CaaC (John)

Parrot Trapped On Roof Keeps Telling Fire Crew To "F**k Off" Tom Wood in FUNNY I think we can all agree that firefighters do a pretty good job. They're out there risking their lives to keep people alive, keep people safe, and they'll even tip out to rescue an animal if it gets in danger too - that's one of the benefits of having huge ladders lying around. Well, whilst we're all massively grateful for the sacrifices and risks that they take, it seems as if not all the animals are so thankful. Jessie, a yellow and blue Macaw parrot, told the fire team that came to rescue her exactly what she thought of them, using some language as colourful as the tropical bird's plumage. You see, Jessie had been stuck on the roof of a house in Edmonton, North London, for around three days. Eventually, the London Fire Brigade attended the scene with the intention of getting the bird down from them, however, all they got was an earful after the birds started hurling expletives at the crew. Despite the fire volunteer bringing up a lovely bowl of food and a fluffy towel to try and coax her down, she just kept telling him to "fuck off". That's not very nice, is it? It's also a bit rich coming from an animal that can actually fly but has still found itself stuck on a roof. LFB Watch Manager Chris Swallow said: "Jessie had been on the same roof for three days and there were concerns that she may be injured which is why she hadn't come down. "We then discovered that she had a bit of a foul mouth and kept swearing, much to our amusement." https://www.ladbible.com/funny/animals-parrot-trapped-on-roof-keeps-telling-fire-crew-to-fk-off-20180814?fbclid=IwAR2aorQrRxqNe1X2DyEIytJyrkP3aepQd60YU-m9qvHfU-4sWFf9eeaIim8

