Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Backpackers Sculpture, Central Park, Chelmsford


Backpackers Sculpture, Central Park
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

I did a double take when I first noticed this sculpture near the river. The kneeling figure 's face is close to the standing figure's groin and hands - giving quite the impression of one orally gratifying the other until you get close enough to see the detail. I wonder if those commissioning and siting the pieces noticed?

Monday, November 02, 2009

Actress Owns Housecat/Cheetah Hybrid? It's a Hoax.

According to http://www.peoplepets.com/news/celeb...ah-cat-quiji/1 and requoted on dozens of blogs, Chinese-born actress Bai Ling claims her cat's father was a cheetah and its mother was a domestic cat. The cat was as a gift from an ex-boyfriend and purchased about a year old from a breeder for approximately $30,000.

I don't know whether Bai Ling or her ex have been misled or whether she is misleading the media in order to garner attention, but she does not have a cat-cheetah hybrid. Yet this story is doing the rounds of the gullible and people are trying to find out where to get a similar cat.

It's not just the comparative sizes (a cat is a snack for a cheetah, not a mate), even if AI or IVF were used, housecat gestation period is around 63 days and cheetah gestation is 93 days. Both size and gestation are way bigger mismatches than the serval/domestic cat and caracal/domestic cat hybrids. Cheetah have very poor quality sperm and are unlikely to produce hybrids even with more closely related cat species. Even if cheetah sperm was used to fertilise a housecat egg, a domestic cat could not carry the foetus to term - between 63 and 70 days it would be born, ready or not, and being 20 days premature it would not be viable (20 days out of a 93 day gestation is a big chunk).

On her own blog Bai in September 2008, Bai Ling stated her cat is an A1 Supreme and part-serval. Although she says the A1 Supreme is not a Savannah cat, the term "A1 Supreme" just refers to the "supreme" quality of that particular Savannah cat and the corresponding high price. A1 Savannahs apparently used photos of Bai Ling and her A1 Savannah in their adverts. Claiming it is part cheetah appears to be a publicity stunt by the actress.

http://ling-bai.blogspot.com/2008/09/rescuer-me.html

Ipswich Transport Museum


Signs
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

One of many old signs, adverts and bits of trade paraphernalia at Ipswich Transport Museum. The museum has a collection of vehicles ranging from horse-drawn and hand-carts, to steam, diesel, petrol and electric vehicles. It has bikes, motorbikes, trolleybuses, buses, a tramcar, a road-roller, ambulance and police car and several fire-engines, vans and trucks.

The museum is housed in an old trolleybus depot on Cobham Road, Ipswich and is mainly open on Sundays. There's a lot crammed into a small space (which makes photographing vehicles difficult at times).

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Mottled Mallard Hybrid


Mottled Mallard Hybrid
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

A hybrid between a wild Mallard and a domestic white campbell duck that has taken up residence on the fishing lake. There are several hybrids there in a variety of colourways!

Cheeky Squirrel


Cheeky Squirrel
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

I was trying to work out what bird was scolding me with a rasping call and it was this chap instead!

Hops


Hops
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

Hops growing wild under the viaduct in Chelmsford. Oddly enough they are alongside a field where the beer festival used to take place (in the college grounds).

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Pony Riding at Seaside


Pony Riding at Seaside
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

I was about 7 when this pic was taken during a seaside visit. The pony was called Jock. I eventually persuaded my parents to send me to riding lessons.

Larklight, Starcross, Mothstorm (Philip Reeve)

Larklight

In which Art Mumby and his annoyingly ladylike sister Myrtle see their father captured by giant white spiders, are themselves rescued/captured by the piratical Jack Havock and his crew of assorted aliens and who must save known space from the spider menace. Our heroes race about the planets in their ships powered by Isaac Newton's alchemy and end up back on earth battling a giant robotic greenhouse.

Starcross

In which Art, his sister Myrtle and his mother (who turned out to be not quite human) go for a relaxing holiday at Starcross Hotel and are thrust back and forth in time. Along with Jack Havock and his crew, now undercove agents rather than pirates, they must save the 19th century (1851 to be precise) from the mind-sapping Moob from the future, but must also contend with colonial upstarts, French spies and the knitwear obsessed Threl.

Mothstorm

In which it isn't even Christmas 1851 and Art, Myrtle and their parents are thrust into a battle between a power-hungry demi-god and her lizard legions and giant moths minions. Art and Myrtle learn more about their mother while Jack Havock and his motley crew are instrumental in the fight to save the solar system, all culminating in a battle at the royal residence of Balmoral castle!

Reeve's larklight books are all set in an alternate 1851. Britain has been a space-faring nation for almost 200 years (since Newton invented an alchemy that drives space ships) and has an empire throughout the solar system. It's a nice steampunk mix of science fiction and Victorian lifestyle (tea and scones ladies, gentlemen and lizards?) with more than a few nods in the direction of classic sci-fi (such as McMurdo, a Scots engineer whose engines will nae take it). Being aimed at young adults, it races along at a breathless pace.

