18 Oct 2010

WHATS NEW(S)?

This weeks newspapers.
My apologies that this is such a long post.

Peg - A 'model' pet until left alone.

Is your pooch's bowl half-full OR half-empty.

Scientists have confirmed what many pet owners have long suspected: some dogs have a more gloomy outlook on life than others. This unusual insight into canine psychology emerged from a study by Bristol University researchers into how dogs behave when separated from their owners. Dogs that were generally calm when left alone were also found to have a 'dog bowl half-full' attitude to life, while those that barked, relieved themselves and destroyed furniture appeared to be more pessimistic, the story concluded. - Ian Sample, The Guardian (Tuesday 12/10/2010). Click HERE for full story.


And now for several articles from Friday's (15/10/2010) Daily Telegraph.

Remember me telling you about the £96,000 bill for the cleaning of the Queen's chandeliers? Now we are informed:-

The Queen has cancelled this year's Christmas party for her staff due to the 'difficult financial circumstances' facing the country.

Not exactly a bestseller, I for one am glad to read that, Britain's former prime minister, Tony Blair's memoirs have gained some recognition.

Tony Blair's memoirs have been nominated for the Literary Review's Bad Sex Award.
The least coveted prize in literature is traditionally awarded to a novelist, but the judges have made an exception for the former PM and his toe-curling reminiscences about a night of passion with his wife Cherie.
"That night she cradled me in her arms and soothed me; told me what I needed to be told; strengthened me," he wrote in A Journey. "On that night of 12 May 1994, I needed that love Cherie gave me, selfishly. I devoured it to give me strength. I was an animal following my instinct..."  - Anita Singh. Click HERE for full article.

Hardly romantic is it? Unlike this next article in which a television technician searches for his real life Cinderella.

An Australian tv technician has begun a Cinderella-style hunt for his Indian 'Princess' ancestor in Delhi, attempting to trace her and her descendants using only a pair of silk slippers handed down through generations.
Eric Ronald has released photographs of the slippers and some sketchy details about his family's colonial history in India as part of an appeal to help him find his long-lost 'royal family'. - Dean Nelson. Click HERE to view those slippers and read the full story.

I've heard some pretty good excuses in my time but this (as my nana used to say) just about takes the biscuit*

Airline meals have long been lambasted for being bland - but research suggests that the chefs may not be to blame.
A study has found that high levels of background noise can diminish the sensitivity of people's palates, making food taste less appealing. - Murray Wardrop. READ MORE/ GO VISIT A who also has a post about this very article.

And so onto Saturday's (16/10/2010) articles.

And talking of food, remember the three-course dinner chewing gum in Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory in which anyone getting past the tomato soup and roast beef stages to desert changes into a giant blueberry? Well! ......

A scientist believes he has found the secret of creating it.
Dave Hart hopes to turn author Roald Dahl's crazy invention into reality, without the side effects says the answer lies with NANOTECHNOLOGY. - Daily Express.

My perfect job (sighs).

Eating chocolate for a living might (might!!!!) sound like a dream job but it could become a reality for one cocoa-lover and even pay up to £35,000 a year.
Green & Black's, the chocolate company, is looking for a taste assistant (pick me, pick me) to help come up with new flavour combinations, test new products and travel the world sourcing ingredients. - Laura Roberts, The Daily Telegraph. READ MORE.

Guilty as charged.

When brake cables were systematically damaged on seven cars, police launched an urgent investigation and street patrols - but were astonished when they found the culprits.
Instead of gangs of vandals attacking the cables and cutting phone lines to homes, forensic tests showed ????? (click HERE to find out what) were causing the damage. - Victoria Ward, The Daily Telegraph.

And finally just one more article that I simply could not resist.

Plumber Colin Furze has built the fastest mobility scooter in the world - it can whiz along at 69mph compared with a normal top speed of 8mph. (Don't worry I don't think I'll be doing this speed in Madge - at least not yet.) - The Sunday Telegraph (17/10/2010).

*If something takes the biscuit, it is the absolute limit.

24 comments:

Trac~ said...

Good morning my friend - such interesting articles and I had to LOL about the Tony Blair one and his "romantic" story (NOT) - HA! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Have a great day my friend! xoxoxo :o)

Misha said...

