knights who say NI

http://xkcd.com/16/

beautiful

Ok, I recon this makes quite a few youtube videos I've been posting lately.
But if you haven't heard Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent yet, sit down, turn your speakers up and truly enjoy this diamond in the rough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk

I dream the dream indeed! Inspiring. We should all be as lucky as her to find our inner diamond, and have our biggest critics raise their eyebrows in astonishment as the infamous Simon Cowell.

Kudos to the producers, editors, camera and sound crews too, who did a great job reinforcing the emotional effect.
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UPDATE: apparently I wasn`t the only one inspired by this. Check out: http://mashable.com/2009/04/18/susan-boyle-video-jimmy-fallon/

programming quality

Don't you wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence? There's one marked 'Brightness,' but it doesn't work.
  - Gallagher

problematic plastic and inspir-action

Excellent documentary I watched on plastic last Monday night:
http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/passionateeyemonday/2009/addictedtoplastic/
If you get a chance, watch it, it's really good!

Here's an informative review:
http://www.nationalpost.com/life/footprint/story.html?id=901421

"[…] I knew it would resonate with people because plastic is something we touch every day without even thinking about it." Indeed, from alarm clocks and toothbrushes to shampoo bottles and razors, most of the developed world relies on this material just to get out of bed and showered in the morning. The problem, explains Connacher, is that nobody stops to wonder where all this plastic came from and what happens when we throw it out.

Green to the grave

I am shocked. From the Ottawa Citizen, 1 April 2009 page B5:

In U.S. cemeteries alone, some 90,000 tons of steel, copper and brass, 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete, and 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid like buried in caskets, vaults and corpses. That's not to mention the energy consumed in cremating a body at temperatures of more than 900C or the dioxins [and heavy metals] spewed into the atmosphere in the process.

This article got me thinking. When the time comes, I want people to know I want a green burial. Particularly:
-It would be nice to be exposed, but embalming fluid has to be non-toxic and organic. If formaldehyde is the only option, just close the lid.
-dispose of my dental filling(s) (and any other toxic accumulator) as hazardous waste.
-biodegradable coffin (soft, locally sourced, fast growing wood; without metal hardware).
-lot: no heavy machinery (soil compaction) and no pesticides! let those bugs do their job so my body can support the local eco-system. Toss in a few red wrigglers and coffee grinds to get the process started.
-service: should focus on my physical reunion with mother earth and spiritual reunion with the universe.
-music: favourite pieces are Toccata & Fugue in D Minor (J.S. Bach) and Mozart's Requiem.
-no concrete liners or vaults.
-no headstone; an indigenous rock as a grave marker would be nice. if the plot allows, plant a dogwood shrub (I like the smell). Ideally, I'd like a silver maple.
-organic local flowers, if any. ideally hardy maintenance-free perennials that could be planted at home or at my plot. Absolutely no carnations (my wife doesn't like them).
-donations? ideally, to a land conservation organization - save the forests, creeks and bees; they are the silent guardians of our race who will look after our progeny a whole lot better than any profit-minded association.

"best be mindful, we are but guests in mother nature's house"

I haven't seen their sites yet, but here are potential sources for more information (listed in the Citizen article):
naturalburialassoc.ca
naturalburial.coop
greenburialcouncil.org
naturaldeath.org.uk

Life's for Sharing

Watch this first:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM

Then watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVFNM8f9WnI

there is something prehistorically attractive about so many people doing the same thing at the same time - so many bodies orchestrated and synchronized - almost like precision drill, but so much easier for ordinary people to relate to and enjoy!

Colbert may finally get his way

Unbelievable - I hope this is an April Fools.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE52T5TN20090330

I can imagine a lot of folks at NASA would privately agree with this choice, though it would signal the end of the somewhat haughty pride and dignity in space program (disconnected from public's imagination long ago). Gene Roddenberry must be turning in his grave - the future USS Enterprise, Reliant, Defender etc will likely be named USS Double-Double, Colbert and Rockstar.

I can also imagine there are many people regretting the choice to open the name to a vote - the scene from the upcoming "Parks & Recreation" program on NBC (where a bureaucrat groans "oh I hate the public") comes to mind.

http://www.nbc.com/Primetime/parks-and-recreation/

New World Order

or, another step closer to Orwell's 1984.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKL295567120090402

Denial / self-acknowledgment

"I'm only a near-perfectionist."