Ages ago I signed up to receive daily emails from wikipedia, telling me snippets of historical information, quotes and other interesting facts. Tonight’s email featured the word lucubrate, which means either a) to work diligently by artificial light; to study at night or b) to work or write like a scholar.

I probably do my best work at night, so I’m grateful to know the word for it. Anyway, it’s my bedtime now, so I’ll end my lucubration for now.

Dale invited me to join in with this meme, so here it is.

Five names you go by

1. PJ - only online
2. Penny - my given name (not short for Penelope)
3. P - just few people in my family call me that
4. Pennicho/Penola - bizarre nicknames bestowed on me by friends
5. Pen - some of my family and friends call me that, but I hate it.

Three things you are wearing right now

1. Old blue nightie
2. Old Purple Nightgown
3. Glasses (slightly askew as a nose-rest is missing)

Two things you want very badly at the moment

1. Chocolate
2. Biscuits (or even chocolate biscuits)

Three people who will probably fill this out

I think most people I know who would have done this have have already done it.

Two things you did last night

1. Hoovered the house
2. Watched Heroes

Two things you ate today

1. Toasted hard-dough bread with cheese
2. Curried goat with white rice

Two people you last talked to on the phone

1. Andrea
2. Miguel

Two things you are going to do tomorrow

1. Go to work
2. Return home

Two longest car rides

1. From here to Heathrow airport
2. Taking a black cab and watching the meter tick over in a traffic jam

Two of your favourite beverages

1. Karibbean Kola
2. Orange juice

I received this Razzle Dazzle DVD in the post this morning, no note or clue about the sender. Anyone who knows me would know that this is not my kind of movie, though I think I know who sent it to me.

Anyone want it? It’s still sealed. It think it would be perfect for a girly night in, perhaps as a follow-up to Mamma Mia.

If I had a spare £5 million ($7.4 millon) I’d definitely buy this mile-long tunnel complex under central London. The Kingsway Tunnels were originally built in 1940 as air-raid shelters for up to 8000 people, but then were used as temporary base for the troops, then as a base for the secret service. Since then, the space has been used as a public record library and a telephone exchange (which connected the Cold War hotline between the presidents of the US and USSR).

The precise location of the tunnels has been a guarded secret since its wartime use, and still is kept under wraps today. They can’t be used as a public venue for health and safety reasons, as only two lifts provide access to the site. The site is fully equipped with electricity, water supply and ventilation equipment.

BT (formerly known as British Telecommunications) is the current owner and has been using the tunnels as storage space in recent years. It doesn’t need the space any more and is looking for a buyer. An overseas billionaire has shown interest in the site, as well as various companies and someone interested in housing a wine collection.

Imagine an entire mile of space to play with; I’d have a gym at one end, a cinema at the other, a music studio setup, and all kinds of fun stuff to keep myself amused. The only problem would be the lack of sunlight (vitamin D?), the noise from ventilation fans, the vibration of the Underground trains, and the dry, hot, stale air. Still, one can dream. (via)

Further reading:

• The New York Times
• BBC News

(via)

I really enjoyed this short film about a guy who agrees to wear a mood monitor on his chest and be followed by a camera crew all day. He is happy to do this in order to get on TV, but he ends up revealing more about himself than he’d planned. I particularly loved the moment when he comes across something that he’d meant to hide, and his monitor instantly turns red. The end was quite beautiful too.

While I was watching I wondered how it would be if we all wore one of those devices, if our moods and feelings were open for everyone else to see. Would it make life simpler, or more difficult?

Film by Eric Lerner. Music by Sigur Ros. (via Fubiz)

The artificial intelligence behind the Gender Analyser tool is 62% sure that the writer of this blog is a man.

According to the poll on the site, it’s wrong 47% of the time - so it’s as good as a coin toss. It was also wrong about Joe. Try it out on your blog, and let me know if it’s right about you.

SamuraiFrog tagged me to do this Alphabet movie meme, which was started by Fletch at Blog Cabins.

The rules:

1. Pick one film to represent each letter of the alphabet.

2. The letter “A” and the word “The” do not count as the beginning of a film’s title, unless the film is simply titled A or The, and I don’t know of any films with those titles.

3. Return of the Jedi belongs under “R,” not “S” as in Star Wars Episode IV: Return of the Jedi. This rule applies to all films in the original Star Wars trilogy; all that followed start with “S.” Similarly, Raiders of the Lost Ark belongs under “R,” not “I” as in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Conversely, all films in the LOTR series belong under “L” and all films in the Chronicles of Narnia series belong under “C,” as that’s what those filmmakers called their films from the start. In other words, movies are stuck with the titles their owners gave them at the time of their theatrical release. Use your better judgement to apply the above rule to any series/films not mentioned.

4. Films that start with a number are filed under the first letter of their number’s word. 12 Monkeys would be filed under “T.”

5. Link back to Blog Cabins in your post so that I can eventually type “alphabet meme” into Google and come up #1, then make a post where I declare that I am the King of Google.

6. If you’re selected, you have to then select 5 more people.

Tagged:

Nicholas
Semaj
Captain Incredible
Liane Spicer
Dr Monkey

Are you scared yet? And yes, those appear to be real cookies attached to Mariah’s body…

(via Webster’s)

A coconut with a motor inside.

Indeed.

Check out the video. (via SwissMiss)