Spot the differences

Spot the differences on the mirrored image to advance to the next screen, click wrong and you get docked points. Nice graphics....slightly irritating soundtrack, but you can switch it off.

Play Mad World Differences

A few bread recipes

Granny Whites Bread Recipes

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Do-it-yourself Nutrition easy recipes

Nashville Mersey Beat

Oh Yeah! (Nashville grown) cover versions of all your favourite 60's hits....and yes, there's Volume 1 too. Click over to TOBALDOLANG'S HOUSE OF MUSIC and download some truly dreadful sounds....there's faux brit accents worse than Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins on offer!

Just a sample for your listening pleasure

A Passion for Poladroid

And no, that's not a typo!

Even though Polaroid is now no more you can still experience the joy (and the wait/anticipation while your picture develops in front of your very eyes) of taking a snap old-style by trying out Poladroid....a free download from the authors website, there's versions for Mac and Windows. (5.35mb download)

Here's a Quayside view through a slightly world-weary lens.....

Fire up the printer

Nice paper critters to print and make at 3EyedBear

Spanish City rides that maybe didn't make it

From The Times, Saturday July 26th, 1913 (click the image to enlarge)....The Rainbow Wheel sounds like fun, wonder whether it ever made it through the courts?

Loops of Zen

"Restore harmony by clicking the tiles until no open end is left over"

Play Loops of Zen

Soap

I'm not sure why, but I find this vintage soap advert the stuff of nightmares....my floors, kitchen tables, linoleum and oilcloths can stay dirty thank you very much (no change there then!)

The Away Day That Wasn't

...we were supposed to be off to Edinburgh but the train was cancelled....

...so anyway, a swift change of plan, a meal on the Quayside as a consolation prize (Pizza Express, who sadly didn't live up to their name) On the way there I took a few pictures.....

A blot on the landscape. (that'll be the rusty bucket, not The Sage!)

A Modern Gargoyle ....or an Urban Gorilla?

Underneath the Arches

And here's where you can find the last 2....

Vintage seed......

....now I happen to know that a certain family member has little stickers peppering a copy of this years seed catalogue and is just itching to slap in his first order.....but there's loads of vintage imagery here that he could fill in a bit of time with while the frost lasts.

Find the last 10 gnomes

Episode 12:the tank here

And all the rest here

Bye bye little guys!

Notebook

A very clever animation.....

A small kitchen-related disaster averted

I had a moment of panic at the weekend, couldn't find my trusty BeRo recipe book when I had a sudden fancy for making some biscuits. But then I found that all the old favourites are online here.....I'm still looking for that sticky, greasy, dog-eared paper version though!

Newcastle Science Fest 2009

Advance notice of the upcoming Newcastle Science Fest (website not yet open for business but there's details of how you sign up to be emailed with more information sometime in February)

One event that IS being advertised is the first ever UK Maker Faire on the 14-15th March (more details here).

"Maker Faire seeks to inspire, inform, connect and entertain thousands of Makers and aspiring Makers of all ages and backgrounds through the public gathering of tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, students, authors and commercial exhibitors."

Pump up the volume

Does what it says on the tin......

vloud

Timewasting

Can't help you with any rules....I don't think there are any. It's a sort of pointandclicky thing.
Play BrownDyedHotel

Best wishes for a....

Just another year

One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.

Click through to the full-sized video here

Butlins in postcards

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

More information about John Hinde on Wikipedia

Inspirational wrapping

Make that boring pair of socks into a parcel that begs to be opened. Plenty of inspiration at here at Wrap Art (also damned useful if you run out of conventional wrapping paper and the shops have shut!)

The scientific guide to gift wrapping

The New Scientist explains all

Sprouts with bells on....

750g Brussels sprouts , trimmed
1 garlic clove , crushed
70g sliced chorizo , cut into strips
olive oil
3 tbsp flaked almonds , toasted until golden

Steam the sprouts until just tender, about 5 minutes. Fry the garlic and chorizo in 2 tbsp oil for a few minutes until crisp.
Stir through the sprouts then put in a warm dish and sprinkle with the almonds.

