News You Can Use [Archive] - Mania Forums - Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Entertainment

rch

10-15-2006, 03:09 AM

We like to hang out and discuss "current events" with the Muse of the News...

Mnemosyne

10-17-2006, 07:27 PM

The Muse

:jump2:

Headliners

Stonehenge '7 Wonders' finalist (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/6058282.stm)

An airship has flown over Stonehenge to celebrate the 5,000-year-old landmark's inclusion on a shortlist to decide the seven wonders of the modern world.

Fifty robed druids performed a ceremony inside the circle to mark the event.

Scientists find large meteorite in Kan. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_sc/kansas_meteorite;_ylt=Aop54dMEO7a.x0oEXszB.ojMWM0F ;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MzV0MTdmBHNlYwM3NTM-)

Scientists were excited when they pulled a 154-pound meteorite from deep below a Kansas wheat field, but what got them most electrified was the way they unearthed it.

The team Monday uncovered the find 4 feet under a meteorite-strewn field using new ground-penetrating radar technology that someday might be used on Mars.

Pagan Graves in Vatican Basement! (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/%2015255311/%20site/newsweek/)

Relax, they’re 2,000 years old, and the Vatican’s so proud of them that it’s putting them on display.

Just inside the Vatican's fortified walls, directly below the street connecting its private pharmacy and its members-only supermarket, lies a 2,000-year-old graveyard littered with bizarre, often disturbing displays of pagan worship.

:hugs: Thanks D!

Odds & Ends

Cadaver exhibit draws complaint (http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=5550340&nav=8fap)

SEATTLE Operators of a museum in Seattle featuring U-F-O and Bigfoot displays and ghost tours have asked that touring exhibition of cadavers be halted.

Some Internet addicts cover up habit: study (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061017/wr_nm/internet_addiction_dc;_ylt=AkMgrjgyRZWmr5NaffL6kb3 MWM0F;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-)

More than one in eight U.S. adults finds it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time and about one in 11 tries to hide his or her online habit, according to a study released on Tuesday.

Indian town turns pink to shake dark past (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061017/od_afp/indiaarchitecturecrimeoffbeat_061017151000;_ylt=Ai xAVYtyzjw7NmOlRjDAULbMWM0F;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBH NlYwM3NTc-)

Residents of a depressed eastern Indian town are painting it pink in a bid to boost morale and cut crime.

Aurangabad, in India's Bihar state, was a hotbed of Maoist rebel activity, and suffered from killings, extortion, kidnapping and inter-caste wars, Arvind Kumar Singh, a senior local government official, told AFP on Tuesday.

"We are hoping that the colour pink, which is soothing and pretty, will erase these blots from the past and make the town look attractive," Singh said of the initiative, which kicked off in June.

Turkey Testicle Festival can keep name (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061018/ap_on_fe_st/turkey_testicle;_ylt=AuabLNroeJ16cs24YKQwCnPMWM0F; _ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc-)

Organizers of fourth annual Turkey Testicle Festival can keep their name, despite concerns about the propriety of the word and the island's virtue.

Lost, Found & Resurfaced

Not for sale yet - the 'cursed' 14 pieces of silver worth £100m (http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1924109,00.html)

One of the most beautiful and infamous treasure hoards of the 20th century, 14 pieces of Roman-era silver of staggering quality, will resurface today on display in London, to the consternation of leading archaeologists who regard it as archaeological loot.

Although Bonhams auction house, which will display the Sevso Hoard, insists no sale is planned, the Marquess of Northampton who bought the silver for an undisclosed sum in the 1980s recently said he "hopes" the silver will be sold, and that it has "cursed" his family. It now belongs to a trust he founded.

Experts investigating origins of Newport landmark (http://www.eyewitnessnewstv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5549834&nav=F2DO)

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) -- It's a famous Newport mystery-and now a team of archaeologists is taking another crack at solving it.

Experts yesterday began excavating the area around the Old Stone Tower in hopes of investigating who built the landmark-and when and why.

Did we plough up the Garden of Eden? (http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=2&subID=1007)

I am standing above an archaeological dig, on a hillside in southern Turkey. Beneath me, workmen are unearthing a sculpture of some sort of reptile (right). It is delicate and breathtaking. It is also part of the world's oldest temple.

If this sounds remarkable, it gets better. The archaeologist in charge of the dig believes that this artwork once stood in Eden.

rch

10-18-2006, 12:33 AM

DVB

10-18-2006, 09:30 AM

Yup -- but look who was given the
:hugs: Thanks D!!

D :)

DarkJedi

10-18-2006, 08:09 PM

Uh... does this mean that I'm an internet addict?

In any case, I think we should DEFINITELY celebrate the Turkey Testicle Festival... in fact, we should declare this a 23.5 sacred holy day!

And you just HAD to bring the blue blob with you!:tongue:

You are crazzzzzzzzzy! Any festival incorporating the word "Testicle" and most likely something involving "eating" testicles is frightening.

A bouncing ball is your punishment for wanting to dedicate such a concept as a sacred holy day. In fact, make it two!:jump2: :jump:

The story on painting buildings and the city pink as a deterrant to hostility had me laughing. I loved that story. If only hostilities could be fixed like that.. :D

rch

10-19-2006, 12:18 AM

Fortunately for you, the article doesn't say exactly WHEN the Testicle Festival is held, so we don't know WHICH days to declare holy...

Does this mean that I can delete the double bouncing ball punishment, if I promise to find another 23.5 Holy Day that doesn't involve testicles?! Argh.

(note to self: Cinescape Admin is twitchy about testicle festivals, avoid where poss)

DVB

10-19-2006, 03:13 AM

You are crazzzzzzzzzy! Any festival incorporating the word "Testicle" and most likely something involving "eating" testicles is frightening.

Ah, andouillettes... :)

Very enjoyable to eat in a roll while wandering around le marche mediaeval in Chinon (in the Loire Valley, France) -- but not so appetising when served up on a plate as our pre-gig meal at a bar in the same town: our vocalist went quite queasy...

D

Mnemosyne

10-19-2006, 03:58 AM

Yup -- but look who was given the
!
D :)

:jump2:
DVB:

Nice to see you here! Did you watch The Devil Rides Out yet?

Mnemosyne :lol:

Mnemosyne

10-19-2006, 04:02 AM

Fortunately for you, the article doesn't say exactly WHEN the Testicle Festival is held, so we don't know WHICH days to declare holy...

The festival is set to go off November 18th:

Festival's name draws concern (http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061004/NEWS01/61004005/1075)
Some fear it is offensive

A popular Fort Myers Beach food festival could be castrated.

Some Beach councilmen want the testicle word removed from the Fourth Annual Turkey Testicle Festival scheduled Nov. 18. They said it could be offensive and want it dropped from banners and other forms of advertisement.

DarkJedi

10-19-2006, 12:01 PM

I don't see what's offensive about it. The word "testicle" seems to be the most official word variation for the body part..Those beach councilmen are nutty themselves for thinking that way, pun intended.

Now, the thought of kicking......eating........putting testicles in a bread roll and walking around.....that can be seen as something strange enough to make some men go "Where am I? Is this the Twilight Zone? Wake me up when it's over!"

(note to self: the 23.5 Admin is eager to talk about testicle festivals! :lol: :hugs: )

Mnemosyne

10-19-2006, 01:42 PM

The Muse

Headliners

Experts create invisibility cloak (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6064620.stm)

A US-British team of scientists has successfully tested a cloak of invisibility in the laboratory.

The device mostly hid a small copper cylinder from microwaves in tests at Duke University, North Carolina.

It works by deflecting the microwaves around the object and restoring them on the other side, as if they had passed through empty space.

Characters who 'shaped the world' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6066724.stm)

Santa Claus and Barbie are among some of the "most important characters" to have shaped society, behaviour - or even swayed the course of history.

Topping the list in a book of The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived is Marlboro Man - a 1950s marketing creation to boost cigarette sales.

The book's three US co-authors say that his biggest influence has been to cause the death of millions from cancer.

At number two is writer George Orwell's Big Brother, followed by King Arthur.

Calling teaspoon benders! Geller seeks "heir" on TV (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=peopleNews&storyID=2006-10-18T171047Z_01_L1894593_RTRIDST_0_PEOPLE-GELLER-DC.XML&WTmodLoc=EntNewsPeople_C1_%5BFeed%5D-7)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - After four decades of bending spoons, halting clocks, reading minds, and penning metaphysical thrillers, Uri Geller is seeking a paranormal protege.

Darwin's entire works go online (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1925715,00.html)

A missing notebook clutched by a Shropshire lad who circumnavigated the globe, returned to Britain, and demolished the Victorian hubris that humans stood alone as the pinnacle of creation is published for the first time today.

The original notebook, which documents Charles Darwin's observations throughout his five-year voyage to the Amazon, Patagonia and the Pacific aboard HMS Beagle, is presumed stolen, but using a microfilm copy, Cambridge University scientists today make it available free online, along with the entire works of the scientist credited with the most important advance in science of the past 300 years.

:jump2:

Odds & Ends

Suicide Note Leads to Dismembered Body (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2586226)

Suicide Note by Man Who Jumped to His Death Leads New Orleans Police to Dismembered Body

NEW ORLEANS - After Hurricane Katrina, Zackery Bowen and his girlfriend Adriane Hall appeared in news stories as examples of young people who had pressed on in the battered city despite evacuation orders and a lack of power and water.

Their story came to a disturbing end this week: Bowen leapt to his death from a hotel, leaving a note that led police to a French Quarter apartment where they found a woman's charred head on the stove, limbs in the oven and torso in the refrigerator.

The 15 Freakiest Web Sites (http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,127508-c,sites/article.html)

Bad dates, B-movie terrors, meat that eats meat, and meeting places for the dead: All these horrors and more make up our list of the freakiest Web sites.

Fla. boater stabbed in chest by stingray (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061019/ap_on_re_us/stingray_stabbing)

An 81-year-old boater was in critical condition Thursday after a stingray flopped onto his boat and stabbed him, leaving a foot-long barb in his chest, authorities said.

"It was a freak accident," said Lighthouse Point acting fire Chief David Donzella. "It's very odd that the thing jumped out of the water and stung him. We still can't believe it."

