Photographic Proof: Santa Misbehaving In The 1970s

PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE has been unearthed which solidly proves Santa Claus enjoyed the company of beautiful women.  While this may not be a surprise, it is a confirmation to the theory that Santa, despite being a 500 year old wizard-like entity, still has earthly desires.

Yeoman Lowbrow

Posted: 17th, December 2013 | In: Flashback | Comment

How To… Party In Public At Christmas

CHRISTMAS is pretty much here and you’ll no doubt be going out and getting drunk and dancing and all that fun stuff. However, hate to break it to you, but you’re a nightmare.

You need teaching how to interact with the world when you’re partying through the Yule. So, with that, here’s some helpful tips that will ensure you’re not absolutely loathed by all of humankind through the festive party season.

Music

Chances are, you’ve been complaining about Christmas music on Facebook and Twitter solidly since mid-November. Suddenly, drunk, you get the urge to listen to a classic Christmas pop hit in a pub or bar. There might be a DJ on. You’re hammered at it is only 8pm so the DJs barely got their headphones on. Don’t bellow ‘PLAY SLADE!’ at them because, you terrific berk, they’ll be keeping that in the box ’til around midnight, when everyone is nicely drunk and game for something daft. It is a peak-time song. You peaked too early. Whatever you do, don’t get your iPhone out and offer to play it from that, especially if the only soundtrack is the pub jukebox. This makes you a dreadful arse doing no-one a favour.

Mof Gimmers

Posted: 17th, December 2013 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment

The Race To Mine The Moon For Helium-3 Is On

LAST weekend, China landed a lunar probe on the moon. It was the world’s first soft landing of a space probe on the moon in nearly four decades. Along with the USA and the old USSR, China is only one of three nations to have reached the moon.

Anorak

Posted: 17th, December 2013 | In: Reviews, Technology | Comment

Edward Snowden’s Letter To The People Of Brazil In Full

THIS is Edward Snowden’s open letter to the people of Brazil, published on A Folha today:

An open letter to the people of Brazil, from Edward Snowden

Six months ago, I stepped out from the shadows of the United States Government’s National Security Agency to stand in front of a journalist’s camera. I shared with the world evidence proving some governments are building a world-wide surveillance system to secretly track how we live, who we talk to, and what we say. I went in front of that camera with open eyes, knowing that the decision would cost me family and my home, and would risk my life. I was motivated by a belief that the citizens of the world deserve to understand the system in which they live. My greatest fear was that no one would listen to my warning. Never have I been so glad to have been so wrong. The reaction in certain countries has been particularly inspiring to me, and Brazil is certainly one of those.

Anorak

Posted: 17th, December 2013 | In: Reviews, Technology | Comments (2)

Boring Board Games: Canberra Visitor

BORING Christmas Games brings you 1979’s Canberra Visitor:

Original 1979 Australian board game about the nation’s capital. Very quaint and earnest game about Canberra’s landmarks with comically pedestrian “event” cards such as “Most unusually, it starts to rain. Shelter for awhile. Miss one turn” or “Your transport breaks down but a friendly Canberran gives you a lift”. Possibly, the most boring game ever. Great collector’s item or to play at an election party.

Condition: box has a stain on the left corner but the inside contents are as new. I suspect this was never/rarely played.

 

Anorak

Posted: 17th, December 2013 | In: Flashback, The Consumer | Comment

Lying US Climate Change Expert John C. Beale Travelled Everywhere By Plane And Taxi

JOHN C. Beale works at the US Environmental Protection Agency. He is the EPA’s highest-paid employee and a leading expert on climate change. Chances are that he’s heading to prison. Why? Well, as NBC says, for at least 30 months he claimed to be “a CIA spy working in Pakistan so he could avoid doing his real job”.

John C. Beale, who pled guilty in September to bilking the government out of nearly $1 million in salary and other benefits over a decade, will be sentenced in a Washington, D.C., federal court on Wednesday. In a newly filed sentencing memo, prosecutors said that his lies were a “crime of massive proportion” that were “offensive” to those who actually do dangerous work for the CIA. Beale’s lawyer, while acknowledging his guilt, has asked for leniency and offered a psychological explanation for the climate expert’s bizarre tales.

Anorak

Posted: 17th, December 2013 | In: Reviews | Comments (2)

Santa’s ‘Cheap Tricks’ Help Transvestite Hold Up Jeweller

“HIS make-up was very well done, with blackened eyebrows and very long eyelashes,” said the jeweller working in the Smycka store in Farsta, southern Stockholm. He’d been handcuffed and threatend with a pistol by a thief. “I figured that he must have had help from a woman because the make up was so well done.”

Anorak

Posted: 17th, December 2013 | In: Reviews, Strange But True | Comment

Watch Bob Dylan’s TV Singing Debut In The Madhouse on Castle Street

IN January 1963, an unknown young Bob Dylan got some work in a (now lost) BBC play The Madhouse on Castle Street. He sings The Ballad of the Gliding Swan. The Sunday night play also features Dylan’s first televised performance of Blowin’ in the Wind.

