Saturday, May 30, 2009

Sunshine

Hooray, summer's here! Also, for some reason earlier today I found myself thinking it was Sunday, and then I remembered it wasn't, and I get another Sunday tomorrow. Which was nice.

I'm going to Cardiff on Monday for a meeting (I go my whole life up to this year without visiting Wales, and now I seem to be always dropping by), and getting the early train, so I was thinking I'd have to get to bed early tonight, when it suddenly dawned on me that it's only Saturday. Perhaps I should buy a calendar.

Friday, May 29, 2009

An apology

It seems that yesterday's blog entry used the word 'willy' rather more than is normal for a decent, family blog like this. It won't happen again. Except in that first sentence there.

Anyway, I'm wondering what to do tomorrow. It's the weekend, I've got nothing exciting planned and Saturdays in my current memory-training schedule (which I'm still following religiously, by the way) are a memory-free, mental-battery-recharging day. I might go somewhere nice and take advantage of the fine weather. Or maybe I'll stay indoors all day and watch Doctor Who videos. We'll see how I feel.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Everything you hear on the internet is wrong

On one of the internet forums I frequent, someone mentioned today the well-known fact that you can see Bugs Bunny's willy in one frame of one old cartoon. And someone else, in world-weary tones, directed him to the snopes.com debunking of this myth.

Snopes, with its myth-busting raison d'etre, has stumbled into a position where its word is taken as law - people are naturally sceptical about all the nonsense you can find on the internet these days, but this has the interesting side-effect of making people automatically believe anyone, even if they're just another guy on the internet, who says that something is just an internet myth. Even if it isn't. So in the interests of debunking Snopes, can I invite you to study "The Wabbit Who Came To Supper" in more detail?

Check out the shot of the "risqué" frame there. The website explains that the 'object' in question is just caused by the gap between Bugs's legs, the white background and the curvature of the towel. Now go and watch the cartoon and pay attention to how Bugs's character model works. The gap between his legs never goes up into his white tummy like that! It's either flattened or rounded underneath the white oval, depending on what position he's standing in.

I say it's Bugs's willy. It's possible that an in-betweener artist got the legs wrong for a frame or two, but not possible that Friz Freleng wouldn't have noticed and would just have okayed the incorrect animation. It was either a mistake that got left in because it made the gang in Termite Terrace giggle, or it was put in there on purpose. Anyway, it's a phallus and no question about it!

I'd advise you to watch the cartoon anyway, even if you don't care about Bugs Bunny's willy quite as much as I do. It's worth it alone for the brilliant moment when Bugs picks up the phone in Elmer's house, asks him for a nickel, takes the coin, casually pockets it and continues with his conversation!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Well, that was disappointing

I was confidently expecting a dull 0-0 draw, with Man Utd to win on penalties, but they were completely outplayed. Shame, really. Still, maybe Chelsea will lose the cup final and cheer me up again...

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Wow, is that the time?

I did do my regular evening's memory training tonight, so I don't count as completely lazy, but then I've somehow got engrossed in a website detailing obscure Marvel comics characters until twenty to eleven at night. So I hope you'll forgive the short and late blog.

Monday, May 25, 2009

What the deuce?

I've got a reputation for being well-read, in some circles, but there are big gaps in my literary knowledge that I've always been meaning to fill. The most prominent gap is that I've never read anything by Charles Dickens (except A Christmas Carol, obviously, but everyone's read that. Or seen the Muppet version.) So in a charity shop today I bought The Pickwick Papers for £1.10 and I look forward to finding out whether it's a timeless classic or a load of rubbish.

It'll have to wait until I've finished Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro, mind you, because I know that's going to be good...

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Holiday

Lots more memory training today, yay for me, so tomorrow's a day off to catch up with everything else I've been meaning to do. Although I might also spend the time creating a few more journeys - the ones I've got at the moment aren't enough for the excessive practice routine I've got going right now. This afternoon I was still remembering what was in the locations the previous time around. Might just be because my forgetting skills are as rusty as my memorising...