As a much-loved institution, it's been imitated around the world, from San Francisco to Sydney, and plenty of places in between. The Irish pub is alive and well.
In Ireland itself, once you have left the cities and headed into the green landscapes and small communities where agriculture is key, it is a different picture. Link
Tornado damages houses in Meath. Link
DINERS are flocking to what could perhaps be termed the most exclusive restaurant in Italy - one located inside a top security prison, where the chefs and waiters are Mafiosi, robbers and murderers. Serenaded by Bruno, a pianist doing life for murder, the clientele eat inside a deconsecrated chapel set behind the 60ft high walls, watch towers, searchlights and security cameras of the daunting 500-year-old Fortezza Medicea, at Volterra near Pisa. Under the watchful eye of armed prison warders, a 20-strong team of chefs, kitchen hands and waiters prepares 120 covers for diners who have all undergone strict security checks. Tables are booked up weeks in advance. Link to article
John Waters, Devine? Well not quite...
LONDON (AFP) - A pair of gay flamingos have adopted an abandoned chick, becoming parents after being together for six years, a British conservation organisation said Monday. Carlos and Fernando had been desperate to start a family, even chasing other flamingos from their nests to take over their eggs at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Slimbridge near Bristol.Link to article
But their egg-sitting prowess made them the top choice for taking an unhatched egg under their wings when one of the Greater Flamingo nests was abandoned.
An artist's four-year project to enliven prominent dead trees by wrapping them in coloured cloth has been turned into an exhibition. Philippa Lawrence aims to decorate trees in each of the 13 old counties of Wales as part of a scheme called Bound.Link to BBC with more pictures
Irish eagle chick is first in century
Link to article
Link to YouTube
ROME (Reuters) - A group of Italian senators want ice cream in their cafeteria to "improve the quality of life" in the Senate, astonishing observers as Italy's political class faces a growing backlash over its handsome pay and perks.
Link to article
A MOBILE phone salesman from Wales has stunned the judges of a British talent show with his rendition of an opera classic.
Paul Potts, 36, sang Nessun Dorma – made famous by Luciano Pavarotti – for the judges on Britain's Got Talent TV show, who are searching for an act to perform in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance and win $A250,000.
Link to article and clip
Things were going well until the barman added the fourth pint.
Link to scaryideas and more cellphone pictures
The ultimate Irish breakfast review site - dedicated to breakfasts in Dublin, Ireland, but also providing general information about breakfasts from Ireland and around the world. We want submissions of breakfast reviews (ideally accompanied by a photo) to the email address below. Reviews can be for breakfasts at home, out, away or maybe you just want to suggest a breakfast location. If you eat it in the morning, send it in and we will post it.
Link to rashersandeggs
A professional puzzle inventor has solved what he considers the oldest riddle of them all - Stonehenge.Bruce Bedlam, 56, has built a scale model of the ancient stone circle as he believes it was originally constructed - as a round building.
He believes that the Wiltshire monument was created with a large, domed roof made from wood and covered in wooden tiles.
Bruce believes the siting was significant and the sun would enter the interior at every solstace through one of the ten doors.
Link to article
A two-year-old girl from Hampshire has become the youngest ever female member of British Mensa.
Georgia Brown, from Aldershot, Hampshire, astounded experts by scoring 152 in an IQ test - putting her in the top 2% of the population for her age.
Psychologist Joan Freeman, who tested Georgia, said she thought the toddler could have scored even higher but needed a nap after 45 minutes of work.
Link to article
"Be not deaf cockered dismal dreaming clotpole!"
Link to generator
"Pub landlord fights smoke ban by declaring his boozer an embassy. For pub-goers who enjoy a cigarette with their drink, next week's ban will make England a very different place.
So one landlord has claims to have found a loophole to fight the new law - by declaring his pub to be part of a different country.
The Wellington Arms in Southampton is set to transform itself from a public house into the official embassy for a tiny Caribbean island."
Link to Daily Mail article
Spanish researchers on Friday said they had unearthed a human tooth more than one million years old, which they estimated to be the oldest human fossil remain ever discovered in western Europe.
Link to article
This is an amazing fashion show which appears to be interactive with the models. Over at Creative Review there is an excellent article on players involved in the creation of this piece.
A curate has done a disappearing act from a church – to become a full-time magician.The Rev Mark Townsend turned down the chance to become vicar of a parish and has converted to conjuring.
The 40-year-old said he still had faith and wanted to use magic to touch people's 'spiritual side' – but insisted he would not perform miracles.
'There are lots of Christian magicians but they tend to be very evangelical and use magic as a way of bringing people into the church,' he said. 'Everybody needs a little magic in their lives and I want to push spirituality rather than religion. I'm not performing miracles.'
Mr Townsend, from Weston-under-Penyard, Hertfordshire, has been a member of the Magic Circle for ten years and has the support of wife Jodie, and children Aisha and Jamie.
He said his magic was 'more Derren Brown than Paul Daniels' and has performed for nuns, African Masai warrior and to congregations across Britain.
(image credit: Flickr)
A grandmother won second prize in a cake-baking contest at a fete, only to discover she was the only entrant.
Jenny Brown, 62, entered her Victoria Sponge into the competition and was initially pleased to have come second.
But she was left shocked when a friend revealed to her that she was the only person to take part.
The contest was organised by the Wimblington Sports Committee and judges marked down the cake because it had indentations from the oven rack.
'Judges' expectations'
Ms Brown said: "My friend came over to me at the fete and said I had come second.
