IT'S A LEAP YEAR.  Ever wondered why we have leap years?  Check this out.  Very neat little explanation.

http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/astronomy/LeapYear.html

GRAMMAR

More random ramblings.  Ever wonder when to use the words 'which' or 'then' in a sentence?  I have so I looked it up.  According to a strict interpretation of the grammatical rules, the correct word to use in formal english depends on whether the adjective clause is a restrictive or non-restrictive clause.  Adjective clauses modifies a noun or pronoun.  Adjective clauses that are not essential to the meaning should be set off by commas.  Such clauses are called non-restrictive clauses.  They may be omitted from a sentence without a loss of the basic meaning of the sentence.  Adjective clauses beginning with that are always restrictive clauses (that is, they are necessary to restrict the meaning of the sentence; in other words, they indicate the essential meaning of the sentence):

The dog that you saw came back again. (restrictive)

Mr. Smith, whom you met at the lecture, is from Queensland. (non-restrictive)

In the preceding first sentence, the adjective clause, that you saw, is essential to the sentence to identify the exact dog that came back.  In the second sentence, the non-restrictive adjective clause, whom you met at the lecture, is merely an aside adding more information than is required to garner full meaning from the sentence.

THAT VERSUS WHICH

Although many people use that and which interchangeably, they should not be so used.  That should be used only to introduce a restrictive clause; which should be used only to introduce a non-restrictive clause.

Correct: The puppy that I trained tore up my shoes. (the sentence implies that ther is more than one puppy; the speaker is referring specifically to the one she trained.  This is a restrictive clause.

Correct: The puppy, which I trained, tore up my shoes.  (In this sentence, the clause 'which I trained' simply provides more information about the puppy in question; if the clause were removed, the sentence's essential meaning would still be conveyed.  This is a non-restrictive clause.)

At the moment, I'm re-reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.  Written in the 1920's, it's a truly amazing, ground breaking read.  With great certainty it shall become ever so more relevant given recent advances in biotechnology relating to cloning.  The work is now out of copyright and the full text is available on the following link.  Personally, I don't buy into the religious ethics against stem cell research.  I do, however, reserve the right to change my opinion on this in the future.  The ethics of cloning is something very important to me. I think about it sometimes and its impact our world.  I remember as a child being fascinated by 'the future' and what promise it held for me.  Now, the more I know about technologies like this the more concerned I become.  The power to create a human being, free of nature has terrifying implications.  I believe that this book should be required reading in Australian schools if not so already.  Please feel free to post any of your views you might have.

http://somaweb.org/w/sub/Brave%20New%20World%20fulltext.html

Over the last couple of days I've been talking about food and drink.  The news is full of stories how Australia is now the 4th fattest nation on Earth.  Every day we're bombarded with more stories of how fat we are or images of the latest slinky dress worn Jennifer Aniston, etc.  We're slaves to image!  Now just for today I won't run over the dreary, morally serious, existentialistic questions of whether this is right.  Such matters are better debated when over at your mates place lost in a swirl of bong smoke!  Instead, I'm interested in what drinking beer does for the male wasteline.  I've surfed the sites of all the major Australian breweries and have compiled a list the calories value of beers commonly sold in Oz.  All figures are quoted are on the basis of a standard stubby of beer and have been taken or calculated from the respective breweries websites.

Cascade Premium         157.5 calories

Tooheys Old                 150

VB                               150

Guiness Draught            146.25

Carlton Draught             142.5

Tooheys Extra Dry         142.5

Tooheys New                142.5

XXXX Bitter                 138.75

XXXX Gold                  112.5

Hahn Premium  Light      105

According to the Tesco's website (a large English supermarket for those of you who haven't ventured to the UK) a standard roast beef dinner with Yorkshire pud equates to roughly 1083 Calories.  For a normal Australian beef dinner the figure is more like 850 Calories.  So, you only need to down roughly the following number of stubbies to equal the energy you'd get from eating a standard Australian roast dinner (roast beef, spuds, carrots, gravy, pumpkin and greens)

- 6.1 stubbies of XXXX Bitter 

- 5.9 stubbies of Tooheys New

- 5.6 stubbies of VB

Good grief, no wonder we're a bunch of barrel gutted fellas.  Ok, so what's all this mean on a practical level?  Drink more XXXX perhaps?  Well, I've surfed the web and come up with a list of everyday activities and how much exercise you'd have to do to burn it off.

The daily burn

by Dr Wynnie Chan

Bet you didn’t realise that your normal routine can actually pass for a workout in a pinch. Here’s a list of how many calories you might be blasting throughout the day, without even realising it If you’re drinking a small latte as you read this article, then a trip to the gym isn’t necessary – doing normal office work like typing or filing for 80 minutes will burn it off. Of course, we all need to exercise regularly to stay healthy, but some days it’s OK to get by, doing activities from our list below to keep your calories in check. If you eat a 68g Mars bar containing around 300 calories You’ll need to walk for 90 minutes at a moderate pace to burn off 306 calories If you eat a medium baked potato topped with tuna and sweetcorn containing around 626 calories You’ll need to dance for 150 minutes to burn off 630 calories If you eat a slice of brown toast with low fat spread and jam containing around 151 calories You’ll need to do the washing up for 90 minutes to burn off 153 calories If you eat a medium apple containing around 53 calories You’ll need to sleep for 53 minutes to burn off 53 calories If you eat a bowl of green salad with French dressing containing around 122 calories You’ll need to peel potatoes for 90 minutes to burn off 126 calories If you eat a 40g pack of crisps containing around 218 calories You’ll need to hoover and clean the house for 60 minutes to burn off 222 calories If you eat a roast dinner with medium portions of roast beef, carrots, sprouts and roast potatoes containing around 631 calories You’ll need to dig holes in the garden for 150 minutes to burn off 645 calories If you eat a medium portion of cod and chips containing around 838 calories You’ll need to jog for 130 minutes to burn off 858 calories If you eat a 125g pot of fruit yoghurt containing around 131 calories You’ll need to read a book for 110 minutes to burn off 132 calories If you drink a small banana and strawberry smoothie with semi skimmed milk containing around 106 calories You’ll need to care for a toddler (change nappies and walk up and down the stairs) for 50 minutes to burn off 110 calories

Random Graffiti from my travels...

Rock is dead - long live paper and scissors

Honk if you love peace and quiet

I found the lawn and the lawn won

Time is a great healer but a lousy beautician

Rehab is for quitters

All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door

I don't deserve self-esteem

Friends help you move.  Real friends help you move bodies

Telepath wanted.  You know where to apply

Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines

Jesus is coming, look busy