What is Good?

WHERE IS GOOD?!

2010-11-01T21:24:00.004Z

Good has been continued throughout my design practice and design context blogs. Just so you know. Nice to be kept in the loop.

Most people are other people.
Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions,
Their lives a mimicry,
Their passions a quotation.

Oscar Wilde

PRESENTING...

2010-09-20T22:55:00.009+01:00

A once in a life time performance, a unique display of information, an awfully GOOD presentation. By me.

"Prepare a 3-5 minute pdf presentation that summarises your findings and proves that you are right (or wrong). You need to make believers of us all."

Five things that I believe are good are: the beach; animals; Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes; keys, and proverbs. Having spent a reasonable portion of my summer researching these topics, I have begun to favour some over others.

Starting at the beginning, I chose the topics I did because I wanted them to be either something that would definitely keep me interested for a long period of time, or something that I would be able to carry out primary research for within my summer.
The beach firstly was a simple choice for me, I right by the coast and when I'm home the beach features a lot in my day to day activities, so I knew this would be a good option. Originally I chose the zoo as a topic, but then broadened this to animals when I realised the scope of what I would be able to cover by doing so. The topic of proverbs came about when I was complaining about the volume of emails I receive from spam blog comments. On closer inspection I came to realise that a lot of these comments could be translated from their original Chinese into recognisable proverbs, or life lessons. That was when I realised I had found a third topic.

Thinking back to the lists we did for the 100 project of things we found interesting, I noticed that something which featured prominently were collections of things- coins, tickets, stamps and other ephemera including keys. I felt that keys would be able to provide me with plenty of research material.
I chose to include the Roald Dahl book with my 'good' things as I wanted a bit of light-hearted material to look at, and felt it would provide a bit of nostalgia.

So. I'm going to provide you with a reason why I think each of my topics is good.
Keys provide security, something that everyone needs at some point in life now, whether emotional or physical. Having looked at them in two main forms, lock and key, and keys for coding, I've decided that, although locks and keys provide the more visual element, codes are much more intriguing, and this mystery they provide makes them GOOD in my opinion.

The beach is good. Everyone has an early memory of the beach, and they still provide hours of entertainment and interest for us now we're older. Everything is on a much different scale at the beach, and it's mesmerising to people. The predictability of the tide, and the tactical nature of pebbles and shells are comforting to take in, and this is GOOD.

Chinese spam comments are also good, when they provide proverbs in them, the messages they teach are good, they are things we grew up with in mind, and morals and lessons that will continue to influence us throughout our lives.

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes are timeless classics with a sinister spin, making them even more memorable and entertaining than ever. What book that reads 'The small girl smiles, one eyelid flickers, she whips the pistol from her knickers. She aims it at the creatures head and bang bang bang she shoots him dead'- What book that reads that can NOT be good!?

Animals basically speak for themselves. At least, if they could speak they would. I mean, there's a seagull in Aberdeen who pinches cheese doritos on a regular basis. Kleptoparasism, a way of sustaining yourself through theft. And if you don't get banged up for that, you're GOOD.

The Kraken

2010-09-20T20:46:00.000+01:00

The Kraken is a legendary squid that plagues the high seas, capturing the boats of doomed sailors and pirates.

Described by historian Erik Pontoppidan to be 'the size of a floating island', it was not the animal itself that was the hazard to the seamen, but the whirlpool that it created when it disappeared back into the sea, dragging with it the ship. He also referenced the power that the monster could have though 'It is said that if it grabbed the largest warship, it could manage to pull it down to the bottom of the ocean'

"Below the thunders of the upper deep;

Far far beneath in the abysmal sea,

His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep

The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee

About his shadowy sides; above him swell

Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;

And far away into the sickly light,

From many a wondrous grot and secret cell

Unnumber'd and enormous polypi

Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.

There hath he lain for ages, and will lie

Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep,

Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;

Then once by man and angels to be seen,

In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die."

Alfred Tennyson

Ardvark Fact

2010-09-20T20:20:00.002+01:00

Did you know...?
That ardvarks do not have teeth like us. Instead of being enamel coated, they have 'pulp canals'. How interesting.

I'm not sure if I actually wanted this on my blog, or just am feeling the effects of all the paracetamol and ibuprofen I have been taking for my cold...

Beach Bones

2010-09-20T19:18:00.000+01:00

When I was at the beach on my many trips I often found bones, or pieces of bone lying around the place.

Perhaps this should be concerning? They were probably just bits of dead animals though to be honest.

They were all washed pretty clean though.

I find bones really interesting. Not just the TV series. Which Maya and Chris successfully got me addicted to during first year...

Grays Anatomy image

The human skeleton too though. I even bought a poster over summer. This one by Cavallini & Co to be precise.

