Lost and lonely in Point Erin Park.
Real life of private investigators
"Guy calls me to help catch his neighbour who is knocking over his trash cans at night. We set up a small night vision camera to catch the guy. Watch the video the next day — it is the wind. The client freaks out, says his neighbour could have an invisibility field or have been moving too fast (like the Flash) to show up on camera. Wants to pay us thousands of dollars to rent a heat-seeking camera or one that can shoot thousands of frames per second. Turns out lots of crazy people call PIs to investigate."
Pointing the index finger at history
The English word index is rooted in an earlier word meaning "to show". Medieval texts refer to it as the "greeter" and "teacher". In Anglo-Saxon times, it was known as the "scythe finger", for reasons that are murky, and as the "shooting finger", because it was used to draw back a bowstring. Around the world, the index finger is associated with other functions. In Iranian languages, it is considered the finger of beckoning, cursing and protecting. It is also known as the "prayer finger" or "testimony finger" in modern Turkish because of its use in the Muslim practice of shahada, or profession of faith. One of its most colourful nicknames was based on its penchant for swiping up sauces — the "pot licker".
(daily.jstor.org)
Bus stop comfort at the Mount
Turning 50 this year
1. The Boeing 747: The world's first "jumbo jet" made its first commercial flight on January 22, 1970 for Pan-Am from New York to London. The historic flight was scheduled for January 21, but was delayed for six hours after an engine overheated, and a second 747 was brought in to make the trip.
2. The ban on cigarette advertising on TV in the US: On April Fool's Day in 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act. The law had mandated health warnings on cigarette packs since 1965, but the new act amended the warnings as being given by the US Surgeon General. The act also banned all cigarette advertising on radio and TV from January 1, 1971. However, that deadline was relaxed to allow advertising on the New Year college bowl games. In New Zealand, cigarette advertising was banned on TV and radio in 1963, in cinemas and on billboards in 1971, and in print media in 1990.
3. The Beatles as an ex-band: The biggest musical group on Earth had been having trouble for some time, but fans hoped they would work it out. Then on April 10 of 1970, it became clear that wouldn't happen as Paul McCartney's public statements indicated that the Beatles were definitely breaking up.
4. John Rowles' single Cheryl Moana Marie hit No1 here and sold a million copies worldwide.