The White Heat of Technology

Get in! I am writing this on a train, due to the amazingness of it having wi-fi. On a train! wow.

Stuff

Some links:

Some students have come up with a map which tells you how long it takes to walk between stations in zone one. (via Londonist)

Ace Hot Fuzz trailer (via Empire magazine)

Pandas are funny. All of these pictures of pandas are great, but this one

is the best. (BBC)

Finally, old but still brilliant, if you’ve never seen it, here’s the dog that says “I love you”.

The Sea of Okhotsk

Nasa image of the Sea of Okhotsk, which sounds like it would have been a great name for a second-rate moody 80s long-coats band.

Current Favourite Non-Swearwords

Pump

Rubbish

Rubs

Bobbins

Any others?

Cassette

Too good to just leave in the comments

Two Digital Assumptions (or “Dumptions”)

I’ve recently caught myself making some assumptions about digital things, which I realised were probably wrong because they were based on analogue things.

1. I left my freeview recorder on pause, then thought “oh no – don’t leave it on pause. It messes things up when you leave them on pause.” Then I thought “or is that just VHS.”

2. My phone was full of photographs as I hadn’t transferred them onto my computer for a while. Also, it was low on battery. I realised I was assuming that the two were related – some part of my brain was thinking that the phone was somehow using up battery power because it was “straining” to hold in all the memory.

Not bad.

The Top of the Atmosphere

This is a Nasa photograph of the moon and the top of the atmosphere as seen from the International Space Station.

Ghost Cheese!

Eurovision Song Contest WINNER Cheryl Baker

There’s an advert on the tube at the moment which involves Cheryl Baker. On her picture it says: “Cheryl Baker: TV Presenter and Formerly of Buck’s Fizz Fame”.

This choice of words – particularly the “formerly” – seems very odd. Are they implying that, although she once was “of Buck’s Fizz fame”, that fame no longer exists? In which case, why mention it? Surely you’re either of (insert band name) fame or not. She is a former member of Buck’s Fizz – but then that’s not what this advert says.

But then why not go into more detail? Why not “Cheryl Baker: Of Former Early Saturday Morning TV Cookery Show ‘Eggs n Baker’ Fame”?

But that’s just tinkering at the edges. The main problem with this advert is that, of course, Cheryl Baker and Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest, and this advert doesn’t mention it AT ALL. It’s like it’s searching for something to say about Cheryl Baker, and has missed the most obvious thing. It should simply say Eurovision Song Contest WINNER Cheryl Baker. Everyone should refer to her as that. If I was Cheryl Baker, I would write that on cheques and change my name to include it. My full name would therefore become Rita Crudgington AKA Eurovision Song Contest WINNER Cheryl Baker. 

What kind of country is it where former winners of the Eurovision Song Contest do not have this fact mentioned in adverts which explain why they are famous? Sure, if you fail to win the Eurovision Song Contest, you are sentenced to forever have to explain why you are famous. But we’re not talking about Gemini here. We’re talking about a winner. Never mind more straightforward descriptions on adverts, they should all have statues. Imagine a statue of Bucks Fizz – frozen in the middle of performing “Making Your Mind Up”, on those stools. Tell me you don’t want to see that statue.

Of course this leads to another dilemma: should Katrina’s statue stand alone or should we also immortalise The Waves?