From BBC Good Food

Damp hankie time

OK, so I'm supposed to be festitivating(?) the house, but it's lunchtime....I look for a quick festive fix, remember I've got 'Miracle on 34th Street' (the 1947 version....none of that modern/remake crap in MY christmas kitchen!) sitting on the hard drive....so think, the way you do, 'maybe I'll watch just a little bit of that now' while I eat my bacon buttie..........

And sometime later (ie however long it lasted plus, maybe, 30 seconds) and I find this pile of damp paper tissues on the floor by the kitchen table.....no idea how they got there!

EVEN LATER....I just couldn't let it lie.... 'Holiday Inn' with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, now comfortably under the belt. 'Scrooge' with Alastair Sim, no problem, just the odd sniff (OK....3 tissues!) But still sitting there.....(deep breath) waiting to be watched is......(another deep breath) 'It's a Wonderful life'.....wish me luck, I'm going in!

3 HOURS LATER....I'm officially now just a sucked-out husk, emotionally drained and only fit for a hot bath and a stiff drink. My advice?.....don't try this at home unless you've discussed your intentions with a qualified medical practitioner!

Memo to self....must buy a tripod

Out of the 76 photos I took tonight at the Sage (Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band...not bad but not as entertaining as The Ukulele Band of GB on Monday) there were only half a dozen that didn't look like they'd been taken by a dipsomaniac on a bad morning....this is one of the least shaky. You can just about make out the Tyne Bridge through the windows if you try very, VERY hard.

Ladies....the perfect excuse to overindulge

Found at ModernMechanix

Festive fun

Improve your mouse control (just in case you need an excuse!) by dragging Santa's sleigh around the track without hitting the sides....strangely addictive

Play Reindeer Racer

It's a wonderful world

My current 'kitchen table laptop' desktop wallpaper (courtesy Vladstudio), which I'd assumed for months was imaginary.....but I was so wrong! Check out what you can find growing on the island of Socotra here at Dark Roasted Blend

Sew old

I wish they had scans of the actual patterns too, but never mind there's 600+ envelope illustrations to feast your eyes on (and some of the ones from the 60's/70's look embarrassingly familiar!) at VADS

Print your own wrapping paper....

...assuming you've got a colour printer and some small-but-perfectly-formed 'things' to wrap of course.
A4 sized pdfs to download here
But I recommend a voyage of discovery round the whole site if you're short of (papercrafty) things to do over the holiday season....just make sure you've laid in supplies of glue before the shops close!

Simon's Sister's Dog

Made for the RSPCA.....and probably also true for christmas cats, gerbils and anacondas!

iPod fodder

"Audio drama lives! We are the Wireless Theatre Company and here you will discover an exciting new world of radio theatre. We produce a great selection of audio downloads - from full length radio plays to audio comedy sketch shows, poetry, short plays, stories, satire and even quirky audio guides! And the best news is that every single download is completely free."....UK based, and they've got Prunella Scales on the cast list!

Link to the Wireless Theatre Company homepage

It'll be a bit of culture at the Sage tonight....

....for Chris and I



Sometime later....fantastic concert, their rendition of 'I'm just a teenage dirtbag' brought me out in goosebumps! If you get the chance, go and see them....you won't be sorry.

Scrambled legs

You try and work it out!

Found at Photoshop Disasters

A musical argument

"No cue cards, no teleprompters, and no second takes--legendary funnyman Sid Caesar pioneered live television sketch comedy with his 1950s sitcoms Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour. This classic sketch is "Argument to Beethoven's 5th," Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray play a married couple in a argument with pantomimed action and the dialogue is classic music."

Found on Neatorama

Some local history....in pictures

And the story....... (click on the image to enlarge)

From "The Illustrated Police News", June 8th 1878.

