinal Cord
Research has indicated that the Placebo Effect’s ability to deaden pain can be traced back to the spine.
Researchers scanned the spinal cords (using fMRI) of volunteers whilst carrying out a routine of applying painful heat to one arm before rubbing on a cream, which the subjects were made to believe, was a painkilling salve. The results were that the pain cells in the spine weren’t activated.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17993-placebo-effect-caught-in-the-act-in-spinal-nerves.html
- Lunar Lunacy – Who Owns the Moon?
Not long ago you’ll all remember that America used a satellite to see the amount of water resources on the moon by crashing into it.
If we were to be able to ‘harvest’ resources from the moon who would control it?
The UN Lunar Treaty, which was established in 1990, has never been signed meaning that it will most likely be left up to colonisation.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427306.000-the-moon-belongs-to-no-one--yet.html
- Personal Big Brother
A new type of camera has been developed by Microsoft. The camera is worn like a pendant and is able to take a picture every 30 seconds if needed.
Photos are taken using a light sensor or a heat sensor meaning that they are triggered when a person enters a new environment or are approached by another person.
With a 1-gigabyte memory a total of 30,000 photos can be stored.
The original purpose was for research into various dementias and has been shown to improve a person’s ability to recall events much better than without.
So far only 500 have been made however a deal has been made with Vicon to put the camera into large-scale production.
Another use has also been suggested however; in comparison to the serious suggestion one Microsoft researcher has been using the camera to create a ‘lifeblog’ where the pictures taken can tell a story of a person’s day.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17992-new-camera-promises-to-capture-your-whole-life.html
- Insulin Minus the Injection (Kind Of)
An Israeli firm have been making use of detoxified stinging cells from Sea anemones and jellyfish.
The cells themselves are added to a cream that is mixed with whatever substance is wanted to be introduced into the body. The cells, when rubbed into the skin, extend into needles but due to the size they are completely painless. As about 1/3 of the cells should point into the skin when the cream is applied.
Currently a version of the cream which uses lidocaine (a painkiller) is in phase II trials in the US, as well as this research with mice is allowing for the possibility that insulin may be provided painlessly into the body.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17985-sea-anemone-stings-make-a-hypodermic-skin-cream.html
- Metamaterials Allow For Portable Black Hole
Metamaterials are materials that allow for the bending of light. A new ‘black hole’ (I use inverted commas as it doesn’t use gravity like in a classic black hole but affects the magnetic and electric fields of passing light) has been created using metamaterial circles or rings that cause light to bend towards the centre and then get converted into heat.
Currently the ‘holes’ can only suck up microwave ‘light’ but it is thought that by the end of the year it would be possible to create a ‘hole’ that could take in visible light and therefore have promising applications inside of solar cells.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091015/full/news.2009.1007.html
- Sex Smells
Using fruitflies it has been proven that certain chemicals are produced to indicate who should mate with whom. By knocking out cells that produce hydrocarbons on the surface on the flies (that act as pheromones) it could be seen that no matter what gender or type of fly they were they would vigorously try to mate with each other. By reintroducing certain hydrocarbons they could tell what chemicals caused what effects. One hydrocarbon showed how males identified other males to stop same sex mating whilst another made sure that different species didn’t try to interbreed.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091014/full/news.2009.1000.html
- The Impenetrable Barrier Penetrated
The blood-brain barrier has long been thought to be completely impenetrable however how would that allow for diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis that are autoimmune diseases that affect the central nervous system.
Previously it has been proven that immune cells have been present in the brain by histological studies but never before has the process of how they enter been seen. Researchers in Germany watched in real time as immune cells known as T cells entered the central nervous system of rats causing diseases to manifest.
One thing that can be taken away from this is that the previously imagined method on how immune cells could cross over isn’t right and that a new method of migration has been suggested after watching the video.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091014/full/news.2009.1003.html
- Red Sky at Night
On 13th October a rare sight occurred in the skies of the Netherlands at around 7pm, a fireball streaked across the evening sky before exploding high in the atmosphere generating a sonic boom and a low rumble which caused many windows to rattle.
Pictures can be found if you follow the link.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091015-fireball-explodes-netherlands-germany-picture.html
- What Killed the Dinosaurs? Another Clue Emerges.
