the comparative size of continents and countries, plus the afterlife

Most people have probably seen the comparison of the map of Africa with other countries (above) by Kai Kraus (which is here), but Business Insider have done some more, which can be found here, and some of the comparisons are certainly surprising, with China being 12 times the size of Texas for one.
It's a big old (insignificant) world.
Arthur C Clarke said 'Either we are alone in the Universe, or we are not.  Both are equally terrifying', which l don't actually agree with, because unless an evil alien force comes to conquer us, l believe we will all just live and die, with no consequences regarding any kind of afterlife.
And l'm happy with that.
Now watch me get struck down by a thunderbolt thrown by God.

toodle pip

the bradley watch - feel the time

As part of my job, l am sometimes tasked with buying watches for the visually impaired.  These are normally talking watches of various designs, and l have used them myself to find out the time when l am in bed without having to switch on a light.
Although these Bradley watches do not speak the time, they can be understood by feeling or looking at them, and they also look pretty cool, so l can imagine plenty of hipsters wearing them in the future.
As for me, l don't even own a normal watch, as time doesn't rule me.  l don't need a watch to 'feel the time' as l can do that through the cosmic vibrations around me (and all that kind of stuff), but l'll admit that if these were cheaper, l would consider parting with my hard earned money for one (and l am also far from a hipster).
More information about them here.

todle pip

yugoslavian record covers

It's easy to mock other countries tastes in music and LP sleeves, so l might as well do so.
Here are some tasteful albums from Yugoslavia, and if they have pipped your interest, more can be found here.
The covers themselves are enough for me, as l dread to think what they would sound like.

toodle pip

david moyes, the chosen one, has left the building

So, David Moyes, The Chosen One himself, has been unceremoniously dumped, and now it's a case of who will replace him.  Louis Van Gaal is the one l'd put my money on, but what the hell do l know, as l would have kept Moyes on for at least another year and let him have a clear out and replenish the squad in the summer, as some of the players, especially the senior ones who should have been stepping up to the mark, have been taking the piss.  Despite Moyes's failings, negativity, and post match comments about playing well when the team obviously haven't, he has proven himself to be a good manager over the years, and Manchester United are not a club that should be taking knee jerk decisions, and should have gone for the long game (and risen above all of the negative press he has recently endured). It was also pretty distasteful the way the press had obviously been briefed in advance about the departure, and Moyes then had to wait until Tuesday morning for his sacking to be confirmed.  Not classy at all, and it just tarnishes the clubs reputation.
If anyone is interested, the banner above is now on sale at ebay, but l have a sneaking feeling the winning bidder won't be paying up, unless it is a consortium of Liverpool fans who are planning on displaying it next year, if the worst happens, and they win the league.
Bloody football.  At least we haven't been relegated.

toodel pip

bloody rats

Whilst letting Mr Parrot out in the garden the other day to catch some rays, l wandered over to the overgrown and usually (at the moment) rabbit run, and idly leaned on it, passing the time by wondering if any rats still came over from the fields at the back of the garden, like they have in the past.  Then l noticed something from the corner of my eye - a big rat that was a bit sleepy or dazed.  I managed to kill it by whacking it over the head with a shovel, and then threw it into the farmers field (as you do in these circumstances), and although l felt a bit sorry for it and didn't want to particularly kill it, l also don't want to be having loads of rats by the house.  At least it wasn't as big as the one above, but l might have to keep a look out in case his mates start gathering, and invest in some rat poison. Then again, l may just build myself a rat trap like in the gif below.
One of the many joys of living out in the wilds.
Watch this space.

toodle pip

how to use the internet

I've forgotten where l downloaded this from, but it's pretty much on the ball.  I guess my internet actions, like everyone else's, depends on how l am feeling, although l certainly didn't start a blog because l was angry.
Mad maybe, and certainly 'a bit' crazy, but not angry.

toodle pip

the oscar pistorius trial

The Oscar Pistorius trial is still ongoing, with the evidence being challenged by both sides, but l've got a sneaky feeling that if it had been me killing my girlfriend by shooting through the bathroom door (when she was meant to be in bed with me), l would have been banged up by now, whereas Oscar might just get away with it because of his fame, relentless sobbing, and the no doubt bucketfuls of cash used for lawyers to plead in his defence.
If only he had invested in a sign like this on his bathroom door, then everything would (probably) still be hunky dory.

