Month: May 2007

Solar Power Tower

Solar Tower

BBC News:

There is a scene in one of the Austin Powers films where Dr Evil unleashes a giant “tractor beam” of energy at Earth in order to extract a massive payment.

Well, the memory of it kept me chuckling as I toured the extraordinary scene of the new solar thermal power plant outside Seville in southern Spain.

From a distance, as we rounded a bend and first caught sight of it, I couldn’t believe the strange structure ahead of me was actually real.

A concrete tower – 40 storeys high – stood bathed in intense white light, a totally bizarre image in the depths of the Andalusian countryside.

Essentialist Explanations of Language

The Language of Dance

The Essentialist Explanations page “comprises a list of 876 ‘essentialist explanations’ of the form ‘Language X is essentially language Y under conditions Z’.”

Here’re a few I like:

Vietnamese is essentially Thai with a Chinese vocabulary.
–Danny Wier

Korean is essentially angry Japanese with a speech impediment.
–Aeron Lempert

Basque is Klingon spoken by people who don’t want to be Spanish.
–Gordon Boddington

Argentinean is essentially Italian spoken so that other South Americans can catch on.
–ilvi

Taiwanese sounds essentially like a room full of rubber balls.
–Adam Walker

Dog is essentially a language spoken while begging for food.
–Dan Seriff

(Link via. Image via.)

Categories
Misc.

Stowaway Cat

Astronaut Cat

cbcnews:

A New Brunswick woman is wondering how she made it through Saint John Airport security and all the way to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., with a live cat in her suitcase.

Mary Martell discovered Ginger, the family pet, in her luggage after a two-hour plane ride to Toronto and an hour’s drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The cat apparently snuck into a bag while Martell was packing.

Martell said her bag was scanned at the airport, but she was not stopped.

“They had asked me, when they put … the luggage through the X-ray, whether I had a turkey,” Martell said.

“[Security] kept going back and forth with [the suitcase],” Martell said. “I was adamant. ‘Look, I have no turkey.'”

(Emphasis mine.)

Categories
Misc.

Restaurant Mascot Autocannibalism

The Suicide Food blog:

What is Suicide Food? Suicide Food is any depiction of animals that act as though they wish to be consumed. Suicide Food actively participates in or celebrates its own demise. Suicide Food identifies with the oppressor. Suicide Food is a bellwether of our decadent society. Suicide Food says, “Hey! Come on! Eating meat is without any ethical ramifications! See, Mr. Greenjeans? The animals aren’t complaining! So what’s your problem?” Suicide Food is not funny.

(Via.)