Abul-Darda' Hashim al-Hajjaj

:: Yay! A website devoted to Leia's gold bikini in Return of the Jedi!

::My name in Arabic is apparently Abul-Darda' Hashim al-Hajjaj. Fancy that...

::Tons of groovy desktop images here.

:: A huge amount of polls to waste your time on.

:: Tropical parasite eats woman's brain.

:: Feel the power of the Sci-Fi geek! Farscape is back!

:: Fluffiness Overload Warning!!! A huge amount of kittens here. You'll probably recognise a lot of them but the fact that they're all in one place is awesome. Dial-uppers beware - very large page with lots of images

:: If you've overdosed on fluffiness, here's some stuff to bring you down. According to this report, there are 1,000 times too many humans on the planet. But that doesn't really matter because we'll be extinct by 2040 according to this report.

Tweakage Alert!

I've added a cool new feature for my title image. This is my first step into the murky waters of coding Javascript and I'm not sure how "tidy" it is. If you get any problems, please let me know.

Also, let me know if you get any pop-up banners. Check in Netscape and IE if you can. I have a sneaking suspicion that the new tagboard has them embedded... and we know what THAT means (edit... DELETE!!!)

EDIT: Tagboard DOES use evil pop-up banner advertising!!! It's one of my pet hates on t'internet and I can't have that on my site so it's gone. Sorry.

England have won the Rugby World Cup!

Australia 17-20 England
England won the Rugby World Cup with a breathtaking Jonny Wilkinson drop goal just 26 seconds from the end of a thrilling final in Sydney.

Millions watched around the world as captain Martin Johnson became the first player to lead a northern hemisphere side to the world title.

Wilkinson's last-gasp effort was all that separated the sides after 100 minutes of rugby and a dramatic extra-time finale.

Australia battled hard and were never out of the game but ultimately fell just short, despite opening the scoring through wing Lote Tuqiri.

The match represented the culmination of four impressive years of improvement from an England team that flattered to deceive in the last World Cup.

Then, Johnson and his cohorts were kicked out by South Africa and were rightly criticised for lacking a 'killer spirit'.

There were no such weaknesses on display on Saturday as England wrestled the cup away from an Aussie side who fought tooth and nail to become the first team to retain the trophy.

The Wallabies started strongly when Tuqiri out-jumped Jason Robinson to a huge Stephen Larkham bomb with just six minutes on the clock.

The score was no more than Australia deserved but three Wilkinson penalties soon silenced the strong home support.

Despite the rain continuing to fall, both sides chose to keep the ball in hand and as the game progressed, so the mighty England pack began to dominate.

With just 10 minutes of the first half left, Ben Kay knocked on with the line beckoning to the frustration of the visiting fans.

Minutes later, England finally silenced their critics when Robinson scuttled over wide on the left after a powerful midfield burst from Lawrence Dallaglio.

The men in white started the second half as they had finished the first.

Johnson led from the front with a towering performance and Dallaglio and flanker Richard Hill caused numerous problems down the middle of the pitch.

But just as England looked likely to pull away, two sloppy penalties allowed Elton Flatley to bring his side back within touching distance.

England looked the more confident side with the ball in hand - but only just.

Will Greenwood knocked on inside the Aussie 22 and Wilkinson then missed a drop goal as the match entered a tense closing quarter.

Runs from the powerful Stirling Mortlock and George Smith pushed England back into their own half.

And as referee Andre Watson prepared to blow for full time, Flatley slotted his third kick of the half to push the match into extra time.

The players looked understandably exhausted and when Wilkinson and Flatley again swapped penalties the match looked as if it was heading into sudden death.

But England were not to be denied and it was fitting that Wilkinson sealed a deserved victory as well as the most memorable result in English rugby history.
_______________________________________

Key Moments
::6 mins: Tuqiri's try puts Australia ahead
::38 mins: Robinson scores a try after three Wilkinson penalties to put England 14-5 ahead
::80 mins: The hosts haul themselves level with Flatley's last-gasp penalty
::82 mins: Wilkinson's penalty gives England an extra-time advantage
::97 mins: Flatley strikes again to equalise at 17-17
::100 mins: Wilkinson's drop goal wins England the World Cup
_______________________________________

Teams
::Australia: M Rogers, W Sailor, S Mortlock, E Flatley, L Tuqiri; S Larkham, G Gregan (capt); B Young, B Cannon, A Baxter; J Harrison, N Sharpe; G Smith, P Waugh, D Lyons.
::Replacements: J Paul, M Dunning, D Giffin, M Cockbain, C Whitaker, M Giteau, J Roff.