It was previously suggested that a large asteroid that collided with the Earth around the Mexico area had caused the dinosaur extinction however an even larger crater was discovered on the western coast of India which shows a greater impact occurred around 600,000 years after the Mexican collision.
The Shiva crater (as it has been named) shows indications that the impact caused the ground to be vaporised allowing the magma underneath to become exposed and thereby exacerbate the already occurring volcanic activity.
It is thought that volcanic emissions from the Indian volcanoes are what partially contributed to the dinosaur extinction.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091016-asteroid-impact-india-dinosaurs.html
- Site to Become Sacred Once More
Ayers Rock or Uluru is an Australian landmark but before European settlers arrived there the Aboriginals thought of Uluru as a sacred place. Though Aborigines have asked people not to climb or take photos of the sacred site their wishes have been disregarded for a long time. Presently talks are underway to make sure that tourists would not be able to climb the site anymore. From the sounds of it this wouldn’t be purely out of reasons of respect its also due to the number of people who’ve died trying to climb it as well as the mess produced by tourists due to the lack of bins and toilets.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091016-australia-uluru-video-ap.html
- Moon Still Holds Many Secrets
Due to the lack of atmosphere around the moon it is affected by solar winds. Solar winds are compromised of charged particles such as protons.
It has been suggested that the bombardment of the moon by solar winds is what generates the water that can be found there.
Another surprise that has been discovered along with this is that one in 5 protons is reflected or bounced from the surface where as it was previously thought that all particles would be absorbed by the soil.
When a bounce occurs the proton interacts with the ground and becomes a neutral hydrogen atom allowing it now to be affected by electromagnetic forces, also with the miniscule effect that gravity has on the moon it could easily escape.
In the future it is hoped that a map could be created to show where the solar winds interact with the moon the most.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091016-moon-water-sun-bounce.html
- Invisible Ribbon Stuns Scientists
A ribbon has been spotted at the edge of the solar system, well kind of; the twist is that no-one can see it!
The edge of the solar system is protected by a structure called the heliosphere which is the protective limit generated by solar winds spreading from the sun in all directions.
When gases from outside of the solar system slip in they meet the charged particles of the solar winds producing Energetic Neutral Atoms. A satellite monitoring the ENAs had noticed a collection of ENAs creating a ribbon in one section near the edge of the system.
The ribbon itself suggests that ENAs can be generated at higher concentrations at certain points of the heliosphere more than others thought at the moment there is no definite reason why. One suggestion has been that the Milky Way has a magnetic field that causes more ENAs to be made whenever it interacts with the heliosphere.
Though there is no explanation as of yet the latest news is that another map of the area is being taken and indicates that the shape of the ribbon is changing.
I love the sound of this, it sounds (at a stretch) like a scaled up version of the aurora.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091015-edge-solar-system-ribbon-ibex.html
- Rumble Down Under(ground)
Has anyone else seen the video of the Tube worker shouting in an elderly man’s face? Did you even hear about it? If not here are the details…
After getting his arm stuck in a door an elderly gentleman approached on of the staff to say what had happened. The member of staff in question hurled abuse at the man to get him to stand behind the yellow line and when asked why he had to swear he went on another rant finishing by saying that the man should be thrown under a train.
Nice to know that as prices for all public transport seems to rise the way the public is treated stays at a constant level of awfulness (or rather just gets worse).
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8310436.stm
- Atlantis Discovered?
Though the Atlantis legend has existed for a long time a site, which was discovered in 1967, could be the inspiration for the story.
Pavlopetri is the world’s oldest submerged town and with the latest technology artefacts and structures dating back up to 5.000 years are being uncovered. They even claim to have an almost complete town plan!
It appears with the town being deserted around 1,100 years ago and never being reused after due to submersion it has been excellently preserved and so research shall be carried out until a paper is published on the town in 2014.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8311246.stm
- The Coldest Place in the Solar System
The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) has been cooled to deep space temperatures ahead of the restart in late November. At –273oC the temperature is just above absolute zero. The reason for the extreme temperature is that the magnets used can only have superconducting properties at such lows.
