Falling (in love) Rocks

Image Credit Flickr User by confidence, comely

Lost, Missing and Found Posters - The Funny Side

You have all seen them – you may have even appeared on one yourself – posters proclaiming the loss of a dear pet or relative.  Although some disapprove of them for their intrusion on public space most would not dream of removing them in the hope that whatever was lost will be found. And then there are those who embrace them as a form of alternative art.  Their alternative lost posters amuse and irritate with, quite possible, equal measure. We prefer to see the funny side – and so here are some of the best on the net.

Image Credit Flickr User snnarvasa

Dolphins in the Wild - Photo Special

Image Credit Flickr User OneEighteen

The Ark in Space has a photo special featuring those amazing of marine mammals, the dolphin.  Ten million years on the planet and they still haven't said goodbye and thanks for all the fish! Here you can see them partaking in one of their favoirite hobbies - riding the pressure wave of a large ship. You can find the above and a host of other thrilling pictures of wild dolphins over at the Ark.

Hey! A Dog isn't just for Christmas - it's for Halloween Too!

Over at the Ark in Space they are getting in to the Halloween mood too. It seems (and quite rightly so) that a dog isn't just for Christmas - it's for Halloween too.

So, they have brought together a very funny compilation of pictures of lots of dogs dressed up in Halloween costumes.  Now, before people jump up and say that it is people being cruel to animals, let me just say one thing.  All the dogs I have ever had (three in total over my life, which doesn't make me an expert, but!) had the opportunity to dress up over their life times.

For the most part they were quite willing because of all the additional attention it garnered them.  When, on the rare occasion, they did not like what they were going to have to wear, believe me it was off their backs before I could turn round!  Make your own minds up anyway - take a look at this cool collection of Halloween pooches.

Image Credit Flickr User istolethetv

UK Teachers to Swear Oath: They Already Do, Regularly!

Here in the UK the shadow Minister for Education Tristram Hunt has just spent five minutes in Singapore (where teachers are respected to the point of idolization) and decided that back in the UK they should all swear an oath – to emphasize the moral calling and the noble profession of teaching.

Well, Mr Hunt, teachers in the UK swear oaths regularly – and above are just a few of them.  Yet I think that this idea could be amenable at some point in the future – just as soon as politicians take an oath to work to ethical standards.  What do you say, Tris?

Here are a few of the responses at #teacheroath

I solemnly swear that I will continue to ignore the political madness in an attempt to keep my sanity. #teacheroath #madworld
— Bremer Head (@FrederickBremer) October 12, 2014

#teacheroath what's wrong with "I will do my best for all the children in my care. I have a life outside school and I swear to respect it."?
— jonathan peel (@mrpeel) October 12, 2014

I solemnly swear to finish my career, aged 40, an exhausted, broken wreck #teacheroath
— Michael Merrick (@Michael_Merrick) October 12, 2014

Here is one way it could be done!

One World Trade Center Nears Completion

On July 4 2004 the symbolic cornerstone of One World Trade Center was laid.  Due to various disputes over financing, design and safety work was delayed until 2006.  Since then New Yorkers have watched as the building grew.  Now, as One World Trade Center nears completion, we bring you these remarkable photographs, all taken within the last month.

March 29 2013 Image Credit Flickr User Simon Collison

Obama Not Impressed by Maroney

Meanwhile in the White House, President Barack Obama got to meet US Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney.  It seems he was not impressed as it were. You have to admit, McKayla has certainly turned things around.  The world initially looked on her as something of a spoiled brat when she pulled that infamous face at the London 2012 Olympics.  Having said that, most of us, having prepared for something for four years and then being disappointed in front of the whole world, may well have pulled worse faces (albeit when the cameras were off us!). It’s good to see that she can take a joke, again and again and again.

Computer Gremlins

You know when they have visited. Files are lost, web history gone and nothing seems to connect to anything else. The computer gremlins are everywhere and you can’t even see the pesky little blighters. Well, you can now – these two great sketches are by Flickr artist Wild Guru Larry and they pretty much epitomise to me both sides of the nature of the gremlins. One is harmful but essentially not vindictive – the other just loves to cause chaos wherever he goes. These and other great pictures and sketches can be found on Wild Guru Larry’s photostream.

Holding Court

Image Credit Flickr User BombDog

The Stars Our Destination

Another great image by Flickr User seriykotik1970. You can find many more like this on his wonderful photostream.

What This Movie Needs, Right Now, is a Doctor

You know, all the way through the recent Avengers movie I felt somehow uneasy, that something was missing. There was a nagging thought at the back of my mind that, somehow, it was not quite complete. Sure, our heroes saved the day but maybe there was room, after all, for one more hero. Now, I realise, that what this movie needs, right now, is a doctor.

In fact, he just seems to be getting everywhere at the moment...

All pictures courtesy of EJA Studios

Great Moment in History - Darwin

1881 - Charles Robert Darwin Discovers the Truth about the Origin of Species

Image Credit Flickr User David Blackwell

The Transit of Venus in Pictures

One of the rarest sights in the sky took place last night and early this morning – the Transit of Venus.  It began just after 6 in the evening in North America and was visible to most as a tiny black dot - unlike this extraordinary image from NASA Goddard.

