Turn Your Head have come up with a clever idea based on the Rubin vase illusion. They're not quite vases, but you can get a wooden vase-like thing that matches the profile of your face.

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7321&category=175&issue=517

An interesting feature about the psychiatric treatment of a beautiful girl where the only drug that seems to work on her psychosis also results in massive weight gain. No real in-depth detail, but an interesting read nonetheless.

Leave a one-word comment that you think applies to both you and me.

It can only be one word, no more - and no duplicates please.

Then copy & paste this in your journal (if you are so inclined).

Some scientific research that may cause dilemmas for conspiracy theorists -

Some people at MIT have tested whether tin-foil* hats block radio waves. Answer: they don't. Instead, they actually amplify some radio waves - in the range allocated to the US Federal Govt. Worrying.

Research here via /. and Mind Hacks.

*Technically, aluminium-foil

Ah, the BBC. The pinnacle of broadcasting. Shame about the people who write for the website. Opening of this article about sarcasm:

They say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Yeah, right. Assuming "they" are the same experts who tell us "Look before you leap" and "He who hesitates is lost", then I think we all know how incisive and invaluable their advice is.

Two paragraphs below:

Compared to the incisive brilliance of Oscar Wilde or Dorothy Parker, simply saying the opposite of what you mean does not impress anyone with your razor-sharp repartee.

First result on google for 'sarcasm is the lowest form of wit':

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit; but therein lies the basis of all wit" ~Oscar Wilde

Lesson: If writing an incredibly dull and clichéd article, at least research it properly.

Current front-page photo from the BBC:


Is it just me, or does it look like Harriet Miers is a really bad Spitting-Image-style puppet sitting on Bush's knee?

The Tories are opposed to the new Electoral Administration Bill because it will make it easier for smaller parties - their specific example being the BNP - to stand more candidates. Genuine concern at the rise of extremism, or just concern that the BNP appeal to the same voters they do? Hmm.

"It would make a great storyline watching Danny Baldwin and Janice Battersby getting to grips with lean manufacturing techniques, or planning export tactics into other countries." - Professor Scott of the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education (the worst HE institution in Britain, according to the Sunday Times tables) on how Coronation Street and other soaps show manufacturing industries in a bad light.

We had the beginning-of-year CULC squash last night. Surprisingly successful - quite a few new people turned up, and quite a few of those signed up and gave us money. And, crucially, we didn't run out of wine or biscuits.

Then towards the end, when there were only four of us still there, about to start tidying up, someone came in and asked if we were the Diplomacy Club.

Well, no, we weren't. Apparently the Diplomacy club were meant to be in that room at 5pm. But we'd booked it from 4 till 6. So maybe they were meant to be at 6 and there was a mistake or a typo. But anyway, we're all interested in international politics, so feel free to come in and have a chat to us about diplomacy while you wait.

So he did.

First thing he said: "So, is it better than Risk?"

We just managed to stop ourselves laughing long enough for him to leave.

Who needs sharks with frickin' laser beams when you can have dolphins with toxic dart guns? Now loose in the Gulf of Mexico.

In other news, I'm back in Cambridge. Woo. I have a rather nice ye-olde-stylee room this year, with panels and stuff, but unfortunately it has hardly any plug sockets, and tiny shelves and silly things like that. But it'll do.

I have now been at work for over two and a half hours (I got up too late to walk, and there was virtually no traffic for the bus, so got here far too early). In that time I have answered four phone calls. This means I am very bored, having already finished reading the paper and being a bit stuck on the crossword. But it also means I have been paid about £15 for 10 minutes actual work, which is far closer to my value than the £6.50 an hour I'm on.

Best caller of the day so far: "Er, hello, good afternoon sir. Could you please tell me where I can learn how to fly a helicopter?".

(For those who don't know, I'm working on a admissions phone line at a university.)

Hopefully at next year's LLGFF: a gay slasher film from [some of] the people behind Nightmare on Elm Street etc. The title? Hellbent. Fabulous.

Did anyone else watch the documentary Taxidermy: Stuff the World last night? It was FAB. If anyone's wondered what sort of people are attracted to skinning dead animals and then wrapping that skin around a model, this gave the answer: lunatics. Not an entirely surprising answer, sure, but these weren't just normal common-or-garden lunatics. Among others there was the reigning world champion, an awkward Swiss man who still lived with his parents and specialised in stuffing tiny fish, until he gave up taxidermy because Jesus told him to. There was a 9-year-old girl who shot a deer, sat on it while it gushed blood and her father took photos, then watched him disembowel it - she was giggling all the while, especially while she played with the heart, sticking her fingers into the aorta etc - before she stuffed it. Another guy wasn't so much insane as just incredibly callous, shooting a few springbok and monkeys to use as bait to shoot a leopard that he wanted to stuff, as well as accidentally shooting a lion... Fascinating documentary though, well worth seeing if you get the chance.

Also, via BoingBoing: Photos of balloons mid-pop. And, on the Guardian website, an experiment into whether it's possible to pass A-level sociology in two weeks. It's slightly flawed, as the article admits - particularly as the author, whom I know from uni, is pretty much a genius.

Even by the normal mind-numbing standards of this job, today is going SO slowly.

Pornography makes you go blind [NS via Mind hacks]

For once the Sun has something actually amusing - yesterday's edition included the headline "Madonna with ze big bruises". I also like the Daily Record's headline for last night's football - "Something's rotten in the state of Denmark... England".

Mmm, some rather nice new items at Elsewares this month - funky (and overpriced) ties, a more reasonably priced bracelet, and some very pretty shallow dishes. All still quite expensive though, and shipping is so much that even the really geeky but cheap Cat 5 bracelets and IDE belt are a bit too much really.

Work is still very dull, though slightly busier than last week. Feel free to email me during the day to keep me entertained - you should all know my gmail address...

I'm currently feeling very cultural and educated and stuff.

The Tompkins Table is out, and puts Catz top, which is an incredible achievement for a college that's never been that academic, and which has also won many sporting trophies this year. I can't really take any of the credit, having only got a 2:1, but I think my extra-curricular activities make up for that in terms of the bragging rights it gives the college.

And then this evening I've been to the opera to see Mussorgksy's Boris Godunov performed by the Kirov, which was excellent. I don't speak any Russian, so had a little difficulty following the story, but the music was superb. And at only £10 a ticket, for seats right in the centre near the back of the orchestra stalls, it was superb value too.