These guys have posted lots of videos of strangely convincing perpetual motion machines. Of course these are impossible, but some of the machines are beautifully made and how they work is very cleverly hidden. It says on his website that they are all done with hidden motors.

They were built to kickstart basic scientific discussions on how they work in principle.

The main site is here.

And finally...this thing:

An interesting way to advertise a potentially awkward product.

Had fun at OMM Bike in Reeth, Yorkshire last week. It was the longest orienteering event by far that I've done (7 hours on Saturday, then 5 on Sunday). Did terrible the first day and then did great on the second. Think I'll do it again. Long drive after work to get there though.

Omm.com Bike Event 2015

An newly animated interview with Tom Waits, from 1988, in which he tells about the moles under Stonehenge.

Kaboooooom! Here's a video of the power station just down the road from where I live being blown up.

Here are a few photos from a bike ride up at Loch Loyne a couple of weeks ago.

The loch water levels are drained every September in anticipation of the winter rain/snow melt. On occasion the old main tarmac road (the original "road to the isles") which took travellers north-west to Ullapool before the valley was dammed, emerges, along with a couple of old humpbacked bridges. It's possible to follow the road through the loch bed and across the hill at the far side to eventually reach the Cluanie Inn.

Unfortunately, as you can see from the pictures below, the loch wasn't in fact drained that weekend! The alternative route we took was fantastic anyway though. I plan to go back and try again at some point.

Magnus Carlsen in Stavanger with Norway Chess, challenging Espen Agdestein to a blitz game.

Here's a great example of the intermediate-axis effect. Basically the tool is actually spinning on all axis, but the centrifugal force of the main spin holds the other axis in one (apparent) direction until it slowly increases it's wobble. When it hits a certain critical point in the wobble it's enough to quickly continue the flip on that axis.

The excellent Mythbusters (except for the movie myth shows) are impressed by the footage they took of a pistol firing.

Here's a video of my Capital Trail ride. Just a handlebar mount viewpoint.
It's in HD, but for some reason you have to view on Vimeo to get the HD version.
I need to remember to clean the lens more often next time!

The Capital Trail, 2015 from Dave Blair on Vimeo.

This is a good match, from TheOnion: Father John Misty cover of "Do you realize".

This is odd, but strangely mesmerising.

"Bee, a reluctant hero, becomes entangled in the adventures of a puppy (...or is he a cat?) as they travel between reality and the void of Fishbowl Space. Created by Natasha Allegri, character designer and storyboard artist for Adventure Time."

Here's the Capital Trail bikepacking ride I did the past weekend.
I rode for 22 hours 15 minutes and stopped for 3 hours of sleep.
I'm very broken, but it was amazing.

Watching the folks currently doing this bikepacking race......Not jealous at all.
2 weeks until I do the much shorter Capital Trail.