Collisions have been scheduled for December but with delays its more likely that they’ll occur in January of next year. This is also affected by the decision that there will be a hiatus over Christmas and New Year whilst workers contracts are re-negotiated.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8309875.stm
- Weird Science
BBC news has an article on Sci-Fi science and whether there could be any possibility that it may come true in the future.
Firstly it tackles the topic of time travel by stating that currently there isn’t any theory to rule out the possibility of time travel and that it may be possible to use wormholes to travel through time but as of yet the matter needed to keep it open we don’t have.
The second topic, wireless electricity, has already been proven possible and so far there is a clamour for private companies to provide the service and products, its obviously going to be a great money making tool.
Next is antimatter, which again has already been proven, but there would be no way to make a financial gain as it would be too difficult to produce.
Last topic is teleportation, this one’s a bit tricky, so far it has got to a point where quantum information can be transported to one photon to another due to entanglement. The problem with this is that with quantum teleportation only transfers information and not matter. After this the experiment has also been tried on atoms.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8310420.stm
- The 4th Plinth
After 100 days it has ended, the piece of art which sees members of the public getting an hour in which they can do what they want (within reason) on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square.
So now, is this art or is it something else?
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8306553.stm
- Genius at 2
A boy aged 2 ½ has been accepted into MENSA when testers have decided that his IQ is the equivalent to that of Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein. Instead of the usual 20-word vocabulary an average 2 year old has he instead had a 600-word vocab!
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/8303880.stm
- I Hope That Was Covered by the Insurance!
A couple in Hull got a shock when 4lb (1.8kg) chunk of metal crashed into their house from above. After initial inspection by the RAF, who must look into matters involving falling objects to make sure that they aren’t to blame, it was thought that the metal had fallen from space.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/8309245.stm
- MPs Yet Again Waste Time Whinging About Something Unimportant
Sorry for the long title, I wanted to express my rage using Caps. Lock. Now then, Strangers’ Café has seating areas for MPs only (which is cordoned off) and another section for staff and public. The less used MPs only section apparently is taking up space that could be used for the public and after the café has expanded the section for the public MPs have been in a rage trying to get it reversed to get their obviously precious seating returned to them.
I think that MPs shouldn’t get private seating at all, let them queue like the rest of us for our lunches, they could even phone in their order and collect it when they arrive like other businesses do. Obviously MPs are so privileged with their claims, expenses and perks that they no longer care about the public and are only out to look after themselves, the sooner they have to have a set wage ONLY the better for everyone, then at least the people who do the job would be doing it for the right reasons.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8309003.stm
- Facebook Fiend
One journalist details how she tried to escape the clutches of Facebook only to be dragged back into the fold within a few days. The article isn’t marvellously interesting but can be quite funny.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8299362.stm
- Mothers Web of Lies
A mother has collected around £130,000 in disability benefits after having her child to appear as the sickest child in Britain. She made her son appear to have cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, dysphagia, food allergies and diabetes. Though perfectly healthy he was forced to use a wheelchair with oxygen cylinders, he had unnecessary operations and had a feeding tube installed. The mother also managed to wrangle a free motability car, celebrity meetings and free holidays courtesy of charity organisations.
Her deceit was realised after her son was noticed eating food instead of using his tube and suffered no allergic reaction, playing football and diving even though he was supposed to be wheelchair bound and finally her claim that she had been raped to avoid an appointment at hospital where the doctors would have found that her son didn’t have diabetes. She had been adding glucose to his samples to make it appear he had the disease.
The mother faces multiple charges, a psychiatric report and up to 3 ½ years in prison.
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6878582.ece
- BOGOF over?
The end of BOGOF for food is nigh. After the idea that these offers contribute towards the amount of food wasted a year. The linked article runs through the opinions of the writer as to how this has come about.
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6878512.ece
- Suicides Plague France Telecom
A series of 25 suicides have occurred within the France Telecom company. The recent spate of copycat deaths have thought to have been blamed on the company restructure due to global recession.
Link: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/France-Telecom-Suicides-Engineer-Hangs-Himself-In-Brittany-To-Become-25th-Death-At-Company/Article/200910315407224?lpos=Business_Third_Home_Page_Article_Teaser_Region__1&lid=ARTICLE_15407224_France_Telecom_Suicides%3A_Engineer_Hangs_Himself_In_Brittany_To_Become_25th_Death_At_Company
Research has indicated that the Placebo Effect’s ability to deaden pain can be traced back to the spine.
