Toadfish Monastery

I've just read about the new 20£ banknote, replacing  Elgar's picture with the one of Adam Smith, and what interests me is, what do you think about it, especially the British. I've heard that that the people aren't really happy about it over there.

Here's the banknote:

QuoteA Catholic school has banned Red Nose Day over fears that the proceeds will be used to support abortion charities and pay for contraception.

Whole article here

Hopefully this doesn't spread to other Catholics...

Last week (Wednesday, 21st February) the world's most-premature baby has been allowed to leave a Miami hospital, four months after being born. Amillia Taylor was born after less than 22 weeks in her mother's womb (instead of the usual 40 weeks) was born weighing only 280 grams (10 ounces) and measured only 241 mm (9,5 inch). Just for comparison, she had approxiamtely the size of an ordinary pen, the weight of a cube of butter and her feet had the size of one hand phalanx of a grown man. Nobody believed she would survive. But yet after four months in the hospital the little girl is "healthy and thriving".

This opens an interesting issue. Scientist (at the Center for Reproductive Medicine of the Cornell University) are already able to recreate the conditions of a mother's uterus to early embryos. They grow cells in a container coated with collagen and then lay those cells out in a woman's uterus and put embryos in it. They are able to cultivate these embryos for over a week.
On the other hand doctors are able to save premature babies that couldn't survive a few years back. The gap between the two is getting narrower every day.

A further narrowing of this gap could be brought in a near future by Japanese scientists of the Juntendo University in Toky. Since the beginning of the 90s they test a device for the securing of body functions of goatling foetuses, which should simulate an artificial placenta. The foetus is placed in a fluid evoking amniotic fluid, the arteries and veins of the umbilical cord of the foetus are connected to tubes that transport nutrient-enriched blood. They haven't been yet successful, because the goatlings move a lot (which necessary in order for their body functions to work after birth) and keep dragging up the tubes.

But one is for sure, scientist work on the creation of an artificial uterus, which would enable to "create life". Nobody knows how long it will take to achieve this "goal", but one is sure, it's not impossible.



EDIT: For those who are interested, here's a picture of the little baby when it was born:

I finally got my hands on the newest Tom Waits album "Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards", and after listening to it, I have decided to share my feelings about this great record with the rest of you. As we don't have a separate place for musical reviews, I opened this thread, and everyone is allowed to post their thoughts on new and old musical releases. So here is a little review I've put together:

Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards

First of all, I'd like to say a few words on Tom Waits, for those who don't know who this guy is.

Tom Alan Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer and (occasionally) an actor. The first thing people notice is his very distinctive voice. This was best described by a critic, who said that Waits' voice is "...like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car", which in my opinion says it all.
His music can't really be put into the existing music styles; he incorporates in his musc mostly pre-rock styled music, like blues and jazz, occasionally experimenting even with industrial music. His songs are mostly about atmospheric portrayals of bizarre, seedy characters and places, as well as touching ballads.

Now after this brief introduction, I shall continue with the album.

First of all, "Orphans" is a three disc limited edition, containing mostly rare and unreleased tracks and 30 brand new songs. Each disc is intended to be a separate collection in itself, each disc has its own subtitle.

The first one, called "Brawlers", contains mostly raucous, grungy blues, raggedy boogies, whiskery shuffles and barroom stomps delivered in Waits' distinctive manner - a delirious, rowdy sound, singing about themes like travel, regret, murder, salvation.

The second, "Bawlers", could also be found as the most accessible disc in the collection. This disc contains Celtic and country ballads, waltzes, lullabies, piano and classic lyrical Waits' songs; it's a twenty-song collection of poison-sweet ballads and damaged folk. Yes, the lyrics appear stereotyped, but with the author's eye for detail ("a feather on an unmade bed") and his hallucinatory phrasing bring it to a whole new level.

The third disc, "Bastards", is the most deformed of the three, filled with experimental tunes and strange tales; a mess of word interludes, cruel jokes and sonic experiments. Some of the stuff on this CD is odd and obscure even for Waits; we have for example a lecture on the macabre habits of insects that closes with a homework assignment straight out of a B-grade horror ("Army Ants"). This disc is a crazy mix: unruly, uneven, and full of feints and free-for-alls.

Ultimately the center of "Orphans" is Waits' voice. On these three discs, he shows the range of its possibilities, its nuances, its expressions, from barks to midnight whispers. It's those expressions that carry Waits' songs and monologues to the listener inviting him into a different world, a world of barrooms, twisted individuals and cruel stories. And it is that voice that links all three of these discs together and makes them one.
"Orphans" is a major work that goes beyond all borders and creates something utterly new, beyond anything he has previously issued.


PS: this got a little longer than I originally intended, hopefully it's as interesting as I was aiming for.

... or the lack of it.