'Lost' book of exquisite scientific drawings rediscovered after 190 years Czerne Reid 1/3 SLIDES >> https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/lost-book-of-exquisite-scientific-drawings-rediscovered-after-190-years/ar-BBWcBwI#image=BBWcBwI_1|1 © Photograph by Robert Clark Caesalpinia pulcherrima is a species of flowering shrub found in the tropics and subtropics of the Americas. This drawing of the plant, seen in the archives of the Rare and Manuscript Collections of Cornell University Library, is the work of Anne Wollstonecraft, who created volumes of detailed botany illustrations in 19th-century Cuba. Rediscovered after almost 200 years, her work includes historical facts, indigenous applications, poetry, and personal observations about more than a hundred plant types Lost for 190 years, a three-volume manuscript blooming with vivid colour drawings of Cuban flora has resurfaced in upstate New York. Nondescript marbled cardboard covers and a title page in cursive handwriting announce Specimens of the Plants & Fruits of the Island of Cuba by Mrs A.K. Wollstonecraft. This simplicity belies the contents of the slim, well-worn volumes. Pages and pages contain 121 illustrated plates showing plants such as red cordia sebestena, deep purple Lagerstroemia, and white angel’s trumpet in consummate detail. Accompanying them are 220 pages of English-language descriptions relating historical facts, indigenous applications, poetry, and personal observations. Hewing faithfully to scientific conventions, the illustrations show vegetation, life cycles, and dissections of reproductive parts. Some pressed plant material is taped in. The author writes that she did not consult botanists or receive any help with her work. “A jewel of botanical literature in Cuba,” is how Cuban botanist Miguel Esquivel describes the work, classifying it among the greatest discoveries of its kind in recent times. (Also find out how historians rediscovered an alchemy manuscript by Isaac Newton.) “I think the manuscript by Anne Wollstonecraft is of great importance,” says ethnobotanist Paul Cox, executive director of Brain Chemistry Labs in Jackson, Wyoming. “Although the plants that she profiles in her drawings and descriptions are generally common, the detailed notes she makes of indigenous uses add a whole new dimension to understanding their possible utility, and could be used today to guide researchers in discovering new pharmaceuticals.” For example, she notes that roots from the soursop tree were used as a fish poisoning antidote and its leaves as an antiparasitic and antiepileptic. She also suggests that "soursop" comes from a phonetic approximation of the island’s indigenous inhabitants’ name for the tree, suir sach, which could help explain a paradoxical moniker for a fruit described as sickly sweet. But if not for historian Emilio Cueto, a retired attorney and self-described collector of all things Cuban, Wollstonecraft and her work may have remained in obscurity. Word of mouth In 1828, Cuban exiles and human rights advocates Father Félix Varela and José Antonio Saco mentioned an American woman in Cuba drawing Cuban plants in their periodical El Mansajero Semanal. Almost a century later, in 1912, Cuban scholar and thinker Carlos M. Trelles cited the work, sight unseen. The citations said that New York Horticultural Society members had likened the work to that of respected naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian, whose legendary 1705 work Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium is considered seminal to the field of entomology. “That comparison triggered my belief that this was important,” Cueto says. “People exaggerate, but not that much.” Thus began his quest. Following Trelles’ lead, Cueto included Wollstonecraft’s work in the catalogue bibliography for his own 2002 HistoryMiami Museum exhibit on Cuban flora and fauna without having laid eyes on it or knowing whether it had even survived. “This was the reality of scholarly networks at that time,” says Anne Sauer, director of Cornell’s Rare and Manuscript Collections. “Part of the scholarly record included a scholar saying, I haven’t seen this thing, but I have heard that it exists and that it is important. You’re sort of bleeding into the realm of oral history in some cases, even.” Each documentation of the manuscript and historical mention of the author seemed to bring a different spelling of her last name. Some use her maiden name, Kingsbury, and her first name was alternately reported as Anne and Nancy—which Jane Austen fans will recognize as a diminutive of the former. Cueto had searched for the manuscript perhaps a hundred times or more in online library catalogues to no avail, but in March 2018, it finally popped up. The author’s name was misspelt as “Wollstonecroft,” reflecting the ambiguous last cursive vowel on the manuscript’s title page. Still, Cueto knew what he had found. “I said, Oh my God! This is that lady. This is what I’ve been looking for. This is what everybody has been looking for!” Cueto says. “It was covered by a series of unfortunate misspellings and access to catalogues.” After his Archimedes moment, however, he couldn’t find the actual manuscript; the catalogue didn’t show him where it was. That’s when he called on University of Florida Library Dean Judith Russell, with whom he had collaborated for Cuba exhibits. She figured out that it was at Cornell University, which received it in 1923 from a faculty member, the author’s descendant. Having caught Cueto’s infectious excitement, Russell joined him on a field trip to Ithaca to see the volumes. “Both of us tried to moderate our expectations,” Russell says. “We get there, and, My God, they are full botanical drawings with pages of narrative. And they’re exquisite.” Women in 'stem' Based on some genealogy sleuthing, Russel reports that Wollstonecraft died in 1828 at age 46, leaving incomplete entries, untranscribed notes and loose draft paper among the volumes. “She was not finished,” Russell says. “It gives you goosebumps, you know, how close we came to losing it.” Cueto is now working to introduce Wollstonecraft, the sister-in-law of famed women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft, to new generations. He has travelled to her adopted hometown of Matanzas in search of her grave and contemporaneous mentions in local newspaper archives, and he surmises that she was among the U.S. citizens who flocked to the Caribbean island in the 19th century for health reasons. His many-splendored vision includes having the newfound manuscript on display at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., where it could be seen by millions who traverse the nation’s capital. He also envisions the manuscript finally published as a book, with a foreword recounting how this lost work came to light. And he wants a Spanish translation, to make it more accessible to Cuban audiences. So far, the manuscript has been digitized and is available for all to experience online. “We have uncovered a new American scientist and artist who has been forgotten by those disciplines,” Cueto says. “Had she lived further, she would have been a major force in illustration.”

I have put that in now as a spoiler on my original post, I should have read the actors list lol.

Edit: Cheers for that, I have put this as a spoiler now since telling me that.

Aye, I remember now when I mentioned Split to our son and he mentioned Unbreakable and said Glass was supposed to be good.

Split is brilliant and I don't think or can't remember if I have seen Glass or Unbreakable yet? I will have to check them 2 out.

Never think that way buddy, life goes on and just be thankful you have loved ones around you when and if you need them, this is a wicked old world we live in and evil has been going on for thousands of years.

