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Magne on the final tour

Posted on February 26, 2016

a-ha dot com have interviewed Magne ahead of the closing leg of the band’s Cast In Steel tour. He had some interesting stuff to say:

What can fans expect from the spring live show? Will there be set list and/or arrangement changes?
“Yes, there are a lot of changes made since South America. After that leg, we took a look at what new things we felt worked well overall and which things worked less well and we have added some other new songs to the roster that we have never performed before.
Plus, we are working with some new people behind the scenes for a couple of surprise-events later down the line…” (he says secretively).

It’s reassuring that even with just the European Spring tour still to run on their final tour, they’re still taking the time to get feedback and to make changes and tweaks to the show to make it (even) better. Professionalism, ne?

Also, given the band’s 30+ year history, it’s amazing to hear that they are planning to play songs which they’ve never performed before. Colour me intrigued.

The first show of the final leg is in Ekaterinburg in Russia next Sunday. Maybe we’ll know a little more after that…

How LCHF works

Posted on February 25, 2016

It doesn’t. Or rather… well… it might, but there’s actually no scientific evidence that it does half the stuff that those seemingly blinkered individuals who are happily gripped in its greasy claws claim it does.

There’s evidence that it probably doesn’t do at least some what it claims to do though, but Ross Tucker, Professor of Exercise Physiology at the University of the Free State, hits the nail on the head with these two tweets detailing how that news will be handled by those in the Cult of Noakes™:

Here’s that study: link / PDF by the way.

Just a reminder. It’s simply not scientific to only quote the studies whose outcomes support your agenda or narrative.

Scary animals ruin Waterfront

Posted on February 24, 2016

Not quite. But almost.

Incoming from the Two Oceans Aquarium (where we’re going on Saturday) – there’s been an invasion of isopods.

Isopods refer to a group of crustaceans that include terrestrial and aquatic species like woodlice and rock lice. Some isopods eat decaying plant and animal matter, others graze on food particles from the water around them, a few are predators, and some are internal or external parasites.

Also, my dodgy Latin says they all have the same number of feet. Or something.

Nice.

You can go and have a look at the photos of this rather extraordinary “bloom” on the link above. there are an awful lot of them (Isopods, not photos). It’s fascinating, but apparently it does cause some issues for the aquarium:

Much of the water for our exhibits is from the harbour surrounding our building, and we’ve had to shut down our intake pipes. Once all the isopods die off – also as a result of oxygen deprivation – they will sink to the bottom. Then, once oxygen levels go back up (because there are fewer organisms in the water using this oxygen now) the dead isopod bodies will start decomposing like mad. This will cause an ammonia spike in the water, making the water toxic to the animals in our exhibits and so still not suitable for our use. We will be keeping the Aquarium’s life-support system on a closed system until the water quality returns to normal.

I’m not sure how long the aquarium can keep their life-support systems off, but if it’s anything like the Starship Enterprise (spoiler: it’s not), then I don’t think it’s very long at all before the guy in the red shirt suffocates. Hopefully this won’t be the case at the aquarium, because it would be nice to not have to step over dead bodies as we’re having a look round on the weekend.

Another ISTOTBIDMPD moment

Posted on February 23, 2016February 23, 2016

What? Oh, ISTOTBIDMPD? That’s:

I Shared This On Twitter But It Deserves More Permanently Documenting

I did it yesterday with this.

And now I’m doing it today with this:

Ouch. Someone’s taking the P.

More on the twitter vs blog thing at some other point (I promise).
Right now, let’s just give that typo all the attention it so richly deserves.

Cannot. Stop. Watching.

Posted on February 22, 2016July 7, 2022

I shared this on twitter this morning, but it deserves a more permanent record. This is it.

Clever person, blog-coding genius and good friend @JacquesR shared this fantastic free kick routine, which I believe is from Cheltenham Town’s away day at Tranmere Rovers’ Prenton Park over the weekend.

I cannot stop watching it.

Sources indicate that it was the Robins’ striker Dan Holman hitting seat 4, row Z.

Complex, inventive free kick routines can result in a shot on target Here’s one that Sheffield United have used on several occasions. I don’t recall us ever scoring from it though.

Still, look at that by James Beattie. Row Z at the Bramall Lane end remains wholly unscathed.

For the record, Cheltenham won the game 1-0 (Holman’s strike partner Danny Wright having scored in the 3rd minute), to remain top of the National League.