6 Dec 2010

HI HO SILVER I'M NOT WEARING A COAT.

Stereotypes? Love 'em or hate 'em there is no denying that sometimes there is just an iota of truth in them. Take us Geordies - it's rumoured that as a species you'll find us females dressed in next to nothing no matter what the weather, the men in short sleeved shorts with no coats. AND it's true (well not for all of us). I could take you to Newcastle city centre tonight where the temperature is below minus and we have over a foot of snow and I can guarantee that there would still be those dressed as if for the height of summer as the PHOTOGRAPHS (one of which can be seen below) show in the Mail On-line.

(Thanks to Husband dearest for the link to this one.)

Not very often that I include sports news much less use the 'f' word - don't worry I'm not about to swear, I'm talking football - I simply had to mention this.

The manager of a Cornish village football team has admitted that his side are 'probably the worst team in Britain' after they lost 11 games on the trot, conceded 227 goals, including a 55-0 thrashing. - Stephen Morris, the Guardian. (30/11/2010)

And so onto the offerings in Saturday's  DailyTelegraph.

Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill, I think that most of you will agree that the reactions of the next three people may have been ever so slightly OTT.

A husband installed a home-made device similar to a police taser gun on his front door to deter a neighbour from having an affair with his wife.
Alan Fletcher, 51, booby-trapped his house with circuit boards and electrodes capable of zapping anyone who crossed his  front door. (READ FULL STORY)

A man's house was flooded after workers used a ..... water jet to blast out an alarm clock stuck in a pipe.

And my favourite .....

A woman rang 999 (emergency services) to report the theft of a snowman.
The woman said she thought she should report it because she had used pound coins (whatever happened to using coal or currants?) for the eyes and teaspoons for the arms.
The woman began: "There's been a theft from outside my house. I haven't been out to check on him for five hours but I went outside for a smoke and he's gone."
The operator asked "Who's gone?" and the woman replied "My snowman. I thought that with it being icy and there not being anybody about, he'd be safe."
The operator asked her: "Do you mean an ornament?" The woman replied: "No, a snowman made of snow, I made hm myself. It ain't a nice road but you don't expect anybody to nick your snowman."
(Very funny on the face of it but as Chief Inspector Simon Black pointed out) "This call could have cost someones life if there was a genuine emergency and they couldn't get through."

And to end with, two short animal stories.

A 15-stone pot-belled pig was wrestled to a standstill by two police community support officers after going on the run.

An Australian has taken the notion that a man's best friend is his dog to a new level by marrying his pet.
Mr Guiso said in his vows "You're my best friend and make every part of my day better"

AND ...........

A video of a drunken, hallucinating Russian squirrel (click HERE to view) , has become an Internet hit.
The animated 'demon squirrel' clip, a warning about the effects of alcohol and vodka  in particular,  has been viewed more than a million times. (How I wish I knew just what said squirrel was saying.)

17 comments:

Shy said...

People do wear that sort of outfit during winter? For real? Wow, that's really awkward!

And many thanks for that squirrel vid. Hah, no wonder there are so many people watching it. And like you, I also wonder what the squirrel said.

Bleeding Healer said...

Oh boy that's so strange, but in the name of fashion and looking good I have seen men and women do that.However it has never made sense to me.
So funny the news were, I skipped sports not much into them, but the animals and the 911..oh boy!!!Thank you for the laugh..
world is filled with umm.."unique" people...
Much love.
BH

budh.aaah said...

Tracy hope you are feeling much better. Oh so how would the taser gun prevent the hubby from having an affair with the wifey uh? And yes people do misuse the emergency line to report the most inane of stuff. Meanwhile someone's life could go because they couldnt connect..why?? Well she lost those coins and two teaspoons hmm

Misha said...

Wow! That picture makes me feel cold.... Those women really don't feel the cold???

The last story was my favorite. Haha!

Su said...

I love British news. I really do. It makes me feel less wretched about US news. ;)

Also: Currants! Another good idea! I have a short story where my characters don't have any coal for their snowmens' eyes, but I've been hunting for alternatives. Thanks!

The Bookworm said...

Just looking at those girls makes me cold!
lol about the stolen snowman.

the squirrel creeps me out!
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

Betty Manousos said...

Strange but interesting news , as usual...thanks for sharing. :)
The 'demon squirrel' clip cracked me up. I really enjoyed it.
And Tracy, thank you so much for the invitation...I'm so touched!
We should meet up some day; we will make it happen.

Bear hugs!
B xx
X

Gina said...

LOL on the picture...but it doesn't surprise me really. You get some people like that (well not exactly like that) anywhere it gets hot or cold....they go to extremes without any real intention of doing so...but it certainly gives the rest of us a smile.

serendipity_viv said...

They showed the bit about the woman phoning the police about her lost snowman on the television. She was from Chatham. Figures!

Willa said...

Hilarirous!! I love love love this picture! I have to hand it to those girls, they really do what it takes to look good (or at least what they consider good-looking).

Suko said...

You are so funny! The title of your post drew me in right away.


I knew about high rates of alcohol use in Russia but not about the squirrels! Your readers who may watch the video (but don't read the article) may be interested in this: "Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, and President Medvedev often try to set an example by being photographed sipping tea."

Oddyoddyo13 said...

How did those girls stand that kind of cold?! Simply amazing...

Haha, I believe my favorite was the guy who installed that thing similar to a taser gun. :)

Kelly said...

You find the best stuff!! I've shared the squirrel clip with some others.

I think the girls in the snow are crazy for dressing like that! They HAVE to be cold!! What kind of point does that prove??

Are you feeling better now?

Amrit said...

AWESOME post. I can't stop laughing. Very good collection.

About stereotype, I agree there is an element of truth. If you visit my page, on the left frame, see

"7 Habit of Non Resident Indians: That Need Change"

It is about first generation Indian (people from India) settled in the USA.

chitra said...

Nice post PW, Loved reading abt. the squirrel. heading to see the fun.Hope you and pooter are better

dr.antony said...

I liked the story of the jealous husband.A chastity belt would have been easier!

Alyce said...

I know, the squirrel video makes me wish I spoke Russian.