Ok, now is it just me or does that fruit look like?….

Imagine my horror when arriving at London’s most annoying train station, when I looked up and was faced with the most disturbing food-stuff I have ever seen!

“What is it mummy?? BAAAAAAWW!!!” and “I’M NOT EATING THAT, DON’T MAKE ME!!!” seemed to be popular comments spouting from the mouths of horrified children, one literally too scared to look at it. 

Now, i’ll be the first to throw my hands up and admit i’m no fruit expert, but what in the name of all that’s holy is that stuff? The offending picture is part of a collage on display in London’s Victoria train station. The collage of different exotic fruits and plants appears to be aimed at getting commuters to consider healthy alternatives to popular foods and remedy’s. However it seems to have had the opposite effect.

One commuter summarised the visual nightmare by declaring, “now I can’t trust fruit….I literally cannot trust fruit!!!”, quickly leaving the scene and entering a nearby greasy-spoon (greasy English-breakfast serving cafeteria, to you non brit readers out there), apparantly to gorge on flesh and other trustworthy english stalwarts! 

But seriously for a second, is this really going to convince people that fruit is great, or am I missing the point somewhere here? Surely, a nice bowel of kiwi and mango fruits, mingled with some nice nectarines and passion fruit…that is more tempting than…well…the weird eye beasts out doom!…amirite?

Though not one of the top sites I check, a friend of mine recently pointed me to a headline on CNN.com, because above all, what the world really needs to hear about are the Virgin Marys on toasts, and in this case, Mickey Mouse shaped potatoes.
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For those interested in the 9/11 conspiracy, and especially in the physical aspect of it, a study of a “new phenomenon” called thermal expansion has been attributed to the collapse of the towers by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Counterpoint comes from Richard Gage, the founder of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth and a member of the American Institute of Architects.
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A Swiss man named Yves Rossy (or self-titled “FusionMan”) made a round on his jet-powered wing recently as a test for September 24th when he intends to cross the channel from Calais to Dover which will be streamed live on the National Geographic Channel.
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In other space news, ABC news recently published an article on how the mental health of astronauts is worth worrying about. A psychologist at NASA named Marc Shepanek asserts that it’s more stress than depression, stating, “You’re in a strange environment, you’re concerned about radiation, you’re in microgravity. They’re hard on your body, hard on your health, hard on your immune system.”

& want to watch Mars on webcam?

io9.com posted Four Reasons Not to Give Up On Interstellar Travel in case you had any doubts. And nasa.gov released news on black holes.
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Here is an update on The Large Hadron Collider.
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As of Monday, August 25th, XBox 360 users are able to register to vote participate in presidential polls and voice their opinions to the presidential candidates.
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Some universities this autumn are giving out iphones and ipods to their students for their mobile technology. While some claim that it could be counterproductive, others insist that the technology will bring the class closer together and encourage a more active approach. Or, the university will just have a huge increase in applicants next year!
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Microsoft has introduced a new tool to representing location- rather than a mere photograph, Photosynth recreates overlapping photos into a three dimensional panorama. Microsoft blew everyone’s minds at the TED conference last year and surprisingly, has made the software free to all. Visit photosynth.com to get started.
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Since California became the second state in the US after Massachusetts to legalize gay marriage, Hallmark has decided to produce and sell gay greeting cards. The company maintains that this decision was not made due to political pressure, but from consumer demand. Supposedly, the number of companies providing same-sex greeting cards are increasing in number, but Hallmark mentioned receiving a little backlash from some. That being the case in this tricky business, Hallmark has decided to give companies the option of opting out of their new card options.
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The world’s oldest man, Habib Mian, died at 138. And a woman give birth to her own grandchild

SHOCKING NEWS, EVERYONE!
The Bigfoot that two men from Georgia put forward was not real. Much to the chagrin of Sasquatch-enthusiasts and people whose time was wasted investigating the “evidence”, I am sure, the Bigfoot carcass turned out to be nothing but a rubber gorilla suit encased in a block of ice. As the ice thawed, the truth became more and more evident.

Links: Yahoo news
Photo: AP

This week we cosy-up with our new pal, occult author Taylor Ellwood, to discuss the many and varied ways to approach magic/magick/chaos Magick…arrrrgh my head is exploding!! Taylor has authored many books on the subject of new and experimental approaches to magic, as well as being a professional life-coach…though, like us, he has still yet to figure out how to make fireballs come out of his hands!

Featured music this week is a cool live recording of the amazing Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz by Mr Bungle.

Taylor Ellwood Biog:

Taylor Ellwood lives in Portland with his beautiful mate Lupa, and two cats. He’s a co-author of Creating Magickal Entities (with David Cunninghman and Amanda Wagener), and Kink Magic (with Lupa. He is the author of Pop Culture Magick, Space/Time Magic, Inner Alchemy, Multi-Media Magic and the editor of the Magick on the Edge Anthology, Manifesting Prosperity Anthology, and the Pop Culture Grimoire. When Taylor isn’t editing Non-fiction books for Immanion Press, or working on his latest work, he can be found gaming, reading, and enjoying the company of his lovely wife. For more information about Taylor, please go to The Green Wolf or visit Magical Experiments.

