Here's another quite interesting passage from the QI Book of General Ignorance:
Q: What's the largest living thing?
A: It's a mushroom.
And it's not even a particularly rare one. You've probably got the honey fungus (Armillaria ostoyae) in your garden, growing on a dead tree-stump.
For your sake, let's hope it doesn't reach the size of the largest recorded speciman, in Malheur National Forest in Oregon. It covers 890 hectares (2,200 acres) and is between 2,000 and 8,000 years old. Most of it is underground in the form of a massive mat of tentacle-like white mycelia (the mushroom's equivalent of roots). These spread along tree roots, killing the trees and peeping up through the soil occasionally as innocent-looking clumps of honey mushrooms.
The giant honey fungus of Oregon was originally thought to grow in separate clusters throughout the forest, but reseatchers have now confirmed it is the world's single biggest organism, connected under the soil.
Thursday 28 February 2013
Wednesday 27 February 2013
Childhood Favorites
Been watching childhood favorites again. First up, Casper. When I told a friend I was about to watch it again he advised me not to. He said that when you watched it again as an adult you realised how bad it was. But he was wrong! It was still great! It was still funny and cool. An exciting adventure with great comedy elements and cool special effects. It's about a ghost hunter and his daughter who move into a scary old house to try and evict the ghosts that live there, at the request of the house's vile owner, but end up befriending the ghosts instead. It's a great little film. And of course I do <3 Eric Idle.
Next, Hocus Pocus. Another Halloween film that was much more exciting and fun than creepy. This one is about some kids who accidently bring three dead witches back to life and they reek havock, and the kids have to sort out all the trouble. Again this one is very funny, exciting and just plain fun! Why don't they make movies like this anymore? And Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker all gave great performances as the three evil witches.
And now Honey I Blew Up the Kid. This is the sequel to Honey I Shrunk the Kids. It's set a few years after the original film, and the family now have a two year old son, Adam. In an unfortunate accident, Adam starts to grow enormously. He's soon towering over the city and the family are struggling to control him. It's all sorted out in the end though, and Adam returns to his normal size. This is another good one. It's funny, original and happy. The third film, though, Honey We Shrunk Ourselves, is awful. It's not funny, badly written, badly acted and just doesn't have the same feel to it as the first two films. It gives the distinct impression of being nothing but a money-maker. Not worth your time.
Next, Hocus Pocus. Another Halloween film that was much more exciting and fun than creepy. This one is about some kids who accidently bring three dead witches back to life and they reek havock, and the kids have to sort out all the trouble. Again this one is very funny, exciting and just plain fun! Why don't they make movies like this anymore? And Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker all gave great performances as the three evil witches.
And now Honey I Blew Up the Kid. This is the sequel to Honey I Shrunk the Kids. It's set a few years after the original film, and the family now have a two year old son, Adam. In an unfortunate accident, Adam starts to grow enormously. He's soon towering over the city and the family are struggling to control him. It's all sorted out in the end though, and Adam returns to his normal size. This is another good one. It's funny, original and happy. The third film, though, Honey We Shrunk Ourselves, is awful. It's not funny, badly written, badly acted and just doesn't have the same feel to it as the first two films. It gives the distinct impression of being nothing but a money-maker. Not worth your time.
Tuesday 26 February 2013
You Can go Your Own Way
Ooooh! I forgot about this one! But it's had me dancing around my room like an idiot this week!
Monday 25 February 2013
Shiny Objects
I would like, if I may, to share with you some of the pieces of jewellery I have acquired lately. I'll start with this one.
It's called a fluttergem. It's a butterfly wing encased is some sort of resin to protect it and mounted as a pendant. Because of the irridescence if butterfly wings it was really hard to get a photo to do it justice, and in fact it's a much deeper blue in real life. Don't worry though! There was no butterfly cruelty involved. The butterflies are harvested once they die naturally, they are not killed for jewellery. I really like it because it's a gorgeous blue, and because it shows off the beauty of nature.
The next pendant is also made from a natural object, this time a slice of a geode, dipped in some sort of silvery metal. Here it is:
I love it because it's natural, delicate and unique. Geology rocks!
And finally, another key from the same Etsy shop as the previous two. They've now started doing keys with little stars on them, and I do like my little stars. This one is a fair bit bigger than the other two, and harder to wear, as the stars catch in clothes. It is gorgeous though, and I'm very happy with my purchase.
