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Thursday, May 19, 2005
Vintage Gervais
Some radio history: a clip from Steve Wright's afternoon show back in 1986, with Gervais the hairdresser. Steve still broadcasts on BBC Radio 2, but unfortunately all the characters have gone.
Change As Good As Rest
Dr Cliff Arnall, a psychologist at Cardiff University, has discovered that May 18 is the perfect day to change your life. His formula of positivity = M.O + BH/(H+R)S, i.e. motivation (M) multiplied by opportunity (O) plus bank holiday proximity (BH) over increased hours of daylight (H) plus reflection of time (R) multiplied by success (S). Here's my ruminations on the topic of change:
Change As Good As Rest
Old friends unexpectedly met
Sunny days out of the blue
A good joke shared by all
A well-quenched thirst!
Something for nothing
An afternoon nap
The first snow
Spring Flowers
And Autumn leaves
A festival chanced upon
Cantankerous animals at your table!
Dawn chorus
And romance at sunset
Change As Good As Rest
Old friends unexpectedly met
Sunny days out of the blue
A good joke shared by all
A well-quenched thirst!
Something for nothing
An afternoon nap
The first snow
Spring Flowers
And Autumn leaves
A festival chanced upon
Cantankerous animals at your table!
Dawn chorus
And romance at sunset
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Mary Magadalene, AIDS and lemon juice
Professor Roger Short has been promoting lemon juice for HIV/AIDS prevention for several years. Last year he discovered that he had been scooped by Nigerian prostitutes, who have been using it for 10 years. He wants to do a clinical trial, but US federal funding of studies of prostitutes is now banned unless they undertake to give up their profession. So, as he tells Robyn Williams on ABC's Science Show, he decided to launch the Mary Magdalene Project (named after the biblical prostitute) to raise research money.
John the Painter: the first British terrorist
Radio 4's Book of the Week tells the fascinating but little known tale of James Aitken, whose disaffection with his mundane job as a house painter led him to become a terrorist in the cause of American independence.
Mr. Galloway goes to Washington
There was some unusual bluntness yesterday in a US Congressional Committee when the British MP George Galloway (Respect party) appeared to try and clear his name. From the Jeremy Vine Show.