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writer, singer, webwrangler, blogger, comedy tragic | about.me/vivsmythe

  • Dam that beaver

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    Y’know, I don’t find this offensive. It’s clever, not least in its rather pointed metacommentary on the way that advertisements for menstrual products have relied on euphemisms since forever.

  • Farewell, Arthur C. Clarke

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    Died today in Sri Lanka, aged 90. Phil Plait at the Bad Astronomy Blog has a fine tribute. I must add his Three Laws of Prediction to my quotes database: 1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something… Read More ›

  • Humpday comedy spotlight: Mitchell and Webb

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    Regular readers are probably quite aware that I lean towards British comedy for my regular doses of the hahas. I’ve been enjoying the BBC sketch comedy That Mitchell and Webb Look on cable over the last few weeks. They’re very,… Read More ›

  • Women in science

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    Two posts from PZ at Pharyngula. Firstly, a repost of a strip from the brilliant comic Non Sequiturwith a single short paragraph of commentary: You know, when you stop to think about it, this strip really isn’t that funny —… Read More ›

  • Chunderama

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    Kathryn Jean Lopez at Townhall wishes the USA could have John Howard for their next President. In the final paragraphs she gets to her real point, which is that John McCain just isn’t conservative enough, and by damn he ought… Read More ›

  • If the garbo truck didn’t wake me up before sparrows ack emma every week…

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    leading me to almost always suddenly remember “arrgh! the prawn heads!” and fang it out to the bin before the garbos get to my driveway, then I don’t think my neighbour’s bins would hardly ever get emptied. I race out,… Read More ›

  • Animal story of the day

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    Image credit: TV3 NZ Dolphin rescues stranded NZ whales A dolphin has guided two stranded whales to safety after human attempts to keep the animals off a New Zealand beach failed, a conservation official said. […] A dolphin, named Moko… Read More ›

  • Failing to see the wood for the trees

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    Lisa Cuprio’s main thesis in Women keep maiden names for more than feminist reasons is this: In the past, women who declined to take their husbands’ names might be considered careerists or feminists. Today, a new breed of women who… Read More ›

  • What way do you see her spin?

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    I missed this last October, butaccording to the Herald-Sun (in what is till one of their most-emailed stories), whether you see the dancer spin clockwise or anticlockwise indicates which hemisphere of your brain is dominant. I’m curious as to which… Read More ›

  • The continuing Clinton-Obama nomination saga

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    Why Clinton’s Not (Necessarily) Crazy from Shakesville by Kate Harding: Kate sums up why Clinton isn’t giving up, why she won’t give up until the last legal avenues via the nomination convention are exhausted, and why this is not bad… Read More ›