Space Cadets 2
I was laughing with my friend Chopper today about the possibility of a sequel to the excellent Space Cadets show on Channel 4. The first bunch of would-be cosmonauts were fooled into thinking they'd entered orbit, when they were actually stranded in a simulator a few miles from Ipswich. If they were to repeat the programme, they'd certainly need contestants who were even more gullible than the original crew. But there were six or seven Star Trek movies, if memory serves me correct. Including that one where they go back in time to save the whale. That was my favourite. Followed by The Search for Spock.
12.20.05 @ 04:25 PM PDT [link]
The Ice Man Cometh
Went to a place called The Ice Bar in Heddon Street, London today. They serve vodka shots in a room that's chilled to -5 degrees celsius. It's taters in there, guv, I can tell you. And no mistake. You have to wear a big thermal suit with a Santa Claus type hood. I might have a couple of low-res mobile pictures to post in the next day or so.
12.20.05 @ 04:22 PM PDT [link]
Unusual spam update
Great subject header this morning: "warning - your neurological check up expires december 28th".
And there was me thinking that I had until the middle of January.
Ian's Hungarian dental spam (see earlier entries) will follow in the next day or so.
12.19.05 @ 04:17 AM PDT [link]
Misuse of the word 'emergency'
I was issued with this ticket when the machine on a local bus route had broken down. As you'll see, I've slapped the word "specimen" over the picture, so if you had half a mind to print it off and use it to con an inspector, I'm afraid it isn't going to wash. You'd be nicked and look pretty stupid. Especially if there was no emergency.
And I have to admit it was the use of the word 'emergency' that intrigued me in the first place. Although the potential loss of revenue from a broken ticket machine might have been a major crisis to the bus company, I wasn't quite sure it felt the same way to customers.
My sliding scale of emergencies would be as follows:
10 Nuclear holocaust/direct asteroid strike on earth
9 Melting of polar ice caps
8 Tsunami/famine/bird flu outbreak
7 Floods/gales/snow drifts
6 Pret a Manger closed
5 Cat stuck up a tree
4 Cat trapped on low-level roof of outhouse
3 Pret a Manger closed at a key time of day like lunchtime
2 Traffic lights stuck on red
1 Bus ticket machine damaged beyond repair
Imagine if Michael Buerk had tried to make an episode of 999 out of the bus ticket business. The reconstruction would have been too boring by far. "It seemed like just another day to bus driver John Grimshaw as he clocked on at the depot. Performing the final checks on his vehicle, a malfunction of some kind was the last thing on his mind. But within a few short minutes, something was to happen that would change his view of ticketing for the rest of his life..."
www.philwoodford.com
12.18.05 @ 02:28 PM PDT [link]