Aphids for Jesus

Tree Has Patrons Crying For Joy – Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29.

Christians in the USA declare aphid excretions as miraculous.  WTXF – What The Xtian Fuck?

Greens are go for May 2nd

Unashamedly democratic socialist in flavour, with a raft of bold pledges that go far beyond the grey focus group designed middle-England pleasing platitudes that the three main parties seem satisfied to place one their stalls.  No kneeling before the Chicago School neo-liberal consensus.  That’s the Green Party party political broadcast for the May 2nd elections.  Gutsy, and a demonstration that Green politics go further than recycling and ecological conservation.  Much further.  Sadly there won’t be a Green standing for the parliamentary by-election in South Shields, but it’s understandable – £500 could be spent better elsewhere rather than losing it fighting to be an also-ran in a safe Labour seat where the other parties are scrabbling for the honour of second place.

It isn’t just an election broadcast, it’s a proclamation of what is possible.  Watch it.

Happy RUSH Day!

Being the 21st December today, many RUSH fans like to consider this as RUSH Day, after the title of their 1976 album 2112.  Here’s a track from that album, A Passage to Bangkok.

What is time?

Simple question, yes?  Indeed, but what about the answer?  Last year, actor Alan Alda, together with the Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University, issued a challenge to scientists and science teachers to answer the apparently simple question ‘what is a flame?’ in such a way that could be understood by an eleven-year-old.  It’s actually not that simple.  The project, called The Flame Challenge, was inspired by Alda’s own childhood scientific curiosity, and asked schools across the United States to participate and decide on a winner from the hundreds of entries.

This video here is the entertaining winner:

What is a flame

 

This year, the challenge was inspired by the question most commonly posed by eleven-year-olds to the Center for Communicating Science: what is time?  Even Albert Einstein struggled to describe what time is in simple terms, and often resorted to jokes:

The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.

I think this is a great initiative, to take the complex explanations for the natural mechanisms we take for granted, and deliver them in an easy to understand way – easy enough even for me.

Jon Lord – Lazy

Sad news of the death of Jon Lord from cancer.  One of the greatest of his generation, and the master of the Hammond organ.

International Women’s Day

Shaking the Tree with Peter Gabriel and Paula Coles.

Benefit cuts explained

Goodbye to the Big Man

It’s sad to see that Clarence Clemens has passed away after suffering a stroke earlier this week. He’s known mostly for his work backing Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band, but here’s one of his pop tunes from the 80’s.

Selling faith to children

I came across this video on the Guardian website, presented by tweeter @GrrlScientist.  I’m very uncomfortable with the tactic of indoctrinating children with religion; I find it as cynical and unethical as the marketing strategies the fast food firms use to get kids hooked on their burgers and pizzas.

Bring on the Rushpture

It’s rapture day.  Rush are playing the Metro Arena in Newcastle tonight.  The faithless rock.