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Noisy audiences
"The opera-going former politician David Mellor has reportedly taken to remonstrating with members of the audience who insist on chattering in counterpoint to the sound from the stage," writes Mark Lawson of The Guardian. "… Mellor is fighting a losing battle. I spend much of each week sitting in audiences - theatrical, cinematic, operatic - and there clearly has been a sharp shift in the etiquette. Sometimes the most quiet and attentive patrons I encounter are to be found during my footballing afternoon off from the arts. … It's common to blame TV for this new, audible way of seeing. … But TV long predates the collapse of manners during live performance, so the culprit must surely be more recent changes in communication. [Cellphones]have removed the concept of ever being out of contact … while social networking is creating a group for whom the experience of seeing something is inseparable from sharing their response as quickly as possible."
Doggie top hat and tails?
"Increasingly, man's best friend is sometimes also man's best man - if not a ring bearer, flower girl or simply a member of the wedding party," The Wall Street Journal reports. "To meet this growing demand, wedding planners, niche retailers and other businesses are offering new services and products geared toward helping pets fulfill their special roles. Mostly dogs but also cats, pot belly pigs and birds are getting outfitted with ornate wedding gear, including miniature tuxedos, veils and top hats. Trainers are prepping them for top performance and sitters are standing by for when the job is done."
A great forest reversal
"Forest density is increasing across much of the world after decades of decline, according to a new study by scientists from the United States and Europe," The Independent reports. "The change, which is being dubbed the Great Reversal by the authors, has … positive implications for carbon capture and climate change. The research, carried out by teams from the University of Helsinki and New York's Rockefeller University, shows that forests are thickening in 45 of 68 countries, which together account for 72 per cent of global forests."
Self-quantifiers
A growing number of technologically adept people are collecting and correlating data on their bodies' "inputs and outputs." The goal? To optimize their physical and mental performance, FT Magazine reports. In May, 400 "Quantified Selfers" from around the world gathered in California's Silicon Valley for the first-ever international Quantified Self Conference. Participants included "Joe Betts-LaCroix, a self-tracker and bioengineer. He opens a laptop with graphs of his weight and that of his wife, Lisa, and two kids, measured daily for the last three years. He has data detailing his wife's menstrual cycle for 10 years. 'I was giving birth to our son, and instead of holding my hand and supporting me and hugging me, he was sitting in the corner entering the time between my contractions into a spreadsheet,' says Lisa Betts-LaCroix."
A new unlucky number
"Afghanistan's booming car sales industry has been thrown into chaos by a growing aversion to the number '39,' which almost overnight has become an unlikely synonym for pimp and a mark of shame in this deeply conservative country," according to Reuters. "Drivers of cars with number plates containing 39, bought before the once-harmless double digits took on their new meaning, are mocked and taunted across Kabul. … No one is quite sure why the number became so contaminated so fast, but Kabul gossip blames a pimp in neighbouring Iran, which shares a common language with much of Afghanistan. His flashy car had a 39 in its number plate, the story goes, so he was nicknamed '39' and the tag spread."
Healthier bait for fish
"A [British]fishery has become the first in the country to veto white bread amid fears it is unhealthy for the fish," The Telegraph reports. "Instead, fishermen have been urged to cast out pieces of whole meal and granary bread into lakes. Experts say white bread lacks the protein that brown slices contain and too much of it leaves fish bloated, lethargic and with bad guts. Anglers tend to throw bait onto the surface of the water … and bread is often a popular choice."
Bad teacher
"A California teacher has been arrested after she allegedly threw a party where dozens of teens became drunk," Associated Press reports. "[The teacher]was arrested [last week]by San Diego County sheriff's deputies responding to reports of fighting at her home. Sgt. Bob Bishop tells the North County Times that at least 75 teens attended the graduation and birthday party for [her]daughter, and guests reported that the 56-year-old [teacher]drank alongside minors. Bishop says deputies found teens passed out and others playing strip poker. Two were arrested on suspicion of assault and battery on an officer."
Thought du jour
"I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well."
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC)
Macedonian king and conqueror