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| Tails of Terror from the Black Lagoon! |
| A melange of really interesting (yeah right!) daily doings about me and my two dogs, anything else I think might be interesting, be it politics, religion, news items, whatever! and some funny business - all thrown in for good luck :-) A bit of a Pick & Mix really - something for everyone |
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| Grand National 50th Anniversary - Mr What 1958 Race Video |
| 2008-06-30 17:41:40 |
The famous Grand National horserace is being run at Aintree this weekend and it's 50 years exactly since the great Mr What won, and I have a particular reason for celebrating the anniversary of his win.My Great Uncle DAVID 'TONE' JOSEPH COUGHLAN (1898 - 1962) owned the racehorse MR WHAT when it won the Grand National in 1958 and came 3rd in 1959 & 1962, as well as another horse Careys Cottage which came 3rd in 1955. (He had gone to America in 1916 but returned to Ireland in 1938.) Mr What was ridden by Arthur Freeman, the Queen Mothers jockey and won 'at ease' winning by thirty lengths, a record for the National and at odds of 18-1. Another record was the winnings, which amounted to £13,744, the largest prize distributed so far as a first prize. Mr What was trained by Mr Tom Taaffe in Rat...
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| Flamingo chick hatches on Sidebar |
| 2008-06-25 10:12:50 |
I'll bet you dont see many headlines like that? But it's true, if you go down to the Interlude widget on the sidebar you will see live video of a newly hatched chick coming to you live from the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington D.C. He's an adventurous little thing, so he may not be on the nest for long so don't miss him! ...
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| New Blog Launched! : News, Views, Thrills & Spills |
| 2008-06-22 10:08:56 |
I am delighted to announce the launch of my new Blog - News, Views, Thrills & Spills. This will be exclusively for non personal posts while 'Tails of Terror' will be retained for personal postings. Old non personal postings have now been removed from this blog, but are now available on the new one. Please visit my new neighbourhood. Hope to see you there soon :-)This has been an interesting experience as when I made the decision to split off the non personal stuff I thought I would try a Wordpress.com hosted blog. I transferred all the old posts from Blogger ok, but when I started building the page I realised just how restricting Wordpress is, particularly with what you can put on the sidebar. ...
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| April Fools Day |
| 2008-06-20 17:54:06 |
Well, Easter has been and gone. We had the Boy Wonder to stay, and true to form he spent the entire time with his head buried in his laptop playing Warhammer! I do worry about that boy, but it would appear he is typical of boys his age (15) so I suppose I shouldn't really. We had the usual surfeit of Easter Eggs (I think I had 3 altogether!)and Caiti came with her partner for lunch. We had roast chicken, roast vegetables, stuffing and yorkshire pudding. At this point I should tell you I didn't cook it, as Hubby does all the cooking in our house as he's such a great cook. The day he moved in I handed the kitchen over to him and have never looked back since :-) Anyway we enjoyed our lunch and then sat in the lounge chatting about the forthcoming arrival (Jonah is due on the 4th April so any...
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| The Dumbing Down of America continues: Survey reveals geographical ignorance |
| 2008-06-17 12:48:01 |
It would appear that more and more young Americans know less and less about the world they inhabit. A recent survey has revealed that the average 18 to 24 year old could only answer 54% of questions correctly. This is indeed a depressing and worrying figure.Over 60% of Americans aged 18-24 couldn’t find Iraq on a map of the Middle East (yes, a map of the Middle East… not even a map of the world) in a 2006 survey (that’s three years after the start of the war). The survey found a few other interesting facts:Only 50% think that map-reading skills are “absolutely essential” Despite that fact, 75% couldn’t find Iran or Israel on the same Middle East map. 65% couldn’t find the UK on a world map. 88% couldn’t fi...
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| SEARCHME: A great new search engine |
| 2008-06-14 10:51:24 |
Searchme is a new Engine">search engine that shows you the search results as a stack of pages you can flip through, (rather like iTunes album covers display). Searchme's engine delivers results as a browsable stack of "pages" -- pictures of actual web pages that users can check out before visiting them. Searchme also suggests categories to users as they type in search terms, providing shortcuts to the best results. I love this, great for browsers as well. ...
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| Blog has New Look - the pink is gone! |
| 2008-06-11 06:06:28 |
I've been working on a new look for the Blog for nearly a week now as I felt it was about time I got rid of the pink - not everyones taste I know! Having trawled through a large number of possible replacement backgrounds I initially settled on a rather busy modern arty one and used a light turquoise for the body colour. I rather enjoyed the fun of this for several days (some of you may have seen it if you have popped in recently), but really it was far too busy and distracting and really detracted from the blog itself. I have got quite good at editing the html of my blog now So today, I determined to find something more cool, calm and collected. I started by choosing a body colour and went through a whole gamut of options ...
