Almost fact free science reporting

From the BBC website... yet again. This time it's about left handedness: Scientists at Oxford University have identified a gene LRRTM1 that appears to be linked to left handedness, but there's a hitch according to this article the gene is also linked with schizophrenia. Except for this idea seems at the moment only an idea which hasn't yet been investigated there are too many mays and nothing definite - the article says the risk is only slight, well how slight, 1 in 1 000, 1 in 10 000, a million? and the killer quote for me is.

We don't yet know the precise role of this gene.

If the BBC reported the arts or politics in such a slapdash manner there would be uproar, questions in the House of Commons and general carpeting of the editors but science it doesn't matter as long as they can twist something sensational out of it.

Dressing Up For Adults

All That Glitters Is Not Gold, originally uploaded by Jane Goth.

For the first time in ages we have had a weekend off. No decorating, no travelling to see family, no nights tripping the light fantastic in a marquee as the rain lashes down outside. So we took a leisurely bimble into King's Lynn, I think we had a successful trip into town, Si got himself a rather smart man bag for his stuff and will also be useful for the honeymoon and a couple of pairs of summer shoes. I also got shoes, a pair of summer sandals and these beauties above. At their full price £20 they would have been a bit too much to justify but at only £5 I can break them in (ha) around the house and stick them into the dressing up box waiting for just the right occasion to give them an airing!

Air Show

Some pictures.



The chap stood next to me had the most amazing camera set up. I don't think he took any pictures though, just hugged the camera



There wasn't a display by the Red Arrows this year but we did have a Hawk from 100 Sqn to look at.



And vintage bombers too.

Ads I loathe

Normally I'm fairly laid back about the adverts on the telly (cue hollow laughs from the sofa next to me) but right now there is a crop of really annoying crap adverts. They are memorable that's true which is one of the aims of any advert but these fail the biggest test of making me want to buy. Any half decent ad plants the idea into your head, right now Becky is trying to persuade me that we should go to M&S tomorrow to do our weekly shop so that we get the free fairtrade dipping chocolate. Now that's an ad that works we want chocolate we want it now and we want it from M&S however we will not be getting it as we were strong and more importantly Marks and Sparks are closed right now.

No these ads just make me want to never try to the product.

The Kellogg's Bran Flakes advert with all the fake health fads - just eating a bowl of Kellogg's, a bit of fruit and drinking more water is not going to make you healthy: you have to stop eating crap and this ad is shit.

MFI - Arguing, horrible families - why would anyone want to associate themselves with that?

Orange Mobile Phone - Faux naive songs seemingly aimed at morons hate, hate, hate.

Princess Tiaamii.

I actually sort of like Jordon and Peter André, not enough actually make any effort to read about them or buy their record from the other year or watch a programme about them if there was anything better on (better being almost anything from the umpteenth rerun of how they make chocolates on Playaway, a seminal film I'm sure you would agree)


but they seem to make a happy couple and it keeps tabloid journalists happy with the innocent campness of it all.

But... But....

Congratulations on the birth of their daughter and all but what were they thinking with the naming thing? "Princess Tiaamii." It's cruel the poor wee girl is going to get teased from the get go. It's also a form of self aggrandisement by the parents "arn't we special and a cut above the rest by being so original" instead it comes across as being uber chav and stupid. Poor kid at least she can change it when she grows up.

Dwarf Bread

As part of our exciting get slim at a sensible pace regime we have been eating a lot of fruit and vegetables as you would expect but each diet or reducing methodology no matter how sane it claims to be and is in many cases has it's own quirks and favoured products which get frequently mentioned in recipes and "handy tips". So along with the cottage cheese and mullerlight yoghurt we've been trying scan bran



Scan Bran is the dwarf bread of slimming, it is exceptionally dry, tastes like plywood and can sap moisture out of anywhere, I've broken it up to see if it was possible to crumble it or whether that was just an urban myth and I could feel it wicking all the moisture from my finger tips. Our consultant swears by it, "look at so and so she eats lots of scan bran and she's managing to lose weight despite the pork pie habit." But she doesn't claim to eat it herself. It seems to work on the basis of: you're hungry, all you've got is scan bran but by the time you've managed to soften a small corner you've fallen asleep.

