Travelling Soon?

 

Regular visitors to this site know that normally I find a fun or interesting video to share, with an occasional rant thrown in.

Today is the dawning of a new dawn! Well, let's not go too crazy. Yes, i am going to gush about something, but this time its an app, not a video.

Background - my work has given me permission to work from Chicago for the month of July. All four of my family will therefore be leaving Tel Aviv at the crack of sparrow's fart at the end of June to travel a smidgen under 12 hours on a very fast plane. And then get on another.

So how do we 'de-stress' this whole set up? In the 'old days' I'd print up the tickets in triplicate and have one set on me, another in my suitcase and yet another posted to my destination in case there was an almighty screw-up.

With today's technology is dead simple. I simply signed up to join travel.tripcase.com, then emailed them the itinerary i got from the travel agent and voila - all of my trip on my phone. Except that now I can also, at the touch of an icon, see the weather, alternate flights, ETAs, gates and so on.


Wowzers, with this app I am chilling out!!

kthanxbai!

 http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

You May Not Mean To Hurt Me (But You Do)

I'm not the most musically enabled person on the planet. In fact, in my family we joke that my aunt, who is an opera teacher, got all of the family's singing ability and left us with nothing.

My father and me singing together is so bad that when we do decide to do so, we need to stand in different corners of the room for fear of ear drums popping. At best!

This is some music I like, and I can get behind, without singing myself! Made by a friend of a friend I think that this song is going to go far. What do you think?



kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Every Team Needs This Guy in their Audience

 I've got the man-flu. Luckily the wife had it last week so she knows to give me sympathy.

Anyhoo, whilst trolling the depths of the interwebs I came across this little gem of a clip. Either this is staged, or its not, either way, (and I think it's not) it is a fun thing to watch.

Enjoy!

kthanxbai!

 http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Robert Kubica Returning to Formula 1?

We'd all like to see it happen, the plucky little Pole who nearly severed his arm, come back to fight in the most intense and physically demanding sport known to mankind.

Formula One 2010 Malaysian GP: Robert Kubica (Renault) at autograph session on Sunday. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Okay, I might be stretching things a little in the description, and there is definitely a lot more to getting a seat in Formula 1 than ability or talent these days, but Robert Kubica is back racing and has his eyes set firmly on driving with the best of the best.

Its interesting to look at what has changed since he left the sport so dramatically in 2011.
1. As I mentioned at the time, his team changed their name from Renault to Lotus.
2. There are now more paid drivers than ever before. Talent isn't enough to get you a seat, you now have to have the business acumen and the backers to get a seat - any seat!
3. Kimi Raikonnen is back, and eh is very hungry for a win.


Well Robert, the ball is in your court and we all waited anxiously for your return!



kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Related articles

• Kubica thinking of F1 return after DTM test | 2013 F1 season
• Kubica tests DTM Mercedes at Valencia | F1 pictures
• Kubica says he will return to F1 if he feels fit enough | 2013 F1 season
• Kubica still planning F1 return
• Former F1 driver Kubica back on track

New Music

After my post 'I'm British', a few weeks ago, I decided to find more music by Dr. Elemental. This led me down a path of knowledge and understanding that brought me, in a mess of smiles, to be listening to this catchy tune.



Do you recognise the underlying tune? - Yes, it made me grin as well!.

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Gun Control - The Truth

There has been a lot of talk recently about gun control, especially after Sandy Hook. What can be done? What should be done? What do we mean by 'magazine capacity' or 'flash suppressor'?

In the clip below you can see the most literate, eloquent response that I have ever seen.




It is just an honour to think that I have some autographed books by him!

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Giant, awesome ‘tree lobster’ survived 80 years in hiding

A giant, awesome bug that looks like an alien almost didn't survive because people are idiots.


The Lord Howe Island stick insect, which you see hatching below, looking like an alien struggling out of a human torso, will grow to the size of your hand. 

It’s also called a “tree lobster” — that’s how big it is.

