Chill's Photo Blog

Link Blog

I come across a number of interesting, fun, clever, stupid links on my travels around the internet, but can never be arsed to blog them as it's too much effort. However, Friend Feed has aleviated nearly all of that hassle. So, subscribe to this feed and you'll get all the links that I think worthy of your attention. It will be just like old times, when this blog was nothing but a repository of links to other sites.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008 10:45 PM 0 comments

Poland, Upside down houses, Vodka

I've been to Poland once before. That's not quite true: I've been through Poland once before. I was on a train from Brussels to Moscow, had a headache, hadn't really slept thanks to the screaming child in the next cabin, was hungry and was in a bad mood. So, even it was possible to get a taste for a country in the 13 and a half hours it takes to cross it on a train (it isn't), I was in no fit state to do so.
I've just spent a much more fulfilling weekend in Poland to celebrate Parners's birthday. The flight from Doncaster got in to Gdansk at 1:30 am, so we just went straight to bed on Friday night. We managed to crawl out of bed the following morning to go and visit the "Upside Down House" museum, which commemorates the hardships thrust upon the country in the 20th century by both Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. The Upside Down House itself is exactly that, an upside down house respresenting how lives were turned upside down.
In the evening, we partied. I'm afraid my memory of the evening is incredibly hazy. I do remember having a great time, being drunk, saying "Na zdrowie" a lot prior to downing another shot of vodka, and accidentally ripping my shirt. Twice. What I don't remember but seemingly happened, is deciding at just 11pm that the best thing to do was to go bed. Somehow I managed it while everyone's back was turned, I think the vodka fairies must have been looking out for me. I stirred occassionally, heard everyone else carrying on partying, thought what a shame it was that I was in bed, and then fell asleep again. What a lightweight! My evening may have been too short, but it was a lot of fun.
The next day we went to Monica's parents' house, chilled out, and went for a walk to the lake. It's a lovely part of the country. I'm afraid I don't know how to spell the name of the town we were in (though I can tell you it's pronounced "Shit No"), but would love to go back for longer.
More Photos Here

Monday, July 14, 2008 10:42 PM 0 comments

Milk

We're not really supposed to drink milk beyond infancy. The fact that we do, and the fact that we are able to, makes us unique as a species. It's all down to an enzyme called Lactase. This is produced in infant mammals so that they can break down a complex sugar called Lactose which is found in their mother's milk. Without this enzyme, the only way the body can break down this sugar is with bacteria, which creates gas and thus what is commonly known as "the shits". When an animal is weaned off its mother's breast milk, it is a waste of energy to carry on producing this enzyme and so usually the body no longer does so. After all, what kind of species is going to go around, as an adult, sucking milk from another animal's breasts?
Well, that'll be us. You see, a genetic mutation occurred in northern European humans a few thousand years ago with the birth of dairy farming, opening the door for humans to exploit a source of sustanance that is rich in fat and protein: other animals' breast milk. Evolution in action, yeah?
Not all humans have the ability to digest lactose. The Chinese can't for example, which makes you wonder whether sales of Immodium in China have increased in parallel with the nation's increased demand for cow's milk. Even if you are of northern European descent this doesn't guarantee that your body will continue to produce lactase for the rest of your life. Adults often develop a lactose intollerance in later life.
I will end this post on milk by noting that "Mammal" means "Animal of the Breast". And yes, as mammals, whales and dolphins breast feed.

Thursday, July 10, 2008 6:54 PM 0 comments

MANBABIES

Take a picture of a man and a baby.
Swap the heads and you get:
Man Babies

Friday, June 27, 2008 9:06 AM 1 comments

Bad Translation

Bad Translation
Originally uploaded by chill.

