Straight onto the news today. A dentist has been reprimanded after coworkers and patients complaining about him breaking wind. Apparently he found liked to do it whilst his employees were on lunch break. Although the case is being judged by the medical council, I think it might be an interesting prospect if he was put in a cell for a few days. I'm sure his habit would stop pretty quickly then...
According to our friend Hugo (not Victor, Chavez), capitalism killed the martians. Yes, he must have kept hidden some compelling evidence to come up with that one. Maybe it's stored in the same place as the proof that the big bang was a western attempt at taking over Venezuela?
In a blow to cheap takeaways filling up our streets, the government has prohibited migrants from outside the EEA coming to the UK in order to work in takeaways. Yes, no longer will the server of your kebab or vindaloo be a person of non-EEA descent, just the food itself...
On that same theme, police are looking for an 18kg stick of kebab meat that was stolen from a takeaway in Trowbridge. If you see someone walking around the city with a huge piece of meat under their clothes, you might be sensible not to get too close, especially when it starts defrosting...
Visitors to Hamburg will soon be able to travel directly from the Garden Show grounds to the Reeperbahn via cable car if plans go ahead. No longer will you be forced to wander around watching meaningless flowers all day, but hop on to the cable car telling your wife you'll meet up with her in a couple of hours...
On a sad note, the BBC Caribbean radio service has been stopped due to funding cuts. Let's hope someone high up realises the effect this will have on independent news service in this region, and will relaunch it soon.
If you thought that the defense cuts that took place in the UK were a good way of saving money, you might want to read this article which discusses the role of the UK military in Libya, and the effects the choices in the cuts have meant to our ability to play any military role in the future. Seems a pretty compelling point of view...
And if you are filling in your census forms on the 27th March, before you have fun writing down Jedi as your religion etc, you might want to pause for a moment over the words "your data is protected for 100 years". This used to be the case, indeed the data from the census 100 years ago is now available for perusal. But, there was not a labour government around then who was whittling away all privacy of the population. Laws that came into effect after the previous labour government lost the election, and before the new coalition came in, mean that although your data COULD be kept private for 100 years, it is not guaranteed to be so. In fact, the list of the people who can use and pass on this data is nearly as astounding as how little chance you have to know what has been passed o to whom. Hopefully someone in this government is listening and wants to take up the case to reverse some of these privacy-stealing laws...
Now where is my Guy Fawkes mask?...
Friday, March 25, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
When the Cure is worse than the Problem
As men get older, they start to worry about losing their hair (especially it seems, if they are of Valencian descent). Many resort to medical treatments to try and get that fluffy stuff back up on the coconut, sometimes with success. However it has now been claimed that the chemicals used for these treatments have actually been found to cause the user to become impotent. Yes, before you spray, maybe it's worth considering the consequences fully...
Ever wonder why some languages have held on, despite all the odds, then an interesting piece of research has been published, claiming there is a mathematical formula to work out if a language will survive living alongside another more prominent one. Maybe that will make the welsh feel safe again...
Now for those of you who are fans of Jamie Oliver. On his website he is currently offering free recipe books in return for filling in a short survey. Go on, tell him what you think !
Another great saver for those of you with Thames Water. They are currently giving away some fancy shower heads, plus other water saving devices. Just fill in your details here and you'll be sent them through the post. No cheaper way to save money...
Despite only one entry in the last poll, I persevere and have made a few changes to the site to hopefully make it more appealing to you. Gone is the Google AdWords bar, as well as the Amazon search widgets. Nobody was using them, so I presume nobody will miss them. The polls were becoming a bit difficult to read in a half-width column, so I have now made them full-width. Hope you approve.
Talking of polls, this week's is asking whether there should be a section to list the current special offers I think you will be interested in? At the moment they have mentioned in the blog posts individually, but if you skim-read (why? surely the content is worth reading in it's entirety?) you might not have realised that you could be saving money, receiving free things, or having a cheap holiday. As a taster I will put it in already, and you can let me know what you think (more detailed feedback can always be written in a comment).
Get voting !
Ever wonder why some languages have held on, despite all the odds, then an interesting piece of research has been published, claiming there is a mathematical formula to work out if a language will survive living alongside another more prominent one. Maybe that will make the welsh feel safe again...
Now for those of you who are fans of Jamie Oliver. On his website he is currently offering free recipe books in return for filling in a short survey. Go on, tell him what you think !
Another great saver for those of you with Thames Water. They are currently giving away some fancy shower heads, plus other water saving devices. Just fill in your details here and you'll be sent them through the post. No cheaper way to save money...
Despite only one entry in the last poll, I persevere and have made a few changes to the site to hopefully make it more appealing to you. Gone is the Google AdWords bar, as well as the Amazon search widgets. Nobody was using them, so I presume nobody will miss them. The polls were becoming a bit difficult to read in a half-width column, so I have now made them full-width. Hope you approve.
Talking of polls, this week's is asking whether there should be a section to list the current special offers I think you will be interested in? At the moment they have mentioned in the blog posts individually, but if you skim-read (why? surely the content is worth reading in it's entirety?) you might not have realised that you could be saving money, receiving free things, or having a cheap holiday. As a taster I will put it in already, and you can let me know what you think (more detailed feedback can always be written in a comment).
