Sutton Who?

The British Museum.

Storehouse of the loot of empires.

It's so...big.

As are the Elgin Marbles, "removed for safe keeping" from the Parthenon (no, you can't have them back, we're still cleaning them).

This trip was more in the nature of a lightening raid, to see the Marbles and the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial.

Oo ahh. The Dark Ages were not so dark...

4000 Holes

Now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.



It was 19th century-arama today with a visit to the aforementioned local. The approach from the back takes you through wonderful curved apartment blocks (the rent of which I am too frightened to even contemplate).

The Hall itself is massive Victorian wedding cake architecture at its finest. Solid and built to last. Unfortunately Bryan Adams is one of the upcoming acts....

Across the road is the Albert Memorial, something Victoria whipped together in her spare time (when she was not amused). The photo does not convey how imposing it is, and how the gold leaf shines in the sun.

Speaking of the sun, it made its first all day appearance of our visit, and all London was out and about. We toured through Hyde Park, which was filled with sun starved Brits (and no small number of map clutching tourists).

Also today was visit to Harrod's, to see how the other half shops. A tiny pink baby's jacket by Dolce Gabbana going for £200 about says it all...

I bought a £6 Paddington bear, which was more in my range.

Oh sorry, I'll point it down

Our hotel in London is located on Grosvenor Square. A very nice park is across the street, a pleasant place to sit.

On one side of the park is the American embassy, and the security presence is obvious (as it is across London, with CCTV camera and friendly reminder signs everywhere).

So the park is patrolled by police here and there, as it was this morning. Two were strolling by me, and at first I took no notice..until they got closer. One of them was carrying a 3 foot automatic weapon, and as they passed it was pointed at me. I made a funny face, and he pointed it to the ground.

Guess I'm not a security threat...

Next time, shorter churches

Today, it was a visit to St. Paul's...

Even God needs money, and it was £10 to get in.

Oh look, you can go up to the top of the dome. Up the stairway from hell, to the whispering gallery (because at this point you are too winded to actually attempt speech). The very brave could continue up to an even higher level at the top, but I just asked politely where the down stairs were...

Just south of St. Paul's is a tiny street that dates back to Roman times, with a name it has apparently had since then, Knightrider.

Today it has a pub and a Japanese restaurant...

Also today was the National Gallery (this was free. I guess God has higher overhead). Nothing much to see. Just Vermeer, Van Eyck, Holbien, da Vinci, Rembrandt, van Gogh

...and Titian.



I sat in front of this painting for 15 minutes and wept.

Lord of London

After a brief break from flying, I am here in London.

No amount of research, reading and Googling can prepare you for how vibrant and beautiful the city is. Granted, we are staying in Mayfair, but this city has energy Toronto can only dream of.

On visiting Buckingham Palace, I noticed the flag was flying over it, so Elizabeth must have been home.



Despite my knocking on the door, she wouldn't come down and visit. She instead had miles of friendly barbed wire installed....just for me.

More to come...

How to Hook up Your Home Theater

Goofy.

Fuck Fox News

cowboy bebop

North Korea develops Soylent Green

North Korean scientists have developed a new kind of noodle that delays feelings of hunger, a Japan-based pro-Pyongyang newspaper has reported.

The noodles were made from corn and soybeans, the Choson Shinbo said.

They left people feeling fuller longer and represented a technological breakthrough, the newspaper said.

Read more here.

Yearbook Yourself

Read more here.

The man must be the world's dumbest thief

As a burglar, John Pearce thinks nothing of turning his victims' homes upside down.

But this time it was the house that turned him the wrong way up.

Attempting a daylight raid, the 32-year-old somehow got his foot caught after smashing his way through the front window of a Victorian terrace home at 6pm.

Unable to free himself, Pearce was left hanging upside down in the window frame for more than an hour as a crowd of 30 neighbours and passers-by gathered to ridicule him in Dartford, Kent.

Read more here.

'One man walked past and said, "Hang in there, mate"

Obama/Biden

Obama waits until the middle of the night to announce a very dull choice.

All Hail President McCain...

Update: Countdown to the first Obama Biladen joke...10..9..8..

Come on, I have really good taste

LOLOLOLOLOL

Sexpot swimmer Amanda Beard says Michael Phelps has absolutely no shot at doing the breaststroke with her.

Beard, 26, denied yesterday that she was dating Phelps, 23, saying, "Eww, that's nasty."

"I have never, ever hooked up with Michael Phelps," Beard said via telephone from Beijing on the "Johnjay and Rich Show," which is broadcast on Kiss FM 104.7 in Phoenix.

Beard, who has bared all for Playboy and appears in a sexy ad for PETA, also said she has never even kissed the 14-time Olympic gold-medallist.

"Come on, I have really good taste," the sexy swimmer said. "He's really not my type."

