The View From Here

7/12/00 - A whole bunch of links about Samichlaus available at memepool. [scroll to November 30]

7/12/00 - Who knows when you might need a Swedish-Greek dictionary.

7/12/00 - Picture of K Block at Glen Eyre. Prison or dormitory, you decide.

Definitely not as nice as St. George's Flats here in Sheffield:

7/12/00 - For those with more money than sense: Brushed Sterling Silver "Pregnant Chad" Cufflinks.

7/12/00 - The Subverted Public Domain list:

"The "Subverted Public Domain" begins with the year 1923. Works published in that year would already be in the public domain but were saved by the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998."

The last item on the list gives a clue to who might benefit from such a law:

"1928 (should have been public domain Jan. 1, 2004)
Characters
Mickey Mouse"

7/12/00 - The Swedish Chef song: (via clog)

"Yorn desh born, der ritt de gitt der gue,
Orn desh, dee born desh, de umn bork! bork! bork!"

7/12/00 - Things that make you go "Euww!":

"Jack McCarthy, a Friend of CounterPunch resident in Tallahassee, and erstwhile political columnist for the now defunct Florida Flambeau sends CounterPunch this bulletin from Ground Zero, concerning the rumor, now being intensely probed by some newspapers and news weeklies, of intimacies between Governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris."

7/12/00 - Go on say it: "Yes I want to be a hip boy!": (via UNPOPULAR.com)

"Cool chicks will take you shopping, pick out your clothes, and discuss the ins and outs of this city with you. What kinds of girls do you want to meet? What kind of music do you like? We'll guide you into the inner bowels of s.f. nightlife - we've been here for years and we know what's up, and we want to help you. There's a shortage of hip boys for urban chicks to date, so we're actively seeking to speed this painful process along."

7/12/00 - Vote for Radio One's very own Tim Westwood at 'Wigger of the Week':

"WOW history is made this week with the first ever nomination and acceptance of a Brigger (the elusive British Wigger). As a competitive Wigger BBC radio personality Tim Westwood is no slouch! His frequent use of ebonics combined with the English accent make him a natural candidate, and a sure-thing in the 'ridiculousness' category."

6/12/00 - Calculate your Ecological Footprint. (via Clodhopper's Farm)

Based on my lifestyle in the US, I scored 87% of the average American. It must have been those transatlantic flights.

6/12/00 - At last the White Van Man game.

6/12/00 - I knew I'd seen Andy Goldsworthy's work before; it was in the Smithsonian magazine. Difficult to pick the best, perhaps this:

Although this appeals to me as a Northerner:

The explanation:

"In one of the largest public-art projects in the world, Goldsworthy is rebuilding 100 sheepfolds in Cumbria, many of them derelict. But he is making some changes, such as the stone cone that he built inside this pen."

There are more pictures of his work here.

And an installation from last summer, snowballs in summer.

6/12/00 - An etiquette column in The Times. All very normal (well as far as etiquette goes):

"Q: What is the correct way to hold your fork nowadays? Are there different rules in different countries? Lucy Georges, Vandoeuvre, France
A: The "correct" way to hold a knife (and fork) was established by Victorian society. The fork is a latecomer to the tables of the West. Before that you carried your personal knife for cutting things. There was a spoon for you on the table. And you used your fingers. When using a knife, hold it with the end of the handle tucked down into the palm of your hand. The thumb extends along one side of the handle and the index finger points down the back. This finger never touches the blade. The other three fingers are curled round the handle to hold it in place. The fork is held like the knife, with prongs downwards. When a fork is used without a knife, it is held with the tines pointing upwards. Always hold a fork as near the tip of the handle as possible, not clutched at the base. The fork rests on the middle finger, which is supported by the outer two fingers."

But then:

"According to Bronislaw Malinowski, the pioneer structural anthropologists, the Kiriwinans of the Trobriand Islanders regarded eating as such a delicate and dangerous act that they perform it secretly in private. But they had no such inhibitions about sex, which they performed in public."

Well at least there is a Bronislaw Malinowski and he did study the Trobriand Islanders. Still it's hardly Miss Manners.

6/12/00 - Harper's Index: (via Robot Wisdom)

Number of Americans, aside from Wen Ho Lee, who have ever been prosecuted under the 1948 Atomic Energy Act : 0
Number of Los Alamos documents Lee was accused of downloading that were classified at the time he did so : 0

6/12/00 - The 50 best moments from The Simpsons. (via Pith and Vinegar)

5/12/00 - At last, unlimited home Internet access via Blue Yonder.

The initial service from Yorkshire Cable (part of Telewest) has been pretty crap. Four weeks ago I told them I wanted the service and they told me they'd send me the CD-ROM. I told them I didn't need software just the dial-up number, password etc. but no, I'd have to wait for the CD and work from that. After two weeks I call them and they say "Sorry, we've run out of CD's; long wait ; blah blah blah". Then this morning a letter; basically password, phone number set it up yourself!

By my reckoning that's their third piece of poor service. (Plus the salesman who turned up asking if I'd thought about changing to cable!!?) And I haven't begun to reach the levels of this guy.