I want to Believe

Lights in sky over Tinley Park have UFO believers looking up (http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=4672066)

October 18, 2006 (TINLEY PARK) - The past two years have seen autumn sightings of unidentified lights in the night sky over Tinley Park and the surrounding area, and a local UFO investigator says the truth is out there.

According to Sam Maranto of the Illinois chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, there have been more sightings recently. "The sightings in Tinley Park were very important, and we have had more (in recent weeks)," Maranto, of Orland Park, said.

Residents share details of reported UFO encounter (http://www2.townonline.com/billerica/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=596630)

A man and woman in Billerica claim their lives have been altered since a huge, luminous object they said appeared over their porch one winter evening, levitating the woman, blistering the man's hand, and leaving white, powdery material that quickly disappeared afterward.

Arts & Leisure

The mystery of 'Lady with a Fan': was she a fugitive French duchess? (http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1902184.ece)

With 13,000 advance tickets sold, the first substantial exhibition in Britain of the 17th-century Spanish master Velázquez, which opened yesterday, is certain to be a bigger draw for the National Gallery than any of its previous blockbusters - including Vermeer, Titian and Caravaggio.

But the work that is absorbing devotees of Spain's greatest painter and pre-eminent exponent of baroque is to be found a short distance across London, in the former French embassy building which houses the Wallace Collection. Here resides Velázquez's work Lady with a Fan (c1630-1650), which has been the source of long arguments over the identity of the elegant sitter who betrays the faintest hint of décollete.

Your Weather

Antarctic ozone hole biggest on record, U.S. reports (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061019/sc_nm/environment_ozone_dc)

This year's ozone hole over Antarctica is bigger and deeper than any other on record, U.S. scientists reported on Thursday

hawklord

10-23-2006, 05:28 PM

I've been doing the news on another website and I've just noticed the front page has some unusual Google Ads embedded in it.

Ads by Google

UK Security Training
Btec Counter Terrorism Training Full SIA Training programmes

Police Terrorism Act
Get The Latest Police Terrorism Act News From Police Review Magazine.

UK anti terror solutions
New gas masks, nbc suits and gloves Large stock with worldwide delivery

ECSI Security Specialists
The leader in Electronic Security Government, Defense, Private Sector

I can only assume that that little lot was triggered by the Knights Templar story, which includes the phrase, "King Philip IV of France ordered for hundreds of the ... monks to be rounded up, tortured, and massacred for alleged crimes against Christianity."

It makes a change to see nuclear radiation suits advertised on the site!

rch

10-24-2006, 05:59 AM

How poignant that we now live in a society where the innocent mention of a extinct religious group triggers anti-terrorist references...

rch

10-24-2006, 06:05 AM

I got the following notice from David Oates, the discoverer of Reverse Speech, which is similar to the Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP):-

Due to popular request the David John Oates Reverse Speech Show Internet Broadcast will be starting back up again commencing this Friday Night, October 27th, from 7pm to 11pm PST (Saturday 12-4 in Australia). You can listen to this show by visiting the show's site at:-

http://r.vresp.com/?ReverseSpeech/331552197e/738552/3b4b9346a2/d683482.

This show will also be carried on the Internet by the ghost radio network at:-

http://r.vresp.com/?ReverseSpeech/92e2cd66c3/738552/3b4b9346a2/d683482

and will be listened to by thousands of people.

The show this Friday night will be a special Halloween show. See guest
list below

SPECIAL HALLOWEEN SHOW
7-8: David Oates and new reversals
8-9: Reverse Speech Practitioner Terese Johnson (Live in studio)

http://r.vresp.com/?ReverseSpeech/3315a06228/738552/3b4b9346a2/d683482

9-11: Dr. Dave Oester & Dr Sharon Gill - EVP
http://r.vresp.com/?ReverseSpeech/69adc90771/738552/3b4b9346a2/d683482

Hope to see you there.

DVB

10-25-2006, 06:15 AM

rch

10-25-2006, 11:43 AM

?sdrawkcab ro sdrawrof tsacdaorb eb ti lliW

divaD

...onnuD

You get a bouncing blue blob for that! :jump2:

DarkJedi

10-25-2006, 04:36 PM

Oh no, Robin....I've added another smiley just to throw at you and your minions in times of utter distraction. :D

Behold!

:jump: :jump2: :wookie: :jump2: :jump: :wookie: :jump: :jump2: :wookie:

<-------------- Evil!

rch

10-26-2006, 04:35 AM

Arrrrggggghhhhhhh... it's the Attack of the Smilies!! :puke:

hawklord

10-26-2006, 10:40 AM

I think there's a clear need for a RED blob :)

My fav so far is the 'eek' one, ie :eek:

PS: I'm visiting folks north of London at present, and my internet access is at a minimum.

DarkJedi

10-26-2006, 02:11 PM

Your wish is my command. You WILL ALL be MaNiaCs soon with our torture skills... :D

:jump: :jump2: :jump3: :jump: :jump2: :jump3:

rch

10-26-2006, 09:43 PM

I think we're converted now... we never want to go back. You're stuck with us!:wink:

hawklord

10-27-2006, 03:54 AM

Testing...

:jump3:

Aah, excellent! Cheers, DJ.

(I'm in Lincolnshire this morning, having a strong mug of coffee before I drive across England...)

Mnemosyne

10-27-2006, 04:14 AM

DVB

10-27-2006, 07:02 AM

Seeing the light (http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1587572006)

WHEN he caught sight of the bright red pentagon glowing above the great rose window of Rosslyn Chapel, Alan Butler almost let out a scream. At that point, he knew beyond doubt that Rosslyn was far more than just another medieval church.
Fascinating. I was in the middle of reading this when my new red laser pointer arrived from eBay! Synchronicity...

One of these days I really must get up to Rosslyn Chapel.

D

DVB

10-27-2006, 07:11 AM

(I'm in Lincolnshire this morning, having a strong mug of coffee before I drive across England...)
Hawklord -- maybe those of us living in or around London (UK, not Ontario or Ohio), or passing through, should meet up for a pint sometime. There are at least three of us in 23.5 Degrees...

D
Hey, did you know there's a smiley for coffee? :coffee:

AdrianGilbert

10-27-2006, 10:40 AM

Is there a smiley for beer? If not, we should make one!:poke: and :puke:

hawklord

10-27-2006, 02:57 PM

Hawklord -- maybe those of us living in or around London (UK, not Ontario or Ohio), or passing through, should meet up for a pint sometime. There are at least three of us in 23.5 Degrees...

Yeah, sounds good! The only 23.5-er I've met so far is Robin, so it'd be good to put a few more faces to names :)

Smilies: yeah, I see the 'coffee' one! What the hell :wookie: is, I really don't know, at present...

AdrianGilbert

10-28-2006, 01:32 AM

How come I can't get an avatar to upload? Is it because I'm an untainted newbie?:dunno:

DarkJedi

10-28-2006, 01:39 AM

That's definitely not why.. Newbies are allowed avis. :)

User CP---->Edit Avatar---->Click on Custom avatar-------> Link to your photobucket avatar.

Is it 100x100 pixels or lower? What's the file size(kbs) of the avatar?

Come on, Hawkie...Every good community needs a dancing Wookie(Chewbacca). :wookie: :wookie:

rch

10-28-2006, 07:29 AM

Also, I forgot... I think a beer smilie is a great idea! Can we have wine, too? We're very civilised down here in 23.5... we need to have our evening cocktails!

rch

10-28-2006, 07:50 AM

Fascinating. I was in the middle of reading this when my new red laser pointer arrived from eBay! Synchronicity...One of these days I really must get up to Rosslyn Chapel.

Maybe we should embark on a 23.5 Scientific Mission?

Butler and Richie's book sounds interesting... they've almost got the full picture worked out, I guess I'll have to buy the book to see how far they've gotten.

I have a book about Rosslyn published in 1892 by one of the antiquarians (who also personally signed it!) involved in the Victorian renovation of the chapel (which was derelict until Queen Victoria embarassed them into restoring it)... written long before the Sinclair Propaganda Machine kicked in, by tracking down some of the references in the book this enabled me to get to the bottom of some of the coding, which they are very close to - we're definitely all thinking along the same lines.

It might be fun to put some of our pieces of the puzzle together, but I'd like to go up there and check a few things out first...

AdrianGilbert

10-28-2006, 08:44 AM

I can't see your avatar either, Robin. This is in IE6. Do you think there is some prejudice going on here?:ohwell:

DVB

10-28-2006, 09:43 AM

I have a book about Rosslyn published in 1892 by one of the antiquarians (who also personally signed it!) involved in the Victorian renovation of the chapel

"To Robin... Have a great future!"

rch

10-28-2006, 01:45 PM

I uploaded the avatar from my computer files... I've never heard of photobucket. Is this the problem? Can you explain in baby-language what photobucket is and how to use it??

DarkJedi

10-28-2006, 02:47 PM

Sure thing! :)

Photobucket (http://photobucket.com/) is a free Video & Image file sharing program. Basically, you sign up(registration only takes moments to create) and you will have your own online Photo and Video album from any image files you run across and want to save to it.

Most sites don't like hotlinking to other sites so this photobucket album is essential to putting up image files in whatever you want to do..

Once you have your album ready to go, you click on "Browse" and "Upload" any image files from your computer you want onto your online album...in this case, your avatar or any other cool photos.

After your avatar is uploaded, you will see your image on the album below....with 3 boxes of codes below the picture you uploaded.

Codes under your uploaded album picture
URL
Tag
IMG

Just copy the IMG tag box of code....come to our forums or wherever you need to put the photo at and paste the code you copied.

In this case, copy the IMG code tag for your avatar....come to your User CP--->Edit Avatar----->Custom Avatar---->Avatar Link: http//(link to your photobucket avatar IMG tag

It's easy to do and dead useful anytime you have a photo which you want to put up with your posts. Quick and Easy.

Mnemosyne

10-29-2006, 05:42 AM

The Sunday Morning News

:coffee:

Odds & Ends

Da Vinci Fingerprint Reveals Arab Heritage? (http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/10/28/leonardoprint_his.html?category=human)

Leonardo da Vinci may have had an Arab heritage, according to Italian researchers who have isolated and reconstructed the Renaissance master's fingerprint.

