In the fast moving world of children’s toys and games, the humble board game is often seen to be a dying breed. How can the fun provided by slipping, sliding and breaking your nose on a plastic mat in Twister dare to compete with the joys of th[…]

Is that how they used to advertise Mouse Trap. It rings a bell with me anyway. Anyway, a trip to the nephews for his birthday rustled this game up as a present. And it has changed from my youth. Not only have the graphics been slightly more cartoonif[…]

While we wait for the 23 most unexplained things to happen, Ananova can always provide us with tales of superstition. It really is not unexplained how a homing pigeon ended up in Nigeria – anyone can mistake Telford for Nigeria (similar balmy c[…]

What kind of sucker would buy Kronenbourg Premier Cru? What kind of idiot would be taken in by its frosted blue bottle? What kind of snob would fall for the pretension that “Kronie” has a ‘Premier Cru’ anyway? What kind of buf[…]

In a world populated by overblown blockbusters, the simplicity and directness of Wes Craven’s Red-Eye…
No. We cannot praise a film merely for cutting out what might be called the extraneous fat of the standard Hollywood film. It is instru[…]

I spent much of Saturday with my brilliant friend Sharon, and one of the subjects we covered at length was different ways of looking at art forms. One of the interesting areas, for me, was an idea of regarding the physical skills of many screen perfo[…]

AIM: To examine whether Beatrix Potter named Ginger and Pickles, her least-known children’s book, after her favourite condiment.
APPARATUS: Chopping board, sharp knife, small bowl
INGREDIENTS: fresh ginger, gherkins.
METHOD: Obviously gherkins[…]

Though it’s always nice to see Steve Buscemi again, the real surprise is the reappearance, in the film’s best and biggest joke, of an indie character actor (verging on leading man) who’s not been seen for some time now. My respect f[…]

Welsh authorities say tradition of Melltith has gone “Beyond a joke”. Said tradition involved townsfolk barring the way to the church for a bridegroom in order to prove his worth. And perhaps cutting down telegraph poles to do this IS goi[…]

There is more food science to come, but I was reminded last night in FreakyTrigger Central (PunKum restaurant) of one of my least favourite food misidentifications. Last night my hot Thai curry was flecked with red chillis. Not a problem, I avoided a[…]