The Big Picture

Normally, I'm a fan of the World Press Photo exhibitions. This year, I was kinda disappointed. Something about it, wasn't as sensational or moving as previous years. My new fix for journalism photography is The Big Picture hosted by boston.com. It's got *amazing* pictures of events around the world. Here's a sample:

"Muslim pilgrims perform the "Tawaf" ritual around the Kaaba at Mecca's Grand Mosque before leaving the holy Saudi city at the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage on December 10, 2008. (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images)"

"A woman walks through floodwaters on Piazza San Marco during floods on December 1, 2008 in Venezia. (ANDREA PATTARO/AFP PHOTO/AFP/Getty Images)"


"People standing on the roadside shower flower petals as the body of Hemant Karkare, the chief of Mumbai's Anti-Terrorist Squad is taken for cremation in Mumbai, India, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)"


"An Indian commando runs into Taj Hotel prior to a gun battle in Mumbai November 28, 2008. (REUTERS/Arko Datta)"

PS: The coolest thing about the Hajj to Mecca, is that there's an algorithm for crowd control implemented to prevent the notorious stampedes and deaths which happen :)

Bad habit

Drinking (3 champers + 1 beeru) makes me buy things online :( Latest order:

Other impulse buys from GAMA-GO:


(This is my absolute fave hoodie of all time)

To all you Sydneriers out there freezing in your 20 degree "Winter", consider buying a hoodie from here ;)

The Internet Party

I was meant to link to this in the last post :) What happens when Google's parents leave town for the weekend (SFW) *grin* If you want to know what Urban Dictionary said -> Blumpkin *evil grin*

GIANT SQUID!!!

ZOMG! Today, I met my boss *grin*

Her name's Archie :)

When the lights switched on in the Darwin Centre's storage room, I gasped at the sight of Archie. She's totally awesome! Archie lays in a solid 9m tank filled with formalin. Her eye is as big as dinner plate! Her tentacles are covered with teethy suckers! So formidable. I wish Archie was still alive.

The Darwin Centre is part of the Natural History Museum. The building is currently under construction, and the only way to see Archie is to book a Darwin Explorer tour with the museum. It's a short 45min tour, but I really enjoyed every minute of it. The museum stores over 70 million specimens. Some of those on display are the original specimens discovered by Darwin himself! The very first specie of various animals to be discovered in history on display! I thought that was pretty amazing.

As more lights are switched on around the room, I noticed dozens and dozens of jars lining the walls. It's creepy, but fascinating. Snakes, giant fish, baby sharks, badgers, echidnas, turtles, foxes - you name it, it's there. Large metal tanks fill the middle of the room, storing anything too big for a jar!

If you've got some free time on your hands, give the Natural History Museum a call (0207 942 5011) and book the tour :) Not a lot of people get to see this sort of stuff in their lives. It's also free.

What I need

A Clocky. I woke up at 8:52am today thinking, "Fck, it's 8:52am, why are there people drilling outside?!?" Quickly followed by, "Fck, it's 8:52am, why am I still in bed?!?"

I don't even remember turning my alarm off. Clocky will run away from you if you try to snooze more than once :)

Snake vodka anyone?

I came across this at Selfridges the other day:

Yup, Snake Vodka for the upperclass English folk :) None of the dodgy looking stuff you can get from Asia. This Snake Vodka is prettily packaged and sells for around 25 quid! Also available from the same brand (Edible) is Civet Coffee. You know, the coffee bean that comes from the arse end of a Sumatran cat. I'm sure there's a reason why there's a market for it, and it might even be the tastiest coffee in the world, but... I don't even eat chicken butt, let alone cat droppings.

I earn my dinner in the Beenix household by making cocktails for the cook. Lately it's been raspberry caprioskas made from B's yummy Belvedere Vodka stash. I wonder if I should prank the cook with some Snake Vodka. Here's my mix for raspberry caprioska:
- Ice
- 1 shot Belvedere Vodka
- 2 shots sugar syrup
- 1/2 juicy lime squeezed
- Handful raspberries (at least the Brits grow tasty raspberries)
- Shake shake shake!

Space Invaders!

One of the first games I ever played... Ahh, back in the days of Atari :) I caught this on BoingBoing, it's amazing:

It's a project by a group called NOTsoNOISY, and they made a 3min video of human space invaders :) YouTube video here.