NHS backlash: Scratch that itch: Digital curriculum: Royal fancy dress: Canadian stress balls: Snap a snap: and the Amazon walkway.

A touch of frost, more than a whimsy of wind and a smidge of cloud at the Castle this morn, the stock of fat teenagers for the furnace is running low and I am still catching up on sleep.

The Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition’s “reform” of our NHS

Is still under attack; this time by “an influential group of MPs”; their main concern seems to be that the plan to restructure the NHS in England and devolve more power to GPs was making it more difficult to achieve the target of £20bn efficiency savings by 2014-15.

And that it more often creates disruption and distraction that hinders the ability of organisations to consider truly effective ways of reforming service delivery and releasing savings."

Not a mention of patients....

But pop over to Jobbing Doctor’s blog it seems that the sleeping GPs have finally received the kiss of the Prince and are realising just what a balls up this is making of the dear old lady, have a read it will make you think...

Staying on the health-ish thing

Scientists have found that the ankle is the most satisfying spot to scratch, according to a research team who claim they are the first to compare the sensation of scratching on different areas of skin.

In the study, reported in the British Journal of Dermatology, healthy male and female volunteers aged 22 to 59 were made to itch by rubbing them with cowhage, a plant with tiny hairs that irritate the skin.

The itches were induced on three parts of the body – forearm, ankle and back. For five minutes participants were banned from scratching, while being asked to record how itchy they felt at each spot.

Then the researchers scratched each location themselves with a laboratory brush, to ensure a consistent technique. The volunteers were asked how pleasurable the sensation was.

Results showed that the itch was felt most intensely at the ankle, and that was also the spot where the pleasure of scratching was felt most keenly and persisted longest.

  

They obviously haven’t discovered the ring around Uranus....

 

East to the bit below Kim Jong more than IL’s place

South Korea, one of the world's highest-rated education systems, aims to consolidate its position by digitising its entire curriculum.

By 2015, it wants to be able to deliver all its curriculum materials in a digital form through computers. The information that would once have been in paper textbooks will be delivered on screen.

South Korea's Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Ju-Ho Lee, said that his department was preparing a promotion strategy for "Smart Education", focusing on customised learning and teaching.

The project, launched during the summer, will involve wireless networks in all schools to allow students to learn "whenever and wherever", as well as an education information system that can run in a variety of devices including PCs, laptops, tablets and internet-connected TVs.

 

It would never work in Blighty, especially with BTs damp damaged network....

And Kate Middleton’s mummy and daddy

Have launched a range of outfits for "adult occasions" on their party goods website according to a British tabloid.

The Party Pieces firm, owned by the Duchess of Cambridge's parents Michael and Carole Middleton, offers a mini-skirted French maid outfit and a female pirate fancy dress costume under a section entitled adult occasions.

The site (www.partypieces.co.uk) shows pictures of the pirate outfit with stockings and a slit skirt and also advertises a short spotted "ladybug" dress and Superman outfit.

There is also a blow-up Sumo outfit described as "the funniest fancy dress costume you can find," the Flailing Sail reported.

Is that Pippa modelling the pirate outfit?

Over to the left and up a fair way

Canada's military -- facing belt-tightening, a spy scandal and having recently completed a nine-year combat mission in Afghanistan -- on Friday ordered 20,000 stress balls.

It says it needs the malleable, hand-squeezable toys designed to relieve stress by the end of March, before the start of a new fiscal year, according to a website that advertises government contracts.

Little other information about the stress ball order was provided, except that the rubber balls must be "orange."

Won’t that clash with the uniforms....?

Across to Pussy land and down a few fathoms

Russell Easton was snapping a Tiger shark in the Bahamas when it took a snap at him. “I was looking through the viewfinder of the camera when I suddenly saw this huge mouth and teeth,” said the 42-year-old conservationist.

“Sharks bite because that is how they find out what something is.

“It had its mouth wide open and was about to bite me, but bit the camera ­instead. That gave me a few vital seconds to swim away.”

Despite his lucky escape Russell, from ­Newcastle upon Tyne, is aiming to return to Cat Island to photograph more sharks



I do like an optimist...

And finally:

Left a bit and down a smidge

There are plans afoot to build a science centre and six-mile (9.6km) walkway through the rainforest in the heart of the Amazon, with the British organisers hopeful that "Avatar" director James Cameron will come on board the eco-project.

The $10 million site will serve as a meeting point for scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens and universities, as well as a tourist attraction, The (London) Sunday Times reported.

It will also provide jobs for local Brazilian tribes who will take an estimated two years to construct the centre and walkway in Roraima, an isolated province in northeast Brazil.

"This will be the first scientific research centre to be built in the jungle proper," Robert Pasley-Tyler, from the Amazon Charitable Trust, which is backing the scheme, said.