The Report

The rain stopped for long enough for us to have a go on the dodgems and for me to win a coconut on the coconut shy. It rained for the fireworks but there were big heavy umbrellas laid on so that we could stand outside and watch. They were magnificent, but I couldn't hold the umbrella and take photos at the same time. I did get some photos of the evening here are the best of them. Words to go are here

I Blame Ian MaCaskill

We're going to a ball tomorrow evening, I'm getting rather excited now, I picked up our tickets today, we are promised champagne, chocolate fountains, bands, cocktail bar and fireworks. Pimms and canapés on the Veranda, that sort of thing. It should be absolutely spiffing except this....



it's going to look like a posh Glastonbury by the dodgems so tomorrow I'm going to be scouring the shops of Lynn for gold lamé wellies.

Possibly The Worst Movie Evah

Film 4 are currently showing The Core - this movie is completely dreadful I can't think of anything nice to say about it and the science in it, oh the science it's not science it's crap - words written by writers who cared so little about what they were doing that they didn't bother find out the facts or they were too lazy or too thick to do the simplest research. For a more detailed run through of its awfulness the Intuitor Insultingly Bad Movie Physics Site have a loving review enjoy: The Core Review.

Actually it would make a great drinking game - take a shot every time a cliché or a basic science error is made. Or perhaps not you'd be slaughtered within the first 5 minutes.

Get Yer Cameras Out For The Awkward Squad

Last year Becca Bland a professional photographer and slightly woolly thinker, decided that 17 July 2006 should be the first non photography day. Her reasoning for having such a day are too muddle headed for me but see here. Shortly after first hearing about this, Becky EnVérité a bolshy amateur photographer, decided that she wasn't standing for that "no one tells me not to take photos" and decided instead that the 17 July 2006 should be the first Non Non Photography Day.

Tomorrow is the 17 July 2007 I suppose that makes it the second non photography day but I've seen no publicity about it. However there has been movements on the Non Non Photography Day front: the flickr group is reopening for submissions so get your cameras out and capture the great world out there in all its mediated beauty tomorrow.


A photo from last years extravaganza

OB - Outside Blogging

I'm at my brother's on the patio watching him subdue the bar-b-cue into submission. So far it's Little Brother 1 BBQ 0. Due to the power of the wireless network I'm blogging outside. Which is nice.

Our excuse for visiting was to find a bridesmaid dress for my niece. That happened yesterday, we went into Winchester then Southampton, my niece seems to have inherited my love of glitz and tack - she kept homing in on the sparkly, animal print materials. A sight to make any aunt feel proud, I'm sure you would agree.

On the way there we played the game think of a name that begins with the first letter of the number plate on the next car that goes by. It's harder than you think especially after the third car goes by with a X plate. Y isn't much better.

Today we went for a walk in the woods and hunter gathered charcoal at the local supermarket. Not exciting exactly but very very relaxing

I Can Do Science Me

Bored? WoW no longer wowing you? run out of quests in Everquest? Second Life constantly crashing? Then why not do a bit of gentle galaxy spotting. There are millions of galaxies out there and still the best technology for identifying them is the human eye and brain in conjunction, more fun than looking at badly composed pictures on flickr and with the potential to give a warm glow of a job well done, please sign up for Galaxy Zoo



It's useful it's adding to the sum of knowledge and you don't have to wear one of those silly yellow tee-shirts.

HT to The Register.

Kill The Wabbit

Bugger Copyright - I have to agree with the Bad Astronomer - This is brill: What's Up Opera


50 years old this year the inventiveness, the attention to detail, the parody are superb and probably one of the best summaries of Wagner you'll see in 6'52"

Crackle

Just got back from work, an hours' drive normally but today, oh my. A thunderstorm over Wisbech turned the skies to black and the roads to streams. The heavy rain was ok but the it was not much fun driving along in the heavy rain but when it started hailing so hard I couldn't hear the thunderclaps and the viability reduced to a few metres the jollyometer dropped down towards zero and the oh-shit-I-don't-like-this-meter started rising into the red zone.

It was especially nice to get home and once we've been to fat fighters I think a restorative G&T might be in order.

Never Trust

Tesco disposable bbq. They are not much cop and the one we used on Saturday evening tainted the meat with the taste of firelighters even though Simon had followed the instructions to the letter. It was inedible we ended up going to the chippy for mixed kebabs - which were freshly cooked to order and very nice.



We were decorating the flat again, this time the walls. Crumbling to the dictates of the property shows we painted the walls a tasteful, neutral, inoffensive yet ultimately dull cream colour covering over my lovely deep exciting rich red colour that always gave the living room a warm cosy library feel all it needed were the leather chairs in deep green but I could never afford those.

as it once was



as it is now

I Need A Car-Cam

I really must start trying to capture some of the images of my travels across the fens every day. There are some fascinating things out there, take tractors and other things that farmers drive for instance. Being a city slicker who knows her way round Waitrose I did know what tractors looked like. They looked like this.