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| Are you proud to be British? |
| 2008-06-01 03:10:14 |
Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then travelling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish Kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV. And the most British thing of all? Suspicion of anything foreign. Oh and...... - Only in Britain... can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance. - Only in Britain... do supermarkets make sick people walk all the way to the back of the shop to get their prescriptions - while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front. - Only in Britain... do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke. - Only in Britain... do banks leave both doors open and chain the pens to the counters. - Only in ...
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| Voices from the Past: The Worlds Oldest Sound Recording plus Florence Nightingale & others |
| 2008-06-01 03:05:21 |
The First Sound Recording Ever Made - and it wasn't Edison!The voice of an unknown woman singing in a lamp-lit Paris laboratory nearly 150 years ago came to life on the 28th March 2008 amid the crackles and buzz of a historic breakthrough recording made 17 years before Edison invented the phonograph."It's ghostly. It's magic," audio historian David Giovannoni said of the sounds that filled a Stanford recital hall. "This voice is a young woman trying to come into the 21st century to sing for us. It's like discovering the world's oldest photograph and learning that the photograph was taken 17 years before the invention of the camera," Giovannoni said. "In this case, the oldest sound that we can generally hear, up until tod...
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| I Come a Cropper in the Caravan! |
| 2008-05-30 11:29:38 |
Well last weekend was a Bank Holiday here so we decided to make it a nice long one and booked the friday off as well. Thursday evening we were packing the caravan ready to drive up to Bridgnorth that evening and I was carrying an armful of clothes up the steps when suddenly my whole world started tipping sideways and I came off them with a hell of a crash, landing on the ground with one leg inside the caravan and my head and the other leg hitting the deck so hard I couldn't move for several minutes. Hubby had been standing in the porch behind me and saw me go but couldnt do anything to stop me. He says he saw my head hit the ground and was waiting for the blood to start pouring out, thinking 'oh well, it's off to A & E, that's the end of the caravan trip!' But I'm a tough old bird and have...
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| When Grandma Goes to Court |
| 2008-05-18 08:48:14 |
Lawyers should never ask a Mississippi grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand. He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' She responded, 'Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.'The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defe...
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| Bloggers Unite: Human Rights includes Free Speech |
| 2008-05-18 08:41:33 |
BLOGGERS UNITE is an initiative designed to harness the power of the blogosphere to make the world a better place. By challenging bloggers to blog about a particular social cause on a single day, a single voice can be joined with thousands of others to help make a real positive difference. Today e-mail allows groups to grow from a dozen friends to a hundred hobbyists to a huge, national organization. Meanwhile, blogging is transforming journalism, and websites like Wikipedia and the Internet Archive are part of a new Library of Alexandria being built online.In countless ways, the Internet is radically enhancing our access to information and empowering us to share ideas with the entire world. Free speech thrives online, freed of limitations inherent in othe...
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| 5 Great Gregorian Megamix Videos |
| 2008-04-19 19:17:07 |
As anyone who has listened to my playlist on the last.fm widget on my sidebar will know I love Medieval music with a Modern twist, or Modern music with a Medieval twist even! particularly groups such as Lesiem, Magna Canta, Medieval Baebes, Era, Enigma, Adiemus & Gregorian. Here is a collection of 5 Megamix video compilations of the best of Gregorian - Masters of Chant. Just slide your mouse over the screen to see the 5 choices....
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| Convert your photos to antiques in seconds |
| 2008-04-19 18:22:27 |
Have you ever wondered what your photographs would look like if you were taking the same shots 100 years ago? I've come across this great site that'll convert any jpeg you upload (or point it to on the web) into an antique in seconds. It's really rather clever, doing a lot more than simply putting a warped border around it and converting it to sepia. If you don't read Japanese, don't worry - it's as simple as clicking Browse..., then hitting the blue button below once you've selected your photo. The resulting jpeg image can then be saved to your hard drive (if you prefer it in sepia it is easy to change in your photo editor or online at sites such as Flikr) Here's a sample before and after I made earlier....