Read more here.

The Venus of Willendorf

Plump and 25,000 years old, this lady remains a mystery even after 100 years in the limelight.

The Venus of Willendorf, a small ochre-coloured figurine from the Paleolithic period, takes her name from the village in northern Austria where she was excavated on August 7, 1908 by three Austrian paleontologists.

"This was the first statuette (from this period) that had such detailed features and it was also the first statuette to be discovered at the time on an archeological site," says Walpurga Antl-Weiser, head of the prehistory section at Vienna's Natural History Museum.

On the 100th anniversary of her excavation, this Venus is being honoured with a special exhibition at the museum, alongside other artefacts from the same period.

Read more here.

Monopoly, Toronto and the usual whining

Monopoly...Toronto...and it's not even about Rogers!

Toronto is swankier than the Polish seaport of Gdynia, but not as magnificent as Montreal, if a Monopoly board is any measure of city status.

Five million people voted in a worldwide poll to choose cities for the new World Edition Monopoly game board, to be released next week.

Montreal received the most votes and won the coveted position of Boardwalk, beating out London, New York and Paris. Toronto won the spot normally occupied by Virginia Ave., among the middling magenta colours.

"Nobody lands on Boardwalk," said Mayor David Miller at a news conference yesterday at Ontario Place for the release of the board.

Wow, the Mayor is back in town? Not on vacation? I guess when Toronto's board game honour is at stake, vacation be damned!

Read more here.

McCain hints at a draft

The Sound of Britney's Microphone

Captain Kirk's chair

According to CBS the life-sized chair is a "fully operational replica" of the captain’s chair from Star Trek The Original Series using "expert measurements and the highest quality durable materials." This replica is actually a real piece of furniture, complete with lights, sound effects and built in phrases from the original Captain Kirk himself.

Read more here.

Paris Hilton actually sells!

Yes Ladies and Gentlemen.

Actually documented proof of a can of Paris Hilton brand Champaign actually being sold!

Incredible as it may seem, this is actual live footage of a can of $8.75 a pop Paris Hilton brand "Rich" (Sparkling. Fruity) being sold to a simple soul at Woody's in Toronto.

Not only that, this is the *first* can sold. Surely a milestone.

It came out purple btw, as all fine champaign should...

Artie Shaw

Lady Be Good

Britain's biggest Roman villa uncovered on Isle of Wight

One of the largest and best-preserved Roman villas yet discovered in Britain has been unearthed by archaeologists.

Built 1,800 years ago on the Isle of Wight, the building is as vast as an Olympic swimming pool and shaped like a church.

“It would have sung out the status of the owner,” Sir Barry Cunliffe, Emeritus Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford University and head of the excavation, told The Times yesterday. “It's a very impressive building, absolutely magnificent. It could have been seen for miles around.”

Read more here.

John McCain wins the presidency

And given the level of slime and lies coming from him and his camp, he's got the election in the bag.

Americans are funny that way.

a "fine line between prevention and repression"

Montreal's police chief has assigned more officers to the city's north-end station in a bid to restore order in the area where a riot broke out last week after a young man was shot dead.

Yvan Delorme said additional officers are now working out of Station 39, with the aim of offering a "reassuring presence" in the borough where police shot and killed 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva on Aug. 9.

Assigning more officers to patrol the working-class neighbourhood is a medium-term measure, part of efforts to improve relations between police and young people in the borough, Delorme said.

Officers must negotiate a "fine line between prevention and repression" when tensions escalate on the streets, he said at a news conference Monday.

I think they have gone over that "fine line" long ago...

a "reassuring presence"

Makes the head spin, doesn't it?

Read more here.

Ann Miller

Too darn hot.

This was originally released in 3d in 1953...

The Library of the Villa of the Papyri

The unique library of the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum, buried beneath lava by Vesuvius's eruption in AD79, is slowly revealing its long-held secrets

Stored in a sky-lit reading room on the top floor of the Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples are the charred remains of the only library to survive from classical antiquity. The ancient world's other great book collections -- at Athens, Alexandria and Rome -- all perished in the chaos of the centuries. But the library of the Villa of the Papyri was conserved, paradoxically, by an act of destruction.

Read more here.

Saakashvili eats own tie

CNN moralizes

The BBC reports a story this way:

US talk show host Ellen Degeneres marries her long-time partner, actress Portia de Rossi, her publicist confirms.

Fine, a reporting of the facts.

CNN on the other hand:

Ellen DeGeneres 'marries' Portia Rossi

Note the use of quote marks. Have to make sure we know they don't approve.

UPDATE: CNN has changed it to:

Ellen DeGeneres reportedly weds Portia Rossi

Yeah, that is *so* much better.

Read more here.

The Temple of Photoshop, Vegas

A friend has sent back this image from Las Vegas, from Caesars Palace.