::England: J Lewsey, J Robinson, W Greenwood, M Tindall, B Cohen; J Wilkinson, M Dawson; T Woodman, S Thompson, P Vickery; M Johnson; (capt), B Kay; R Hill, N Back, L Dallaglio.
::Replacements: D West, J Leonard, M Corry, L Moody, K Bracken, M Catt, I Balshaw.
_______________________________________

[from BBCi]

Severe Tweakage Warning

Good evening passengers, this is your captain speaking. As you may or may not be aware, the Blog is about to encounter some severe tweakage and we may experience some turbulence. This is a common occurence at this altitude and there is no cause for alarm. Please remain in your seats and fasten your safety belts. Thank you for flying Planet:Maffydoo.

Maffy's day-off linkys

I've got today off work so to celebrate, here are some cool links I found over the last week.

::Boobies! Woo-Hoo!

::OUCH!

::Check out this Drift Challenge. (Warning: 18mb dowload, right click recommended)

::The moon landings... fake? Couldn't be. This article makes an awful lot of sense though...

::We knew stealing that music was wrong. Stealing is never OK. But, it was just too easy. Want to make it right again? The solution: Send Them Back!!

::Try out this self-hypnosis thingy. You'll be barking like a dog in NO time.

::Weird Trippy Artsy Japanese Stuff. Yay for this sort of thing!

::Dude barfs then gets thirsty. Top sound on this flashy thing. Reminds me of Jay's comedy pukage.

::Star Wars helmets! Woohoo! Collect them ALL!

::Here is a groovy Japanese game where you're a small circular thing with a mouth that wants to eat much bigger things, but only if they're happy. Big grumpy things are no good - they taste bad. And Angry things are downright poisonous.

That is all!

Crazee Foo'

This is the mutt's nuts. It's awesome. It's stupendous! It fucking RULES! It's uber! It really is rather good. It's Mr. T... in your pocket no less! And if you're a tightwad, go here to download some .wavs of the man himself.
"Hey Suck-ah! You goan' PAAAAAY!"

Chasing Bush

I know it's a bit liberal of me but what the hell. Hound the dullard and hope he gets the message! Do you know the IQ of the man in control of the largest nuclear arsenal on this planet? 80!

(The campaign's name makes me laugh too)

I'm on the Front Page at Tattyworld!

"Professor Moriarty... we meet again but this time, the advantage is mine!"

Wow! I'm on a roll! Those nice people at Tattyworld have put this image on their front page! This site is quite different from b3ta because, on average, the quality of the pictures there are a hell of a lot better. Colour me chuffed!

I also posted it on b3ta, naturally. See if you can spot my piccy in this post. I am now officially source material :)

A nice person on b3ta told me that if an image looks too rough, flatten it, add 3% monochrome noise, and gaussian blur it by a fraction of a pixel. It hides a multitude of sins. And use the extract tool instead of the select tools because it's way quicker and the results are a lot more polished. Again, this info is more for my benefit...

Weekend linkys

::Some web space for you to all sign up to.
::In the immortal words of Sir Henry of Rollins, "Yeah, I am a liar! Yeah, I like it! I feel good!"
::Fancy a spot of Squirrel Fishing?
::I'm feeling all christmassy so go here and design your own snowflake.
::Dissect Britney! Yay!

I MADE THE FRONT PAGE OF B3TA!

Woo! Yay! Houpla! Panowie! Go here!!!!

Potato Swap Stuff

::This is mainly for my own benefit but this is Jay Arraich’s Photoshop Tips. Very useful.
::This a pile of cool free photoshop filters.
::A few good tutorials and digital art at dubtastic.
::304 tips and more tutorials at here.

My latest creation for b3ta. Hope you like it.

If you ever think you've had enough of the interweb, go here for a couple of minutes peace. I saw this first about 5 years ago and I'm happy to report that it is still here and exactly as I remember it.

"Don't get yourself hurt out there in that crazy modern, javascript, animated-gif-laced, slow loading world. Whenever you need a couple of minutes of peace, just come back and see us."

Googolplex

Googolplex is a silly word and for absolutely no reason, I wanted to find out what a it actually was. I ended up here and quickly came to the conclusion that it's mind blowingly/numbingly big. That'll teach me.

