reading dreadnought III

by bezzle

WHY is Jacky Fisher so awesome?

reading dreadnought II

by bezzle

Cecil Rhodes:

- he started the De Beers Diamond Company.  Remember Jeff’s post about the ‘tradition’ of giving diamond engagement rings being started by this company?

“By 1891, his De Beers Diamond Company controlled South Africa’s diamond production, which made up 90 percent of all the diamonds produced in the world.”

- he planned the annexation of Matabeleland, which he called Rhodesia.  (Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia are now Zambia and Zanzibar respectively.)

reading dreadnought

by bezzle

- “At dinner one night at Osborne House, the Queen entertained a famous admiral whose hearing was impaired.  Politely, Victoria had asked about his fleet and its activities; then, shifting the subject, she asked about the admiral’s sister, and elderly dowager of awesome dignity.  The admiral thought she was inquiring about his flagship, which was in need of overhaul.  ”Well, ma’am,” he said, “as soon as I get back I’m going to have her hauled  out, roll her on her side and have the barnacles scraped off her bottom.”  Victoria stared at him for a second and then, for minutes after, the dining room shook with her unstoppable peals of laughter.”

- About Alfred von Tirpitz: “His favourite drink, it was said, was “North Sea foam”.

- Really, the main question so far is trying to decide between ‘First Sea Lord’ and ‘Supreme War Lord’.

- Also I find it very very odd that the First Sea Lord did not have a beard.  Not even a moustache!  Or mutton chops!  And why did Tirpitz fork his beard?

things i like 1

by cloudier

1. complementing blogposts
2. this webcomic
3. this tumblr about ampersands
4. this article about the origin of the abc
5. this website with simple desktop wallpapers
6. this myth about user experience
7. vivid, enjoyable and sweet dreams
8. bad photos with a vintage effect and something written in helvetica
9. good photos
10. empty bins
11. neat environments
12. being good
13. falling asleep to the sound of rain
14. exploitable pictures
15. being productive

ectoplasm!

by bezzle

this week has been quite uneventful, but in a reassuring sort of way.

the loudest people (no offence, it’s in a nice, not-in-your-face kind of way) were away at a camp thingamabob for three days, so the class was a bit more empty too.

thursday was quite funny, as our science teacher attempted to get our class to shut up (haha nice try) to get a low reading on the decibel-measure-o-meter, and we didn’t get below 42dB, and the loudest remaining dudes in our class made noises at the decibel-measure-o-meter and it apparently measured 122dB, and then broke.  and 120dB is the threshold of pain.

today was bludgy, managed to play big two with ben, carmen and geoffrey during a maths double!  during PE we watered trees and our teacher said people were stealing trees.  o.O WHY WOULD SOMEBODY BOTHER DOING THAT???  prickly stuff kept on getting stuck in my socks, and then we had ‘free time’ and so carmen and i played badminton under the sails, then moved onto the road, where i generally will not go on as THERE ARE CARS! but yeah it got fail so we went back into the storeroom and i saw pooper scoopers and it turns out they’re actually lacrosse sticks.  oh.

double history, watched a movie called hitler: the rise of evil.  it was good, compared to other history movies i have unfortunately have seen in my life. 

i like basketballs.

i’m listing to the radio right now and the hosts are trying to get bert newton to DJ.

i’m feeling whimsical, so here are some drool-y pictures:

i don’t watch australian idol, because it’s so overrated but no one rates it anymore, if that makes sense, but i like this song:

and this is for ben.  the song tik tok, which i have previously mentioned but never found out how to embed videos:

and the song fireflies, about insomnia (very relatable, i must say…) it’s awesome, and the video clip is cool – there’s a moving model of brum!

heehee more videos to come!

word of the day/week/a long time to come: wampee

wampee.noun. a chinese fruit tree species that my dad has bought two of and planted in the backyard.  should be spelt wongpai to correct pronunciation, as most people unfortunately unaware of the cantonese name call it by exactly how it looks like.  which is why it is the word of the day/week.