"I asked her how many more entries there had been, but she just started laughing and said I was the only one.
"I definitely wasn't annoyed about it."
Although the cake was not deemed fit to win the competition, Ms Brown said it was soon polished off with no complaints.
Julie Dent, from the Wimblington Sports Committee, said: "The judges had an expectation and I suppose they didn't feel as though it qualified for first place.
"This was the first year but the cake competition will become an annual event."
She said her own baking was subject to another strange decision.
"About 11 years ago I entered a show with some fruit scones. I was the only entrant but I came third."
Link to BBC article
Breast enlargement is now the most common graduation gift for girls who pass their secondary school exams in Italy.
Boob jobs have knocked cars and summer holidays back into second and third places respectively.
Angelica Pesce, 18, from Rome, said she and many of her pals would be going under the knife in a few weeks having just finished school, iol.co.za reports.
She said: "It's a much more useful present than something like a car, which will break down after a few years, or a holiday, which is over within a week. My new breasts will last a lifetime."
Link to funreports
Link to CompFused, see also trouble with tribbles
10,000 yen notes rain down into Tokyo
About 30 or 40 10,000 yen notes were spotted floating down from an area near a bridge over the Sumida River in Tokyo on Friday, police said, adding that several residents apparently walked off with the cash.
Police arrived and recovered four 10,000 yen notes, one 5,000 yen note and one 1,000 yen note after receiving a call from a resident at about 11 a.m. saying that about 30 or 40 10,000 yen notes had fallen down from an area near the Kototoi Bridge over the Sumida River in Sumida-ku, Tokyo.
"A few people picked up the notes and left the area," the woman who alerted police was quoted as saying.
Investigators suspect the notes fell from a vehicle traveling along route No. 6 on the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway. As of 1 p.m. on Friday the owner of the cash had not turned up.
People who picked up the money could face charges of misappropriation if they didn't take the cash to police, law enforcers said. (Mainichi)
Money falls from sky
BERLIN - A German motorist surprised by euro notes swirling in the air around her car hit the brakes and collected a "substantial amount of money" before turning it over to police, authorities in Worms said on Thursday.
A police spokesman in the small western town said the 24-year-old woman saw the money flying through the air in her rear view mirror late on Wednesday. She pulled over and tried to collect all the notes, unsuccessfully.When police went with her to the scene they could not find any more cash.
A spokesman at Worms city hall said police were withholding details on the exact sum and location of the find in the hope of learning more about the money's origin. (Reuters)
Link to rathergood
(image credit: commonroman)
DUBLIN (Reuters) - An Irish bookmaker who offered odds of 14/1 that Al Gore would be the next high profile American to be arrested paid out on Friday after police detained the former Vice President's son, also named Al.
Having not specified which Al bettors could back, Paddy Power said some of the 50 or so people who placed money on the rank outsider being arrested had been quick to claim their winnings.
"We got a good stoning thanks to the Vice President's son," the company said in a statement. The "bizarre coincidence" would cost it more than 10,000 euros (6,775 pounds).
Paddy Power, which is well known in Ireland for wacky publicity stunts and for offering bizarre and sometimes controversial bets, offered odds on July 3 that had made Paris Hilton the 2/1 favourite to be arrested.
It had ranked President George W. Bush and Bill Gates among the outsiders on odds of 33/1 and 50/1 respectively.
Link to Reuters
photo: dazed.and.confused
Romanian witches go online
Romanian witches are going online in a bid to win more customers now the country is in the EU.
Witchcraft is a recognised profession in Romania where white witches offer spells, potions and readings of the future.
But witches say the EU has offered a much wider market, and they need to move with the times and embrace modern technology to reach even more people.
One of the country's most famous witches, Witch Rodica, has set up her own web and blog site - http://vrajitoare.blogspot.com - offering everything from a dream interpretation book to tarot card reading.
Rodica calls herself the "incontestable and undisputed leader of the Romanian witches" and claims she can cure impotence, epilepsy and alcoholism.
She said: "I still do spells and potions the traditional way, but the blog keeps me closer to potential clients and can be used to convince the sceptical that witchcraft is real."
The witches are also offering a new range of spells such as love potions for gay men and lucky charms guaranteed to win EU grant money.
photo: Florentijn Hofma
From artist's website:
The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn't discriminate people and doesn't have a political connotation. Link
From article:
The smile-provoking concoction that's responsible for this little shot of joy in a global-warming-heated summer, against a backdrop of war chaos and political cant, is a giant rubber duckie created by the Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. After wrestling with some air-inflating problems, his 105-foot-tall, 85-foot-wide "Rubber Duck" finally took to the sea (that is, to the estuary) last weekend - and that's no canard. read more
Link to Florentijn Hofma's website with more pictures
photo: ClydeHouse
Last week I posted about Yen and Euros falling from the sky, this week its the ATM machines.
From article:
CUSTOMERS flocked to a bank’s ATM when it started dishing out FREE cash.
Twenty pound notes were dispensed instead of tenners when a bank worker loaded the wrong cartridge.
A queue of City workers built up at the HSBC cashpoint — and over two hours it is thought to have doled out wads worth THOUSANDS.
Drama student Alex Vevers, 19, lives near the branch in Clerkenwell, central London. He said: “It was amazing how quickly a crowd gathered. People were phoning their friends to come down.
“They were asking for £200 — and their on-screen statement showed they had taken out that amount — but they were getting double. They were doing it again and again.” Local Amit Panesar, 17, added: “It went on from 12.30pm to 2.30pm. Bank staff seemed oblivious.”