The fingerprint represents the only biological trace of the Florentine genius, said Luigi Capasso, an anthropologist at Chieti University.

The lazy person's last minute guide to Halloween (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3565-2424984.html)

The party started twenty minutes ago and you're still in the pub,

Cheap fairy wings and fake blood? Pah. There are plenty of ways to get into the spirit of Halloween for half the price and quite frankly no effort whatsoever.

Psychopath (apprehended):
Steal an oversized white shirt from your Dad/housemate. Then sew or staple (effort level up to you) the sleeves together and voila! One straitjacket. Don't sleep for two days prior to the party for added effect.
Effort: 2/5

Black cat adoptions banned on Halloween (http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2006/10/28/black_cat_adoptions_banned_on_halloween/)

BOISE, Idaho --No black cat will cross your path this Halloween, not if a northern Idaho animal shelter can help it. Like many shelters around the country, the Kootenai Humane Society in Coeur d'Alene is prohibiting black cat adoptions from now to Nov. 2, fearing the animals could be mistreated in Halloween pranks -- or worse, sacrificed in some satanic ritual.

Because we don't already have enough fried foods.. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061027/od_nm/life_coke1_dc)

NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters Life!) - A new fast food is making its debut at U.S. fairs this fall -- fried Coke.

Abel Gonzales, 36, a computer analyst from Dallas, tried about 15 different varieties before coming up with his perfect recipe -- a batter mix made with Coca-Cola syrup, a drizzle of strawberry syrup, and some strawberries.

Who on earth would pay $1 million for hell? (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061028/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_life_hell)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - No one was buying hell on Friday -- or at least its red-hot Web address.

HELL.com was among hundreds of Internet domain names up for auction in Hollywood, Florida, by domain asset management provider Moniker.com, a unit of marketing services firm Seevast Corp.

I want to Believe

Builder tells of bizarre sighting (http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=znews&itemid=IPED27%20Oct%202006%2010%3A53%3A34%3A840)

DID you spot a UFO flying over Ipswich yesterday morning? If you did you wouldn't be alone.

A 34-year-old builder is today convinced he can't have been the only one to spot three strange objects in the morning sky.

Giving up the Ghost Story (http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2006/10/30/news/news04.txt)

A Spirit-Finding Team Arrives in Little Tokyo

If there is such a thing as ghosts, Downtown should be full of them. The hundred-year-old buildings, some boarded up, some veiled behind new storefronts, are fraught with hidden histories. The phantoms of the original pueblo settlers must watch as the city evolves. The glamorous actresses who once filled the theaters of Broadway must linger on, waiting for their audiences to return.

Have you heard the one about the spirit of a lady in Victorian garb who haunts the Biltmore Hotel? Or the one about the man who walks City Hall, haggling for some long-forgotten cause?

Arts & Leisure

Time runs out for Dr Who tickets (http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=time-runs-out-for-dr-who-tickets--&method=full&objectid=18006298&siteid=50082-name_page.html)

A ONE-OFF concert featuring music from Doctor Who has sold out in record time.

Every ticket for the star-studded event at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on November 19 had been snapped up after only two hours of going on sale.

A 'Ghost Whisperer' Expert (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/28/earlyshow/saturday/main2135147.shtml)
James van Praagh Helps A TV Show With Authenticity

On the CBS primetime drama "Ghost Whisperer," communicating with dead people happens all the time. But if you thought that talking to spirits only happened in Hollywood, think again. One of show's executive producers, James van Praagh, is a real-life ghost whisperer.

Atheists top book charts by deconstructing God (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1934329,00.html)

In the wake of one religious sensation, The Da Vinci Code, publishers are scoring a second success with sceptics

Secularism is suddenly hip, at least in the publishing world. A glut of popular science books making a trenchant case against religion have soared up the bestseller lists both here and in America. The phenomenon represents a backlash against a perceived rise in religious fundamentalism and recent crazes for 'spirituality' by way of books such as The Da Vinci Code. Secularists are now eager to show that the empiricism of science can debunk the claims of believers.

Book paints escape-artist Houdini as spy (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061028/ap_on_en_ot/houdini_biography)

NEW YORK - Eighty years after his death, the name Harry Houdini remains synonymous with escape under the most dire circumstances. But Houdini, the immigrants' son whose death-defying career made him one of the world's biggest stars, was more than a mere entertainer.

Muse Cuisine

:lol:

Pumpkins and squashes: Not just for Hallowe'en (http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/food_and_drink/features/article1930946.ece)

Roasted pumpkin and tomato with mascarpone and salmoriglio

I hesitate to call this a soup because it would happily serve as a main course. Slowly roasting the tomatoes and pumpkin together intensifies the flavour, giving it a deep, well-grounded sweetness that is delicious and satisfying.

Serves 4

DarkJedi

10-29-2006, 04:50 PM

I wonder what the long-established Ciners think of our tendency to go off-topic :D

LOL Going off topic is a favorite past-time for Maniacs...We're right at home with it, Hawkie. :)

Just letting all of you know..

I've created a new Photobucket account and Email for your users of this forum. I called the photobucket account:

twentythreestaff

Same for the email.

Think of this as a community photobucket account for your users who visit this forum. If you find a great photo to go with your posts and want to incorporate it with your posts, all you have to do is go to this link:

http://photobucket.com/login.php?link=topmenu

Log into the 23.5 community photobucket...upload the photo to the album and then copy/paste the IMG tag for that pic you uploaded into whatever post you're creating.

I won't put up the login password over the open boards so if you want to have access to the 23.5 community photobucket account, just pm Robin or me and we will tell you the login name and password for the photobucket account...

Testing the photobucket account now:

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o240/twentythreestaff/mars.jpg

Good to go!

hawklord

10-30-2006, 03:33 AM

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o240/twentythreestaff/sunrise-007.jpg

Venus transiting the sun (you'll have to take my word for it)

DVB

10-31-2006, 03:45 AM

Sometimes the strangest things happen in the streets of grubby, noisy, untidy London. On Sunday afternoon, just a few minutes' walk from London Bridge railway station, there was a festival called October Plenty. A procession followed John Barleycorn from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to Borough Market.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o240/twentythreestaff/Barleycorn.jpg

There a troupe of actors performed Syr John Falstaffe in Love while the audience tried unusual old British apples, bought weird and wonderful sausages (I think one was pheasant and venison), drank beer or mead, and generally had a great time. Robin and I slipped off to a local hostelry for a while, with another friend, a stalwart of the London Pagan scene.

Later the actors executed John Barleycorn, throwing the vegetables that made up his body into the crowd; I saw a few people catch enough to make a great stew, but I was only able to catch a garlic bulb (always useful!) and a shallot. I tried explaining to an astonished American tourist who John Barleycorn was, and why he had to be executed each year in order to live again. It was only when I mimed drinking a pint of beer and a glass of whisky that she understood.

And later again we processed to the gates of the ancient Cross Bones Graveyard, the final resting place of prostitutes of that part of London in centuries past, to decorate the gates in their honour. After all, they paid their taxes to nearby Southwark Cathedral! A small Pagan group have suceeded in stopping several office blocks being built on the site over the years, have erected a plaque to those who lie there still, and hope one day to build a peaceful garden there, in the heart of the bustle of London.

Many of us (but now sans Robin) ended up in The George, a 1677 coaching inn frequented by Charles Dickens, hidden down a little alleyway two minutes' walk from the busy London Bridge station, to celebrate John Barleycorn in action. I think the prostitutes of Southwark would have approved.

David

AdrianGilbert

10-31-2006, 05:03 AM

Darkjedi, I love that picture of Mars. They always used to say that the Moon was made of green cheese. However, it is clear from this picture that mars is a very ripe Stilton. Astronauts going there with a few bottles of Port should find themselves well set up.

Adrian:)

Suzanne Olsson

10-31-2006, 04:39 PM

Dear Adrian and all,
The best way to creat avatars is to download a sweet little free program from the internet...

http://www.j-q-l.freeserve.co.uk/avatarsizer.htm

Even if the picture is 8 1/2 X 11 on your scanner, it will immediately create it as a 100x100 pixel avatar.(after you set the dimensions you want).no matter how complex the colors.. what I recommend is that you create a new desktop folder "avatars" and dump a bunch of pics into it so you can always quickly grab the ones you like...already sized..it's super easy to do with this program.

If you want to use animated avatars, they offer that program too
(I dont care to use them so I didn't download that program)
They ask for a one-time 5 dollar donation, and they're well worth it..but I haven't sent it in yet..
All the best,
Suzie

AdrianGilbert

11-01-2006, 07:46 AM

Yippee! I got it working. :jump2: :jump2: :jump2:

Now you see what a nice shield I have. Anyone recognise the arms?

Suzanne Olsson

11-01-2006, 04:33 PM

WOO WOO
Go Team! Just look at these terrific avatars suddenly appearing here!
I am impressed by you all.
Sorry Adrian, I don't recognize the shield or the Coat of Arms...watch out though, I'll wager several here already know it..this is an astute bunch we're running with here..
I will remain as their token blond...every forum has to have one...for the humor .
Suzie

DVB

11-01-2006, 04:59 PM

I will remain as their token blond...every forum has to have one...for the humor .
Suzie
Suzanne, I would not be so crass as to call you a token anything... but surely in your case it should be blonde, not blond...?
:wink:
David

Suzanne Olsson

11-01-2006, 06:34 PM

Dear David,

'Blond' is the masculine:
'Blonde' is the feminine:

The word is Anglo-French

All Dictionaries generated on that side of the pond would indicate this, and authors would be expected to apply the correct gender.

However in America the dictionaries unilateraly apply 'blond' as gender-less.
(I cheated. I just checked several online dictionaries)

I will look further into this regarding American vs. European application of the two spellings, just in case I misunderstood something..

Seems the large body of water between us affects more than just our accents. :-)

Sue

DarkJedi

11-02-2006, 12:37 AM

So you're still set on being the token revolving around the colour blonde or the color blond. :wink:

Works for me. lol

hawklord

11-02-2006, 01:24 AM

Now you see what a nice shield I have. Anyone recognise the arms?
At first glance, I thought it was the flag of the County of Devon. But that's a white cross with black border, on green.