Try to ignore the bad architecture, the fake vines, the horror.



That's Elton John, Bette Midler and yes, wait for it, Cher...

The amount of RAM they must have behind their photoshopping astounds.

The Death Star over San Francisco

McCain and right wing hypocrisy

Beautiful clip of right wingers caught in the headlights of John McCain's past.

Oh and btw, I don't for a second think the right wing has the monopoly on hypocrisy.

Mickey Mouse arrested...finally

I been waiting for that helium sucking rodent to be clapped in irons for years!

Mickey Mouse had his tail between his legs yesterday - after being arrested by police and led away in handcuffs.

Also taken into custody outside Disneyland in Anaheim, Los Angeles, were Cinderella, Snow White, and Tinkerbell.

It happened as workers at the theme park - dubbed the Happiest Place on Earth - staged a demonstration over pay and conditions.

Read more here.

The Clone Wars

The new Star Wars, umm, film "The Clone Wars" has opened to very negative reviews, part of this because this generation is experiencing their "Battlestar Galactica" moment.

In 1978 in response to the original Star War's success, the makers of the original "Battlestar Galactica" television series decided to cash in.

They released, in Canada and Europe but not in the U.S., a *theatrical* version of the show. Only it wasn't really a movie, but 2 episodes stuck back to back and thrown up on the big screen. It wasn't even in widescreen format...

Needless to say, this was noticeable at the time, as one hour long story wrapped up only to have another begin.

This experience (yes I was one of the suckers) soured me on Battlestar for years.

Seems Lucas & Co. have pulled the same stunt on Star Wars fans with "The Clone Wars".

via aintitcool.com:

It takes the premise of an epic, big-screen movie series and downscales everything (the ideas, the special effects, the music, the dramatic stakes) to children's-television size. But then, for whatever reason, Lucas and Warner Bros. decided to project this downscaled version of "Star Wars" back up on a big screen -- and they want you to pay to see it.

Read more here.

The fans who first saw "Star Wars" as children, and are now disillusioned adults have really missed the mark:

I found "Clone Wars" depressing because of the sense of finality it created among the older "Star Wars" fans at my screening: Whatever emotional investment we had in "Star Wars" as the prequels unfolded is absolutely over. "Star Wars" is no longer even trying to be clunky big-budget cinematic mythmaking: It's an episodic TV show that sells toys.

Lucus, Star Wars, the lot, have *always* been a factory for the selling of merchandise...always. In the late 70's, before the release of "The Empire Strikes Back", "Star Wars" was viewed as mainly a kids' film, well made no doubt, but first and foremost a kids' film. Shelves were flooded with Star Wars crap from day one.

So current 30 something fans are realizing for the first time something older viewers knew all along.

He's only in it for the money.

Sucks growing up, doesn't it?

Donald Trump To Buy Ed McMahon's House

Donald Trump will soon be Ed McMahon's landlord. Trump announced Thursday he would save the television personality's Beverly Hills mansion from foreclosure by buying it for an undisclosed amount and leasing it to McMahon.

The developer told the Los Angeles Times he doesn't know McMahon personally, but acted out of compassion because helping out "would be an honor."

Read more here.

Death in Second Life

...SABRE & MACE, a company that offers virtual characters the opportunity to experience death as a way to close their user account permanently. The project examines the notion of feeling sentimental toward a virtual character and examines the link between sentimentality and tangibility.

Read more here.

A Fool There Was 1915

Nothing like over the top 1915 melodrama to make your day complete.

Theda Bera. Kiss me, my fool!

(Warning. This film actually isn't very good, and is posted for historical interest only. View with caution)

Documents Reveal Underage Chinese Gymnast

I love it. Soon it will be reveled that they are not being held in Beijing at all, but in the same warehouse where they faked the Apollo 11 landing...

What began as whispers among the media and gymnastics insiders weeks ago about the ages of three of China's female Olympic gymnasts -- Jiang Yuyuan, Yang Yilin and He Kexin -- has grown into ear-shattering, head-hurting shouts. Despite assurances by Chinese officials that all three are 16, the minimum age of eligibility for Olympic competition, newly discovered documents and records prove otherwise.

Read more here.

Propane explosion: how to question the politicians

The story coming out of politicians regarding the Toronto propane explosion is that it was a series of errors, that no one is to blame, that we shouldn't be pointing fingers.

Sorry guys, but you'd better get used to the fingers..

There is a meeting tonight for local residences and here is a primer for getting the officials to actually answer a question.

Without them telling you to "shut up" that is...

Best questions

Here are some questions it will be hard for a politician to deflect:

(1) "Why did no one listen to us, when we warned you this would happen?"

Because you live in a poorer neighbourhood, you're lucky we let you vote.