It's called a fluttergem. It's a butterfly wing encased is some sort of resin to protect it and mounted as a pendant. Because of the irridescence if butterfly wings it was really hard to get a photo to do it justice, and in fact it's a much deeper blue in real life. Don't worry though! There was no butterfly cruelty involved. The butterflies are harvested once they die naturally, they are not killed for jewellery. I really like it because it's a gorgeous blue, and because it shows off the beauty of nature.
The next pendant is also made from a natural object, this time a slice of a geode, dipped in some sort of silvery metal. Here it is:
I love it because it's natural, delicate and unique. Geology rocks!
And finally, another key from the same Etsy shop as the previous two. They've now started doing keys with little stars on them, and I do like my little stars. This one is a fair bit bigger than the other two, and harder to wear, as the stars catch in clothes. It is gorgeous though, and I'm very happy with my purchase.
Saturday 16 February 2013
Giving Yourself Away
Love love love this! Classic Rock at its best. Though it does seem to be an annoyingly hard song to get hold of.
Wednesday 13 February 2013
Blackford Park
There's a little group of trees in Blackford Park that I always think look very dramatic against the skyline. Whenever I go there the light seems to be wrong for photographing them, and this visit was no exception. With this shot I tried to compensate by taking an HDR photo. It sort of worked. I think I got an image that looks OK, though I still want to go back in better light and have another attempt.
Tuesday 12 February 2013
Monday 11 February 2013
Pecan Meringues
Yes, another baking post already, and yes, this one involves meringue as well. This is a very simple but very tasty recipe. So nutty and delicious. Ingredients are as follows:
4 egg whites
225g sugar
160g ground pecans
Beat the egg white until stiff, fold in the sugar and pecans. Then put spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes at 120 degrees C. Et voila! Easy!
4 egg whites
225g sugar
160g ground pecans
Beat the egg white until stiff, fold in the sugar and pecans. Then put spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes at 120 degrees C. Et voila! Easy!
Friday 8 February 2013
Tuesday 5 February 2013
Favorite Apps
A little while ago I wrote a post about my favorite Android games, and it got me thinking that there's a lot of cool stuff on my phone that's not games, so I thought I'd write about my favorite non-game apps today.
Firstly, Tiny Flashlight. One touch of the screen turns my phone into a very effective torch. It turns on the camera's LED flash, which is very bright. No more trying to find things you've dropped by the vague light of your phone screen! Hurrah! Obviously it does eat up the battery, but not as quickly as I was expecting.
Next up, First Aid by British Red Cross. Although I haven't used it very much yet, it's just so reassuring to know that I've always got a first aid guide with me. I don't have to worry anymore about forgetting to do something in a first aid situation. I can just look it up! It's clear, concise and practical and has helpful videos and FAQs. There's also a button at the top you can tap if you find yourself in an emergency situation, rather than having to look at menus while panicking. Though I would like to say that it's not a substitute for proper first aider training; it's just a back-up.
The next one is also a geeky first aid app. It's called Instant Heart Rate, and it's amazingly clever. You put your finger lightly over your phone's camera and hold it still. The phone can detect the tiny changes in light reaching the camera as the blood in your finger pulses through, and gives you your heart rate! Ain't technology marvellous? You do have to keep still though, so with casualties it might well be easier to take the pulse the old-fashioned way, but it's still pretty damn cool!
MusicGrid is a good one! It's basically a Tenori-on, designed to be an instrument that anyone can play. when you start it up it looks like a 16 x 10 grid of buttons. Vertically there are ten different notes, and the sixteen across is time. So when you touch the button in the bottom left-hand corner the lowest note plays. If you touch the lowest button second from the left it plays the lowest note again straight after it. If you then press the button third from the left and second from the bottom it plays the lowest note twice and then the next lowest note, and so on. You can use any combination of buttons you like. You can play rhythms, chords, scales, harmonies... Once the player has reached the end of the 16 seconds (or whatever the unit of time is) it loops back round and starts again. By changing the notes as it plays you can change the tune. It's a lot of fun.
Another music-related one now, Shazam. Start that up on your phone and it'll tell you what song is playing! Genius! No more having to ask your friends "What's this song again?" and trying to remember the answer so that you can download it when you get home, no more trying frantically to commit the lyrics to memory so that you can google it later; this little baby will tell you the song title and the artist (and then, obviously, try to sell it to you). It's not completely foolproof - if it can't hear the song well enough you won't get an answer, but I've used it successfully in some pretty crowded bars before. It's pretty good on obscure stuff too. If it's been recorded, Shazam seems to know about it. Hurrah!