Today, I have confirmed something, I have been suspecting for a long time. The young generations have no knowledge of musical history at all. First of all, I have to precise, I'm not talking about the generation of fifteen-year-olds, I'm talking about my generation, the youth aged around 20.

Now, let's get to the thing that happened to me today. I have been browsing the net for some info on Frank Zappa, in order to complete my "education" on this great artist and to find some of his quotes (I love good quotes, and I've found some nice ones by Zappa). Anyway, a friend of mine was sitting beside me and asked me, who Frank Zappa was, if he was "the guy, who invented the lighter". Fortunately, he notices his mistake about the Zippo lighter right away, but it still came like a shock to me that he didn't know who Zappa was.

So I asked a few people that were sitting there with us, if they knew (there were three or four people with me at the table), and nobody did know it. So I asked them about some other of great artists, and the result was disappointing. Names like Jimi Hendrix, Syd Barrett, Jethro Tull, Janis Joplin, Dire Straits, the Doors, and other great musicians didn't even ring a bell at the majority of them. They have heard of Pink Floyd, but only the name told them something, they didn't know their music. Same thing with Led Zeppelin, although one of the people there actually knew a few songs.

I just find it really disappointing that young people are fed (mostly) mediocre "musicians" by the MTV (which is allegedly a music TV, but I think that music has disappeared from this channel a long time ago) and forget about the roots, the "real" music.

Things like that just make me angry. Less and less people know about great artists, but listen to crap that nobody will remember in a few years (or even in a few months). It's a shame.


PS: Of course, I have to admit that there are still young people, who listen to good music. I have had the opportunity to get to know young people that still know how to appreciate these old tracks. Hopefully their number will rise, but I fear the opposite.

Ok, it's official. Saddam has been executed and is dead. Once again, one of history's chapter's can be closed, while Saddam has been burried in his hometown near Tikrit, not even 24 hours after his death. Kind of fast isn't it?

Which brings to a few things that strikes my mind in this whole thing. No, I don't want to discuss if it is a good thing that he has been executed or not.

What I find very interesting is: the Iraqi court didn't want a public hanging, in order not to upset the Sunni part of the public, right? Then why did they air the execution worldwide? Isn't that upsetting as well?

Another interesting fact is that the pictures of the actual hanging has not been aired at all. Only of the preparations and the dead body afterwards. Why not show the whole thing? Is Saddam really dead? (OK, this last statement isn't meant very seriously).

After the hanging Saddam's body has been brought to the Prime Minister's office, in order to show the dead body to (some of) the families of the victims of Saddam's regime. Ok, I'm not justifying Saddam's regime, but even if he was an animal, he was a human being as well. And putting a dead body to public display, in order for people to get their revenge is just tasteless...

And what was G.W. Bush doing during all of this? He was asleep...


Now this all brings me to the thing I wanted actually to state here in the first place:

Saddam has been a dictator, a mass murderer etc. He was a war criminal. So why in the hell wasn't he persecuted in front the International Criminal Court in Hague? Like all the other war criminals... Yeah, right, because the USA has not signed (I mean has unsigned) the ICC Rome treaty, which under the law of treaties obliges states to refrain from "acts which would defeat the object and purpose" of the treaty.

Which makes me wonder, why does the USA push other countries (mainly former Yugoslavia) to send their war criminals there, although the US don't recognize the court? Why couldn't be for example Milosevic be prosecuted in his own country, but Saddam could? Milosevic would get the rope as well...

(I have to stop now, or I will write too much and nobody will want to read it...)

Just ran across this list on Blender.com:


The 50 Worst Artists in Music History
Extended drum solos. Prog-rock concept albums. Kenny G. We endured all these — and much worse! — to bring you Blender's list of the 50 most talentless music acts of all time. Just please don't ask us to do it again. Ever...

50 IRON BUTTERFLY
49 TOAD THE WET SPROCKET
48 MASTER P
47 GOO GOO DOLLS
46 THE SPIN DOCTORS
45 GIPSY KINGS
44 MANOWAR
43 MIKE & THE MECHANICS
42 RICK WAKEMAN
41 WHITESNAKE
40 BLIND MELON
39 BOB GELDOF
37 THE DOORS
36 98 DEGREES
35 PAUL OAKENFOLD
34 LIVE
33 JAPAN
32 THE HOOTERS
31 ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
30 RICHARD MARX
29 SKINNY PUPPY
28 CRASH TEST DUMMIES
27 COLOR ME BADD
26 CÉLINE DION
25 JAMIROQUAI
24 BAD ENGLISH
23 CREED
22 PRIMUS
21 THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT
20 HOWARD JONES
19 DAN FOGELBERG
18 PAT BOONE
17 BENZINO
16 OINGO BOINGO
15 YANNI
14 YNGWIE MALMSTEEN
13 MICK JAGGER
12 TIN MACHINE
11 LATOYA JACKSON
10 AIR SUPPLY
9 LEE GREENWOOD
8 VANILLA ICE
7 ASIA
6 KANSAS
5 STARSHIP
4 KENNY G
3 MICHAEL BOLTON
2 EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER
1 INSANE CLOWN POSSE


Don't really now what to think about this list, as there are few artists on it that I rather like (The Doors for example...)

