Six Feet (and Counting?)

A sixth foot has been found on Canada's west coast. Another right foot (that's five right feet to one left, if you're keeping a tally) and this one appears to be in a sneaker that matches the left (fifth) foot that was found earlier this week.

UPDATE: The sixth foot was a hoax. Some sick puppy stuffed an animal foot in a sock with seaweed and put that in a sneaker.

The Case of the Fifth Floating Foot

Yes, you guessed it, a fifth sneaker-shod foot has been found on the west coast of Canada. The surprise this time is that it is a left foot, not a right one. Here's a news article for those who want to read more.

If this is all very confusing to you, here are links to my other posts about the previous feet. No word yet if this foot is male or size 12.

Typos

I get irritated reading the news articles on a local news website. The constant switching of "affect" and "effect", "course" and "coarse", etc., astounds me. Does no one know how to spell any more? This evening there was an article about a long-toed salamander, but it was spelled "long toad salamander". Arrgh!

Right Foot, Right Foot, Right Foot, Right Foot, ...

Well, OK, the police aren't yet saying if the fourth foot found is a right foot. It was, however, found while still inside a running shoe, just like the other three feet found within the last year or so. This is getting weirder and weirder.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, the news article here explains that a severed human foot was found washed up on Canada's west coast, the fourth so far. I commented back in February about this bizarre situation when the third right foot was found. All feet were male, all were found still inside a running shoe, the first two were size 12, and the first three were right feet. I wonder if the latest one will continue the pattern.

UPDATE: Yes, the fourth foot found IS a right foot, still no word on if it was a size 12. The police, however, have stated that none of the feet have been "forcibly severed". Translation: each foot has separated from its body without human intervention, likely from decomposition and wave action while in the ocean. OK, but how did those four corpses wind up in the ocean in the first place? Shipwrecks? Misadventure? Murder?

Putting His Money Where His Mouth Is

The BBC News website has an article announcing Terry Pratchett's donation to Alzheimer's research. Terry Pratchett, author of the intensely funny Discworld series in addition to numerous other excellent books, was recently diagnosed as having a rare early-onset form of Alzheimer's disease.

It bothered me to read that Pratchett is too young to be eligible for NHS coverage for the Alzheimer's drug Aricept. Thanks to the popularity of his Discworld series of novels, he can afford to pay for the drug out of his own pocket. Not many are so fortunate. (Fortunate to have the money, not fortunate to have the disease!)

The number of people suffering from dementia is comparable to the numbers with cancer, yet the amount spent yearly on research into finding a cure is less than 4% of what is spent on cancer research (11 pounds/year/dementia patient vs. 289 pounds/year/cancer patient). These are British statistics, but I would assume that the numbers are comparable in Canada, the United States and other countries.

Like other Alzheimer's patients facing the loss of their cognitive abilities, Pratchett is willing to try anything that offers him a chance. I loved this quote from the article:

The author told the conference he is prepared to go to extreme lengths in order to beat the disease. He said: "Personally, I'd eat the arse out of a dead mole if it offered a fighting chance."

Environmental Debate

Once again, it would appear that the ravings of environmentalists over our imminent demise are exaggerated. We have been told ad nauseum how horrible plastic shopping bags are for the environment. Here's an article which examines the other side of the coin.

Until reading this article, I hadn't known that plastic (polyethylene) shopping bags, made from ethylene pellets, are produced using ethylene gas which would otherwise be burned off as a waste product at natural gas plants. Another thing I learned is that the heavier "canvas-ey" bags touted by the tree huggers are still plastic, but are polypropylene which cannot be recycled as easily since it requires a higher temperature to melt.

On another (but still related) note, it bugs me that the recycling bins located at various places in my city will take paper, cans, glass and plastic milk jugs but will not take any other types of plastic. If I want to recycle my plastic, I need to pay a monthly fee to a recycling company which will send a truck 'round my house each week. I'm sorry, but I don't have the funds to pay for this service. As a result, my plastic ends up in the landfill. Arrgh.

