Latest posts

The Great War Remembered #2

Posted on 11 March 2014 by cromercrox

‘Standing Orders, Poussin-en-Corbeille, 1917′ by the Cromer Poultry Great War Re-Enactment Society.
IMG_8278

Posted in chickens, cromer poultry great war reenactment society, Domesticrox, Great War, Silliness | Leave a comment

The Book Thief of Gravity

Posted on 9 March 2014 by cromercrox

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and late evening watching two very different films: The Book Thief, and Gravity. Here, then, are my impressions – be aware that there are spoilers, so, if you don’t want to know what happens, please read the following with your eyes shut.

bookthiefmovieI was taken by Crox Minor to see The Book Thief at our local en Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, geoffrey rush, George Clooney, gravity, sandra bullock, the book thief | Leave a comment

Virginia Woolf’s Messages for Today

Posted on 8 March 2014 by Athene Donald

Although I read many of her novels as a teenager, I only came to reading Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own somewhat late in life. I have recently reread it. On a second reading I am even more struck by it than I was the first time. It is still so horrifyingly relevant, even 90 years on from its first appearance in print. Its message Continue reading →

Posted in A room of one's own, belonging, Equality, independence, International Women's Day, minorities | Leave a comment

Careful With That Amphioxus, Eugene

Posted on 7 March 2014 by cromercrox

Spare a thought for the amphioxus, a humble marine creature which spends its adult life buried in sand, filtering particles of food from seawater using its beautiful and elaborate system of gill slits. amhioxusOn the left is a picture of the front end of one of these creatures. Although it doesn’t have a ‘head’ as such, you can see the te Continue reading →

Posted in amphioxus, chordates, chthonic, cothurnocystis, development, eldritch, erumpent, evolution, h r geiger, hieronymous bosch, journal of morphology, pharyngeal slits, preternatural, Research, tunicates, vertebrates, yasui | Leave a comment

Tsundoku III

Posted on 7 March 2014 by cromercrox

As it’s National Book week all this week, and yesterday was World Book Day, this lunchtime saw me indulging my tsundoku habit at the Break charity shop in Cromer (well, that’s my excuse.) This is what I bought:
IMG_8270Peoples and Empires by Anthony Pagden is a new one on me. It looks at the history of the imperial concept from antiquity to the Continue reading →

Posted in climbing mount improbable, guns germs and steel, jared diamond, national book week, richard dawkins, tsundoku, world book day, Writing & Reading | Leave a comment

Sits Vac

Posted on 6 March 2014 by cromercrox

One or other of you might be interested to know that a well-known weekly professional science magazine beginning with N is seeking a locum evolution and ecology editor to cover paternity leave for a 6-7 month period starting this June.  The full advertisement appears here. If you are interested, please apply through the advert –  don’t Continue reading →

Posted in locum ecology evolution editor, nature, Science Is Vital | Leave a comment

Hating Skyler White: reflection on gender roles in pop culture (guest post by Jane O’Hara)

Posted on 6 March 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

There are some TV characters that people love to hate. What’s the harm, you might say, when you know that they aren’t real people? But can these attitudes provide us with a mirror for some of the ugly ideas still pervasive in society about how women should act?

 

Continue reading →
Posted in feminisn, guest post, television | Leave a comment

The Maison De Girrafes Caption Competition #306

Posted on 5 March 2014 by cromercrox

Lunchtime the bright spring sun blazed down so the dogs took me to the beach. This is what it looked like.
IMG_8264

Not bad for lunchtime, eh? But I digress. Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Norfolk!, caption competition, Cromer, Cromer East Beach, lunchtime, Silliness | Leave a comment

More evidence for Lab Lit on the map!

Posted on 4 March 2014 by Steve Caplan

A quick search of Google Scholar yielded some of my publications on Jenny’s Lab Lit site, in addition to the expected scientific papers. If that’s not a sign of Lab Lit on the map, then I don’t know what is! (scroll down to the bottom)

User profiles for steve caplan

Steve Caplan

Prof. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, U Continue reading →
Posted in author, authors, Books, Google Scholar, humor, lab lit, Research, science | Leave a comment

Authoration

Posted on 3 March 2014 by cromercrox

Not having written any books lately about teenage vampires, schoolboy wizards, sadomasochism, cookery or gardening, the times I’ve been asked for advice about how to get a book published can be numbered on the fingers of one hand. (The times I’ve received fan mail can be numbered on the fingers of one thumb.)

It is with some surprise th Continue reading →

Posted in Books, literary agents, science writing, Writing, Writing & Reading | Leave a comment

Taking the Chair

Posted on 2 March 2014 by Athene Donald

I was interested to discover recently that candidates for the headship of a certain Cambridge college were required to chair a mock Governing Body meeting (this was not part of my own selection process at Churchill I should say). I can see why a college would think this was a good idea. The ability to chair is a crucial one, one that seems never to Continue reading →

Posted in bores, committee meetings, Equality, Miss Triggs, Science Culture | Leave a comment

Where in the world?

Posted on 2 March 2014 by Erika Cule
Bloggers clam up!

Bloggers clam up! Bloggers clam up!

Quiz question: where were these two photos taken?

Continue reading →
Posted in Bloggers, Clams, Fun | Leave a comment

The Accidental Audiobook

Posted on 28 February 2014 by cromercrox

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

I knew that the Shameless Plug was soon to come out as an audiobook. Continue reading →

Posted in audiobook, The Accidental Species, Writing & Reading | Leave a comment

Relative oblivion and revivals

Posted on 27 February 2014 by Heather
Image of Penny Candy paperback edition, by Jean Kerr

Penny Candy paperback edition, by Jean Kerr

While on vacation in California, I had the U.S. version of a famous online bookstore locate and then send me a copy of a collection of essays I once enjoyed in the very same yard-sale paperback edition. It is as old as I am, and entitled Penny Candy, by Jean Kerr. Continue reading →

Posted in art, Fun | Leave a comment

In which I admire their honesty

Posted on 27 February 2014 by Jennifer Rohn

Kudos to Mateja Erdani Kreft of the University of Ljubljana and Horst Robenek from the University of Münster for telling it like it is:

You don’t often see such candor in the methods section of your local journal article – so much so that recently, the #overlyhonestmethods hashtag went viral on Twitter.

Jokes aside, this got me to thin Continue reading →

Posted in Scientific method, Scientific papers, Scientific thinking, Silliness, The profession of science | Leave a comment