Do not read if your are mathematically and astronomically faint hearted.

Total Eclipse of the Moon

A total lunar eclipse is a celestial event of great majesty and grace. Among early civilizations, the eclipse was feared as an ominous sign of disaster, death, war and famine. Today, we recognize the eclipse as a simple consequence of the Moon's orbital motion around Earth.

A lunar eclipse has no great importance astronomically but can be enjoyed by many people without special equipment.

Skywatchers should train their eyes on the Moon from 2215 GMT, when it enters the outer edges of our planet's shadow.

Mid-eclipse takes place between 0106 and 0131 GMT Sunday as the Moon transits the southern edge of the Earth's shadow. Totality is quite short this time because the Moon only passes just inside the full shadow of the Earth, and the Moon's southern edge, in particular, should remain fairly bright.

As the show progresses, the Moon will get dimmer and, possibly, turn reddish during mid-eclipse, when the only light that can reach the lunar surface is red light refracted through the Earth's atmosphere.

The Moon leaves the last bit of shadow at 0422 GMT.

Let's hope it's not cloudy...

Links:
BBCi - Red Moon set to dive behind Earth
RAS - Lunar Eclipse Visible On 8/9 November

Everything..... EVER!

:: Blimey, look at this! It's a Picture of Everything. Well nearly. I spent far to long clicking around this place.
:: I have also found a Fountain of Knowledge. I have always wondered why dogs don't burp...
:: Next is the Theory of Everything.
:: And finally, how it will all end.

I have no idea why but my host is playing up. I'm looking into it at the moment but it means that all my images are knackered. Normal servoce will be resumed as soon as I know what is going on.

EDIT: Up and running again... Yay!

Uma Thurman

Uma is the new-age Vamp.

She was born in 1970. Her father, Robert, is a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University School of Religion. He was the first westerner to become a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Uma was named for a Hindu goddess. Her mother is a Swedish model-turned-psychotherapist Nena, who was discovered at 16 in Stockholm by photographer Norman Parkinson. A nude statue of Nena's mother, Brigit Holmquist, a famous beauty and later baroness, stands in the port town of Trelleborg. Salvador Dali, introduced Nena to her first husband, Timothy Leary. She is the granddaughter of Baron Karl von Schlebrugg. Uma's middle name, Karuna, is one of the four sublime abodes in Buddhism. It means "compassion." The other 3 sublime abodes are Metta (Loving kindness), Mudita (Sympathetic joy), and Upekkha (Equanimity). She has size 11 shoes! (big socks then...)

I first noticed her in Dangerous Liaisons in 1988 which was her first of many critically acclaimed films. Unfortunately (for her that is...) she is mostly remembered for the fact that she got them out and the fact the she had to play opposite the grossly miscast Keanu Reeves. But she pulled it off with the grace and elegance that only Uma has.

Her next big part was as Mia Wallace in one of the best films of the 90s, possibly ever, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. She was the face on all the posters and was in the most memorable scenes in the movie. The first is the dance with John Travolta in Jack Rabbit Slim's which will undoubtedly stay in everyone mind for a long time to come. The other is the overdose scene which is truly disturbing and completely crazy. She got and Oscar nomination.

She has done some dodgy stuff too. The Avengers was absolute shite but she did have that leather catsuit thing. In Batman and Robin, she played Poison Ivy and was the only decent thing in the whole film.

She has a habit of disappearing off the face of the planet for ages and then reappearing in a blaze of publicity as if she had never been away. She also has the ability to act in the smallest arthouse movies and the biggest Hollywood blockbuster.

Most recently she played The Bride in Kill Bill Volume One. She basically kicked everyone's arse all over the screen for an hour and a half with a very sharp Japanese sword in a yellow jumpsuit. Of course, she is sublimely cool in this movies as well. (and for a bit of the old ultra-geek, someone has created an RPG character for The Bride.)

She describes herself as a "Tall, sandy blonde, with sort of blue eyes, skinny in places, fat in others. An average gal." I'd still do her and yes, I'll admit it, I fantasize about getting beaten up by her :)

I'll be posting the third of my current top five ladies soon.

Scary Badgers!

Weebl who did the badgers-repeat-until-funny thing had this video sent to him in the post. It said on the label that he shouldn't watch it. He did and then stuck it on the web.

Yay for this sort of thing!

Amazing pictures of the fires that have engulfed Southern California.