Overheard #9

A submission from one of our many spies in the field on this occasion.

Number #9:

"...and then she hit me over the head with half a bottle of champagne."

Sk8ter Boilk

Just spotted on Wired that non-stop marketing machine Tony Hawk (no, not Tony Hawks) has teamed up with Six Flags and Gerstlauer to produce a pair of roller coasters (in Texas & Missouri respectively) designed to imitate the 360 spins and tricks of the man himself on a skateboard:

Yes, it spins randomly as it runs, according to the weight and distribution of the passengers. Hang on to your lunch, if you can...

From someone who was absolutely petrified going on the Crazy Mouse on the end of Brighton pier, I can safely say that I shall not be going anywhere near one. Yikes.

(Ve)nice And Easy

Just back from a really great short break in Venice where I was able to take this (IMHO) fantastic panoramic shot from the campanile on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, looking back at Venice itself - our apartment was just behind the trees on the far right:

Big up to Autostitch, as you might have guessed...

Snap It Off

In response to offmessage (because he STILL hasn't got commenting on his blog sorted out...) who proclaimed thusly:

"I can't be the only person that's starting to get really pissed off with all these popups leaping up all over every page I visit, can I? At least give me the option to turn it off, please. It is the marquee tag of 2007. Snap must die."

may I humbly suggest this:

How can I turn Snap Shots on or off?
No, no, mate, you're welcome. Don't mention it. My pleasure :P

Playing For Their Average?

And very average they are too as England, quite rightly in my opinion, are knocked out of the Cricket World Cup.

If we honestly think we deserve a place in the semi-finals after only beating Canada, Kenya, Ireland and Bangladesh, we absolutely 110% do not. The opening batsmen have been too slow, the middle order unreliable and the tail has been firmly between its legs. The bowlers have huffed and puffed but created very little pressure of any note. KP failed to hold his nerve against his old country, Michael Vaughan looked miserable as sin and the biggest splash Freddie made was off a pedalo. Load of bloody rubbish. Still, that's what happens when you invent a sport; other countries eventually work out the rules and then you're scuppered :(

In other news, when we get back from Venice, it's time for GRACC nets again - first match is 26th May!

Spotted

This fantastic bit of juxtaposition by Laahdan's Eee'in Stann'ah in Moorgate the other day:


One for Private Eye, methinks...

Freyja The Jackal pt II

Following on from my recent post, I was watching the little one play happily with her maracas this morning when it suddenly dawned on me that she was in fact channelling the mighty Bez* from Happy Mondays, the 'singer' of which was of course Shaun Ryder who then went on to form Black Grape who released "It's Great When You're Straight, Yeah" which featured none other than Carlos The Jackal on its cover:

Coincidence? You decide...

* who I've just remembered we also bumped into in Ibiza airport in 2005 - when Solveig was pregnant with Freyja!

Freyja The Jackal

I'm quite sure it says in every one of those wonderful 'parenting manuals' that up there with the the worst things you can possibly do for the early development of your child is to compare him/her to a famous international assassin. So:



Nuff said.

Entendu #8

Et voilà! Un autre pépite des expressions qui ont aléatoirement attrapé mon attention récemment.

Numéro #8:

"Ne mettez pas ce cygne dans votre oreille."

Don't Have A Cow, Man

So the California Milk Processor Board (stick with me here) has commissioned a beautifully rendered Flash game called Get The Glass to continue their work in raising awareness of the wonders of cow juice.

Now I know they take their job very seriously ("Got Milk?" is generally agreed as one of the most recognisable ad campaigns of the last ten years) but someone had some serious budget to blow here, it is just stunning.

3D 'Pixar-esque' graphics, Monopoly-style board & (un)lucky cards and a family of loveable milk-drinking characters for you to guide to the ultimate goal (a big tall glass of the white stuff, obviously):

(requires Flash, as if you hadn't guessed, and a spare half-hour or so...)

Ten Thousand Spoons?

Following on from a recent lengthy and vociferous debate on IRC as to the merits or otherwise of the genre-challenging post-modern Ibsen-esque "My Humps" by the Black Eyed Peas, I notice that none other than Alanis "no, that would just be a bit coincidental" Morrisette has done a cover version, complete with parody video:



Milky, milky cocoa indeed...

UPDATE: I actually beat b3ta to this one, for once...

Overheard #7

You guessed it, here's another random phrase which has obliquely caught my attention of late.

Number #7:

"Now you know how I feel about potatoes..."

Cometh The Hour

You (my lonely single reader) may have noticed that I have been slacking off the blogging a bit of late. This is partly to do with suddenly being overcome with the urge to buy a four-bedroom house on Blythe Hill (more of which later) but also has a lot to do with the annual onset of Ye Olde Britishe Summer Tyme.

One moment I am getting up with the first song of the lark and happily ambling to work with the sun rising beautifully in a red & orange panorama behind Tower Bridge then, at the whim of some (plainly drunk) politicians in 1916, I am once again stumbling to work in the middle of the night.

There seems to be a whole load of BST-justifying blather referencing (a) farmers, (b) the Scottish and (c) Scottish farmers but frankly the sooner we get with Central European Time, the better. Or I could move to Belgium*.

I was also wondering - if you were born in the winter, then lost an hour the next March, then lived your life in the usual way but sadly died before you had the chance to gain it back again, would you be due an hour back in some way? Denial-of-allocated-time-on-earth class action anyone? I shall have another large glass of very good Argentinian Malbec and work on that theory...

* obviously this is not an option