SpaceX capsule suffers 'anomaly' during tests in Florida SpaceX has confirmed that its Crew Dragon capsule suffered an "anomaly" during routine engine tests in Florida. A US Air Force spokesperson told the local press the incident, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, had been contained and no-one had been injured. An unmanned Crew Dragon successfully flew for the first time last month. This latest incident, however, could delay plans to launch a manned mission to the International Space Station later this year. Not since the end of the Space Shuttle programme in 2011 has the US been able to send its own astronauts into orbit. It has had to rely instead on Russia and its Soyuz spacecraft. SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk in 2002, said it had opened an investigation and was committed to ensuring its systems met "rigorous safety standards". Images of smoke coming from the space capsule have been circulating on social media. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48001382

Just saw this when I logged on and checked my MSN and I thought I would post it in here...WRONG, you beat me to it

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez wants ONE thing to STAY - Michael Owen reveals what he's heard NEWCASTLE beat Southampton 3-1 on Saturday to all but secure their Premier League status for next season but there remain doubts over whether Rafa Benitez will still be in charge by then. On what should be a positive night for Newcastle supporters, former Toon striker Michael Owen has offered a worrying insight into Benitez’s future at the club. Owen, who joined Newcastle for a then record-fee from Real Madrid in 2005, reckons that Benitez has an issue with how transfers are organised. The ex-England forward thinks the Spaniard is keen for more control, but he won’t be given it by owner Mike Ashley. “I don’t think it’s necessarily about how much he gets,” Owen said on BT Sport when asked if the size of Newcastle’s transfer budget could be a hurdle in Benitez signing a new deal. “I think it is more a case of the power that he has and the overall control of the transfer, that is what I am led to believe.” The former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager is out of contract at the end of the season, and he could leave despite fan pleas for him to sign a new deal. The control over transfers is proving to be the main stumbling block for the Champions League winning boss, and Owen can’t see it being resolved. He continued: “That is not normally what happens as clubs any more, that’s what used to happen, but it’s not what happens anymore. https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1116862/Newcastle-Rafa-Benitez-future-Michael-Owen-Southampton-Mike-Ashley

I know, but this thread has to be in the category of the thread of the year when it comes up, hate it or love it for fuck's sake!! The wife has a very bad habit in bed when lying asleep of wriggling her toes and I can feel them against my leg and it does my head in!!

I know, but blame @nudge for bringing it back into play

From @nudge too @MUFC

Warm and sunny here in Leith by the sea.

An 'exhausted' polar bear turned up in a Russian village 434 miles from its home Susanna Heller A polar bear has ended up pretty far from home - and he's giving locals quite the spook. This week, the estimated 2-year-old bear was spotted in the Russian village of Tilichiki on the country's Kamchatka Peninsula. The bear has been seen roaming around the village, which is 434 miles from his home in Chukotka, CNN reports. Experts think the bear travelled such a far way by drifting there on an ice floe. The bear "is exhausted, not aggressive," Alina Ukolova, who saw the bear, told CNN. Those who have seen the bear have reportedly welcomed the bear to the neighbourhood by feeding it fish. This, evidently, helped. "Today it felt better and went hunting," Ukolova said. Experts say the bear, who at this stage in development would typically be near its mother, ended up in Tilichiki because of climate change. "Due to climate change, the Arctic is getting warmer, hunting environment gets smaller and less convenient," Vladimir Chuprov of Greenpeace told the Associated Press. "The ice is receding, and polar bears look for new ways to survive. And the easiest way is coming to people." A plan has been set in motion to execute a rescue mission this week. Authorities in Kamchatka are mobilized to sedate the bear and airlift it back to Chukotka, according to the AP. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/an-exhausted-polar-bear-turned-up-in-a-russian-village-434-miles-from-its-home/ar-BBW5Ufs?item=personalization_enabled:false

Too much looking at these...

