Wednesday, January 5, 2005

I'm guessing one can find extensive theories explaining personality traits by separating people into groups according to which version of Law and Order they favor and which character they like the most. I'm definitely a Lenny-lover. I was saddened at the recent death of Jerry Orbach. Just for fun, you can generate an L&O plot with just one click at the Random Law and Order Plot Generator.

Random Law and Order Plot Generator.

For example:

Tonight on Law and Order:

A stabbing victim is discovered in central park by a hardened cleaning crew. Lenny and Curtis initially pin the crime on a loan shark, but after Curtis uses an internet chat room, they arrest Lt. Van Buren. McCoy and Kincaid prosecute, but McCoy must make a deal to win. The old DA nods knowingly and says "Always forgive your enemies...they hate that !" Glarkonman 2000 guest stars.

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Merry Christmasô

"Tis the Season.is a short story by British writer China Mieville in "Socialist Review" about a future when holidays celebrations are wholly owned subsidiaries of mega-corporations. It's definitely worth a read. Here's an excerpt:

Don't get me wrong. I haven't got shares in YuleCo, and I can't afford a one-day end-user licence, so I couldn't have a legal party. I'd briefly considered buying from one of the budget competitors like XmasTym, or a spinoff from a non-specialist like Coca-Crissmas, but the idea of doing it on the cheap was just depressing.

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Thank a geographer!

As the daughter of geographers, my heart went pitty-pat when I read this article from Thailand:

Girl, 10, used geography lesson to save lives

(Filed: 01/01/2005)

A 10-year-old girl saved her family and 100 other tourists from the Asian tsunami because she had learnt about the giant waves in a geography lesson, it has emerged.

Tilly Smith, from Oxshott, Surrey, was holidaying with her parents and seven-year-old sister on Maikhao beach in Phuket, Thailand, when the tide rushed out.

As the other tourists watched in amazement, the water began to bubble and the boats on the horizon started to violently bob up and down.

Tilly, who had studied tsunamis in a geography class two weeks earlier, quickly realised they were in danger.

She told her mother they had to get off the beach immediately and warned that it could be a tsunami.

She explained she had just completed a school project on the huge waves and said they were seeing the warning signs that a tsunami was minutes away.

Her parents alerted the other holidaymakers and staff at their hotel, which was quickly evacuated. The wave crashed a few minutes later, but no one on the beach was killed or seriously injured.

In an interview with the Sun, Tilly gave the credit to her geography teacher, Andrew Kearney, at Oxshott's Danes Hill Prep School.

She said "Last term Mr. Kearney taught us about earthquakes and how they can cause tsunamis.

"I was on the beach and the water started to go funny. There were bubbles and the tide went out all of a sudden.

"I recognised what was happening and had a feeling there was going to be a tsunami. I told mummy."