HSBC said: “Due to human error, our Clerkenwell branch cash machine dispensed a small amount extra. The mistake was realised and the ATM reprogrammed.”
The bank has not decided if it will try to reclaim the overpayments. A spokesman added: “If the amounts are small individually and taken by non-HSBC customers, the likelihood is that we will not.
“But if there are large amounts and they are our own customers, we may try to reclaim the money.”
A similar bungle last week at a Lloyds TSB branch in Grays, Essex, lost thousands for the bank, which is NOT asking for the money back.
Found at The Sun Online
The exhibition brings together 34 of Scotland's most exciting designers in an exhibition at The Lighthouse, with associated projects including a 6 citywide billboard project, publication and specially commissioned souvenirs. Building on the success of The Scottish Show in 2004, the exhibition will celebrate the vibrancy and vitality of Scotland's design industry.
Work and installations by the designers will take over most of The Lighthouse by inhabiting the galleries, corridors, stairwells and shop.
The Scottish Show 07 is the national exhibition of the inaugural six cities design Festival.
OSTREET Billboard
Three babies could be three times the trouble - but Leipzig Zoo is looking forward to three times the attraction after presenting two-week-old tiger triplets to the public for the first time.
The triplets were born at the zoo in eastern Germany on June 30 and the there's no denying their power over the camera.
More pictures at Daily Mail
Photo: r_rahul
This seems like a no-brainer but Ananova is reporting that Danish drivers can get insurance against speeding and parking tickets, costing 10% of what the limit of tickets would cost in fines. Wonder if the premiums go up when you max out…
From Ananova:
Drivers in Denmark can insure themselves against speeding fines and parking tickets under a new scheme launched by the Danish automobile association.
Motorists can take out various cover from insurance against speeding for £90 per year that covers drivers for either four speeding tickets or a total of £900 in speeding fines.
Insurance against parking fines costs £36 and covers either four tickets or a maximum of £182 in fines.
But the Danish Council for Traffic Security has attacked the scheme saying that it will make people less afraid of collecting fines and encourage them to risk an offence.
Photo: Ramperto
An excellent site created by the Italian Trade Comission. Check out the regions, wines and food categories. Site also includes a 92 page cookbook in PDF format.
From the Sun:
PAGANS have pledged to perform “rain magic” to wash away cartoon character Homer Simpson who was painted next to their famous fertility symbol - the Cerne Abbas giant.The 17th century chalk outline of the naked, sexually aroused, club-wielding giant is believed by many to be a symbol of ancient spirituality.
Many couples also believe the 180ft giant, which is carved in the hillside above Cerne Abbas, Dorset, is an aid to fertility.
A giant 180ft Homer Simpson brandishing a doughnut was painted next to the well-endowed figure today in a publicity stunt to promote The Simpsons Movie released later this month.
It has been painted with water-based biodegradable paint which will wash away as soon as it rains.
Ann Bryn-Evans, joint Wessex district manager for The Pagan Federation, said: “It’s very disrespectful and not at all aesthetically pleasing.
“We were hoping for some dry weather but I think I have changed my mind. We’ll be doing some rain magic to bring the rain and wash it away.”
She added: “I’m amazed they got permission to do something so ridiculous. It’s an area of scientific interest.”
She also expressed fears that the painting of Homer, from the animated television series The Simpsons, would cause a mess as it washed away.
During the Second World War, he was disguised to prevent the Germans from using him as an aerial landmark.
Since then he has always been visible, receiving regular grass trimming and a full re-chalking every 25 years.
For this installation the viewer has to climb the ladder and look inside to see video.
(the link to Futura gallery seems to be broken but you get the idea.)
See more works at DavidCerny.cz
From Spiegel article:
The stripper was Tom Luszeit, a 34-year-old who -- for his day job -- dresses up in various period military outfits to pose with souvenir-seeking tourists. The widow was Alexandra Hildebrandt, 48, who has run the Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie since her husband passed away in 2004. She has taken issue with Luszeit's antics in the past, in particular with his penchant for dressing in the uniform of East Germany's secret police, the Stasi. And the court case is one that has gone a long way toward eroding the dignity of one of the Cold War's central sites -- and has yet to reach its conclusion.
It is unclear who Tom Luszeit will call to the stand to back up his view of what happened in the spring of 2004. But there is at least one man who might be helpful. Three years ago, Gerhard Lindner, owner of a souvenir shop at Checkpoint Charlie, came to Luszeit's defense, saying he found nothing wrong with his posing as an East German policeman.
But then, his testimony might not be worth all that much. It didn't take long for Berlin journalists to discover that Lindner himself had worked as a Stasi spy in the 1980s.
Link to Spiegel online
James R Ford is a multi-media artist currently based in London, England. For this project, initiated in 2003, he aims to transform a second-hand Ford Capri into the General Lee, from Dukes of Hazzard, by covering it in little toy cars in the appropriate colours (mainly red and orange). Ford is going to need around three to four thousand and so, in addition to searching out and purchasing appropriate toy cars himself, an appeal has been started for people all over the world to send him their disused toy cars. The donator can leave a little message in the toy car, or mark it in some way, so they actually become part of the art whilst contributing to the sculpture and thus creating a global art collaboration.
Link to artists website
Link to YouTube
Gordon Bennet, not to be confused with the English expression, makes these wonderful robot sculptures. via blort
Photos: idealterna
From article:
Shielded by bodyguards and away from the sight of curious beachgoers, Woody Allen started shooting his new film in Barcelona on Monday.
