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Roman in the Gloamin’

I wrote recently about the first depiction of tartan being found in Morocco

The BBC show about the Romans in Caledonia is now HERE

Thanks to Claret and Amber

Independence – An unexpected bonus?

“The EU is founded on the Treaties which apply only to the Member States who have agreed and ratified them. If part of the territory of a Member State would cease to be part of that state because it were to become a new independent state, the Treaties would no longer apply to that territory.

“In other words, a new independent state would, by the fact of its independence, become a third country with respect to the EU and the Treaties would no longer apply on its territory.”

Jose Manuel Barroso yesterday

So there we are, straight from the horse’s mouth, if you vote for independence, you are no longer in the EU.

So if I vote yes, I can get rid of not only David Cameron and co, but the whole Euro disaster?

Haud me back!

Cartoon of the day

Brilliant….and bonkers

Sad to hear of the passing of Patrick Moore.

A real English eccentric with his polished accent and monocle. He explained astronomy in a way that mere mortals without a great grasp of physics (eg Yours Truly) could find interesting. I remember one particular thing he did on The Sky at Night, which was to tap the table in front of him twice, a few seconds apart and explain that during those few seconds the sun had lost tens of thousands of tons in weight.

Of course his political views were as strange as his persona. He was a member of UKIP and campaigned for them.

However as an astronomer and broadcaster he was without equal and he was the main reason that this blogger got a telescope for Christmas one year (1969 or 1970 I think) and learned about Ursa Major and Minor, Orion and the Milky Way.

He was also the source of many a playground joke at our school, as kids would impersonate him with the immortal line “Last seen heading for Uranus”

Here he is (below) from 1997 in an interview with Brian May, himself an astrophysicist.

One of the most interesting wee thoughts he throws in about possible life on Mars is the notion that if it were proved that life had existed there it would highlight the theory that life will occur where it can.

Propaganda for the 21st Century

As I wandered amongst the skyscrapers in downtown Dubai, it was reminiscent of New York.

I remember when we visited the Big Apple in the mid 90s being told of the phallic ambitions of the Rothschilds, Chryslers, Vandebilts and the like to build the highest building in the world. Standing at the 86th floor of the Empire State Building as darkness fell, surveying Manhattan and New York below was quite a thrill and certainly an experience I will never forget.

The overall height of the Empire State Building, at the time of its erection (sic) and for many years afterwards the tallest building in the world, is 1,453 feet or 443 metres.

In Dubai, I stood next to the current holder of the title of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. Burj means tower and the Khalifa part of the name comes from the president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. At 2717 feet or 828 metres it’s a kick in the arse away from being twice the height of the Empire State Building.

We came out of the unfeasibly huge Dubai Shopping Mall onto the rather pleasant terrace which houses various restaurants (just don’t ask for a beer or a bacon sandwich) and borders the man-made lake which is the location of these fountains.

On this occasion I only had the wee camera and from a couple of hundred yards away I had to squint it to get the majority of the building in:

However, to get a taste of how truly enormous the Burj Khalifa is, watch the following video. The narrative is fairly typical of what you hear from tour guides and information recordings in Dubai. Always delivered in either an American film trailer voiceover style or a rich, plummy English motif, the content is usually redolent of a wartime propaganda film.

On the open-topped bus tour, the rich, plummy English voice informed that “The state religion of Dubai is Islam. Islam is a very progressive and tolerant religion and people are permitted to practice their religious faith whatever that may be”. And that was the tone of the whole guided tour.

Anyhoo, here is the vid:

Denny’s Hoverbus

In May 2011 I made this posting about the Denny’s Hovercraft which I remember on the Clyde as a youngster. The posting has a link to a short Pathé News film from back in the day.

This week, regular correspondent John O’Hare sent me a great film of the hoverbus on its initial manouvres. Unfortunately the film doesn’t have sound. The description is as follows:

This hoverbus – the Denny D2 hoverbus – was the first in the world produced for commercial operation. The film begins with tests in Loch Long. It then records the maiden voyage sailing from Dumbarton to Oban, along the Crinan Canal to Inverness, Fraserburgh, Aberdeen, Berwick-Upon-Tweed and down the east coast finishing at the River Thames, London. The last section of the film concerns the liquidation of William Denny & Bros. Ltd.

On its maiden voyage, the hovercraft was skippered by 57 year old captain, Richard Mason. Peter Denny [featured in a memorial statue in the film] was born 1821 and died 1895. The statue was erected by friends and fellow townsmen in 1902.

Click here to view.