HAL9000

'bout now Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I've also seen Avatar and special effects > apart, its shite. I think it's the most expensive > film ever made, pity some of the budget didn't go > on a script or storyline. I think Avatar's special effects are brilliant. Its story line is somewhat lightweight. I've just read Cameron's original 'scriptment' for Avatar, which addresses a lot of questions left unanswered in the movie - such as: why 'unobtainium' is so valuable, why some mountains float on Pandora, how the link is established between humans and their Avatars, the nature of Pandora's atmosphere, how interstellar space travel is achieved, and much more. Well worth reading after seeing the movie.

PeckhamRose Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > (I must find out where 'cottoned on' came from) Cotton on

intexasatthe moment Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Lady muck - it was to do with quotation "marks " > and double quotation ""marks "". Whereas I was talking about 'single' and "double" quotation marks - see my personalised wiki page for details: Quotation Mark

Black Eye Beans (Greek/Turkish Cuisine) Serves 1 (main meal), 2 (sides), 4 (starters) 1 tin black eye beans in salt water; 400g net, 240g drained (The best brand is KTC, in my opinion - 39p a tin or 3 for ?1 at Khan's Bargain supermarket on Rye Lane) 1 celery stalk 1 small carrot 1 small potato 1 small onion [optional] 2 generous handfuls fresh baby spinach leaves (or 3-4 heaped tablespoonfuls of tinned spinach leaves) Chop celery Slice carrot Dice potato [and onion] Place vegetable pieces in saucepan, cover with water, salt lightly and boil until cooked Drain and rinse black eye beans in cold water Add spinach and black eye beans to saucepan and boil for a few minutes to heat through (the beans are already cooked) Drain well Garnish with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Salt to taste Serve with fresh crusty bread and Raw onion and black olives alone Or with any of the following: Anchovies Sardines Pilchards Kippers Smoked mackerel Tinned salmon Any other smoked, tinned, salted or preserved fish

Just a heads up: Some of Edward Tucker's oil paintings are available as contemporary reproductions. I don't know whether that also applies to his watercolours; worth bearing in mind, though.

MrBen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Ever been in a whirlpool with two girls, a big > spliff and glass of cava HAL? I'd like to think so - but the last thing I remember was dancing naked on a hilltop in a thunderstorm ...

RosieH Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Apologies... I logged in today at 5pm so missed whatever you wrote earlier. > HAL, your ebay sleuthing last week made me deeply > deeply uncomfortable. You posted asking for opinions about a particular, easily identifiable eBay transaction. I don't feel I did anything wrong to look up that transaction - anyone could have done so. If that made you uncomfortable, I apologise. If my sense of humour has offended you, I apologise for that too.

Ladymuck Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Crikey...completely different...how do we know > these are accurate? I've no idea how 'accurate' they are in terms of actual stabbings but these figures seem to make more sense (whatever that means) than those posted earlier. > Also, excuse my stupidity HAL9000, but what do you > mean when you say? > > I did these searches > again - properly: > > Search String Google > (using double quotes) (UK only) The search strings were enclosed in quotation marks (i.e. "double quotes") to limit the search to that exact phrase and Google was instructed to deliver only results from UK sources. None of the earlier searches were that precise.

RosieH Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dance naked on a hilltop in a thunderstorm > Finish my novel Unless it's entitled "How I survived a lightning strike" - better finish the novel first.

This has been bothering me so I did these searches again - properly: Search String Google (using double quotes) (UK only) Peckham stabbing 562 Clapham stabbing 6 Brixton stabbing 251 Islington stabbing 320 Westminster stabbing 6 Chelsea stabbing 5

monica Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Go Back to Las Vegas and enjoy it, rather then > loathe it. Hunter S. Thompson must be spinning in his grave.

Ladymuck Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Very funny... HonaloochieB made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

HonaloochieB Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > legalbeagle Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > > Fish are mortal. Men are mortal. Therefore fish > > are men. > The Codfather? Fish are mortal. Luca Brasi is mortal. Therefore "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."

Marmora Man Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Pepper & Salt Squid A variation on your theme. Squid Stuffed with Prawns: Remove the tentacles add (cooked) prawns chop tentacles and prawns finely season to taste (optional: chopped parsley, mustard, soy sauce, lemon/lime juice, etc.) stuff the mixture into the gutted squid bodies brush with butter and grill until light golden brown Easy, delicious and highly addictive.

I think this article probably summarises the main issues fairly accurately: Traders build up record bets against sterling. One thing it doesn't mention is the possibility that a consortium led by George Soros has placed massive bets against the Euro on the basis that the Eurozone could fall apart if Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal default.

Brendan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > But would the universe be here if there wasn?t > life around to experience it? As Bishop George Berkeley said in support of his theory of "subjective idealism": Esse est percipi. If you are genuinely interested in this type of paradox, you may find this interesting: Anthropic principle

Today, so far, the pound has fallen over 5 cents against the US dollar - 2.5 cents in the last ten minutes! It's down roughly the same against the Euro in percentage terms. The beginning of a long term freefall or just a short term sell off? Good or bad?

From Aristotle's Prior Analytics: categorical syllogism - to be precise.

R&A Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Does that mean London has had more Tsunamis than > Sri Lanka? In all fairness, a proper Google search (with the search string in double quotes) does yield a more sensible result (meaningless as it still is): > "Tsunami London" - 672 > "Tsunami Sri Lanka" - 6,510

I think the question boils down to: If x87 = 22, does y1997 = 13?

I know - put it down to sheer boredom. I'm sure there are proper stats out there waiting to be cut and pasted into an informative post by some enterprising forumite - I just can't be bothered to be it tonight.

Saila Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > on a lighter note.... > > I love this scientific approach to crime statistics Out of boredom and mild curiosity I ran those searches again via MS Live using the 'show all' and 'UK only' options: Search string Google Live (all) Live (UK only) > Peckham stabbing 15,800 16,300 6,290 > Clapham stabbing 218,000 19,500 7,290 > Brixton stabbing 23,500 41,500 7,130 > Islington stabbing 14,000 29,800 18,200 > Westminster stabbing 149,000 187,000 28,900 > Chelsea stabbing 180,000 264,000 57,600 The figures for Chelsea might be skewed because of extra news coverage of football hooliganism. Westminster and Chelsea also because other places overseas share the same name (that Live hasn't properly categorised, perhaps). Clapham looks like a search anomaly restricted to Google. As for Islington, well, it is a pretty rough area - but almost as bad as Brixton, Peckham and Clapham put together - not sure about that.

Charlotte - you're welcome to come to the forum's next monthly drinks night on Friday 5th March at the East Dulwich Tavern - more details at the end of this link.

Peckham is probably the stabbing capital of the world - a Google search on "peckham stabbing" yields 15,800 hits. I've seen dozens of catfights spill out onto the street from various hair and nail emporiums along Rye Lane over the past few years. I saw Jaws' post and silverfox's response yesterday but thought I'd count to ten before jumping into the affray in case a challenge upset the wrong person and got the forum shut down. My sympathies to Jaws - sounds like you've been exposed to a terrible experience.

The origin of the Universe still belongs to the realm of speculation whereas the origin of life is the subject of hands on research and experimentation - it is far more accessible to us. We may yet reproduce the origin of life ab initio, in silico.