Allen shot some scenes at a restaurant in a fishermen's neighborhood in Barcelona with actress Scarlett Johansson, who plays a tourist in the film.
The American film director and actor said last week at a news conference in Barcelona he hoped to create a portrait of the northeastern Spanish city on par with his 1979 masterpiece "Manhattan."
The veteran director said he aimed to picture Barcelona "the same way I presented Manhattan to the world through my eyes."
Barcelona would be the second European city to feature in a full-length Allen movie.
The film, yet to be named, is due to headline Johansson, Allen's latest muse and star of his recent London-based films "Scoop" and "Matchpoint," and Spanish actors Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem.
Continue reading
Photo: Alice and Indiana Jones
Dublin, Ireland:
The theft of National Wax Museum figures will not stop next month's reopening of the tourist attraction, the museum's management insisted today.
Dozens of models, including Bob the Builder, the Teletubbies and Frankenstein , were stolen from a warehouse in central Dublin last month.
Replica uniforms from the Easter Rising and World War Two periods were also taken in the robbery, which occurred in the south inner city at some time between June 3rd and 20th.
Silence of the Lambs character Hannibal Lecter, Gollum from Lord of the Rings and guitars used by The Edge of U2 and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott were stolen.
A new Dublin location for the National Museum is expected to be announced in a fortnight. The museum's former building in Parnell Square was sold in 2005, but its stock of wax figures was purchased by new owners.
"The damage was quite extensive," museum owner Kay Murray said today. "Whoever did it was looking for uniforms, because most of our uniforms were stolen. They're really worth nothing to the person who has them, they're of no material worth. They can't wear them."
The museum's sculptor is working to repair damaged wax figures for the reopening.
"It's not going to stop the museum reopening. It will just delay us. We hope to make an announcement in two weeks," said Ms Murray.
"I didn't go to the press because I wanted the Garda to handle this themselves and do it their way. But as of yet, they have come up with nothing," she told RTÉ Radio.
The museum will feature previous favourites like the Chamber of Horrors, a Hall of Megastars and the Children's World of Fairytale and Fantasy.
Life-sized figures from the historical, cultural and political development of Ireland including WB Yeats, James Joyce and Eamon De Valera will also be on show.
Found at Ireland.com
When traffic wardens started to blitz a quiet corner of suburban London, one shopkeeper decided it was his duty to fight back.
Martin Herdman put up a 1,000-watt public address system outside his shop near Twickenham and recruited a network of "spies" to alert him the instant they spotted a parking attendant in the area.
Then, as soon as the alarm was raised, he started playing a recording of a Second World War-style air raid siren over the system.
Mr Herdman's early warning system gives customers a chance to move their cars before they are ticketed by the warden.
The 50-year-old carpet shop owner and former part-time actor and musician said: "I put it up a few weeks ago. I get a phone call from other shop owners or residents whenever wardens are around, so everyone knows they are about to be nicked.
"It does work - it lets everyone know and then it's up to them if they get a fine or not."
Mr Herdman said that within a few days of his PA system starting, the number of wardens in the area had gone down, "although there were seven of them around this morning".
He said he had resorted to the "deterrent" because he feared trade at his shopping parade would be destroyed by over-zealous officers.
He said: "Richmond council put in 19 parking bays for the 39 shops on the parade. They are very busy, interesting shops that include art galleries and herbal clinics as well as butchers and cafés. It is a really useful, trendy place to go shopping.
"We have had roadworks for two months now that have knocked out five or six of the bays, but the wardens are still hounding the remaining bays.
"Now there is talk about turning the single yellow lines into double yellows, so there would be no parking at night as well."
He accused the Liberal Democrat-controlled council of favouring big supermarket chains such as Tesco, which has an Express store nearby.
Mr Herdman said: "If we ask the council for a loading bay for Crown Road, they would tell us to forget it but Tesco have got two loading bays in a road which is totally unsuitable for them."
He said that it was only fair his road should be allowed to have 39 parking bays so that each shop had access to one, particularly as supermarkets were routinely granted planning permission for huge free car parks.
Without urgent action, the traders would be driven out of business, leaving yet another corner of London bereft of the local independent shops that provide character
Mr Herdman said: "I shouldn't have to do things like this to get attention - I'm just trying to make it a better place for our customers and, hopefully, the council will come back with a sensible solution that will stop the decimation of our community.
David Trigg, Richmond's cabinet member for traffic, transport and parking, said: "Ideally, we would like to provide more parking for business but we have to juggle priorities.
"If we can benefit them that's what we will do."
Found on DailyMail
Photo: Woody Norvell
From The Guardian:
Federal police said Monday that the beer tap failed aboard a special train carrying Bayer Leverkusen fans to Hamburg on Saturday. The fault was discovered half an hour into the journey."In order not to endanger the good mood" of the passengers, railway officials halted the train in Wuppertal for 25 minutes and had a replacement part delivered by taxi, a police statement said. It added that there was no trouble among the fans.
Their team was less obliging. Top-division Leverkusen's 1-0 elimination from the cup by second-division St. Pauli in a first-round upset left its fans with plenty of sorrows to drown on the way home.
Photo: Davydutchy
From article:
A German farmer angry with police for trying to confiscate his tractor wrecked three patrol cars and evaded capture for seven hours before an elite unit managed to arrest him, a police spokesman said Wednesday.
The farmer, 53, was pulled over by police for driving his tractor without a license, despite several previous warnings.
The officers called in three patrol cars for help before asking the farmer to get out of his vehicle.
