Gordon Brown ‘gets tough’ for Election 2010 with kung fu lessons [Video]
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is gearing up for next month’s General Election by taking martial arts classes in a bid to ‘toughen up’ his image. In his monthly address at 10 Downing Street, the Scottish supremo could be seen practising the new moves which may well keep him in power, at least if you believe the Labour spin.
Conservative leader David Cameron is sceptical of the move, claiming it’s ‘just another gimmick’ to win over voters. In a press conference from the moon, Cameron also told reporters they wouldn’t find his party indulging in such wacky stunts just weeks before the election.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg poured cold water over speculation Brown is adapting his delivery style to be more ‘YouTube-friendly’, stating: “Gordon Brown funny? Those words don’t exactly go together like ham and eggs.”
Google Street View sightseeing – Hindley/Wigan [Vlog]
Something a bit different today. I could have presented this guide to Wigan Borough on Google Street View in regular, written format, but instead decided to give the old vlogging a go.
Below (if you hit the ‘more’ link) you can find links to the ‘interesting’ locations featured in the video, plus a couple more thrown in there for good measure. If you’re wondering why most of them are in Hindley, it’s because this project was originally only supposed to concentrate on that town, but I decided to branch out to cover a wider area when I realised there wasn’t much going on.
As usual, please note comments in the video are made for comedy purposes and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.
Mythbusting: The origin of the 99 Flake ice cream
It’s the 98th day of the year, which means in just 24 hours ice cream vendors can legally serve a 99 Flake. Common knowledge has it that this icon of summers past is so called because that’s what it originally cost: 99 pence. This is not the case, as said ice cream complete with half-a-flake (of which it is impossible to eat 100%) has always cost upwards of £1.20.
Or maybe that’s just my ice cream man fobbing me off with half baked tales again – he’s quite prone to doing that. In fact, just last week he told me “you can’t stop rock and roll”. I know this to be a false statement as I have seen that series of Brainiac where they did so by destroying mono radios with flamethrowers and other such dangerous items.
There is, however, some truth in the “99p” myth. Before the days of modern currency, people would pay for a cornet with precisely ninety nine toenail clippings which, rather annoyingly, would have to be painstakingly counted out individually to ensure a fair deal was taking place. Unfortunately for the vendor, by the time he realised the customer gave him only 97 clippings, Little Jimmy would already have legged it and be three blocks away.
Facejacker (Channel 4, 16th April) Preview: Novak’s back!
Just over a year ago, Channel 4 officially commissioned a new show starring Retro Yakking’s favourite prankster, Kayvan Novak. At that point we weren’t exactly sure as to the precise nature of the project, only that it would include a myriad of new characters in the same vein as his critically acclaimed Fonejacker crank call cavalcade.
Promos have now confirmed that Facejacker, as it is known, will air on British screens a week on Friday (16th April), and include “real-life” versions of characters seen in Novak’s previous series. That’s right, prepare yourself for George Agdgdgwngo, Terry Tibbs and Mr Doovde in all their full-blown, genuine live action glory!
*Cue heavenly chorus complete with Mr Agdgdgwngo grinning away in the foreground*
The leery Terry appeared on Channel 4’s Easter Monday Comedy Gala alongside The One Show’s Christine Bleakley as one of the bits of filler in between acts to engage in a bit of ‘banter’. Props to the prosthetic department, who’ve obviously had their work cut out to faithfully recreate characters only previously seen in photofit format.
Google Street View Wigan finally online
In my general absence from the extended blogosphere, it seems I neglected to note the appearance of about ten million new towns on Google Street View, including many backwaters of North West England. Last year, I reported first-hand eyewitness sightings of the vans in the Wigan Borough, which can now be confirmed by the fact Wigan is finally on Google Street View. Yahay!
As you can imagine, I’ve been scouring the town to find myself, so far to no avail. For those on the lookout, I’ll be the one sat on the front porch in a deckchair stroking a gun. If you spot me, I shall award you a million points and my last Rolo. And I’ll gladly give you twice that plus a free weekend in Southport if you actually did any of this stuff to stand out from the crowd on Street View, especially since Google will probably have blurred you out or something. The spoilsports!
Rest assured, more SV-related mirth is on the way. In the meantime, why not take a virtual wander round the town and see what cool stuff you can find? See if you can top this green toupee I found lying in the road near Morrisons… yeah, I know it isn’t really a haripiece, but I like to tell myself it is because it’s funnier that way.