(2) "Who made the decision to approve this propane depot and are they here tonight?"

Sorry, but no one person or persons were involved..and even if there were, we couldn't possibly tell you.

(3) "Would you have lived across the street from this propane depot with your family?"

Fuck no, like I said, this neighbourhood doesn't really count. Where are the granite covered sidewalks?

(4) "If there were all these safeguards, why did it blow up?"

Shit happens, get over it.

(5) "Can you guarantee there won't be another propane depot on that site?"

Nope, not if we get offended a sweet deal.

(6) "How will you compensate us for our damages?"

You're lucky we are even meeting with you. Isn't that compensation enough?

Read more here.

'Shut up!' Councillor Maria Augimeri, Toronto's dumbest politician

If this clip doesn't send local politicians and officials running for cover, distancing themselves from this extremely uncaring woman..then we're all screwed.

It does become clearer everyday that governments here, both local and provincial, have fucked up big time. Just never the one that's being interviewed..it's always some other department that's to blame.

And it just keeps on going...

Steps away from the massive propane blast that tore up her ward Sunday, local Councillor Maria Augimeri yesterday blew up at a constituent who questioned her commitment to the community, telling him to "shut up."

They broke into a shouting match after Tony Di Santo, 69, crashed a city news conference about a batch of asbestos discovered Tuesday evening at neighbourhood daycare and community centres.

Di Santo, president of the local Ancaster Ratepayers Association, stepped in front of the camera and forcefully demanded that Augimeri – who had just returned from an interrupted visit to Italy – attend a community meeting tonight instead of a city meeting scheduled for the same time.

He said the councillor's refusal to change her plans showed a blatant disregard for the residents and their tragic experience.

"If people have problems of a partisan nature they should not be using the death of a firefighter ... so shut up!" Augimeri yelled.

Yes, that will go a long way to dispel the feeling that officials here don't give a fuck.

If any so called elected official told me to shut up, I'd demand their resignation...like that would happen.

Read more here.

Questioned by reporters about her outburst, Ms. Augimeri boasted that she "would do it again in a heartbeat." That she is "very short-tempered" and that the man who raised the question "doesn't deserve my respect." This is what passes for political representation in Toronto.

Present during this sorry and juvenile rant was Councillor Shelly Carroll who suggested Ms. Augimeri's conduct was "regretable" but also "understandable" — apparently because the resident who asked the question did not agree with Ms. Augimeri's response to the crisis...

Read more here.

Turkish Star Trek

Turist Ömer Uzay Yolunda 1973

The Video Game Crash of 1983

U.S. deserter ordered deported from Canada

The Harper government does it again, showing the world an ugly side of Canada that I personally find offensive.

One of the first U.S. Army deserters from Iraq to seek refugee status in Canada has been ordered deported.

Jeremy Hinzman said Wednesday he was ordered out of the country by September 23 by Canada's Border Services Agency.

Hinzman deserted the U.S. Army in 2004 after learning his unit was to be deployed to Iraq. He refused to participate in what he calls an immoral and illegal war....

...The Canadian Parliament's lower house passed a nonbinding motion in June allowing U.S. military deserters to stay in Canada, but the Conservative government ignored the vote.

Conservative government party members opposed the motion, not willing to risk straining ties with Washington over the issue or fight rulings already made by the courts and immigration officials.

Again to the world, Harper and friends really don't represent what Canada is about, at least up until now.

Read more here.

McCain: "In The 21st Century Nations Don't Invade Other Nations"

Some Americans have no clue do they?

Speaking to reporters about the situation in Georgia, Sen. John McCain denounced the aggressive posture of Russia by claiming that:"in the 21st century nations don't invade other nations."

My jaw will eventually come back from the floor.

Read more here.

Marilyn Monroe, Mitzi Gaynor and Donald O'Connor

Just because.

Scummy airlines charge military personal baggage fees

Some airlines are charging U.S. soldiers extra baggage fees to take their military kits with them as they set off for war.

Military personnel carry large, heavy kit bags containing boots, clothing and gear. In the past few months, airlines have instituted fees for all travelers ranging from $15 for one bag to $250 for a third bag....

...American Airlines, and others reached by CNN, say troops are allowed heavier and bigger bags and can check two for free, unlike commercial travelers.

Troops are allowed 190 pounds each free of charge, American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said, adding: "If they pay, they get reimbursed, so at the end, they don't pay a dime."

Then why make them pay in the first place?

Read more here.

Ziro the Hutt - Lucas tries to out Jar Jar Jar Jar

Seems that the new Star Wars film, besides being dull and uninteresting, also contains Lucas's bid to out Jar Jar Jar Jar.

...the biggest laugh getter was Zero the Hutt. Living in 'downtown Coruscant' (what does that even mean on a planet that is one big city?), Ziro is Jabba's 'uncle' and owns his own club. He's also purple, wears feathers and body paint and talks like Truman Capote as voiced by Eric Cartman...