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Jarrell Miller fails SECOND drugs test after testing positive for human growth hormone to kill off any hopes of Anthony Joshua fight in June... as Eddie Hearn reveals new opponent will be announced next week Jarrell Miller's slender chance of fighting Anthony Joshua has disappeared after he failed a second drugs test for a different substance. Just days after the heavyweight was denied a licence because GW1516 was found in his system, he has tested positive for human growth hormone. The American had vowed to clear his name after the first failure and was due to have his B sample tested. But this second positive will kill off any remaining prospect of Miller facing Joshua in New York on June 1. Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn told Sportsmail: 'I can confirm we have been notified of another failed test. I am disgusted. 'You want to give someone the benefit of the doubt and that was very hard after the first one. To have a second one is disgusting. The sport can have no room for this. 'In a way I am happy - it shows the VADA testing works and we have kept him out of the ring. 'AJ will face any clean fighter and beat him.' The search for Joshua's next opponent has been given a deadline of next week as the clock ticks down on his American debut. Hearn wants to announce Miller's replacement as early as Tuesday, with the June 1 fight date only six weeks away. He confirmed on Friday that Joshua's new opponent will be 'announced next week'. Sportsmail revealed on Wednesday that their shortlist is made up of Adam Kownacki, Luis Ortiz, Kubrat Pulev, Michael Hunter and Manuel Charr, with the addition in the past 24 hours of unbeaten Colombian Oscar Rivas, who is ranked with all four of the major sanctioning bodies. Ortiz and Kownacki have publicly distanced themselves from stepping in, though those comments could reasonably be dismissed as a negotiating tactic in light of the huge purse available, with Miller having been in line to pocket up to £4.5m. Ortiz remains the favoured option as a legitimate contender, with the secondary priority to secure an American or a fighter with profile in the US, which would favour Poland-born New Yorker Kownacki and Hunter, an American. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-6940783/Miller-fails-second-drugs-test-testing-positive-human-growth-hormone-ahead-Joshua-fight.html

Champions League: Dutch FA cancels Eredivisie games before Ajax meet Tottenham Dutch football chiefs have cancelled a full round of Eredivisie fixtures before Ajax meet Tottenham in the Champions League semi-finals. Ajax were set to play De Graafschap on Sunday, 28 April, then travel to Spurs for the first leg on Tuesday, 30 April. The Dutch FA, the KNVB, said the decision to cancel top-flight fixtures was taken to give Ajax "at least two full days of rest between games". "Not only Ajax but all Dutch football benefits from this," it said. All games have been cancelled to avoid Ajax and De Graafschap playing at the end of the season once other games have taken place, potentially compromising the competition. The round of fixtures will instead be played on Wednesday, 15 May - subject to local authorities and police agreeing to the date changes. The KNVB said the change was needed because Ajax were in the Champions League semi-finals, the Dutch Cup final and challenging for the Eredivisie title - but stressed it was about player welfare and not a decision designed to give the team an advantage over the Premier League side. It added clubs agreed when the fixture list was compiled at the start of the season that changes may need to be made in "the very small chance that one of the clubs would go that far in the Champions League". The KNVB met clubs on Thursday to discuss the plans - and it admitted many were not happy about the change. Professional football director Eric Gudde said: "We are aware that it is impossible to satisfy everyone, but a knot must be made. "There can be no question of full satisfaction because this is ultimately not pleasant for any of the people involved. What is really nice is the reason why this was necessary: the semi-final place of Ajax in the Champions League." He also explained why all fixtures had to be cancelled, not just De Graafschap v Ajax. "That would mean that only this match was played after 12 May," he said. "Clubs and fans deserve a fair and as exciting as possible end to the competition, hence the starting point of playing simultaneously on the last two match days. "Ajax plays for the championship and De Graafschap is in the danger zone for relegation. Not only would the denouement remain in one game that is played later, this also gives De Graafschap more time to prepare for this perhaps decisive game than the other relegation candidates." Gudde said moving the Ajax game back to 26 or 27 April was not possible because it would clash with King's Day celebrations in Amsterdam, one of the city's largest festivals, and cause "insurmountable problems". Spurs play West Ham United at 12:30 BST on Saturday, 27 April. However, their league fixture against Bournemouth at 20:00 on Monday, 6 May - two days before the second leg of their semi-final - is expected to be moved by the Premier League. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47987277