DVB

11-02-2006, 03:15 AM

'Blond' is the masculine:
'Blonde' is the feminine:
It's almost the only adjective in English which has gender-specific spelling. It's interesting that you say that in America blond is the usual spelling for both. In Britain when people get it wrong (which they frequently do) the usual spelling is blonde and that is incorrectly applied to men ("He had blonde hair"), rather than the other way around ("She had blond hair"). As a pedant, I wince at both...

You may be right about the cultural/historical differences. In Britan we would be more likely to refer to a fair-haired youth rather than a blond youth which, for me, conjures up the mental image of Ralf, the Nazi boyfriend of Lisle in The Sound of Music. (My apologies to all the blond young men on this Forum!)

Suzanne Olsson

11-02-2006, 03:21 AM

Dear Adrian,
I know nothing of heraldry...but your shield seems strongly Scandinavian to me
(note the name Olsson?)...

AdrianGilbert

11-02-2006, 04:02 AM

Dear Adrian,
I know nothing of heraldry...but your shield seems strongly Scandinavian to me
(note the name Olsson?)...

I love Scandinavia and have spent quite a bit of time in Sweden. However, that's not it. It is actually based on the attributed arms of King Arthur: a white cross on a green background with the Virgin Mary in the the chief quarter dexter. In old manuscripts she is usually shown sitting with the child Jesus in her lap. I thought I would keep it simple and just show her head.

I chose this symbol because it relates to a project I am working on but I may change it again soon. I get bored with things pretty quickly. Must be the fire-sign in me.:D

Adrian.

PS Is Olsson a shortened form of 'Olaf's son'? Just wondering. There was a famous St Olaf in England: a Viking who turned Christian and helped the Saxon's of London fight other vikings. At least I think that's what he did. I expect he had blond (note the spelling Dave) hair too.

neglet

11-02-2006, 07:16 AM

It's almost the only adjective in English which has gender-specific spelling. It's interesting that you say that in America blond is the usual spelling for both. In Britain when people get it wrong (which they frequently do) the usual spelling is blonde and that is incorrectly applied to men ("He had blonde hair"), rather than the other way around ("She had blond hair"). As a pedant, I wince at both...

You may be right about the cultural/historical differences. In Britan we would be more likely to refer to a fair-haired youth rather than a blond youth which, for me, conjures up the mental image of Ralf, the Nazi boyfriend of Lisle in The Sound of Music. (My apologies to all the blond young men on this Forum!)

According to my dictionary, "blonde" is the preferred British spelling for the adjective:

blonde (bland)

adj.
blond: esp. fem. form, but in Brit. usage preferred for all senses

n.
1. a blond woman or girl

But, as you can also see, "blonde" is used to indicate feminine gender when used as a noun. So what you see here in the States are any of the following:

"blond" as an adjective, applied to either gender: "He has beautiful blond hair--but he should, he's a golden retriever." "I don't know why she dyed her hair blond, she looked better as a redhead."

"blonde" as an adjective, applied only to females: "I don't think her hair is naturally blonde."

"blonde" as a noun, applied to females: "She may look like a dumb blonde, but she's actually a brain surgeon."

I suppose in the U.S. you would use "blond" as a noun if you were applying it to a male, but men are rarely described by a single physical characteristic that way. Hmmmm, that hardly seems fair. Why don't we describe more men as "leggy," "busty," "blond," or "brunet"?

DVB

11-02-2006, 08:12 AM

According to my dictionary, "blonde" is the preferred British spelling for the adjective:
Originally Posted by Webster's
blonde (bland)
adj.
blond: esp. fem. form, but in Brit. usage preferred for all senses
n.
1. a blond woman or girl
Webster's is, of course, an American dictionary........
In fact, in my Webster's (which I find useful for checking these quaint colonial spellings :) ) it does say:
(blond only) a boy or man with yellowish hair and air skin
(blonde only) a girl or woman with such hair and skin
So even dear old Noah gets it right in the end!
Why don't we describe more men as "leggy," "busty," "blond," or "brunet"?
Busty men? Now I'm getting worried! But "brunet"? Yikes! Not a word that exists in (British) English.
Truly, two countries separated by a common language (almost)...

David

PS Did you realise that was your 2,000th post? Happy something-or-other!

neglet

11-02-2006, 08:30 AM

Oh, I know "brunet" isn't a real word, but I don't think any man wants be described as anything-ette ....

No need to tell me about language differences, I lived in the London area for 4 years and my UK bandmates were always "taking the mickey out of me" for saying things like "pants" instead of "trousers."

Of course, if one of you folk said your little boy needed a rubber, so he decided to knock up his neighbor, I'd be quite aghast! :D

DVB

11-02-2006, 08:52 AM

Oh, I know "brunet" isn't a real word, but I don't think any man wants be described as anything-ette ....
It's in my Webster's, as brunet, brunette.... The Concise Oxford and SOED keep silent about its possible existence. But Chambers has a very interesting entry: brunette (masc brunet)... -- putting the feminine form first. Unusual, but I like it.

I have a lot of time for the Chambers Dictionary. It's published in Edinburgh, where you will find the purest English spoken. (Cf. France, where the purest French is to be found in and around Tours, nowhere near Paris.) It's authoritative without being stodgy. For example, under blonde it has these sub-entries: blond beast, blonde bombshell, blond- or blonde-lace and (don't hit me, please!) blonde moment n (sl) a temporary period of stupidity, supposedly characteristic of women with blonde hair.

Ducks rapidly, and runs like hell.....

D

hawklord

11-02-2006, 12:09 PM

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o240/twentythreestaff/graham/devonflag.jpg

Devon flag (testing the forum in its new home)

Suzanne Olsson

11-02-2006, 01:12 PM

David ran too fast..I was going to attempt to tickle him to death..
Either he has a heightened sense of survival...or a heck of a lot of experience with blondes.
something learned in the Boy Scouts no doubt..?

You forgot to mention
"Blondes have more fun...."

Seriously though, being a dumb blond(e) can have advantages on occassion...
and I love those occassions..

:-)

Suzanne Olsson

11-02-2006, 01:16 PM

Hi Adrian,
Yes, I believe you're correct...way back when, the Ol'son apparently meant son of...
I am aware the different spellings reflect the country of origin:
Olsen was Swedish (?)
Olsson was Norwegian
Olefson was Denmark (?)
I probably have these mixed up...it's been so many years since I knew the differences..
It's not so unusual...since ancient Egypt, Yuz Asaf meant 'son of Joseph.'

I've never been to the Scandinavian countries...I've heard so many wonderful things I wish I could have seen them. Closest I ever got were red eye flights in the old days. The cheapest flights to London then were New York-Rikavic (Iceland)-Glasgow-London...whew! But saved about fifty dollars a flight then.

.is Iceland anywhere near Scandinavia? If it is, that's the closest I ever got ..but that's one of the scariest landings in the world...heading straight for a sheer rock cliff rising out of very dark, deep waters;
miss it by an inch and it's a quick watery death on the rocks far below...
Sue

AdrianGilbert

11-03-2006, 03:44 AM

Hi Adrian,
Yes, I believe you're correct...way back when, the Ol'son apparently meant son of...

.is Iceland anywhere near Scandinavia? If it is, that's the closest I ever got ..but that's one of the scariest landings in the world...heading straight for a sheer rock cliff rising out of very dark, deep waters;
miss it by an inch and it's a quick watery death on the rocks far below...
Sue

Iceland is actually nearer to Britain than Scandinavia. At least I think so. Its closest neighbour is Greenland. However the people who populate both countries came from Scandinavia. In fact I think Greenland is still a part of Denmark. (I may be wrong on that, so David please correct me if I am).

Icelanders speak a rather archaic form of Scandinavian language, so I believe. Swedish and Norwegian are very similar but Danish has a bit more of a German influence. I expect your ancestor Olaf came from Norway. St Olaf, besides doing a good job fighting other Vikings in the Thames, was also King of Norway. He is in fact the patron saint of Norway.

To change the subject: I have been puzzling over your avatar. I am thinking it must be your daughter rather than yourself. Would I be right?:)

neglet

11-03-2006, 07:30 AM

Iceland is actually nearer to Britain than Scandinavia. At least I think so. Depends where in Scandinavia. Denmark and Norway are actually the closest to Britain, depending on which end of the island you start from. It's a three-hour flight from London to Rekjavik, and a little longer than three hours to Helsinki. (I've taken both.) But it's only a couple hours to Copenhagen and Oslo.

Its closest neighbour is Greenland. However the people who populate both countries came from Scandinavia. In fact I think Greenland is still a part of Denmark. Correctamundo!

Icelanders speak a rather archaic form of Scandinavian language, so I believe. Swedish and Norwegian are very similar but Danish has a bit more of a German influence. Yes. All are classified as North Germanic languages. Danish is closest to Norwegian, not German, but that's a common mistake since of their geographical proximity, plus the fact that there are many Danish-speakers in Germany in the Schleswig border area and it's a protected regional dialect.

My favorite word in Icelandic: Snyrtingar, which means "toilet." (Always the most important word to learn when visiting a foreign country.) I believe I may name a pet that some day.

Mnemosyne

11-04-2006, 07:01 AM

A Week of Musings

:popcorn:

Headliners

Stonehenge 'in serious trouble' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/6112476.stm)

The Unesco World Heritage site Stonehenge is "a destination in trouble", a new survey has found.

The National Geographic Traveler magazine marked the site 56 out of 100 against criteria including historic preservation and tourism management.

Survey panellists said Stonehenge was a "mess", "over-loved" and "crowded".

Odds & Ends

Headstone found at Dickinson home (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061103/ap_en_ot/dickinson_grave)

For Emily Dickinson, death was never too far from the imagination. The topic fueled her writing, making for some of the most memorable lyrics in American poetry.

Now, death is posing a bit of a puzzle for the caretakers of her homestead.

While making improvements to the grounds of the Emily Dickinson Museum on Halloween, workers unearthed the gravestone of one of the poet's relatives.

:eek:

French press declares Halloween dead (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061031/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_life_france_halloween_1)

Halloween, ancient Celtic festival or U.S. marketing gimmick according to your point of view, is dying in France after a short-lived breakthrough, French media reported on Tuesday.