The Confusion (Neal Stephenson)

The Confusion is the second book in the Baroque cycle and follows the parallel lives of Eliza (Duchess of Qwghlm) and Jack Shaftoe. The plot, if there can be said to be one, is massively rambling and an excuse to see the development of banks and commerce.

Eliza moves in learned and aristocratic circles, but finds her financial and personal fortunes affected by war in Europe. She marries for political reasons and maintains her friendships with Natural Philosophers. In both France and England, commerce is becoming more and more regulated with bills of exchange being used rather than large amounts of metal being carried around. Through Eliza's story we also learn of face values of currency being independent of how much gold or silver a coin contains and of liquidity and cash-flow.

Meanwhile, Jack Shaftoe has been a galley slave and involved in a complicated plot to steal a shipment of gold (which, unknown to him, puts him at cross-purposes with one of Eliza's wheeler-dealing schemes) which of course they end up losing. So then they throw in their lot with gold mines and brew up large amounts of phosphorus (to win a battle in India) and trade for large amounts for mercury in Japan (used in refining gold). All of which is very cumbersome and awkward compared to the easily portable bills of exchange circulating in Europe.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Milking Asses, 1930ish


Milking Asses, 1930ish
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

All this photo (from an old encyclopedia) says is that it shows asses being milked in Toulouse. It notes that the milkman calls door-to-door with the asses and that the milk is highly nutritious.

The Golden Encyclopedia for Children

On Saturday I found the 1934 reprint of the 2 volume The Golden Encyclopedia for Children edited by John R Crossland and JM Parrish and published by British Books Ltd, London. It cost me £40 in Oxfam and is in very good condition, but checking online the asking price is upwards of £90 for the set depending on condition and whether it's the 1933 edition or a later reprint.

Personally, I just love these books for their contents. This one describes captive Komodo dragons and captive polar bears as being docile, even showing a Komodo dragon with a small child! There is a chapter about the railplane; an experimental fuselage-like carriage suspended from a track - there were high hopes it would provide fast and comfortable travel.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Judith Scott Exhibit at the Museum of Everything


Museum of Everything
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

Judith Scott (1943-2005) spent her first 7 years with a fraternal twin sister who was her interpreter. Though it was clear she had developmental challenges, her parents treated the 2 girls equally. At school, however, Judith was written off as retarded and ineducable and her parents were advised to send her to an institution. In fact Judith had Downs Syndrome and was deaf - the institution did not realise that she was deaf and had relied on her sister. Deprived of an interpreter and basically written off as stupid, Judith became alienated and showed behavioural problems. In 1985, her sister became her guardian and Judith was able to have training. In art classes she showed a liking for creating sculptures using objects wound about with fibre. Many of her works involved pairs, indicating the importance of her twin-ness. She died peacefully aged 61.

Judith Scott

Judith Scott

MuTate Britain


MuTate Britain
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

One of the mutated sculptures by railway viaduct near Portobello Road market. The MuTate exhibition includes a helicopter-bird and a giant doll's head that are visible from the road. And if you're going past on the Hammersmith & City Line at night, it's all lit up.

Security Pigeon, Swan Books, Billericay


Security Pigeon, Swan Books, Billericay
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

In the window of the now closed Swan Books are a series of notices about the kidnapped security pigeon and the vacancy for a new security pigeon! (see Flickr for the other secuirty pigeon pics)

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Dogs and Lager, Spafields


Dogs and Lager, Spafields
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

Spafields is a supposedly a "No Dogs" park, but there were plenty of dogs about. Time for a "dogs b*ll*cks" comment as well I think. Earlier on, the white dog (English Bull Terrier) was humping the Boxer's head.

Street Art, Spafields


Street Art, Spafields
Originally uploaded by messy_beast

An Ap For All occasions

At the weekend, Billy and I were playing the "ap game".

Tired? There's a nap for that
Constipated? There's a crap for that
Is your head cold? There's a cap for that.
Do you need directions? There's a map for that.
Need a large bread roll? There's a bap for that.
Need a sports shoe? There's a dap for that.
Luggage needs securing? There's a strap for that.
Need a year between studies? There's a gap for that.
Cat needs a place to snooze? There's a lap for that.
Worried about cervical abnormalities? There's a pap for that.
Need street talk? There's a rap for that.
Getting harassed? There's a slap for that.
Need something to hold your falafels and hummous? There's a wrap for that.
Need a drink of water? There's a tap for that.
Mouse trouble? There's a trap for that.
Small noisy dog? There's a yap for that.
Spoiling for a fight? There's a scrap for that.
Need a Persian governor? There's a satrap for that!"
Need ray gun sound effects? There's a zap for that.
Need a term for dried lips? There's a chap for that.
Need a press stud? There's a snap for that.
Looking for a fool? There's a sap for that.
Web-surfing by phone? There's WAP for that.
Need applause? There's a clap for that.
Cat needs its own entrance? There's a flap for that.
Unfair golfing advantage? There's a handicap for that.
Need a dictionary? There's a Harrap for that.
Not sure if you will or won't? There's a mayhap for that.
Need a Welsh patronymic? There's an ap for that.
Need horse-drawn transport? There's a pony-trap for that.
Need carnivorous vegetation? There's a venus fly-trap for that.