...“Zero, Jabba’s uncle, originally spoke in Hutt-ese, like Jabba and then he had a different sluggish voice just like Jabba, and then George one day was watching it and said ‘I want him to sound like Truman Capote.’ He actually said that and we were like ‘Wow!’”

Is there a minority Lucas hasn't offended yet?

Read more here.

The Montreal Riots

If this sentence doesn't explain them, nothing does:

All told, an average of 20 civilians die every year in police custody, many of them in rather shady circumstances

=/

Montreal is no stranger to riots. Over the course of its history, it has seen political riots, sports riots, nationalist riots and punk riots. From 1844 to 1849, Montreal was the capital of a united Canada, but imperial authorities stripped it of that status after rioters (most of them conservatives angry over the supposedly light punishment given to the 1838/39 rebels) trashed and burned down the colonial parliament. A little over a century later, Montrealers angry over the suspension of Maurice Richard left Ste. Catherine St. in tatters; the Richard Riot, as it was known, signalled the dawn of the nationalist era in Quebec life and politics. More recently, hockey fans and hooligans smashed windows and burned cars downtown after the Canadiens won the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

So what about Sunday night’s riot in Montreal North, then?

Read more here.

Toronto fireball

Huge Propane Tank Explosion and Shockwave - Watch more free videos

Best view yet.

Georgia and the media's double standard

Have you noticed you've seen more blooded victims from the Georgian conflict on the news (Russia=bad) in the past few days than come out of Iraq (America=good)...?

Nancy Pelosi

The hypocrisy voiced here is stunning.

Not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime

That may become the new classic definition of corruption.

Former Justice Department officials will not face prosecution for letting improper political considerations drive hirings of prosecutors, immigration judges and other career government lawyers, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Tuesday.

Mukasey used his sharpest words yet to criticize the senior leaders who took part in or failed to stop illegal hiring practices during the tenure of his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales.

But, he told delegates to the American Bar Association annual meeting, "not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime. In this instance, the two joint reports found only violations of the civil service laws."

Makes ya sick, doesn't it?

Read more here.

Province, city play the blame game after west-end explosions

Oh boy, are the politicians going to dance, trying to avoid having this pinned on them.

I think the situation can be summed up with this:

“Municipalities do not like to push businesses away. There are many standards that apply to these types of facility. These facilities, if operated properly, are very safe.”

There you go, mustn't ruffle the feathers of business. The plant can stay, I mean the area's not that important. No sidewalks covered in granite there.

Read more here.

Labatt shows its true colours in Montreal

Labatt is showing its true colours regarding its sponsorship of the pedestrian mall in the gay village in Montreal.

Seems the fascists at Labatt only want their beer to be sold in the area.

Free enterprise at work folks, Canadian style, where the monopoly is the norm.

Stéphanie Dagenais didn't mind the Bud Light parasols and cups she was forced to use on her restaurant patio in Montreal's Gay Village.

It's when the brewery started telling her Bud Light had to go in those plastic cups that the manager of Kilo bristled.

"I think it's an aggressive way of doing a sponsorship," said Ms. Dagenais, who was forced to sell the beer under an exclusive deal struck between Labatt, which brews the beer in Canada, and the Gay Village business improvement group.

The business association sold the right to sell beer on 54 new patios along a stretch of Ste-Catherine Street to Labatt, part of a summer-long festival that will see cars banished from the street. Owners say the $100,000 deal came with minimum sales quotas for each bar and restaurant, including a healthy sample of Bud Light.

You can tell Labatt is full of shit by this statement:

A representative of the business group even suggested Bud Light is a popular beer among gays in the United States.

If someone can tell you that with a straight face, they are world class liars.

Read more here, cached, as the Globe and Mail has also become greedy and begun charging for their online articles.

Britain from Above

Made in China

Beijing Olympic 2008 opening ceremony giant firework footprints 'faked'

Parts of the spectacular Beijing Olympics opening ceremony on Friday were faked because of fears over live filming, it has emerged.

As the ceremony got under way with a dramatic, drummed countdown, viewers watching at home and on giant screens inside the Bird's Nest National Stadium watched as a series of giant footprints outlined in fireworks processed gloriously above the city from Tiananmen Square.

What they did not realise was that what they were watching was in fact computer graphics, meticulously created over a period of months and inserted into the coverage electronically at exactly the right moment.

The fireworks were there for real, outside the stadium. But those responsible for filming the extravaganza decided in advance it would be impossible to capture all 29 footprints from the air.

As a result, only the last, visible from the camera stands inside the Bird's Nest was captured on film.

Read more here.



I don't trust the smilely faces fireworks they had anymore either...

