Ten things I’ve learned last week (ending 24th June)

Apologies: this week’s “Ten things…” is a little later than usual, owing to my uselessness and a relatively event-packed weekend/Monday.
1. Not so much something I’ve “learned”, but an interesting fact. Including Yumiko Cheng’s name in my blog has proved to attract quite a bit of traffic, owing to her recent “wardrobe malfunction” – her tube [...]

Exit, stage left

Oh, Mrs Fanny Law. How Hong Kong will miss you – your frequent gaffes have provided so much drama and entertainment to this city ever since some fool put you in front of a microphone.
A tiny bit of background for the uninitiated – Mrs Fanny Law has been a dedicated civil servant ever since 1975. [...]

Science: It’s About Time!

Browsing through the BBC News website a while ago, a particular headline caught my eye: “Viagara could aid jetlag recovery”. I was immediately intrigued, for this subject remains close to my heart. Before you say or even think it, no, I’m not talking about the little blue pill; rather, I meant the study of the [...]

Ten things I’ve learned last week (ending 17th June)

1. The city of Omaha in Nebraska is named after a tribe of American Indians of the same name. (OK, I probably should have guessed, but what the heck.)
2. There is a variety of potato called King Edward – did he happen to have skin resembling a potato? The King Edward potato has “white skin with [...]

New Love (Part I)

First love is like tiramisu: it’s overwhelming, sickly sweet, intoxicating. Such was my relationship with Sony DSC-P10 before our tragic breakup (see earlier article, Belated Mourning). With my (relatively) newfound love, I maintain a much less intense relationship – we’d occasionally go out together, and when we do we usually manage to have a ball. Whilst it is difficult [...]

House on holes

“You know, I get it if people are just looking for ways to fill the holes. But they want the holes. They want to live in the holes. They go nuts when someone else pours dirt in their hole. Climb out of your holes, people!”
- Dr Gregory House (of superb TV series House) on religion
Image [...]

Get off your high horses

From BBC News:
Vatican urges end to Amnesty aid
The Vatican has urged all Catholics to stop donating money to Amnesty International, accusing the human rights group of promoting abortion…(to see the rest of the article, click here.)
Could the Pope and his cronies please sort out their priorities? Let’s put aside the issue of whether abortion should [...]

French Open: Men’s Finals (R. Federer v R. Nadal)

For the second year in a row now, I have witnessed on live TV Roger Federer’s desperate attempts to secure the French Open title. A year ago, I watched it in the early afternoon with a few friends, at Sino Tap, a pub in Cambridge that has itself ceased to exist. This year I [...]

Ten things I’ve learned last week (ending 10th June)

1. Many men are insecure with their penis sizes, according to the Sun. See this hilarious Guardian article covering the subject.
2. Monkey-puzzle is not something we can get from Toys ‘R Us – it is in fact a type of tree native to Chile and Argentina (Wikipedia entry)
3. An eclogue is a bucolic poem, not a [...]

Note to self

“When you’re young you get this impression that everything you say, everyone in the world’s going to read it. As I’m getting older I’m realising that hardly anyone really gives a toss.”
- Matt Bellamy of Muse, as reported in Q Magazine