Rape

A field of rape. Very picturesque.

And not nearly as infuriating as bloody Virgin Media - for a couple of days, they appear to have had ache or proxy problems.  It getting damned annoying !

120 California

Well, that's what the sign says.

...and the significance of the baskets of freshly laundered towels ?     Beats me.

( Sorry. not very talkative. Spent the evening dealing with an irate...bloke...whose returned something I sold on eBay that he's convinced is dead. Works perfectly for me.)

Bonus - who needs turning rotor blades ?

Eastern European Peasants

With today's furore over Gordon Brown ( or if you're a Daily Mail reader, Gordy Bottler McBroon) and his response to questions about Eastern Europeans in Britain, I thought I'd just on the bandwagon with a positive image of some Eastern Europeans

Here we have Bogdan and Mischa, two hardworking farmers who have worked every day of their lives, and never sponged off the state. A product of a strong community, centred on the church. Just the sort of people that the UKIP and BNP would love to keep well away from this Green and Septic Isle.

Bonus.  Anyone else chuckle at Gillian Duffy's question "You can't say anything about immigrants. All these eastern Europeans - where are they coming from?".

Bonus Two : 

Created by Oatmeal

March Of The Ash

Now, I know this is supposed to be Tedious Tuesday, but this one is both topical and possibly interesting.

Europe was paralysed (© Daily Mail) by the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull emitted vast cloud of ash. This slide appears to have been taken in Hawaii, and another volcanic outpouring. 

I'm sure a vulcanologist could point out the difference between Eyjafjallajökull's ash eruptions, and Hawaii's creeping ash wall, but I can't.

Bonus - Inexpilcable Photo of the Day - Buddhist Monk in  Dodgem

Rural French Scene

Possibly an outtake from "A Year in Provence", but just a nice restful view of the village of some quiet back-water.

Bonus - Japanese Posters for American Car Movies  Ronseal.

A View of Brown Nothingness

From the set "Lloret de Mar, 1968" and is another of the "Easter Holiday, School Coach Trip to Spain" series.

It may have been The Summer of Love, but as these two lovely girls show, the reality for the general population was still Crimplene, sensible shoes and socks.

Here, the class takes a break from beaches and boys, enjoying the lush (?) valleys of the inland country.

Bonus : Courtesy of B3TA's Damocles...

Penelope's Platters

Penelope is famous for the impressive spread she lays on, and when it's for the Surbiton And District Amateur Operatic Society, she really excels herself. Perhaps this spread will be the one that secures her the lead role in HMS Pinafore, rather than that snooty Mrs Agnews at No 38 (I mean, she uses pre-prepared canapes from Tesco ! the nerve of it !!)

Bonus - as The Polyphonic Spree went down so well on Thursday.....

Two Mermaids

Yes, proper mermaids. Half female (upper) half Fish (lower). You''ll have to trust me on this.

The Happy Bride and Groom

I almost typed The Bride and Goon, but that chap looks far too much like a trainee solicitor to be  a Grytte-Pype Thynne or BlueBottle.

If  the mention of those two names leaves the reader with a furrowed brow of incomprehension, I'd direct them to here

Bonus - If you're a fan of great but odd music (Hi Reb) I urge you to try this vid. It's Lully

The Palm Court Rooms, Bruge

After yesterday's hideously awful slide, it's a relief to get back to just plain odd slides.

Bonus - The Visit East Perthshire game. Mmmmm.    Tempting.

Another Victim of....The Beast

Who'd Have Thunk It?

The Slide Guy blog has reached 666 posts, and I thought I'd mark the occasion with a truly hellish beast of a slide. You may recognise the subject as Milton Jefferson, but if you did...you must be very VERY sad.

So, what sort of numpty actually keeps slides like this? Me, obviously, but why on earth didn't Maude and Milton just chuck this slide out when it came back ?

Bonus 1 - A Different Home - WANT!

Bonus 2 - Surgeon was 'surprised' after accidentally cutting off man's testicle

Three Blackpool Pepperpots

The Monty Python team seemed to have come up with the "pepperpot" name, referring to the "little old wifeys" dressed up in the strange long heavy tweedy coats that seem to have disappeared nowadays.

And here we have three of them, enjoying a grim day out at Blackpool, the Las Vegas of Lancashire. Thick wool coats,  mackintoshes, flat caps and grey overcast weather. But what....no whippets ?

On the pier are adverts for a few performers - Modley, Don Arrol and Julian Jorg.  Forgotten names them all, but what's this - a quick Google throws up this eBay sale. Spooky or what?

Bonus - For all you iPhone users...

Harold's Duck Obsessions

This is Harold. Harold has a problem.
For years, Harold has spent is weekends coaxing ducks within reach, then stuffing the little blighters into his rucksack.
What he does with them, isn't really fit for publishing in this blog. However, the Chinese Restaurant does a very economical Crispy Fried Duck, so I have my suspicions.
Bonus - I was reminder of The Kersal Massive recently.  I wonder what they're up to now. Stuck in jail? Married? Famous ??

An Afternoon at the Pool

"Hey kids. We don't need to head off to that snooty Country Club do we ?   We can have fun in our on garden, can't we?   I'll go and fetch the pool from the garage, we'll have fun without those snobby, black-balling folks at The  Club".

Bonus - A Game, of sorts. Regarding the Polyphonic Spree.  Typically infuriating and charming.

Trevor and Edna's 50th

Ah, so that's why Trevor got lucky with Edna. It's their Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary, and they're opening their presents.  Nice.

