Quote of the Post: "Most modern calendars mar the sweet simplicity of our lives by reminding us that each day that passes is the anniversary of some perfectly uninteresting event." - Oscar Wilde

Random Playlist Song: Art of the Fugue - Contrapunctus IX (a 4, alla duodecima). I can't hear Gould's humming. Maybe they edited it out.

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EMJEM on censorship:

"I think I should sit on the Board of Film Censors. I'd be great. I'd make the most diabolical cuts in the entire history of censorship. For starters, I'd cut Hermione Granger out of Harry Potter on the basis that Emma Watson's burgeoning sexuality is nurturing pedophilia and serves as a release for the inner Humberts of middle-aged men. Just ask Adri how many people are out there searching for ‘Hermione Granger porn' or ‘Emma Watson porn'.

Then maybe I'd refuse to accept any version of Troy in which Brad Pitt is walking around half-naked for most of the show: “Let's see how many Trojans you can kill now that you have to wear clothes. Not so immortal now, huh, pretty boy?”"

Ooh, cunning. The bit about Malays (at the bottom of the page) is worth a read too.

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Incarnate Word set to fly as Cardinals - "The University of the Incarnate Word is expected to announce at a news conference Thursday afternoon that Cardinals will replace Crusaders as the mascot of the school's athletic teams... The Crusader had served as UIW's mascot since 1980. But in the post 9-11 era, the school decided the symbol was offensive to Muslims and inappropriate for a Catholic institution that welcomes students of all faiths and is working to strengthen its international relationships... UIW isn't the only school to abandon Crusaders out of concern that it might be offensive to people of the Islamic faith. In 2003, Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) replaced Crusaders with Sea Lions. In 2000, Wheaton College (Ill.) dropped Crusaders in favor of Thunder."
Political correctness is almost as dumb as Zero Tolerance

Rev. George M. Malkmus and his Hallelujah Diet - "Reverend George M. Malkmus (1934- ) claims to have eliminated his colon cancer and other serious health problems more than 25 years ago by "following biblical principles for a natural diet and healthy lifestyle." He and his wife Rhonda Jean operate Hallelujah Acres, where they hold seminars, sell products, and advocate a diet that features raw fruits and vegetables. Malkmus and his followers claim that his methods have helped people with obesity, cancer, arthritis, and more than 100 other health problems."

School bans all skirts - "A mixed state school has banned girls from wearing skirts because their hemlines were getting too short. The governors at Kesgrave high school near Ipswich, Suffolk, have ordered all female pupils to wear trousers because girls were turning up for lessons in skimpy miniskirts."

Corruption In Kota Kinabalu Immigration & Police Malaysia. Destroy my life , my family, and my Business - "My Story with Kota Kinabalu Immigration and Police and how they destroy my life and suck my blood. crying not enough - pain as much as any human been can stand. my kids tears asking me to go back could kill the stone. wife looking for money every where to buy medicine to my kids. i knocked every door as much as you can imagine asking for help but nobody want to listen ... and i will not stop till i die for my rights"

Is phi a mystical number as claimed in The Da Vinci Code? - "Your height divided by the distance from your belly button to the floor = phi. Get out. Behold the line segment in the drawing. The only people of height AC with their belly buttons at point B are named Igor. On me the ratio is about 1.7, not 1.618+. A huge difference? No, but Brown's hero observes, "Plants, animals, and even human beings all possessed dimensional properties that adhered with eerie exactitude to the ratio of phi to 1." That's just not so."
Looks like Dan Brown's maths is as bad as his history.

Five shitty movies that everyone loves - I love the Tom Clancy plot generator. It's like the generate-a-conspiracy-theory / write-your-own-song-lyrics thing that Mad Magazine has. The one I made: "Communists devise a scheme to take over a generic industrial compound for ransom under the watchful eye of corrupt German officials (played by Americans with fake German accents). The plot twists when the Communists threaten to unravel the keystone of civilization with wild orgies, unless a turncoat naval officer can gain the courage to do the right thing and stop the Communists once and for all. The movie ends with a mildly comical and/or ironic scene in which the Communists blow up or go to prison. Another satisfying tale of political intrigue and personal redemption closes, and we all walk away from this movie a little wiser."

Twenty Questions - The AI will guess an object you're thinking about in 20 questions.

How a Hen Lays Her Egg - "Laying an Egg. An interesting event!"

Clean and Dirty. Housework puts women in mood for love - "At least one in five fantasise about a hunky man interrupting them while they were dusting. And one in 20 dream of naked male cleaners."