San Francisco non-activity (aka what Neil did not do)

Neil and I could not resist photographing the sign but... no - he didn't.

Upshares CD received!

Oh bliss: the insanity that was Radio 4's PM programme slot 'Upshares, Downshares' -- with its various musical versions of the old Upstairs Downstairs theme --- lives on in CD form.

At last my CD has arrived from the BBC -- well worth £10 of amusement to anyone like me.

For those who remember the TV series, it sounded like this:



But for listeners of Radio 4's PM show with Eddie Mair, the music is now indelibly associated with the credit crunch coverage with Nils Blythe and the radio listener response to calling the slot 'Upshares Downshares' --- namely, a multitude of versions of the Sandy Faris theme. Sandy himself even joined in the fun.

Of course, not everyone approved, but frankly sometimes you just have to develop a sense of humour about it. Especially when you get a special 'BBC Radiophonic Workshop version' (Murray Gold, just redo the Doctor Who theme this way and we'll ALL be happier).

Upshares/Downshares - the CD is coming!

We had months of fun during the original broadcast of Nils Blythe's financial reports but now the Upshares/Downshares CD is coming - at last!

I can't wait!

42 Day and 'Single Father' starts: nice of them to notice my forthcoming birthday

Nice isn't it, that the whole world* is counting down to my birthday on 10.10.10 aka 42 Day.

Almost a pity I'm not actually turning either 10 or 42.

Clue: Unfortunately, my age is also not a number between those two either...

:(

Still, at least I know my birthday brings me a treat - the lovely BBC will start broadcasting 'Single Father' on Sunday 10 October. Ah, lovely Mr Tennant. What a nice present.

*I could be exaggerating there a little...

xkcd - often a source of cheer

Cloud often sends me an xkcd cartoon to cheer me up, and as I only get chance to follow them up occasionally, it's nice to rummage about and find further goodies.

Here are some I've enjoyed today

Conspiracy Theories

Thoughts (especially of amusement to anyone who has watched Secret Smile and a certain line said aloud)

Librarians

Names

Nighttime Stories

I Know You're Listening

A nice description of me: how have you been described?

I'm nowhere near as good at online communication as I should be and my typing skills in messenger are notoriously flawed - as is my inability to remember emoticons accurately. So it was rather wonderful to be described by an online friend as

"You're lovably (and amusingly) haphazard"

For some reason that has just made my day!


Given that I have been in the past described as 'a woman who knows her own mind' (this wasn't intended as a compliment but I was rather pleased with it!), this isn't the first time I've had a rather quirky description ascribed to me.

(One student memorably identified me by gesturing as if going up three flights of stairs before adding 'stripy legs!')

What's the weirdest description you've ever had of yourself that nevertheless pleased you?

How to be cheered up

Neil just sent me this picture. It has proper cheered me up.

My very own Black Country Boy

Oh dear. This post by Neil is tooo funny - that video is hilarious. Reminds me of Winders for Black Country Folk.

I just hope that its okay to describe it as 'funny'.

Time wasting - humour quiz

Why do I do these things?

The temptation of quizzes and such are sooo compelling. Must resist!

Your result for The 3 Variable Funny Test...

the Prankster

(43% dark, 31% spontaneous, 21% vulgar)

your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | LIGHT



Your humor has an intellectual, even conceptual slant to it. You're not pretentious, but you're not into what some would call 'low humor' either. You'll laugh at a good dirty joke, but you definitely prefer something clever to something moist.

You probably like well-thought-out pranks and/or spoofs and it's highly likely you've tried one of these things yourself. In a lot of ways, yours is the most entertaining type of humor because it's smart without being mean-spirited.


PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Conan O'Brian - Ashton Kutcher





The 3-Variable Funny Test!
- it rules -

Take The 3 Variable Funny Test at HelloQuizzy

People on holiday with a stupid hat on

That should read a 'stupid' hat on - boy it makes you despair of the British on holiday...

I think the one about being locked in the room - or perhaps the confirmation of worst opinions about hairdressers - are the most depressing...

Birthday Calculator

Cloud forwarded me this time distracting website. Now, who else's birthday do I want to look at...?

10 October 1966
Your date of conception was on or about 17 January 1966 which was a Monday.

You were born on a Monday
under the astrological sign Libra.
Your Life path number is 6.

Your fortune cookie reads:
A thrilling time is in your immediate future.

Life Path Compatibility:
You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 3, 6 & 9.
You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 & 22.
You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 5 & 7.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2439408.5.
The golden number for 1966 is 10.
The epact number for 1966 is 8.
The year 1966 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/21/1966 and ending 2/8/1967.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Horse.

Your Native American Zodiac sign is Raven; your plant is Ivy.

You were born in the Egyptian month of Choiach, the fourth month of the season of Poret (Emergence - Fertile soil).

Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 26 Tishri 5727.
Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 27 Tishri 5727.

The Mayan Calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.17.13.2.4 which is
12 baktun 17 katun 13 tun 2 uinal 4 kin

The Hijra (Islamic Calendar) date of your birth is Monday, 24 Jumadiyu'th-Thani 1386 (1386-6-24).

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 10 April 1966.
The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 10 April 1966.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 23 February 1966.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 29 May 1966.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 5 June 1966.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Thursday, 15 September 1966.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Tuesday, 5 April 1966.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 22 February 1966.

As of 3/16/2009 10:40:54 AM EST
You are 42 years old.
You are 509 months old.
You are 2,214 weeks old.
You are 15,498 days old.
You are 371,962 hours old.
You are 22,317,760 minutes old.
You are 1,339,065,654 seconds old.

