Happy Summer Solstice 2009

A picture I took of the Stones last night...

International Year of Astronomy 2009

..The year 2009 will be remembered for many reasons, but the IYA2009 will hopefully be memorable for all astronomers - hobbyists as well as professionals..

Grand Designs Live - in London

Grand Designs Live London sponsored by British Gas at ExCeL London
NOW OPEN...

25 April to 4th May 2009, open daily 10am - 6pm

The award winning event for design and inspiration for your home has returned to ExCeL London and we will be open for ten days between 25 April and 4 May.

I've been a couple of times to the show this week and I highly recommend it to anyone, although most things for sale are outrageously expensive. But if you like Design like me then it's still worth taking a look and attending a few seminars!

Scientists find most Earth-like exoplanet ever

.."Astronomers have unveiled the lightest exoplanet ever detected and, in the same distant solar system, the first "serious candidate" for a world with abundant liquid water, both conditions essential for supporting life"..

Sounds rather exciting doesn't it! :D

Artist Travels the Thames to Celebrate 21st Anniversary

A Hampton artist is sketching and painting her way along the 184 miles of the Thames as part of a month-long mission for charity. Sue Bailey began walking the length of the river on April 4, to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the River Thames Boat Project, which owns and operates Richmond Venturer, a specially equipped 26m Dutch barge which provides day and residential cruises and educational activities for people with disabilities. She will record her journey with paintings and sketches and hold an exhibition of selected artwork afterwards.

More into here...
The River Thames Boat Project

The Dog, The Cat...and The Rat

∗ This has got to be one of the most adorable videos I've seen in a long time ∗

This is a video of a homeless man in Santa Barbara, California USA and his pets. They work State Street every week for donations. The animals are pretty well fed and are mellow. They are a family. The man who owns them rigged up a harness for his cat so she wouldn't have to walk so much (like the dog and himself). At some juncture the rat came along, and as no one wanted to eat anyone else, the rat started riding with the cat and, often, on the cat! The dog, will stand all day and let you talk to him and admire him for a few chin scratches. The Mayor of Santa Barbara filmed this clip and sent it out as a holiday card.

Newfound Black Hole Duo Could Make Space-Time "Ripples"

© National Geographic News



.."Two newfound black holes on the verge of crashing into each other could be creating "ripples" in the fabric of space-time, astronomers suggest"..

The Sea of Galilee 1942

One of my Granddad's was a member of the Eighth Army "The Desert Rats" during WWII in North Africa & the Middle East. As well as acquiring a few medals along the way including a mention in dispatches, he also spent part of his time taking some spectacular pictures of the places he visited. Here's a few images he took in black & white while at Galilee in 1942.

All the following images & labels © H.C Perrott (1910-1979)...


Galilee


Road by Galilee



Sea of Galilee


Sunset on the sea of Galilee

More info...
Eighth Army

Fish with human faces spotted in South Korea

.."The "humanoid" carp are attracting attention in the town of Chongju in the centre of the country where they live in a small pond.

They are believed to be hybrid descendants of two carp species – the carp and the leather carp, also known as a tangerine fish.

Both fish are females and more than three feet long. They appear to have distinctive human noses, eyes and lips"..

∗ Those creatures look like those from "The Abyss" ∗

Weird Facts That You Probably Didn't Know

© Metro.co.uk

• There's a mountain range the size of the Alps hidden underneath the ice of Antarctica - and nobody knows how it got there. The Gamburtsev Mountain Range stretches for 1,200km, and is up to 3,400m high - but because the ice is 4km deep, nobody's ever seen them. Current theories of how massive mountain ranges form (either by continental plates colliding, or through volcanic activity) don't seem to explain how these mountains might have been created. A scientific expedition is currently being planned to study them in more detail, in an effort to work out what they're doing there.

• The four suits now commonly used in a deck of cards originated from France around 1480. The kings on the cards are the faces of some of the great kings in history. The King of Spades is King David, who was regarded as the founder of the Judean royal dynasty by the 9th century BC. The King of Clubs is Alexander the Great, the ancient Greek King that conquered most of the world known to his countrymen. Hearts is King Charlemagne- leader of The Franks, who in the Middle Ages conquered most of Western Europe. And King of Diamonds is Julius Caesar, the Roman king who played a significant role in the transformation of the Roman Empire.

• On February 10, 1355 rioting broke out in Oxford between the scholars of the University and the townspeople - started by an argument over the quality of wine in a local tavern, during which 'saucy' words were spoken. Almost 100 people died in the ensuing fighting.

• The Niagara Falls ran dry on March 29, 1848, after an ice dam further up the Niagara River blocked the flow of water from Lake Erie. People were able to walk along the river bed for a day before the ice broke.

