Archive for Monty Python

R.I.P. Terry Jones (1942-2020)

Posted in Television with tags , on January 22, 2020 by telescoper

So Terry Jones has ceased to be, expired and gone to meet his maker, kicked the bucket, shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible. In fact I bet he’s playing the organ for them:

The loss of a life is no laughing matter, but I’m sure Terry Jones wouldn’t mind the references to the Parrot Sketch. We should try to remember him for the laughter he gave us before that cruel bastard dementia started to take him away.

May he rest in peace.

R.I.P. Terry Jones (1942-2020)

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Birthday Spam!

Posted in Biographical, History with tags , on July 5, 2017 by telescoper


I am reliably informed that the form of tinned meat known as Spam was first made available to the public exactly eighty years ago today, on 5th July 1937. The product is manufactured by the American Hormel Food Corporation, who own the trademark of the name.

Spam came to Britain largely because of the Second World War, during which food was in very short supply and  it was imported in large quantities via the Atlantic convoys. It was also part of a GI’s standard rations. I have to admit that I haven’t eaten spam for quite a long time, though I had it regularly when I was younger. It was served quite often as part of my school dinner, but I particularly enjoyed it in the form of a spam fritter from the local fish & chip shop:

And, finally, no discussion of spam would be complete without this..

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Alternative Galaxy Dynamics Examination

Posted in Education, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , , on June 12, 2010 by telescoper

Time Allowed: ~1/H0

Study the following video and answer the questions below it. Or else.

1. Use the information provided about the Earth’s orbital speed to estimate the mass of the Sun. (Assume a circular orbit; 1 AU is 1.5 × 1011 m.)

2. Use the information provided about the Sun’s motion around the Galactic Centre to estimate the total mass interior to the Sun’s orbit. (Assume a circular orbit and that the mass distribution is spherically symmetric; you may quote Newton’s shell theorem without proof.)

3. Use the answer to Q2, and other information provided in the video, to estimate the mean matter density in the Milky Way.

4. Use the information provided about the size, shape and stellar content of the Milky Way to estimate the mean number-density of stars interior to the Sun’s orbit.

5. Use the answers to Q3 & Q4 to estimate the mean mass-to-light ratio of the Galaxy.

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