Bonus 7 Games You Can Play With a Brick

Uncle Trevor's Lucky Night

He always was a bit of a "Leg Man", and today...he luck is in.  Nice to see the dual-duty floor - for those youngsters out there, that's a Shuffleboard arena marked out. 

Bonus - For Sensei Arkangel - Taekwondo Fail

Bonus Too - Smelly Cat / Meth Lab

The Blue Bull ????

I could understand The Blue Bell, The Bluebell, or even The Blue Ball, but "The Blue Bull".  Curious. Very curious.

This one came from a box of slides of someone's trip back to The Old Mother Country (Eire) but you could probably guess the location from the place-names.

Bonus - Undoubtedly, one of the saddest cookery websites I've seen. Microwave Cooking For One.

Not convinced ?   How many websites devote a page to reheating a Frankfurter?

Bonus - Art Attack - Adolf

Umm...It's....ah....This !

Yes, there it is, in all it's glory.  And it's one of the best of its type I've ever seen. Clearly the work of a master.

So...what do You think it is ?

Bonus : And I thought my house was a mess, but this one...

...and Delightful Fruit-Hats

Perhaps in future years, they'll get the full Carmen Miranda headgear, but as Werner Herzog said, "Even Dwarfs Started Small."

Still. there could be worse things to adorn your body with...

Bonus : Ummm    what?   Sexy bear in a negligee?

Sandstone School

One for all you architecture fans out there. You know who you are.

Bonus : Daily Mail Cancer Quiz

Family Fashion Flop

Arran wool, Tank Top ?   Check

Boys' Red Trousers?  Check

Wide-Collared Shirt?    Check

Purple Cords ?      Check

Unconvincing Syrup ?     Check

Father with "Just Shoot Me" look?   Check

Welcome to The Seventies

Bonus : Man gets himself waxed for the love of humanity

It's the little things you notice

I scanned this, and thought that it was another Don Draper / Mad Men era image and quite a pleasant one at that. Nothing wrong with women in swimsuits I'd opine...if I was a sexist bloke.

But preparing the slide for blogging today, I was struck by a couple of small things.

1. That's a bitching water-slide in the background.

Nowadays, the Daily Mail would be wingeing about Elf n Safety...I mean it's so high, and there nothing to stop the young and/or stupid from falling off it. Tough. That's just the way the 1960's were.

2. Why is he wearing gloves ?

Is he an undercover Custom's Inspector?  Is he an off-duty butler?   I doubt we'll ever know.

Bonus - "How a fish almost destroyed my childhood"

Keep Practising

Keep practicing, and perhaps in 20 years, you'll be almost as good as Tiger Woods was at our age.

Or maybe not.

Bonus : Monstrous Airplanes

Now, There's Something...

...you rarely see nowaday.

No, not two buses travelling on time.

I mean the Cross-Dressing City Investment Banker, riding into "The Square Mile", Side-Saddle, on a Grey Gelding called Trevor.  I guess it must be a masonic thing.

'ere. Ain't the streets quiet?

Bonus 1 - A Masterclass in Caravan-Towing.

Bonus 2 - Man in hospital after rare wombat attack

Educational, but dull.

Some slides from an educational set turned up, but most were in too poor a condition to scan. But this one was.

Pity it turned out to be utterly tedious...making it ideal for Tedious Tuesday.

Not Tedious : Weird Girls of Iceland

Dundee, and the Tay Rail Bridge

As any film buff know, the concrete council housing estates of Dundee have stood in for the architecture of Soviet Russia. 

What's less well known is that the Tay Rail Bridge provides an excellent 5/8th scale representation of the Golden Gates Bridge  in San Francisco.   By careful shooting, the Aberfoyle Nuclear Power Station is just out of shot, and the illusion will fool 90% of the audience.

Bonus : Teach your geek kids the A-Z of Comic Books

Bonus 2 : ZBIGNIEW RYBCZYNSKI - Tango      Viewers of a certain edge will dread the words "Cutting Edge Eastern-European Animation", but this.... well...

Flower

Just when you think you knw what to expect - a surprise.   A Nice Flower Shot.

Just to celebrate a lovely Easter Sunday.

Bonus :  to Mark the continued eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, here's a selection of other active volcanoes.

Springfield Wine Circle

Just about to try a rather cheeky Norwegian Chardonnay. That spittoon is likely to get a good work-out.

Interesting - Why records DO all sound the same?

Geek Toys - 2010

And now, on stage, it's.....

...it's The Communards, from another dimension !

Actually, it's from a series of Herbert M Munroe Elementary School slides, but there's a strange vibe to these guys. A front man taking centre stage and the other guy, operating a small set of electronic gubbins. It could be anyone of a dozen early 1980's electro-pop outfits.

Except, transported to mid 1960's rural Mississippi. Playing to a school hall full of confused teens. Accompanied by the odd looking, but vocally amazing girl.

Yeah, that's what the picture says to me.

Bonus 1 - As promised, an April calendar to use as a backdrop.

Bonus 2 - Quizarray - Nostalgia and quizzes from B3TA-Bloke Monkeon.

...avec ear

Hey look, it's that bloke. The one with the ear. Or without an ear.

Yeah ! Van Goff. But he's got an ear. I thought he was supposed to have hacked one off. But he's still got one.

Maybe he had two on that side before.

Bonus - American Tea-baggers. Not slaves to proper spelling.

More here.

April calendar tomorrow. I hope.