Merry Christmas

Thought I would show you all how much this atheist loves Christmas...

Here is my house*, I spent ages getting the timings right and I think I pulled it off perfectly.

Enjoy!

Star Wars, through the eyes of a 3 year old.

I have seen this before but I saw this again while looking for something else. A cute 3 year old kid explains the intricacies of the Star Wars plot. Its interesting to see what elements kids actually pick up on.
Very nice.

Mad Spaghetti.

I just saw this pretty cool stop motion video of someone making Spag Bol. Check it.

Snuff Said

Check out the following vid from a BBC3 show called "Snuff Box" a British comedy show. Pretty funny skit, I wonder if the rest of the show is the same. One thing for sure, this is not the way to pick up chicks. Although I am sure it would be cool to use these tactics on the odd occasions. After the Jump.

Bad face day?

There are exactly 1 trillion sports bloopers available to view on the internet but this is the King, Emperor and Grandaddy of them all....








There is little more to say really. Watch, laugh then watch again...

Speaking of Simon Pegg...

Turns out he really is a Star Wars geek.
Yep as Mooghead alluded it is indeed true that just like MrFett, English actor and all round funny guy Simon Pegg is also a raging Star Wars geek.

Its unclear who has the largest collection of Star Wars figures but follow the link for irrefutable proof of Peggs undying love of all things from a galaxy far far away...
peggster.net

J.J Abrams takes on Star trek

At last we have a decent version of what the new Star Trek film trailer. I have always enjoyed Star Trek as far as science fiction and cool space ships blowing things up. So I have to say that I am actually quite looking forward to J.J Abrams vision of the Star Trek Legacy. The trailer has some great visuals and the Enterprise looks great with the stark interior. Plus we have Simon Pegg playing the part of Scott which should be a laugh. Video after the jump. Beware its the High Res version.

Speaking of holidays....

Ever wondered what to do with all those tacky holiday momento's you get every summer?

Well, Michael Hughes, who works as a freelance photographer in Germany, has created a set of optical illusions in which tacky souvenir replicas of famous landmarks are placed in front of the real thing...




























































More here--- > clicky!

Thank you BBC!

The award for the most syndicated TV show on the planet goes to…………………

’Dancing with the Stars’!

Excuse me?

Dancing with the Stars (or Strictly Come Dancing as it is known in the UK).

Now, as far as I am concerned Dancing with the Stars has a lot to answer for. The emergence of every city, town and village hall suddenly being turned into a bloody ballroom so the plebs can go along and hope to be ballroom experts in an hour. At the end of the day it’s an excuse for old people to turn up, swap partners and rub their dried up genitalia against anyone who will oblige. My friend, who is a straight up, die-cast Yorkshire man, had to endure a night of watching this vomit inducing activity because ‘our lass wants to try Salsa’ (I would rather dip my Dorito’s in it).

Add to this the mind numbing, insipid conversation that I have to endure on a Monday morning by the females in the office for whom this spectacle has become the most important thing in their lives.

The only remotely entertaining thing that has ever happened on this show was on the American version when Marie Osmond, WHO WAS A CONTESTANT, was so bored by the whole thing she actually fell asleep.

Live on air.

The Phoenix Mars Polar Lander has died.

The Phoenix Mars Polar Lander has died. It stopped transmitting data last week as the Martian winter approaches and the power the Sun has to recharge the solar cells is diminished.
The last signal was received by NASA on November 2nd and concludes what is deemed an incredibly successful mission.

Phoenix was launched on August 4 2007 and touched down over 8 months later on May 25 2008. During its time on Mars the Lander dug trenches to reveal ice, dug holes and transferred regolith to the onboard ovens. The biggest accomplishment was the discovery of water ice below the surface which the NASA engineers were able to watch sublime away.

Along with these discoveries Phoenix transmitted more that 25,000 pictures of the surrounding terrain and the local environment around the craft.

Meanwhile in an incredible feat of endurance the 2 rovers Opportunity and Spirit are still roving the surface gathering information about the history of the red planet.

Well done to the boffins at NASA for another successful mission and I look forward to the next major Mars adventure.

Inspiration comes in many forms

Next time someone says it cannot be done or it's just too hard show them this guy...