He refused, and proceeded to ram the cars with his tractor, making full use of its attached muck spreader and hydraulic fork. Officers were only just able to scramble out of harm's way.
The farmer then drove into a forest, where he eluded a manhunt involving two helicopters and an armored car for seven hours.
He was finally found by an elite police team in a barn on his farm in Lauterbach, in central Germany.
"In the countryside we're used to people going at police with muck spreaders, but this was something else," a police spokesman said.
The farmer faces charges of assault and resisting police.
I've been a fan of Banksy's for a long time. Don't think I'll be able catch this show though. He has pulled some stunts in America: NYC, Brooklyn and LA. Pictures link
The Wooster Collective round-up of Banksy links.
Pictures of the London exhibition: [1] [2] [3]
Forklift driver David Pratt was told by street wardens in Peterborough he could cause offence or incite violence.
From Speigel online:
One hundred German women braved broken heels and sprained ankles in Saturday's second annual "Stiletto Run" 100-meter race in Berlin
The distance was 100 meters. The field was 100 women. The prize was €10,000. The setting was Berlin. And the shoes were stilettos.
A ringmaster's top hat doubled as a font when a circus troupe gathered inside a big top for the christening of two performers' godchildren.
Honey Hunt, three, and her sister Poppy, 10 months old, were baptised inside Zippo's Circus ring on Hove Lawns on the Sussex seafront.
The service was performed by the Rev Roly Bain, from Bristol, who is a clown - and a Church of England priest.
not to be confused with the curate that became a magician...
Contains supposedly useful phrases, however "Who's your father referee?" (scroll down to #44) and "Scottish kiss" seem to be missing.
From book:
- 'Le coup d’envoi est à 15 heures' The kick-off is at 3pm
- 'Où en est le match?' What’s the score?
- 'On prend une bière?' How about a beer?
- 'C’est ma tournée' It’s my round
- 'J’ai la gueule de bois' I’ve got a hangover
- 'J’ai la tête qui tourne' I feel dizzy
- 'Au secours!' Help!
- 'L’arbitre' The referee
- 'Les joueurs' The players
- 'Un pilier' A prop
- 'Le talonneur' The hooker
- 'Le demi de mêlée' The scrum half
- 'Un ailier' A winger
From BBC:
Daleks bid to make world record
A bid to create a new world record and have the biggest number of people dressed up as daleks in one location has taken place in Manchester.
The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester brought together 67 home-made Daleks on Sunday afternoon.
Their original creator, Raymond Cusick, who was there to judge the world record attempt said the initial design 40 years ago was very basic.
The museum is currently featuring an exhibition on Dr Who and the Daleks.
An official decision is yet to be announced as to whether the daleks succeeded in the world record bid.
Link to Flickr set
Vandals’ cruel handiwork went unseen at Wood Green bus depot as it was not visible at street level.
From The Sun:
A DOUBLE-decker is driven through London’s streets yesterday — carrying an obscene jibe about Mayor Ken Livingstone on its roof.
Office staff roared with laugher on reading “Livingstone is a c***!” in 3ft-high letters.
Matt Arney, 26, took the snap near the Thames Embankment.
He said: “Everyone dashed to the window. It was hilarious.”
Red Ken has been blamed for axing the famous Routemaster buses.
CCTV film at the depot is being studied.
If I was as cool as Miss Cellania (or was able to find the time as she can) I'd do a round-up of links to accompany this post…
Article:
Hundreds of fans from across the world are set to descend on Doune Castle this weekend for the third Monty Python Day.
The 14th Century keep was made famous as Castle Anthrax in the 1973 classic film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Tickets have been restricted to 500 for the event near Stirling, which sees fans taking to the castle's battlements to enact scenes from the famous film.
Aficionados will also have the chance to take part in the coconut conga or the Python Idle talent contest.
The first Monty Python Day was held at Doune Castle, six miles north-west of Stirling, in 2004 to mark the 30th anniversary of film.
Source (BBC)
UPDATE: From the fabulous Miss Cellania herself, the round-up I would have posted.
Thank you Miss C
Continue reading "Monty Python fans — Monty Python Day (or The Knights of Nee Festival)" »
Clip:
Internet auction website eBay on Monday withdrew an unusual second-hand sale item, the country of Belgium, which had attracted an offer of 10 million euros (13.9 million dollars).
"Belgium, a kingdom in three parts" was posted on the Belgian ebay site as offering "plenty of choice" despite the caveat that it comes with "300 billion of National Debt."
Link to article
Clip:
Supermarket staff refused to sell alcohol to a white-haired 72-year-old man - because he would not confirm he was over 21.
Check-out staff at Morrisons in West Kirby, Wirral, demanded Tony Ralls prove he was old enough to buy his two bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Mr Ralls asked to see the manager who put the wine back on the shelf.
The grandfather-of-three said he had refused to confirm he was over 21 as it was a "stupid question."
Link to article
From article:
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) - September 24, 2007 - Codex Gigas, also known as the Devil's Bible - a medieval manuscript said to have been written 800 years ago with the devil's help - has returned to Prague after an absence of 359 years.
And Czechs were eager to see it, officials said.
The priceless piece, considered the biggest medieval book, was taken from the Prague Castle by Swedish troops at the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648. It is in Prague on loan from Sweden's Royal Library in Stockholm. It was put on display last week under high security at the Czech National Library.
Its return to Prague for the exhibition, which runs through Jan. 6, was made possible after years of negotiations between Czech and Swedish diplomats, National Library spokeswoman Katerina Novakova said.
