amusements, memes, personal, photography

Listography : Gadgets

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Gotta get a gadget? OK. That’s easy ‘cos Kate’s Listography this week is all about gadgets. Our top five gadgets ever. So here goes …

Washing Machine. Now there are two types of washing machine: the clothes washer and the dish washer. Both fulfil essentially the same function on different commodities. So I’m going to cheat and choose both!

PC. Well I couldn’t do above 10% of what I currently do without one. How did anyone run a society, let alone a business, using only a pen, a typewriter and a Roneo machine?

Digital Camera. I like looking at things and trying to make pictures. But I cannot draw for toffee and anyway it takes too long. So I’m glad I learnt photography when young. And then someone invented the digital camera so I don’t have to do all that tedious darkroom work.

Spectacles. I’ve worn specs since I was about 14. That’s nearly 50 years (eeek!). They’re a part of me and I mostly don’t even know I’m wearing them — only true specs wearers will understand the surrealism of trying to wipe your eye only to find you’re still wearing your glasses. And I’d be as blind as a at without them.


Biro and Automatic Clutch Pencil. Again I’m going to lump these two together as essential writing implements. I hated the old “dip in the ink-pot pens” as I always ended up with ink everywhere. Fountain pens weren’t a lot better. I can’t abide blunt pencils but could never sharpen a pencil properly, even with a pencil sharpener and certainly not with a penknife. Good biros and good clutch pencils (I use the Sanford/Papermate PhD range which are so comfortable), while they may not have done a lot for handwriting, have made life so much more amenable. Three cheers for László Bíró and the inventors of the automatic pencil (Tokuji Hayakawa and Charles R Keeran).

So there you have it: seven gadgets for the price of five!

Oh! But wait! I’ve forgotten the most important gadget of all … a wife. 🙂

books, medical, personal, science

Reasons to be Grateful

This week I’ve been reading Richard Wiseman’s 59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot. This is a self-help book but with a big difference. As the book blurb says

Welcome to the new science of rapid change. In 59 Seconds psychologist Richard Wiseman exposes modern-day mind myths promoted by the self-help industry, and outlines quick and quirky techniques that help people to achieve their aims in minutes, not months.

And from New Scientist

This is a self-help book, but with a difference: almost everything in it is underpinned by peer-reviewed and often fascinating research. It could actually help you be a little happier, perform better at interviews, procrastinate less, improve your relationships, reduce your stress levels and be a better parent

And it does exactly what it says on the tin!

In the final chapter Wiseman briefly summarises ten things which he could explain in under a minute (the challenge he set himself at the start of the book) and which could make a difference:

  1. Develop the gratitude attitude
  2. Place a picture of a baby in your wallet
  3. Hang a mirror in your kitchen
  4. Buy a pot plant for the office
  5. Touch people lightly on the upper arm
  6. Wite about your relationship
  7. Deal with potential liars by closing your eyes and asking for an email
  8. Praise children’s effort over ability
  9. Visualise your self doing, not achieving
  10. Consider your legacy

No they aren’t all inherently obvious. And I’m not going to try to explain them here — you’ll just have to splash out a few quid on the paperback.

Do they work. Well clearly Wiseman thinks they do. I don’t know, although I follow the logic behind most of them. So what I’m going to do is try a little experiment of my own here: and that’s try the first on Wiseman’s list which he summarises as:

Develop the gratitude attitude
Having people list three things that they are grateful for in life, or three events that have gone especially well over the past week, can significantly increase their level of happiness for about a month. This, in turn, can cause them to be more optimistic about the future and improve their physical health.

So each weekend I’ll write a short post about at least three (I’ll aim for five) things which have made me happy or which I’m grateful for over the last week. And I’ll aim to do this trough to at least the end of 2012. There’s no control group so it will be hard to know how well it succeeds, other than maybe my qualitative perceptions — but then that is at least half of what it’s all about. Anthony Powell attributes to his character General Conyers in Books Do Furnish a Room:

The General, speaking one felt with authority, always insisted that, if you bring off adequate preservation of your personal myth, nothing much else in life matters. It is not what happens to people that is significant, but what they think happens to them.

