More Animated GIFs
What’s even better than coming up with something original, intelligent, witty, thought-provoking, or entertaining? Why, not doing any of those things of course! And so for something that’s not original, not intelligent, provokes not one single thought, and is less entertaining than sand-counting on Playa Boredomo, the most boring beach along the Costa del Dreary: more animated GIFs found amongst the posts of some of the sites I subscribe...
The War Of 1812
From the Smithsonian website comes this interesting account of the war of 1812 which cemented United States’ independence from Britain. They’ve been regretting it ever since, poor things. As the article explains here in Britain the War of 1812 isn’t that large a part of our history simply because we were more engrossed with defeating Napoleon at the same time. By contrast, the British historiography of the War of 1812 has generally consisted of short chapters squeezed between the grand sweeping narratives of the Napoleonic Wars. The justification for this begins with the numbers: Roughly 20,000 on all sides died fighting the War of 1812 compared with over 3.5 million in the Napoleonic. But the brevity with which the war has been treated has allowed a persistent myth to grow about British ignorance. In the 19th century, the Canadian historian William Kingsford was only half-joking when he commented, “The events of the War of 1812 have not been forgotten in England for they have never been known there.” In the 20th, another Canadian historian remarked that the War of 1812 is “an episode in history that makes everybody happy, because everybody interprets it differently…the English are happiest of all, because they don’t even know it happened.” For a quick history lesson read the full – not too long – article here: The British View the War of 1812 Quite Differently Than Americans...
Alberto Frog’s Coffee Problem
“Oh, Alberto Frog, thank you!” said Father Leopold. “Thank you for saving the church fête with your charity orchestral performance.” “An absolute pleasure,” said the orchestra’s conductor, beaming widely. “How ever can I thank you?” asked the priest. “Well…” said Alberto. “Um… Er…” Zebra knew what he was going to ask for. Kangaroo knew what he was going to ask for. Ostrich knew what he was going to ask for. “Well,” continued Alberto Frog. “I wouldn’t say no to a coffee.” There was a clang as cymbals fell to the floor and a loud gasp was heard from most of the orchestra. “Coffee?” asked Father Leopold. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like a milkshake?” “No,” said Alberto quickly. “Coffee. Please. Coffee.” “Er, okay. Any particular flavour?” Tiger thought Alberto might choose Bounty Island Cream. Flamingo thought Alberto might choose Blueberry and Vanilla. Elephant thought Alberto might choose Toasted Pecan. And Monkey thought Alberto might choose Chocolate Cherry. What do you think? “Anything. Anything will do,” said Alberto. “Come now, Alberto, you must have a favourite flavour of coffee.” Father Leopold’s smile was thin and forced. “I. Don’t. Care,” said Alberto through gritted teeth. Father Leopold was taken aback as he didn’t realise frogs had teeth. “Coffee. Any coffee. I just want a coffee.” “Would you like Blueberry and Vanilla coffee?” asked Flamingo, keen to be proven right. “JUST GIVE ME A FUCKING COFFEE!” screamed Alberto Frog. “I JUST WANT A FUCKING COFFEE!” “Steady now Alberto!” said Coelacanth, wary of how much much the baton was shaking in the conductor’s hand. “WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?” yelled Alberto. “WHY IS THERE A FUCKING COELACANTH IN MY ORCHESTRA?” “Hippo’s on maternity leave,” said Squirrel timidly. Alberto stared at the rodent with fury in his eyes. “Here!” said Father Leopold suddenly. “Here’s a coffee.” “Finally!” said Alberto, grabbing the offered mug from the priest’s hands and taking a loud slurp. The orchestra’s conductor’s shoulders relaxed immediately and Alberto closed his eyes, savouring the taste of the hot liquid. “Was that so fucking difficult?” he said quietly. Suddenly Alberto Frog felt a sharp pain in his left arm and a crushing weight on his chest. He clasped a hand to his heart even as it gave up beating to one of the many rhythms in the conductor’s head. Father Leopold and the orchestra looked on as the amphibian died from a massive heart attack. “Stress,” said Raccoon, breaking the silence that followed. “I told him coffee was no good for him.” “What coffee was it?” asked Elephant. “Toasted pecan,” answered Father Leopold as he made the sign of the cross over Alberto’s stiff...
Photography By Enig Hui
Enig Hui describes himself as “street, train, rail track, Iceland, nordic, Borneo, Malaysian” and I’d describe him as a well-travelled photographer with an eye for the sort of photos I like. In fact he takes photos in a variety of styles and you can check them all out on Enig’s website but the ones that I’d like to highlight are those that feature lines, symmetry, and perspective, things that I find particularly stylish in photography. Great photos that draw the eye in, through, and around them. If you prefer landscape or urban photos then Enig’s got you covered there...
Portsmouth, Alien Invasion – Commander Pompey
It wasn’t just through grit, determination, and a steady flow of munitions and inventive weaponry that the people of Portsmouth fought back the alien invasion by The Squirmy Munge in the years following World War I; literature would also play a huge part. However, unlike the writers during the great war who had favoured poetry and depressing the hell out of anyone unlucky enough to come across a passage, in Portsmouth it was to comic books that authors turned and the tales they featured were far more uplifting. Many comic strips and characters blossomed in this period in history and one of the most popular of them all was Commander Pompey. Always accompanied by his scientist sidekick Southsea Belle the commander engaged in both defending the city from The Squirmy Munge and taking the fight directly to the enemy in any of its hideouts on the moon, under the sea, or in the hills. Of course, he wouldn’t be a true Portsmouth hero if there wasn’t a little dig at the city’s neighbours down the coast every now and then...
Soccer Is Running America Into The Ground
“Soccer is running America into the ground, and there is very little anyone can do about it.” So starts an email to blogger Avicenna who then proceeds to pick apart the preposterous points raised by “an overworked teacher” in the post I Get Mail – How Soccer is Ruining ‘Merica. The arguments made by the teacher are the typical fare you’d expect from someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about but they’re worth reading nonetheless especially if you happen to like football and like despairing of humans. I know I do. Of particular interest to me was this quote from the teacher (just after expressing his sexist attitude labelling football as “a game for girls”: My daughter is on a traveling team, and she is quite good. I had to sign a form that said, among other things, I would not do anything embarrassing to her or the team during the game. I told the coach I could not sign it. She was perplexed and worried. “Why not,” she asked? “Are you one of those parents who yells at their kids?” “Not at all,” I replied, “I read books on the sidelines during the game, and this embarrasses my daughter to no end.” That is my one way of protesting the rise of this pitiful sport. Screw the fact your daughter may enjoy the sport you can’t comprehend. The most important thing is to embarrass her away from the game. A petty, domineering, sexist teacher who thinks soccer is ruining...
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