A perfect gift for the kiddiwinkles.....

.....but read that caption under the photograph and it's a wonder some of them survived to tell the tale! From 'Gifts you can make yourself' (undated but it looks like late 40's from the illustrations) Didn't get out much today.....oh, you guessed!

TODAY'S SEASONAL SHENNANIGANS

Here's Fanny Cradock doing it with mincemeat, it truly brightened a dull afternoon.....watch out for the final sumptuous, mouth-watering table display. Top find Sarah!

bum issued by.....

....H.O. Wills...........no comment except to say I've hardly been over the doors all day and sometimes you have to work with what you happen to have on the kitchen table!

OTHER STUFF.....

Some alternative Christmas music.....very alternative.....but I like it!

"Cigar Box Nation offers our own gift of music to you.  This album is free for everyone this Christmas...just go ahead and download.  We've compiled almost one hour of holiday music played on cigar box guitars, ukuleles, dulcimers and more.    Please spread the word (and holiday cheer)!  May the world ring with the awesome sounds of cigar box guitars this Christmas." Download it here 

(sample track on the next link......)

This is just a screengrab from UMapper (the original plan was for an embedded map, but Blogger didn't like their code, and I haven't got time to work out why) so here's the link to my very first map (which is rubbish, but if you click on the '2' you'll find the audio file promised above!). You'll guess you can add your own photos and audio, even make your own map-based game, there's some video tutorials here if you fancy checking it out and doing a photo tour of YOUR block.

Shepherds pie/lots of veg/large pot of tea/couch, vintage videos and cuddly blanket here I come!

More Christmas market

More Christmas market, originally uploaded by moclaydon.

Just woken up.....I had one of those mandatory 'Equality and Diversity' session/workshops this afternoon, a 'tick the boxes, everyone has to do it' affairs that somehow leaves you with more questions after than before, but with a deep, underlying  feeling that common sense went out of the window some time ago. But back to reality....this was the market just before I bolted down into the metro station at home time.

ONE OTHER THING....

............I think I want to be a beatnik!

From Normandy

From Normandy, originally uploaded by moclaydon.

The continental Christmas market opened today in Newcastle (it lasts a fortnight) and the open-air food stalls were doing a roaring trade when I came home from work....everything from german sausages (may give them a miss till next week, still suffering from a pork overload after Berlin!) to paella, belgian doughnuts and waffles to kangaroo burgers and crocodile steaks (OK, so maybe not exactly european.....but we push boundaries in the North!)

I realised too late that I'd missed a trick last night when I posted the 'Taxi' shot....in fact I forgot why I'd taken it in the first place. It was all down to a dreadful pun and an excuse to post a  vintage video. I'll post the video and leave you to work out the tenuous connections! (think alternatives for taxi!)

Here be architects

There's yet another accreditation exercise in progress at the moment..... it's a never-ending process. This time it's a couple of the Architectural courses under scrutiny, one of them is a revisit after one of those marginal 'must do better in minor respects' (that puncture so many fragile egos) reports a few months ago. Let's just say that tensions are running high, architects as a species aren't known for taking the low blood pressure option.....But me, I'm keeping my head well below the parapet except to take the odd random shot of the action while the troops are otherwise engaged!

OTHER STUFF

Myoats is one of those online drawing tools where you can literally waste hours.....sophisticated controls, nice downloadable results....above is a 'here's one I made earlier to try it out', but other folks have done so much better!

REVISIT.....Little Nemo in Slumberland

Surreal comic strip by Winsor McCay from the early years of the 20th Century. The above image is just the half-sized scan.....there's a link to the full-sized version when, and if, you click on that link up there. Currently no less than 420 of them online, and the number keeps rising!

Think it's nearly time for bed..........

Belated birthday greetings to Mickey Mouse....

.....who made his first screen appearance in 'Steamboat Willie' 81 years ago yesterday.

Fag break friends

Now I don't usually do straight-on, 'say-cheese-for-the-camera', portrait shots.....but I like this one for their lovely, smiley eyes! On the left we have N (one of the grounds staff who keep all the the green bits on campus in order and looking good), and on the right is P (an Ozzie project manager from the Estates Dept with a penchant for small cigars)

OTHER STUFF

You can read the stories behind iconic images at Iconic Photos, it's only been going a few months but there's some gems. Worth a click.

