Category: Musings

Start the week with a wow, view second.

Astoundingly, beautiful land and sea-scape photography, by Patrick Smith.

One of the amazing things about the world-wide-web is the way that one can follow links and end up somewhere totally unexpected.  This is what happened when I happened across the Blog of Patrick Smith.  It was then a short trip to find his home page and then sit in awe at the magnificent beauty of Patrick’s photography.  This guy is a wonderful artist.

I sent Patrick an email asking for permission to re-publish one of his photographs and, to date, have not heard back.  If it hadn’t been for a comment on his Blog then this Post and the previous one would not have been published by me.

Patrick’s comment on his Blog was:

Some people on ——  are having quite a bit of fun with one of my photos. There is a link back to my photo on Flickr where it is getting thousands of views. Some people might get upset but it seems like they are having a good time not at my expense!What do you think about unauthorized use on a blog or ‘just for fun’ website?

Here are some other blog articles showing my work (with links to my websites) but without my permission. It is fine with me. (my emphasis)

It was a difficult call for me to take but, on balance, and taking into account Patrick’s Blog comment, it was decided to show just one of Patrick’s images because I think his work deserves the widest fanfare possible.

So I urge you to visit Patrick Smith Photography and support him in any way that you can.

Patrick may be found at his web site, via his Blog and on Flickr

Enjoy!

Patrick, if you read this and want the pic removed, just let me know!

By Paul Handover

It’s strange being human!

Ten things we don’t understand about being human, from New Scientist magazine.

Thanks to Naked Capitalism for pointing me towards this fascinating piece in New Scientist.  The article discusses 10 outwardly frivolous behaviours and attributes that have scientists scratching their head.  They are:

  • Blushing
  • Laughter
  • Pubic hair
  • Teenagers’ behavioursNew Scientist skeleton
  • Dreams
  • Altruism
  • Art
  • Superstition
  • Kissing, and
  • Nose-picking

The article links each of the above to a further examination of why it is so strange.  It’s a good read and the accompanying photograph heading up the article, reproduced across, is rather clever.

Reminds me of that lovely English ditty:

The whole world is rather queer,

except thee and me,

and I have my doubts about thee!

By Paul Handover

Full moons and ghostie things.

Man’s continuing fascination in unworldly ideas.

When the bedroom light was turned out last night, the full moon was brilliant through the window.  Inevitably, we pondered about that massive universe out there.  My wish was expressed that before I die, I wanted to know that there UFO(1)was life on another planet.  This one piece of information would be the most thrilling and challenging fact ever presented to mankind.

So it was rather serendipitous to come across a small clip on BBC Television purporting to show a ‘UFO’ being caught by a live web cam.

However, the BBC also had in their archives another clip that did rather bring things down to earth.  Towards the end the reporter interviews the man responsible for crop circles, a better example of an eccentric Englishman would be hard to find!

Bet we still privately hope there is something ‘out there’, don’t we?

By Paul Handover

Airbus A380. What a wow of an aircraft!

Special visitor to this year’s EAA Airventure, or ‘Oshkosh’ to be more familiar.

AOPA have produced a very nice video covering the arrival of the Airbus A380 to Oshkosh.

Pretty sure that the link is a open-access one so Click here to watch.  Any problems seeing it, please comment.

By Paul Handover

Sunday observance and a flight to Barra in Scotland

This little story about one of the world’s strangest areas has been doing the rounds and appears in several newspapers.  It concerns Sunday observance issues in the Western Isles of Scotland.  But first some background.

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Sunday post 1

Krakatoa.  Is it heading for another deadly eruption?  Probably not!

Like many Bloggers, sources of inspiration come from other Blogs and, no less, than this one and Sunday post 2.

So a ‘thank you’ to Naked Capitalism for providing the links to two British newspaper articles both of which seem to have very little to do with capitalism.  But it is Sunday, after all!

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Sunday post 2

Casper is the cat’s whiskers when it comes to bus travel.

Don’t check – it isn’t April 1st, All Fools Day.

The Daily Telegraph, an English newspaper, is clearly having a quiet day, well the online version is.  So ‘print’ space is given to a rather charming story about a cat that takes a regular bus journey.

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Is it me?

Plunges

One has become accustomed to some newspapers publishing lurid headlines.  The Sun (a British newspaper) has had a long history of ‘interesting’ headlines with, perhaps, one of the all-time favourites being this:

13th March 1986
13th March 1986

Those from other countries may wonder just who Freddie Starr is. (Those of us from England frequently wonder just who he is!!)

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It’s hot, damn hot!

Being based at the moment in Sonora State in Mexico and this being my first summer, those immortal words in Robin William’s film Good Morning, Vietnam keep coming to mind.  Here’s an excerpt from the script that covers that exchange between Adrian Cronauer (RW) and Roosevelt, somewhere out in the jungle.

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Betelgeuse

Sharpest views of Betelgeuse reveal how supergiant stars lose mass

Most of this Post is from a recent press release by ESO.

A close up of Betelgeuse
A close up of Betelgeuse

The strangeness of outer space is almost beyond comprehension. Read more of this Post