Shed language

Far too much fun was had in uk.rec.sheds. Check out the discussion of "official shed units" from the FAQ. For instance: For angles, Mr Passingham Indeed suggests that the shed unit of rotation should be the ajar, defined as: the angle between a door and its frame when there's a slight draught coming through: subsequent discussion indicates that the chord of this angle will be the width of a British Standard Cat."

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Diabetes Australia NSW are flogging "glutten free" Xmas puds. Hooray! :-)

War Stories

Jon and I are both writing novellas for War Stories, a Bernice Summerfield book from Big Finish which will be published next year. The third story in this collection of three linked novellas is by Philip Purser-Hallard. Mine's called All Mimsy Were the Borogroves, I'm 7,000 words deep into the 25,000 words total, and I'm having a ball. :-)

ID

The latest New Scientist (16/12/06) reports on a change in tactics by proponents of Intelligent Design. One reason they've been thrashed in court for promoting religion as science is that they've done no scientific research. Funded by organisations such as the Discovery Institute, a handful of scientists are doing research with a view to its use in promoting ID, probably in the courtroom.

This is a clever move. Pointing out that ID is "not science" sounds like an insult, rather than a fact crucial in a First Amendment court challenge. (It's not poetry, either.) If ID proponents can get some papers published, they have a chance of giving their religion the cachet of "science" - perhaps even of convincing judges.

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I also wanted to mention that, according to Discover, a curious Richard Dawkins had the God Spot in his brain stimulated and was disappointed he didn't have a mystical experience. This adds fuel to my personal theory that some people have the gene and the neural structures for religion, and some don't, and wonder what on earth the rest of us are on about. :-)

Jeeves and Wooster

The Fry and Laurie Jeeves and Wooster finally popped off my rent-by-mail DVD queue. Observations:

1. Stephen Fry is eight and a half feet tall.
2. Ha ha ahhaahaha!
3. Oh, it rhymes with Worster and not rooster.
4. I suddenly imagined Jack 'n' Ianto in these roles. *brain boing*

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Now I'm watching Brokeback Mountain, at long last. I can't make out anything either of the young men are saying; for all I know they're discussing fellatio or horticulture. Wyoming is certainly very pretty.

ETA: I've said this before, but having spent long months separated from my beloved, I can't think of anything sadder than the fact that people are still separated, and not by things as trivial as oceans.