Odds and Ends

I'm cleaning my room...and uncovering things I meant to blog about.

• Cyber Candy - A candy company that imports candy (and some soft drinks) from all over the world. So, expats no longer have to suffer London summers without Jolly Ranchers and Reeses Cups. (There's one at Covent Garden.)
• Joanna's Restaurant - It's located in the Crystal Palace area of London and is superb. I went there last weekend with friends and loved it.
• McDonald's - Evidently, they are running this new campaign to get people to understand how wonderfully aware McDonald's is. Supposedly, they're looking for people to become Quality Scouts and visit farms and other suppliers. That would look fun on a resume!
• Starwonders Wholesale Neckties - The Guardian actually had a small bit about this place in Florida. For just $4.75 each (less if you order more than 59 at a time), you can get these excellent ties!
• Assistant to Stephen Hawking - One of the world's most famous physicists is looking for an assistant. "The Head of the Group is Professor Stephen Hawking who is disabled and communicates using a computer system and speech synthesiser. If you were accepted for the post you would be responsible for maintaining and improving this computer system as well as other pieces of support equipment. You would help him to prepare and deliver seminars and public lectures and assist with scientific papers. You would also accompany Professor Hawking on his many travels and assist other members of the group.
  Flexibility, stamina and a confident and caring personality, together with a valid driving licence, are essential for this demanding job."
• Ryan Frank - A London-based designer who makes these really cool furniture things.
• Oasis Hong Kong Airlines - They promise flights from London to Hong Kong starting at just £75 each way. Not every seat is £75, but I found one that leaves on November 21 and returns on November 29 for £75 each way. Add taxes and the whole round-trip costs just £261.05. That's less than a flying one-way from London to Washington.
• Indigo Children - Instead of being ADHD (or just plain rude), your child may be a super-evolved psychic being. Seriously.
• The Mirna Diamond Mine - In eastern Siberia, this mine opening is 1.25 km across (that's more than 3/4 of a mile). Helicopters are not allowed to fly over the opening because the vortex of air above it causes them to crash. (In the link, go almost to the bottom of the page...there's a picture.)
• A Royal Residence - I have read the property laws and rental agreements and things of that sort are so complicated in parts of England, that people really have no idea who owns certain properties. So, imagine their shock to learn who owns a run-down, rat-infested house in Manchester: the Queen. (Well, actually, the property was not wanted by it's actual owners so it falls to the Dutchy of Lancaster which is controlled by the Queen. So, it's not as much of a slum-lord story as people made it out to be at first.)
• Atomix-Full of Love and Wonder - 50,000 polystyrene balls blown by 10 fans. The pictures are way cooler than it sounds.
• Uncool Under the Collar - Evidently, people aren't buying enough neckties. Only 13% of architects, surveyors and engineers managed to buy even one tie last year.
• Pay Cash to Top Maths Pupils - To help counteract the shortage of maths students in higher education, it has been suggested that people getting top grades get £500.
• Obsolete English Words - Please, won't you use words like felth and spuddle?
• Obsolete English Occupations - Some are not so much obsolete as just renamed or less-specialized. But still, it must have been nice being a Sifker.
• KZ the Film - I picked up a card about this at the Institute of Contemporary Art last week. It is supposedly a 'radically different Holocaust film' and the 'first postmodern Holocaust movie.' I haven't seen it yet, but it has won a number of awards.
• Bilibo - listed as number 1 in the Independent on Sunday's list of '50 Great Ideas for the 21st Century' - it's supposed to be 'the next big thing.'
• Pandora - This website helps you find music that is similar to music you already like. It's based on the Musical Genome Project
• Read It, Swap It - It is possible that this site could solve quite a few of my excess-book and I-don't-have-anything-to-read problems.