The site will be designed by Marks Barfield Architects, the firm behind the London Eye and the treetops walkway in the UK's Royal Botanic Gardens.

Very bleedin eco-carving a six mile “road” through the forest...

 

That’s it: I’m orf to check out climate change hedgehogs.

And today’s thought:

Angus

Up your insurance: Pickles poleaxes Pinewood: Boney land: Bull surfing: A bird in the Bombardier: The World’s worst Tat “artist”?: and a Cupid Stunt.

Gale is hanging around at the Castle this morn, and I daren’t even think where Dawn’s crack is, his Maj has discovered the joy of consuming odd things in the garden and then puking on my lap to show me what he ate.

And I managed to catch up on another few years sleep yester aftermorn.

I see that in “austerity” Blighty

Insurers are charging jobless people more for car insurance, Research with three brokers for the BBC found that car insurance premiums averaged 30% more for those out of work but could be up to 63% higher.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said data showed unemployment was an additional risk for insurers.

AA Insurance Spokesman Ian Crowder reckons that "Unemployed people are likely to be distracted because of their circumstances, likely to be driving along unfamiliar roads and attempting to find specific addresses in search of job interviews."

Piss Poor Policy...

And after U-Turn Cam spouted his usual bollocks about supporting Blighty’s film industry

Pinewood studios where the James Bond films were shot had planned to build a £200m complex on the 105 acres that adjoin its site. It would have offered 1,400 homes for those working on films, and permanent locations from 17 cities around the world for shooting movies.

But fat Pratt Eric Pickles, Communities and Local Government Minister, refused to grant planning permission for Project Pinewood on the grounds that "The loss of openness would not only be visually apparent, but would all but destroy the concept of the site as part of open Green Belt land."

A spokesman for the local government department said: "Just because the Prime Minister may think it is a good idea, you can't get round the law."

The mind boggles...

Right a mile or twenty two

A French theme park is being planned in honour of Napoleon Bonaparte, almost 200 years after his death.

“Napoleonland”, the brainchild of former French minister and history buff Yves Jégo, is being touted as a rival to Disneyland – assuming, that is, it can gather the £180 million needed to leave the drawing board.

The plan is to build the unlikely amusement park on the site of the brilliant but doomed French leader’s final victory against the Austrians in the Battle of Montereau in 1814 just south of Paris.

The 1815 Battle of Waterloo, in which the Duke of Wellington ended Napoleon's rule in France, could be recreated on a daily basis with visitors perhaps even able be able to take part in the re-enactments.

  

That’ll be a short day then...

Right even further

Each August, the rural Pathanamthitta villages of Southern India come alive with a festival dedicated to the harvest known as Maramadi. After the harvest concludes, yoked bulls are sent charging down a football field-sized rice paddy soaked in a 1/2 foot of water.

These crazed bulls are then chased down and surfed around the paddy by brave, half-naked participants in a kind of rugged chariot race with much more dirt. Most participants begin by holding onto the rope attached to the bulls, and move to hang onto the tail when their surfing begins.

Think I’d be “crazed” if someone shoved their arm up my arse as well (see pic).

Dahn a fair bit

A Japanese Coastguard patrol plane narrowly avoided mid-air disaster when it was hit by an albatross.

The Bombardier DHC8-315 was flying 300 metres over the East China Sea when the bird smashed a one-metre wide hole in the aircraft.

But despite the dead bird being lodged in the plane’s nose, the pilot was able to fly for another hour on to his destination in Ishigaki, near Taiwan.

Nine crew members were on board the three-hour flight from Naha, on the Pacific Island of Okinawa. No one was injured.

So a bird in a Bombardier is worth two in the cockpit then.

Somewhere over the wet thing

There lurks “Synyster Ink” who is to tattooing what the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition is to Government.

“Synyster Ink” even has his own Facebook page Synyster Ink’s tattoos on Facebook where you can see his “work”. 

Heed the warning….

And finally:

Right to the sub continent

A video has emerged on the internet, apparently shot in India, showing a man risking his life as he lies under a moving train.

The footage shows a man walking down the rail tracks as an oncoming train speeds towards him.

Just seconds before he is about to be hit by the train he throws himself facedown onto the ground between the tracks.

After the train sped just inches over his body, the man seems to pose for the camera.

Now that is a Cupid Stunt...

That’s it: I’m orf to trick a quantum.

And today’s thought:

Angus

Dahn Unda Chinese water: Second class mail: The Toylet: Cave women: Engrish part 2: and the spotted lake.

Cold, damp and dismal at the Castle this morn, managed to catch up on several years sleep in the last 24 hours and his Maj has discovered the joy of opening the fridge.

And just after I have puchased my new Kodak digital camera-they go bust, sods'law.