So, bones. There are 206 in the adult body. And I've researched what exactly they are for- besides preventing us turning into a big pile of jelly...
Their functions are usually categorised into one of three groups:

Metabolic
Mineral storage- reserves of calcium in particular
Fat storage- bone marrow stores fatty acids
Detoxification- bones can store up heavy metals to protect the organs from having to process them, and then gradually release these toxins for excretion at a safe rate
Growth factor storage

Mechanical
Protection of internal organs
Shape- frame and support for the body
Movement
Hearing- the tiny bones within our ears are vital for processing sounds

Synthetic
Blood production; the marrow within bones produces and renews red blood cells

This image from the marathon kids program shows a pacman skull. Entertained me!

Teeth are always a key feature that fascinate me in skulls.

Grays Anatomy image

The skull without teeth would look very peculiar indeed.

Grays Anatomy image

SUMMER-IZE!

2010-09-20T18:13:00.000+01:00

Summarise, summerize.

To summarise my summer...

Jack and the Beanstalk

2010-09-18T12:22:00.000+01:00

"'By Christopher!' Jack cried. 'By gum!

'The Giant's eaten up my mum!

'He smelled her out! She's in his belly!

'I had a hunch that she was smelly.'"

Cinderella

2010-09-17T20:41:00.000+01:00

"'I want a dress! I want a coach!

'And earrings and a diamond brooch!

'And silver slippers, two of those!

'And lovely nylon pantyhose!'"

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

2010-09-17T11:54:00.000+01:00

"'Oh Majesty! Oh Queen!' he cried,

'That rotten little girl has dies!

'And just to prove I didn't cheat,

'I've brought along these bits of meal.'

The Queen cried out, 'Bravissimo!

'I trust you killed her nice and slow.'"

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

2010-09-17T11:18:00.000+01:00

"You'd think by now this little skunk

Would have the sense to do a bunk.

But no. I very much regret

She hasn't nearly finished yet."

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf

2010-09-17T10:25:00.002+01:00

"The small girl smiles. One eyelid flickers.

She whips a pistol from her knickers.

She aims it at the creature's head,

And bang bang bang, she shoots him dead."

That was always my favourite part of this Revolting Rhyme. I've loved Little Red Riding Hood more than the others for a long time, without really knowing why it appealed to me so much.

Within the usual story there are messages which show many different things:
- that a forest is a much less safe place than a town or village,
- a similarity to the Bible story of 'Jonah and the Whale'
- stranger danger!
- a metaphor for maturity and growing up, possibly of a sexual nature
- transformation from child to woman
- the 'fight' between night and day

Other adaptions include Angela Carter's 'The Company of Wolves; a much more sinister tale than the original, and much less child friendly than Roald Dahl's adaption.

Roald Dahl and his other books...

2010-09-16T22:14:00.001+01:00

The Three Little Pigs

2010-09-16T22:13:00.003+01:00

"A short while later, through the wood,

Came striding brave Miss Riding Hood.

The Wolf stood there, his eyes ablaze

And yellowish like mayonnaise.

His teeth were sharp, his gums were raw,

And spit was dripping from his jaw."

Quentin Blake

2010-09-16T22:13:00.002+01:00

Blake is probably best known for his illustrations within Roald Dahl's books. Working together for 15 years, their own styles complimented each other superbly.

Quentin Blake's website is very modern, and well designed to keep him accessible to his primary audience.

Not only can his illustrations be found within books anymore though, Osbourne & Little have a new collection of wallpaper and fabric with Quentin Blake patterns on.

Open publication - Free publishing - More zagazoo

I'd love a bedroom like that!!

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes

2010-09-16T21:53:00.000+01:00

Right. I realise that I have left it really far too late to change one of my five topics. But to be fair I haven't exactly begun to work very intensively on the one I'd chosen anyway...

So, here comes a change of plan. I have swapped the Wardstone Chronicles for Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes. They hold a similarity in that they are still books...

The primary reason for this change is because I actually don't have my own access to the Wardstone Chronicles while I am in Leeds, since they belong in my mum's school library. And nor do I have the resources to buy copies myself...

But I do have Roald Dahl. And he has been a faithful friend to me throughout my childhood and teenage years, and I would like to respond by honouring him with twenty percent of my blog.

Beach Drawings

2010-09-16T21:46:00.000+01:00

Artist Everton Wright has been drawing on the beach in Cumbria recently.

He calls it a 'visual installation' and uses people and horses to form patterns in the sand. First he draws the patterns in the sand himself, and then people and horses follow them. The people wear brightly coloured jackets and the whole thing is filmed "... so it's quite artistic in that way." That's us told!

Vatican City

2010-09-15T18:48:00.001+01:00

Vatican City has a square flag, which is pretty unusual. Also the image upon half of it is two crossed keys. The two keys on the flag represent the Keys to Heaven, which were given to St Peter by Jesus Christ.

^"17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.""

Lovely! So, the keys represent the Keys to Heaven. They are placed upon the flag and coat of arms as Popes are considered to be the successors of Peter himself.
The gold key represents worldly power, and the silver key represents spiritual power.

Animals- Extinction

2010-09-14T18:02:00.001+01:00

This is a list of known extinct mamals.

