10 gnomes, Episode 2.....A walk in the park

Find 10 more gnomes in 10 minutes here

Little Nemo

Found on STWALLSKULL, a (very) early animation, "hand animated on rice paper and color tinted by hand on the film by Winsor McCay in 1911"

Not your normal, run-of-the-mill Sunday stroll....

I've been collecting links for gentle, local, scenic walks to post when the weather gets better. Found this (not so local) ramble that has since given me nightmares. Check out the step-by-step route here, with pictures, if you dare! Mount Huashan in China is described as "the most dangerous Tourist Hiking Trail in the world"....OK, so I'm persuaded!

A modern take on a sliding puzzle game

Apparently it takes some time to load....I only tried the opening level.

From Jayisgames

...... A "game set in a mysterious mansion with rooms that move and that contain magical items to help you make your way through. Using both mouse and keyboard, use the items you find and slide the rooms into the correct configuration to make your escape."

...."a clever mix of point-and-click and puzzle elements that together create an engaging game play experience"

"The arrow keys on the keyboard are used to navigate your in-game avatar through each room, up and down ladders, and through doors. Use the mouse to click on items to activate or to pick them up. Once picked up, press and hold the mouse button on the avatar to bring up an inventory select control. To physically move the room you are currently in, press and hold the mouse button anywhere on the room itself to bring up a room navigation control, and then select the desired direction. Along the way you will find newspapers lying about. These contain helpful information about new elements of the game being introduced, so it's a good idea to take a look once you pick them up."

Play it here

London Transport posters online.....

.....lots of them (as in more than 5000) here.

Space Puppets

Scans for instructions to make the toys you always wished you'd had at Black Olives on my Fingertips

Whistler goes wild with peacocks

Drop-dead gorgeous....The Peacock Room by James McNeill Whistler, courtesy The Smithsonian Institute (3 high-res images here) 7 minute podcast (hopefully) with slides below....



....if it doesn't work go here to watch in a bigger window

Cute....OZ banking style

The question.....

And the result looks something like this, with personalised ukelele background music.......

Do it here if you have to

Maze Frenzy....improve your mouse control

Play it here

Some folks take mazes a bit more seriously of course

Give Flour.....costs nothing except a bit of general knowledge

FreeFlour invites you to answer a variety of geographically related questions.By correctly answering a question you are actually contributing to the demise of world hunger! FreeFlour will donate an amount of money that is equivalent to the value of the flour collected on the site to the "Bread for the World Institute". Play it here

Build your own metal detector.....cheap

Turn A Calculator Into A Metal Detector - video powered by Metacafe

Lots of lovely links....

.....to the contenders for this years Webware 100 awards. If you want to vote go here....but if you just want to check out some of the best sites in 10 categories......

Audio: Music, podcasts, audiobooks.
Browsing: Browsers, start pages, RSS readers, widgets, runtime engines.
Commerce and events: Retail, auctions, travel, real estate, concerts, conferences.
Communications: E-mail, chat, voice.
Productivity: App suites, to-do lists, groupware.
Publishing and photography: Blogging, content management, photo sites.
Search and Reference: Search engines, encyclopedias, mapping.
Social: Social networking, family sites, recommendations, online worlds, contests.
Utility and Security: Infrastructure providers, storage, online protection.
Video: Video storage, playback, streaming, editing, and animation.

......I've put a pdf with live links in the Box files on the right

Been doing some heavy-duty scanning....

Mostly personal/family stuff exhumed from the suitcase that passes for our family pictorial archive.....but I found this mixed in with the happy family snaps of picnics, holidays and christenings. Makes you think!

Journey into the dark zone

No picture because no-one has penetrated the inner darkness for years. Tomorrow I venture into "the room above the garage" and "the cupboard over the stairs" round at Ma's in search of family memorabilia. Ma has muttered darkly about "ancient curses" and "locks that have no keys".....now I think she's bluffing but I'm planning on wearing a garlic garland just to be on the safe side. If the blog goes suddenly quiet assume I didn't make it past the vintage hi-fidelity radiogram (reputedly) just inside the door!

Spend a penny.....

It's time to stand up (or sit down, depending on gender) and be counted......support your local neighbourhood public loo!

"Campaigning for better public toilets for all.....
Britain's public toilets were once the envy of the world
In recent years, significant numbers of public toilets have been closed down
We need more and better toilets
Let's stop the rot"

Join the fight here

Tie tips......

....especially for Jonny......apparently he's gone "all smart". So he can check out all the essential knots here to augment his future pulling power.

Shamelessly filtched (including the picture) from Lifehacker

Arcadia is just around the corner

"The Arcade of shops on the right of Whitley Road was built in 1893 by Alfred Styan, know as Arcadia its glass canopies and iron work were removed at a later date. Behind Arcadia is the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel at the top of Victoria Avenue it was completed in 1889 and destroyed by a bomb in August 1940 a health centre now occupies the site."
Can't remember where I found the above.....apologies to the original writer!

So, what I found interesting about the above picture?......What on earth IS that cherry-topped cupcake feature in the distance? (I suspect a bit of victorian photoshopping, turning trees into something a bit more substantial!)


LATER.....very blurry phone pic of approximately the same view.....

All quiet on the Tyne at 13:03:44 on Saturday Feb 23

......except for seagulls battling the winds. But you can check out the current situation, maybe catch a bit of live shipping action.....if you're lucky....at the Mouth of the Tyne live webcam

Full of (middle) eastern promise

This post is prompted by a conversation I had with Ma last night about a book she read in her formative years, "The Sheik" by E. M. Hull (and later the film starring Rodolf Valentino of course)....and I thought she might like some background music to go with the book she'll be getting for her birthday! (I downloaded the text from Project Gutenburg, some moody pictures of Valentino sporting a tea towel, and with a bit of formatting she'll never notice it's not the original)

There's six albums worth of belly dance music available at this wonderful site....also good for getting in the right mood for cooking couscous.

Making your own entertainment

Somebody used to do this when I was a kid, can't remember whether it was Dad or Granda......complete with lit cigarette!

Found at Modern Mechanix via BoingBoing