Riots in Montreal

The police in Montreal are keeping alive old traditions.

1987

The city changed on the morning of Nov. 11, 1987. According to court documents, at around 5:30 a.m., Anthony Griffin, a 19-year-old black man, jumped a cab but was arrested by police about an hour later. Griffin, after lying about his identity because of an outstanding warrant against him, was placed in the back seat of a police cruiser and then taken to a police station. Upon arriving in the station parking lot, he bolted, and only stopped when Constable Allan Gosset yelled, while aiming his .38 police revolver, “Stop or I’ll shoot!” after twice yelling at Griffin to halt. Griffin stopped and was turning around when he was shot in the head. He was pronounced dead at 11:45 a.m. at the Jewish General. Gosset was charged with criminal negligence but, in 1993, was acquitted on appeal. Racism was dismissed as a factor in Griffin’s death.

2008

The mother of an 18-year-old shot and killed by a police officer in broad daylight is demanding explanations from the Montreal police force.

But people in the neighbourhood where Fredy Villenueva was fatally wounded weren't waiting for explanations last night. Their fury erupted into a riot in Montreal North, with knots of protesters roaming the streets and setting fire to cars and garbage barricades.

The Montreal riot police squad was called out, and hundreds of officers formed a perimeter four or five blocks away from the Ground Zero at Rolland Blvd. and Pascal St.

Read more here.

Viking longship returns home

The Viking replica longship Sea Stallion returns to home waters in Roskilde today, after a 2,800 nautical-mile round trip between Denmark and Ireland.

The return of the ship with 60 multinational crew - under sail or rowing, depending on weather - will be greeted by countless vessels at sea, and up to 10,000 people ashore.

Read more here.

Children 'bullied over brands'

We do live in a corporacracy.

Children who cannot afford or do not want to buy fashionable brands face mockery and bullying, says research from a teachers' union.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers said children were under "huge pressure" to buy brands.

The teachers' survey claims children are strongly aware of brands and logos, but pay little attention to the green or ethical values of products.

Brands are more influential to children than their own friends, the study says.

Read more here.

Toronto fireball

Two views of the main explosion in one.

Explosion in Toronto

There was an explosion multiple explosions at a propane facility this morning.

This is not my video, I didn't hear a thing..



Not everyone reacts the same.

I'm going to wash that black right out of my hair

When she was hired as the face of L'Oreal, Beyonce Knowles signed a contract pledging she would not make any 'radical changes' to her appearance.

However, it seems the beauty giant made no such promises in return.

The 27-year-old singer, whose father is African-American and whose mother is Creole, appears in L'Oreal's latest campaign with pale skin and strawberry-blonde hair.

Read more here.

3 in a row

A fine old Scottish wedding tradition.

The Neanderthal murder mystery

The mystery of what killed off the Neanderthals about 30,000 years ago comes a step closer to being solved with a study suggesting that they formed a tiny population that had been teetering on the brink of extinction.

Neanderthals first appeared in Europe at least 300,000 years ago but they disappeared after the arrival of anatomically modern humans, Homo sapiens, who first arrived in Europe 50,000 years ago. This has led to speculation about whether the Neanderthals interbred with the new arrivals to form a hybrid population that became submerged in the human gene pool, or were instead wiped out by them, either through competition for resources or by violence.

The latest evidence, an analysis of DNA recovered from a 38,000-year-old fossilised thigh bone, suggests the Neanderthals did not interbreed with modern humans but were eradicated by them.

Read more here.

First Neanderthal genome completed

Read more here.

Richard Gere, Fiat and a lack of balls

“Fiat Group extends its apologies to the Government of the People's Republic of China and to the Chinese people. The choice of Mr. Richard Gere in connection with the launch of Lancia Delta was based on his long and distinguished career in the arts, and the choice of the subject matter by Mr. Gere is a reflection of our commitment to artistic freedom of expression. This choice should not be understood as an endorsement by Fiat Group of Mr. Gere's social and political views."

Akkk, you fucking whimps. Why are you apologizing??

"a reflection of our commitment to artistic freedom of expression"

Except when it offends rich totalitarians.

Fiat, you are cowards.

CBC, the new Hockey Night in Canada theme and a parade of awfulness

A good rundown of current entries in the CBC Hockey Theme contest.

Yuk.

Whatever they pick, it won't last 10 years let alone 40.

Read more here.

Robbie Coltrane not wanted in New Zealand

Police in New Zealand hunting a serial burglar have issued a wanted poster bearing a photograph of the actor Robbie Coltrane.

Officers said Coltrane was not a suspect in the crimes, which have been committed by a juvenile who happens to look like the Cracker star. But because New Zealand law bans pictures of juvenile criminals being published, they decided to use Coltrane's image instead...