Marsupials
Broad-faced Potoroo (1875, Australia)
Eastern Hare Wallaby (1890, Australia)
Lake Mackay Hare-wallaby (1932, Australia)
Desert Rat-kangaroo (1935, Australia)
Thylacine (1936, Tasmania, Australia)
Toolache Wallaby (1943, Australia)
Desert Bandicoot (1943, Australia)
Lesser Bilby (1950s, Australia)
Pig-footed Bandicoot (1950s, Australia)
Crescent Nailtail Wallaby (1956, Australia)
Red-bellied Gracile Opossum (1962, Argentina)

Sirenians

Steller's Sea Cow (1768, Commander Islands)

Rodents
Oriente Cave Rat (?, Cuba)

Torre's Cave Rat (?, Cuba)
Imposter Hutia (?, Hispaniola)
Montane Hutia (?, Hispaniola)
Flores Cave Rat (1500, Indonesia)
Verhoeven's Giant Tree Rat (1500, Indonesia)
Cuban Coney (1500, Cuba)
Hispaniolan Edible Rat (~1546, Hispaniola)
Big-eared Hopping Mouse (1843, Australia)
Darling Downs Hopping Mouse (1846, Australia)
White-footed Rabbit-rat (1870s, Australia)
St Lucy Giant Rice Rat (1881), Saint Lucia)
Short-tailed Hopping Mouse (1896, Australia)
Nelson's Rice Rat (1897, Islas Marias)
Guadalcanal Rat (1899, Solomon Islands)
Long-Tailed Hopping Mouse (1901, Australia)
Martinique Giant Rice Rat (1902), Martinique)
Bulldog Rat (1903, Christmas Island)
Maclear's Rat (1903, Christmas Island)
Martinique muskrat (1903, Martinique)
Darwin's Galapagos Mouse (1930, Galapagos Islands)
Gould's Mouse (1930, Australia)
Pemberton's Deer Mouse (1931), San Pedro Island)
Lesser Stick Nest Rat (1933, Australia)
Indefatigable Galapagos Mouse (1934, Galapagos Islands)
Chadwick Beach Cotton Mouse (1938, Florida)
Ilin Island Cloudrunner (1953) Ilin Island)
Little Swan Island hutia (1955, Swan Islands)
Pallid Beach Mouse (1959, Florida)
Emperor Rat (1960s, Solomon Islands)

Lagomorphs
Sardinian Pika (1774, Sardinia)

Proboscids
North African Elephant (North Africa)

Soricimorphs
Marcano's Solenodon (?, Hispaniola)
Christmas Island Shrew (1985, Christmas Island) (officially critically endangered, but has not been reliably seen since 1985)
Balearic Shrew (Europe)
Tule Shrew (Baja California). Only known by the four type specimens collected in 1905

Bats
Puerto Rican Flower Bat (Puerto Rico)

Lesser Mascarene Flying Fox (1864, Réunion, Mauritius)

Guam Flying Fox (1968, Guam)

Dusky Flying Fox (1870, Percy Island)
Large Palau Flying Fox (1874, Palau)
Panay Giant Fruit Bat (1892, Philippines)
Nendo Tube-nosed Fruit Bat (1907, Solomon Islands)
New Zealand Greater Short-tailed Bat (1988, New Zealand)
Lord Howe Long-eared Bat (1996, Australia)
Sturdee's Pipistrelle (2000, Japan)

Cetaceans
Baiji (2006, China) (officially listed as functionally extinct; it is possible that a few ageing individuals still survive)

Artiodactyls
Aurochs (1627, Poland)
Bluebuck (1799, South Africa)
Arabian Gazelle (1825, Farasan Islands)
Red Gazelle (1894, Algeria)
Schomburgk's Deer (1932, Thailand)
Queen of Sheba's Gazelle (1951, Yemen)
Saudi Gazelle (Declared extinct in 2008, but not seen decades before that; Saudi Arabia)

Carnivores
Falkland Island Wolf (1876, Falkland Islands)
Sea Mink (1894, Northeastern North America)
Japanese Sea Lion (1950s, Japan)
Caribbean Monk Seal (1952, Jamaica)
Subspecies
Bali Tiger (1940s, Bali)
Japanese Wolf (1930s, Japan)
Mexican grizzly bear (1960s, Mexico)
Caspian Tiger (1970s, Tajikistan)
Javan Tiger (1976, Java)

History of locks and keys

2010-09-14T17:38:00.000+01:00

Locks are estimated to be around 4000 years old, and originating from Egypt. Early locks were a primitive type of pin and tumbler lock, a large wooden block with holes in which pegs slotted to stop it from being opened.

Key Figures in Locksmith History:
Robert Barron
Made the first serious attempt to design a secure lock in 1778. He patented the 'double-acting tumbler lock'

James Sargent
1857, invents the worlds first successful key change lock. Patents a time lock mechanism in 1873 which would be used as the basis of bank vault type locks in the future.

Linus Yale Sr
Invented the pin-tumbler lock in 1848. His son later improves the type of key used within it.

Harry Soref
Patented a lock in April 1924 which was based on the design of bank vault doors.