"Halloween pretty much buried," the daily le Monde reported, quoting Benoit Pousset, head of costume company Cesar, who attributed the festival's demise in France to "a cultural reaction linked to the rise of anti-Americanism".

Jonesing for a world record (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061103/od_nm/britain_jones_dc;_ylt=Akh4DPCy2apfx_ucDOaGPDHMWM0F ;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc-)

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - The saying "Keeping up with the Joneses" could not have been more apt on Friday as Joneses from around the globe headed to Cardiff to set a new world record.

Joneses from as far afield as the United States and Australia flocked to the Welsh capital to beat the world record for a gathering of people with the same family name.

Crowds expected for barrel event (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6116182.stm)

Record crowds are expected in a Devon town for the centuries-old tradition of rolling flaming tar-barrels down the main street.

25,000 people are expected at the event in Ottery St Mary's but police and organisers do not want any more people to come because of safety fears.

Guest houses and hotels in the area are fully booked and coach parties have been organised locally and from London.

Visitors and film crews are expected to attend the 400-year-old tradition.

Man finds letters to God at sea (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-11-03T205839Z_01_N03339291_RTRUKOC_0_US-LETTERS-GOD1.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C5-oddlyEnoughNews-3)

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A U.S. man who found 300 letters to God floating in the Atlantic Ocean said on Friday he will donate them to a church instead of selling them on eBay following protests from religious people.

The letters, sent to a deceased Baptist clergyman, mysteriously wound up in a sealed plastic shopping bag near a beach in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Black humour among cemetery's graves (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6102426.stm)
Belfast is certainly infamous for its black humour, but that phenomenon is finding its way into the darkest of places - the graveyard.

A new book looking at the history of the City Cemetery displays some of the more curious and humorous elements associated with death.

'Written In Stone' by Tom Hartley features one headstone bearing the message "I Told You's I was Sick" and another with the epithet "Beam Me Up Lord", from an ever-hopeful Star Trek fan.

I want to Believe...

Professor's Bigfoot research criticized (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061104/ap_on_sc/professor_bigfoot;_ylt=Arc9JbRAWmSoXGn1DnE4HnHMWM0 F;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-)

Jeffrey Meldrum holds a Ph.D. in anatomical sciences and is a tenured professor of anatomy at Idaho State University. He is also one of the world's foremost authorities on Bigfoot, the mythical smelly ape-man of the Northwest woods. And Meldrum firmly believes the lumbering, shaggy brute exists.

Tabloid Treasures

Evangelical leader says he bought drugs (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061104/ap_on_re_us/haggard_sex_allegations;_ylt=AtusEc3kMDtaT5SO_hg0C jPMWM0F;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Rev. Ted Haggard said Friday he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a male prostitute. But the influential Christian evangelist insisted he threw the drugs away and never had sex with the man.

But would he inhale :headscratch:

Flavored condom ad in bad taste? (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061103/od_nm/india_condom_dc;_ylt=AhpKpoNOMI7Q5kaHNRKQltvMWM0F; _ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc-)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian authorities want to stop the daytime airing of a television advertisement promoting flavoured condoms saying it is obscene and in bad taste, a newspaper reported Friday.

Urban Cowboy Corrals Bull in New Jersey (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-bull-on-loose,0,7340527.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines)

NEWARK, N.J. -- It took an urban cowboy from the farms of South Africa to corral and lasso a 600-pound bull running loose Friday in the streets of New Jersey's largest city.

For Denton Infield, now an animal control officer, rounding up wayward cattle was second nature, even if the scene was not.

Mnemosyne

11-05-2006, 06:50 AM

The Sunday Morning Muse

:coffee2:

Odds & Ends

Dolphin May Have 'Remains' of Legs (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2629683)

Researchers Say Dolphin Has 'Remains' of Legs, Possible Evidence Ocean Mammals Lived on Land

TOKYO - Japanese researchers said Sunday that a bottlenose dolphin captured last month has an extra set of fins that could be the remains of hind legs, a discovery that may provide further evidence that ocean-dwelling mammals once lived on land.

Fishermen captured the four-finned dolphin alive off the coast of Wakayama prefecture (state) in western Japan on Oct. 28, and alerted the nearby Taiji Whaling Museum, according to museum director Katsuki Hayashi.

A Harry Potter witch hunt (http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/opinion/15927318.htm)

Mom who hasn't even read the books says they teach witchcraft :eek:

The suburbs of Atlanta are at the center of a witch hunt. Literally.

Laura Mallory, a former evangelical Christian missionary and mother of four, has been trying since September 2005 to have the Harry Potter books by author J.K. Rowling removed from all of the Gwinnett County public school libraries. Initially she argued that the books were inappropriate because of "evil themes, witchcraft, demonic activity, murder, evil blood sacrifice, spells, and teaching children all of this," but she later added that they promote witchcraft, Wicca, and the occult.

Bad vibes in Glastonbury after Catholics against pagans (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2436968,00.html)

BY THE light of the full moon, witches in Glastonbury will tonight be casting a “circle of protection” around Britain’s centre of mysticism after a group of militant Christians cast salt at them in an attempt to “cleanse” the town of paganism.

One Roman Catholic was fined and two cautioned by police after the “alternative Hallowe’en” festival in Britain’s centre of magical mysticism turned into a spiritual battle between Christianity and paganism

Nazi 'master race' children meet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6117744.stm)

A group of children selected by Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime with the aim of creating an Aryan master race has met openly for the first time as adults.

Children from the Nazis' "Lebensborn" or "Font of Life" project gathered in the German town of Wernigerode to discuss the trauma over their origins.

The project aimed to create a breed of people that fitted the Nazis' physical ideal and could manage a future empire.

It saw thousands of often illegitimate children placed in Nazi members' homes.

Police confiscate mummy from Mich. woman (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061105/ap_on_fe_st/mummy_for_sale;_ylt=AlKHr0h8HR9Bc2IEckwlFFrMWM0F;_ ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc-)

Mummified human skeletal remains confiscated from the home of a woman who police say was trying to sell them on eBay likely came from an early 19th century Scottish collection, authorities said.

Museum begins reattaching Venus' head (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/15914650.htm)

ATLANTA - Conservators trying to restore a 1,900-year-old statue of Venus have put their heads together with airline maintenance inspectors who usually scrutinize welds and repairs in jet engines for any cracks.

Officials at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University this summer bought the Roman marble statue and its head, which had broken off sometime in the past 170 years.

Modern Humans, Neanderthals May Have Interbred (http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20061030/hl_hsn/modernhumansneanderthalsmayhaveinterbred)

There may be a little Neanderthal in all of us.

That's the conclusion of anthropologists who have re-examined 30,000-year-old fossilized bones from a Romanian cave -- bones that languished in a drawer since the 1950s.

According to the researchers, these early Homo sapien bones show anatomical features that could only have arisen if the adult female in question had Neanderthal ancestors as part of her lineage.

The Wild Side

Octopus: Genius of the deep (http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1956568.ece)

They can use tools and experience pain and stress. Octopuses are so intelligent they may win special protection in laboratory research - and from the cruelty dished out by some restaurant kitchens
Author William Burroughs saw the octopus as a "highly emotional" creature, liable to change red with lust or pale green with fear. But in British laboratories, cephalopods are regarded as a species so unsophisticated they are denied even basic legal protection.

Not only can cephalopods be experimented upon live, their vivisection does not require a licence. As a result, there is no record of how many are being used in lab tests or for what they are being used. But compelling new evidence about their abilities means that may be about to change.

DVB

11-05-2006, 09:02 AM

AdrianGilbert

11-06-2006, 12:02 AM

Thanks for these, Soph. Two prime examples of religious bigotry in A Harry Potter witch hunt and
Bad vibes in Glastonbury after Catholics against pagans. I've passed them both on to a Pagan/Esoteric Yahoo group I'm on, and also to a colleague who used to be a BBC religious affairs correspondent and now runs a religious PR consultancy.

David

It would take more than a pinch of salt to exorcise Glastonbury. At one time it used to be a wonderfully spiritual place, the glorious ruins of the great abbey giving it a truly Christian aura of sanctity. Today it is a nest of vipers all vying to sell the latest snake-oil to gullible tourists. Fortunately it is not the real Avalon...but that is another story for another time.:)

DVB

11-06-2006, 06:29 AM

It would take more than a pinch of salt to exorcise Glastonbury. At one time it used to be a wonderfully spiritual place, the glorious ruins of the great abbey giving it a truly Christian aura of sanctity. Today it is a nest of vipers all vying to sell the latest snake-oil to gullible tourists. Fortunately it is not the real Avalon...but that is another story for another time.:)
Um, see The Holy Kingdom: The Quest for the Real King Arthur by, ah, Adrian Gilbert, Alan Wilson & Baram Blackett, perhaps? :)

AdrianGilbert

11-06-2006, 07:27 AM

Um, see The Holy Kingdom: The Quest for the Real King Arthur by, ah, Adrian Gilbert, Alan Wilson & Baram Blackett, perhaps? :)

You might say that, Dave, I couldn't possibly comment.:Smirk:

Mnemosyne

11-06-2006, 04:45 PM

Mnemosyne

11-06-2006, 04:47 PM

Thanks for these, Soph. Two prime examples of religious bigotry in A Harry Potter witch hunt and Bad vibes in Glastonbury after Catholics against pagans. David

I thought you would like them! :Laugh:

Mnemosyne

DVB

11-07-2006, 02:44 AM

Da Vinci judge pens coded message letter (http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/city/2006/11/06/0c187a09-5b1c-42d1-99dc-430fe17c47a2.lpf)

A TOP judge who presided over the Da Vinci Code plagiarism trial has challenged students and alumni from his old Cambridge college to crack his own coded message.

Mnemosyne :chewiedance:

What a job to have:
Other cases he is "fortunate to have heard" have involved boxer Lennox Lewis and Kylie Minogue's bottom, he says.
(I'm assuming that was two different cases.......) :Mwahaha:

DVB

11-07-2006, 03:34 AM

Over here, on the more historic side of the pond, we still do it in the old-fashioned way, making an X mark with a soft pencil stub. No hanging chads here, though a few years ago my local council tried out an electronic voting machine, with all the problems that that involved. Never again. (I gather you have them over there as well. And yours don't work either...)