Researchers scanned the spinal cords (using fMRI) of volunteers whilst carrying out a routine of applying painful heat to one arm before rubbing on a cream, which the subjects were made to believe, was a painkilling salve. The results were that the pain cells in the spine weren’t activated.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17993-placebo-effect-caught-in-the-act-in-spinal-nerves.html
- Lunar Lunacy – Who Owns the Moon?
Not long ago you’ll all remember that America used a satellite to see the amount of water resources on the moon by crashing into it.
If we were to be able to ‘harvest’ resources from the moon who would control it?
The UN Lunar Treaty, which was established in 1990, has never been signed meaning that it will most likely be left up to colonisation.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427306.000-the-moon-belongs-to-no-one--yet.html
- Personal Big Brother
A new type of camera has been developed by Microsoft. The camera is worn like a pendant and is able to take a picture every 30 seconds if needed.
Photos are taken using a light sensor or a heat sensor meaning that they are triggered when a person enters a new environment or are approached by another person.
With a 1-gigabyte memory a total of 30,000 photos can be stored.
The original purpose was for research into various dementias and has been shown to improve a person’s ability to recall events much better than without.
So far only 500 have been made however a deal has been made with Vicon to put the camera into large-scale production.
Another use has also been suggested however; in comparison to the serious suggestion one Microsoft researcher has been using the camera to create a ‘lifeblog’ where the pictures taken can tell a story of a person’s day.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17992-new-camera-promises-to-capture-your-whole-life.html
- Insulin Minus the Injection (Kind Of)
An Israeli firm have been making use of detoxified stinging cells from Sea anemones and jellyfish.
The cells themselves are added to a cream that is mixed with whatever substance is wanted to be introduced into the body. The cells, when rubbed into the skin, extend into needles but due to the size they are completely painless. As about 1/3 of the cells should point into the skin when the cream is applied.
Currently a version of the cream which uses lidocaine (a painkiller) is in phase II trials in the US, as well as this research with mice is allowing for the possibility that insulin may be provided painlessly into the body.
Link: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17985-sea-anemone-stings-make-a-hypodermic-skin-cream.html
- Metamaterials Allow For Portable Black Hole
Metamaterials are materials that allow for the bending of light. A new ‘black hole’ (I use inverted commas as it doesn’t use gravity like in a classic black hole but affects the magnetic and electric fields of passing light) has been created using metamaterial circles or rings that cause light to bend towards the centre and then get converted into heat.
Currently the ‘holes’ can only suck up microwave ‘light’ but it is thought that by the end of the year it would be possible to create a ‘hole’ that could take in visible light and therefore have promising applications inside of solar cells.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091015/full/news.2009.1007.html
- Sex Smells
Using fruitflies it has been proven that certain chemicals are produced to indicate who should mate with whom. By knocking out cells that produce hydrocarbons on the surface on the flies (that act as pheromones) it could be seen that no matter what gender or type of fly they were they would vigorously try to mate with each other. By reintroducing certain hydrocarbons they could tell what chemicals caused what effects. One hydrocarbon showed how males identified other males to stop same sex mating whilst another made sure that different species didn’t try to interbreed.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091014/full/news.2009.1000.html
- The Impenetrable Barrier Penetrated
The blood-brain barrier has long been thought to be completely impenetrable however how would that allow for diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis that are autoimmune diseases that affect the central nervous system.
Previously it has been proven that immune cells have been present in the brain by histological studies but never before has the process of how they enter been seen. Researchers in Germany watched in real time as immune cells known as T cells entered the central nervous system of rats causing diseases to manifest.
One thing that can be taken away from this is that the previously imagined method on how immune cells could cross over isn’t right and that a new method of migration has been suggested after watching the video.
Link: http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091014/full/news.2009.1003.html
- Red Sky at Night
On 13th October a rare sight occurred in the skies of the Netherlands at around 7pm, a fireball streaked across the evening sky before exploding high in the atmosphere generating a sonic boom and a low rumble which caused many windows to rattle.
Pictures can be found if you follow the link.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091015-fireball-explodes-netherlands-germany-picture.html
- What Killed the Dinosaurs? Another Clue Emerges.