During the middle ages locks and keys began to become much more ornate and decorative. Iron was worked on whilst cold, allowing for more detailed and intensive finish. Locks for churches in particular became much more in demand, combining symbolic elements like crosses into the designs.

Ornate middle age lock

Roman bronze key depicting naked Mercury

Medieval keys, 15th/16th Century

Medieval key, gothic

Roman bronze key

Large medieval key

The Ceremony of the Keys
This ceremony takes place in the Tower of London every single night, and has done so for over 700 years in exactly the same way.

My question is... Is it a compulsory requirement to wear those clacky shoes...?

Cryptography and Diceware

2010-09-14T15:11:00.000+01:00

Another term given to a secret to decode a cypher or secret message is a 'key'. I figured this directly relates to my topic, so I'll have a look around here.

Most things that use cryptography to hide a secret rely on two main principles- "only the secrecy of the key provides security"- Kerckhoff.
This is basically saying 'loose lips sink ships' but in a more fancy way. The other principle is a bit contradictory and is that "the enemy knows the key"- Shannon's maxim. This implies that even the best codes are going to be obviously coded to whoever they are being coded from. Buuhhh.

One form of cryptography that is used is 'Diceware'. This is a method of generating 'random' passphrases using dice. Used alongside a list of 7776 words from the English language using 4 to 6 letters, dice rolls are used to generate words compiling an arbitrary passphrase.

Using five die, you roll for each word you want in your pass phrase, and record the numbers rolled in groups of five. A four word pass phrase would require 20 die rolls.

Once you have enough groups of five numbers, use them against the list to find out your generated passphrase.

Eg. Dice rolls for three word passphrase:

16452 = child
35462 = knox
24523 = ere

It is recommended that pass phrases are at least four words long, and even that you add extra single characters into them.
This method creates a phrase or string of words that does not relate to you personally in any way, so that passwords cannot be guessed by familiarity with the keeper.

The Bible, Book of Proverbs

2010-09-14T14:30:00.000+01:00

In the Bible there can be found a book of Proverbs. It is within the Old Testament, and is therefore widely considered to be the word of God himself, as opposed to accounts of another man, disciple, or group of people.

Some of the chapters are reported to have been written by Solomon. Others have an unclear author.

The book is considered to be an example of 'wisdom literature' in that it provides morals for people to follow, guiding them to wisdom.

An example of one proverb found in the book which is still in common use today is:

"As a dog returneth to his vomit, so is a fool that returneth repeatedly to his folly."

Proverbs Ch26 Vs11

Ken Livingstone used the phrase when discussing the refusal by the Labour party for him to rejoin them, to describe the actions of the party leaders voting against him.

"Outside the confines of the press conference, Mr Livingstone was much more vitriolic. When asked by The Independent why the NEC and party leadership had voted against him, he replied: "'As the dog returneth to its vomit, the fool returneth to his folly.' That's my favourite quote from the Bible and it applies now.""

Ken Livingstone, as quoted by The Independent, 24th July 2002

Typocryptography

2010-09-14T13:31:00.002+01:00

Apparently that's an actual word! I didn't realise that. I was quite happy for it not to be, but bonus- no red line underneath!!

I'm referencing Avain which is a dingbats typeface created by Juha Korhonen and consists of images of keys.

Pretty clever. Or perhaps not. I'm not expert, or even beginner on how these things are done...

Survey Results

2010-09-13T16:29:00.000+01:00

Here are the results I have gathered from my survey on animals.

Individual complete reponses:

Overall distribution of answers given for different questions:

How Locks Work

2010-09-13T15:35:00.000+01:00

Another video on how locksmiths work.

Cancer Zodiac

2010-09-13T14:41:00.001+01:00

The astrological sign associated with the constellation of Cancer within the Zodiac. It just happens to be my astrological sign, too.

The story goes that the constellation was formed when Goddess, Zeus' wife, Hera swore to kill Heracles, as she did not want him to marry her daughter Hebe. Heracles was a Greek hero, and very strong. Hera cast a spell upon Heracles, forcing him into madness and to commit a great crime. As punishment for this he was to undertake 12 challenges. One of these was to kill the great Hydra, a monster with seven deadly snake heads.
Hera saw him undertaking this challenge, and sent a giant crab to aid the Hydra by distracting Heracles. However, being so strong, Heracles just stomped on the crab. Hera is said to have placed the stars in the sky in honour of the crab's service.

Crabs

2010-09-13T13:47:00.002+01:00

I'm not talking about the nasty ones. Don't be so crude.

I mean the 'decapod crustaceans' that live in the sea and get a bit smashed up on the beach. They are, as the name suggests, sea creatures with ten limbs. What I want to know is why, when people are so scared of spiders with their eight legs, people are not commonly scared of crabs too. I AM! Now. After picking up goodness knows how many pieces of them off the beach to look at and photograph. They also smell SO bad.

Since then I have learnt that the parts I have mostly been picking up are the 'chelae'

Yum yum! All seriousness though, I've never eaten crab. And I don't want to after this. Yack.

