bollocks to brexit

As l was watching the latest vote about Brexit earlier today, l was reminded of this crossword from a September issue of The Guardian.
Subtle brainwashing at its best, but if you can't see what l am on about, read across from the top and bottom lines.

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francis rossie?

I'm assuming the headline writer at The Northern Echo is on work experience, but the proof reader (or any sane person) should have noticed that the lead singer from Status Quo is Francis Rossi, especially as it is spelt correctly in the article underneath, and he is not exactly a unknown newcomer.

This sort of stuff really annoys me, as it makes you wonder what else they may have wrong, if something so glaringly obvious can be missed.

Bleeding youth of today etc etc

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the end of the world - donald trump style

As the good old United States of America seems to be heading slowly towards a war in Korea (again), while trying to tell the Chinese what to do, it highlights how prescient this front cover of Donald Trump was by Der Speigel. If you can't guess what it says, despite the self explanatory cover, it's forecasting the end of the world.

Maybe l should start digging one of these in the back garden - an ideal First World War trench. Then again - sod it - too many spiders for my liking.
I'll be in the pub when the big bomb goes off.

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new yorker cartoon and uk politics

This New Yorker cartoon sums up how a lot of people in the American election would have voted, but before taking the piss out of the Americans too much, remember that a lot of people in the UK vote for the Conservatives when it is clear that they will bear the brunt of the Tory policies afterwards.

And on a related note...

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l may be intelligent after all!

According to news in The Independent yesterday, people who are messy, swear a lot, and stay up late, are more likely to be intelligent.
There's hope for me yet,as l certainly have all three of those characteristics!

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the sex pistols - anarchy in the uk - yawn!

Myself and a friend of mine (Stevie Boy / Tarren / Kitten), used to say 'Yawn' on an extremely regular basis whenever something was a bit boring, which to us, was on numerous occasions.
Yes - we could be annoying, but both loveable little rascals at the time, or at least we have convinced ourselves we were.
It is still used now and again, but l didn't realise we may have inadvertantly got it from here, because we can't remember how we started using it.
A review in National Rockstar on 4th December 1976 of The Sex Pistols first single - Anarchy in the UK.

And here is that ground breaking single, the first of a few excellent releases from them.
I'll have to try and dig my Sex Pistols singles out, but l've got a hunch that my brother buggered off to Leeds with them.



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the wipers times

The Wipers Times was a satirical newspaper that was produced by troops of The Sherwood Foresters at Ypres Salient during the First World War between 1916 and 1918, mainly to take the piss out of officers and each other, and featured spoof adverts. There's a pretty good (albeit very English TV movie about it), and there is also a hardback book, gathering copies of it together. 

Considering that it was produced using found or 'liberated' equipment and materials, and the conditions it was made under, it's a work of stubborn genius.

Here's a copy.

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breaking regulations with a new kettle

We've just had a catastrophe at work, as the kettle that is in use more or less constantly, gave up the ghost and puffed out it's last bit of steam, much to our dry and opened mouthed dismay. Now that is what we call a crisis.
Luckily for us, Tesco is just up the road, and a new one was purchased immediately for the more than cost effective price of £10. A bargain!
It's a good job those evil bastards across the channel haven't managed to have their way yet with their mamby pamby red tape, at least if the Euro hating scare mongering Daily Express is to be believed #
Images from the rather excellent Media blog.

#They're not

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free records to take away

Well, l've been out and about the last few days, but it's back to normal now, so here's the first blog for a few days (so much for posting at least a video a day!).
Here's where l should have been, if l had known about it sooner. Sunny Newton Heath, where  a stash of about 50,000 records needed to be removed from a water damaged house, and they were free to take away. Obviously most are water damaged or crap, but l still wouldn't have minded carting away as many as possible, to add to my own heap of junk.
More info about it can be found here.