He was paid a fee of 500 guineas to play the role of Bobby.

* While in London, Dylan stayed with Martin Carthy, who helped introduce him to the burgeoning folk club circuit and who remembers chopping up a piano for firewood to counter the effects of that long cold winter. Dylan became a regular figure on the folk scene and even found the time to cut an LP in a record shop on Charing Cross Road, under the pseudonym of Blind Boy Grunt.

Dylan’s stay also resulted in a burst of original songs (Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright, Bob Dylan’s Dream) which were heavily influenced by his exposure to traditional English folk music.

Anorak

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Flashback, Music, TV & Radio | Comment

6 Offbeat Reasons Why Vinyl Is Better Than Digital

WE’VE all heard the arguments why vinyl or digital music is best – no need to beat a dead horse. It is this author’s humble opinion that vinyl wins by a landslide due to analog sound superiority and the customer satisfaction of owning something tangible.  But that is neither here nor there.  Instead, let’s look at a few minor points that belong in vinyl’s “win column”.

1. The Joy of Looking

Nothing can beat the joy of perusing the shelves of Ye Olde Record Store.  Whether you were on a mission, or just hoping for a serendipitous find, it was an enjoyable endeavor all around.    Plus, the record store was often a hangout and so there was a social element to the process as well.

Yeoman Lowbrow

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comments (12)

Isabella Sorley From Newcastle And John Nimmo From South Shields Charged wIth Abusing Caroline Criado-Perez

ISABELLA Sorley, 23, from Newcastle, and John Nimmo, 25, from South Shields, have been charged with improper use of a communications network under section 127 of the Communications Act. It is alleged that they threatened Caroline Criado-Perez with tweets

Anorak

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Reviews | Comment

Corporate Horrors: A TP Bennett Christmas Song

CHRISTMAS time works dos can be awful. But no more terrible than this horror show from the work pod-dwellers at TP* Bennett. The people at this “leading architectural, interiors and town planning practice with over 90 years’ experience across a broad range of building types in both the private and public sectors” are here to make you feel w whole lot better about your own company’s holiday season antics.

* A Building firm called TeePee. What are the odds:

Anorak

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Reviews | Comment

Sacked Oxford Chef Uses Pub’s Twitter To Claim All Food Comes From Asda

CHEF Jim Knight, allegedly sacked from The Plough in Oxford after, as he claims, he asked to spend the holiday with his baby daughter, has been using the restaurant’s Twitter feed to tell all. 

Happy Christmas everyone

— The Plough (@ploughpub) December 15, 2013

Anorak

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Money, Reviews, The Consumer | Comment (1)

Peter O’Toole Recalls Connnemara: ‘Nicest Asses In The World’

IN August 1963, Gay Talese interviewed Peter O’Toole for Esquire:

“Oh, look at that ass,” O’Toole said softly, shaking his head, raising his eyes with approval. “That ass is covered with tweed made in Connnemara, where I was born…Nicest asses in the world, Ireland. Irish-women still are carrying water on their heads and carrying their husbands home from pubs, and such things are the greatest posture builders in the world.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Anorak

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Celebrities, Flashback | Comment

Kent School Kids Evacuated From Swimming Pool Amid Disabled Man Panic

PANIC at Aylesford, Kent’s Larkfield Leisure Centre. Teachers from Kings Hill Primary, near West Malling, fear there is a pervert in the changing rooms. By pervert we mean ‘man’.

An eagle-eyed staffer has spotted a foot sticking out from under a cubicle. The eight and nine-year-olds are making ready for their swimming lessons. The kids were evacuated. Were they dressed? Were they in their swimmers? Look away now, men, lest you be labelled a nonce.

Anorak

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Reviews, Strange But True | Comment

Dictionary Update Says Geeks Are Cool And Not In the Least Bit Socially Awkward

SO the language changes once again. Collins, the dictionary people, has just released its list of words of the year. They always do this just before Christmas in order to remind middle aged men that dictionaries make very good presents from Santa for their children. Just like their own fathers told them 35 years ago.

In the list change this year we’ve a change in the definition of “geek”. From one who is socially awkward, near incompetent, to one who is now at the blazing, leading, edge of contemporary culture.

“Often we find that they achieve better longevity too. Just compare previous generations’ use of words like ‘cloud’, ‘tweet’ and ‘tablet’ to ours.

“‘Geek’ is a great example of a word that has evolved from having a negative meaning to having a positive one.

“Its origins are in the 19th century, but it has most recently changed from describing someone preoccupied with computing to someone who is passionate about any field of expertise.

“This change in meaning represents a positive change in perceptions about specialist expertise, and is a result of the influence of technology on people’s lives in 2013.