Mnemosyne, DarkJedi, Suzanne and the rest of you, you probably think that we have some strange political customs, like (albeit only partially) an hereditary upper house. But for us, we look over the water with utter bemusement every four years, and today at Half Time. How many billions of dollars have the two sides spent over the last few weeks? How many lies have both sides told about the other in their TV commercials? And for us Brits, probably the most disturbing thing of all is the involvement of religion (particularly the Christian Right) in politics. It's all utterly surreal.

It's a shame that the article I originally wrote for issue 5 of Phenomena magazine, when we still thought we had a physical magazine, was never used. It was called "Should God be in the White House?" and it looked at the holy alliance between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics in influencing the 2004 presidential election. Here's the final para:

Religion has played a huge part in Bush’s election for a second term. What we should all be asking ourselves is this: Is that a good thing? Or, in a democracy, should the election of our political leaders be free of influence from religious pressure groups? Should God be in the White House? Or should religion and politics be kept firmly apart? The President, like all politicians, must represent and serve people of all faiths and none; otherwise, the USA risks becoming a theocracy. And that would be seriously bad news not only for all Americans; but for the whole world, too. Because the other question we have to ask is this: When the religious right call in their favour, what will be their price?

It was a very pessimistic piece!

So, have fun today, guys. Exercise your right as citizens of your democracy. Go dancing to your polling booths in your brightest glad rags! Be surreal as you make your mark. And the most surreal thing of all, remember the wise words of the man who is now Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, some twenty years ago:
If voting changed anything, they'd abolish it.
:bounce: :chewiedance: :bounce: :chewiedance: :241: :chewiedance: :bounce: :241: :chewiedance: :bounce: :chewiedance: :241: :bounce: :chewiedance: :241: :chewiedance: :bounce:

AdrianGilbert

11-07-2006, 05:15 AM

DVB

11-07-2006, 05:56 AM

If only it were that simple Dave. Are you forgetting that this corrupt Government of ours has introduced postal voting on a massive scale? Since the votes of many are collected by 'minders' there is the opportunity now for major abuse of the system...
...Blair has much to answer for: gerrymandering the British voting system is only one of his many crimes.:Angry:
Agreed absolutely. But I suspect it was cockup rather than conspiracy on Blair's part. He has a tendency to come up with bright ideas without thinking them through. "Gosh, ah, let's make it lots easier for people to vote. But don't worry about the details, safeguards and things; we can sort those out later, yeah?"

But it's not just here. Remember the 2000 presidential election? Remember Florida? If I recall correctly, significant numbers of postal votes from Americans living overseas (who statistically are more likely to vote Democrat) simply didn't arrive in time to be counted, or vanished altogether. And with the extreme closeness of that election, that may have made a crucial difference. Ditto 2004, in certain states -- Ohio for one, I think.

As I write this I'm listening to a US political commentator saying: "The equipment is extremely complicated and temperamental... We'd be better off with paper and pencil, but that would be too simple." In some states both parties have been encouraging people to vote by post because they reckon this is more reliable than the machines!

Despite my cynicism about the entire so-called democratic system (who was it who said "It doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always gets in"?), I always vote, and have stood for election as a councillor twice (the person who beat me on one occasion is now a Liverpool MP; she used to be honest Old Labour, and I had respect for her even when I disagreed with her, but now she's sold out and become one of Blair's Babes).

May I just say to our former-colonial friends ( :wink: ): "Good luck today!"
And may the least-worst politicians and party win.

AdrianGilbert

11-07-2006, 09:29 AM

Agreed absolutely. But I suspect it was cockup rather than conspiracy on Blair's part. He has a tendency to come up with bright ideas without thinking them through. "Gosh, ah, let's make it lots easier for people to vote. But don't worry about the details, safeguards and things; we can sort those out later, yeah?"

That's just the trouble. We should be making it a lot harder to vote. If people can't be bothered to walk down to their local village hall or whatever and cast their vote in a ballot box, then they shouldn't have one. Only in extreme circumstances (being in hospital for example) should postal voting be allowed. The idea that you encourage the lazy to vote by post (actually their votes are collected bynpolitical 'modrators') is downright corrupt. You may as well have people voting by phone, like they do in Big Brother or I'm a Celebrity.

Only an idiot like Blair would think this is a good thing. He probably does so because he reckons lazy slobs are more likely to be Labour voters than Conservative. In that he is probably right. I'm just worried that his mates are going to gerrymander another victory and give us an 'historic' labour fourth term. The prospect gives me nightmares and encourages me to emigrate.:puke:

hawklord

11-07-2006, 12:05 PM

We should be making it a lot harder to vote. If people can't be bothered to walk down to their local village hall or whatever and cast their vote in a ballot box, then they shouldn't have one.
I'm all for people having options, but I really only want that to apply to responsible people who have earned a right to vote. Don't know how you'd work that in practice. I'm very pro-technology, and I don't like politicians (sorry, Robin :D ) but I hate the idea of "the people's vote" in law-making - electronic voting from home, and instant law-making by a bunch of knee-jerk tabloid readers... yuk!

The prospect ... encourages me to emigrate
There's a lot of it about, these days, or so I hear.

DVB

11-07-2006, 04:48 PM

0045 GMT, and the first East Coast polls have just closed -- and already they're saying:
1. Major complaints about the machines.
2. The lawyers are lining up to start slugging it out first thing in the morning.
And an astonishing 3. One-third of Evangelical voters have voted Democrat -- and if they've voted in any numbers, that's going to make some difference. Fallout from Ted Haggard's little indiscretions, or something a bit deeper?

AdrianGilbert

11-08-2006, 02:06 AM

Now for something really important. I can't find a pair of scissors anywhere. I know there are at least eight pairs in the house but as usual they have all disappeared. What is it about scissors that they vanish? They are like socks which when you wash a few pairs invariably one pair comes out a sock short.

The scissors problem is made all the more urgent because so much modern packaging defies opening with bare hands. You need either a sharp knife (can be dangerous if it slips) or a pair of scissors to get at the contents.

Is there a scissors heaven? Are there bands of roving tinkers who sneak into our houses at the dead of night and steal any scissors they can find? Does anyone have any good advice on where to look? I am desperate.:eek:

This is a real problem and of far more import than any elections for Congress which, no doubt well-equipped with scissors of all sorts, will carry on business as usual making preparations for World War III.

DVB

11-08-2006, 03:00 AM

Now for something really important. I can't find a pair of scissors anywhere. I know there are at least eight pairs in the house but as usual they have all disappeared. What is it about scissors that they vanish? <snip>
Is there a scissors heaven? Are there bands of roving tinkers who sneak into our houses at the dead of night and steal any scissors they can find? Does anyone have any good advice on where to look? I am desperate.:eek:
You need to train them, and that entails sometimes having to be firm. They have to learn where their home is, and always to return there. And you have to help them. Never ask them to do tasks that are beyond them. My bacon scissors (cutlery drawer in kitchen) know their work, and my paper scissors (desk drawer in study; yes, I've just checked them, and they're purring) know theirs, and I think it would be not only unreasonable but cruel of me to ask them to swap places and responsibilities.

So, to sum up: be kind but firm with them. Teach them where they live, and how to get back there. And don't overstress them; they like a steady routine.

AdrianGilbert

11-08-2006, 03:39 AM

[QUOTE=DVB;

So, to sum up: be kind but firm with them. Teach them where they live, and how to get back there. And don't overstress them; they like a steady routine.[/QUOTE]

Isn't it always the way? You spend half the morning looking for the blighters, give up and use a knife, and then you find two pairs together. I know they do it just to annoy me, so I'm going to pretend I haven't noticed anything wrong. Bacon scissors though? In this day and age? Do you use them to cut open the packets of bacon you get from Tesco or are you one of those people who buys directly from a butcher and therefore needs to cut off rinds?:headscratch:

Mnemosyne

11-08-2006, 03:59 AM

3. One-third of Evangelical voters have voted Democrat -- and if they've voted in any numbers, that's going to make some difference. Fallout from Ted Haggard's little indiscretions, or something a bit deeper?

It's the day after and the people have spoken...:chewiedance:

Where did you read that one -third of Evangelical voters voted Democrat? I just can't imagine it? :popcorn:

Mnemosyne

neglet

11-08-2006, 06:33 AM

One-third of Evangelical voters have voted Democrat -- and if they've voted in any numbers, that's going to make some difference. Fallout from Ted Haggard's little indiscretions, or something a bit deeper?

I saw that statistic as well. I attribute it mostly to the mess in Iraq; that, with the combination of the several Rep. sex and influence-peddling scandals and the realization that Repubs have done (and will do) little on the "moral" issues close to Evangelicals, have driven many of them to vote Democrat. After all, this election is not an affirmation of liberal Democratic views, but rather a move to the center and an instruction to Washington to get things done OR ELSE.

DVB

11-08-2006, 05:24 PM

It's the day after and the people have spoken...:chewiedance:

Where did you read that one -third of Evangelical voters voted Democrat? I just can't imagine it? :popcorn:

Mnemosyne
I did reply earlier, but it doesn't seem to have arrived. Oh well.
Sky News, which did pretty good coverage last night. I was up to 3.20 a.m. (GMT) watching it.
You have the House, you may get the Senate (Sorry, I'm making an assumption here...!), and oh joy joy joy, Rumsfeld's gone. Could someone persuade that other crook, Cheney, to go as well?

D :)

Mnemosyne

11-11-2006, 06:10 AM

:popcorn:

Headliners

Colossal hurricane-like storm seen on Saturn (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061109/sc_nm/space_saturn_dc_1)

A colossal, swirling storm with a well-developed eye is churning at Saturn's south pole, the first time a truly hurricane-like storm has been detected on a planet other than Earth, NASA images showed on Thursday.

The storm on the giant, ringed planet is about 5,000 miles wide, measuring roughly two thirds the diameter of Earth, with winds howling clockwise at 350 mph (550 kph).

I Want to Believe

UFO sightings 'unlikely to be investigated' (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/227/227917_ufo_sightings_unlikely_to_be_investigated.h tml)

UFO sightings are increasingly unlikely to be investigated because of mounting paperwork, a former government expert has warned.