The Beatles Never Broke Up......apparently!
(listen online or zip download available)

And finally some 'point-and-clicky' action.....

You can play the free demo levels of Machinarium here ( from the makers of Samarost 1 and 2) Wonderful graphics as ever!

Communications hub

From the traditional 'envelope stuffing' to the electronic.....done something like this before 'in another place', probably from the same vantage point in fact.....a lack-lustre but stupidly busy day!

I like looking at pictures....it's not a secret....and especially vintage graphics......

Check out ephemera assemblyman for a blast from the past, you won't regret it!

Now I'm brain-dead
....need pain-killers
....bed
....lots of water
....switched-off alarm clock
...............

What day?

Apparently I've roasted a chicken, made garlic croutons and a huge cauldron of soup (maybe I cackled a bit.....who knows), washed clothes (didn't wash dishes!) and OD'd on Lemsips and cheap port...everything else is just a blur. I'm off to watch the real thing.....

Saturday.....the dark side

For which read 'SHOPPING', not that I did any...took this one last week in broad daylight then processed it until it squeeked, as is only right for a despised activity, it deserves nothing more nor less (especially when it's nearly a week until payday and the overtime claim won't be paid until the end of October) EDIT...I didn't notice the scary guy in the shop window until I clicked the publish button.....says it all really!

Possibly on the cards tonight.....

Watching a few episodes of 'The Avengers' (the Tara King ones....watched one last night, talk about surreal) No link, I got it from a pirate friend on his beam ends, best not to ask questions....

Listening to a bit of Flanders and Swann (we all have a cross to bear)

Or maybe a dip into a bit of online point-and-clickery, Alchemia....not tried it yet but I love the graphics (found at jayisgames)

 

Then again....I might just give it all a miss and go to bed early with a nice mug of Horlicks and an Agatha Christie audiobook......

Barcelona 1908

Just a lovely video of the streets of Barcelona in 1908 with a nice backing track.....worth a click!!

Sooty and Sweep.....and Ronnie

Funny day, Sunday....now why did I suddenly start thinking about Sooty and Sweep? (on second thoughts, probably best not to dwell on that!) My personal favourite was Sweep....we had both hand puppets as kids but Sweep had the added bonus of a 'squeeker' (your thumb and little finger did the arms, leaving three free to make noises, great fun!) Anyway, found this on YouTube....confession, watched it more than once, but just don't tell, OK!

Ouch....

How to set a dislocated hip.....but, please, don't do this at home (apparently nudity for both patient and doctor was mandatory) From the MacKinney Collection of Medieval Medical Images

What we wore.....mainly for the ladies!

Assuming you get past the presenter (rest easy, his lack-lustre presentation skills aren't omnipresent), you'll find a cornucopia of delights at the BBC Archive where they ...

" bring you this unusual collection of programmes which reveal what it took to be stylish through over 250 years of British history. Included here is the first colour series made by the BBC. Pre-dating colour TV by a decade, this is the first time it has been available to view as it was intended. It also features some surprising live models. Witness the gradual democratisation of fashion through the ages and see how clothes began to throw off the shackles of class from the 1960s onwards."

Then when you've mastered those sphinter muscles....

....can I suggest taking up the gentle art of wrestling....

Mr Liederman strikes again.....with a multitude of tips for fending off surprise attacks from burly muggers in "The Science of Wrestling" Get it while it's hot on Scribd (ie until someone tells me to remove it , I'm not sure it's out of copyright!)

Fitness is fun

Shake out those leotards, it's time to fight the flab!
Found at Schadenfreudian Therapy where there's a download link for the whole, fun-packed, sphincter-clenching LP.


But just in case you're not convinced, let's listen to the intro track...

Celebrating pedal-powered gas canisters

I'm going for the "no comment" option. Click the image to enlarge

Concrete evidence.....

....of what was seen as cutting edge in UK architecture the year I was born. Yours too for that matter.....probably. The complete archives of Concrete Quarterly from 1947 available for download here in pdf format

Mind the gap

In brief, the tragic consequences of promiscuously holding hands with a dubious gent in first class after a night 'on the toon'....I'm sure there's a lesson to be learned there, so ladies consider yourselves warned! From the front cover of the Illustrated Police News, Saturday September 9th 1871.

Health and Fitness

Muscle Building

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Other Illustrations vintage

Found it!....."Muscle Building" by Mr Liederman (see post for Friday Jan 30th)....read at your peril!