Evolution

Salon has an interesting book review dealing with evolution (past and future) and extinction events. Here's a sample quote:

But Ward's Big Idea is a fascinating one. (Good thing, too, as this isn't the first book he's written on the topic.) Unlike the doomsayers out there, he doesn't think there's another mass extinction looming. Rather, he's convinced it's well underway, and that the worst is already over. Most of the big mammals that are going to die off already have. Among those no longer with us are the mastodons, the mammoths, the saber-toothed tiger, the giant short-faced bear. "It is visible in the rear-view mirror, a roadkill already turned into geologic litter -- bones not yet even petrified -- the end of the Age of Megamammals," he writes.

Lord of the Rings

I've been chatting to middle brother Mike, who's been reading Lord of the Rings. He's finding it entrancing:

Got home late last night, didn't get into bed until 12:30am, opened LOTR for a quick read, got to the battle of Helm's Deep, didn't get to sleep until 1:40am.

So we got to chatting about how fantastic the film was, and I realised that, despite seeing it twice already, I'd happily go and see it again, and felt thoroughly excited by it. Even with films I've loved recently I really haven't felt so blown away by the whole experience over a month after seeing it. I suspect there'll be a short re-release shortly before The Two Towers comes out, and I'll definitely be going to see that.

Even better news is the extra 30 minutes reported to be in the Director's Cut DVD...

Erin

A quick Erin update for all her family (I've discovered that half of her clan read this, and find out things about her from here. Hi, all you Aunts and Uncles!).

Erin started her new job yesterday. It's only for a month, and it's only part time (1-5:30), but the pay will help us survive for a bit longer and it's in Edinburgh, which means we have to pay for a rail pass anyway, so she might as well travel back and forth for film stuff for free too!

She's still waiting to hear about jobs as Office Administrator for a small theatre company, and as Personal Assistant for someone at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, either of which would be pretty fantastic.

Oh, and her short film (she was the producer) is being shown at the Blue Room (a monthly short film extravaganza held at the Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh). The bad news is that it's being shown on the 2nd of March, which is when we were going to be in Kent, so we're going to have to try and reschedule flights to make it down. Mike's birthday is the 4th, but I'm sure he'll forgive us for arriving a few days late.....

Conspiracy Ahoy

The US Army has lost 2.3 trillion dollars.

Given three minutes, how many conspiracy theories can you come up with to explain where it all went?