Seen above in Ultra High Definition, this rare event (which your grandchildren might see if they live to a good age) happens when the planet crosses directly in the path between the Sun and Earth, becoming observable against the solar disk.

Image Credit Flickr User bobthemtnbiker

Image Credit Flickr User Bob Gill

Above, the transit seen from Albuquerque in New Mexico and Romeoville, Illinois. The past decade has seen something of a renaissance in popular interest in astronomy and this event has given both experts and amateurs alike an opportunity to capture this amazing phenomenon. Here we present photographs from the experts (NASA) and ordinary people – in an extraordinary collection of images.

Image Credit Flickr User Roger Smith

Image Credit Flickr User Tarique Sani

Somewhat obscured from view in Starkville, Mississippi, and again the same in Maharashtra in India, the planet Venus looks tiny as it crosses the surface even though it is the size of the earth.  Clouds will always be a problem for both amateur and professional observers. The view of many eclipses have been blighted by too much cloud cover - yet despite the weather the photographers above manage to capture the moment wonderfully.

Image Credit Flickr User Jimnista

Image credit Flickr User Jimnista

Huntington and Long Beaches in California, and two shots which most photographers could not have resisted.

Image Credit Flickr User Lamanj

A number of techniques were used to capture the moment. This was taken in hydrogen alpha narrowband.

Image Credit Flickr User Alan Cordova

Image Credit Flickr User SantiMB

These shots were taken in Houston, Texas and Barcelona in Spain. Venus is sometimes called our ‘evil twin’ as conditions on the Venus could not be more different. If life exists there it is, to coin a phrase, not as we know it. Although it once had oceans all its water evaporated in to its atmosphere. It is now believed that is microscopic life evolved and persisted on Venus then this is where it may be.

The US space agency NASA has given us the best possible views of the event through high-resolution images taken from its Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), both in orbit around the Earth.

NASA has also given us an idea what the event must have looked like from deep in space with these two remarkable artist's impressions.


The images are taken from this remarkable animation from NASA.

Image Credit Flickr User ZachStern

Image Credit Flickr User SimplyAlex

Washington DC and again cloud obscured the best views (top) as they did in Germany (the shot with the wind turbines). Yet only six transits have ever been recorded as having been observed - in 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882 and most recently in 2004 and so a little cloud is the least of our worries. This is because the transit is invisible to the naked eye and so without magnification, the event went unobserved, even though it has taken place 53 times between 2000 BCE and 2004.

Image Credit Flickr User Dave Malkoff

Dave Malkoff in Los Angeles managed to get this great shot of Venus on a Wire. Yet many amateur astronomers in the world over were disappointed. In many places it was cloudy with no sun visible. However, with the data collected from around the world it is hoped that this remarkable event will help in the search for planets around distance stars which could support life.

Image Credit Flickr User RedTim

Image Credit Flickr User Bobthemtnbiker

If you have missed it this time, perhaps these pictures will make up.  Otherwise you might want to consider suspended animation. The next transit of Venus will not take place until 2117.

NASA Goddard Photo and Video Photostream

Pressure

In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from. - Peter Ustinov.

Image Credit Flickr User Kevin Dooley

How to Get to Mordor Using Google Maps

Looks like the boys and girls over at Google Maps have a sense of humor. If you ask for directions from The Shire to Mordor then you are given a fairly explicit warning. Perhaps it was just as well that Frodo didn't have a smart phone - Samwise Gamgee would have swallowed his tongue. Then again...

The Elephant in the Room

The elephant in the room. If you speak English as a second language you may not have come across this metaphorical idiom before. What does elephant in the room mean? It is when an obvious truth is almost studiously ignored, or indeed a problem exists which everyone denies by silence.  If you have an elephant in a room, let’s face it, the prodigious pachyderm is impossible to ignore. Yet if you do then you choose to ignore a problem or issue which is looming over you like, well, you know!

Although it makes its first appearance in the Oxford English Dictionary as late as 1959 it was used in a British journal n 1915. Mark Twain also conceptually used the metaphor in The Stolen White Elephant. I recently came across this marvelous homage to the art of Max Ernst, created by Flickr User Seriykotik1970. You can find a number more at his extremely groovy photostream.

Raindrops Keep Falling

Here in London the weather is just miserable at the moment with very little respite from the drizzle and the grey sky. So when I came across this photograph by Brandon Christopher Warren it seemed an appropriate choice for today’s picture - although the discrete caption says nothing seems to fit the photograph, with the rain and the umbrella with the inclusion of the balloon just fit my mood exactly!  Brandon’s photostream over at Flickr is full of interesting shots so go get a coffee and visit it!

Location of Bat Cave Revealed

Perhaps Julian Assange is at it again. Maybe The Joker decided to play one last prank. Whatever the case, we can reveal today that the location of the Bat Cave has finally been revealed to the world.

Contrary to what many people believe, it is not on the outskirts of Gotham City. It is located in Henderson County, North Carolina.

Now, either the Batmobile goes a lot faster than we ever suspected or someone is telling porkies...

Either way, Batman is not happy about it.

Image Credit Wikimedia

The Hostage Situation

Image Credit Flickr User Czsar

The Vikings Remake Continues to be Hampered by Poor Props

Image Credit Flickr User Smooth Dragon