English: Lord Howe Island phasmid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The most incredible thing about these insects, though, is not how big they are or how Geigeresque they look, but how close they came to not existing. In the early 20th century, a British trade ship crashed on the South Pacific island that these stick insects inhabited, and black rats from its hold took over the island and ate all the bugs. 

One very small population survived, hanging out around one tiny little bush on another island (really more of a bare outcropping of rock), until a pair of Australian scientists found them there.






I really recommend NPR’s Robert Krulwich’s telling of this story. Here’s a taste:

On their way down, on a precarious, unstable rock surface, they saw a single melaleuca bush peeping out of a crack and, underneath, what looked like fresh droppings of some large insect …The only thing to do was to go back up after dark, with flashlights and cameras, to see if the pooper would be out taking a nighttime walk. Nick Carlile and a local ranger, Dean Hiscox, agreed to make the climb. And with flashlights, they scaled the wall till they reached the plant, and there, spread out on the bushy surface, were two enormous, shiny, black-looking bodies. And below those two, slithering into the muck, were more, and more … 24 in all. All gathered near this one plant.

To sum up, a giant, awesome bug that looks like an alien almost didn’t survive because people are idiots (and rats are jerks). But it did, because sometimes people aren’t total idiots and are a little bit brave. And now you can watch how awesome this bug is on the internet.

Hat tip to the GristList

kthanxbai! 

 http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Related articles

• Sticky! - an animation about the unextinct, giant insects of Lord Howe island [SciencePunk]
• I'm British
• Damien Hirst's latest work made from dead insects
• Save the 'tree lobsters' hiding on Ball's Pyramid!

The 2012 Sports Illustrated Kids SportsKids of the Year, brothers

Just in case you were wondering what real heroes look like, Sports Illustrated is showing them off as the
2012 Sports Illustrated Kids SportsKids of the Year.

An inspired choice in my opinion;

And may I suggest you get a box of tissues ready for your potential blubbering at this video?

kthanxbai!

 http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Related articles

• Golden Globe Awards 2013: Show highlights - Newsday
• Newtown Debates School's Fate After Shooting - New York Times

I'm British

Well, there's no denying it. I'm British.

I spell things in a different way; colour, grey, aluminium, favourite,

I have words that others don't understand; trousers, underpants, grocer

And of course, have a different meaning to some words; braces, buns, democracy...

Well, Prof. Elemental has really stated quite well what we're all about;

kthanxbai! http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Related articles

• What An E-commerce Website Shouldn't Look Like
• British Muslim MP praises Israel
• British Discover Persimmons
• There Are Only 22 Countries in the World That the British Haven't Invaded

So Many Bad Jokes

The main reason i loved this video, apart from a great wealth of jokes to taunt my son with? My favourite joke of all time is in there.

Horse walks into a bar. Barman says 'why the long face'?

Love it!!

Tommy Cooper will be laughing from up on high;

Tommy Cooper (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Related articles

• Tommy Cooper
• Proper Comedy
• Oscar winner's film tribute to Margate
• No Laughing Matter

QEII and Her Majesty

Its not easy, being Queen. 

Especially when you've got a squadron of soldiers marching outside your house at all hours of the day! It must be nice when they mix things up a bit though:

kthanxbai!

 http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Related articles

• Counterterror Adviser to be Named Chief of CIA - New York Times
• Syrian PM calls for cabinet meeting to materialize Assad's plan - Xinhua
• Clinton scheduled to return to work Monday - Huffington Post

One Zany Minute

A good friend of mine created this video for her small business, run out of the TV room in her home. She really is an incredibly gifted and talented artist, producing some of the most beautiful and colourful Judaica out there. Heck we have at least 3 of her pieces hanging on our walls!

I'm also quite impressed with the energy she has in the video, and that she has the guts to do it at all!

Well done Marci, I'm passing it along, just like your Mama asked.



What do you think of it?

kthanxbai!

http://jumblerant.blogspot.com

Related articles

• Hey, Janet Hasson, Cyndee Royle and Nancy Cutler, Its Payback Time
• And y'all thought I was just being paranoid.....
• Thermite