"We expected big interest from the public," Novakova said. "Now, we are 100 percent full."
Only 60 people an hour can enter an air-conditioned room in the library's medieval complex for a 10-minutes look at the manuscript, which is inside a specially designed, unbreakable case, she said.
According to myth, a Benedictine monk promised to write the book overnight to atone for his sins. When he realized the task was impossible, he asked the devil for help. The page with the illustration of the devil is the one visitors see.
The manuscript was likely written by one monk from the Benedictine monastery in Podlazice located some 65 miles east of Prague sometime at the beginning of the 13th century, said Zdenek Uhlir, a specialist on medieval manuscripts at the National Library.
It contains "a sum of the Benedictine order's knowledge" of the time, including the Old and New Testament, "The War of the Jews" by the first-century historian Josephus Flavius, a list of saints, or a guideline how to determine the date of Easter, Uhlir said.
"I would estimate it took him between 10 and 12 years to write," he said about the piece, which weighs 165 pounds. Originally, it had 640 pages, of which 624 survived in relatively good condition, he said.
The book was transported to the Czech Republic in a military plane. Authorities would not give any details about security measures adopted at the library. It has previously been displayed in New York and Berlin.
A Thai chef in London, making his bi-annual spicy 'Nam prik pao', shut down several blocks of the city as people smelling the smokey peppers thought it was a chemical agent.
Bonus: Recipe included
The nine metre (30 feet) high and wide creature is made of bronze, stainless steel and marble and is the creation of renowned artist Louise Bourgeois.
"The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver," the 95-year-old Bourgeois said in a statement.
"Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother," she added.
Huh? Link
Think I neeed to create an 'ironic' category...
The coach carrying the Diana inquest jury has reportedly crashed as it traced the Princess's last movements around Paris.
In an eerie parallel with the catastrophic accident which killed the Princess, the bus driver was apparently trying to out-manoeuvre paparazzi outside the Ritz
The jury, coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker, and teams of lawyers made British legal history by making a site inspection of the places where the Princess and her lover Dodi Fayed spent their final hours.
DUBLIN - A thief made off with 180 kegs of Guinness beer after smoothly driving into the Dublin brewery which makes the black stout and snatching a trailer load of drink, police said on Thursday.
The incident took place on Wednesday at the Guinness brewery on the banks of Dublin's River Liffey where Ireland's trademark tipple has been brewed for almost 250 years.
The lone raider's haul also contained 180 kegs of Budweiser and 90 barrels of Carlsberg lager, police said.
"A man drove into the yard in a truck and took a trailer containing the drink which has an estimated value of 64,000 euros (46.000 pounds)," a police spokesman said.
From RTE:
Doubts over authenticity of Blarney Stone
Millions of tourists may have kissed the wrong Blarney Stone in an effort to get the gift of the gab, according to a new study.
The authenticity of the Blarney Stone, kissed by about 400,000 tourists each year, has been questioned by Mark Samuel, an archaeologist and architectural historian, and Kate Hamlyn in a new book.
According to legend, kissing the stone at Blarney Castle, Co Cork, endows the person with the gift of gab, but the authors say the present stone only came into use in 1888 for health and safety reasons.
Up until then, visitors wishing to kiss the stone had to be dangled from the castle by two people holding their ankles.
Today visitors lie on their back, holding on to an iron railing and lean backwards to kiss the stone.
Blarney Castle has dismissed the theory that the current stone is not the one with the claimed magical powers.
Marketing manager John Fogarty said the Blarney Stone is a piece of the Stone of Scone or 'Stone of Destiny', on which the kings of Scotland were crowned.
One legend says the Scone Stone is supposed to be the pillow stone said to have been used by the biblical Jacob.
Mr Fogarty said that the part of the stone that came to Blarney was given to an Irish king, Cormac MacCarthy, by Scotland's Robert the Bruce.
It was a gift in gratitude for 4,000 Irish soldiers said to have been sent to aid Scotland when Robert defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
The Scone Stone was subsequently captured by the English and taken to Westminster Abbey in London where it was fitted into a chair on which English sovereigns were crowned. It was returned to Edinburgh Castle in 1996.
When layed out like below, the design reveals the Shield of the Royal Arms.
Designed by Matthew Dent.
Link to the Royal Mint.
Too bad there aren't links to larger sizes of the posters.
"Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada transforms common people into icons by rendering them in charcoal as urban murals. By questioning the controls imposed on public space, the role models that represents us in the public space and the type of events that are guarded by the collective memory he breaks preconceptions of where art is permitted, when art is needed and to whom it is directed. Documentary created by Ana Alvarez-Errecalde and FILMCHICK PRODUCTIONS."
Via Wooster Collective
I have two daughters.
They are all I ever wanted from the earth.
Or almost all.
I also wanted one piece of ground:
One city trapped by hills. One urban river.
An island in its element.
So I could say mine. My own.
And mean it.
Now they are grown up and far away
and memory itself
has become an emigrant,
wandering in a place
where love dissembles itself as landscape:
Where the hills
are the colour's of a child's eyes,
where my children are distances, horizons:
At night,
on the edge of sleep,
I can see the shore of Dublin Bay.
Its rocky sweep and its granite pier.
Is this, I say
how they must have seen it,
backing out on the mailboat at twilight,
shadows falling
on everything they had to leave?
And would love forever?
And then
I imagine myself
at the landward rail of that boat
searching for the last sight of a hand.
I see myself
on the underwold side of that water,
the darkness coming in fast, saying
all the names I know for a lost land:
Ireland. Absence. Daughter.
