crackers

I forgot that Christmas Crackers are a particularly British thing. The brightly decorated tube shaped cracker is placed on the table at dinner parties. Two people pull the ends and it explodes. Out falls a small gift such as a bottle opener, set of screwdrivers, fortune teller fish, miniature pack of playing cards or thimble. Also inside is the paper hat and a small slip of paper, on which is a joke or motto.

Here are some examples of typical Cracker humour:

What's ET short for?
Because he's only got little legs.

Why did the man get the sack from the orange juice factory?
Because he couldn't concentrate.

What athlete is warmest in winter?
A long jumper

How do snowmen get around?
On their icicle!!

Customer: Waiter! Waiter! What's wrong with this fish?
Waiter: Long time, no sea

Why is it difficult to keep a secret at the North Pole?
Because your teeth chatter

How do cows subtract?
With a cow-culator

Why did the teacher wear sunglasses?
Because her class was too bright

What is your favourite Cracker joke?

canary

Met John in Canary Wharf, where we headed to a nearby Starbucks, one of hundreds in London and around 4 in Canary Wharf.

We could sit in an underground area between buildings, sip coffee and watch the world go by. Then to a very high building before driving back to Waterloo, from where I caught a train to Woking.

Thursday Thirteen (V5.0)

13 instant things (V5.0) about rashbre

1. This is the earliest on a Thursday that I have ever done Thursday Thirteen;
2. I pulled my first Christmas Cracker this week;
3. I've found the outdoor lights and draped them across some bushes and a tree;
4. I have planned to start Christmas shopping on Monday. I know its late, but there won't be so many people around;
5. I'm planning a video short to include in my January visit to Barcelona;
6. I have been meaning to hire a car for my upcoming trip to the USA for about a week;
7. I ordered a replacement Sky box for the broken one, but was out today when UPS tried to deliver it;
8. I'm visiting Canary Wharf tomorrow and will take my camera;
9. Tomorrow evening I will be part of a surprise party for someone leaving the UK to return to the USA;
10. Friday I plan a trip to the Republic of Ireland, to Cork, to meet Tony, Mark and the gang;
11. is still my favourite number;
12. I have received some Christmas cards, but around half have come from unexpected sources;
13. I plan to write my cards to everyone on Sunday;

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Leanne's Thirteen!
2. Raehan's Thirteen!
3. Colleen's Thirteen!
4. Carnealian's Thirteen!
5. Jen's Thirteen!
6. Shelli's Thirteen!
7. Barbara's Thirteen!
8. Enigma Chaos's Thirteen!
9. Angel's Thirteen!
10. Running2K's Thirteen!
11. D's Thirteen!
12. Jenny's Thirteen!
13. uzi's Thirteen!
X. (leave your link in comments, I'll add you here!)


Get Leanne's Thursday Thirteen code here!



The purpose is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! Why not do this too? Then leave me a link as a comment or trackback and I will update my entry a link to yours, and you can continue the chain!

Tag: Thursday Thirteen

Dibley dinner moment

I found myself with a Vicar of Dibley situation today, where I'd arranged to be involved with two separate Christmas dinners, one at lunchtime and the other at the Wheatsheaf in Virginia Water in the evening.

Maura had arranged the lunchtime session and a small group of us sat together swapping stories about our plans for the next two weeks. And then in the evening, Sue and Pauline had arranged a long table in the Wheatsheaf and about fifteen of us enjoyed the evening together, with crackers, scrumptious food and a live singer. The pub was very well decorated for the season and we all enjoyed one anothers' company until the realisation of how late it had become.

rsst awhile

Pondering the reason this blog goes wrong, I discovered align="left" with a picture seems to confuse Microsoft. I shall be less inventive to improve the display on Windows XP.

Meanwhile, other inventions abound.

sky darkens

Looking into the sky yesterday, I thought initially it was clouds filled with snow that were forming, although with a temperature of 12 degrees Centigrade, it seemed too warm.

The clouds were actually from a major oil fire at a massive oil storage facility about 60 miles away in Hemel Hempstead. There were three types of container ablaze comprising aircraft fuel, petrol and diesel. The fire has 150 firefighters still trying to combat the fire a day later.

