Whole New Worlds

Anything to do with space is big at my house, but I would I love this video of Aladdin History of Exoplanets by A Capella Science any way, just because.  Have a listen and you'll see what I mean!  

(Other favourite musical science nerd videos include Science Wars, All About the Bass (No Acid), and a Christmas one that it's too early in the year to link to just yet.)

Perthshire in October 2

Perthshire in October 1

Inching

I've been inching (somewhat painfully) forward on rewrites for Sky Girl, which made me think of this - dear Danny Kaye singing to an inchworm in that rather odd movie Hans Christian Andersen -

Next week, however, it's goodbye to inching and hello to leaping like a gazelle or mountain goat, as I am having another wonderfully solitary writing week at Lesser Wearie studio.  Words will fly.

Gusts

We had a wonderfully exciting view of the storm this week, looking out over the Tay where the wind gusts peaked at 102 mph.  There were better photos to be taken, but that would have involved climbing out the bedroom window onto the roof, and I didn't fancy getting blown off ...

Dark Taxa and a Shoehorn

Sadly, not everything you discover in the researching of a book can be shoehorned in to the story.  Mushrooms and fungi have a role to play in my current work-in-progress Sky Girl, just not as central characters.  So here is a nod to some Fascinating Facts about Fungi from the BBC News which you will not find in the final version of the book ... 

1. Fungi are in a kingdom of their own but are closer to animals than plants
2. They have chemicals in their cell walls shared with lobsters and crabs
3. A fungus has been discovered capable of breaking down plastics in weeks rather than years
4. There is evidence to suggest that yeasts - a type of fungus - were being used to produce the alcoholic drink mead as long ago as 9,000 years ago
5. At least 350 species are consumed as foods including truffles, which can sell for thousands of dollars apiece, quorn, and those in marmite and cheese
6. Plastic car parts, synthetic rubber and lego are made using itaconic acid derived from a fungus
7. 216 species of fungi are thought to be hallucinogenic
8. Fungi are being used to turn crop waste into bioethanol
9. Products made from fungi can be used as replacements for polystyrene foam, leather and building materials
10. DNA studies show that there are thousands of different fungi in a single sample of soil, many of which are unknown and hidden - so-called "dark taxa"

The Wall by Thomas Heitler

To celebrate Thomas getting a Distinction in his Masters (in Comics and Graphic Novels from the University of Dundee), here's a chance to buy his final semester project comic The Wall!  Just £1 (or more if you're feeling generous) will get you a PDF copy of a great story about what can happen when reality and fantasy collide ...

The Wedding - Stage Three

The speeches - 

And then the ceilidh - just a taste of the happy chaos!