Saturday, June 19, 2004

Red Hot Chilli Peppers Live in Hyde Park

It was an excellent day. Although the weather was predicted to turn cold wet and stormy, in the end the gods smiled on the crowd and kept it cool with just a small shower. Chicks On Speed drew a hostile reaction from the crowd and were,in fact, booed off stage! For their sake, I hope they get better or it's going to be a bad week for them. James Brown showed himself to still be the Godgrandfather of soul, giving a powerful performance with highly professional support from his band.

Hear this gig live over at the Radio 1 website. There's also a photo gallery, which makes this a valid entry for 'Photoblogging in the UK', even if none of them are my own, and a reviews page.

More info on the band at The Official Red Hot Chili Peppers Website

Friday, June 18, 2004


Footcare

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Help Wanted: Can you name this shrub?


What is this? It has long sharp thorns to deter close encounters but does have this very pleasant blossom in Spring.

England v Switzerland

I wouldn't say that I was a fan of football; I don't play it and I don't watch it every Saturday and I certainly don't follow a team. For the big matches like the current UEFA 2004, I felt unmoved by the advertising and the hype, couldn't even name the players (well, apart from Beckham, maybe Scholes, Ferdinand maybe).
However, on Sunday, with the 1st match being against the favourites, France, and my son strongly declaring his interest in watching it on our one and only tv, I succumbed. If I had really cared about the result, how awful I would have felt by such a crushing defeat by a vastly superior team. In fact, I did feel a little hollow. From being 1-0 up in the 1st half of the match, 'our' team spent the rest of the time hysterically defending this fragile lead until reduced to fouling anyone that came close to the England goal, which was depressingly frequent. This madness resulted in the giving away of 2 goals in the dying minutes of the match and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I definitely didn't want to watch any more.
Well, here I am, having just watched England's win over Switzerland. The Swiss team played consistently well and didn't really deserve to be reduced to 10 men in the second half. England showed a few good moments but are still remarkably inconsistent. Not quite as bizarre as against the French. Maybe it's the heat. Why am I beginning to care?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Teleportation breakthrough made

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Teleportation breakthrough made: "Scientists have performed successful teleportation on atoms for the first time, the journal Nature reports. "

Wednesday, June 16, 2004


Rose & Co.

Tuesday, June 15, 2004


Somewhere different

Organic Design 2

Organic Design 1

nmazca.com : fractalism : fractal buddha realms

These are quite beautiful if
a) you are inclined towards Buddhism and
b) love fractals.
Got me on both counts.

Don't let the wheels of your own mind drive you crazy

Monday, June 14, 2004

60's flashback




Go here for a more dynamic version. It's a sixties screensaver, changing every 20 seconds.

More on the H2G2 Movie

The H2G2 Movie started filming on April 19th 2004 and I'm pleased to see Martin Freeman (from The Office) as Arthur Dent, Warwick Davis (remember Willow?) as the body of Marvin the paranoid android and the mighty Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast.
Poor Douglas Adams had largely rewrtten H2G2 for the movie version but he tragically died before it's completion, so Karey Kirkpatrick (of Chicken Run) was brought in to finish it.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Movie Blog

Anything to do with the HHG is worth a look, and now we have The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Movie Blog. Today they have launched a photo gallery. There's only 1 photo in it, so it's not really what I would class as a gallery yet, but it's good one. Check it out

Sunday, June 13, 2004


Do Pigeons Dream?

A fascination with taps

Betty the Crow

In this movie, shot in 2002, you can see Betty the New Caledonian crow first use a straight piece of wire but seems to realise after a few attempts that it would be impossible. Incredibly she then fashions the end of the wire into a hook shape by wedging it into a crack and bending it.
Here's some stills from the movie, capturing some key moments:

Betty the Crow

There's an interview with Alex Kacelnik about Betty in this week's New Scientist or you can visit

The Stapleton Record has moved

I've moved my blogs that purely relate to Stapleton to a new blog, The Stapleton Record
and renamed the current blog to reflect the direction this one seems to be going in. So the other one appeals to my sense of order and this to my sense of disorder!