g7uk » Fun

Funny cuckoo clock

GS — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:06:58 +0000

A neighbour bought this silly cuckoo clock.

Decorated with badly-carved animals, it chimes at five to and twenty-five past the hour, loses seven minutes a day and finishes its routine with a comic rasping sound.

I think she paid £70 for it. But you can’t put a value on this kind of comedy.

Bingo-playing Manchester flashmob (video)

GS — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 19:31:31 +0000

At Manchester's latest flashmob event a crowd played bingo in Piccadilly Gardens.

Manchester flashmob tomorrow

GS — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:00:18 +0000

There will be a flashmob somewhere in Manchester city centre tomorrow lunchtime. I’m hoping to be there to shoot a video of whatever happens.

Help needed after the fire in Lever Street, Manchester on 30 April

GS — Sun, 13 May 2007 11:14:04 +0000

On 30 April, just four days after I wrote about the Basement Social Centre in Manchester city centre and said what a unique and absolutely spiffing place it was, a huge fire ripped through a building to the rear of it.
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Bye bye Operation Fundraiser

GS — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 18:38:27 +0000

The Manchester Pride website reports that Operation Fundraiser will be ‘will be hanging up its buckets’ this year.

Video-making on a budget

GS — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:48:43 +0000

Film-making can be an expensive hobby. Especially if you start to buy professional lights, backgrounds and other accessories.

The Power of Nightmares

GS — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 10:12:31 +0000

If you haven’t seen this fascinating three-part BBC documentary series, you can download it from the Internet Archive:

Part1 | Part2 | Part3

It explores ‘the origins in the 1940s and 50s of Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East, and Neoconservatism in America, parallels between these movements, and their effect on the world today.’

And it shows how politicians have used the terror threat to restore their power and authority in a disillusioned age.

It’s a brilliant use of archive film of all kinds, combined with interviews. Give it a look even if you don’t usually watch this kind of subject, because it’s interesting to see how Adam Curtis the producer combines such diverse visual material.

If you have problems playing MP4 files, just grab the free VideoLan player.

Why Guy Fawkes night is dreaded by many in inner-city areas of Britain

GS — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 03:18:19 +0000

In Britain, 5th November is Bonfire Night. When it’s traditional to let off fireworks and burn a dummy of Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up Parliament in 1605.

It’s supposed to be fun. A colourful spectacle. But for many people in inner-city areas this has become a time of year that they dread.

The other night, on some spare ground close to where I live, youths and children lit a large bonfire. It was close to houses. They used fireworks like guns, pointing them at head height and shooting them across the neighbourhood. Some of the kids were very young indeed and, though fascinated, were obviously afraid that they would be targeted and ‘shot’ by others.

The fire brigade arrived to put out the blaze but they seemed to be intimidated by the abusive youths. The fire crew didn’t leave the fire engine. In other areas there have been incidents where fire fighters were attacked.

They left and, soon after, returned accompanied by the Police.

The BritishPathe website has some vintage newsreel footage of children celebrating Bonfire Night in 1957 and 1959 at a cinema that is just a few hundred yards from this location. How things have changed.

A new excuse for being fat

GS — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 13:53:32 +0000

In The Times, Giles Coren comments on the suggestion that obesity is caused by pollution!

‘I HAVE HEARD some hilarious excuses from fat people in my time, but the one rolled out in the last item of yesterday’s Today programme managed to flabbergast even me…’ .

Funny and worth reading.

How George Bush helped North Korea get the Bomb

GS — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 18:19:09 +0000

Greg Palast explains how George Bush helped North Korea get the nuclear bomb.

In a nutshell, U.S. intelligence found that Saudi Arabia was funding Pakistan’s development of the bomb. They were told to back off (as we know, Bush is a big friend of the Saudis) and Pakistan’s Dr. Khan subsequently sold the technology to Libya and North Korea.