Britain is "wide open" to being visited by aliens without officials knowing about it, according to Nick Pope, who ran the Ministry of Defence UFO project from 1991 to 1994.

Is 'Bigfoot' roaming around Holy Hill? (http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2006/Nov_06/11102006_06.asp)

A mysterious sighting in Washington County has area officials and residents bewildered, bemused and amused.

A man contracted by the Department of Natural Resources to pick up road kill came to the Washington County Sheriff’s Department to report a 7-foot-tall “animal” had taken a deer out of the back of his pickup truck at about 1 a.m. Thursday, Sheriff Brian Rahn said.

Family planning doctor 'told patient she needed exorcism' (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8122-2444339,00.html)

A doctor at a family planning clinic told a patient that she needed an exorcism because there was something sinister moving around inside her stomach, a medical tribunal was told yesterday.

Odds & Ends

Dancing eunuchs taxing red-faced shopkeepers (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061110/od_nm/eunuchs_dc)

Dancing and singing eunuchs are knocking on doors in the Indian city of Patna in a bid to embarrass shopkeepers into paying their taxes.

The new shock strategy, in which sari-clad and heavily made up eunuchs accompany officials on their rounds of crowded shopping areas in a country notorious for tax evasion and non-payment, has been declared a success.

Hundreds to compete for rock, paper, scissors title (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061110/od_nm/life_rocks_dc)

Think rock, paper, scissors is a children's game? Think again.

Top players from around the globe will gather in Toronto this weekend to compete for a C$10,000 ($8,840) prize and the title of world champion.

More than 500 contestants, including national champions from Australia, Norway and New Zealand, are expected to attend.

New theory advanced on fate of ancient species (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1944341,00.html)

An ancient human that lived alongside our ancestors more than a million years ago did not vanish because it had the wrong diet, as previously thought. More likely, Paranthropus robustus was driven into extinction by inability to use tools.

Tabloid Treasures

Thai zoo to teach panda to mate with "porn" videos (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061111/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_life_thailand_panda)

A Thai zoo, which has hosted a couple of pandas for four years, will play "porn" videos for the male next month to encourage them to breed in captivity, the project manager said on Saturday.

Rehab After ‘Sexual Immorality’ Confession Could Take Years (http://www.religionnewsblog.com/16520/disgraced-minister-begins-restoration)

(AP) There will be prayer, and perhaps the laying on of hands. There will be counseling and a confession. And there will be advice, confrontation and rebuke from “godly men” appointed to oversee the spiritual “restoration” of the Rev. Ted Haggard.

The Wild Side

Manatees may be smarter than we think (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061111/ap_on_sc/smart_manatees)

Back in 1902, a scientist examining the smooth, grapefruit-size brain of a manatee remarked that the organ's unwrinkled surface resembled that of the brain of an idiot.

Ever since then, manatees have generally been considered incapable of doing anything more complicated than chewing sea grass.

Surprise! Your Cousin's a Sea Urchin (http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20061110/sc_livescience/surpriseyourcousinsaseaurchin)

Meet your new evolutionary cousin, the sea urchin. By analyzing the newly sequenced genome of the spineless creature, an international team of scientists found just how much we have in common with them.

The research could lead to new drugs for human ills.

hawklord

11-11-2006, 11:42 AM

One can read articles on RPS (rock paper scissors) about the psychology of the game, and tactics. A good memory is a distinct edge. In a best-of-100, if you suss halfway through that your opponent is tending towards a distribution of

R 30% P 30% S 40%

then if that trend continues, you're obviously going to want to lean towards R. Unless that's a cunning trap, and your opponent is ready to switch bias to P at the strategic moment.

Tells apply, as in Poker. There's also ways of doing throws that can unsettle your opponent.

By the way, I don't play it and have no interest in so doing. I just happened to encounter the above, while researching an article on warfare, and it amused me because I thought it was a kids' playground game.

Willow

11-11-2006, 02:27 PM

I am forwarding this post from a dear friend in New Zealand who asks that as many of you as possible become aware of Lloyd Pyle and his years of research trying to prove he has the actual skulls of human-alien hybrids found in a cave..
__________________________________________________ _________
Hi everyone. I'm sending this message from Lloyd Pye to my lists and researchers - most of you know Lloyd is working on the Starchild Project which he has worked intensely on for years, plus trying to get his "non-fiction" book published on this amazing story. I'm asking that other researchers and list members please pass this onto other interested parties as Lloyd needs our help in 1). Getting the word out and 2). showing the publishers that this IS a book that the public will purchase and have interest in - by signing up for updates (signing up in NO WAY means you have to purchase the book, it just will show there is interest in this book) those of you who are writers and have written books on the UFO subject will already know how hard it is to get this information into the "mainstream". So I'm asking that you pass this message along to others, and that you sign up for book updates at http://www.starchildproject.com/SCBookPublic.htm

Many thanks - I'd greatly appreciate any help you can provide.
Lloyds message:
============

To my friends not on the Starchild mailing list, I wanted you to know what's going on with the book and the upcoming National Geographic TV show. Gonna be a hellacious month for us, very make-or-break....exciting!
______________

Hi, Everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Okay, things are now serious with the Starchild situation and I need
help from each of you, not financially but creatively. As you know,
the book I've written about my seven years guiding the skull through
its scientific testing has been sent by my agent to editors in New
York. For several it wasn't the kind of project they want to handle,
but seven are still considering it. They are now sitting on it,
waiting for the results of the National Geographic documentary to be
first aired on Monday, November 27 at 8:00 pm Eastern Time, and then
again and again in reruns over the next several months.

The documentary is completely out of our hands. The skeptics they
employ on these shows will say what they're going to say about it.
Our hope has always been that the strong focus we've kept on
scientific testing will carry the day with viewers and cause them to
take a closer look at it on the website. That's the most we can hope
for in that regard. However, when it comes to publishers, we can
still influence that outcome.

We need to mount a two-pronged attack, one directed at people within
our field, and one directed at new people outside our field. I'll take
that second prong. I'm going to submit a press release to every kind
of major media I can reach during this upcoming month. If the
mainstream chooses to ignore it, there's not much we can do about
that, but you can be sure they will have KNOWN about it. All of them.

As for alerting people in our field, this is where each of you come
in. I simply can't cover all these bases in the limited time I have
available. I'll be swamped with the mainstream people, so I need all
of you to let all of your friends know that the National Geographic
show is airing on the 27th. Tell them it's part of the "Is It Real?"
series, and it will be an episode called "Ancient Astronauts." In
addition to me and the Starchild skull, they can see Erich Von
Daniken and Zecharia Sitchin, among others in the lineup, and we
think it's going to be a fascinating hour no matter what kind of
garbage the skeptics use to try to dismiss it.

Also, and this is vital, I need all of you to notify OUR media about
the show so we can get those viewer numbers up and prove to National
Geographic that there is indeed a larger audience than they think for
this kind of material. To this end I'll be on Coast to Coast again on
Thanksgiving Eve, Thursday night the 23rd, to announce the show to
that part of our community. But I need you all to let all the other
radio hosts know about it and ask them to please announce it on their
programs if they will. I don't have time to do interviews with all of
them, naturally, but if they'd be kind enough to simply announce it a
time or two or three (starting anytime after November 15th or so),
that would be an enormous help to the cause.

Naturally, this notification should also apply to your personal
friends who might have a taste for it, and especially to any websites
or blogs you frequent. Please let them know we'll be on the show on
the 27th, and we need their support to get the word to their members
by whatever means they use to communicate among themselves. None of
this is hard to do, but it IS time consuming and I have no one to
turn to for help with it other than each of you. (This goes for
Europe and , too. I've been told our episode will be syndicated
worldwide with the others in the "Is It Real?" series in a matter of
a few months, if not sooner.

Last, and literally most important, we need to make a statement to
the publishers in New York, who keep telling my agent that our
community does not support its projects well and does not buy books
in enough numbers to warrant serious investment of their promotional
efforts in the Starchild book. We need to demonstrate that they're
wrong, and we've come up with a workable way to do that. Whenever you
contact anyone, please inform them they can now find a new special
treat on the Starchild website at this link:
http://www.starchildproject.com/SCBookPublic.htm.

Please ask everyone you direct there to check the brief overview of
the book that's now available, as well as the 1500-word excerpt that
reveals the names and location of the Starchild's true owners. This
is their "coming out party," so to speak, and the excerpt will give
anyone who reads it a good idea of the book's overall tone. If that
satisfies them, ask them to please insert their email address into
the box provided there to add themselves to the notification list for
when the book is officially available for sale (about a year from now,
next fall). Stress that getting on the list is NOT an obligation to
buy. It's merely a notification that the book is available, and their
email address will be used for NO OTHER purpose.

Enough. I hope you now understand why I need your help, and exactly
what I need you to do. I can promise I'll do my part, and I assume
you'll do yours. We're all in this together, as we have been for
seven years.

P.S. For those of you in the Tampa-St. Pete area, I'll be on "The
Kathy Fountain Show" on Fox 13 at noon on Thursday, Nov. 9th, two
days after the election. Catch it if you can!

Lloyd Pye lloyd@lloydpye.com <mailto:lloyd@lloydpye.com>

MEDIA RELEASE for NOV. 14th

Contact: Lloyd Pye

Tel: 850-231-4509

Cell: 504-975-4728

Email: lloydpye@gmail.com

MYSTERY SKULL ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TV

Strong Evidence of Alien Origin to be Revealed

Florida -- A human-like skull with a baffling array of bizarre deformities caught the attention of producers at the National Geographic cable TV channel. As a result, on November 27th they will feature it on “Ancient Astronauts,” an episode of the cable channel’s “Is It Real?” series.

“They contacted us,” says Lloyd Pye, the skull’s caretaker for the past seven years, “because they heard it was the most scientifically tested relic to ever be put forth as possibly having off-world origins. In other words, it has an excellent chance to definitively prove to be alien.”

That outlandish claim is supported by test results from respected scientific specialists. The skull’s DNA was extensively analyzed by Trace Genetics, a California company noted for its work with ancient DNA. They recovered its mitochondrial DNA, inherited from mothers, with relative ease; but its nuclear DNA, which comes from both parents, defied recovery.