Celebrities who share your birthday:
Mya (1979) Jodi Lyn O'Keefe (1978) Bob Burnquist (1976)
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (1974) Brett Favre (1969) Mike Malinin (1967)
Tanya Tucker (1958) David Lee Roth (1955) Charles Dance (1946)
Ben Vereen (1946) Harold Pinter (1930) Richard Jaeckel (1926)
Thelonious Monk (1917) Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1924) Helen Hayes (1900)
Giuseppe Verdi (1813)

Top songs of 1966
I'm a Believer by Monkees The Ballad of the Green Berets by S/Sgt. Barry Sadler
Winchester Cathedral by New Vaudeville Band Soul and Inspiration by Righteous Brothers
Monday, Monday by The Mama's & the Papa's We Can Work It Out by Beatles
Summer In the City by Lovin' Spoonful Cherish by Association
You Can't Hurry Love by Supremes Wild Thing by Troggs

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 6.06575342465753 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

Your lucky day is Friday.
Your lucky number is 6.
Your ruling planet(s) is Venus.
Your lucky dates are 6th, 15th, 24th.
Your opposition sign is Aries.
Your opposition number(s) is 9.

Today is not one of your lucky days!

There are 208 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 43 candles.

Those 43 candles produce 43 BTUs,
or 10,836 calories of heat (that's only 10.8360 food Calories!) .
You can boil 4.91 US ounces of water with that many candles.


In 1966 there were approximately 3.7 million births in the US.
In 1966 the US population was approximately 179,323,175 people, 50.6 persons per square mile.
In 1966 in the US there were approximately 1,800,000 marriages (9.3%) and 479,000 divorces (2.5%)
In 1966 in the US there were approximately 1,712,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

In 1966 the population of Australia was approximately 11,704,843.
In 1966 there were approximately 223,731 births in Australia.
In 1966 in Australia there were approximately 96,061 marriages and 9,859 divorces.
In 1966 in Australia there were approximately 103,929 deaths.

Your birth flower is MARIGOLD

Your birthstone is Tourmaline

The Mystical properties of Tourmaline

Pink Tourmaline promotes female balance and protection. Green Toumaline promotes male balance.
Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)

Opal, Jasper

Your birth tree is

Rowan, the Sensitivity
Full of charm, cheerful, gifted, without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive.



There are 284 days till Christmas 2009!
There are 297 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were
born was waning crescent.

Jeff Vader - lego brilliance

I'm sorry I know this has been around for an age but I am so in need of giggles I have to share:

Wetlands review - best reference to Musil ever

Cloud just texted me about a review in the Observer for Charlotte Roche's novel Wetlands.

Sophie Hannah's review provides this hilarious line about the book's protagonist:

But mostly, she thinks, in the great German tradition. Where Musil had a Man Without Qualities, Roche brings us a Woman without Pants.

Worth reading the review, even if the book may not be quite as brilliant.

Hitler and the Torchwood S2 finale - beware laughter splutters!

Hysterical hat-tip to Medium Rob.

Lithium with sock puppets

Courtesy of Rachel, this is infectiously wonderful and charming.



Cross-posted at Music is Our Hot, Hot Sex.

My new favourite website: TV Tropes Wiki

Via Electric Dragon in the comments at MediumRob's place, I got sucked into this site: TV Tropes Wiki. Opening with a gem on Viewer Friendly Interfaces, the warning that you can lose hours on this site is likely to hold true...!

Much to chuckle over and great if you fancy a kind of TV Trope bingo for watching certain programmes (I think pretty much everything is covered...)

Cats Vs Kids

Bet you've all seen this but two days on it is STILL making me laugh...

Disturbing post of the day award (humourous category)

This from Billy.

I know dreams are weird, but....!

It may be sad, but it's still funny...

The Guardian may have run an article on why England gets so sad about losing at football, but Cloud points to a link that suggests not everyone thinks the same.

Very, very funny.

More Doctor Who fan phrasebook material: Keith Topping has been busy again

Courtesy (of course) of the good people of Behind the Sofa*, comes this gem from Keith Topping. You remember last time? More of the brilliantly hilarious same people...

"And now on BBC one, more time-travelling adventures with Doctor Who. Record the whole series."
The schedulers will be arsing about with the start time over the course of the next month or so.

"Right now on BBC THREE, it's more of the Doctor..."
We've finally worn a hole in our tapes of "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please".


Russell, just leave and cancel the new series NOW!
Yes, I spent the last sixteen years bitching and moaning, protesting outside the BBC and threatening to chain myself to their railings, writing angry letters to Points of View, plotting ways to firebomb Michael Grade's house and get away with it, smashing my TV set with a hammer on the front page of the tabloids, releasing unlistenable protest records and begging on my knees for someone to please, please, please, pretty please bring back Doctor Who, only to suddenly change my mind as soon as the show becomes popular again with people who are aren't me.

RTD can't write for toffee.
Uh-huh, I really did just suggest that one of the most respected writer/producers that British television has produced in two decades can't write because I - wretched done-nothing berk that I am - didn't like an example of his work.

RTD needs to quit!!!
I don't like his episodes. Even though a lot of people do. But I think I'm special and important, so I think the show should be written to my exact specifications.

And this one especially for MediumRob...

Murray Gold's music is too loud/intrusive/generally awful.
Ah, I remember Deadly Dudley Simpson with such fondness.

*Yes, I have no doubt that the Behind the Sofa design team have deliberately chosen the backdrop as the most anti-current Who fan-base pic imaginable...

They're still the bee's knees of funniness though...