Get voting !
Murcian Visits, Palacial Deals, and Thrice Uncle
Last weekend saw murcian Ali come and visit us in Oxford. We had a full program organised, so no sooner had she got off the bus, we set off to Bicester Village, the famous high class shopping outlets. Of course despite the 70% discounts, many of the products are still in a league of their own. No sooner had we found a good selection of jackets for Ali, than the price tags of over 400 pounds came into view. But it makes for a great excursion if you leave your credit card at home.
A cup-cake fair for neighbour Kate's London Marathon run to raise money for St. John Ambulance was also supported, coming away with a box selection of them for later :)
A trip down to London was also in order, meeting up with Andres and heading off for Camden Town. Despite it being a Sunday, this place was heaving, as always, and it really made for a lively atmosphere whilst wandering around the markets. We didn't find the Arepa&Co stall, but were filled up with the huge plates of Chinese food that were mixed for us. We made our way through the clothes, food and chucherias, and headed back towards the City. Buckingham Palace was passed, as well as a leisurely walk through the park until we got to Westminster to take a look at the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben's tower (we didn't visit Little Ben) and then went off to Chinatown via Leicester Square, stopping for a cup of tea and piece of cake. Wow, what a full day that was!
The sun came out on Monday, which is why it was perfect for a visit to Woodstock (England, not the festival in the US). After a filling late lunch at one of the local pubs we visited Blenheim Palace (where, incidentally, they currently give you a free annual pass when you buy an entry ticket). The history of Sir Winston Churchill, plus of the palace itself makes for a very entertaining tour of the building. Of course the grounds are also quite amazing, so we'll be using that annual pass to have a picnic in the summer.
There have of course been many birthdays in between posts, including those of Jordi, Lourdes, and Javi. Felicidades to you all !
And to top off the week, it seems I have become an uncle for the third time. Welcome to the world, Mary-Jane !
A cup-cake fair for neighbour Kate's London Marathon run to raise money for St. John Ambulance was also supported, coming away with a box selection of them for later :)
A trip down to London was also in order, meeting up with Andres and heading off for Camden Town. Despite it being a Sunday, this place was heaving, as always, and it really made for a lively atmosphere whilst wandering around the markets. We didn't find the Arepa&Co stall, but were filled up with the huge plates of Chinese food that were mixed for us. We made our way through the clothes, food and chucherias, and headed back towards the City. Buckingham Palace was passed, as well as a leisurely walk through the park until we got to Westminster to take a look at the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben's tower (we didn't visit Little Ben) and then went off to Chinatown via Leicester Square, stopping for a cup of tea and piece of cake. Wow, what a full day that was!
The sun came out on Monday, which is why it was perfect for a visit to Woodstock (England, not the festival in the US). After a filling late lunch at one of the local pubs we visited Blenheim Palace (where, incidentally, they currently give you a free annual pass when you buy an entry ticket). The history of Sir Winston Churchill, plus of the palace itself makes for a very entertaining tour of the building. Of course the grounds are also quite amazing, so we'll be using that annual pass to have a picnic in the summer.
There have of course been many birthdays in between posts, including those of Jordi, Lourdes, and Javi. Felicidades to you all !
And to top off the week, it seems I have become an uncle for the third time. Welcome to the world, Mary-Jane !
Sunday, March 06, 2011
The Non-Carnival Planner
In Barranquilla they're singing curramba whilst dancing in the sun, in Mainz they're shouting Helau! whilst marching through the streets, and here we're not doing anything of the sort. Yes, londoners like to celebrate carnival too, but aren't as mad as the Rhinelanders, and decide to celebrate in August when it's nice and hot (relatively speaking).
Further to the mention in my last post about the breast milk ice cream, it appears the police have now stopped the sale of these products pending further investigation.
The Panama Canal took a long time to build, many were killed through disease whilst building, and everything that could have gone wrong did. But now there might be an alternative in the pipeline. Colombia is apparently in talks with China to build an alternative passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It will be interesting to see how the planning comes along, and if as many problems occur. Let's just hope it doesn't have as many leaks as the Yangtse Dam did when it was finished...
And this week a call goes out to Carlitos who is off visiting Luigi in Paris. Let the Louvre be warned...
On a final note, you have just 12 hours to vote in the latest poll on this page...
Further to the mention in my last post about the breast milk ice cream, it appears the police have now stopped the sale of these products pending further investigation.
The Panama Canal took a long time to build, many were killed through disease whilst building, and everything that could have gone wrong did. But now there might be an alternative in the pipeline. Colombia is apparently in talks with China to build an alternative passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It will be interesting to see how the planning comes along, and if as many problems occur. Let's just hope it doesn't have as many leaks as the Yangtse Dam did when it was finished...
And this week a call goes out to Carlitos who is off visiting Luigi in Paris. Let the Louvre be warned...
On a final note, you have just 12 hours to vote in the latest poll on this page...
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