Something not quite right
I was perusing the local free rag when I happened upon a report on an inquest. The unfortunate chap was killed by his own shotgun on a grouse shooting trip. The article went on to describe him as “a trustee of the Earsham-based Otter Trust charity”.
It occurred to me that he must have been a fairly focussed conservationist to want to protect otters but shoot grouse.
I then started to wonder whether I’d missed something - why did he support the gathering together of those otters?! Was he planning an otter hunt?
Fifty pence? To send a postcard? Are you serious?
It all came from a chance mention in an MetaFilter thread some time last week. The poster mentioned “postcrossing” and I was intrigued enough to find out what this means.
I found PostCrossing.com and thought it a good idea. A bit of harmless fun, in fact. Off I went to PhotoBox and ordered some of my photos made up as postcards then, when they arrived this morning, signed up at the website. You can have five cards in transit at a time (once a card’s received it’s logged and you’re then allowed to send another). In return, each time one of your cards arrives your name and address will be given to one of the next people to ask for a random recipient. It’s a sort of random chain letter thing, you see.
Anyway, five postcards duly selected and written, off I trundled to the post office. I’m sure the destinations are all random but for some reason three of my five addressees are in Finland (the other two heading for Belgium and the USA).
“That’ll be fifty pence”, I was told. “Each.”
Fifty pence to send a postcard? When did it get that expensive? I can remember being amazed at the cost of sending postcards from Norway a couple of years ago but hadn’t realised that the cost of sending cards had got so dear from the UK too.
Mind you, it’s going to be fun to get my five random postcards in return. It’ll also be fun to see which ones arrive first.
Look on the bright side
At least you’re not as crazy as some people. I hope.
e.g.
(Kudos to spendoo1 for the “that’s no moon, it’s a space station” comment)
Little things
Stupid little things that irritate me when they’re clearly too insignificant to bother about. An occasional series.
The advertisement for iglü (mouth ulcer treatment) that shows, in the background, a penguin struggling against a strong wind, outside and igloo. Penguin + igloo = just wrong.
Kate Bush’s “Babooshka“. The lyrics to the first verse are, apparently, “She wanted to test her husband. / She knew exactly what to do: / A pseudonym to fool him. / She couldn’t have made a worse move.” That’s not what Kate sings, though. She sings “She couldn’t have made a worst move.” My copy was on The Whole Story album so I don’t know if she corrected her faux pas on later recordings, but the version I have grates on the ear each time I hear it.
More to follow, I suspect.
Despair 3 - Yes, there’s more
Just the two ideas this time, both of which have been mentioned before. Hopefully the first one means they’ve either dropped the ridiculous Cook Island idea or have realised the budget doesn’t stretch outside the UK. Maybe they banked with Krapthing …
‘War in the Restaurant‘ takes six Michelin starred celebrity chefs, and challenges each of them in turn to cook their own restaurant’s signature menu against the five remaining award winning chefs.
You would have thought that a Michelin starred restaurant and their team of top chefs would know their set menu inside out. But what happens when a team of well-known celebrity chefs descend upon the restaurant, invade the kitchen, and start adding new and unique twists to the much celebrated menu? Will the diners prefer the original menu, or the fresh thinking of the celebrity chefs? The invading celebrity chef team may have an abundance of Michelin stars between them, but could it be a case of too many cooks spoil the broth, with all of them pitching in their big ideas and throwing their weight around?
On the big night the restaurant will be at full capacity, with half the diners being served by the restaurant’s celebrity chef owner and his or her regular team, and the other half being served by our remaining five celebrity chefs. In what will doubtless become a battle of egos, the team of celebrity chefs will need to agree on a head chef for the service. Only being granted this privilege once during the series, the team will need to think carefully about which of them possesses the most appropriate skills for the menu in question.
Among the diners are a familiar group of experienced restaurant critics who will grade each dish they are served – giving points for presentation, innovation and flavour. Three manic hours later the teams will stop cooking and we will begin collecting the critics’ scores. Meanwhile the two teams are left to reflect upon the evening’s highs and lows. Once the scores have been collected, the winning team will be crowned and points will be added to each of the chefs’ personal points tallies. At the end of the series, one of the chefs will be crowned the Restaurant King or Queen.
‘Hotter than My Daughter‘ was in the first survey but not the second - I’d hoped this meant it had been dropped but I guess I should have known better.
All over the UK, angry teenage girls are at war with their sexy mothers. It’s a battle between teens who think they should be the centre of attention versus yummy mummies who aren’t ready to step out of the spotlight. Their monumental catfights are causing major problems - boyfriends are hiding in the pub, dads are seeking refuge on the golf course and little brothers have their fingers in their ears! But help is at hand in the form of our celebrity mother-and-daughter experts (Pearl and Daisy Lowe) who have experienced these problems first hand themselves - Daisy knows just what it’s like having your mum flirt with your boyfriend while Pearl knows only too well how easy it is to get jealous when your daughter is looking hot in the clothes you can no longer squeeze into!
Each week Pearl and Daisy will observe warring mothers and daughters in action. Once they understand what their problems are they’ll set the mother and daughter a range of challenging and hilarious tasks to complete to try and mend their broken relationship. Do Pearl and Daisy have what it takes to solve these huge problems and restore peace to these households once and for all?
Britain’s dumbest criminal?
You have to laugh. Given that he’s “an illiterate man of no fixed address” I have to wonder why the tattoos weren’t somewhere he could see and then copy for when he had to fill in forms …