Props to you KitsuneNoYume and your friend Mark Felling for reminding us able bodied fools how easy we really have it.
http://kotaku.com
and more
http://boardsus.playstation.com

Just booked my holiday for 2009

Don't have much time for this blog...got stuff to do

Its a place called St Maarten in the Carribean, never heard of it myself. Which is a good thing. It must be really quiet and untouched. I'm not normally a beach kind of guy but would kill for a week in the sun doing nothing.
Found a thing on the web about it..will have a proper look later. Hope its nice.

This is NOT naturewatch

But sometimes you see something and have to share it with the world.


Following on from Mr_Fett's parasitic foot story below (the one where he blamed it on a spider) I was reminded of an extraordinary piece of footage of the male jumping spider (Salticidae, fact fans) and the lengths it will go to to put on a pretty little dance for a bit of female attention. Hardly seems worth it if you ask me.


In the words of the late, great Phil Lynott - "If that female jumpin' spider dont wanna know, forget her"

(Oh, and turn your speakers up)

Military Fail!!!

This one's a quickie.

Grasshopper's Can Fly

I caught this video of a grasshopper hitching a ride on a fighter jet on Bad Astronomy this morning and it reminded me of an incident I had. Check out the video after the jump.

I was flying from Wellington to Auckland on a domestic Air New Zealand flight and had an itchy toe, so I took of my shoe to sort out the problem, only to find a Weta hiding in the toe area of my shoe. Needless to say I nearly shat myself and had to compose myself so that I didn't cry like a girl. I dont know what happened to the Weta after I shook it from my shoe but it got a free trip to Auckland. Must still be lost.
I cant imagine how the pilot was able to just laugh it off, I suppose he doesn't mind creepy crawlies. Notice that he doesnt flinch a bit and keeps flying as if nothing is amiss.

James Cameron talks Avatar - and other stuff.

James Cameron recently did an interview and discussed his newest film AVATAR and some of the groundbreaking new techniques used to get the film made. He also discussed some of his earlier films and the impact that they have had on the movie industry and popular culture. It is a somewhat laid back interview and Cameron appears relaxed and eager to talk. A nice chat, not setup like the Arnie one he did to promote T2. Check it out after the jump.

Saturn V as you have nver seen before

This is a video that surfaced of the huge Saturn V Apollo rocket in super slo-motion. It is truly amazing. And having just watched the latest Discovery Channel doco called "When we Left Earth" about the NASA missions I have a new respect for the people that made this possible. They were thinking many years ahead of their time.

Top Gear is back - Soon

Officially confirmed to be back on the 2nd November this year. That is great news. JC, Fridge Magnet and Captain Slow will grace our screens for 8 episodes which is 2 more than last season. So get you torrents ready and have fun.

In addition to this bit of news; the Top Gear website has had a major overhaul and now feature more video and a small selection of games. One of which is based on the Robin Reliant Rocket Launch. Go have a look and a play. Wicked.

Thanks to Final Gear.

This is NOT the London Eye...

What kind of crazy oddball carnival has a manpowered ferris wheel. Well this one does. Check for the video after the jump.

Picture of the Day -

This picture is quite amazing, and it is probably the last time that you may see this. Both Space Shuttle Atlantis and Space Shuttle Endeavour are out on launch pads together ready for an upcoming mission. Atlantis is the nearer of the two and is being prepped for the last mission to the Hubble telescope to do repairs and add additional hardware. This being the case if something is to go wrong with the spacecraft and it cannot return to Earth, Endeavour will be launched as a rescue vehicle.

Because the Hubble telescope is in a very different orbit to the International Space Station Atlantis would not be able to dock there is there was a problem with the orbiter. If any reason crops up Endeavour will be launched and the crew will transfer to the rescue ship and the damaged Shuttle will be destroyed on re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. NASA have said that this is just a contingency plan and that they do not expect to have to have two shuttles in space at the same time. What it does do is give us ordinary folk a great new wallpaper for our desktop and also the last chance to see two Space Shuttles on the launch pad at the same time, for the last time (probably).

Bigger versions are available here.

Thanks to Tom's Astronomy Blog for this.