Saturday 28 July 2007

US cat 'predicts patient deaths'

We were talking about this article the other day. A US cat that is reportedly able to sense when a nursing home's residents are about to die is baffling doctors. Oscar has a habit of curling up next to patients at the home in Providence, Rhode Island, in their final hours.

One of my friends said that perhaps Oscar can see the angels with the patient, just before they're about to pass into the afterlife.

All I know is that I'd freak if he sat on my bed. Hmmm, what are you trying to tell me ...

Friday 27 July 2007

Ericsson laptop promotion

I received this in an email the other day:

*Subject: **Ericson Promotion*

hello everyone!

The Ericsson Company is distributing free computer lap tops in an attempt to match what Nokia has already done. Ericsson hopes to increase its popularity this way. For this reason, they are giving away the WAP Laptops. All you need to qualify is to send this email to 8 people you know. Within 2 weeks, you will receive Ericsson T18. But if you can send it to 20 people or more, you will receive Ericsson R320.There are people within our building who have received their laptops so I thought I would share this information with you in hopes that you get one before they give them all out.

This is a hoax. A quick Google search reveals the following links:

From the Hoax Slayer website:

Ericsson has published a statement debunking these hoaxes on its website:

Ericsson is not giving away free phones. The chain mail you have received is a fraud and there is no person with the name of Anna Swelund working at Ericsson. At Ericsson, we are constantly looking at new innovative ways to market ourselves, chain e-mails are not one of them. We kindly ask you not to forward the chain mail further.

Similar messages claim that Nokia is the company giving away free phones for forwarding emails. This claim is also totally false.

In fact, any message that claims you can receive free products or money just for forwarding an email is sure to be a hoax. No legitimate company is likely to engage in such a haphazard and uncontrollable method of promoting their products.


Sorry guys, no free laptops.

Thursday 19 July 2007

Take the coffee quiz

It's amazing what you find on the internet. Take the following test for example:


Mingle2 - Free Online Dating

Monday 9 July 2007

Caedmon's Call

Someone asked me the other day where Caedmon's Call got their name from. After a quick Google search, I found the following on wikipedia:

The band's unusual name was inspired by Cædmon, an Anglo-Saxon monk who lived during the 7th century. Legend has it that Caedmon was afraid to sing in public due to a lack of musical talent, and shied away from occasions where he had to sing. One day, he heard God calling him to sing, but Caedmon refused at first out of fear. Eventually he decided to listen to God, and when he did, he sang beautiful verses that had never been heard before. Many songwriters tried in vain to write songs as good as or better than Caedmon's, but could not because Caedmon's songs came from God. Founding band members Cliff, Danielle, and Aaron decided on the name "Caedmon's Call" after all three heard this story during the same week and thought it was fitting.

Wednesday 4 July 2007

Thunderbirds - the meaning of FAB

We were watching "Thunderbirds" original episodes the other day, to show my kids what I used to watch when I was a boy. The show has lots of catchphrases, like "5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. Thunderbirds are go!", "Yes M'Lady", and my favourite "FAB". Of course, then the question was "What does FAB stand for?"




Wikipedia has this to say:

The characters use the radio sign-off "F.A.B." rather than "Roger" or "Over and out". Anderson was often asked what F.A.B. stood for, but stated it in fact simply stood for "fab" (short for "fabulous"), a 1960s catchphrase. During radio broadcasts it also stood for Fully Acknowledged Broadcast.


On a website where they interviewed Gerry Anderson, the producer of Thunderbirds, was this answer:

11. What does "F.A.B." stand for?

Perhaps the most frequently asked question by new THUNDERBIRDS fans, the definitive answer came from Sylvia Anderson herself during her promotional tour for her book YES, M'LADY. According to Sylvia, F.A.B. stands for...
...absolutely nothing.

It was something they made up on the spur of the moment during a writing session, Sylvia says, and it was never intended to stand for anything other than to spell out the letters of a popular British slang word--"fab"--during that era. Many people have attempted to find other meanings ("Filed, Actioned, Briefed", "Fine--Acknowledge Broadcast"), but it never meant anything other than "fabulous".


The Fun Trivia website says this:

The characters use the radio sign-off "F. A. B." rather than "Roger" or "Over and out". Anderson was often asked what F. A. B. stood for, but in fact it simply stood for "fab" (short for "fabulous"), which was a 1960s catchphrase. Later this was unofficially decided to mean Fully Advised and Briefed, following on from P-W-O-R (Proceeding With Orders Received), a similar radio confirmation code in the series Stingray. In Anderson's next series, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, S.I.G. (Spectrum is Green) would continue the tradition of initialled call signs.


Another saying that has lost it's meaning in the sands of time.

Monday 2 July 2007

Centre Isle

I love Caedmon's Call. One of the songs on their first album is "Centre Isle". I found the lyrics to Centre Isle the other day. It came with a footnote from the author:

In November of '95, the sister of a friend of mine from high school committed suicide. Having never been to a funeral, I was very apprehensive, especially since I had been asked to play a song during the service. Seeing her in that room along with all of those people who loved her and cared about her really made me think. I mainly wondered if whatever it was that had driven her to that point could have been worked out in that quiet room with that group of people. I suppose questions just lead to more questions. I wrote this song on the way back home in the car. (Derek Webb)

Thank God I'm back in my car
And driving home
And driving home
'Cause the air was thin and so cold
Back in there
It was my first time
Won't be my last time
And the questions rise
Expectations fall
In light of it all

There aren't words to say
Words aren't remembered
But presence is
A good friend once told me
And he was there
He was there
But she wasn't there
It's not fair
It's not fair

(Chorus)
What crimes have you committed
Demanding such a penance
That couldn't wait for five more minutes
And a cry for help
'Cause this room is so peaceful
And this room is so quiet
And I hate the silence
And I can't walk the center aisle

I've been here for over three hours
Behind the flowers
So beautiful and young
And so alive
And so in need of someone
Someone to talk to them
'Cause theirs are fragile lives

(repeat chorus)
And I think about my brother
And how I just stood there
With my hands in my pockets
And my heart in my throat

Thank God I'm back in my car
And driving home
And driving home
But in that place I leave
All my days of taking life for granted
And the words I wrote for her
And my best friend crying
And a young girl lying
On all our hearts
(repeat chorus)


It's that line that gets me every time: What crimes have you committed, demanding such a penance, that couldn't wait for five more minutes, and a cry for help...

Its a cry for help ...