When I lived in Sydney and went to work every day, I was what one might call ‘well-groomed’. (Okay, technically, I was what one might call ‘groomed to within an inch of my life’). At the time, I never gave my intensive self-cleaning-and-preening a second thought. It was as much a part of my routine as eating or sleeping.   I had a job. I worked in an office building. Every other person that worked there did exactly the same thing. Looked exactly the same way. That the...

I read a while ago about the concept restaurants “Dinner In The Dark”, and although there are none located anywhere near us, I was intrigued by the concept. Basically, there are no lights at all in the restaurant, and the staff are visually impaired. Upon arrival, you are guided to your table and seated by the maitre’d, the wait staff read you the days’ menu choices, and you make your selection. (Of course, Braille menus are available on request). Imagine it: yourself and your comp...

I was watching the (Australian) television show 'The Panel' last night, and the subject of 'mooning' came up. Specifically, they were discussing the fact that an Australian Olympic swimming medalist had begun to pull his track bottoms down during an athletes' celebration with the intention of 'mooning' the other athletes, and had been 'removed' for questioning about the incident. Apparently, Olympic officials has not been sure what the swimmer was 'planning to do'. As 'mooning' is kn...

Art imitating life ?. Uh, make that death . Although I can't say I have much interest at all in art auctions, I found a recent example of art imitating life that I loved in spite of myself. British auctioneers 'House and Son' recently auctioned a figurine of Anne Boleyn, 2nd wife of Henry VIII, who was beheaded in the Tower of London in 1536. After the successful bid was made, a member of the auction house staff, whilst attempting to remove the figurine from display, accidentally k...

Snail sex. No, this is not about some weird sexual slow-breathing palaver for humans. It’s about sex, snail style. Snails, as in molluscs. Slimy, icky little molluscs ... ew ... but I digress. The common garden snail, Helia aspersa (native to Europe and also found in California and South America), is a hermaphrodite, meaning that it can assume either a male or female role in reproduction as required. (Yes, of course this story gets better). Garden snails court from between 15 minutes ...

One-in-a-million miracles happen, on average, 295 times per day in America alone , says Michael Shermer in this months’ Scientific American “Skeptic” column. “ I cannot always explain such specific incidents ” Shermer writes, “but a principle of probability called 'the Law of Large Numbers' shows that an event with a low probability of occurrence in a small number of trials has a high probability of occurrence in a large number of trials ”. Shermer explains how, in their book ‘Deb...

(This was sent to me by a friend and I can't find the original source, but I thought it was worth passing on. Mig)   Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life...

I have a secret confession to make: I love nerdy men. I love men who study stuff and take serious looking notes in cafes whilst frowning into huge textbooks. I can’t help it !. I love men who blurt out (sound but embarrassingly boring) theories at dinner parties !. I also love men who know a lot of trivial but interesting facts, and who like watching nature and animal documentaries. I love men who wear cardigans, who are too busy thinking to do anything about their gut, and who...

  I recently overheard my husband honking and sniggering and asked him what he was laughing at. Incapable of speech, he merely gestured to the television screen - upon which was a woman dressed in a cow suit singing and dancing about the stage, clutching at her rubber ‘udder’ as she did so. At first suspecting some awful ‘arty’ remake of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’, I was astonished to find that I was in fact viewing an actual contestant on one of the ‘Idol’ shows. Now, ...

  Of the many things that astonish me about modern ‘love’, the one that gets me the most is the ability of a diamond engagement ring to turn a nice, everyday woman into the-bitch-bride-from-hell.   I’ve been a bridesmaid on numerous occasions, and, without exception, as I clutched a damp tissue and waved goodbye to the bride and her brand new groom as they departed for their exotic honeymoon, I have thought exactly the same thing: “I’m so glad you’re leaving the co...

    Just when you thought it was safe to go back to your blog ...   Here is my question to you, dear reader, regarding my dear friend the blog spammer ... if it has to annoy me with its’ endless blah links and ads, then don’t you think the dopey bollocks could at least have the decency to make some fugging sense ?.   I can't believe it has 'Penis Erection' as one of it's links. Why must it torture me ?. Why ?. ‘Penis Erection’ ???.   &...

The ‘proper’ terms for the ‘detailed causes of death’ that are recorded on official paperwork are, despite their morbid subject matter, actually kind of funny. It stands to reason that a vague “motor vehicle accident” or “gunshot wound” is not enough information for statisticians, courts or government records. The death certificates issued for public record contain brief factual descriptions on a need-to-know basis, yet there exists an expanded list of ‘detailed causes of death’ that ...

I hate yellow cars, and it seems I am not alone !. Initially, I had no colour preference for a car. I was 16. I just wanted one that moved. My Toyota Corolla was sunshine yellow. Bright, bilious, happy, sick-making yellow. I loved it. For three days. Then a drunk guy smashed into it. It got repaired, but it happened again. The thing was like a magnet. It was the most obviously bright object in any given setting. I think it made angry people even angrier. It was like driving a moving ...

i have a rather burning question for the big fake boob loving males of the world ... what exactly is it about big fake boobs that you like ?. is it the fact that a woman can exist regardless of this modern society who can still be made to feel shitty enough about herself to allow her body to be mutilated to please a man ? is it the fact that a woman dumb enough to do that will also be likely to be dumb enough to let you screw her in every way ? maybe it's the way those melon...

i’d heard the controversy about the site ‘virtual confessional’, so i thought i’d keep an open mind about the possibility of ‘absolution online’ and see for myself. now, i’m not even entirely convinced that the site itself is not a hoax, although people do claim it’s genuine, i really have my doubts. anyway, ladies and gentlemen, at 'absolution online' you can click ‘virtual confessional’ and then ‘select your sin’ from an online list conveniently categorised into sin sub-headings, such ...