some maths 1 = 0.999

This has been blowing my tiny mind recently. 1 can be the same as 0.999. Bloody maths

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The reverend harold francis davidson

'Covering up the girls modesty'

Preaching

With his barrel

That bloody Lion, God's representative

Having a pyjama party with some young girls

The above mentioned Reverend was the Rector of Stiffkey in Norfolk, but was better known for heading off into Soho at every chance to 'rescue young girls'. He preached in Norfolk on Sundays, but would get the Monday morning train to London. He would then stay in London until the Saturday night train back. Between 1919 and 1932, he estimated he had 'helped' two to three thousand girls.

He was however, investigated by the Bishop of Norfolk and on the 29th March 1932, the self-styled Prostitutes' Padre was charged at Church House in Westminster in a Consistory Court, (which has no jury and is presided over, in place of a judge, by what is called a Chancellor of the Diocese).The Rector was found guilty of five counts of immoral conduct and was was charged £8,205 costs. Church career over.

He then travelled the country protesting his innocence, doing stunts such as fasting in a barrel, being put in an oven and poked by the devil (not the real one), and working with a lion. It was the lion that eventually turned on him, mauling him to such an extent that he died of his injuries a couple of days later, on 30th July 1937.

I was interested in this as he may be a distant relation. Also, a lot of the statements applying to him could also have been directed to me.

"He was utterly besotted and bewitched by pretty young girls"

"Davidson would walk around the streets of the West End all week essentially stalking and pursuing girls wherever he went"

"Whether it was attactive young actresses, shop girls or waitresses none of them were particularly safe from the the glint in his eye"

"I was picking up in this way roughly, an average of about 150 to 200 girls a year"

Certainly all sounds familiar to me

For the full story and more photos, go here

http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/

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richard wiseman paranormality

I finished this book yesterday, and it was pretty interesting, although most of the stuff in it l already knew (just not the specific tests). There were some good tricks and illusions to try out, and the above is a good example of how you can be fooled. Make sure you watch it all the way through.

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joel burns - it will get better

Joel Burns is openly gay city councilman from Fort Worth in Texas. Christ on a bike, l don't even know why l watch so much strange stuff, but sometimes l wish l hadn't. l am not gay (and there's nothing wrong with being gay either), but l cried like a little baby watching this, nearly as much as l do watching important football matches. Great stuff, but l may have to stick (literately) to porn and music in the future, l can't handle these proper emotions.

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fermats last theorem and the collatz conjuncture

I really need to get out more and get a life. I went to bed last night thinking about The Collatz Conjuncture,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collatz_conjecture

which was bugging me as l couldn't get it out of my mind, doing mental arithmetic which kept me awake for a while (while also listening to The Knife album 'Tomorrow, in a year' on earphones, which didn't help). Then this morning l have been reading about Fermat's Last Theorem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermat's_Last_Theorem

which l do not understand at all. Mind you, it was a long, long time ago since l was taught any mathematics and l have pretty much forgotten everything l learnt back then.

It still annoys me though, and no doubt it will still be bugging me later.

Thank God l go to see Joseph on a Monday

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africa is pretty big

As the saying goes, l wouldn't like to paint it

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turf dancing

Ah, this takes me back to the days when me and my homies used to hang around Colburn top shops, doing dance offs. If it wasn't for my dodgy knees........

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spider

http://www.onemotion.com/flash/spider/

I have endless fun playing with this

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plants have eyes

This is wierd - very weird!

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wow man - pretty high

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things you don't see anymore (part 328)

I was pondering (as is my wont) about how language changes and words evolve. Also about insults and old expressions (exciting life I lead), and it occurred to me that you never have anyone saying "Phwoor!" while doing the motion above (Ray Langton in Coronation Street, 1974, for all you youngsters out there).

I might start a one man campaign and try to bring it back. Wish me luck.

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sing sing prison

I've been reading about Sing Sing prison in upstate New York (about 30 miles north up the Hudson river). It was opened in 1826 and was extremely brutal, ensuring the prisoners remained silent by copious amounts of beatings and whippings. The prison (Correctional Facility) is still open today, but no-where near as harsh. The cell above is one of the earlier examples, and does not look like it was a lot of fun to live in. The term "Going up the river" meaning to be sent to prison, originated from when prisoners were sent up the river to Sing Sing. The electric chair photograph is of Ruth Snyder, who was executed in the chair in 1928, and the picture was sneaked out by Tom Howard, a newspaper reporter who had a camera strapped to his leg, so he could capture the image at the moment of execution. It all makes Durham prison (where l went) seem pretty boring (although Bronco, who l shared a cell with, was certainly a character).

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a damp squid

I always thought that is what the quote was until watching the IT crowd on Friday night. Apparently I was wrong. Here are the top ten misquoted phrases

1) A damp squid (a damp squib)

2) On tender hooks (on tenter hooks)

3) Nip it in the butt (nip it in the bud)

4) Champing at the bit (chomping at the bit)

5) A mute point (a moot point)

6) One foul swoop (one fell swoop)

7) All that glitters is not gold (all that glisters is not gold)

8) Adverse to (averse to)

9) Batting down the hatches (batten down the hatches)

10) Find a penny pick it up (find a pin pick it up)

Damn the English language

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a new giant star

This is called R136a1 (snappy name) and is much, much larger than our pathetic (in comparison) sun. It is the largest star found, being between 265 and 320 times the mass of our sun. Luckily for us, it is also about 165,000 light years away, so there's no chance of us getting sunburnt from it, although we could certainly do with some more sunshine at the moment. I blame God (again).

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guatemala sink hole

This happened recently in Guatemala, and it is pretty impressive. Another thing that would have been great to see (but not fall down)

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sitting correctly

The latest research on correct posture when sitting has concluded that it is best to be leaning back at 135 degrees, rather than sitting straight up as in the past. That's good news for me as l like to slouch around like that, so no wonder l have the back of a 21 year old (it's just the rest of me that is falling apart).

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notting hill posters

There has been work done at Notting hill tube station and the workmen have unearthed this passageway which has been closed since the 1950's. hence the 1950's posters that are still on the walls. Makes me want to go and see 'Too Many Crooks' now.

niagra falls

This is something I only discovered today. Niagara falls are controlled upstream and the water diverted to other places for power. here's part of the falls (American Falls, not the Horseshoe Falls), which have had the water diverted in 1969 for some Army exercises and work. Impressive.

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