Category Archives: amusements

Links What You May Have Missed

A pretty mixed bag of the curious and interesting which you may have missed in this instalment. Let’s start with the historical …

Archaeologists reckon they’ve located the exact site, and part of the structure of, the Curtain theatre in London’s Shoreditch area, which was used by Shakespeare prior to The Globe.

Meanwhile on the south coast some other archaeologists have discovered wall paintings of a dozen or so medieval ships in a Winchelsea cellar. That has to be worth a visit!

Elsewhere historians are puzzling over the possibility that the ancients were also visited by UFOs and flying saucers.

From ancient history to natural history … You always wanted to know about turtle sex, didn’t you? Well here’s a disquisition on the terrifying sex organs of male turtles. We’re promised girlie turtle anatomy to follow.

While on the subject of sex (well you just knew there’d be more, didn’t you!) back in 2006 an American Roman Catholic nun and theologian wrote a sensible book about sex and relationships. But now the Vatican has decided it doesn’t like the content and has banned it. What price Galileo?

Now, what will the medics come up with next? Oh, I know, fungi. After investigating the bacteria and viruses which reside in our guts they’ve now started to investigate similarly located fungi.

Scientists have also been investigating whether whether human farts are germ-laden, or merely malodorous. Turns out they are germ-laden, but only if you’re naked.

So now for something a little more appealing. Emily is getting married. (Well people will do it, y’know!) But what’s this? The latest wedding accessory appears to be … a birdcage! Her only question is “why?“!!

And finally while on the subject of nubiles, didn’t you always want to know what was inside Kylie’s knickers? Well now you can thanks to a surprisingly interesting collection of X-ray images of of everyday objects as art.

Toodle pip!

In Case You Missed …

Another selection of links to things yu may have missed and which interested/amused me. This episode is in random order.

First of all a satirical comment on the effects of gay marriage.

Why do some people hate raw tomatoes but others don’t? Jennifer Ouellette investigates.

I am not alone. Someone else agrees with me about top freedom, if not about actual nudity.

Shit and other scatalogical verbiage.

The church of St Andrew, Greensted-juxta-Ongar is apparently the world’s oldest surviving wooden church. I went there half a lifetime ago and it is a delight.

There are new editions of two historical cookbooks: The Medieval Cookbook and The Classical Cookbook. One for culinary adventurers, I think.

And finally a recipe to live long and prosper: keep eating those nuts.

Enjoy!

Auction Oddities

It’s auction time again and as usual I’ve been perusing the catalogue of our local auction house. I must admit that they are not as interesting or wacky as they were a year or two back; whether they’ve improved their description writing or aren’t getting so much odd stuff to sell, I don’t know — although this sale does seem to include a lot of good silverware and designer clothes (both men’s and women’s). Anyway here are some highlights of the latest sale which amused me.

An engraving, ‘Actresses Dressing in a Barn’ …
Undressing? I should have expected the opposite of actresses in a barn!!

A large military lot to include two ammunition cases, a radio … headsets, an HF transmitter receiver, a large communication unit, two army hats, etc.

A small carton of plated King’s pattern cutlery, also a pair of berry spoons, souvenir teaspoons, corkscrew, and an unusual giant nutcracks (sic)

A fine large George III silver sauceboat, with gadroon rim, on stepped hoof feet, with half-eagle crest.
How do you step a foot,let alone put a crest on it?

A silver child’s mug of Celtic design …
And there was I thinking children’s mugs were always whinge-shaped.

An Elizabeth II silver waiter with bead rim …
I can think of a few gays who’d quite like that. 😉

A pair of George II silver baluster muffineers …
Well that’s a new name of a gigolo!

A shelf of exotic shells and dried fish, and … a gilt metal leopard

A shelf of interesting figural pieces, including an old cream jug styled as a seated goat …
You mean you don’t already have one? Tut! Tut!

Pottery storage jars styled as houses, china cups, saucers and plates, a bowl of pottery fruit …
Not quite sure how you style a jar as a plate or saucer!?

A pair of Baccarat frosted glass chicks …

Three old green glass dumps (sic), one enclosing a three tiered flower pot, the other two bubbled.
Do what?!?

Nine late Victorian fireplace tiles, variously decorated with birds and flowers, and also with Dutch children in blue relief.
Should think the children might be very relieved to the removed from the tiles.

A collection of ceramic figures, including … a Lomonosov rabbit with carrot and polar bear …
Would have thought rabbit inside polar bear might be more likely.

Five mounted goat skulls with horns, each on a shoeld (sic) mount

A cowboy saddle in red leather and suede.
Now where’s Princess Diana when you need her?

Ace Signs

I’ve been in central London this morning taking photographs for one of my projects. While there we took the opportunity to visit the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner. The arch has recently re-opened to the public. There’s a couple of small exhibition spaces and you can go out onto the balcony and get some super views of London. Amongst the small exhibition about Stonehenge there was this sign:

Druids Only

I can’t decide whether the juxtaposition of the press and druids is highly incongruous or immensely prescient.

Visiting the Wellington Arch is well worth the small admission charge if only to get the unusual views of London. It was reviewed recently by IanVisits, to whom my thanks as otherwise I would never have known it was open!

During the morning I also spotted this sign in Golden Square:

There's no Escape ...

Surely only in England!?

Who Knew …

I spotted this in a Daily Telegraph online news item yesterday …

the survey of 1000 women found that two in five female British women admitted to have “al fresco sex“.

So how many male British women admitted to it?

Sadly(?) they’ve since updated the page and corrected the grammar.

Quotes : Stop and Think

Some mornings it just doesn’t seem worth it to gnaw through the leather straps.
[Emo Phillips]

So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.
[Peter Drucker]

The saying “Getting there is half the fun” became obsolete with the advent of commercial airlines.
[Henry J Tillman]

Censorship is telling a man he can’t have steak just because a baby can’t chew it.
[Mark Twain]

I see no way out of the problems that organised religion and tribalism create other than humans just becoming more honest and fully aware of themselves … we’re living in what Carl Sagan correctly termed a demon-haunted world. We have created a Star Wars civilisation but we have Palaeolithic emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology. That’s dangerous.
[EO Wilson; New Scientist, 21/04/2012]