thursday randomness

slap happy: last week, O announced that something 'very sad' was happening at school. The Head had spoken to the whole school at assembly about incidents of 'happy slapping' in the playground. O didn't really know what it was, but this week it's been all over the meedja. Turns out Happy Slapping is the latest evul yoof craze. That and wearing a hoodie in a threatening manner. Young people today, asbo the lot of 'em, like what that nice Mr Blair says. It's a disgrace, didn't happen in ye goode olde dayes oh no. Bloomin' chavs, bet they can't even spell deviancy amplification spiral.

whale watching: there were some amazing photographs of whales in last Saturday's gruaniad magazine, and they're available to see on-line.

hair envy: the Afro-Caribbean girls in O's class have the most fantastic hair. They have braids and cornrows and mini-dreads and styles I don't know the names of, and they change the style and pattern every week. Their mums/sisters/aunties/grannies must spend hours on it, and they end up looking completely gorgeous. I think I have dreadlock envy. Not that I'm going to be growing my own - generally speaking they lookie pretty naff on us white folks. That said, one of my neighbours has beautiful long blonde dreads but in looking cool rather than crusty (or, even worse, Hoxton), she's very much the exception.

now for the science bit: if it's Thursday it must be Gruaniad Science Day. Bad Science column rocks, as ever. This week: can molecules speak English? Elsewhere, they publish extracts from Richard Feynman's letters:

I am sure of nothing, and find myself having to say "I don't know" very often. After all, I was born not knowing and have only had a little time to change that here and there. It is fun to find things you thought you knew, and then to discover you didn't really understand it after all.