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the sun newspaper apologises for upskirt photograph, plus news reports of charlotte church becoming a big girl

I got this story from (as you can tell) Graham Linehan's Twitter feed, but it's well worth sharing. 

It reminds me of the time when (I think it was in The Daily Star, but l could be wrong)  had shocked and disgusted type stories about Brass Eye's (hilarious) spoof programme about paedophiles, while featuring a 15 year old  Charlotte Church on the opposite page, who was now 'A big girl'. Obviously nothing to do with the fact that she was attractive and had developed breasts, as that would have been hypocritical and sick. 

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kirsty major's independent article on the voting

A pretty good article in The Independent newspaper by Kirsty Major about the leave vote, and what she thinks it means.
I particularly agree with the following statement, although l think they are already attacking the working class and disadvantaged in our society.

Don’t mistake Johnson and Gove’s political rhetoric for the idea that they care about the people in Hartlepool, Blackpool and North East Lincolnshire. They came for the EU migrants, and once they are out of the way, they’ll come for working class

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charles moore on david cameron's wealth

This was actually printed a while ago, but l never got around to updating the blog. Charles Moore in The Telegraph, taking pity on our esteemed Prime Minister.
Stop sniggering at the back, and try to feel sympathy  for David Cameron, his inherited wealth, and his (to him) 'normal' lifestyle.
Sometimes you couldn't make this crap up

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newspaper apology

I was reading some old newspapers recently (as you do) when l saw this apology in The Sunday Mirror for an earlier article about Lee Rigby's fiancee having a relationship with one of his army pals. No doubt the original story would have been plastered all over the front page, but most people who read it would not have realised how incorrect it was.
As l've never read the original story, l don't know how much of it was true, but going by the (very small) apology, it seems not a lot.
No wonder l never take anything at face value.

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roberto schmidt's view on the selfie at the nelson mandela memorial

While l have Nelson Mandela's memorial service on my mind (because of my last post), there is an interesting article by Roberto Schimdt (here), about how the photograph he took of Barack Obama, David Cameron, and the Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt taking a 'Selfie' at Mandela's memorial service in Soweto, has been used to castigate the leaders, making them out to be childish and behaving inappropriately at a memorial service.
Much as l am loath to defend David Cameron in any way, shape or form, the photographer explains how it was a long service (about 4 hours), but more importantly, it was a joyous, party atmosphere, with people celebrating Mandela's life, and not a solemn occasion where the actions would have been in bad taste.
As Schmidt (the photographer, not the minister) points out, it shows how images can sometimes be misinterpreted without knowledge of the background or preceding events. More of his photographs from that day are below.
I still hate Cameron though.

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the daily mail get the obvious wrong (again) with the class of 92

Never trust everything you read and see in the newspapers or on TV, that's one of the many rules l have lived my life by, along with 'What would Keith Richards do?'.  Above is a fine example of why, even if it is sometimes waaaaaaay too easy to pick on The Daily Mail..
Their website had a big feature on the new DVD 'The Class of 92', which is a documentary about Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Gary and Phil Neville, and Paul Scholes, the six Manchester United players that came through the youth ranks to be a success in the first team .  They were coached by Eric Harrison, and he is quoted and acknowledged, but in the middle photograph above, despite the fact that he is wearing a tracksuit top with his initials on, he is named as Alex Ferguson.  Alex is the one in the bottom photograph when the scene is recreated, but let's face it, is a completely different person.
The error has now been amended, no doubt after numerous complaints, but If the paper can't get simple things like this right, why should you trust or believe anything else they say?  Especially with their one eyed, right winged, spittle mouthed racist agenda.  I may get things wrong and have my own, sometimes crackpot views, but l am a blithering drunken idiot, not a national newspaper, so not a lot is expected from my long suffering keyboard, whereas a lot of people believe what they read in the paper, and vote accordingly, without questioning anything too much.  Then the bleeding Tories get in, so the working class and disadvantaged get shafted yet again (but not in a good way).
Time for that long awaited revolution brothers and sisters.

