Half a percent

Today's paper had a few articles about Modernism.( Read more... )

There's also a reprint of Jimmy Carter's recent article about Israel and the peace process. As always, he's worth listening to.

In other news, I spent about three days waiting for Ed's new phone to arrive, and finally it turned out it wasn't coming. I also seem to be doing very well for spoons, but actually want a knife.

The Ig Nobel roadshow last week was very good. A couple of eccentric Dutchmen were over discussing their papers on erotic conjugation, repectively within NMR scanners and between male mallards with contrasting levels of biological viability, along with various other items including a short opera.

Someone pointed me at this animated graphic, which is worksafe, probably, as long as frivolous nonsense is permitted. I also read the obituary of Anna Marly, who wrote/cowrote/whatever the song that Leonard Cohen made famous in English as "The Partisan". I remember hearing a woman (maybe Joan Baez?) singing it on the radio in a car in Jamaica in the mid-seventies. ON the sleevenotes to Greatest Hits, Cohen remarked that when he was very young, he had the odd feeling that the fascists were defeated by song.

One of the more frustrating parts of the last week was spent trying to change the bolts holding my wheels on.( Read more... )

Errr . . . I went to see a band called Voices of Masada, as well.( Read more... )

This is apparently coming to London soon. Look at the pictures, if you're near there and allowed to look at pictures at all. It may be wise to have jaw support prepared. One not to miss.

I will leave you with this scientific finding, expressed so beautifully by a contributor to Mr Crowley's journal:
A recent scientific study found that the kind of male a woman finds attractive can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle. For instance, if she is ovulating she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features.

And if she is menstruating, she is likely to prefer a man doused in petrol and set on fire, with scissors shoved deep into his temple and a cricket stump jammed up his arse.