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Posted: 01-09-2013 10:58 Post subject:

Have we done The Argus yet?
Desperate for headline news stories this local paper of 'the Most Godless City in Britain' has acheived a legendary status...

http://www.flickr.com/groups/argusheadlines/

Posted: 01-09-2013 16:48 Post subject:

"Mosspark Picture House. 1927. Saturday matinee. Age four. A gothic thriller. The tall lantern jawed villain in top hat and tails plays an organ. I am terrified and run home as fast as I can. Years of nightmare. Age thirty-four. I buy a harmonium – nearly an organ – and spent the rest of my life playing it, thickened with doleful dirges, vainly trying to lay the trauma, my only satisfaction the ashen faced, staring eyed audiences, staggering out at the end of the performances, primed, and ready to carry on the good work."

Ivor Cutler on the experience of film-going. One gem among many exhibits on a remarkable blog:

Picturegoing Blog

Posted: 01-09-2013 19:18 Post subject:

I saw Ivor Cutler perform in a tent at a WOMAD festival, nearly thirty years ago. He's not exaggerating. Very quiet and playing one of those peddle operated harmoniums. Being a member of, The Noise Abatement League, he was so quiet nobody could hear him. I had to shout, 'Turn down the base and turn up the volume!' to the sound engineer, several times, before he fixed the problem.

But, Cutler was still very funny - in a dry sort of way. Laughing

Posted: 09-09-2013 13:16 Post subject:

The Hungarian Crossword Suicide Puzzle

Might be worth a thread of its own, if any more information comes to light. I nearly put in the Cursed Songs thread, since Gloomy Sunday gets a mention. Smile

Posted: 11-09-2013 19:27 Post subject:

"A hundred years ago a woman going out in the cold of winter could tuck a miniature hot water bottle inside her fur muff . . . "

Home Things Past

A charming site, devoted to the history of domestic objects.

My grandmother was using Dolly Blue well into the sixties; I was interested to see that it was produced in the North West. She also swore by the dolly tub and posser - she had the muscles to prove it!

Laundry History on a Related Site

The sites have interesting pages on the adventures of the Toby Jug in foreign parts and make a case for Cornish Ware as a modernist style - not traditional at all.

These are American sites but seem well aware of the speed at which innovations spread internationally. Smile

edit: Some rephrasing and additional URL for the related Old & Interesting Site.

Posted: 19-09-2013 18:52 Post subject:

Quick, while it's still there:
http://thischarmingcharlie.tumblr.com/

The Smiths/Peanuts mash-up. Great idea, so of course it's been taken down for no sense of humour reasons. I mean, copyright infringement reasons.

Posted: 20-09-2013 21:21 Post subject:

How well do you see colour?

I scored 12 ! Smile

Posted: 20-09-2013 21:24 Post subject:

Posted: 20-09-2013 22:08 Post subject:

Glad you liked that. Smile

I scored 11 on the colour test, which seems to be quite good. Smile

Posted: 21-09-2013 11:21 Post subject:

Lower is better, apparently, and I scored 4
Zero is perfect, 99 is abysmal.

Posted: 21-09-2013 11:58 Post subject:

I scored 8! Better than I thought. I did end up going a bit cross-eyed towards the end though - now was that a bluey-green or a greeny-green?! Razz

Posted: 21-09-2013 13:34 Post subject:

Posted: 22-09-2013 22:36 Post subject:

I got 15. And a headache.

Posted: 24-09-2013 21:22 Post subject:

A new series about crane drivers? Is that Fortean? Well, not exactly, but it is fascinating. The combination of the brute force to lift 100 ton loads, combined with the delicate control to position them on a sixpence (as we used to say, pre-decimal) is something to marvel at, a snap-shot of the workings of a modern industrial society. The men (sorry, no women involved!) clearly take pride in their skill and expertise.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03bmg9n/The_Crane_Gang_Episode_1/

The Crane Gang - Episode 1

Enter the world of the 'heavies' - the team behind the huge machines that are challenged with carrying out the biggest lifts of all.

In the millionaire's playground of Poole Harbour they are tasked with lifting a luxury yacht safely into dry dock. At the former Olympic Park technical problems threaten to throw the dismantling of the Aquatic Centre into disarray. Yet the biggest challenge of all comes when a freight train derails and the crane riggers Dave and Lea put their bodies on the line to ensure it is safely lifted from the track.

Away from the cranes, there is no let-up in the demands on the heavies team. Life on the road often means sleeping in and eating in their vans, conditions which see crane driver Tristam complaining to management - and new recruit Wayne struggling to deal with life 200 miles away from his family.

Duration 60 minutes

Available until 8:59PM Sun, 13 Oct 2013

I became a bit of a fan of construction machinery and cranes during the building of the new bridge at Hayle, although the biggest cranes used there were nowhere near the size of those shown in this programme.

Still, it gives me an excuse to plug my website again... Wink

http://haylenewbridge.weebly.com/index.html

Posted: 26-09-2013 22:11 Post subject:

Movie geeks describe terrible dating experiences, when they have tried to involve a not-yet-significant other in their passion. By taking them to a movie, of course!

Dating at Old Movies

I can imagine the thoughts of the date quite well, as Donald Pleasence puts on his lipstick in Cul-de-sac.

What do I know? My first idea of a date gig was Brahms' German Requiem! Confused