Beats our courgette space rockets

Food art.

One cable car ride I want to take.

I turned off the chattering and enjoyed the views.

A little bit of me is dying inside

Remember girls, they're new to you, but they make me feel a thousand years old.

Here are the songs V has asked you to learn.

I wish it could be Christmas everyday. (Not.)
The video they tried to ban. (I wish them every success.)
Snow is falling. (I hated it then. I hate it now.)

Seriously, did she not also suggest you knock out this one? Merry Christmas everybody. (I can tolerate this one more, mostly because by the time I hear it, I'm already anesthetised.)

In another fifteen years, you will feel exactly as I do.

Negligent seals?

Seals can't be bothered to pup check?

I would suggest that does not demonstrate a casual attitude to sealy motherhood; that demonstrates complete confidence in their offspring.

The Secret of the Unicorn

Let's make a date for the cinema for Tintin.

Ice, ice, ice

Visit Otzi's life, five thousand years ago.

Frozen salt water? Visit the BBC to discover the Brinicle.

The Gamburtsevs, mountains in storage, under the Antarctic ice.

Flowers that party all night

The night-flowering orchid.

If you were going to discover a flower, what would you like to find?

Street art or graffiti?

We don't see too much street art/graffiti in Hong Kong.

Click through the images here, at Cafe Babel. What do you think? The captions make several interesting points - graffiti is a means to create a community memory for example - but when you look at street art, what's your reaction and opinion? Do you like it? Would you want to see more of it? Does it make you feel included or excluded in a public space? Can urban art be great art? Should it be celebrated or repressed?

I still haven't made up my mind about this and I've been struggling with it for 30 years.

Andy Goldsworthy

Ah! I fondly recall the afternoon in Ashridge woods constructing the Andy Goldsworthy homage from thirty-two twigs and a puddle.

How it rained! IT RAINED. The puddle became a bog and we all stood on the twigs by accident. But we went home happy, for that day we made art.

Review some of the extraordinary output of the real Andy Goldsworthy here.

He has set me on a lifetime of deliberate arrangement.

Tell me a story

'Talking with hands'

Find out about chironomia. Who talks with their hands?

'Talent is pointless'

Discuss:

'Talent is pointless. Talent is transitional. Fleeting. Nice but dull. Fervour, enthusiasm, diligence, passion, bravery, naivety, fun - all way more important.'

- Mme Smoking Gun

'The point of education is to change lives'

Do you agree?

The full article is here.

RSPCA Young Photographer of the Year

Click on the images. Which one would you have to win?

I'm voting for the solitary sheep. That looking-very-stupid face is a cunning plan. All sheep do it. But they are brighter than you think.

'Would you want to be homeschooled?'

The New York Times ran this article and invited comments.

It's worth spending time reading through them; they start from mostly school-attending children, but quickly the homeschoolers discover the site and start to voice their opinions!

What comment would you add?

What to do with Wyoming's wild horses?

Here is the BBC news article.

The horses are apparently quite a sight. (But I can't get rid of the ad.) Can you see different sides of the debate?

I guess it's a little like the issue of stray dogs and cats on the island. Should we keep them and find them homes? Or is this poor management which leads to problems?

Remembrance Day

Review the faces of men who fought in the First World War, 1914-1918.

Click on some of the thumbnail images and bring them to large size. Could you imagine seeing these faces today on the streets, in the shops and as you move around England?

In some cases, the families of the men are presently alive as great-great granddaughters and great-great grandsons. They may even live on our street at home.

What do you feel, looking at old photographs?

Remembrance Day is also known as Armistice Day.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Visit Rotten Tomatoes to read the reviews for the 1939 film starring Basil Rathbone.

Watch this film with me!

What would your review be?

Photography

Set the slideshow in motion. Which image stays with you? Which image is the most beautiful, or the most strange?

Tell me a story

About how someone misread a sign.

From that moment, life was never the same again.

Are there jokes we shouldn't tell?

Jesus came upon a small crowd who had surrounded a young woman they believed was unfaithful to her husband. They were preparing to stone her to death.

To calm the situation, Jesus said, 'Whoever is without sin among you, let them cast the first stone.'

An old lady from the back of the crowd picked up a huge rock and threw it at the young woman, hitting her directly on the head. The young woman collapsed, dead.

Jesus looked at the old lady and said, 'Mother, sometimes you really piss me off.'

Should we tell jokes that might offend?

'The house stood alone in the middle of the wood'

Tell me the story.