toodle pip

true detective - cartoon style

I loved True Detective so much that l stayed up all night and watched the series on the internet, one episode after another (because that's the kind of crazy guy l am!).
Now somebody's only gone and matched some of the dialogue with cartoons.
Genius!  Rather like the old Charlie Brown and Peanuts / The Smiths mix from a while ago.
More here.

toodle pip

extreme bike riding

This is just insane.

toodle pip

poverty wage isn't working

Steve Bell - on the ball again.

toodle pip

a famous artwork

Any ideas what this artwork is?  It's inspired a famous song, and it is now owned by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame.
Given up?
In that case, l shall enlighten you.
It's non other than Julian Lennon's childhood work, 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'.  He told John Lennon that it was the name of the artwork, and John duly nicked the title for the song of the same name.
The Lucy who is in the sky, was Lucy O'Donnell, a class mate of Julian's who later became Lucy Vodden, and who died in 2009, but as to how David Gilmour came to own it, l have no idea (and can't be bothered trying to look it up).

toodle pip

out in the boro

Out with Mr Robinson yesterday in the Boro, just chilling out a bit and chatting about life in general, although we also had bets on The Grand National and got food on the way home.  If l hadn't been so confident with my bet, and stuck it on each way instead of on the nose, l would have at least won a bit (as the horse finished third), but it was a case of all or nothing as far as l was concerned (and no - l won't learn any lessons from my stupidity).
I went through early, as Robbo asked me to drop some money off at his brothers, so l decided to head straight through after the drop, as it was a bit pointless returning home again and just hanging about.
After a chat with Kerry, a taxi was ordered, various pubs around town were visited, we had dealings with dodgy blokes on bikes, and at the end of the evening, the selection of food from Hot Wok was better than expected, with the manageress coming over and chatting to us for quite a bit, so we may well frequent that particular establishment again in the future.
That's about it - nothing too exciting, although Robbo's ulcer didn't explode (always a bonus), and we didn't return wrecked, even if he still managed to fall asleep for Match of the Day, and l agreed to babysit at the end of the month, so maybe we were more tiddly than we thought.  I'll have to slip something into Mr C's night time drink to make sure he sleeps until the following morning.

toodle pip

the biased news

Channel 4 had to apologise for running a news item a few weeks back when it was revealed that three of the four 'members of the public' they interviewed for some on-the-street voxpops were actually all employees of the same PR agency, Livity. Which, coincidentally is where the interviewer himself had previously worked.

 Bad practice, sure, but it's not a patch on ITV. During the teachers' strike last week, ITV interviewed a 'random' working mum, Fiona Jull, and poor Fiona told them all about how she had had to arrange emergency child care. That wouldn't be the same Fiona Jull whose PR company represents Emergency Childcare, would it? Why, yes it would! Not that ITV bothered to tell viewers.

No wonder l'm cynical
News reporting from here

toodle pip

another funeral - hazel foster

Unfortunately, l had to attend another funeral yesterday, that of Hazel Foster, a woman l had known on and off for years, but got to know well over the last year. She will be missed by a lot of people.

toodle pip

sucking off dogs for quavers

Now this is a headline you don't see every day, but how the dog manages to equip himself with Quavers in the first place is anyone's guess.

toodle pip

the sex pistols and ce ce peniston, plus deee lite and enya

l've been loving this mash up over the weekend, and playing it pretty damn loud.  It's a Go Home Productions mix of The Sex Pistols 'Did You No Harm' and Ce Ce Peniston's 'Finally'.

Saying that - this has also been on heavy rotation.  Enya and Deee Lite.



Both are pure class.

toodle pip

the hancock museum in newcastle

I'm back in Newcastle for training tomorrow, and while there, l've had to find things to do with my spare time apart from hitting the pub, as can't drink during the day, and in the evening l've got to drive back from Darlington.  Therefore, l have been checking out the nearby museums, and the above photographs are all from The Hancock Gallery's natural history section.
It's an interesting enough way of killing time, but they might find that the T.Rex is slowly getting smaller. That's because l'm stealing it, bone by bone, as l intend rebuilding it in the back garden to scare away the neighbours cats.  As long as those pesky kids don't catch me in the act.
Wish me luck.

toodle pip