I never expected the variety of vehicles that I've seen in the fields or trundling along the roads. And they look so strange, there are tractors with great arms that spread out like the gossamer wings of a dragonfly in the sun, ones that can only go at 25 mph they look like squat beetles on stilts. There are things that they tow behind the tractors that look like the extended innards of a washing machine with claws. There are great monstrous machines that look like a half transformed transformer (You know, the sort that magically transform from a big boxy vehicle with a very small cabin on top, extendable arms and chutes to another boxy vehicle with arms, chutes and very small cabin on top except this one walks on two legs) And then there are the combine harvesters - I know what they look like, after all I do listen to The Archers

picture taken by Robert Scarth

Best Satire On Telly

The Thick Of It - It's the best fucking satire on telly, filmed in a pseudo documentary way it's a pure class, our "hero" is a spin doctor who makes Alistair Campbell look like a 1st year at a convent school, trying to ensure that he spins himself safe after the prime minister suddenly resigns. It's classic Armando Iannucci. For you lucky people who haven't seen it yet the two parter is going to be shown on BBC2 9.30-10.30 Saturday the 7th and the next Saturday 14th 9.00 til 10pm.

In Defence of Catherine Tate

So Catherine Tate is going to reprise her role as Donna the misfortunate bride and join the Doctor in the Tardis. I've no doubt that there are howls of outrage across the blogisphere, outbreaks of misogyny and ad hom attacks on Ms Tate going on right now.

However I think that she's got every chance of doing well. So I didn't like her comedy show, I didn't find it very funny although plenty of people I know did, but that is different from acting in a TV programme with someone else writing the lines it is mostly in the material after all. I never found the Two Ronnies that funny - Porridge was one of the best comedies of the 70s. Catherine Tate was very good in the Christmas special, very watchable and she acted well enough to convince me. Although I was hoping that the next companion would be a chap, I'm pleased because her character Donna was feisty, not starry eyed about the Doctor, and had some fight about her but most importantly she's a real woman, she isn't a 20 something poppet with perfect skin, perfect body and toned pecs, looking like she's been buffed to within an inch of her life for telly, She's about my age and it's time that 30something women took their place in outer space fighting bad guys. I only hope that the writers steer clear of having any "romantic tension" because that is getting tedious.

Searchy Time Again

A bit of easy blogging but the following search terms deserve immortalising or not as the case may be. And

does sardine oil help with blocked ears - don't know but it will almost certainly help identify those with blocked noses.

Dyslexia Miracle Religion Cure - No sorry, there isn't one, remember there seems to be more than one cause of dyslexia and so different things seem to help, that and practise, practise, practise.

Tannin Stains In Swimming Pools - Why are you making tea in your swimming pool? Who are you catering for? The entire Woman's Institute?

Kissin Cousins Porn - Just wrong, wrong I tell you.

Soggy

Well I've bottomed out the car, sort of, the weather has been so miserable today, intermittent heavy showers and now I can hear the rumble of nearby thunder. The car window is now sorted but so much glass I never imagined that it would spread so far when shattered. Anyways that is all swept up. But with this poor weather the hope of doing anything else more fun today seeing as I've got the day off sort of disappeared in the murk.

We have fat finders tonight I'm pretty confident we both should have lost weight this week, seeing as we've been good avoiding the buns and cakes.

Update just got back from class and we both lost weight so it is working. Next week we should both get our 1/2 stone awards!

Aww Shit

Aww Shit
Originally uploaded by Jane Goth

A bit of a crap start to the month, we discovered this when we went out this morning with the intention of going over to the flat to do more decorating. Instead we spent the morning and early afternoon on the phone to the police, various banks and card providers because it was Simon's wallet they were after. Waiting for the police then Norfolk CSI to turn up. Ringing up more people to organise a replacement window, brushing up broken glass from the ground attempting to pick up some of the broken glass in the car, noticing the gathering clouds, taping an old bin bag to the window to make the car weather proof. Ringing up various Aged Ps to spread the joy, we had said that we would go see my mum this lunch time as we were going to be over in the area; can't now! It was raining last night so the seat on the drivers side is very damp as it the foot well the car is gonna smell lovely tomorrow. I've had to take tomorrow off so I'll be bottoming out the car to get rid of as much glass as possible. Oh deep joy.