“Tree Man” Dede from Indonesia might be cured after fighting warty “roots” growing from his arms and legs for years. Dr Anthony Gaspari of the University of Maryland declared that it was caused by Human Papilloma Virus and it was found that his peculiar condition worsened due to a suppressed immune system. Doses of synthetic Vitamin A will be administered to him and are likely to help the warts diminish so that he will be able to use his hands.
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If you ever wanted a faster computer, Magnetoresistive random access memory (RAM) is your answer!
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Research has shown that Democratic politicians who appear on the Colbert Report gain a 40% increase in donations within the following 30 days after their on-show appearance. The research is published in the July issue of Political Science and Politics, which you can read here
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Starting September 10th, experiments using the Large Hadron Collider- a particle accelerator built along the French-Swiss border- will take place to attempt to produce the “Higgs boson” particle. There is a possibility that other particles may be observed as well. News.cnet.com says it’s “considered one of the world’s largest physics experiments to date.”
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New research has shown that books can affect the mind just as powerfully as television. They write, “[This experiment] provides insights into the neural basis of the captivating experience of reading a book: While previous studies on social perception used movies of other people’s experiences or arbitrarily colored symbolic cues, our combination of movies and written material in the present experiment demonstrates that reading (mental imagery) as well as watching other people experience what is imagined recruits brain regions involved in experiencing an emotion.”
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The “Unabomber,” Theodore Kaczynski wrote a letter expressing his discontent that his Montana cabin is now part of an exhibit in a museum.
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Scientists at the University of Reading have created a robot with a biological brain!
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Who wants to play the War On Terror Boardgame? The game was seized by police officers because the ski-mask included in the game could be used “in a criminal act.” Yes, but so could a paper bag you got from the grocery store?

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The Science of Star Wars: The Clone Wars explored, with author Jeanne Cavelos.
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New software PC Pandora helps you spy on your employees, significant other, child, friend- whatever!- recording every keystroke made.

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Joyce McKinney is an interesting woman. Known for spending £25,000 to clone her deceased dog, and admitting to a sexual abduction case in the 70s, she is now being charged with peculiar case of burglary in which she supposedly instructed a fifteen year old boy to break into a home to steal money for her beloved three-legged horse. Which, I come to wonder, she will orchestrate more theivery for to fund its cloning in the near future.

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A new species of water lily was discovered in Manitoba, Canada, which museum curator of botany at Manitoba, Diana Robson, says is exciting because “the flora in Canada is quite well-known. [And] most scientists don’t really expect to find a new species of plant anymore.” The water lily is a hybrid which evolved over the last 2000 years to better adapt to its environment.

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In another (less plausible?) instance of new species discovery, two men from Georgia had claimed to have discovered Bigfoot or Sasquatch. At a press conference yesterday in Palo Alto, California, enthusiasts Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, and Bigfoot researcher Tom Biscardi showed their DNA evidence of Bigfoot. As always, much skepticism surrounded the case, and experts said that the DNA test would not prove anything, as there wouldn’t be any other Bigfoot DNA to compare it to. As it turned out, the samples of DNA came from probably an opossum or a human. Click here for more from the Scientific American.

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L. Ron Hubbard explains the history of Xenu in a secret voice recording.

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And finally, a couple of people people seem to think this goat is saying, “Bob!”

It’s V mask time again, as the kids and oldfags alike take to the streets to continue their protest against the Church of Scientology tomorrow.

If you’re London based and want to go along for some lulz, check here for details of how to get involved.

The theme of this months protest is ‘Cult-Fiction’:

On Saturday, August 16th, the collective known as Anonymous will again stage a protest against the Church of Scientology’s corruption, and its abuse of its members and critics. This will be Anonymous’ seventh global protest since the inception of its campaign in January. From 11am (local time) onwards, Anonymous will take to the streets in peaceful protest at over 130 Church of Scientology centres around the globe

You never know, some of the RWYASN staff might be there as well…just for the lulz!

Checkout Wirah.com, Enturbulation.org and londonlulz.com for ‘MOAR’ info!

It’s only taken them 6 albums, a load of US tours, several Australian tours a Tzadik Masada release and a whole load of really cool 7″’s, but the Secret Chiefs 3 are FINALLY coming to the UK!

To add to my excitment, the best band ever are playing at the best venue ever; Cargo in Shoreditch, London; with its bizzare set of pipes and odd outdoor sitting area gardeny thing making a perfect setting for the show.

Support for the Chiefs comes in the shape of Italian Avant weirdos Zu and amazing ambient noise masters SkullFlower. So this is shaping up to be quite the night!

Now, some of you may remember back in our interview with ‘frontman’ Trey on the podcast he did mention that the group were planning on doing a whole European tour, so we’ll keep you posted on that as we hear about it!

Anyway, go get your tickets for the show, which is taking place on the 16th September, here.

Episode 13 - Conspiracy 101 will be released a little later than usual this week due to some technical problems.