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| Shannon Matthews Mother Remanded into Custody! |
| 2008-04-09 12:50:49 |
The Shannon Matthews story just lurches on! . This is the little 9 year old girl from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire that went missing in February after a swimming lesson. She was found 24 days later safe and well in the base of a divan bed after the biggest search in England for 30 years. The man whose flat she was in turned out to be Michael Donovan, the 39-year-old uncle of her mothers partner, who has been charged with abduction and imprisonment. He was taken to hospital on Sunday after a case of "serious self harm", (and we all know what that's a euphimism for!) but has since returned to Leeds prison.Her mothers partner, 22 year old Craig Meehan has since been remanded in custody on charges of possessing indecent images of children on his computer!Then Meehan's mother and sister, who live n...
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| Waking up to a Winter Wonderland in April! |
| 2008-04-06 06:05:41 |
We woke up to a real surprise this morning. Having let the dogs out before bed at 1am this morning with it raining a bit, imagine our surprise on getting up at 7am to find the place looking like something off a Christmas card. We must have had about 2 inches in just a few hours. They had given for some snow, but going on what we normally have here we had no idea it would be anything like this. It has been a glorious morning with blue skies & sun so although the snowing is thawing its just blowing off the trees and hedges rather than dripping. I have posted a few photos of the view from the back of the house to enjoy, click on the pics for a better view. (you may have to refresh your screen when you view these pics cause its returning people to the previous post rather than this one) &...
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| Pimp my Dish! |
| 2008-04-06 06:04:44 |
These great satellite dishes can be seen on buildings in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The project to 'pimp' the dishes is an initiative of a Dutch artist working with school children in an area of the city referred to as 'satellite city', inhabited predominantly by first and second generation immigrants. In case you were wondering, the hooks on the roof are used all over the city to move furniture in and out of apartments using a rope and pulley, as the staircases are too narrow. If anyone fancies 'Pimping' your own satellite dish SatelliteDishSticker.com sells stickers which allow the signal through, with designs from American stars (but not the stripes!) and Canadian maple leafs to sunflowers and cats. Although based in the Netherlands they do export to the USA...
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| My New Blog on Family History |
| 2008-04-06 06:04:03 |
I have just started a new blog on family history called Family History for Beginners which I am very excited about. Genealogy and family history is my main interest and I have been doing it for about 10 years. This site is my attempt at providing the information I would have liked to find when I first started. I have tried to make it as easy to understand as possible and will be adding regularly to it with a lot more information. Please check it out and and let me know what you think....
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| The Day P.Niss asked for a Raise |
| 2008-04-06 06:03:33 |
I, P.Niss hereby request a raise in salary for the following reasons:I do physical labor.I work at great depths. I plunge headfirst into everything I do.I do not get weekends or public holidays off.I work in a damp environment.I work in a dark workplace that has poor ventilation.I work in high temperatures.My work exposes me to contagious diseases. Sincerely,P. NissThe ResponseDear P.Niss:After assessing your request, and considering the arguments you have raised, the administration rejects your request for the following reasons: You do not work 8 hours straight.You fall asleep after brief work periods.You do not always follow the orders of the management team. You do not stay in your designated area and are often seen visiting other locations. You do not take initiative - you need to be p...
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| The Wit & Wisdom of Maya Angelou |
| 2008-04-06 06:03:08 |
In April, of last year, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her74th birthday. Oprah asked her what she thought of growing older.And there on television, she said it was "exciting." Regarding bodychanges, she said there were many occurring every day...like herbreasts.. they seem to be in a race to see which will reach her waist first.The audience laughed so hard they cried. She also said this...."I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today,life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.""I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/shehandles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangledChristmas tree lights.""I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents,you'll miss them wh...
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| Woman sits on toilet for 2 years! Skin grows around seat |
| 2008-04-06 06:01:47 |
Today I popped in to Ashley Ladd's Blog and came across a story that really amazed me. Apparently a woman has been sitting on her boyfriends toilet for two years and was found stuck to the toilet seat which her skin had grown around! This was in Ness City, Kansas, USA and its such an amazing story I had to share it with any of my readers who hadn't come across it already.Part 1 of Story Part 2 of Story...
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| Seeing is Believing! |
| 2008-04-06 06:01:27 |
When we tried this in the office one of the girls told us she could see Roy Wood of Wizard! - I don't think so!!!!...
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| Smart Arsed Answers of the Year Award 2008 |
| 2008-04-06 05:57:57 |
6th Place It was mealtime during a flight on a British Airways plane: 'Would you like dinner?' the flight attendant asked the man seated in the front row. 'What are my choices?' the man asked. 'Yes or no,' she replied. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------5th Place A flight attendant was stationed at the departure gate to check tickets. As a man approached, she extended her hand for the ticket and he opened his trench coat and flashed her. Without blinking an eyelid she said, 'Sir, I need to see your ticket not your stub.' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------4th Place A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at a branch of Sainsbury's but she couldn't find one big enough for her famil...
