Posts Tagged ‘BBC’
Are you a man or a…
From the BBC, “Sex I.D.: The Brain-Sex Test“– complete a series of exercises, and discover whether your brain functions more like most men’s or most women’s.
As we ponder the mysteries of gender, we might recall that it was on this date in 1776 that South Carolina became the first American colony to declare its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government.
The Palmetto State clearly has an itchy trigger finger: your correspondent’s ancestral seat was also the first state to declare its secession from the Union. On April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries began shelling Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and the American Civil War began.
Revolutionaries fighting the forces of the Crown, Charleston, 1776
(U.S. Army Center for Military History)
The Annals of Judgment, Vol 69: Books, Covers, and All That…
Further to the recent post on weird books, hot news from the Guardian, via Flavorwire:
From Bacon: A Love Story to An Intellectual History of Cannibalism; from Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich to The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin, Bookseller magazine has announced the longest ever longlist for its annual Diagram prize for the oddest book title of the year.
A strong leaning towards the scatological characterises many of the 49 longlisted books, with Peek-a-poo: What’s in Your Diaper?, Father Christmas Needs a Wee, Is the Rectum a Grave? and The Origin of Faeces all vying for a place on the shortlist.
The prize was created in 1978 “during a particularly dull day at the Frankfurt Book Fair.” Past Winners have included: American Bottom Archaeology, Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality, How to Avoid Large Ships, and Living with Crazy Buttocks. Last year’s winner– The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-Milligram Containers of Fromage Frais— was controversial in that it was written by a computer.
The shortlist will be announced, , and voting will commence, on February 19– one can check in on contest founder Horace Bent’s Blog (on the Bookseller site)… or if that’s just not up-to-the-minute enough, one can follow the amusing Mr. Bent on Twitter.
As we head for the library, we might recall that it was on this date in 1938 that BBC Television produced and aired the world’s first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of Czech playwright Karel Capek’s R.U.R., in which Capek had coined the term “robot” (as in “Rossum’s Universal Robots”).
The Banality of Evil– The Next Generation…
From the BBC:
The granddaughter of Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini has said that blood and parts of his brain have been stolen to sell on the internet.
Alessandra Mussolini, a former showgirl turned MP, said she immediately informed the police when she found out.
The listing, on auction site Ebay, reportedly showed images of a wooden container and ampoules of blood.
Ebay, which does not allow the sale of human matter on its site, said that the listing was removed within hours.
The initial price requested for the material was 15,000 euros ($22,000; £13,000).
The rest of the story– including doctors’ assurance that it must be a hoax, as Mussolini’s remains were destroyed years ago– here.
As we shudder our way from the ridiculous to the sublime, we might recall that it was on this date in 1697 that the “new” St. Paul’s Cathedral in London opened– designed by Christoper Wren after the Great Fire destroyed it’s predecessor (which had been designed by many over the years, most presently, by the extraordinary Inigo Jones).
When radio goes wrong…
source: Pandora
From radio broadcasts around the U.K. and the Empire: bloopers, blunders, and embarrassment– all collected at RadioFail.
One should turn one’s volume up and consider, for example, this report of nuclear proliferation…
Or this breathless eyewitness account…
Or (your correspondent’s favorite), this dispatch on an attack against Israel.
Much, much more at RadioFail.
As we twiddle our dials, we might draft a long and involved, dramatically-arched sentence or two, as today is the anniversary of the publication of Henry James’ first novel, Roderick Hudson (1875).
Say “Cheese”…
… or just don the Happiness Hat— a millinery creation of artist Lauren McCarthy:
“A wearable conditioning device that detects if you’re smiling and provides pain feedback if you’re not. Frowning creates intense pain but a full smile leaves you pain free! The first in a series of Tools for Improved Social Inter-Acting.”
…or we could just console ourselves that (as the BBC reports) feeling grumpy is good for you.
As we bare our teeth, we might note that it was on this date in 1215 that the Fourth Lateran Council was convened, at which (among other things) “transubstantiation” was formally recognized and defined by the Roman Catholic Church; from that point, Catholics have been “required” to receive the Eucharist at the least on Easter. (The Council had been called– convoked– by Pope Innocent III with the papal bull of April 19, 1213…)
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