Thames water who is not known for cheap H2o

Has flogged almost nine percent of itself to the China Investment Corporation (CIC), Thames Water is owned by Kemble Water, a consortium of investors led by Australian bank Macquarie.

CIC was set up in 2007 to invest some of China's huge $3.18tn (£2tn) in foreign exchange reserves.

In a one-sentence statement on its website, CIC said it bought the stake through a wholly-owned subsidiary. No purchase price was disclosed.

Thames Water, acquired by Kemble in 2006, is the UK's largest water and sewerage company, serving about 14 million customers.

No wonder my water comes out upside down and sideways....

And allegedly:

The price of second class stamps is set to rise by more than 50 per cent, under plans laid out by Royal Mail last night.

The national mail organisation said it is hoping to increase second class stamps by 53 per cent from 36p to 55p, and insisted that the increase was still “affordable” for “vulnerable groups”.

Royal Mail, which posted group profits of £1million a day for the most recent six month period, would then be free to increase the price of second class stamps from as early as April.

The price of second class stamps would then rise further by inflation every year for seven years. There would be no limit on the price of a first class stamp, which currently costs 46p.

Bye-Bye Royal Mail....

East to the land of WC lovers

Sega unveils the Toylet, a games console powered by the user's urine, for use in Japanese bars.

The games are 'Mannekin Pis' - simply measures how hard you can pee.

Then there is 'Graffiti Eraser' - lets you remove paint by pointing a hose in different directions.

Or perhaps 'The Northern Wind, The Sun and Me' - where you play as the wind trying to blow a girl's skirt up, and the harder you pee, the harder the wind blows.

Finally, the very odd 'Battle! Milk From Nose' is a multiplayer game where you compete against the person who last used the urinal. The strength of your urine streams are compared, and translated into milk spraying out of your nose. If your stream is stronger, your milk-stream knocks your opponent out of the ring.

At my age I have enough trouble just trying to keep my shoes dry....

West a fair bit to the land of cheese and hairy armpits

Anne Cautain and Bernadette Touloumond suffer from hypersensitive reactions to electro-magnetic radiations.

The symptoms include unbearable burning and terrible headaches, so bad that they couldn’t stand to live in the outside world anymore. After trying several other options, a cave has become their ultimate refuge.

 Anne and Bernadette’s cave is located outside the town of Beaumugne, on the edge of the Vercors plateau range, in France. To gain access to the area, a small ladder needs to be scaled while clinging to a rope.

A sign reading “Mobile Phones Prohibited” is displayed on the hillside. 52-year-old Anne says, “I can’t take any sort of electro-magnetic waves, whatever they may be: Wi-Fi, mobile phones or high-tension wires.” She was the first to settle down in the cave, and is now spending her third winter there.

 

What they need is the aluminium hat.

More Engrish

An advertisement for a “fuckin’ sale” at Gallerie (which appears to sell handbags and women’s clothing) has been making the waves on the Internet since it appeared earlier this year.

And:

And finally:

West even more

 Located near the city of Osoyoos in British Columbia, Canada’s Spotted Lake draws visitors from around the world. The Spotted Lake has a very highly concentration of numerous different minerals such as magnesium sulphate, calcium and sodium sulphates. It also contains extremely high concentrations of eight other minerals as well as some small doses of four others such as silver and titanium.

Most of the water in the lake evaporates over the summer, leaving behind large “spots” of minerals. Depending on the mineral composition left behind, the spots will be of white, pale yellow, green or blue in colour. The spots are made mainly of magnesium sulphate, which crystallizes in the summer to form harden natural “walkways” around and between the spots.

Lucky I spotted that....

That’s it: I’m orf to read up on the new WEEE law.

And today’s thought:

Angus                                                                                         

Moral capitalism: If you want to know the time: Big video game controller: Balls on a train: DIY beer pump: and Squirrel-tree-tree-squirrel?

Gale has returned to the Castle this morn and is howling at All And Sundry, Dawn’s crack is obscured by vast cloudy things, his Maj has decided that a warm, dry radiator is the better part of valour and the study is void of computing vehicles for the last time. 

Just returned from the stale bread, gruel and pussy food run at Tesco, strangely all went well, they had everything I wanted on the shelves, the one open checkout was clear and I managed to park close to the entrance. 

Just waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

The interweb thingy is popping in and out with more frequency than Big Bleedin Brother appears on the box. 

And:

Today is my first day of “retirement”, I have managed to acquire enough loot to see me through to “proper giving up of work” and even keep the butler on.

Which means sadly, that I may well be blogging more and even visiting my fave blogs with the chance of leaving comments.

That’ll teach you.

U-Turn Cam

According to the Prime Monster a new “popular capitalism” is needed to improve the bonus culture of banking.

Dave will set out his vision in a speech that is due to call for reforms to make capitalism more responsible.