A Sad Day for Music Lovers

Jeff Healey, an amazing Canadian blues and jazz guitarist, has died of cancer at the age of 41.

I'm very sad. For the sake of his young family, I hope his newest album does well. It's set to be released in Europe in March and in North America in April.

Another Cool Use for Stem Cells

The BBC News website posted an interesting article regarding the potential use of stem cells to mend shattered bone and damaged cartilage. This is still in the research stage and is a few years away from actual use, but exciting nonetheless. From reading the article, I understand that the researchers from Edinburgh University are currently using stem cells from bone marrow but hope to be able to culture bone-forming cells from blood which would eliminate the need for bone marrow extraction surgery. Very promising research and I hope to read more about this work in the coming months.

Geckos in the OR

I stumbled across an interesting article today. Researchers have made a waterproof, biodegradable bandage that can be used internally in surgery. Inspired by the microscopic surface irregularites that make a gecko's toes "sticky" and allow it to defy gravity, American scientists have made a surface-patterned sugar-based glue on a biodegradable tape that can be used in the decidedly wet environment found inside the body. The paper has just been published. Hopefully we'll be hearing about its success in operating rooms in the near future.

Stating the Obvious

Red alert! A new study has found that driving while fatigued causes as many road collisions as driving drunk!

OK, so tell me something I didn't know. Like the amount of taxpayers' dollars that went into funding this so-called study.

So Much for Good Will to All

This nonsense drives me mental. I have no use for religion, and I feel vindicated in my views every time I read articles like this.

Who cares if a couple is heterosexual or homosexual? As long as those two people care about each other, why does the shape of their genitalia matter? It appears the Anglican Church of Canada pulled its figurative head out of its figurative ass long enough to realize that there's nothing wrong with same-sex unions, but now a number of parishes are separating because they are too narrow-minded to accept this. Arrgh.

Then again, why should a same-sex couple (or any couple for that matter) feel the need to have their union blessed by a religious group? I fail to comprehend that aspect as well.

Right Foot, Right Foot, Right Foot, Feet, Feet, Feet?

Silly me, I thought the Dr. Seuss Foot Book started with the line "Left foot, right foot, feet, feet, feet." Apparently I was wrong. Either that, or some other sick puppy has messed it up. It seems a few sneaker-shod feet have washed up on shore on some coastal B.C. islands. (B.C. = British Columbia, on Canada's "Left Coast".)

Just imagine: there you are, having a lovely morning walk along the shore of a pretty little island when you see a washed-up running shoe on the beach. Hmmm, you think. That's odd. Perhaps I'll wander over and have a look-see. Oh, there's still a foot in that shoe!

The part I find really odd is that these three feet have washed up separately, months apart, yet all three were clad in a running shoe, and all three were men's right feet, size 12. Is there some bizarre serial killer out there who has a thing for guys who wear running shoes and have size 12 feet?

Ooh, I Want One!

Remember James Bond's car that could go underwater in The Spy Who Loved Me? Well, now for a paltry 750 000 British pounds (roughly $1.5 million Cdn) this can be yours! Here's the link to the article at the Brisbane Times.

Whale Tails and Muffin Tops

There's an interesting article at the Sydney Morning Herald about the recent publication of the annual New Word List. Yes, I'm nerdy and find stuff like this cool. I had a chuckle reading over the included glossary. My favourite WOTY (Word of the Year) contender has to be floordrobe: a typical adolescent's horizontal clothing storage system. I was a little disappointed to see that neither 'ho tag nor tramp stamp made the list: both terms refer to the lower back tattoos sometimes seen on young (or not-so-young) women.

Hockey Champs

The Canadians just won the World Junior Hockey Championship against the Swedes over in the Czech Republic. Well done, boys! I feel badly for Sweden - they played very well - particularly their goalie. He is the reason they were in the medal rounds at all.

Four gold medals in a row for Canada, and next year's game will be held here. It was a great game. Too bad Sweden had to lose, but I'm a proud little Canadian right about now.