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university voyeur gets let off

Daniel Steven John, a postgraduate student at Durham University working on Dark Matter, has just been cleared of voyeurism, despite being caught in the act, and admitting he was doing so.
The defence was that he was not seeking a sexual thrill, and because John had been suffering from depression and contemplating suicide, he had been carrying out reckless acts for an adrenaline rush, hence the peeking under and over the toilets and showers of female students. He also said in his defence that he had stolen from colleagues, but then returned the items before they had noticed that they were missing.
Now depression can be a terrible ailment, but going by the newspaper report in The Northern Echo on 17th October, this all stinks to high heaven as far as l am concerned.
Firstly it seems as though there is no proof that he took any of his colleagues possessions, or that he contemplated suicide, as stated in his defence.  OK, he may well have been depressed, but does that excuse the voyeuristic behaviour, as, whether it was for a sexual thrill or an adrenaline kick, the victims still had to suffer, and who knows how many more unsuspecting victims there were? Does that mean that if l am caught drink driving tomorrow, l can blame it on depression and say it was for the thrill of the chase?  Shoplifting? Would l get away with that if l was trying to get a buzz out of outwitting the store detectives?  The list could go on and on, and l could bring up (or invent) all sorts of past misdemeanants that l had done and got away with, trying to obtain some kind of rush or meaning to life because l was depressed and had contemplated suicide (which sane person hasn't?).
There was apparently no fine, community order, suspended sentence, or an undertaking that he must receive treatment (which l bet he started after he got caught).
Methinks if he was not a (probably posh) post graduate student at Durham, and not had a consultant psychologist and a no doubt top lawyer defending him, it would be a completely different matter.
If 'crazy' Bazzer, Mazzer, Gazzer or Dazzer from down our way had done this, relying on their legal aid team (for however long that lasts) the outcome would have been completely different.
Pah!!  Once again, 'If that is justice, l'm a banana'

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charles saatchi and the nigella lawson row

Charles Saatchi has apparently said today that his argument and throat grabbing with Nigella Lawson that was in the Sunday People yesterday was a playful tiff.  What a lying, full of crap bastard.
The camera can lie, but if he is prepared to treat her like that in public, leaving her in an obviously distressed state afterwards, and then deny it, rather than accepting responsibility and issuing an grovelling apology, what is he prepared to act like when they are alone at home together.
Sadly, l wouldn't be at all surprised if she defends him and stays with him, only to admit to the abusiveness when they eventually split up. She has admitted in the past  that he has a bad temper, and she goes quiet when he 'explodes', but even a multi millionaire can't act like a twat forever and get away with it without some kind of comeback, even if it is only in the form of bad publicity.

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ashton kutcher in hampstead

Ashton Kutcher from Two and a half Men and  Punk'd has moved to Hampstead to be near his girlfriend Mila Kunis.  The Daily Mail have some photographs of him checking out the area by himself yesterday, obviously wanting to wander by himself, and, without irony, state how patient he is with fans who overstay their welcome or pester him.  While at the same time their photographer is following him everywhere, taking numerous photographs and no doubt shouting across to him to try and illicit a response.
Mind you, if l was a big USA star and wanted to go about incognito, l wouldn't wear a flash coat, leather gloves and a baseball cap.  But that's just me - l dress like a scumbag (because l am one)

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an upset daily mail reader

If this is true, it is excellent.  Supposedly from The Daily Mail a while ago.

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tom gauld cartoons

As l only get a Sunday newspaper at home, and we get 'The Daily Mirror' at work, l have not read The Guardian newspaper for many years.  I was therefore unaware until quite recently (until the death of Ray Bradbury) of cartoonist's Tom Gauld's work for the paper.  I like it a lot.
His book 'Goliath' is available from Amazon here, and his webpage is here.  There you will find plenty more cartoons to peruse, and he is adding to the collection all of the time.  Top man.

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