So here are my first five things which have made me happy/grateful over the last week:

  1. An excellent Anthony Powell Annual Lecture last evening from Prof. Vernon Bogdanor
  2. Noreen
  3. A stunning flower on our Hibiscus
  4. Sunshine
  5. Beaujolais Nouveau

environment, links, science, sexuality, topographical

Links of the Week

This week’s catch-up on things you may have missed, and which I missed writing about. This week: Sex and Science.

Now I know all maps are a 2D projection of a 3D surface, but I’d never realised before quite how many different ways there were of doing the map projections.

Does bestiality increase your risk of penile cancer? Why would anyone even think to want to find out?

First there was the Human Development Index — a sort of generalised national “happiness rating”. Then someone decided to add some greenness and turned the whole thing upside down.

Lots of interesting, quick and easy video explanations of physics at Minute Physics. Worth a look — and not just for geeks.

Vulvanomics — on female genital cosmetic surgery. Why would anyone? But then as a fully paid up mail I will never understand.

Antibiotics with a side of steak. Worrying commentary on agribusiness.

And finally …

Some lucky women are having orgasms in an MRI scanner. Now how cool is that?

But they’re doing it to show that only Epilepsy brings more activity to women’s brains than does “self-stimulation” to orgasm.

We live in a strange world!

food+drink

Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivée!

Yes, today, the third Thursday in November, is the official release date fr this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau.

Being organised I bespoke mine some months ago, especially as the prognostication was this this would be a good year. For the last few years I’ve ordered from a small wine merchant Nick Dobson Wines who have two excellent Beaujolais suppliers: Philippe Deschamps and Vincent Lacondemine.

My couple of cases (why didn’t I buy more?!) arrived this morning.

We waited until this evening to open a bottle. Well actually we opened a bottle of Beaujolais Villages Nouveau from the small vineyard of Vincent Lacondemine. And if you like your Beaujolais, Lacondemine makes some wonderful “proper” Beaujolais Villages which aren’t outlandishly expensive (I don’t buy outlandishly expensive wine).

It came straight out of the bottle, into the glass and down the gullet. And it was brilliant — it is every bit as good as last year’s stunner. A deep raspberry red in colour, with a hit of blackcurrant. Exceptionally fruity. A slight raw, acidic edge but much less than one would expect from Nouveau. And none of the so frequent yeasty taste. Like all Nouveau this is a drinking wine, not a keeping wine. It will probably be past it’s best by Christmas. (OK, so that’s why I didn’t buy more.)

If you haven’t got to this year’s Nouveau yet, it is well worth it. But you’ll likely not get any from Nick Dobson as he has (all but) sold out — as he deals with such small vineyards and buys not a lot more than he has pre ordered. Obviously I can’t say what other vintners have produced, but if they’re anything like the one bottle we’ve swallowed so far it will be good.

Definitely a Red Wine Letter Day!

amusements, beliefs, quotes, science, thoughts

Quotes of the Week

The usual eclectic and eccentric mix this week …

If you can’t see the bright side of life … then polish the dull side.

Wear short sleeves … Support your right to bare arms!
Thoughts of Angel

The very concept of “average” necessarily implies variability.
Emily Nakoski, On monkeys, bullshit, and scale

I hold this truth to be self-evident, that a debt crisis cannot be resolved with more debt.
Hellasious on Quantum Economics

It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others.
MFK Fisher quoted in Why Do People Eat Too Much?

Ponder less on what you yourself perhaps think than on what will be the thoughts of the majority of others who, carried away by your authority or your reasons, become persuaded that the terrestrial globe moves among the planets. They will conclude at first that, if the earth is doubtless one of the planets and also has inhabitants, then it is well to believe that inhabitants exist on other planets and are not lacking in the fixed stars, that they are even of a superior nature and in proportion as the other stars surpass the earth in size and perfection. This will raise doubts about Genesis, which says that the earth was made before the stars and that they were created on the fourth day to illuminate the earth … then in turn the entire economy of the Word incarnate and of scriptural truth will be rendered suspect.
17th-century Rector of the College of Dijon writing to the priest-scientist Pierre Gassendi. With thanks to Barnaby Page.

medical, science

World Diabetes Day

Today is World Diabetes Day.