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| Sharing my sense of humour with you |
| 2008-04-06 05:57:03 |
I seem to be posting a lot of humorous stuff lately and not a lot of personal stuff. This is only because I am getting a lot of good stuff in my email and like to share it with you, my good friends. (Also I dont have a lot of time at the moment as I am working more on my new blog Family History for Beginners - feel free to drop in:-)I appreciate that not everyone is going to share my sense of humour, but I hope that you enjoy it. I only post what makes me laugh personally. It's all fairly harmless stuff, with only the odd joke that may not be in the best possible taste. I will continue to post anything I think will raise a smile among my readers and hope you continue to enjoy them....
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| Wayhaaa! I've won on the lottery!!!!!! |
| 2008-04-06 05:55:12 |
OK - dont get too excited! It was only 5 numbers and as it was in the office syndicate I have to share it with 11 other girls. But its still given me £200 ($400)I didn't have this morning. So as you can imagine we have all spent the day planning how we are going to spend our ill gotten gains. Hubby has already told me I have to pay for the drinks when we go to the Red Lion tomorrow night. Well that's not going to break the bank! Anyway after some discussion with hubby tonight I have decided to splash out on the garden (I can hear you all going Whaaat! how boring is that!!!!)I admit it kind of spoils the rock chick image, but actually I'll get more pleasure from that than any amount of new clothes. I'm strictly a jeans and t-shirt type of girl anyway.The problem is we stripped the garden l...
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| Happy Easter Everybody! |
| 2008-04-06 05:53:57 |
I am so looking forward to the Easter break, even though the weather forecast is pretty grotty. Of course the country is going to grind to a halt tomorrow because the roads will be gridlocked, most of the railways are closed for engineering works and the airports won't be able to cope with the sheer numbers trying to get away, due to the increased security measures! So anyone with any sense will stay at home, put the TV on, their feet up and just chill. We won't even be able to get out into the garden it's going to be so cold and miserable. Typical British Easter Bank Holiday weather in fact :-) The fact that it's so early this year, the earliest since 1913 I think I heard someone say the other day, doesn't help either. The only cheery thing is that at lea...
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| Were you born between 1930 and 1980? |
| 2008-04-06 05:49:53 |
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink w...
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| If you have sons you'll like this - and even if you don't! |
| 2008-04-06 05:48:45 |
Some interesting things you find out when you have sons, like:- 1.A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 200 m2 house to a depth of 10cm. 2. If you spray hair spray on dust balls and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite. 3. A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant. 4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 20 Kg boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 6m x 6m room. 5. You should not throw cricket balls up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a cricket ball a long way. 6. The...
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| Out of the mouths of babes! |
| 2008-04-06 05:47:38 |
A 1st grade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom with the 1st half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you. While reading, keep in mind that these are first-graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is a classic! 1. Don't change horses until they stop running. 2. Strike while the bug is close. 3. It's always darkest before Daylight Saving Time. 4. Never underestimate the power of termites. 5. You can lead a horse to water but How? 6. Don't bite the hand that looks dirty. 7. No news is impossible 8. A miss is as good as a Mr. 9. You can't teac...
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| Pink Elephant Joke - for which I apologise in advance! |
| 2008-04-06 05:46:07 |
But I couldn't resist :-)A frog goes into a bank and approaches the cashier. He can see fromher nameplate that her name is Patricia Whack. "Ms. Whack, I'd like toget a £5,000 loan to take a holiday."Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog sayshis name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay,he knows the bank manager.Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral.The frog says, "Sure. I have this", and produces a tiny porcelainelephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed.Very confused, Patty explains that she'll have to consult with thebank manager, and disappears into a back office.She finds the manager and says, "There's a frog called Kermit Jaggerout there, who c...
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| Shannon Found Alive! Missing Schoolgirl found inside bed |
| 2008-03-16 04:26:46 |
News reports are just coming in that missing 9 year old schoolgirl Shannon Matthews has been found alive. Shannon, from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire went missing 24 days ago, after being last seen leaving a sports centre after a swimming lesson on her way home. She never reached it, but apparently two 12 year old boys saw her sitting on a wall crying her eyes out. She has not been seen since. One of the biggest searches in the countries history has been going on ever since.It seems to be emerging that police broke in to a flat in Batley, 2 miles from Shannons house and found her in the divan base of a bed. The flat belongs to a local single man who according to reports, refused to let the police in. A 39 year old man has since been arrested. Shannon was seen being brought out of the flat in ...
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