Is it true? From The Daily Mail:
He is perhaps the most famous, or infamous, artist alive. To some a genius, to others a vandal. Always controversial, he inspires admiration and provokes outrage in equal measure.
Since Banksy made his name with his trademark stencil-style 'guerrilla' art in public spaces - on walls in London, Brighton, Bristol and even on the West Bank barrier separating Israelis and Palestinians - his works have sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
He has dozens of celebrity collectors including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera.
…
He is also known for his headline-making stunts, such as leaving an inflatable doll dressed as a Guantanamo prisoner in Disneyland, California, and hanging a version of the Mona Lisa - but with a smiley face - in the Louvre, Paris.
But perhaps his most provocative statement, and the one that generates the most publicity, is the fact that Banksy's true identity has always been a jealously guarded secret, known to only a handful of trusted friends.
Previously related:
Time lapse video of Banky's 'Cans Festival'
Photos from Banksy’s Cans Festival — 05.07.08
Graffiti artist Banksy pulls off most audacious stunt to date - despite being watched by CCTV
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 27 kilometer (17 mile) long particle accelerator straddling the border of Switzerland and France, is nearly set to begin its first particle beam tests. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is preparing for its first small tests in early August, leading to a planned full-track test in September - and the first planned particle collisions before the end of the year. The final step before starting is the chilling of the entire collider to -271.25 C (-456.25 F). Here is a collection of photographs from CERN, showing various stages of completion of the LHC and several of its larger experiments (some over seven stories tall), over the past several years. (27 photos total)
Link to article and more photos.
These are pictures of an international airport runway in the Maderia Islands of Portugal. The runway is about 1 3/4 miles long and over 1/2 mile of that is the "bridge" part of the runway. There are 180 pillars in the bridge and each pillar is as high as a 23 floor building. Check out the cars parked below the runway! More on the Madeira Airport at Wikipedia.
"I like Jesus, but he loves me, so it's awkward" – Tom Stade
"Glasgow has its own version of Monopoly – just one big square that reads: Go To Jail" – Des Clarke
"I'm dating now, because I ran out of hooker money" – Rick Shapiro
"The Scots invented hypnosis, chloroform and the hypodermic syringe. Wouldn't it just be easier to talk to a woman?" – Stephen Brown
"Whenever I see a man with a beard, moustache and glasses, I think, 'There's a man who has taken every precaution to avoid people doodling on photographs of him" – Carey Marx
"I don't hate the Germans, I just miss my grandparents" – Ian Stone
"My uncle Cleetus is illiterate and ambidextrous. Which is a double tragedy. He is unable to write, with both hands" – Wilson Dixon
"I like David Beckham. Most of us have skeletons in our closet. But he takes his out in public" – Andrew Lawrence
"Victoria Beckham? Does this tampon make me look fat?" – Joan Rivers, on celebrities
"My boyfriend likes role play. He likes to pretend we're married. He waits until I go to bed, then he looks at porn and has a wank" – Joanna Neary
"I was talking to my friend from New York yesterday, and I used the expression, 'You can't polish a turd'. He looked at me, disgusted, and said, 'No, you can't, but you can roll it in glitter'. He's a lovely guy but I wouldn't want to go to a craft fair with him" – Steve Williams
"I used to go out with Christopher Reeve, but I just had to keep standing him up" – Steve Hall
"My granny was recently beaten to death by my granddad. Not as in, with a stick – he just died first" – Alex Horne
So it’s been about a week that I landed in my birth place of Geneva Switzerland. I realized something funny popping out of a lot of windows and balconies: WEED. A lot of it. In deed the law are pretty sweet in Switzerland as far as weed. You can’t go to trial or get fines anymore if you get busted with small quantities of weed or if you get busted smoking a L. You are also allowed to grow your own material.
 Judge Garzon is famous for crimes-against-humanity ca |
A Spanish judge has launched a criminal investigation into the fate of tens of thousands of people who vanished during the civil war and Franco dictatorship.
Judge Baltasar Garzon - Spain's top investigating judge - has also ordered several mass graves to be opened.
One is believed to contain the remains of the poet Federico Garcia Lorca, who was murdered by fascist forces at the start of the war in the 1930s.
Correspondents say the historic ruling will be controversial in Spain.
They say there has been a tacit agreement among political parties not to delve too deeply into the civil war and Franco era.
In his 68-page ruling, Judge Garzon says that Francoists carried out "illegal permanent detentions" which he says falls within the definition of crimes against humanity.
Controversial step
He refers to 114,000 people who disappeared during a 15-year period after the outbreak of war in 1936.
The BBC's Steve Kingstone, in Madrid, says that never before has Spain's civil war been investigated by a judge.
And in using the phrase "crime against humanity" Judge Garzon is taking a highly controversial step.
The conflict was triggered by the military uprising of General Francisco Franco, whose supporters are said to have systematically eliminated left-wing opponents, even after the war was won in 1939.
 Survivors of the civil war Falange movement may face prosecution |
Judge Garzon's document names Gen Franco and 34 of his senior aides as the instigators of the alleged crimes.
He even asks that their death certificates be produced, to prove that they can no longer face prosecution.
The judge has also asked Spain's Interior Ministry to provide names of senior members of the fascist Falange Party, which supported Franco, with a view to possible prosecutions.
He has ordered the opening of 19 mass graves, believed to contain victims of the Franco regime. The remains of the poet Lorca, who was murdered at the start of the war, are thought to be buried in the southern province of Granada.