And finally, My Bus Edinburgh. This app tells you when your bus is coming. Excellent! Very practical. Especially in a cold place like Scotland where you don't want to be hanging around at the bus stop for longer than necessary. You can save your most-used bus stops which makes it very quick to use. Though I will say that it's annoying that the app doesn't give you access to bus timetables for planning ahead.
Firstly, Tiny Flashlight. One touch of the screen turns my phone into a very effective torch. It turns on the camera's LED flash, which is very bright. No more trying to find things you've dropped by the vague light of your phone screen! Hurrah! Obviously it does eat up the battery, but not as quickly as I was expecting.
Next up, First Aid by British Red Cross. Although I haven't used it very much yet, it's just so reassuring to know that I've always got a first aid guide with me. I don't have to worry anymore about forgetting to do something in a first aid situation. I can just look it up! It's clear, concise and practical and has helpful videos and FAQs. There's also a button at the top you can tap if you find yourself in an emergency situation, rather than having to look at menus while panicking. Though I would like to say that it's not a substitute for proper first aider training; it's just a back-up.
The next one is also a geeky first aid app. It's called Instant Heart Rate, and it's amazingly clever. You put your finger lightly over your phone's camera and hold it still. The phone can detect the tiny changes in light reaching the camera as the blood in your finger pulses through, and gives you your heart rate! Ain't technology marvellous? You do have to keep still though, so with casualties it might well be easier to take the pulse the old-fashioned way, but it's still pretty damn cool!
MusicGrid is a good one! It's basically a Tenori-on, designed to be an instrument that anyone can play. when you start it up it looks like a 16 x 10 grid of buttons. Vertically there are ten different notes, and the sixteen across is time. So when you touch the button in the bottom left-hand corner the lowest note plays. If you touch the lowest button second from the left it plays the lowest note again straight after it. If you then press the button third from the left and second from the bottom it plays the lowest note twice and then the next lowest note, and so on. You can use any combination of buttons you like. You can play rhythms, chords, scales, harmonies... Once the player has reached the end of the 16 seconds (or whatever the unit of time is) it loops back round and starts again. By changing the notes as it plays you can change the tune. It's a lot of fun.
Another music-related one now, Shazam. Start that up on your phone and it'll tell you what song is playing! Genius! No more having to ask your friends "What's this song again?" and trying to remember the answer so that you can download it when you get home, no more trying frantically to commit the lyrics to memory so that you can google it later; this little baby will tell you the song title and the artist (and then, obviously, try to sell it to you). It's not completely foolproof - if it can't hear the song well enough you won't get an answer, but I've used it successfully in some pretty crowded bars before. It's pretty good on obscure stuff too. If it's been recorded, Shazam seems to know about it. Hurrah!
And finally, My Bus Edinburgh. This app tells you when your bus is coming. Excellent! Very practical. Especially in a cold place like Scotland where you don't want to be hanging around at the bus stop for longer than necessary. You can save your most-used bus stops which makes it very quick to use. Though I will say that it's annoying that the app doesn't give you access to bus timetables for planning ahead.
Monday 4 February 2013
If Ever I Stray
My favorite song this week. It's optimistic, powerful and I like his scratchy voice.
Sunday 3 February 2013
Berwick-Upon-Tweed
I had a very enjoyable daytrip to Berwick-upon-Tweed a few months back and I, of course, took my camera with me. The weather was great and I used my ND grad and managed to get a couple of decent landscapes.
Berwick-upon-Tweed beach is lovely. Pretty wild looking. In the second photo I tried to use lead-in lines. The idea is to have lines in the frame, leading the eye from the bottom into the heart of the picture. I think it worked pretty well. the second photo certainly has more impact.
I also quite like this picture of some swans that I snapped. I didn't realise swans went onto the sea; I've only ever seen them on fresh water before.
I like the contrast of their white bodies against the brown water.
And now I shall leave you with one final picture. Nothing special about this photo at all technically, but the name of this place made me giggle. A lot.
Berwick-upon-Tweed beach is lovely. Pretty wild looking. In the second photo I tried to use lead-in lines. The idea is to have lines in the frame, leading the eye from the bottom into the heart of the picture. I think it worked pretty well. the second photo certainly has more impact.
I also quite like this picture of some swans that I snapped. I didn't realise swans went onto the sea; I've only ever seen them on fresh water before.
I like the contrast of their white bodies against the brown water.
And now I shall leave you with one final picture. Nothing special about this photo at all technically, but the name of this place made me giggle. A lot.
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