...Coltrane is believed to be in Los Angeles, but a response is being sought from his spokeswoman in London.

He's not in L.A., he's on a plane to New Zealand to play those dumb police a little..visit.

Read more here.

Avoiding Rogers DNS redirect

There seems to have been some development on the Rogers and their unethical DNS redirection front.

Via Michael Geist:

Written by Parkerjon on 2008-07-31 15:26:49
I got the following from an anonymous but embarrassed Rogers employee. They bowed to pressure (many larger companies complaining that their remote workers were affected): and that even poor Edward was harassed.

Alternate DNS server that avoids the redirect:

altdns.rnc.net.cable.rogers.com
64.71.255.202

Apparently the engineers warned the marketing types... but the suits didn't listen.

Or you can try these:

dnsserverlist.org.

The Great Pop vs. Soda Controversy

CONCLUSION

People who say "Pop" are much, much cooler.

No they are not. They use that word here in Toronto, "pop", and it makes my skin crawl.

Everyone knows it's "soft drink"

Sheesh

Read more here.

Keep these sick fucks out of Canada

They really are a lower form of life, aren't they?

A fundamentalist church group from the U.S. has announced it plans to picket the funeral of Tim McLean Jr. in Winnipeg, declaring, "God is punishing Canada."

"People are absolutely outraged about it," said Doug Mitchell, a friend of McLean's for about seven years.

Led by pastor Fred Phelps, the Westboro Baptist Church from Kansas issued a release saying they would picket McLean's funeral this weekend.

Phelps' daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, said about seven church members are expected to come to Winnipeg.

"What we're doing is trying to connect dots," Phelps-Roper told Sun Media last night.

"We're trying to get you to see that your rebellion against the standards of God, your disobedience to the commandments - your idols, your false gods, your filthy ways have brought wrath upon your head," she said.

Read more here.

DJ Spock

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Obama, Pledge of Allegiance and the audience plant

There's no way this guy's not a plant...a bush perhaps?

Experts find theatre where Shakespeare plays first staged

The remains of a London theatre where William Shakespeare's early plays including "Romeo And Juliet" were first performed have been discovered by archaeologists, a museum said Wednesday.

Shakespeare appeared at The Theatre in Shoreditch, east London, as an actor with a troupe called The Lord Chamberlain's Men, which also performed his efforts as a playwright there.

Read more here.

Huffington Post dummies down - it's all in the stars

The Huffington Post has run an embassassing article, charting the astrological futures of Barack Obama and John McCain.

I can faintly here the music from Deliverance playing..

Take heed politicians. Do as your predecessors did while leading our ancestral humankind to a better tomorrow. Follow the pole star. That's pole star, not pollster. And keep in mind that over the centuries the pole star changes as does the political landscape between now and November.

This column will follow the horoscopes of the presumptive nominees. John McCain and Barack Obama (listed and interpreted alphabetically), as we eagerly approach November's election.

Read more here.

Top 10: Things Only Men (with an extremely limited experience of life) Can Do

The mental giants at AskMen.com (beta!) have set the world back many years with this one.

Holy fuck, this has to be one of the most in your face list of recent times.

The "men" behind this I assume have given up on sex, because after this no woman in her right mind would go anywhere never them...

No.10 - Go topless
No.9 - Hold our liquor
No.8 - Manscape (aka grow beards)
No.7 - Navigate spatially
No.6 - Shave our heads
No.5 - Play real sports
No.4 - Fertilize eggs
No.3 - Pee standing up
No.2 - F*** things
No.1 - Age well

Read more here.

Night Tornado at Wrigley Field

Battle over Confederate flag hits highways

Americans can be shocking arrogant sometimes, with a pig headedness that defies reason.

And perhaps that's the point..

Chip Witte doesn't consider himself a Rebel. He doesn't hang Dixie battle flags in his living room, nor does he wear one on the back of his leather jacket.

Yet when the Tampa motorcycle mechanic saw the world's largest Confederate battle flag unfurl above the intersection of I-10 and I-4 in June, he felt a jolt of solidarity with the lost cause and lost rights that he says the battle flag represents. "I think it's great that they're allowed to fly it," says Mr. Witte...

...They say the "soldier's flag" represents not slavery, but the valor of Southern men in their lost cause.

And the Nazi flag doesn't represent the Holocaust, but the valor of the German men in their lost cause...

Read more here.

Appaloosa

There's always room for a good western, but this trailer annoys with its style of black outs at the end of every cut...

Night of Fire

Japanese Para Para.

Horrifying.

UFO Project with Peter Coffin

"The UFO flew in along the coast from the nearby town of Sopot, and then circled the centre of Gdansk. The UFO made its startling and surprising appearance soon after sunset. It appeared to be covered in lights displaying a series of geometric colour patterns. “

Read more here.

