“The taunt of having tails was a common accusation against the English in mediaeval times, and was even occasionally heard in the 17th century, in the epiphet, ‘The Tailed English’.” (footnote in British Folk Tales and Legends[…]

The final Quatermass (on TV) story ends with, hem hem, someone having to stay behind to set off a nucular bomb. This will divert the menace lurking out there in space threatening to destroy all life, having taken 1000s of lives already. In Armageddon[…]

Most of Enid Blyton’s books are either fantasies or thrillers, of a sort: a gang of kids, formalised or not, in a run-in with adult crooks. I don’t know if she came up with the formula herself, but commercially speaking she is its definit[…]

My further extensive research on celebrity Cockney Rhyming Slang reveals that Judith is not alone: Clement Freud is a slightly more straightforward curse when your piles are playing up. (more…)[…]

The experiment continued: finding which cheeses are good if you fry them. This time I used my tiny wee small frying pan bcz a. i had to carry it by bus to the HOUSE OF THE BOPKIDS and b. it is teh cuet.
Cheeses tested previously: i. red leicester; ii[…]

Regular readers of I Hate Music will know that I have little truck with science, unless I’m using it to blind Thomas Dolby. Science has consistently let me down: I have lobbied long and hard to prove the harmful effects of listening to music bu[…]

 
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Last weekend, I had the pleasure of a quick trip home to see my folks, and took the opportunity to pop down to Sidmouth promenade, where, I was assured by local friends, a bleddy great big ship had run aground. Had it? It had! (more…)[…]

What’s that glow emanating from the box? A pair of Clarks Magic Steps, of course. Slight lack of Timotei waterfall in this particular ad but you get the idea. I love how the only way the wicked witch can get her grubby paws on the magic key is […]

Have intended to research and post this since GIBBONS’ TOY STORE burnt down, now several years ago — in the window at the end of this very extremely weird only-in-a-bad-dream wedge-shaped shop, which in many ways resembled a half-open por[…]