It was previously suggested that a large asteroid that collided with the Earth around the Mexico area had caused the dinosaur extinction however an even larger crater was discovered on the western coast of India which shows a greater impact occurred around 600,000 years after the Mexican collision.
The Shiva crater (as it has been named) shows indications that the impact caused the ground to be vaporised allowing the magma underneath to become exposed and thereby exacerbate the already occurring volcanic activity.
It is thought that volcanic emissions from the Indian volcanoes are what partially contributed to the dinosaur extinction.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091016-asteroid-impact-india-dinosaurs.html
- Site to Become Sacred Once More
Ayers Rock or Uluru is an Australian landmark but before European settlers arrived there the Aboriginals thought of Uluru as a sacred place. Though Aborigines have asked people not to climb or take photos of the sacred site their wishes have been disregarded for a long time. Presently talks are underway to make sure that tourists would not be able to climb the site anymore. From the sounds of it this wouldn’t be purely out of reasons of respect its also due to the number of people who’ve died trying to climb it as well as the mess produced by tourists due to the lack of bins and toilets.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091016-australia-uluru-video-ap.html
- Moon Still Holds Many Secrets
Due to the lack of atmosphere around the moon it is affected by solar winds. Solar winds are compromised of charged particles such as protons.
It has been suggested that the bombardment of the moon by solar winds is what generates the water that can be found there.
Another surprise that has been discovered along with this is that one in 5 protons is reflected or bounced from the surface where as it was previously thought that all particles would be absorbed by the soil.
When a bounce occurs the proton interacts with the ground and becomes a neutral hydrogen atom allowing it now to be affected by electromagnetic forces, also with the miniscule effect that gravity has on the moon it could easily escape.
In the future it is hoped that a map could be created to show where the solar winds interact with the moon the most.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091016-moon-water-sun-bounce.html
- Invisible Ribbon Stuns Scientists
A ribbon has been spotted at the edge of the solar system, well kind of; the twist is that no-one can see it!
The edge of the solar system is protected by a structure called the heliosphere which is the protective limit generated by solar winds spreading from the sun in all directions.
When gases from outside of the solar system slip in they meet the charged particles of the solar winds producing Energetic Neutral Atoms. A satellite monitoring the ENAs had noticed a collection of ENAs creating a ribbon in one section near the edge of the system.
The ribbon itself suggests that ENAs can be generated at higher concentrations at certain points of the heliosphere more than others thought at the moment there is no definite reason why. One suggestion has been that the Milky Way has a magnetic field that causes more ENAs to be made whenever it interacts with the heliosphere.
Though there is no explanation as of yet the latest news is that another map of the area is being taken and indicates that the shape of the ribbon is changing.
I love the sound of this, it sounds (at a stretch) like a scaled up version of the aurora.
Link: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/10/091015-edge-solar-system-ribbon-ibex.html
- Rumble Down Under(ground)
Has anyone else seen the video of the Tube worker shouting in an elderly man’s face? Did you even hear about it? If not here are the details…
After getting his arm stuck in a door an elderly gentleman approached on of the staff to say what had happened. The member of staff in question hurled abuse at the man to get him to stand behind the yellow line and when asked why he had to swear he went on another rant finishing by saying that the man should be thrown under a train.
Nice to know that as prices for all public transport seems to rise the way the public is treated stays at a constant level of awfulness (or rather just gets worse).
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8310436.stm
- Atlantis Discovered?
Though the Atlantis legend has existed for a long time a site, which was discovered in 1967, could be the inspiration for the story.
Pavlopetri is the world’s oldest submerged town and with the latest technology artefacts and structures dating back up to 5.000 years are being uncovered. They even claim to have an almost complete town plan!
It appears with the town being deserted around 1,100 years ago and never being reused after due to submersion it has been excellently preserved and so research shall be carried out until a paper is published on the town in 2014.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8311246.stm
- The Coldest Place in the Solar System
The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) has been cooled to deep space temperatures ahead of the restart in late November. At –273oC the temperature is just above absolute zero. The reason for the extreme temperature is that the magnets used can only have superconducting properties at such lows.
