Proof

On Saturday, after Tom and I left the gay bar, we went to buy cookbooks. On the way back, we stopped for ice-cream.

It's possible the above requires elaboration. That may be along later. Meanwhile, here's something else to keep you all amused: three hundred proofs of God's existence:

TRANSCENDENTAL ARGUMENT
(1) God exists.
(2) If God exists, then if reason exists then God exists.
(3) Reason exists.
(4) Therefore, God exists.

ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (I)
(1) I define God to be X.
(2) Since I can conceive of X, X must exist.
(3) Therefore, God exists.

ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (II)
(1) I can conceive of a perfect God.
(2) One of the qualities of perfection is existence.
(3) Therefore, God exists.

ARGUMENT FROM CREATION
(1) If evolution is false, then creationism is true, and therefore God exists.
(2) Evolution can't be true, since I lack the mental capacity to understand it; moreover, to accept its truth would cause me to be uncomfortable
(3) Therefore, God exists.

ARGUMENT FROM INTIMIDATION
(1) See this bonfire?
(2) Therefore, God exists.

ARGUMENT FROM GUITAR MASTERY
(1) Eric Clapton is God.
(2) Therefore, God exists.

ARGUMENT FROM SERIOUS ASSERTION
(1) God exists.
(2) No, seriously.
(3) Therefore, God exists.

ARGUMENT FROM CHICK
(1) I have all these cool Jesus comics.
(2) I also think Eternal is smart with all those great arguments.
(3) Those comics sure convinced me!
(4) Therefore, God exists.

Via plasticbag.org.

Back to School

Ah, memories. It's the 90th anniversary of the Michaelis-Menton equation (pdf, from The Biochemist):

The equation v=(Vmax x [S])/(Km + [S]) may be less of an icon of the 20th century than the double helix, at least to the general public, but every student of Biochemistry ought to be as familiar with this equation as with the double-helical structure of DNA.

This is the most important equation in enzyme kinetics; it allows you to work out all sorts of things about how a given enzyme works so, yes, I'd have to agree that it's pretty important. It is also imprinted on my brain in letters of PAIN. I hated enzyme kinetics.

Caption

To explain my earlier entry somewhat: This weekend was Caption, the Oxford Union-based small-press comics convention run by tinyjo, oxfordslacker, truecatachresis and squigglyruth. For the third or fourth year running, I (along with Mike, Tom, elleblue, greengolux and others) had volunteered to help out in a gofer-type capacity. In previous years, this has been a pretty cushy gig; move a few boxes around in the morning and evening, spend the day sitting behind the Caption stall reading comics. Not this year, however! No, this year, thanks to a cock-up on the part of the Union when booking the event, the con was split across several sites. OK, so it wasn't like the alternative site (Northgate Hall, hotspot of the Oxford LGB scene and aforementioned gay bar) was exactly miles away; in fact, it was only just across the road. Even so, however, there was appreciably more lifting and carrying than normal, as stalls and exhibitions shifted location across the two days. This year, I had to work for my keep!

Fortunately, all of the above affected the con, and my enjoyment thereof, only minimally. In fact, it was one of the best programmes I've seen so far; Carla Speed McNeil (on her first visit to a European con) was excellent value, and Bryan Talbot was (according to reports) equally good. The annual workshop run by cleanskies was as fun and frenetic as ever; this year, I even drew a whole page all by myself. They're going to be scanned in and webbified, so I was going to run a poll a get people to guess which page...but snowking has already given the game away. All this, and some extraordinarily nice vanilla-flavoured candy floss, too.

As to the aforementioned cookbook, well, various people have been recommending Nigel Slater to me as a place to start in my quest for cooking know-how. I bought Appetite, and it seems to be exactly what I want, so far. The first 100 pages are a detailed guide to the basics of cooking - lists of what flavours go with what, how to perform basic cookery operations and so on. I'm looking forward to getting stuck in.

Also: As I blearily woke up this morning, I could have sworn I heard them say on the radio that the Vatican was backing GM food. Haven't had a chance to look at the news properly today - did anyone else hear this?