Atheism, religion, science(s), arabic language, web, tech, music & general bloggy things
About Me:
A musically & emotionally developed rationalist, sceptically and definitively non-religious, with a profound sense of awe at this beautiful, natural universe, and the life it contains.
Shit....I'm so deep.
Things I'm interested in: Music + Guitar!
Learning the Arabic language, Evolution, Atheism & Comparative Religion, Philosophy, Pop Physics & Cosmology, Superman Comics & Mythology, On-line Technology and Video.
New way to drive your car? "There's an App for that!"
It's not often I have doubts about the direction of my life and career choice but damn...this video is mentally awesome.
dB
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Cute picture of the scamps
They're not doing this quite as much now, so it's nice when I catch
them :)
Posted from Leeds, United Kingdom
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Comic books are good for children's learning - Telegraph
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Published: 5:36PM GMT 06 Nov 2009
Researchers believe they can benefit from tales about the caped crusader, Superman and even Dennis the Menace in the same way they can from reading other types of literature, despite teachers and parents often being snooty about comics, experts say.
According to the research, critics say that reading comics is actually a "simplified version" of reading that doesn't have the complexity of "real" books with their "dense columns of words and lack of pictures".
But scientists from the University of Illinois claim that reading any work successfully, including comics, requires more than just absorbing text.
Professor Carol Tilley, from the department of library and information science, said that comics are just as sophisticated as other forms of reading, and children benefit from reading them at least as much as they do from reading other kinds of books.
She said there was evidence that they increased their vocabulary and instilled a love of reading.
She said: "A lot of the criticism of comics and comic books come from people who think that kids are just looking at the pictures and not putting them together with the words.
"Some kids, yes. But you could easily make some of the same criticisms of picture books – that kids are just looking at pictures, and not at the words."
She added: "Although they've long embraced picture books as appropriate children's literature, many adults – even teachers and librarians who willingly add comics to their collections – are too quick to dismiss the suitability of comics as texts for young readers.
"Any book can be good and any book can be bad, to some extent. It's up to the reader's personality and intellect. As a whole, comics are just another medium, another genre.
"If reading is to lead to any meaningful knowledge or comprehension, readers must approach a text with an understanding of the relevant social, linguistic and cultural conventions.
"And if you really consider how the pictures and words work together to tell a story, you can make the case that comics are just as complex as any other kind of literature."
The research on comics was published in the journal School Library Monthly.
via telegraph.co.uk
He He! Sweet
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You'll never guess what O2 sent in the mail...
This has made me scratch my head, twas expecting marketing bullshit as usual but no...
And the reason.."just because"
Aww the big wuvly cumpany luvs meee!
dB
Posted from Leeds, United Kingdom
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Zombieland Review
I was not expecting this to be good. I was certainly not expecting it to be one of the best films of the year!
From the trailer I saw a second rate Shaun of the Dead knock off, but American.... and it really is a shame because the film itself is very, very sharp. Just as much as Shaun. And in fact it's only a whisker not as good as Shaun, purely because a) it is really taking the same basic zom-com idea, and b) I connect to the dry humour of the English version slightly better and more affectionately. I think anyone who has seen both films and is English (or lived in the UK for any length of time) will essentially came away with the same thought.
The writing in Zombieland is fantastic and you care for the characters, and that they live. This is important because despite the "rules" theme that Columbus has devised for staying alive, the movie doesn't really follow the standard zombie film "rules" i.e all of the good guys survive. So good character development and knock-out performances are essential for this to work.
The 4 leads are all brilliant, these are great comedic performances. Woody Harrelson just embodies Tallahassee so well it's frightening. At one point he's on top of some American Chevy 4x4 or something, and twatting the shit out of it with a baseball bat, looking like he's getting into that role a little too much! But I'm not gonna spoil it any more!
There are so many legendary quotable lines from this movie that you will be googling them when you get home just to remember before you can get back to the cinema to watch it again.
To sum up, this film is very funny, genuinely scary, and also charming and heart warming. Oh did I say absolutely hilarious?! Go see it!
dB
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