Snow and steam

I remember the winter of 1963. School was closed for time when the outside toilets froze up. We thawed our 1/3 pint bottles of milk around the stove in our classroom.

On 1 February, 1963, Geoffrey Jones began filming "Snow" which was to win 14 major awards and an Oscar nomination in 1965. Jones was already working on a film for the British Railways Board when he had the idea of making a film contrasting the comfort of the passengers with the efforts of the workmen to keep the trains running during this abnormal winter.

The footage we see is mostly from the Western Region. There is also a tantalising glimpse of a Somerset and Dorset freight train as well as some archive pre-WW II shots of Jubilee class locomotive 'Barbados'.

Recyclable gift box

Here is a nice idea for making a recyclable gift box that will cost you $1 in the US, or $5 in Canada!

http://members.cox.net/crandall11/money/box/

A LoveBug for your valentine

I first came across Hilary Pfeifer's blog when she took part in the International Turning Exchange 2006. Hilary describes herself as a mixed-media sculptor, making small wood parts that are assembled into larger sculptures.

Two years ago she did an installation of 1500 lovebugs at the Fuller Craft Museum and later at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. Now you can get a pair of these lovebugs mailed to the love of your life just in time for Valentine's Day.

More reasons Harper needs to go

Coming fast on the heels of the Chalk River nuclear fiasco in which the government overuled then fired the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Mr Harper has decided that he doesn't need any advice from scientists. This man is unbelievable in his arrogance. I thought the Liberal party were bad enough, but this regime is totally out of control.

No science in the PM's ear: Canada dismisses National Science Adviser

One of the comments in the post above suggests that Harper gets all the advice he needs from Washington. I suspect he also takes a fair bit from some whacko interpretation of the bible.

Another troubling aspect of his character is highlighted by Elizabeth May who reports that all the art in the Government Lobby at the House of Commons has been replaced by photos of Harper.
[Update: confirmation of this by Kady O'Malley, and the Ottawa Citizen seeks a comment from a Harper press aide]

Is Canada safe with this man as leader?

Our Earth as Art

When Google Maps created their new feature, My Maps, I wonder if they were expecting the creativity people would have in finding applications for it. One good example is Our Earth as Art, a selection of satellite photographs of our planet. Each one is beautiful in its own right, often in a very abstract sense, and is accompanied by text explaining what we are seeing. In many cases it tells a horror story of the suffering we are causing our planet.