555 Election Monster Raving Looney

Official Monster Raving Loony Party Leads The Way On Votes At 16
There was widespread call today for votes at 16. The only UK party to have this policy in their manifesto is the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, and as Andy "The Hat" Gardener explains here, all their best policies get pinched. Abolition of the dog license, passports for pets...

"The UK's 1.5m 16 and 17-year-olds would become further alienated from the democratic process if they continued to be excluded from voting, claimed the Votes at 16 coalition. The group said that if people at 16 were able to leave home, get a full-time job, pay taxes, raise children and join the armed forces they should also be able to vote. 'They have considerable responsibilities...but adult society does not consider them responsible enough to vote' Louise King, Children's Rights Alliance
Lowering the voting age could also help to reinvigorate the youth vote by forcing MPs to take an active interest in the issues that concern young people, they said.

The group - which also includes the Children's Rights Alliance for England, British Youth Council and Children's Parliament in Scotland - have written to the party leaders, asking them to promise to extend the franchise.

The letter urged them to "demonstrate their faith in and respect for younger citizens by working to ensure that 16 and 17 year-olds are no longer unnecessarily denied a stake in their democracy". Louise King, of the Children's Rights Alliance, said: "At 16 and 17, young people's lives are as rich and varied as at any other age. " - BBC

ADSL Router failure

No Postings today - the little white Netgear DG850GT box expired in a puff of smoke. Time for a cocktail instead.

Commuting to London

SouthWest train
Treo 650 phone photos uploaded by rashbre.

The London commuting rule of full trains applied today. A full fare inbound train of four carriages, with standing room only.

The off-peak return was an almosty empty 12 car train.

my other car

Bumper sticker: "My other car is a Pynchon novel": "Xeni Jardin:

Available from the Cat and Girl comic's online store, along with gothic script t-shirts that say, 'Capitalists do it Ruthlessly.' Link (via Bruce Sterling)

(Via Boing Boing.)

That's a big telly

The SuperScreen Outdoor Theater System: "

It’s official: we’re having an Engadget Pool Party this summer. Not sure whose house it’s going to be at, but we’re going to have to figure something out right quick now that we’ve stumbled upon the SuperScreen Outdoor Theater System, a 13-foot by 16-foot inflatable screen that includes a portable DVD player, dual 15-inch speakers, and a DLP projector. So basically we’re going to need to borrow somebody’s pool for the afternoon. And also ten thousand dollars. [Via bookofjoe] and (Via Engadget.)

a nice cuppa tea

Now add milk...
Originally uploaded by Feed The Birds.

Software Tracks Tea-Making Duties: "In Britain, an unwritten law says anyone making tea must also brew a cuppa for co-workers. Naturally, most would rather die of thirst than make a dozen cups of tea. New software tracks who's on top of tea duties. By Robert Andrews."

(Via Wired News.)

Living Zen

HOSSHINJI-01
Originally uploaded by rashbre.

Living Zen: "

My friend sent me a photography link yesterday that I decided to pass along. Photojournalist Androniki Christodoulou has several exhibits online at her site, but I was particularly struck by her peek inside the Hoshinji monastery of Soto Zen Buddhism in Obama.
Living Zen - JAPAN

Beautiful photos. I can't say I know much about Zazen or Buddhism, but the peace and calm and order and discipline is fascinating.

(Via Metroblogging Tokyo.)

Living in Paper

Living in paper is a way to make housing from discarded paper waste.

(Via Evolve Happy.)

Basingstoke's flying car

On wednesday, a car flew from the A30 into the top floor of a house in Basingstoke, Hants, England and dropped back to the ground. The driver and passenger were seriously injured but are in stable condition. Police say the car hit a curb and 'launched through the air.' There is now an investigation looking for some other 'hot hatch' cars which were seen in the vicinity at a similar time.

Joyce Harman told BBC News how she and her husband Joe were woken by the crash. 'It was just horrendous,' she said.'My husband thought the dog had knocked something over downstairs but as he got to the bedroom door he could see the hole in the wall and all the furniture moved.'That's when we came downstairs and saw the car there.'

The story made frontpage in the Gazette.

And good coverage on the BBC.

Anime Fair 2005

Photos from the Tokyo Anime Fair 2005:Xeni Jardin:Tamu of FPS Magazine says:

My co-workers from Toon Boom Animation went to the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF). While there, Steven took these fun photos around TAF 2005 and gave fps permission to put them up on the site. Check out the 3D sculpture of Hayao Miyazaki's (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) Howl's Moving Castle (adapted from the Diana Wynne-Jones book) at the Studio Ghibli booth.

Link to photos by Stephen Chu.

(Via Boing Boing.)

Time travellers have been here before

MIT students are holding a Time Traveler Convention next Saturday in the hope that some visitors from the future might show up.

Great idea! I'd love to help! What should I do?
Write details of the time traveller convention with dates on a piece of acid-free paper, and slip into obscure books in academic libraries where they can be found in the distant future! Carve them into a clay tablet! If you write for a newspaper, insert a few details about the convention! Tell your friends, so that word of the convention will be preserved in our oral history! A note: Time travel is a hard problem, and it may not be invented until long after MIT has faded into oblivion. Thus, we ask that you include the latitude/longitude information when you publicize the convention.
You can also make an absolute commitment to publicize the convention afterwards. In that case, bring a time capsule or whatever it may be to the party, and then bury it afterwards.
Can't the time travelers just hear about it from the attendees, and travel back in time to attend?
Yes, they can! In fact, we think this will happen, and the small number of adventurous time travelers who do attend will go back to their 'home times' and tell all their friends to come, causing the convention to become a Woodstock-like event that defines humanity forever.

Moleskine - the Whiteberry

Each page of the new Moleskine Storyboard notebook consists of a sequence of storyboard frames for drawing mini-stories. The first half of the book has two frames per page — the last half has four frames per page along the left side, with room to write text to the right of each frame. A great productivity tool to help create graphic and narrative depictions.

In all other respects, the Moleskine Story Board Notebook includes all the Moleskine features you’ve come to expect and enjoy. Each Moleskine journal has a rigid, durable oilcloth bound ‘moleskine’ cover and sturdy thread bound binding with fine Italian acid-free paper pages. Moleskine journals also have a built-in elastic closure that holds the sturdy cover closed when not in use, a black ribbon placeholder, and an expandable accordion pocket in the back made of cardboard and oilcloth for holding tickets, notes and clippings. Moleskine journals are made in Italy. Size: 3.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches (9 cm x 14 cm x 1.25 cm); Pages: 192 story board pages (96 leaves). BUY Moleskine Movie Storyboard Notebook at Amazon.com. Your purchase through this link supports Cinema Minima.