the corner office

The Jesus Gun story is a hoot. The bigwigs (apparently) didn't realise it, but the British military uses telescopic sights which, it turns out, have biblical references embossed on them. The sights are manufactured by an American company, owned by a devout Christian who clearly doesn't belong to the 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' strain of Christianity. Someone realised this might not be a good idea in a war which has already caused many Muslims to feel not just a little bit persecuted.

Ironic, sad or just typical of how religious belief can pervert reason? What else can you conclude from a telescopic sight inscribed with a reference to John 8:12?

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Maybe Jesus gives you bonus light for killing brown people. Extra lumens for a head shot?

Quoth the BBC:

The way fungus-like slime moulds grow could help engineers design wireless communication networks.

Scientists drew this conclusion after observing a slime mould as it grew into a network that was almost identical to the Tokyo rail system.

Which is f-all help if you're trying to design a rail system for anywhere other than Tokyo, was my first reaction.

The story of the two boys who've just been convicted for torturing two other boys is disturbing. What sort of children could do such a thing, we ask ourselves?

This is how the BBC, under a big heading 'Smoked cannabis', described them:

From the age of nine the older brother smoked cannabis and drank cider...

According to the Evening Standard:

Now aged 12, the elder brother was a 20-a-day smoker who regularly drank vodka, lager and cider from the age of nine.

He also smoked marijuana grown on his father's allotment ...

I don't think that 9 year old children should be drinking or smoking anything. I do think the BBC's version betrays a bit of an agenda.

I unintentionally taught Leo to say 'poop on the tracks' (long story). Mom is not impressed, especially when he starts saying it in the car just before Gymboree. Now I know that I should be mortified as well, but I can't help but think it's hilarious.

Thought it was over but nope, woke up this morning to a fresh blanket of snow and snow still falling. What wasn't cool (except literally) was waking up to find our boiler had packed up. "Glad and grateful that I'm indoors where it's nice and warm," I wrote a few days ago. Should've known better than to write that.

As I've sat at my desk the past few days, looking out the window in front of me and seeing the snow falling (yesterday looking somewhat blizzardish at times and today more sedately) I've been thinking two things:

• I'm very glad and grateful that I'm indoors where it's nice and warm

• I wish winter was like this all the time

Oxfordshire County Council leader Keith Mitchell:

I have to ask what has happened to the British spirit that defeated Hitler and yet quails at a little snow?

If every householder and every shopkeeper took some salt and a shovel and cleared the area of pavement in front of their home or shop, we might have regained some of the spirit that has kept this island free for 1,000 years.

but from the same article:

Julian Freeland, a partner at Bicester-based HMG Law, said anyone who cleared pavements of ice could be liable for a personal injury claim if somebody slipped on the treated area.

Q.E.D.

Update: apparently a misconception (see #4), but I think the fact that a lawyer initially said it and that it was widely reported still proves the point, or a slightly different point which boils down to the same thing.

Most of the women wore full veils. This allows them to stare at foreign men, and make lots of direct eye contact, without repercussion. ... I've never been stared at more in my life, by women.

One of Tyler Cowen's recollections of Yemen.

And of course, very best wishes for the new year. My resolution remains, like last year, to Be Happy. I'll also endeavour to ride my bike a bit more and get healthier, get on top of personal admin, and most importantly, try to be more productive in life by spending less time wasting time, so to speak.

Should probably floss more often, as well.

So this is a story about coincidences and connections. Last night Ronwen sat down to watch The Painted Veil on TV (stop reading if you don't like spoilers). I watched the opening part of it until she gave me the rough plot about the betrayal and how they eventually fall in love, and I said "in that case, the dude has to die at the end, right?" and Ronwen said "dunno" and checked on Wikipedia, and of course the dude dies at the end. With an apology for ruining the movie for her, I decided to stop watching and do some late-night surfing instead.

In the beginning of the movie, though, someone plays a tune on the piano. I recognised the tune, soon remembering that it's used in the beginning of a song called Dull Day by the Dead Brothers, an obscure Swiss (mostly) band who are something of a guilty pleasure of mine. Heading off to YouTube, I discovered that the tune was in fact the same, and is called Gnossiennes No 1 by composer Eric Satie.

It doesn't stop there. Reading a comment to the video, I discovered that Dull Day was originally performed by The Birthday Party, an early and influental post-punk band notable for a few reasons, one of which was that their lead singer was Nick Cave. Their original version is quite different but no less excellent. I own one Birthday Party CD which I bought about a decade ago and listened the hell out of for a month or two; I'd intended to get the rest of their stuff, but as with so many bands, never got around to it and apart from an every-few-years 'oh yes, should add them to my wishlist' recollection and mental note, have explored no further.

Just to add another twist, though, I was digging around tonight read, sadly, that Birthday Party guitarist Rowland S Howard, who wrote Dull Day, died two days ago of liver cancer.