Brighter side of web - November 2006

I asked my youngest sister Lynne for some constructive criticism for my blog. She kindly said my grammar and spelling are terrible. I always listen to what my sisters say... so here is my intention to write better grammar.

Extract from Eats, Shoots and Leaves

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

So punctuation really does matter, even if it is only occasionally a matter of life and death.

Eats, Shoots and leaves.com

well I'm suitably impressed,

read more for the obligatory satire

Very often when giving meditation classes for Sri Chinmoy Centre people remark that meditation is quite difficult. Meditating in a group often gives a good experience but when meditating on their own they find it difficult to maintain this standard of meditation.. It is important to remember that spiritual practise is not like drinking instant coffee. If somebody told you could master playing the piano in one week, you would be suspicious. It is the same with meditation. We should feel that to be proficient in meditation it takes time and regular practice. It is like developing muscles it will get stronger with regular practise.

Ashrita balancing milk bottle on head

Back in 1983 Ashrita broke a Guiness world Record for balancing a milk bottle on his head for 24 miles. I like this record because, although it looks funny it requires tremendous persistent concentration. I try balancing a bottle of water on my head but its not easy.

from ashrita comics

Jar Jar Binks - not to be confused with Zsa Zsa Gabor

To my eternal shame I was watching (for a very short time period of course) The quiz programme "the weakest link " Anne Robinson seems to take great pleasure in sneering at the contestants. But to be fair some of their answers can be funny in their stupidity. One that made me laugh today

- "Which fictional film character in Star Wars beginning Jar Jar (pronounced Zsa Zsa) was voted most irritating film character of all time?"

- "Zsa Zsa Gabor"

- "no it wasn't Zsa Zsa Gabor - it is of course Jar Jar Binks" (look of great condescension from Anne :)

Question 2

- "Which port in Belgium serves as a port for Bruges?"

- "Zagreb"

Soul Bird

Sri Chinmoy has painted several million Soul Birds. This year he passed the 15 million mark. Often when signing his name he will also draw a "Soul-bird". He can draw them very quickly with a few strokes of the pen. He says Soul-birds symbolise both freedom and the aspirations of our soul.

Rainbow On Primrose Hill.

Photo taken by Pavitrata Taylor Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries

Pavitrata's Gallery

My profession is an economics teacher. Occasionally I am inspired to write on Economics. At the moment I am interested in the UK housing market. I think the price of houses is the most popular topic at dinner parties in the UK, 2nd only to the weather.

It is also one of the favourite topics for the front page of the Daily Mail, who are renowned for a bizarre choice of front pages, unrelated to the news. Quite recently when the Stern report (on global warming and future well being of the planet) came out. It was on the front page of all major newspapers. Except of course the daily mail.

Anyway here are my arguments that house prices will fall?

and being an economist. I am of course obliged to write a "on the other hand"

• Why house prices may not fall

more invaluable comic wisdom from Ricky Gervais

Ashrita on the way to breaking another record.

This Guiness record is for the most number of eggs successfully balanced upright at one time.

He broke the record of 420 eggs in 7 hrs. 33 minutes and finished at 700 eggs in a little over 12 hours.

Sri Chinmoy recently said that nobody could match Ashrita's concentration.

His record inspired me to try balancing an egg. Not as easy as Ashrita makes it looks.

Peter Kay - Quavers

Peter Kay is probably my favourite comedian. He does stand up and has featured in tv comedy series like Phoenix Nights. Peter Kay is from Bolton and has a great capacity for northern observational humour. Often when doing stand ups his mother seems to be in the audience. Generally fairly clean, it means when he does swear it can be funny especially if his mother is in audience. Peter Kay.co.ukofficial site of Peter Kay

I rarely watch TV so take the opportunity to rent DVDs from Amazon.co.uk. It is much easier than having to go to a video shop. You can choose from nearly any DVDs you might want to watch either film or TV. THere have only been a few old films which weren't available. I was suprised because I found them in a top 100 film list of all time. It costs £10 for 6 per month. or £6 for 3. When finished just pop them in the post. Its hard to see how DVD rental places like Blockbusters will be able to survive in the future.

Training ride. Photo by Andy Sherwood who joined me for a gentle ride up the A40 climb in High Wycombe.

Its starting to get a bit colder. I have been using my battery operated socks for a few weeks now. They were developed for fisherman who used to get cold feet whilst at see. But they work pretty well for cycling as well.

This weekend I managed to cycle 100 miles. The weather was very good bright and sunny with very good colors. On Saturday I saw a fox hunt, even though they are illegal in the UK now. I think the rule is you can go hunting with dogs as long as you don't catch anything or something like that. To be honest I can't see the point. Anyways each to his own, unless your a fox.

Photo from Phil Borges

My photographic projects are devoted to the welfare of indigenous and tribal people. My intention is to help bring attention to the value these cultures represent and the challenges they face.

jack dee playing Rick Spleen

I've never been a big fan of Jack Dee stand up routine it was always quite clever but I never really connected.

However I think Jack deserves much credit for his latest comedy "Dead Nelson" In moments it is very funny and has moments of real comic pathos

Cirque du Soleil videos at You Tube.

I went to see a Cirque du Soleil performance in London about 6 years ago. It is of course much more impressive when you are there in person, but nevertheless the video clip gives an idea of their tremendous skill and ingenuity.

Take Off by Jakob Sigurdsson

From Photo of the Day Page

A good collection of photos people have submitted and have been chosen.

Oxford Spires at Dusk

Spires of Oxford from North East.

I took this photo from Marston Road at about 4.30pm

Funny video of interviewing people in Hollywood

"Because hitting people with a microphone is funny."

This video is quite funny. Interesting to see people's reaction to Greg's unusual interview technique

orginal video at youtube

produced by mediocrefilms.com

More selected funny vidoes

Dalmation dog riding a bike in Japan

True the bike has stabilisers but its still pretty impressive and quite funny as well.

This is the remarkable story of Jesper Olsen who successfully completed the first complete run around the world. The route took 26,000 Km. Jesper also had to carry all his own stuff in a specially designed carrier. highlights from the run included:

"several weeks running through the frozen Siberian winter. "

"Meeting face to face with a Siberian bear at midnight."

"The economical neccesity of winning a 6-day race while running across Australia in the hot summertime "

From: World Run Blog

Jesper also ran through New York and had the opportunity to meet Sri Chinmoy. Jesper also met with many of the runners from the 3100 mile race. The photo is of Jesper with Suprabha Beckjord holding the World Harmony Run Torch. Suprabha has completed the 3100 mile race 10 times.

Johnny Carlson - A lament for a Roget's Thesearus Editor

Very simple yet effective and funny. This is the first time i have seen Johnny Carlson. It is a great act. I look forward to seeing more of his videos

It's amazing how many ways there are of saying somebody is dead.

It reminds me briefly of the famous Monty Python Dead Parrot Sketch.

" 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!!

Johnny Carlson is a very different style but well worth watching