Hold your Poppers and Fireworks!!

New Year's Day to be delayed by a second
Courtesy Nine MSN
Get ready for a minute with 61 seconds.

Scientists are delaying the start of 2006 by the first "leap second" in seven years, a timing tweak meant to make up for changes in the Earth's rotation.
The adjustment will be carried out by sticking an extra second into atomic clocks worldwide at the stroke of midnight Coordinated Universal Time, the widely adopted international standard, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology said this week.
"Enjoy New Year's Eve a second longer," the institute said in an explanatory notice. "You can toot your horn an extra second this year."

Coordinated Universal Time coincides with winter time in London.
At midnight (11am AEDT), atomic clocks will read 23:59:60 before rolling over to all zeros.
A leap second is added to keep uniform timekeeping within 0.9 second of the Earth's rotational time, which can speed up or slow down because of many factors, including ocean tides.
The first leap second was added on June 30, 1972, according to the institute.
Since 1999 until recently, the two time standards have been in close enough synch to escape any need to add a leap second, it said.
Although it is possible to have a negative leap second - that is, a second deducted from Coordinated Universal Time - so far all have been add-ons, reflecting the Earth's general slowing trend due to tidal breaking.
Deciding when to introduce a leap second is the responsibility of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, a standards-setting body. Under an international pact, the preference for leap seconds is December 31 or June 30.
Precise time measurements are needed for high-speed communications systems among other modern technologies.

Following such US icons as Rudi Gulliani 

TIME People of the Year

You products of the 80s out there might be keen to know that...

Bono, Bill, Melinda: TIME People of the Year
'For being shrewd about doing good, for rewiring politics and re-engineering justice, for making mercy smarter and hope strategic and then daring the rest of us to follow, Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono are Time's Persons of the Year.'TIME Magazine has named Bono, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates as their 'Persons of the Year' for 2005.
In its December 19th issue, out today, Managing Editor James Kelly said the three had been chosen as the people most effective at finding ways to eradicate such calamities as malaria in Africa, HIV and AIDS and the grinding poverty that kills 8 million people a year.'When you look at the number of people who die from the kind of diseases and poverty that the Gates' and Bono are fighting, the death tolls are far greater than what occurs in natural disasters or wars,' Kelly said.The founder of computer giant Microsoft and his wife were named for their work in the Gates Foundation, the world's biggest charity with a $29 billion endowment, while Bono was described as the 'rocker who has made debt reduction sexy.''Bono charmed and bullied and morally blackmailed the leaders of the world's richest countries into forgiving $40 billion in debt owed by the poorest,' said Time.Bono said he was ' experiencing an unusual feeling. I think it's called being humbled.' 'There are a lot of people who could be here. What's really key is, all of us are in agreement that this can be a generation that can end extreme poverty. And by that we mean stupid, daft poverty where 3,000 kids are dying every day of a mosquito bite in Africa. Malaria. We can fix stuff like that. That's the kind of feelings I'm having right now.'The Gates Foundation funds hundreds of projects around the world primarily focussed on public health, from vaccinating children to developing new drugs, as well as educational programs and scholarships in the United States and abroad. Bono explained how his work with DATA and the One Campaign had been supported by Bill and Melinda Gates.'They have been our patrons since early on.' he said. 'A lot of people don't know that. Though we are coming from very different places, we are in agreement that this can be a generation that can eradicate extreme poverty. That's not a kind of wishful thinking, that's not misty-eyed rock star nonsense. This is a hardheaded business guy, and science based person. 'The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have been researching vaccines and really getting into the detailed work on how to achieve this. These are achievable goals. I'm a mouthpiece. I'm a rock star. I'm a very lucky man. But it's the tough stuff that will get this done, not the bleeding heart brigade.'

HOLIDAYS!!!!

Hi All...
Despite plenty of material gathered in recent weeks nothing has made it to here...
I am on holidays for several weeks either side of Summer Camp in January and you may still find some pop culture musings here BUT strictly work stuff will have to wait until 2006!!

Have a great Christmas!!

Expect a visually stunning show!! 

U2 Sold Out

As U2 tickets probably sold out in about 15-20 mins this morning it seems that other shows will [as suspected] be added... but they're a bit slow jumping in. It was a lot of fun hearing from a variety of people this morning and sharing a laugh or the exasperation of what still proves to be "the biggest damn rock band in the world".... if you like that sort of music!!

I am working on a "Raking Over the Trash" pop culture resource edition to coincide with the Tour next year and will finish my young adult targeted Study and Discussion Guide by then!! [yeah sure!!]

Here's hoping my ticketing method worked out OK... I didn't hear about nay problems!!

For those unsure of a second show who missed out... try your local bus tour company... Foggs and Kings in Newcastle are definitely running buses!!

"...Take these hands Teach them what to carry, take these hands don’t make a fist,
Take this mouth, so quick to criticise, take this mouth give it a kiss..." Yahweh U2 HTDAAB