(and I don't know what happened to number 38, it's just not there...)

I guess you all know all those chain e-mails you get from people, with all those "send this to five of your friends and something nice might happen blablabla"... I get them all the time, and I actually hate them. But today I received a beautiful one and I decided to share it with you, hope you like it as much as I did:


Love comes in all sizes....


Your Friends will support you....


And respect your creativity
for thinking outside the box....


They'll be there when you need a
shoulder to lean on....


Or a great big hug....



A true friend takes interest in
understanding what you're all about....


They see beyond the black and white
to discover your true colors....


And accept you just the way you are...
Even when you just wake up in the morning


So make your own kind of music....


Follow your heart wherever it takes you....


And when someone reaches out to you,
Don't be afraid to love them back....


They may just be a friend for life....


Practice patience and tolerance.....










Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave....
And impossible to forget!

Share this with all your unforgettable friends today...

QuoteThe world's rarest mammal, a freshwater dolphin found only in China, was declared "functionally extinct" last night after a major international expedition to save the species ended without a single sighting.
   
The Yangtse dolphin, known as the baiji
The baiji, which has vanished from the Yangtse

The Yangtse dolphin, known as the baiji or white flag in Chinese and celebrated for its pale skin and distinctive long snout, is believed to be the biggest mammal to become extinct in modern times.

Scientists say it fell victim to the Chinese economic boom. Despite a dramatic decline in numbers in recent decades, a high-profile expedition with scientists from China, Britain, America and around the world expected to find enough survivors to form a rescue plan for the species.

(from  telegraph.co.uk)

Probably one of the most beautiful creatures of the world has been declared extinct. It's a sad day, which makes me think about civilization... Rest in Peace little dolphins!

Here is a great series of ads (under the motto "Such a complex world needs a good explanation") made for the Mexican Nespaper "Milenio Diario", made by the agency "Olebuenaga Chemistri" (also Mexican). Enjoy:











Be free to post some as well...

I got a little new game for you. I'll post a picture, which is a snapshot from a movie, and you guess, which movie it is. The person to guess it, posts the next snapshot and so on.

In case noone can guess the movie, hints or other snapshots are to be given.


Ok, I'll start with a quite well-known movie:



Hope it's not too difficult (or too hard on the bandwidth)

Ok, so I've volunteered to be the Birthday Scribe and this is the place, where you can tell when your birthday is, so noone forgets it, and we might celebrate it... Just post your birthday here, and I will make a list up here... (I'm too lazy to look into people's profile to see if they've filled it there). I'll just start with those I know:

January

18. - Outis the Unready
24.- Anthrobabe
30. - DeadPoet
----------------------------------------------------
February
02. -Roland Deschain
08. - Sibling Kephra (Tansy)
   - The Black Spot
20. - Vita Curator
----------------------------------------------------
March

01. - Sibling Lambicus the Toluous, Anthrochild
10. - Scriblerus the Philosophe (formerly Sibling Kanaloa the Squidly)
13. - Sibling Spoffish
19. - Kiyoodle the Gambrinous
----------------------------------------------------
April

01. - Swatopluk
06. - Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith
----------------------------------------------------
May

04. - Opsanus Tau
10.- DavidH
11. - Quasimodo (The Meromorph)
14. - Mathesa
----------------------------------------------------
June

01. - stellinacadente
15. - anon1mat0
29. - Goat Starer
    - Pachyderm
30. - Brother Cuzzen
----------------------------------------------------
July

15. - Duke
----------------------------------------------------
September

27. - MentalBlock996
----------------------------------------------------
October

09. - Qwerty
----------------------------------------------------
November

02. - Sibling Chatty
   - Aphos
03. - Darlica
06. - Bluenose
10. - Pieces O Nine

On Friday the Republicans unveiled an ad for the upcoming election using Bin Laden and Zarqawi and warning the viewers that "these are the stakes"...

Here's an interesting article about it in Reuters...

The video can be seen on GOP's website (www.gop.org), and will be aired next week on cable... (for those who don't want to go on GOP's website, I have also found it on a Czech website, it's at the bottom of the newsarticle: here.

I think that this ad shows that the Republicans are yet again desperate before the elections and want to use the fear factor, as they have done before...

Let's talk about our favourite beverage, beer...

Just to start the conversation, here's a little link to a beautiful place in Prague: The Beer Gallery.

Just for basic information about the place: Currently, visitors to the Pivni Gallery can choose from between more than 180 brands of beer selected from the portfolios of 34 breweries.

Doesn't that sound tempting?

Chuck Norris doesn't eat honey, he eats bees.

When God said "Let there be light", Chuck Norris replied "Say please".