Some more facs.

Crabs vary in size a lot, as you can tell purely by the photograph of all the chelae that I picked up. The smallest crab is the 'pea crab'

The photo shows a female one, with a translucent shell showing the organs inside.

The largest crab is the 'Japenese spider crab' a delightfully huge specimen which can apparently live for up to 100 years. It's also supposedly rather gentle, although sources have reported it to be 50% crab, 50% spider but 100% giant enemy!

Photos are from seasweetie.wordpress.com

I just thought this one was sweet-

NINJA CRAB!!!

The Fox and the Grapes

2010-09-12T22:40:00.000+01:00

Within Aesop's Fables, we can obviously find morals within the stories, life lessons perhaps. The semantics of the stories make this obvious. However, they also apply deeper theories in some of them. The Fox and the Grapes is such a story.

"Driven by hunger, a fox attempts to reach some grapes on a vine above her. She was unable to reach them, although she leaped with all her strength. As she walked away she remarked 'you grapes aren't even ripe yet. I don't need any sour grapes'."

This story shows the social psychological concept of 'cognitive dissonance' in practice. The term is used to describe when somebody applies a different view to their original one on a situation, to attempt to rid themselves of a conflict- ie, the fox attempts to convince herself that the grapes were not worth having anyway, because she is unable to attain them.

Another example of this theory in practice is the 'Free Choice Paradigm'. Jack Brehm conducted a study in which students rated appliances, and then made a decision to take one of two away with them. The ratings that were given to the appliance that the student had picked showed an increase in favour over the rejected one, when compared to original ratings before one was chosen over the other. This study was also repeated with similar results in young children and monkeys.

... The latter study used stickers and M&Ms. I find that really amusing.

Who was Aesop?

2010-09-12T22:21:00.001+01:00

Simple answer- nobody is sure.

Not so lazy answer- Aesop was a bloke, who is widely believed to have come from Greece. His name however suggests that he was actually from Ethiopia. He is said to have been a slave, around the time of the 5th Century BC. Oh, and he was a story teller too, believe it or not...

The Orchard Book of Aesop's Fables

2010-09-12T22:10:00.001+01:00

Told by Michael Morpurgo and illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark, the Orchard Book of Aesop's Fables is a gorgeous retelling of the legendary fables everyone is familiar with. The illustrations are contemporary and quirky, which brings the age old stories a new lease of life.

Even thought the tales are old, they seem to still be very much in popular demand with children's fiction. There are quite a few new books with great illustrations that are available, including this one with great water colour illustrations by Lisbeth Zwerger

The Bald Man and the Fly

2010-09-12T21:36:00.001+01:00

The Bald Man and the Fly

"A bald man sat down after a hard day's work. A fly nearby kept buzzing around him, biting his head from time to time. The man aimed to swat the fly, but instead the blow fell upon his own head. The fly continued to bother him, but this time the man said 'you will only injure yourself it you take notice of despicable enemies'."

The Dog and the Shadow

"A dog had got itself a piece of meat to eat, and was heading home to eat in peace. On his way, the dog saw it's reflection in a stream. Thinking it was another dog, he decided to try and get that meat too. As his mouth opened to grab it his original piece fell and dropped out of sight into the water not to be seen again." -Grasp not at shadows, lest you lose your substance.

The Jay and the Peacocks

"One day, a jay ventured into a garden where peacocks roamed. Seeing feathers on the ground from the moulting peacocks, he tied them to his tail to disguise himself. Upon his approach, the peacocks discovered his deceit, and pecked and plucked their own feathers away from him. The jay flew back up to the trees to sit with the other jays, who had seen his behaviour. They said to him 'it is not only fine feathers that make fine birds'."

Aesop's Fables

2010-09-12T18:23:00.001+01:00

Since deciding to look at 'the zoo' as a topic of my 'what is good?' project, I have decided that this is probably an incorrect term, since I intend on really researching general 'animal' associations. Some of these I have done already- some conservation research, and a questionnaire on where people have visited and adoption. I am now going to look into Aesop's Fables.

A fable is the term given to a story which holds a specific message or lesson within it. Sometimes they are also called parables. The fables written by Aesop are mostly anthropomorphic tales of life lessons that different animals learn, eg, the hare and the tortoise.

Other tales include:
- The wolf in sheep's clothing
- The goose with the golden eggs
- The man and the serpent
- The wolf and the lamb
- The scorpion and the frog

The last one is referenced in an episode of CSI- 'Burked' Season 2. Ep 1. Watch the video clip from 03:15

Kleptoparasitism

2010-09-12T17:09:00.002+01:00

That is a real word, yes.

It means parasitism via theft. That's how seagulls sustain themselves. They steal food from other people/animals that have already got it. They aren't able to fish for themselves and get the food that they steal, in the same way that they can no more walk into a chip shop and order two cod and a small portion of chips with a can of coke.
They wait until we've ordered the two cod, chips and coke, then they steal it from us. After we've opened the can, obviously. They'd struggle a lot otherwise. Sneaky buggers.