"The Illustrated Police News , Law Courts and Weekly Record was founded in 1864. It was the first, and most long-lasting, Saturday penny newspaper that combined two hugely popular Victorian genres: the police newspaper and the illustrated journal.
Its founder, George Purkess, was a London publisher who already specialised in the publication of cheap "true stories" of crime, accidents and domestic disaster. The subject matter of his newspaper was very similar. It collated sensational or unusual stories, often drawn from the London Police Courts, but also reports of mishap from elsewhere in Britain and the world. While repeatedly emphasising the "true" nature of the stories, it was their entertainment and curiosity value that was crucial to the success of the News.".....19th Century British Library Newspapers (it's a subscription service....and one of the fringe benefits of working at a UK university!)

On the same page there's stories of:

• Cruelty to a sheep
• A determined attempt to commit suicide
• A dangerous lunatic
• Two children drowned in a perambulator and
• A bull and lion fight

....so Daily Mail, eat your heart out!

PS....I wonder whether there's still any visual sign of the funeral in the brickwork of the Duke of Wellington, because it's still there.....I feel a lunchtime walk coming on!

RIP Oliver Postgate

.....and long live the soup dragon!

Glittering Fashions for the Festive Season

I had to find out how Windows MovieMaker worked this week....so here's a seasonal edited highlight from the "Gaumont British News" clip I was playing with.

Seasonal gameplay

Enough said.....

Go play

And in the same vein

Attack of the Sprouts

BAD Santa!

I've a feeling this wouldn't get past the advertising standards people these days...

PS....LOVE those boots!

BetaMax Christmas

Watch grainy YouTube festive clips....it's Christmas like it used to be....pass me a mince pie.

A BeTaMaXMaS

Christmas Radio

Looking for wall-to-wall jingle bells? Check out Christmas Radio Stations 2008 for a nice long link-list to feed those festive cravings.

Popular Science

Read every issue of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics since the 1870's online....so that's your holiday reading sorted then!

Link to Popular Science archive

Link to Popular Mechanics archive

Mental block

Apologies for recent silence....the situation might continue for a wee while longer. Another week before the end-of-term, currently coming home brain-dead and only fit for staring blankly at the kitchen wall accompanied by a stiff drink...so enough said.....later!

A warning to all young ladies.....

......on the dangers of novel reading. (Click the image to enlarge)

From "The Domestic World, a practical guide in all the daily difficulties of the higher branches of domestic and social economy" by the author of "Enquire Within" (that's as precise as it gets!) Published in the early 1870's........and my favourite 'Bathroom Reader' of the moment

No reason

Henri...the haunted angst of the house cat

National Archives podcasts

Check out the weekly National Archives podcast here....there's a wide range of subjects covered for anyone with an interest in the historic (currently 68 available), so I've just downloaded half a dozen to feed the ever-hungry iPod. LATER...one of which was "Victorian Women Prisoners", 40 mins, 18mb download, and very interesting!

Background listening

30 plus ambient sounds to listen to while you work or woolgather....everything from bird song to a howling hairdryer (it takes all sorts!)

iSerenity

Kamikaze Cookery

Take three geeks, blend with assorted foodstuffs and kitchen utensils, simmer well and serve. Enjoy! Kamikaze Cookery

A`taster from YouTube (more episodes on their website) NSFW language

"Can geek Johnnie cook Gordon f—-ing Ramsay’s Brussel f—-ing sprout souffle? We put the sweariest of all celeb chefs to the test."

Part 1



Part 2 no longer available, you'll just have to visit their website for the cliffhanger conclusion!

Saturday timewaster

Direct the flow to fill the containers with music to complete the levels. Very calming!
Play Auditorium
(walkthrough at JayisGames)

Found slide

Does the man from the water board still wear an official looking cap as he wields his mega spanner thingy these days? No idea where or when this was taken (but probably in the north east in the 60's/70's), but I love it!

Robocat