Who knew? I certainly didn’t and I have diabetes! So they’ve kept that one quiet. Or was I asleep? Yeah, probably.

Think you don’t need to read this? It’ll never happen to you, will it? Think again. Do the Diabetes Risk Assessment. And then read on anyway.

On this day Diabetes UK are asking us to highlight the 15 healthcare essentials which they see as a basic right of all diabetics. Many are surely the basic healthcare rights of everyone.

I’ve listed these 15 healthcare essentials below with a note of when should get them done and how well I do against this.

  1. Get your blood glucose levels measured. Annual blood test. Check.
  2. Have your blood pressure measured. At least annually. Check.
  3. Have your blood fats (cholesterol) measured. Annual blood test. Check.
  4. Have your eyes looked checked. Annual. Check.
  5. Have your legs and feet checked. Annual. Check.
  6. Have your kidney functions monitored. Annual blood and urine tests. Check.
  7. Have your weight checked. As required. Check.
  8. Get support if you are a smoker. As required. N/A
  9. Receive care planning to meet your individual needs. As required. Never really needed this.
  10. Attend an education course. At initial diagnosis. I’ve only recently been offered this after 6 years.
  11. Receive paediatric care if you are a child. As required. N/A
  12. Receive high quality care if admitted to hospital. As required. Yes, on the odd occasion it’s been needed.
  13. Get information and specialist care if you are planning to have a baby. As required. N/A
  14. See specialist diabetes healthcare professionals. As required but at least annually. Check.
  15. Get emotional and psychological support. As required. Not needed anything specific.

Well I’ve actually done better than I thought. Really only the education has been badly missed.

And as you’ll see little if any of this is onerous. And it is definitely worth doing as these simple actions can head off (or at least catch very early) the common long-term complications of diabetes: heart disease, retinopathy, neuropathy and kidney disease.

You can find more details about each of these here.

beliefs, food+drink, memes, natural history

Listography – Random

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Yet again I’ve not done Kate’s Listography for a few weeks, in part because she has used several weeks of Listography space running a Top 5 Toys for Christmas survey for which I wasn’t eligible (‘cos her rule said “parents only”).

But this week we’re back to normal and I’ll let Kate herself introduce this week’s exam:

This week’s Listography is simple but with a very wide scope — Top 5 Random Things I Like.

Just one word of warning though – random is not ‘I like chocolate’ — that’s just not going to cut it round here. However ‘I like chocolate sauce with my chips’ is getting a bit warmer.

So, in the hope that my choices are whacky enough, here we go …

  1. Wasps. They generally get a bad rap, and I would agree can be annoying. But they are superb creatures and wonderful predators. Without them we’d be knee deep in creepy crawlies.
  2. Plane Crashes. Not because I like seeing people hurt or killed. Of course I don’t and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. No, my interest is forensic and analytical: I like to try to see if I can work out guess what happened and why. Think of it as a giant puzzle game.
  3. Curry with Avocado, Banana and Mayonnaise on the Side. Yep it works really well. Chopped avocado and chopped banana. Mayonnaise instead of yoghurt dressing (although I like that too). It’s a nice combination of flavours and contrasts of hot and cooling.
  4. Latin Liturgy. Despite not being at all religious — indeed I’m anti-religious — I do find that proper Tridentine Latin Mass does something to me. Well it is a spell, isn’t it?!
  5. Deep-fried Haggis. Yep again this works wonderfully well. I first met it 40 years ago when a student: the chip shop nearest the university in York used to sell it. Sausage-sized haggis, thickly battered and deep fried. And bloody good it was too especially on a cold winter’s night after a few pints. Sadly I don’t recall seeing anyone doing it since. And anyone want to try deep fried black pudding — I reckon that would be good too.

So there you are. I’m sure I have more interesting “random likes” than this but they escape me for now. Anyone care to add to the list?