Tim Worstall

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Books, Reviews, Technology | Comment

Turin-Lyon Train Riots: Nina De Chiffre Charged With Sexual Violence For Kissing Policeman’s Helmet (Photos)

“I WANTED to make fun of them [the police], and I would say that we were successful,” said Nina De Chiffre, a 20-year-old protestor from Milan. She was demonstrating in Turin against a high-speed train link between Turin and Lyon. During the protests, De Chiffre kissed the helmet of riot officer Salvatore Piccione.

Anorak

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (5)

Cashing In On Christmas: The Biggest Rip-Off Albums Ever

IT’S Christmas! Time for a rip-off…

The historic album charts are full of magnificent Christmas Number Ones, including runs by the Beatles from 1963 to 1965 and 1967 to 1969. Ironically, however, the one year they didn’t manage the feat was 1966 – when their record label released a greatest hits collection specifically for the Christmas market.

The album was something of a rip-off, in that it consisted of pre-released hits, plus one song that had not been yet released in the UK. Thus fans wishing to hear the boys’ cover version of Larry Williams’s Bad Boy were forced to shell out for a full-price album.

Anorak

Posted: 16th, December 2013 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comment

Daily Mail Letter Of The Year: Obesity Is Human Evolution

THIS might be the best Daily Mail letter of 2013. After the Mail’s usual flurry of scare stories and ways of get cancer, a reader says that human obesity is just evolution. Why else do we throw away so much salad? Steak and kidney pie. That is what we have evolved to eat. Great British grub for Great Fat Britons:

Spotter: @pointlesslettrs

Anorak

Posted: 15th, December 2013 | In: Reviews | Comment

In 2008 Al Gore Said ‘Entire north polar ice cap will be gone in 5 years’ – Syrians Make Snowballs

FIVE years ago, in 2008, Al Gore said the North Polar Ice Cap would be completely ice free in five years. He said “the entire North ‘polarized’ cap will disappear in 5 years.

In other news, the snow has moved to…

Israel

 Amman, Jordan

Nicosia

Damascus

 Evanston, Ill.

New York

Nablus

Spotter: Ed Driscoll

Anorak

Posted: 15th, December 2013 | In: Reviews | Comments (7)

1944 In Photos: Making Cheese With The Trappist Monks Of Rochefort, Belgium

BLESSED are the cheese makers:

On November 3, 1944, the Associated Press’s Bert Brand recorded life inside the XIII century trappist monastery at Rochefort in Belgium, where the famous Rochefort cheese is made. The story goes that the place was so secluded that monks knew nothing of the progress of the war when they were visited by the first Americans they had ever seen. One of the trappist fathers received special permission to speak to the visitors, as the monks’’ means of communicating is sign language. Here a lay brother looks on while a white-robed father talks with stars and stripes war reporter Bud Kane.

Anorak

Posted: 15th, December 2013 | In: Flashback, The Consumer | Comment (1)

Madeleine McCann: The UFO Spy Plane Theory

MADELEINE McCann: With no weather to report on, the Express returns to Our Maddie. Today’s front-page news is: “Spy Plane Clue to Maddy  Mystery.” Spy planes over the Algarve? Looking for what?

The headline tells readers: “EXCLUSIVE: Nato spy plane ‘may have photographed Madeleine McCann abduction'”

A SPY plane on a Nato exercise may have captured an aerial image of the person who abducted Madeleine McCann, it was claimed last night.

James Murray has more:

A Portuguese military aircraft took photos of the Algarve coastline on the day the three-year-old dis­appeared, says British military expert Philip Burden.

Anorak

Posted: 15th, December 2013 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comment

In 1966 The Beatles Burned For Jesus

ON March 4, 1966, John Lennon, 25, was talking to Maureen Cleave, reporting for the London Evening Standard. The article was entitled How Does A Beatle Live? John Lennon Lives Like This. It was behind-the-scnes look at John. The article spoke of his status:

When John Lennon’s Rolls-Royce, with its black wheels and its black windows, goes past, people say: ‘It’s the Queen,’ or ‘It’s The Beatles.’ With her they share the security of a stable life at the top. They all tick over in the public esteem-she in Buckingham Palace, they in the Weybridge-Esher area. Only Paul remains in London.

Anorak

Posted: 14th, December 2013 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comment

Who Damaged The Scrabble Artwork?

Anorak

Posted: 14th, December 2013 | In: Reviews, The Consumer | Comment

Christmas Disco! The 70s Songs Played At Christmastime In Hell

DISCO music started with a fair amount of street cred; it wasn’t until it was marketed to oblivion that it fell out of favor. Like other counterculture movements (i.e. the hippie, psychedelic, punk, and grunge) it found its way to the mainstream whereby it was diluted and force fed to the masses. Disco, once an underground movement, flooded pop culture in the latter half of the 70s to such an extent that a backlash was inevitable.

Yeoman Lowbrow

Posted: 14th, December 2013 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comment