Picture: The Economist

The Economist has written up a nice obituary piece up for Robert Rines, whose passion and integrity in pursuit of his obsession practically make him a patron saint of this site:

He never saw clearly enough to find Nessie—except on that one day in 1972, when he had been too moved and excited to work the Super-8 camera that shook in his hand. But the founder of the Academy of Applied Science, and the patent lawyer, regularly recognised himself in the inventors, old and young, who came to see him. The streak of craziness; the thrill of the quest; the frequent difficulty of describing what their invention was, how it worked, what it was for; their vulnerability to ridicule, because what they had done or thought was new; and the need to protect that thought, as something interesting and precious in itself. Mr Rines’s generosity and openness to them was no more than he hoped for for himself, as he sat patiently in his waterproofs, waiting, beside a Scottish shore.

Goodbye, Mr. Rines. You will be missed.

Link.

This will come as a shock to Yukon Cornelius, but he may be personally responsible for the death of the legendary creature of Loch Ness:

When Scottish scientists boarded their submersible and dove into the depths of Loch Ness, they were hoping to find evidence of a prehistoric creature along the loch floor. Instead, what they discovered were golf balls; hundreds of thousands of them.

The article then goes on to outline the environmantal impact of golf balls degrading in water, releasing heavy metals and other toxins into the depths.

It’s really kind of a bummer. I guess the moral of the story is: “If it bleeds, we can kill it.” Okay, maybe it’s not the moral of THIS story… but it’s the moral of a pretty badass story, so I’m appropriating it anyhow.

Link.

Just in case you don’t have enough presidential bigfoot t-shirts, shirt.woot.com is offering the above design with a bit of Loch Ness flavor thrown in.

Myself? I prefer the Cthulu ticket, even though he hasn’t chosen (and by “chosen” I mean “not devoured”) a running mate yet.

Threadless is currently selling the above design, but only certain sizes (tiny, huge, monstrous and gargantuan) are still available. My only question is whether that’s intended to be a giant or colossal squid.

Buy one now for your pet guinea pig or baleen whale for $15.

A Scottish and Southern Energy spokeswoman confirmed they have been having no problems with the machinery at the hydro station and the noise would not be from their plant.

Mikko said he would be contacting other utility companies as a process of elimination to try to get to the bottom of the mystery.

“I have to confess it’s bizarre. It get’s into your head and is like a buzzing sound, vibrating like an empty football. I think its a resonance frequency. Putting your fingers in ears doesn’t help. I’ve heard it start at 2am and it would carry on until 8am. My mother has heard it too.”

Link to Highland News article.

The 2008 First Monster Challenge is a 120km duathlon (running and cycling) race that’s routed ’round the shores of Loch Ness. This year’s event on Sept. 13 is the second running, but will be the first to offer a £1 million bounty for any race participant who actually makes a confirmed sighting of the Loch Ness monster.

The race supposedly has some charity tie-in (raising money for blind starving orphans with polio or something), but according to the FAQ, you don’t have to participate in that. I know I wouldn’t. The last thing I need as I’m opening up an insurmountable lead (while at the same time keeping an eye out for a lake monster) is the anticipation of a horde of sightless crippled moppets swarming me as I cross the finish line.

Sign up for the race here.

Read about the £1 million Nessie-spotting prize here.

Like to knit? Love the Loch Ness Monster? Well, here’s something for you: The ‘Nessie’ amigurumi from etsy artist hansigurumi. It’s $5.00 for the pattern.

Click here for more pics and to purchase.