Seagull

2010-09-12T16:59:00.002+01:00

THEIF! So, seagulls.

At the seaside...

2010-09-12T16:46:00.000+01:00

I have spent a lot of time this summer on the beach. In Cumbria and in Cornwall, as well as around the Yorkshire coast.

I spent some time at each one collecting things that I found interesting.

These are the resulting images I have taken of the collected objects.

Not only did I find the usual shells, pebbles and glass etc, I also found part of a seagull skull in Cornwall. I thought that was pretty cool. I think the circular holes further back are for the sinuses or ears.

Weird Fortune Cookie Video...

2010-09-11T15:47:00.001+01:00

This video is pretty odd. I don't really understand it.

Amir Naderi: Making of Fortune Cookie (2009) from Andrei Severny on Vimeo.

This one explains how they are mass produced in factories. I like the little folding moulds.

Chinese Proverb Collection

2010-09-11T15:34:00.000+01:00

I have found a website which has collected a number of various Chinese Proverbs, here.

Online Fortune Cookies

2010-09-11T15:25:00.002+01:00

Pursue your wishes aggressively.
Open your own cookie!

Fortune Cookies

2010-09-11T15:24:00.000+01:00

Following on from the whole Chinese blog comments stuff, I'm going to research fortune cookies.

Photo from letitflow.com

Wikipedia says that these fortunes are "faux wisdom or vague prophecy'... But I guess that they must have some sort of influence, otherwise what would be the point? I mean, even if it's just the (generally) positive connotations that they can convey then surely that's still good?

Guess it works for some!

The Tide

2010-09-11T15:15:00.000+01:00

I think that in their lifetime, everyone will have at some point made a trip to the beach, and found that the sea was kind of in the way. The tide being in means it sort of gets in the way some times. And the tide being out means you probably can't swim as easily. Obvious.

What causes it?
The tide, we all learn in junior school, is caused by the Moon. Okay, that's cool, but how? Apparently the moon exerts a gravitational force upon the water on the earth, causing it to 'bulge' at the point where the moon is directly overhead. This causes low tides on the coastal areas around these places. At the same time the gravitational pull acts on the earth itself, pulling it away from the water on the opposite side of the earth. This causes high tides where the earth is pulled away. There are usually two high and two low tides each day. Each cycle takes 12 hours and 25 mins.
I learned that here.

I took a video of the waves at a beach in cornwall on holiday. Waves have nothing to do with the tide, they are formed by the wind.

Julia McKenzie

2010-09-07T19:23:00.002+01:00

Julia McKenzie is a delightful illustrator, using screen print, drawing, inks and collage mediums.

Irony is, that I have an idea for my own project- beach fragmets, using patterns in found things, natural garbage etc... And in the same afternoon I am pointed in the direction of someone who already does it, and a lot better than I could too!

With Juila's work I love the way she fits things together to make them match and co-operate together in a piece. The way she takes influence from her surroundings is a key feature in how she appeals to me.

Swoon

2010-09-05T00:56:00.001+01:00

I figured that even if something doesn't fit with my five topics, if I find it good it should still go here...

The artwork for the album Swoon by the Silversun Pickups. Fantastic band, music is sort of Smashing Pumpkins meets Coheed and Cambria, meets Placebo. Good mix in my opinion. The artwork on the other hand is sort of Alex Pardee meets Keith Tyson. Gorgeous.

Paintings are actually done by Darren Waterston who has a lovely collection of similar watercolours on his website. They're really beautiful, you can sort of feel them taking shape as you look at them. Like peering through your windscreen on a foggy night trying to see the shapes emerge in the distance. Yup.

We're all going on a, Cornish holiday...

2010-09-05T00:38:00.001+01:00

I have been to Cornwall the past week with Toby and his family.

What a super place! Well, I have plenty of photos, and lots of inspiration. But I'm not sure how to channel it correctly. I think that I need to prioritise more, oh dear.

First of all- get back to Leeds

Zero of all- pick a fifth topic!!

I say zero of all because obviously zero comes before one.

So, I've been wracking my brains for something that I think will be a good choice, something I won't lose interest in, and something I will be able to research enough. My thoughts fell on what I have been doing all summer. Now, I'm not one to pretend they've been busy or used their time well when it's not true, but I feel that this summer for me has been a particularly productive one, if not with OUGD201...

I have read a lot, which is something I promised myself I would do. Okay, so I haven't read the books that I wanted to read necessarily, but I have still got half way there with a great pile of fiction.

So, I proudly announce my fifth 'What is Good' topic: The Wardstone Chronicles

Uh oh

2010-08-24T20:26:00.000+01:00

I thought I just broke blogger. But it's okay because I didn't.

Keeping with the theme of bad news:

Oh noes!! That wasn't what I wanted when I blogged about spam comments! I was putting them in a nice positive light. I haven't had as many since!
Darn.

Anyway. Life carries on, and so must I. So I'm going to now focus more upon traditional Chinese proverbs, fortunes etc...