Judge Garzon is famous for bringing crimes-against-humanity cases against figures such as former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
Last year he was asked by the families of people who vanished during the Spanish civil war or during Franco's dictatorship, that the remains of their loved ones be found and the circumstances of their deaths clarified.
An estimated 500,000 people died in the civil war.
From the Washington Post:
In recent years, as it has tried to improve its performance in Iraq, the U.S. military has done a lot of remedial studies of earlier counterinsurgency campaigns. This note, passed along by a Special Operations officer, describes a couple of tricks the British learned battling the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland:
I attended a briefing at the CI [Counterintelligence] Center a year ago and one of the speakers was a former British SAS officer who worked Belfast for 10 years. He provided some fascinating insights into their operations and, specifically, some of the "out-of-the-box" methods they utilized to collect and target the IRA, PIRA [Provisional Irish Republican Army], Gerry Adams and their sympathizers.
One of the most interesting operations was the laundry mat [sic]. Having lost many troops and civilians to bombings, the Brits decided they needed to determine who was making the bombs and where they were being manufactured. One bright fellow recommended they operate a laundry and when asked "what the hell he was talking about," he explained the plan and it was incorporated -- to much success.
The plan was simple: Build a laundry and staff it with locals and a few of their own. The laundry would then send out "color coded" special discount tickets, to the effect of "get two loads for the price of one," etc. The color coding was matched to specific streets and thus when someone brought in their laundry, it was easy to determine the general location from which a city map was coded.
While the laundry was indeed being washed, pressed and dry cleaned, it had one additional cycle -- every garment, sheet, glove, pair of pants, was first sent through an analyzer, located in the basement, that checked for bomb-making residue. The analyzer was disguised as just another piece of the laundry equipment; good OPSEC [operational security]. Within a few weeks, multiple positives had shown up, indicating the ingredients of bomb residue, and intelligence had determined which areas of the city were involved. To narrow their target list, [the laundry] simply sent out more specific coupons [numbered] to all houses in the area, and before long they had good addresses. After confirming addresses, authorities with the SAS teams swooped down on the multiple homes and arrested multiple personnel and confiscated numerous assembled bombs, weapons and ingredients. During the entire operation, no one was injured or killed.
By the way, the gentleman also told the story of how [the British] also bugged every new car going into Northern Ireland, and thus knew everything [Sinn Fein leader] Gerry Adams was discussing. They did this because Adams always conducted mobile meetings and always used new cars.
The Israelis have a term for this type of thinking, "Embracing the Meshugganah," which literally translated means, embrace the craziness, because the crazier the plan, the less likely the adversary will have thought about it, and thus, not have implemented a counter-measure.
Via the New Shelton wet/dry
LONDON—A repentant robber in England sent his elderly victim a bouquet of flowers to apologize for frightening her, police said Friday. A 91-year-old woman received the flowers and a note after confronting a burglar in her home around 4 a.m. on Oct. 9, police said.
The card explained that the burglar thought the property in Halifax, about 200 miles north of London, was empty and apologized for breaking in.
Police said the woman was "very shaken" by the confrontation.
"Whoever did this has a conscience, and feels guilty for what he has done," West Yorkshire Police Det. Insp. Tony Nicholson said in a statement.
Police said the burglar fled the house empty-handed and appealed for him to come forward.
I love these light bulbs by Pieke Bergmans. Select 'work' then 'light bulbs' to see more images including the fabrication process.
From apartment therapy:
Pieke Bergmans' series of one-of-a-kind crystal LED lamps for Royal Leerdam Crystal and Solid Lighting are what the designer calls "light blubs." And what exactly is a light blub?
"The answer is simple," says the young Dutch designer. "It is a light bulb that has gone way out of line. Infected by the dreaded Design Virus, these Blubs have taken on all kinds of forms and sizes you wouldn't expect from such well behaving and reliable little products."
Bergmans calls her one-of-a-kind light sculptures "unlimited edition," in that that each unique piece is made using an industrial process she developed that can be repeated until the end of time.
From holavalencia:
El Gordo, the “big one”, is the most important prize in the Spanish Christmas Lottery — the largest lottery in the world. This year, there’s €2.3 billion in prizes (about 3 billion dollars). There’s a word for that: CRAZY.
Also: EXCITING. Roughly 18% of participants stand a chance at winning something, which ain’t bad odds. There are a limited amount of tickets; in 2006 there were 85,000 numbers. At €200, tickets are expensive, so they’re also sold in décimos at €20 apiece. If you hold a décimo of a winning number, you get 10%.
On the night of Saturday, December 6th, two Special Guards of the Greek police clashed with a small group of young men. The exact details of what took place are still unclear, but it is known that one of the Guards fired three shots, and one of those bullets caused the death of 15-year-old Alexander Grigoropoulos - whether the injury was made by an accidental ricochet or deliberate shot remains to be determined. The two Guards are now in jail awaiting trial, the shooter charged with homicide.
This undated photo made at a unknown location shows 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos. Some of the worst riots Greece has seen in years began within hours of the fatal shooting of Alexandros Grigoropoulos on Saturday night in the central Athens district of Exarchia. (AP Photo/Eurokinissi)
Link to Boston.com's photos.
Alexandre Duret-Lutz, a French photographer, specialises in creating what he calls "Wee Planets"
View the rest of the collection here.
monsieur Qui lives and works in Paris, here are some samples from his website. He's also known for his wheatpastes, a flickr search produced these results but I can't find his personal Flickr account.
This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Puppies and Flowers in the Europe category. They are listed from oldest to newest.
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