Hmm.. I can guarantee that the Australian TV technician won't find any Princesses here in Delhi...
Had a good laugh as usual!I really look forward to your posts.

Misha

serendipity_viv said...

I am surely qualified to be a chocolate tester. I could do that in my sleep.
I am now seeing Tony Blair in a whole new light.

dr.antony said...

Oh,,too many events to comment on!

I seriously doubt the emotions in dogs.Some dogs do have very sad looking eyes,by virtue of their shape and position.Those eyes never look happier at any time.There are experts who also think that what dogs show us are all tricks they have learned to make us happy.That is their bread.

I thought about applying for the post of chocolate tester.What a wonderful job! Does experience in life and pain qualify for the post?I am with holding the application,and would recommend you. I can look around for a wine tasters post.

And who is interested in this food in flight!There is not enough time to drink and sleep!

Sanand said...

The chocolate tester's job is definitely tempting:)

Mary (Bookfan) said...

I'd like to apply for the chocolate tester's job.

8 mph would be fast enough for me. 69 mph would cause my heart to fail!

Melissa Gill said...

How can I get a job as a chocolate tester? And what about a mobility scooter that can go 69mph? That's just crazy. Oh, and has Tony Blair ever heard of TMI?

Brenda Drake said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. It's nice to meet you as well. I've enjoyed reading all the zany articles on your site. There's some great material for novels in some of them. Such as the Squirrel Gang. What a fun children book that would make. Great post! :D

chitra said...

I would love to be the taste master for chocolate factory :) and I also liked the hunt for Cindrella .

R. Ramesh said...

ya as sanand says the chocolate tester's job is definitely tempting:)

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

awww, those poor half empty dogs :( That's pretty sad! Wow, even the queen is having financial woes, that's bad!

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

I wonder if it was Colin Furze who I bumped into a few weekends ago... I was walking up a street when a man on a mobility scooter came quite fast around a corner and straight into me. I apologised and he said "That's OK" and it was only when I walked off that I realised it was his fault and not mine anyway!

awitchtrying said...

I would ride the scooter at 69 mph to get to the next town where I could investigate new flavors to go with chocolate!

Betty Manousos said...

That one about Tony Blair..ah ha!!

Aww and I would love to be a chocolate tester.
Interesting articles, Tracy, as usual. Thanks so much for sharing this. :)

Have a great week ahead!

Love and hugs!

B xx

Patti said...

The slipper story sounds like it wound make a good book. Maybe he should be calling pixar.

Nina said...

If living chocolate for a living really was real I would quite my study asap. ;) How fun would that be! But it must be white chocolate!

Gina said...

Of all the fun/funny posts in this one...the dog one gets me the most. Really? So they are saying one or two of my dogs are pessimistic? Hmm, I still think he just thinks he's showing me what's for for not taking him with me.

Oddyoddyo13 said...

Squirrels?! Now that's just crazy...I don't own a car, nor do I think AZ has any native squirrels...so I'm good! Haha, great post. :)

Kelly said...

I always love these articles!!

I don't know about pessimism in dogs, but I do know that events early in their lives can cause personality issues. We have one rescue who has severe problems. (bless her heart) Anyone who has lived with several dogs knows they have distinct personalities.

Oh...and around here we say something really takes the "cake".

StarTraci said...

Why is it that the Queen's staff has to lose their Christmas party in response to the hard times? That doesn't seem to be a sacrifice for the Queen but rather her hard-working staff.

My husband just got a scooter -- I'm not sure if I want him to know that there is now one that goes 69 mph!

:-)
Traci

brizmus said...

ohhh, the queen annoys me.

I wonder if there is anything that can be done to make the poor sad dogs happier.

SG said...

chocolate tester? Cool. I can handle that. The one about Tony Blair is interesting.

Tessa Quin said...

I'll take that chocolate eating job! The first hundreds of bucks would go into exercising equipment, but still!

The Bookworm said...

Great articles. If the doggie one is true, my chihuahua is content...lol. He doesnt bite furniture or relieve himself in the house when I'm at work.
And thats TMI from Tony Blair...lol

I think airline food is gross no matter what altitude.

http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/