Arthur and the Mauritius Kestrel

2010-08-24T20:17:00.003+01:00

After I posted a link to my survey on facebook, Arthur pointed me in the direction of the Mauritius Kestrel. I looked it up, and found out some lovely snippets of information about it:

"The recorded population dropped to an all-time low of only 4 individuals in 1974 and it was considered the rarest bird in the world. Stanley Temple from Cornell University studied this species for two years and the first attempt in 1973 to breed the birds in captivity failed because the hatchling died when the incubator had a breakdown. Though conservation measures were immediately undertaken with the help of a breeding programme by the Jersey Zoo (now called Durrell Wildlife) the efforts to rescue this species initially failed because the eggs were not fertile.

In 1979 a new attempt was undertaken. With the help of Gerald Durrell, the Welsh biologist Carl G. Jones established a wildlife sanctuary on Ile aux Aigrettes. He climbed on the trees and removed the eggs from the nests. This time the eggs were fertile, and Jones was able to rear the hatchlings in incubators. The wild kestrels' diet was supplemented so they would be able to lay a new egg after the first one was removed, averting any negative impact on the wild population. Slowly the population increased and during a census in 1984 50 individuals were estimated.... The captive breeding programme was scaled back in the early 1990s as a self-sustaining population was established....

Today there are more than 800 mature birds, with numbers rising..."

Yeah, um, courtesy of Wikipedia...

"There was a faintest angel's breath of disturbed air, a flash - like an eye-flick -of a brown body, a gleaming eye, the gentlest touch of talons on my fingers as the mouse was deftly removed and the hawk flew off with it. It was an astonishing experience to have this bird, of which there had been only four specimens in the wild and which was now, with the aid of captive breeding, well on the way to recovery, swoop down from the sky like a dart and take a mouse from my fingers."

Gerald Durrell (Excerpted from The Aye-Aye and I pg. 165). thewildones.org

Pictures from durrell.org

Primary Zoo research

2010-08-24T19:50:00.001+01:00

I have visited South Lakes Wild Animal Park in the last couple of weeks, so I was able to see the zoo for myself and listen to the keepers talks on conservation programs that that zoo specifically is a part of.

I have since set up my own survey online for people to complete: Click here to take survey

It's simply to gather information on the variety of places people have visited, and whether or not they have heard much about animal conservation schemes before. Other information such as whether people have adopted animals before and at what age, as well as which charities people donate to has been collected.

THE ZOO IS GOOD!

2010-08-20T11:01:00.001+01:00

I went to the zoo this week. And it was good. So I'm adding it to my list of five things.

I know there will always be people who say "how on earth can a zoo, with animals in captivity, be a GOOD thing?" And on a lot of levels I'm with that. But when you hear what they have to say about the animals and why they are kept there, it makes it seem like one of the 'most good' things that you could find.

Breeding programmes and conservation schemes are all in place to try and stop animals dying and becoming extinct. I reckon this is a pretty noble cause, really.

Keys are good, right?

2010-08-20T10:51:00.000+01:00

I like keys. Personally, I can't really spot the difference between most of them, especially yale ones. But I like the shapes they make, and the way that they always feature in action movies or crime dramas.

I've been building up a collection of keys- photos from people I know.

Chinese Proverb Translations

2010-08-15T21:30:00.002+01:00

I have been translating the Chinese proverbs in the comments on my other blog pages:

The following are mostly Google Translations

Can impart knowledge, wisdom can not. Each person must be his own

More successful are those who make a decision soon, but not easy to change people. And failure is often difficult to decide who belongs, but often people change

Learning makes a good man better and ill man worse

Human good words, such as the sponge with water to suck firmly

Survival but continued fighting in the heart and soul; writing is sitting their trial

Long drive straight toward the planet's people, the inverse falter on the road in the gorge who achieve their goals more easily

It takes all kinds to make a world

Quietude is the crown of life

People throw stones only at trees with fruit on them

So the business heart of your article, of course, we should linger to visit!

Poverty is stranger to industry

My God ~ content is great

We must have cried, only laughter; also must feel the sorrow, and then feel the joy of life

Although the great world, many things, but but I know cicada wings

Learning makes a good man better and ill man worse

Learning makes life sweet.

Make hay while the sun shines

Like to be on you and how you will treat others

Away from the life of friendship, as if removed from the life of the sun

Do not think about things that did not get to think more of their own hands by

People can not live like animals, but should pursue knowledge and virtue

Finally after a busy day, take a look at the article converted heart and help you add a fuel oh

Your choice is do or do not, do not do will never have the opportunity to

Well begun is half done

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour

Normally open mouth smile ~ ~ Heart Heaven

He who loses money, loses much; lost friend, loses more; loss of confidence, loses all

Thinking and theory, you call the first action, but action is more noble than the ideas or theories

Many details have to be careful of life, please take care

Liang made a three-winter, verbal abuse wounding Jun Han

Survival but continued fighting in the heart and soul; writing is sitting their trial

When a person's heart can hold different conflicting things, this man started to become worthwhile

Walked passed ~ ~ haha can not miss

Rome was not built in a day

Quietude is the crown of life

Say not all that you know, believe not all that you hear

Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live

Gather roses while you may.

