Ephemera in Stone

Attention span

2009-11-08T20:49:03Z

I pay far too much attention to American politics. For example, I have no idea whether gay Austrians can get married.

Crackle crackle crackle

2009-11-06T14:17:56Z

Fireworks, at two in the afternoon?!

Ripped off

2009-11-05T00:49:40Z

Ripped CDs shouldn’t skip.

Context is all

2009-11-04T23:54:35Z

Listening to a cd that I’ve probably not listened to yet this decade. Ahem.

I still know which song comes next when the track before is ending.

Processed food and depression

2009-11-02T22:07:25Z

Processed food and low mood

The researchers conclude that processed foods are a ‘risk factor’ for depression rather than specifically labelling them a ‘cause’. This is a balanced conclusion, considering that unmeasured factors may be contributing to this association. A healthy diet has a range of proven benefits and the suggestion from this study that there is a link with improved mental health seems plausible. Randomised controlled trials would provide more conclusive evidence for this.

I was already thinking I needed to eat less chocolate and more fruit. And if I eat less cheese and more eggs, that works too.

This is your government on drugs...

2009-11-01T23:56:29Z

5,416 members of the Facebook group “Support and Reinstate Professor David Nutt: We want an evidence based drugs policy”, but no petition yet on Number10. (I can’t believe no-one’s thought to submit one — does Number10 not put up petitions at the weekend?)

Odd thoughts:

Nutt is not the issue: Nutt is a symbol; the issue is having an evidence-based drugs policy
it doesn’t matter what Labour’s policy on drug classification is: in half a year’s time Labour will not be setting government policy on drug classification or anything else
do we need to persuade the government (of whatever party) or the tabloids? (or their readers?)

How should we word the petition?

I never could get the hang of Novembers

2009-11-01T16:56:37Z

It’s November, and I feel like the world’s died. The weather’s in mourning.

November and December sometimes seem like bonus months, included in our calendar to make us think we were getting a good deal, when really they just weren’t good enough to be included in the shorter calendars other planets got.

It’s a strange time. Two months left until the numbers flip us over into a new decade. Six months left until we get a new government. The promise of change, but change on its own is not hope.

Queen Victoria

2009-10-31T01:00:10Z

Buckingham Palace, from the outside, is plain and rather dull.

Near it stands the Queen Victoria memorial, which is less plain and rather less dull. It features what you might expect of an ostentatious Victorian sculpture (which it wasn’t; it was completed during her grandson’s reign): bare breasted ladies, bollocked naked small boys (wot no paedophilia panic?), latin inscription — REGINA IMPERATRIX — which even I could understand. But also gold leaf for its highest figures, and what looked like primitive WWI helmets on some of the characters.

The giant statue of Victoria sits facing away from Buckingham Palace, a good choice given the views on offer.

Her death starts the first episode of Andrew Marr’s The Making of Modern Britain. I saw bits of his earlier History of Modern Britain, and remember thinking that it wasn’t bad. But this new series, it seems to flit around too much. I kept feeling that it was being superficial, and wanted it to go into more depth. Maybe that was because more of the material was unfamiliar to me this time. Or maybe the times did flit around a bit, and it wasn’t until war broke out on the continent that history became more focussed.

He came across as quite patronising when talking about the music halls, very much the middle class presenter being oh so terribly impressed by working class culture. Perhaps because his day job is interviewing politicians. Or because he doesn’t quite have an authoritative voice.

Public transport

2009-10-30T00:05:59Z

Today I have had above average luck with buses, and almost perfect luck with trains. WIN.

Google Mail Time

2009-10-27T18:34:08Z

Argh, Gmail is still on summer time. How do I tell it about winter time?

It’s odd receiving e-mails notionally from the future.

Uninteresting interests

2009-10-27T16:16:56Z

“everyone i’ve ever loved” is in my interests list as a link, but apparently I’m the only person who has that interest.

I thought if you were the only person to list an interest, LJ didn’t turn it into a link. What’s different about this interest from all the ones I’ve got that aren’t links?

UTC

2009-10-25T20:40:22Z

The clock on the cooker is right. How odd.

Let them sing it for you

2009-10-25T09:49:22Z

I’m having great fun typing lyrics into this thing and listening to it sing them back to me wrong.

Compliments

2009-10-24T17:52:18Z

I wish I was better at paying people compliments.

(People paid me compliments last night. It was great.)

Canary Wharf — north

2009-10-24T07:27:51Z

That was a good party. *waves at people at party*

Was not planning on missing the last night bus back. Or missing out entirely on a night’s sleep. Oops. But was fun, so good.

I wonder if I’m sober yet?

QT/BNP

2009-10-23T09:23:14Z

Question Time got triple its usual audience last night. Do you reckon Nick Griffin was overhyped much? What’s good for Trafigura is good for the Anti-Nazi League.

If I’m to believe my flist and the newspaper front pages (which I do, but potential BNP voters wouldn’t) Griffin got creamed. Was he asked anything about the postal strike?

Obechi

2009-10-21T21:19:36Z

I’m stuck on level 15 of Obechi. I think it’s the last level, but I thought that about level 14.

Warning: It plays music.

Grey day

2009-10-21T09:14:12Z

I try to con myself into thinking that the local weather is doing its bit to counter global warming, but I can’t get past the uniform greyness.

Bliss

2009-10-20T19:46:37Z

New improved Dave! Now with less angst than ever before! (this month)

It’s nice to know that despite having a biased brain, I can still be as accurate as a canonical person.

No, I am single. It’s just I stopped angsting about it.

Male sexual overperception bias

2009-10-19T19:58:38Z

It has a name! Oh good, it’s not just me.

Won't somebody think of the child terrorists?

2009-10-18T20:02:17Z

The irresistable force of fighting terrorism meets the immovable object of protecting children.

How my brain works

2009-10-18T18:43:43Z

If I can’t write an lj post asking for advice on buying an Ubuntu laptop, that’s probably because I don’t want to buy a laptop.

Everyone pile on the Mail...

2009-10-16T20:04:39Z

“Everybody hates us, we don’t care” is probably the Daily Mail’s slogan by now.

Peeling eggs

2009-10-16T19:33:10Z

Boiled eggs are difficult to peel when they’re too fresh?!

Suggests adding baking soda to the boiling water, as this makes it alkaline.

Plinky plinky plink

2009-10-15T22:27:31Z

Persuade tube users to use the stairs instead of escalators, by making them fun to use.

And then somehow make it a car advert. Wait, what?