Kookaburra

Pope's scholar says Latin dying out

This just proves how hard it is to change old habits. The Roman Catholic church opened up to the .. ahem .. masses when it dropped the obligatory Latin Mass in 1965. Of course Latin has been dying out since, well, since the fall of Rome and has been sustained by academics and the Roman Catholic Church among others.

Well now according to Father Reginald Foster, one of the world's foremost Latin scholars, the ancient Roman language is becoming defunct. Even Catholic priests no longer have to study Latin. Father Foster. who has translated speeches and letters for four Popes, says he can see no future for the language he is teaching and has been forced to acknowledge that Latin is dying out. He is making a last-ditch stand with a new Latin academy in Rome where he hopes to attract 130 students a year. [BBC]

I have a twinge of regret of this loss but then again I was never forced to conjugate Latin verbs at school.

Alas, Brian of Nazareth had his own challenges with Latin - [script] [YouTube]

The Age Gauge

From the "Theu don't make nostalgia like they used to" department:

The Age Gauge

Enter your date of birth and see where you fit in a timeline of events, people, movies, TV and hit music. It is American centric but then so was much of the 20th Century!

An inscrutable youth

A great post about a 7 year old (and her Dad's) viewing of An Inconvenient Truth. Must take my eight year old - I wonder how she will change my habits!

Must see - An Inconvenient Truth

I recently had the pleasure of catching Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, on an international flight. It presented a well reasoned argument as to why the climate is changing and why we all must do something about it now. It's a tough subject shrouded in myths and misinformation. Gore does a great job of cutting through all of that presenting effectively some key points that really drive the message home.

In Saturday's The Age a collection of emminent scientists interviewed in The Age all rated it's science between 4-5 stars, with the most damning comment being that he had simplified the science. The same scientist conceded that he managed to maintain its fundamental accuracy. [The Age article]

The movie opens in cinemas in Australia on 14 September [Yahoo.com.au listing].

As the famous movie reviewer, Roger Ebert says, "In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to."

Rather than merely being a doomsayer, Gore presents positive ways in which we can address this looming crisis. I can only echo the thoughts of many, many others who have recognised what a loss it was to us all and the planet that Bush beat Gore in 2000. It is not an issue of politics - it's one of ignorance of this growing crisis and a lack of leadership in moving to address it. The Australian people also suffer from a lack of political leadership on this issue. Let's hope enough people see the film and choose to do something about it.

Ronnie Barker's best lines

Ronnie Barker's best lines from the BBC

The Two Ronnies: "On a packed show tonight, we'll be talking to an out-of-work contortionist who can no longer make ends meet"

Porridge: What have I learned, Mr Mackay? Three things. One - bide your time. Two - keep your nose clean. And three - don't let the bastards grind you down

The Two Ronnies: "The man who invented the zip fastener was today honoured with a lifetime peerage. He will now be known as the Lord of the Flies"

Porridge:
Doctor: I want you to fill one of those containers for me.
Fletcher (other side of the room): What, from 'ere?

Open All Hours: "Don't just crit there siticising!"

The Two Ronnies: "The toilets at a local police station have been stolen. Police say they have nothing to go on."

Ronnie Barker on Pismronunciation

Crikey.com.au reports, "The British papers are full of tributes to beloved television comedian, Ronnie Barker, who died at his home in Oxfordshire last night. The Guardian's coverage features this classic Barker monologue:"

Good evening. I am the president of the Loyal Society for the Relief of Suffers from Pismronunciation, for the relief of people who can't say their worms correctly, or who use the wrong worms entirely, so that other people cannot underhand a bird they are spraying. It's just that you open your mouse, and the worms come turbling out in wuck a say that you dick not what you're thugging to be, and it's very distressing.

Vale Ronnie Barker - well it's good night for him

Oh dear we've lost another great British comedian - Ronnie Barker.

Best recalled for being one of two ronnies in The Two Ronnies (1971-1986), the other being Ronnie Corbett.

Classic sketch
Scene: A restaurant - Dialog: totally spoken in letters

Ronnie Barker is the customer & Ronnie Corbett the waiter

F U N E X

S, V F X

F U N E M

S, V F M

or for those not conversant with Ronniese

Have you any eggs

Yes, we have eggs

Have you any ham

Yes, we have ham

and so it went. Great work. A great loss.

Link: BBC Obituary

Super Bowl Ads including great Prius ad (Toyota hybrid)

IFilm have collected all of the Super Bowl ads including a fantastic new ad for the Toyota Prius. Great to see Toyota pushing this great environmentally friendly car (I am biased as I own one). See IFILM - Super Bowl Ads

The Apple Movie Store (speculation)

Jeff Harrell provides a detailed scenario for a future Apple Movie Store (just like the iTunes Music Store). I am not sure it will be as compelling as an iTunes music store but it would be a worthy initiative if it can improve the lot of consumers with too much time on their hands (how do I get like that?)

The science, and fiction, of 'Day After Tomorrow'

The recently released disaster movie, 'Day After Tomorrow', portrays a world ravaged by massive climate change.

New York gets hit by a tidal wave, Scotland is snap frozen, Tokyo suffers hailstones the size of rockmelons, and Los Angeles is ripped apart by tornadoes. You wouldn't want to know what happens to Canada.

No less damage is done to science, but all in a worthy cause. The film is a pointed eco-disaster movie, warning us all, and especially the US Government, of the consequences of ignoring global climate change.

It's Hollywood does Kyoto, and one of the first scenes lays out the blame, when the US Vice-President asks Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid), a US paleoclimatologist, about who will pay the cost of the Kyoto accord (which the US and Australian governments have both refused to sign). "Our economy is every bit as fragile as the environment," says VP Becker (Kenneth Welsh). "Perhaps you should keep that in mind when you're making sensational claims." [Source: Sydney Morning Herald review]

MSNBC dissects the science from the fiction in this article.

For a detailed discourse on Global Warming visit the Global Warming entry on Wikipedia.

I haven't seen the movie but it appears to invoke the spirit of the Planet of the Apes (1968) which made similar connections to nuclear weapons proliferation.

A good sign is that US box office ratings (Yahoo) show that it's first week performance was only eclipsed by Shrek's opening week. Now let's see if that translates into best selling car models. The Prius is #2 on the Yahoo hot list for sedans. Sadly the Hummer still tops its section.