Just because I haven’t posted a frivolous picture in a while, here’s one that I picked up from QT3. I have no idea what is going on or where this is, but you really have to wonder whether that lone driver there is brave or recklessly heading towards something everyone else is desperate to avoid.
I spotted this from a thread in LYN. Check out these reviews of Proton cars by UK-based Top Gear. They seem to really, really hate the brand.
We don’t know what Malaysian motorists did to upset the gods, but it must have been something pretty serious, judging by the punishment they seem to be getting. Still, at least the domestic audience thinks this stuff is the norm – what on earth do they think they’re doing bringing it to the UK? Walk away.
The Economist, one of the most influential and respected news outlets in the world, is well known for its concise and informative writing style. Regular readers however will note that there’s often an element of dry wit as well, and at times even a touch of whimsy.
One recent article presents an excellent example of this sense of humour at work. Inspired by the new president of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed’s public musing that his country should set aside a portion of its revenues from tourism to buy a new homeland to replace its islands that are expected to be engulfed by rising sea levels, The Economist has extended the idea as a solution for all kinds of problems. Note the following line:
China could stop making aggressive gestures towards Taiwan and buy Malaysia instead. It’s already run by Chinese, so they’d hardly notice the difference.
I would imagine that the Malays would be none too amused to read that but you really have to credit those crazy editors at The Economist for their imagination and creativity in coming up with this wild scheme.
This picture has been making the rounds on the Internet. It’s a product being sold by the American Family Association for Christmas: a cross with lights on it. Unfortunately for the AFA quite a lot of people think that it looks like a burning cross, with all the Ku Klux Klan baggage that entails.
Personally it does look like a burning cross to me, and I think the AFA must be pretty dense not to realize how negative a message it might imply, but, hey, decide for yourself.
Came across this funny image of the Bible on QT3 a while back. I’m not too sure where it was originally from though. The thing about humour is that in order for the joke to work, it needs a grain of truth in it.
Anyway, I know I haven’t been writing much for my own blog lately. I think I’ve written more and more interesting stuff as comments on other people’s blogs and on LYN than on here.
In other news, check out this article in Slate magazine, “Does Religion Make You Nice?”. It’s not very kind on atheism, but makes a fair point about the importance of building communities.
It’s been a bit busy at work, so here’s a quick post on something that I found last week. It’s the world’s tallest LEGO tower and it was built in the Legoland Windsor theme park in the U.K. out of 500,000 LEGO pieces. It’s a pretty awesome sight, though after reading the comments section I discovered that there’s actually a steel pole running through the middle of the tower, so that kind of feels like cheating. There are more photos at the original site for anyone who’s interested.
Here’s a series of funny Chess pictures that I found in a thread on LYN. There’s plenty more where those came from. It’s cheap but amusing nevertheless.