“We made seven attempts,” says Dr. Jason Eshelman of Trace Genetics, who was interviewed for the show and doesn’t mince words about results. “One explanation is that its nuclear DNA was degraded in some unique but plausible way, which is what I believe. However, it must be said that the lack of recovery could also be due to basic primer ineffectiveness.”

Lloyd Pye is convinced the latter is the case. “The primers they use are for recovering very specific segments of human nuclear DNA—nothing else. If they whiffed in all seven at-bats, I think it means the primers can’t find what they’re looking for because this skull contains more than human DNA.”

As Pye sees it, “more than human DNA” means the skull is a hybrid mix between a human and another being. As critics see it, the skull can be no more than an exotic birth defect, something with no connection to aliens other than its wide following in alternative knowledge circles.

Official skepticism does not deter Pye, who insists that plenty of scientific data is available to support his position. “This skull’s bone is uniformly half as thick as normal human bone, in every part of it; it weighs half as much; it contains vastly more collagen than it should; and it is two or three times as hard. And those are just a few of a dozen major differences.”

Its light-yet-hard quality was especially puzzling until a sample of its bone came under a scanning electron microscope at Royal Holloway, University of London . That revealed something unprecedented—embedded in the bone matrix were fibers that somehow resisted shearing by a high-speed blade. Ends are shredded rather than cleanly cut, proving incredible durability.

“As far as we know,” Pye says, “those fibers are unique in the world. But that wasn’t all we found in England . In tests conducted by Dr. Ken Pye, a forensic CSI-type investigator, a reddish residue was found in several of the cancellous holes where marrow resides. Normally at death, internal bacteria scour cancellous holes completely clean, so no residue should be there.”

Dr. Ken Pye is not related to Lloyd Pye, but he’s glad he agreed to work on this mystery. “I’ve never seen anything like it, though I’m keeping an open mind about explanations other than alien origin.” And so should we all, just as we should also consider that maybe Lloyd Pye is right about it. In any case, Lloyd insists, absolute proof is looming on the horizon.

“Recently, great media fanfare announced the Neanderthal genome will be sequenced in two years by a new DNA recovery technique that doesn’t use primers. Well, guess what? That same technique can sequence our mystery skull’s DNA. Right now it’s a long, tedious, labor intensive process, but by 2008 we anticipate a much quicker turnaround. I expect a definitive answer to this amazing relic’s genetic heritage before the decade is out. For now, it’s enough for people to know it exists, and it has the best scientific credentials anything like it has ever enjoyed. Watch this space.”

And watch the National Geographic channel on November 27th.

Photos available on request. If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Lloyd Pye, call 850-231-4509 (H) or 504-889-7605 (M), or email Lloyd at lloydpye@gmail.com.

rch

11-12-2006, 01:47 AM

I am forwarding this post from a dear friend in New Zealand who asks that as many of you as possible become aware of Lloyd Pyle and his years of research trying to prove he has the actual skulls of human-alien hybrids found in a cave..

It's funny you should mention this as I'm working on a little article for Mania's Front Page for next Saturday on this - Lloyd is also a good friend of mine and I've been following this saga for a couple of years now.

It's a shame that I won't be able to watch the program until it's broadcast in the UK, though...

DVB

11-12-2006, 02:57 AM

One can read articles on RPS (rock paper scissors) about the psychology of the game, and tactics.
<snip>
it amused me because I thought it was a kids' playground game.
I've never played it either but, like many other people, my mind boggled a few months ago when a Japanese company invited the chief executives of two companies bidding for a major contract with them, to come to Japan. They turned up with all their presentations and spreadsheets, and instead were told to play Scissors-Paper-Rock to decide the winner.

Sometimes life gets weird.

Oh yes, that's what we're here for...

hawklord

11-12-2006, 06:53 AM

^

Back in June, RPS was ordered to be the means of settling a court dispute

CNN report (http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/07/magazines/fortune/rps_fortune/index.htm)

but I can't find out what happened.

rch

11-12-2006, 08:15 AM

Sometimes life gets weird.

Oh yes, that's what we're here for...

Try explaining this to people when they ask you what you do for a living...

Suzanne Olsson

11-12-2006, 09:03 AM

RCH,
Do you also know Karen Lyster? (of New Zealand) Friend of Loyd Pieyl ? (sorry for the goofed up spelling of his name) She's a sweetheart! I have spent past two weeks searching for a little Christmas ornament that has an Egyptian theme...because she has an "Egyptian' room in her home...but I can't find anything.. Maybe I should follow Adrian's suggestion and just send her an Easter Bunny for Christmas...?
Or maybe I can paint an ANK on a pinecone from my garden and send that?
Geesh...life gets wierd? No, I think people get wierd.
I better go get some of my drug of choice...(Caffeine)
Sue

rch

11-12-2006, 11:41 PM

RCH,
Do you also know Karen Lyster? (of New Zealand) Friend of Loyd Pieyl ?

Karen and I know of each other, we've never corresponded directly. I have the answers to the questions she never asked...

Suzanne Olsson

11-13-2006, 12:51 AM

Dear RCH
May I suggest you contact Karen through her website? As you probably know, she is the webmaster for Barry...has been for many years...
I believe the two of you would become fast friends and be able to exchange a lot of information.....tell her I said hello and sent you the starchild material for the mania forum..
Sue

rch

11-13-2006, 01:30 AM

As you probably know, she is the webmaster for Barry...has been for many years...

Yes, I know... I knew Barry before she did, I watched her relationship with him develop. I also watched Barry and Nick de Vere, who we are now discussing on another thread...

Small world, eh?

DVB

11-13-2006, 02:29 AM

Try explaining this to people when they ask you what you do for a living...
When I went freelance 16 years ago (glurp) I could just say I was a freelance writer. Now if people ask me, and if I want to be accurate reather than succinct, it takes forever....

Mnemosyne

11-13-2006, 06:41 PM

:eek:

Court rejects appeal on Brown's "Da Vinci Code" (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-11-13T165809Z_01_N13349066_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-COURT-DAVINCICODE.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-10)

The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to hear an appeal by author Lewis Perdue who said that parts of Dan Brown's bestseller, "The Da Vinci Code," was copied from one of his novels.

DVB

11-14-2006, 02:28 AM

Court rejects appeal on Brown's "Da Vinci Code" (http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-11-13T165809Z_01_N13349066_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-COURT-DAVINCICODE.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsHome-C1-topNews-10).
A quick panic, before I read the next couple of lines!
I've passed this story on to Michael Baigent and his lawyers for their information.

I've kept a vague eye on the Perdue case, and I thought they might have sufficient grounds for an appeal; if I recall correctly a British academic has done some analysis which apparently pinpoints Dan Brown's sources very clearly -- including Perdue. But I don't have the details.

rch

11-14-2006, 07:47 AM

I've kept a vague eye on the Perdue case, and I thought they might have sufficient grounds for an appeal;

Nah, I never thought that Perdue really had a case. I can't remember all the details at the moment, either - Perdue stepped us through it on another discussion forum at one point and I had a look at his website... I can see why he THOUGHT he had a case, but from an objective opinion I just didn't agree.

My impression at the time was that even his material is heavily based on Baigent and Leigh's work - in my opinion, at the end of the day they're the ones who Brown should acknowledge.

hawklord

12-03-2006, 07:26 PM

hedgehogs deny being rat-arsed

Hedgehogs born late due to warm weather have been spotted "drunkenly" walking around as they are unable to hibernate.

- more (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6203734.stm).

computer that predates the ZX-81

The delicate workings at the heart of a 2,000-year-old analogue computer have been revealed by scientists. The Antikythera Mechanism, discovered more than 100 years ago in a Roman shipwreck, was used by ancient Greeks to display astronomical cycles.

Get your cogs whirling here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6191462.stm)

rch

12-03-2006, 10:22 PM

Oh goodie, our pals the Hertfordshire Templars have resurfaced:-

http://www.herts-essex-news.co.uk/news/mercury/hertfordshire_mercury/2006/12/01/mayor%20wants%20town%20on%20holy%20grail%20trail.l pf

Mayor wants town on Holy Grail trail

DEBATE is raging over whether Hertford should cash in on its links to the Holy Grail to draw tourists to the town.

Mercury stories about the town's links to the Knights Templar, who are said to be the keepers of the Cup of Christ, have made international headlines and featured on several TV programmes.

But the town council has failed to use the publicity to boost Hertford's economy, offering little help to a number of TV stations and other media organisations that were seeking access to the castle.

It was in the stronghold that four knights are said to have been jailed when King Edward II was hunting their "lost treasure" 700 years ago.

This week, town mayor Cllr Sally Newton declared that Hertford should seek to attract tourists with tales of its Templar heritage.

She said: "It's a shame that we didn't have the TV stations visit the castle. If we have another TV company wanting to film in the castle, I'll take them there myself."

Mnemosyne

12-26-2006, 07:04 AM

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - A mysterious teenaged boy believed by some to be a reincarnation of Lord Buddha (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/oukoe_uk_nepal_boy)has reappeared in eastern Nepal after vanishing for nine months, a witness and a television channel said on Monday.

Mnemosyne

01-01-2007, 03:54 PM

It sounds like a tired joke (http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/automotive/columnists/chi-0701010141jan01,0,5874175.column?coll=chi-newsnationworldiraq-hed)--but a group of airline employees insist they are in earnest, and they are upset that neither their bosses nor the government will take them seriously.

A flying saucerlike object hovered low over O'Hare International Airport for several minutes before bolting through thick clouds with such intense energy that it left an eerie hole in overcast skies, said some United Airlines employees who observed the phenomenon.

Was it an alien spaceship? A weather balloon lost in the airspace over the world's second-busiest airport? A top-secret military craft? Or simply a reflection from lights that played a trick on the eyes?

hawklord

01-03-2007, 05:38 AM

I like the bit that says

One United employee appeared emotionally shaken by the sighting and "experienced some religious issues" over it, one co-worker said.

Mnemosyne

01-07-2007, 05:08 AM

RALEIGH, N.C. - A North Carolina artist intrigued by the public obsession with celebrity has found herself feeding that obsession with a painting of actress Angelina Jolie as the Virgin Mary (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070105/ap_on_re_us/people_angelina_s_painting_1) hovering over a Wal-Mart check-out line.