One Born Every Minute
Posted: Tue 6 September, 2005 Filed under: 1BEM, Thoughts, Weirdness 2 Comments »Again, a title that may end up becoming a category – in fact, in this case I think it’s a certainty.
The latest piece of Barnumism is this – a “businessman” who bottles “Welsh air” for expats to breathe and (supposedly) go back to their homeland for a while. For the princely sum of – are you sitting down? – £24 per bottle.
How fucking brilliant is that? And if there are people who’ll go for this sort of crap, I’ve a lovely bridge I can sell ’em…
Darwin
Posted: Wed 31 August, 2005 Filed under: News, Thoughts, Weirdness Leave a comment »Sometimes you just have to wonder what goes through people’s minds. In this case, that of a man who decided to let his 7-year old son drive the car on the M5 motorway – from the passenger seat. Dad had been drinking, but just how much do you have to drink before that seems like a good idea?
Stag
Posted: Mon 22 August, 2005 Filed under: Thoughts, Travel, Weirdness 2 Comments »Apparently it’s not just the costs of a marriage that are going up, but also the average spend at stag-dos and hen-nights, although men supposedly spend more than women (an average of £35 more, to be exact).
Quite honestly, I’ve never yet been on a stag-do (although bizarrely I have been on a couple of hen nights) – they’re just not something that really appeals to me, but then again, the entire “drink ’til you puke, then drink some more to wash away the aftertaste” concept has always been a bit beyond me anyway.
Supposedly it’s now the “done thing” to go off for a stag do in a foreign city – Prague, Amsterdam, etc. etc. Personally, if I’m going to those places I’d rather see something of them, instead of being the ubiquitous “Brit on the Piss”, or anything even close to that stereotype. Maybe that makes me boring, or an old fart – to be honest, I don’t care. What it does make me is (on average) £500 better off for every one I’ve never been on.
Sounds good to me!
Reality
Posted: Mon 22 August, 2005 Filed under: Thoughts, Weirdness 1 Comment »Just as we lose one piece of reality TV shite, yes, along comes another.
Is there any chance that people are going to get sick of these reality series? Personally speaking I’ve never seen the appeal of Big Brother, and as for the self-publicising aggrandisement that is Flop Idol/ Lame Academy/ Y? Factor/ Flopstars/ so forth, so fifth, it’s pretty much beyond me too.
A bunch of (loose terminology) singers, all doing covers, with no coverage given to those who can a) show any true originality, b) posess the skill to play any musical instrument (I suspect the triangle is beyond most of ’em) or c) show any talent or skill – like, say, song-writing. It’s just a variation on “money for old rope”.
The *cough* winner of the last Y? Factor admittedly managed a Number one single and album, but since then has already been dumped by his record label for not fulfilling his potential. Quite what the potential was, I don’t know – except as that aforementioned old rope merchant.
And as Herself said while watching bits of it,
“I bet there’s psychologists all over the country saying ‘I recognise that one – knew they’d be on something like this”
Helpful
Posted: Tue 16 August, 2005 Filed under: News, Weirdness Leave a comment »According to the BBC, a road in Oxfordshire is to be closed for resurfacing on Thursday. This is the full “story”
Drivers are being warned that a part of a road in Oxfordshire will be shut for resurfacing work.
A section of Wykham Lane will be closed between the A361 Bloxham Road and White Post Lane for one day on Thursday.
The county council said to avoid confusion with the continuing closure of the A361 at South Newington there would be no diversion signs.
The emergency services and those residents who live within the closed area, will still have access.
Now OK, I’m sure that’s useful – but where is it in Oxfordshire? – No town is given! The only location it reveals is that it is (I assume) somewhere near Stoke Newington.
So perhaps not as helpful as it could’ve been…
Repellent
Posted: Tue 16 August, 2005 Filed under: Health, Weirdness 1 Comment »This story contains one of the creepiest things I’ve seen in a long time. The first “Mr. Afghanistan”, a body-builder. And is it me, or is he actually gold?
Personally I’ve never been able to see the appeal in bodybuilding, particularly to this kind of extreme. It’s just grotesque.