Love is not a charity, can not just charity.

Make hay while the sun shines

Crack shot is not a test on the percent of

Judge not a book by its cover

Judge not of men and things at first sight.

Guard your heart, better than all the conservative, because life's outcome, issued by the heart

Only shoes of people who know where one shoe pinches

There is no means the key can open all the doors

Pay tribute to the small good, it makes life more smooth journey

Virtue is a jewel of great price.

Humor is not satire, it may be with mild sarcasm, but not wounding, it may be by others, can also be used as the object itself

Such a good response to the article of course support

Keys

2010-08-15T21:04:00.003+01:00

I like keys. In my parents car there has been a key in the glove compartment for months. Nobody knows what it does, or why it's there. It's a mysterkey. Ha. So funny, me.

I seem to have endless sets of keys for various things, and I think it's lovely that they all are for different things.

Proverbial Exclamations

2010-08-14T00:15:00.001+01:00

The other day I was grumbling to Tobes about how I never receive 'proper' comments on my blog- just the spammy bot ones which are randomly generated.

I get emails forwarded to my Blackberry, and every morning I seem to have mail saying there have been comments on my blog posts.

They're pretty much all in Chinese, and mostly written using Sinography- apparently. Some are in English though, roughly. Usually they are short proverbs, almost like fortunes.

Most people would probably find this really annoying, but I sort of like it. Chinese spam is GOOD.

Okay, so except the couple that are advertising some pretty vulgar websites, they seem pretty odd and not a lot more. But the subject does bring me to the matter of proverbs.

BEACH BUM

2010-08-13T23:45:00.002+01:00

SQUARES are good. I think that anything cane be made to look attractive with the right crop. Just like everyone suits a different haircut.

I like to pick things up that don't belong to me

2010-08-13T23:41:00.001+01:00

I don't think it's stealing if people don't want it anymore.

Where I live at home, it's right at the beach. I really like living so near the sea, it makes me feel more at ease. I miss it a lot when I'm in Leeds, even though I don't visit it ALL THE TIME when I'm at home. It's just one of those things that I like to know is there, and it reminds me that I'm a very small part of something. But, I'd rather have the responsibility of being a small part of something, than a big part of nothing at all.

On the beach you can find some marvellous things.

Seaside

2010-08-05T22:49:00.001+01:00

Things you find on the beach are good.
How interesting I find them doesn't seem to have any correlation as to whether they are a natural occurance or not, I just like things on the floor really...

Photos from the beach to come.

PROcrastination

2010-07-21T15:16:00.000+01:00

I am indeed the master of this art. Procrastinator extraordinaire, I have indeed perfected this art in my twenty years on this planet. Well done me. The best at not achieving?

I drive myself NUTS doing this.

Going round in circles. I like circles. They are GOOD.

I have spent more minutes cleaning my bedroom floor than on my summer brief so far this summer. I use the term 'summer' quite loosely.

What is Good?

2010-07-12T16:15:00.014+01:00

So, here goes. Summer brief 2010.

What is good? I have to look into five different 'things' which I feel are worth of being called 'good'. And then present them in September to the rest of the year group.

So far, I haven't chosen what these five things will be, but I have decided it is about time I came up with a shortlist, so here we are:

- water
- sleep
- food
- warmth
- cold
- certain typefaces
- newspapers
- printed media
- post
- superpowers
- idioms
- origami
- box sets
- completed collections
- crispy money
- warm laundry
- non-phatic conversation
- keys

There will be more. I have no doubt.

What is Good?

WHERE IS GOOD?!

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, Their lives a mimicry, Their passions a quotation.

PRESENTING...

The Kraken

Ardvark Fact

Beach Bones

SUMMER-IZE!

Jack and the Beanstalk

Cinderella

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf

Roald Dahl and his other books...

The Three Little Pigs

Quentin Blake

Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes

Beach Drawings

Vatican City

Animals- Extinction

History of locks and keys

Cryptography and Diceware

The Bible, Book of Proverbs

Typocryptography

Survey Results

How Locks Work

Cancer Zodiac

Crabs

The Fox and the Grapes

Who was Aesop?

The Orchard Book of Aesop's Fables

The Bald Man and the Fly

Aesop's Fables

Kleptoparasitism

Seagull

At the seaside...

Weird Fortune Cookie Video...

Chinese Proverb Collection

Online Fortune Cookies

Fortune Cookies

The Tide

Julia McKenzie

Swoon

We're all going on a, Cornish holiday...

Uh oh

Arthur and the Mauritius Kestrel

Primary Zoo research

THE ZOO IS GOOD!

Keys are good, right?

Chinese Proverb Translations

Keys

Proverbial Exclamations

BEACH BUM

I like to pick things up that don't belong to me

Seaside

PROcrastination

What is Good?

Most people are other people.
Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions,
Their lives a mimicry,
Their passions a quotation.