« March 2005 | Main | May 2005 »
April 29, 2005
Metal dragonfly sculpture
This was taken in Cologne airport departure lounge : a 10 metre wide metal dragonfly hanging askew from the ceiling.
Posted by daen at 03:22 PM
Cologne cathedral
Snapped on a recent visit to Cologne. I didn't have enough time to visit the cathedral : this was taken on the way back to the airport.
Posted by daen at 03:19 PM
April 25, 2005
Life after oil : do yourself a favour and read this
Peak Oil: Life After the Oil Crash is a must-read. It not only makes sense of the world for me, in a lucid and non-conspiratorial way (and let's face it, the actions of the US government over the last few years are way beyond conspiracy theory), it offers advice as to how you can prepare for life after oil.
I reiterate : read it now : if you're under 40, you don't have much time left ...
Posted by daen at 12:34 AM
April 22, 2005
Bures : the butcher's shop
Drake's butchers shop is where Pont set up shop between 1986 and 1988 in the little village of Bures.
Posted by daen at 02:11 PM
April 12, 2005
Online God-O-Meter
The Amazing God-o-meter detects the presence of any of the following spirit-based entities :
Blessed Virgin Mary
Your personal deity
The Horned God
Ganesha
Krishna
Yahweh
Koresh
Jesus
Allah
Odin
Jah
IPU
The stronger the signal, the further the Mystic Pointer will move from 0 (no god present) to 1 (divine intervention imminent). This allows the user to determine how closely their god is to them and how much attention the god is likely to pay to any prayers, incantations, sacrifices or wishful thinking.
I think it's time for a web service version of this ...
Posted by daen at 12:03 AM
April 11, 2005
The Open University and diversity
The Open University is a distance learning institute, the largest university in England, with around 220,000 registered students at any one time. It is rated in the top ten British universities. It also has no entrance requirements for its undergraduate students. Prime Minister Harold Wilson laid the foundations for its existence, and the university was granted its Royal Charter in 1969. One of the interesting things about the OU is that although small groups of undergraduate students will meet for tutorial sessions two or three times per month, there's no equivalent of a campus. So the nearest that most OU students get to this is the residential summer school. Each summer throughout the United Kingdom, thousands of people of all ages from all walks of life descend upon the campuses of Bath and Nottingham, Norwich and Edinburgh, among others, to learn a little bit about what undergraduate life can be like. This means teamwork, social activities and having a one week away from home where you can focus totally on your studies - a blessing for many OU students. The thing that struck me most about my summer school in 1990 was how different we all were. I was a junior programmer in a bank. Ethel was a 45 year old Naval commander. Bob was a North sea diver working on oil rigs (and carried a little silver hipflask that he would take a swig from now and again during lectures, always being kind enough to pass it around - never did figure out what was in it). Dennis was a fireman. Tony was a dentist. Susan was a housewife. And so on. It was as if you'd taken a random group of people and put them together. I suppose, given the vast numbers of people who study with the OU, that's basically what we were. We all got on well. Some did better than others. Towards the end, there were arguments and fallings out - hardly surprising when you've just spent virtually every waking moment for seven days in each other's company. But the overwhelming impression I had was one of fun - fun in studying, and fun in socialising. I was so sorry the week had to end. I haven't seen or heard from them since. I wonder what they're doing these days?
Posted by daen at 11:50 PM
April 10, 2005
Weird fiction
Sunday, December 26, 2004
Scold Your Pets For Not Being Romantic Enough Day!
Tell Wiffles that she never tries to surprise you. That she takes you for granted. Tell her that it would be nice if you could just come home one day to find that Wiffles had done something, perhaps arranged her poo to look like your face or whatever, just to let you know that you're still special. Wiffles will just kind of walk away because she doesn't speak English. When she does, weep.
Happy Scold Your Pets For Not Being Romantic Enough Day!
Posted by daen at 05:47 PM
April 07, 2005
Summertime ...
Summer is on its way ... Bakken is open, Tivoli opens in 9 days, and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival is less than three months away ...
Posted by daen at 02:19 AM
April 04, 2005
Crocuses in Kongens Have
Serried ranks of crocuses in the Royal Gardens (Kongens Have) in Copenhagen. The pattern is one which dates back some 300 years, designed by Johan Cornelius Krieger, King Frederick IV's garden designer, in or around 1730.
Posted by daen at 01:12 AM
April 01, 2005
Jellyfish
These were taken by Johanne in the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The jellyfish displays are backlit with this incredible strong blue light, which highlights every feature of the jellyfish themselves.
Posted by daen at 05:59 AM