minktoast.net » general

placebo effect

tom — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:29:41 +0000

ben goldacre on the placebo effect

cycling heaven

tom — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:54:41 +0000

ireland must be one of the best countries for cycling in the world. when the weather is like this, the tiny empty roads and not-too-big hills make for pure pedalling pleasure.

My bike at head of Dunmanus Bay near Durrus

Spring warmth and Winter Roscoff

tom — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:36:14 +0000

Having spent the weekend working at the college I was frustrated to have missed such a warm gardening weekend…

However I managed to get home before the sun went down and although the family were out, Ruth had left some dinner for me. I sat in the evening sun enjoying an omelette, roll and pasta salad. In the salad were caulifower florets – from the wonderful Winter Roscoff cauliflower variety. These plants sat there all winter and at one point looked like the frost had got them… but all of a sudden last week the wonderful flowers emerged! Highly recommended.

Winter Roscoff cauliflower

Arrest Blair

tom — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:44:42 +0000

Good effort to send Tony where he belongs!

It’s not easy being green…

tom — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:49:48 +0000

Sesame St is 40!

Holy Ghost VS Twisted Individual & MC GQ

tom — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:35:04 +0000

(thanks to laura for the link)

Dark Days Light Years

tom — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:45:15 +0000

Apparently this is only going to be up for a few days – so make time now to watch the fantastic SFA…

looking forward to seeing them at the Sea Sessions festival.

Climate Fail

tom — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:05:11 +0000

For any hardcore greenies who think that self-imposed carbon limits (like not flying / driving less) will contribute in any meaningful way to preventing rapid climate breakdown, I point you to the comments on this George Monbiot piece in the Guardian. Remember – these are Guardian readers not the Daily Mail! I would of course still support attempts to reduce your carbon footprint as a means of saving money, removing your support for fossil fuel wars, preparing yourself for the future and because it’s the right thing to do. But if you think it’s going to influence broader society then forget it! (PS I think I’m going to make this the last ever critical / cynical blog post! I’m hoping to share the site with the students on the Distance Learning course – but looking at the content it’s a bit too negative at the moment… I think I need a lesson from the Rob Hopkins school of positivity!) Edit: here’s a typical quote from the comments which sums up how people usually make me feel when I say that I support the scientific method:

I walked through a university the other day. You can see the science students a milwe away. Their hair goes in eight different directions at once and their anoraks are stapled together to keep out the cold, They have the scocial skills of koala bear on a methodone programme. Let’s face it, they are sad, attention seeking little f*cks who love to destroy other people’s good times.

in control

tom — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:56:38 +0000

obama has ordered the first air strikes in afghanistan. reports say 18 people killed – mostly civilians. the strikes were carried out by predator drones (pictured):

These unmanned aircraft are remote controlled by men sitting far away:

whilst i’m sure that the new US administration will be an improvement over the previous one – i still wouldn’t want to mess with this kind of air supremacy! and lets not forget that afghanistan did nothing to warrant being invaded apart from having the misfortune of being the place where the US thinks Osama bin Laden is…

classic clarkson

tom — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:11:56 +0000

i never thought i’d use that as a post title! but thanks to rob i just had to link to jeremy clarkson’s review of the vuaxhall vectra… some fantastic quotes include:

Not that long ago every girl on the Emerald Isle had a face the colour of straw and orange hair. Now it’s the other way around.

and

I’m told that in simple terms money will cease to function as a meaningful commodity

I couldn’t agree more!