CP24 and awful web design

Behold the new CP24 website.

It's a news site folks, but you'd never know that by looking at it.

Besides being an ill conceived design (or perhaps a brilliant recreation of website design circa 1997, with just a touch of Powerpoint), it has been so dummied down and festooned with ads. I guess they think all Torontonians need are weather, traffic and stocks...why not just add condo listings and be done with it.

Vital information about world events to inform and enlighten an engaged public? Fuck that, now just drive to work, produce and don't worry your pretty little head about the world.

It's all being taken care of.

A comment from another site states:

Not that anyone really cares, but it would make me feel better to let everyone know that the CHUM developers who now work for CTV have nothing at all to do with this CP24 site.

We tried to get involved, we tried to help but they would not hear it so now all we can do is sit back and laugh (to keep ourselves from crying of course).

or

Just like with citynews.ca, the TV people called the shots on site design and usability with no clue about either. The good folks in the web department are allowed little or no input.

Read more here.

Paris Hilton responds to John McCain

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Nescafe Gold Blend Ads 1980s

I'd forgotten about these series of ads, with some of the most insufferable people every to grace television.

Quake shakes 'Judge Judy' Show

Musical key to unlocking teenage wasteland

Yes, and anyone anywhere who listens to "Umbrella" should be locked up for life...

Doctors should ask their teenage patients what type of music they prefer to determine if they are at risk of developing a mental illness or committing suicide, researchers say.

A study, published in today's Australasian Psychiatry journal, found that teens who listened to pop music were more likely to be struggling with their sexuality, those tuning in to rap or heavy metal could be having unprotected sex and drink-driving, and those who favoured jazz were usually misfits and loners...

POP: Conformists, overly responsible, role-conscious, struggling with sexuality or peer acceptance.

HEAVY METAL: Higher levels of suicidal ideation, depression, drug use, self-harm, shoplifting, vandalism, unprotected sex.

DANCE: Higher levels of drug use regardless of socio-economic background.

JAZZ/RHYTHM & BLUES: Introverted misfits, loners.

RAP: Higher levels of theft, violence, anger, street gang membership, drug use and misogyny.

Read more here.

Morgan Freeman will be OK

Good news from the Memphis Regional Medical Center: Morgan Freeman broke his arm and his shoulder in a car accident last night, but according to his business partner, he's going to be fine. “Nothing life-threatening. Nothing permanent,” Bill Luckett told Mississippi's Clarion Ledger. “He’s in good spirits, but he’s in some pain."

Read more here.

Hitler Sings "The Jeffersons" Theme

Phoenix About to Announce "Potential For Life" on Mars

It would appear that the US President has been briefed by Phoenix scientists about the discovery of something more "provocative" than the discovery of water existing on the Martian surface. This news comes just as the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA) confirmed experimental evidence for the existence of water in the Mars regolith on Thursday. Whilst NASA scientists are not claiming that life once existed on the Red Planet's surface, new data appears to indicate the "potential for life" more conclusively than the TEGA water results. Apparently these new results are being kept under wraps until further, more detailed analysis can be carried out, but we are assured that this announcement will be huge…

Read more here.

Funny Face

Gotta love that Injun Orange and Chinese Cherry.

The Watch List

Early stereo recordings restored

Unique recordings by the inventor of stereo have been cleaned up so the public can hear them properly for the first time.

They include Sir Thomas Beecham conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) at Abbey Road Studios in 1934.

The recordings were made by Alan Blumlein, an EMI research engineer, whose contribution to the invention of stereo sound is only now starting to be appreciated.

The early recordings have been re-engineered using digital technology so their true quality can be appreciated.

Read more here.

Vital unresolved anthrax questions and ABC News

The FBI's lead suspect in the September, 2001 anthrax attacks -- Bruce E. Ivins -- died Tuesday night, apparently by suicide, just as the Justice Department was about to charge him with responsibility for the attacks. For the last 18 years, Ivins was a top anthrax researcher at the U.S. Government's biological weapons research laboratories at Ft. Detrick, Maryland, where he was one of the most elite government anthrax scientists on the research team at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease (USAMRIID).

Read more here.

Stop Sign Re-Design

glumbert - Stop Sign Re-Design

Although a bit derivative of the Microsoft designs the iPod packaging video of a while back, it still accurately portrays the horror that is corporate marketing people.

Ancient rock carvings discovered

More than 100 new examples of prehistoric art have been discovered carved into boulders and open bedrock throughout Northumberland and Durham.

The 5,000-year-old Neolithic carvings of circles, rings and hollowed cups, were uncovered by volunteers.

Read more here.

World's oldest joke traced back to 1900 BC

No not John McCain, older than that.

The world's oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests toilet humor was as popular with the ancients as it is today.

It is a saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq and goes: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."

Read more here.