Collisions have been scheduled for December but with delays its more likely that they’ll occur in January of next year. This is also affected by the decision that there will be a hiatus over Christmas and New Year whilst workers contracts are re-negotiated.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8309875.stm
- Weird Science
BBC news has an article on Sci-Fi science and whether there could be any possibility that it may come true in the future.
Firstly it tackles the topic of time travel by stating that currently there isn’t any theory to rule out the possibility of time travel and that it may be possible to use wormholes to travel through time but as of yet the matter needed to keep it open we don’t have.
The second topic, wireless electricity, has already been proven possible and so far there is a clamour for private companies to provide the service and products, its obviously going to be a great money making tool.
Next is antimatter, which again has already been proven, but there would be no way to make a financial gain as it would be too difficult to produce.
Last topic is teleportation, this one’s a bit tricky, so far it has got to a point where quantum information can be transported to one photon to another due to entanglement. The problem with this is that with quantum teleportation only transfers information and not matter. After this the experiment has also been tried on atoms.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8310420.stm
- The 4th Plinth
After 100 days it has ended, the piece of art which sees members of the public getting an hour in which they can do what they want (within reason) on the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square.
So now, is this art or is it something else?
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8306553.stm
- Genius at 2
A boy aged 2 ½ has been accepted into MENSA when testers have decided that his IQ is the equivalent to that of Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein. Instead of the usual 20-word vocabulary an average 2 year old has he instead had a 600-word vocab!
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/8303880.stm
- I Hope That Was Covered by the Insurance!
A couple in Hull got a shock when 4lb (1.8kg) chunk of metal crashed into their house from above. After initial inspection by the RAF, who must look into matters involving falling objects to make sure that they aren’t to blame, it was thought that the metal had fallen from space.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/8309245.stm
- MPs Yet Again Waste Time Whinging About Something Unimportant
Sorry for the long title, I wanted to express my rage using Caps. Lock. Now then, Strangers’ Café has seating areas for MPs only (which is cordoned off) and another section for staff and public. The less used MPs only section apparently is taking up space that could be used for the public and after the café has expanded the section for the public MPs have been in a rage trying to get it reversed to get their obviously precious seating returned to them.
I think that MPs shouldn’t get private seating at all, let them queue like the rest of us for our lunches, they could even phone in their order and collect it when they arrive like other businesses do. Obviously MPs are so privileged with their claims, expenses and perks that they no longer care about the public and are only out to look after themselves, the sooner they have to have a set wage ONLY the better for everyone, then at least the people who do the job would be doing it for the right reasons.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8309003.stm
- Facebook Fiend
One journalist details how she tried to escape the clutches of Facebook only to be dragged back into the fold within a few days. The article isn’t marvellously interesting but can be quite funny.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8299362.stm
- Mothers Web of Lies
A mother has collected around £130,000 in disability benefits after having her child to appear as the sickest child in Britain. She made her son appear to have cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, dysphagia, food allergies and diabetes. Though perfectly healthy he was forced to use a wheelchair with oxygen cylinders, he had unnecessary operations and had a feeding tube installed. The mother also managed to wrangle a free motability car, celebrity meetings and free holidays courtesy of charity organisations.
Her deceit was realised after her son was noticed eating food instead of using his tube and suffered no allergic reaction, playing football and diving even though he was supposed to be wheelchair bound and finally her claim that she had been raped to avoid an appointment at hospital where the doctors would have found that her son didn’t have diabetes. She had been adding glucose to his samples to make it appear he had the disease.
The mother faces multiple charges, a psychiatric report and up to 3 ½ years in prison.
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6878582.ece
- BOGOF over?
The end of BOGOF for food is nigh. After the idea that these offers contribute towards the amount of food wasted a year. The linked article runs through the opinions of the writer as to how this has come about.
Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6878512.ece
- Suicides Plague France Telecom
A series of 25 suicides have occurred within the France Telecom company. The recent spate of copycat deaths have thought to have been blamed on the company restructure due to global recession.
Link: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/France-Telecom-Suicides-Engineer-Hangs-Himself-In-Brittany-To-Become-25th-Death-At-Company/Article/200910315407224?lpos=Business_Third_Home_Page_Article_Teaser_Region__1&lid=ARTICLE_15407224_France_Telecom_Suicides%3A_Engineer_Hangs_Himself_In_Brittany_To_Become_25th_Death_At_Company
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