Seen in Pinner …
Category Archives: amusements
Cartoon of the Week
Quote : Goals
Goals are a form of self-inflicted slavery.
[Scott Adams, Dilbert Cartoon Strip; 10/12/2011]
Links of the Week
This week’s collection of links to items you may have missed …
First off something scary. Just look at the size of this giant bug!
Not all critters are quite so scary … For instance, we know the crow family are highly intelligent, now Ravens have been shown to use ‘hand’ gestures to communicate.
But then who would have thought that there are cognitive benefits to chewing gum.
Now here’s a job that you never even dreamt existed, nor wanted … castrating sheep with teeth, which has been shown not to be a great idea!
Here is a list of ten of the most dangerous chemicals in the world. And to think I’ve worked with some of those, as well as a few which aren’t on that list!
Talking of dangerous, this one is really worrying … ‘End of virginity’ if women drive, Saudi cleric warns. WTF do these people think they are! Made me see red.
But then again the Egyptian authorities are clearly no better (and equally make me see red), prompting a young Egyptian woman to stand up for women’s rights and argue that modesty objectifies women. She reinforces this by appearing nude too. Two reports in a weblog here and this one from the Guardian. More power to her elbow. Let’s all hope for her safety.
Finally, for amusement, more on the vulva cupcakes. Maybe a new fashion statement?
Quotes of the Week
The usual eclectic mix. Firstly something dear to my heart …
A bookshelf is as particular to its owner as are his or her clothes; a personality is stamped on a library just as a shoe is shaped by the foot.
[Alan Bennett]
So long as a judge keeps silent his reputation for wisdom and impartiality remains unassailable: but every utterance which he makes in public except in the course of the actual performance of his judicial duties, must necessarily bring him within the focus of criticism. [It would] be inappropriate for the judiciary to be associated with any series of talks or anything which can be fairly interpreted as entertainment.
[Lord Goddard, Lord Chief Justice, 1955]
I suppose one shouldn’t expect anything less po-faced coming out if the 1950s, but oh, dear we are on our dignity aren’t we! Next something I’ve long suspected, from someone who should know …
Science is organized common sense. Philosophy is organized piffle.
[Bertrand Russell, philosopher and mathematician]
There are three faithful friends:
– An old wife
– A shaggy dog
– And ready money
[Thoughts of Angel]
Slightly dodgy ground there, methinks! And finally …
The best of all stratagems is to know when to quit.
[Thoughts of Angel]
Where do they get this stuff? And who buys it?
Our irregular spotlight on the amusing and downright weird from our local auction houses.
A brass and glass cylindrical clock, the hours marked on a brass sphere with moving miniature fish.
A decorative picture of a 1914 London bus, made from watch parts …
An 833 silver small tray, and 3 800 forks and a similar souvenir teaspoon, 8.2 ozs, together with 6 fish knives and 11 forks with filled silver King’s pattern handles, 2 foreign small forks, and 4 brushes with blue enamelled silver backs
Yes, I read that as three thousand eight hundred forks as well!
A wonderful interesting lot on two shelves including old tins, a light depicting a golf ball and club, bakelite objects, cameras, an unusual dome barometer, medicine bottles, shells, postal scales, Davey lamp, miniature dominoes, a tin of old brass door furniture, cast iron stamps, etc.
You just know anything beginning “an interesting lot” is going to be a pile of old toot.
An old boxed brass and iron sexton marked Hezzanith endless tangent screw, an electrical Weston Union Cablegrams sign, and a boxed wind meter marked V.E.B. Anemometerbou, Dresden.
And who doesn’t want an “endless tangent screw”?
Four cuckoo clocks, Bonzo figurine and ashtray, wooden shoetrees, two tambourines, five cameras … Matchbox Rolls Royce, a pair of barleytwist candlesticks, fire warden/football rattle, etc.
A shelf of god quality glass including a quantity of lustre drops and facetted spheres, studio glass blue and amber vase, lampshades, vases, glasses, pintray, cakestand, a brass light fitting in the form of a flying cherub, etc.
With a flying cherub it must be “god quality”!
An old swordfish rostrum, 33 ins long
Makes a change from the usual collection of stuffed beavers and foxes.
2 African throwing spears in leather and fur, each with with steel blade and pointed end, 32 ins.
A Portuguese caldas Palissy ware dish applied with amphibians on a shredded ground, and a pottery portrait roundel of Dante with wrought iron suspension dated 1871-1921.
A moose head with six point antlers on shield shape wall mount.
A 1950′s full length beaver lamb coat with bobble buttons.
Two cartons containing 1920′s and 30′s under garments including satin embroidered nightdresses, silk underwear and stockings, wool ‘Chilprufe’ long johns, many in original packaging, Aertex vests, children’s knitted slippers with leather soles, knitted bootees and socks, fur tails, etc.
An ancient wheelbarrow in creosoted elm with an iron wheel.
Cartoon of the Week
Who do they think I am?
A couple of days ago I was grubbing around in Stumbleupon and setting up a profile of interests. Based on what I had already flagged Stumbleupon suggested I might like to add the following of interests in just these juxtapositions:
- Philosophy
- Science Fiction
- Neuroscience
- Mythology
- Mechanical Engineering
- Babies
Am I really that strange?
Links of the Week
Here’s your usual selection of things which interested/amused me and which you may have missed. And do we have a bumper selection this week!
First something useful? There’s a view that “use by” dates on food are a myth which needs busting. So it’s American but I don’t see much being different in the UK. But I do worry whether people have enough common sense to safely abolish “use by” dates.
And now to the very unuseful. Why does the search for the Higgs Boson matter? Actually to most people it doesn’t matter; whether physicists find it or not it won’t change the lives of 99.9999% of the population. That doesn’t necessarily mean we shouldn’t look for it, but in the overall scheme of broken banks and countries it actually doesn’t matter.
Sociable wasps have an eye for faces. But not for caterpillars. And you just thought they were animated automatons sent by the Devil to annoy you!
And talking of the works of the Devil, pyjamas are another … The joys and benefits of sleeping naked. And no, it isn’t colder!
Think you’re good at sudoku? You’ll need a good night’s sleep before you try this! He-he!
A few weeks back we told of these strange paper sculptures left in libraries. Well the phantom has returned, for the last time.
Not got enough to do in the run-up to Christmas? Need a craft project? Make storybook paper roses (above).
And finally … Do you need an udder tug? Well who doesn’t? — Certainly no self-respecting mutt!
Why? …
… is there a used elephant condom in my tree?