I saw this on the wall of a toilet in Nerja, so thought I'd share. This wasn't translated by FreeTranslation.com which to be honest makes even less sense of the original.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 9:25 PM 2 comments

Science

Confused. That's how most people are about the scientific claims they hear in teh medias.
"Last week they said red wine gives you brain cancer, now they say it can cure AIDS! I wish the scientists would make up their minds; is red wine good for you or not?!"
Of course, in such cases it is often not the scientists that are at fault, it's the journalists that are reporting (or to put it more accurately - misrepresenting) their claims which are to blame. The problem is that people trust the media. They pretend they don't, they pretend that they "know newspapers can't be trusted and shit" but the fact is that if the BBC put on its website that scientists have welded a cat onto a donkey, then the very same evening a thousand pub conversations will begin with the words "Did you see on the news today that scientists are now welding cats onto the back of donkeys? Makes me sick. You couldn't make it, you just couldn't make it up."
The reason I mention this is because for the last few months I've been an avid reader of Ben Goldacre's Bad Science blog. His blog shines a light on bad science, and misrepresentation of good science, and does so in a very accesible manner. I can't recommend it highly enough really. His summing up of spurious claims of a miracle cure for dislexia is a good example of his work, and for lolz check his latest post about a creationist getting out of his depth.

8:49 PM 2 comments

Costa Del Sol

I was up Spain last week, for Liv's best friend Cathy's wedding in Frigiliana. We stayed in a lovely little cottage with a view out to the sea, surrounded by beautiful gardens, and fig, prune, orange, olive and lemon trees (though the lemons didn't necessarily offer as much juice as their size promised).
It was far too hot for sight seeing, so our days rarely deviated from a simple plan: get up, eat breakfast, go to the beach and sunbathe/swim, go back to the cottage for lunch and a siesta, go back to the beach for a swim, then go back to the cottage for dinner. All very relaxing and lovely.
A beach holiday on the Costa Del Sol wouldn't have been our choice for a holiday, but I'm really glad we went as I needed a break and it was so nice to completely switch off and mentally re-charge.

Sunday, June 22, 2008 9:03 PM 1 comments

Dolphins

Isn't this the sort of incident that happens towards the start of disaster movies?
"I have never heard of anything like this, certainly not in the UK and possibly not anywhere," he said. "My own personal conclusion is that there was some sort of disturbance that has caused the animals to panic."
You say disturbance, I say Godzilla.
In fact, I have visions of some John Cusak type character in some anonymous whitehall building, saying "You don't understand, this is way beyond the normal behaviour for dolphins..."
Robert Downey Jr.: We know that beardy, that's why we're carring out full autoposies on all of them, to find out what caused this.
Cusak: If you'll just listen, I think I already know what caused this...
Robert Downey Jr.: You've taken up enough of my time, good day say...
Cusak: But the prophecy...
Robert Downey Jr.: I SAID GOOD DAY SIR
Cusak (being led away): The Prophecy....
Cut to:
A fishing vessel in the Bristol channel, hauling in its catch. The ship twitches unexpectedly. The crew looks at each other mistified. Suddenly, the whole vessels rises up out of the sea. The camera pans down to reveal a huge beast, like a dinosaur, the ship resting on its nose. The beast flips up its head, sending the ship high into the air. At the top of its trajectory, the zenith of its parabolo, the crew have just enough time to reflect on their contribution to the world. Everything they've ever regretted, everything they haven't said flashes through their minds for just a moment before the ship crashes into the jaws of the beast, who tosses it towards the camera, melodramtically.
The whole thing is whitnessed by a Japanese tourist on a sea safari boat.
"Gojira!" he murmers, struck by Awe.
Man in red shirt: "What did he say?"
Wife: "Godzilla!"
Man in red shirt: "Really? I'm pretty sure he said Gojira"
Wife: "No, definatley Godzilla."
Man in red shirt: "It's just...
Wife: "Godzilla."
Man in red shirt: "Goj..."
cut to:
A tv, showing footage of a man in red shirt being eaten by a huge sea monster.
Christian Guru Murhpy (off of the telly): "...dzilla. And in other news tonight, Noel Edmonds has been arrested on charges of..."
The camera pans down to reveal a bar. John Cusak is taking in Christian Guru Murphy's every word.
Cusak (to himeslf): "My god. It's happening."
cut to:
Whitehall...
Robert Downey Jr.: Get Me John Cusak, now!
cut to:
the bar, the news is still in the background, but Cusak has gone from his stool. Which is spinning. To cleverly show how Cuask has just rushed out. You see?
Christian guru murphy: ...before smearing the animal's blood on his genitals. That's all for now. Ba-bye.

etc.

This is precisely how I think things will pan out. Mark my words.

Labels: wearedoomed