By today, the smoke clouds at 5000 feet have cleared in our area, but yesterday the clouds spread across a large part of Southern England and were easily visible from satellites.

sky die

I still have one electrical item die every day. Yesterday evening it was the Sky Plus box, no doubt in preparation for the Christmas season. I will call their helpline to see what they say, but I suspect something drastic has happened as all that works now is a little red light which informs me it is 'OFF'.

Christopher Robin joins the lost boys

Is this focus groups feedback, political correctness or guerilla marketing?

The Disney Corporation are to make Winnie the Pooh's Christopher Robin a girl?

Huh?

Now I know its fashionable to be a girl with an ambiguous moniker (Jo, Chris, George, Mel, Jules and so forth).

According to various sources, including the BBC, Christoper Robin, a key part of the A.A. Milne Pooh bear storyline, is about to be written out and replaced by a girl. OK, nothing wrong with adding a girl to the story, but why zap Christopher Robin?

Milne's English granddaughter, Clare, is trying to reclaim the rights from Slesinger, but Milne's widow Lesley doesn't think he would have minded this change.

Disney says that the series will target preschool children quoting, “The young character will elicit physical, cognitive and emotional responses from the viewing audience and will also address them directly". You can also let Disney know your views via their own comment facility.

And the milk picture above along with a further adventure of Christopher Robin lost in the Hundred Acre Woods comes from Whatever.

Tag: Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh, Disney

bust bus

I posted a few weeks ago about the demise of London's Routemaster two person bus (the one with the open platform to hop on and hop off). The last day was yesterday and it was even a top news story on Radio Four's Today programme, complete with interviews with the decision makers.

The appropriate eulogy is at this gem of a site which has a systematic review of the last journey. There will still be red buses in London and a few tourist Routemasters. But an icon has gone.

The old joke, "Whats red and lies in the gutter?"

Boom boom.

Tag: London, Routemaster, bus, London Transport, No159

friday soiree

Tonght was party time with an oriental theme, in a huge marquee outside a stately home near London.

We had bindi dancers, a bucking camel, a sumo wrestling den and dodgems.

There was a Chinese inspired dinner and a mainly open bar. The dance floor was packed from after the dinner and the chill-out tent was strewn with cushions and people taking it easy.

I admit I back-posted this on Saturday afternoon when I regained consciousness.

snow storm

I couldn't resist adding this link from Jenny about the snow globe. Give it a try!

Thursday Thirteen (V4.0)

13 instant things (V4.0) about rashbre

1. I was determined to do Thursday Thirteen for two weeks in a row!
2. This is the first blog entry this week that I have spent more than about five minutes writing because I have been out each evening this week for a variety of reasons;
3. I moved into the editing stage of my NaNoWriMo work last weekend and as part of it have developed the ending for the story. Now I've printed the 100 plus A4 pages for the first time. When I reformat it as a book, I calculate i will be around 160 pages.Here is an extract of the rough draft.
4. I listened to 'Across the Universe' as a small tribute to John Lennon today. Jai Guru Deva, Om;
5. I've printed the HTML of my blog template to try to find the annoying incompatibility which make it go wrong in Internet Explorer;
6. The changes to rashbre central layout were after the critique from Ms Chatty and her friends;
7. I have not bought a single Christmas present yet - I will need to take a day sometime next week to get organised;
8. I've just eaten a pepperoni pizza;
9. Yesterday, Jenny gave me some Swedish St Nicholas cookies; they are supposed to make me nice.
10. The cookies reminded me of the Neimann-Marcus cookie recipe hoax, but I won't publish it here!
11. is still my favourite number;
12. I critiqued Michael's web site and will check again in a week or two to see what has changed;
13. I'm going to a big party tomorrow

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Leanne's Thirteen!
2. Raehan's Thirteen!
3. Colleen's Thirteen!
4. Carnealian's Thirteen!
5. Jen's Thirteen!
6. Shelli's Thirteen!
7. Barbara's Thirteen!
8. Enigma Chaos's Thirteen!
9. Angel's Thirteen!
10. Running2K's Thirteen!
11. D's Thirteen!
12. Jenny's Thirteen!
13. uzi's Thirteen!
X. (leave your link in comments, I'll add you here!)


Get Leanne's Thursday Thirteen code here!



The purpose is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! Why not do this too? Then leave me a link as a comment or trackback and I will update my entry a link to yours, and you can continue the chain!

Tag: Thursday Thirteen