• A beer flood hit London in 1814 after a giant vat burst. More than 1million litres of booze spilled from a brewery in Tottenham Court Road, killing nine people – including one from alcohol poisoning.

• 14 ships and their crews were trapped when the Suez Canal was closed due to the 1967 Six-Day War. They remained stuck there for eight years – during which time they set up their own postal system (complete with stamps), held a mock Olympic games, and formed a yachting club. They were known as the 'Yellow Fleet', because of the amount of sand that collected on their decks.

• The unofficial anthem of Cornwall, The Song Of The Western Men (otherwsie known as 'Trelawny'), was composed by Robert Stephen Hawker, an eccentric, opium-smoking priest in 1824 – but he passed it off as a long-lost traditional poem, fooling Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens in the process.

• In 1997, scientists recorded a mysterious, powerful, low-frequency noise under the sea. The 'Bloop', as it is known, appeared to come from a gigantic animal, far larger than any known creature. What made it remains unknown.

David Attenborough on Charles Darwin

.."On the 200th anniversary of the great scientist's birth, Sir David Attenborough muses on how he changed the world"..

*saw the tv programme this evening. Was amazing. Wish I had recorded it now. Damn*

The Isles of Scilly paradise

Link to interview...
Sam West's Heaven on Earth

I've always admired the Isles of Scilly. Was meant to go there many years ago with my Mum, but never got around to it. From what I've seen on the tv etc, it's an extremely beautiful place to visit. Quite near Cornwall. The nearest I've been to this place was facing its direction from ontop of the Land's End landmark about 15 years ago now. I hope to get the opportunity to visit the islands one day. It's on my 10 things to do before I'm too old to care list. :)

Erratic weather 'harms wildlife'

Photo by Alice Russell


The Global warming effect...
.."UK wildlife is struggling to cope as erratic and unseasonal weather has taken its toll for a second consecutive year, the National Trust says"..

Where have all the Sparrows gone?

A female House Sparrow

More info here...
House Sparrows.com

When I was a small kid the Sparrow (didn't know there were several types) was my favourite bird. I used to watch them in my Grandparent's garden as they came to feed from the bird feeders and dodge her cats who for the most part ignored them. Some days my Nan would open up her french doors to let in the sun, and occasionally a Sparrow or two would briefly hop inside to check us out. How I miss them days.

So recently I discovered that there aren't many Sparrows about. Well that's what has been officially reported. In fact in my part of London we have quite a few of them hanging about, but that's probably because we are in close proximity to the Hackney Marshes with it's nature reserve. At the corner of the road where I live there is a very sweet colony of Sparrows who reside in a large bush inside an overgrown garden. Some days, usually in the warmer months there are so many of the little creatures that the whole bush will shake and come to life. And the noise is very funny. So much squabbling in their community. Their patch. A friend mentioned that she didn't know there were any left, but there are. Lots of them in my neck of the woods anyway it seems. In my garden I have the odd one too, but my beloved moggy can't be trusted so for the moment I will refrain from adding a feeder. I do get other species of bird though, like Magpies, Jays and blue tits...wood pigeons and Robins as well as the crows. I prefer the Sparrows because they are so cute and have such a character about them.

Early one morning

All images taken by me while out on my bike...


A seagull walking on the ice. It falls through it soon after. The poor
thing got the shock of its life. I wonder if the bird knew it was
walking on solid water? The Moorhens and Coots were out in force too
that day. Scavenging for food and trying not to get run over by
passing bikes on the tow path.



Ice everywhere. Like broken glass. So fragile yet beautiful. I had
to get my camera out before it melted. It's so peaceful early in
the morning. You can almost pretend you're somewhere else like
in the countryside or in another time.



Birds under the bridge...the only place with no ice. I heard a canal
boat behind me as it cut its way through the water very gently.
Quite fascinating to watch and listen to the ice crack. Also hard to
believe these waterways are man made. Many locks along the way too.

Sunset in the Docklands

All images taken by me...

*simply beautiful*

My favourite Claude Monet paintings

Such a beautiful garden...it makes me wish that I was there... *sigh*


Garden Path, Giverny by Claude Monet




The Artist's Garden at Giverny - Claude Monet (1900)

Artists Bio...
Claude Monet

Rats return to Hamelin, no sign of Pied Piper

Yahoo news Tuesday, November 18 05:08 pm
Just ahead of the 725th anniversary of the Pied Piper reputedly banishing a plague of rats from Hamelin, there has been an "explosion" in the German town's rodent population, officials said Tuesday. The spokesman for the northern town, known as Hameln in German, said the sharp rise at an abandoned garden allotment site on the edge of the town was because the rats had a plentiful supply of food from an adjacent rubbish dump. According to legend, a colourful or "pied" rat catcher lured all the rats out of town in 1284 by playing his pipe. When the townspeople refused to pay him, he did the same with Hamelin's children and they were never seen again.