He will argue that the Conservative agenda is well-placed to usher in a new era of moral capitalism.

And will say that the Tories are naturally opposed to monopolies and favour transparency in business as the best way to root out unacceptable practices.

Though he will promise to act to ensure excessive pay is tackled, he will insist on the benefits of free markets.

His address in London will come after Goldman Sachs disclosed that its staff pay and bonuses for 2011 totalled almost £8 billion.

How stupid does he think we are? Old scraggy Thatcher came up with the same thing back in the eighties, and look how well that went....

Meanwhile up in the Smoke

The Metropolitan Police spent more than £35,000 on 115,000 calls to the speaking clock in the past two years.

Staff also spent more than £200,000 calling directory inquiries, figures released under the Freedom of Information Act showed.

A spokesman said “evidential and operational reasons” meant that officers and staff, many of whom had no internet access, required the exact time and contact details.

Staff spent a total of £16,879 calling the speaking clock in 2010-11, down from £18,402 the previous year. At 31p per call, that amounts to almost 55,000 calls to find out the time last year, down from almost 60,000 in 2009-10.

Despite a Scotland Yard spokesman saying that the force was “committed to reducing such costs wherever possible”, staff also spent £95,313 on directory inquiries in 2010-11, although that was down from £121,501 the previous year.

“A huge number of our officers and staff will not have direct access to the internet as they are not office-based,” said the spokesman. “There are evidential and operational reasons for them requiring the exact time and contact details.

Bollocks-so none of them have watches or smart phones then?

And somewhere in slightly bonkers Blighty

The World's largest video-game controller has been unveiled -- gamers jump on buttons.

The record-breaking device -- revealed at London’s Liverpool St station to launch the Guinness World Records 2012 Gamers’ Edition -- measures 30 times the size of a standard NES controller.

It was created by British Engineering student Ben Allen (23), who studies at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and took five months to make at an estimated cost of £4,000

Commuters even got to have a go on the 366 cm x 159 cm x 51 cm joypad which weighs 18 stone, but it took more than their thumbs… it requires at least two gamers to press the buttons by jumping on them.

At least it will give the couch potatoes a bit of exercise.....

East more than many miles

The Indonesian state railway company is taking drastic action to stop passengers trying to catch a free ride -- by installing hanging concrete balls along domestic tracks that will knock off anyone sitting on train roofs.

PT Kereta Api Indonesia official Akhmad Suyadi said the preventative devices, known as Goal Bola-bola (Goal Balls), consist of heavy concrete spheres suspended from a frame like a soccer goal, the Jakarta Post reported.

Akhmad said the balls would initially be set up at random intervals on the railway between Bekasi and Tambun on West Java, adding that they would be installed by Wednesday morning.

Despite the obvious potential for injuries, Akhmad said the devices were being used to improve safety and passenger comfort -- not to harm people.

Jakarta think they are Numptys?

Up to the North of blighted Blighty

A pub landlord in Barnsley has come up with a novel solution to help customers avoid big queues at the bar.

Dave Barron has installed a customer operated beer dispenser.

A swipe-card machine that can be used to dispense beer during busy periods has been installed at a South Yorkshire pub.

The machine enables customers to pre-pay for four pints at a time in the Queen's Head pub, Hoyland.

Landlord Dave Barron said customers must go to the bar to buy the pre-paid card so staff can control its use.

Sort of defeats the object.....

And finally:
 

Over to the left

Two Austin women were taken to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin early Saturday morning after their car crashed into a tree.

The driver told police she was travelling west on Sixth Avenue near the intersection of Seventh Street Northwest when she swerved to miss a squirrel. She lost control of the 1998 Chevy Blazer, and it hit a tree in someone's yard, according to Police Chief Brian Krueger.

The driver, 35, complained of stomach and abdominal pain after the crash. She was cited for violating an instruction permit before being taken to the hospital, Krueger said. The passenger, 31, was also taken to the medical centre because her mouth was bleeding.

The women's names were not released.

The squirrel was charged with jayhopping.

That’s it: I’m orf to mull the leap second

And today’s thought:

Angus  

Home alone: U-Turn Cam and Clarkson: No coins for the meter: Nuckin Futs: Solar Numptys: and a fat cat.

Lack of low levels of liquid metal at the Castle this morn, the white crusty stuff has been replaced with damp, drizzly downpours, the study is overflowing with ornery ‘orrors and his Maj has presented me with a new stick.

The latest “idea” from the Piss Poor Policies Millionaires Club Coalition

Is to ‘encourage’ those of us who are not as young as we would like to be to move into smaller properties so that councils can rent out our homes to families.

The scheme - announced by Housing Minister Grant Shapps - is intended to ease pressure on young families at a time when many are struggling to find affordable accommodation.

Under the plans, local authorities would offer to help pensioners living in family homes to find more suitable places to live.

The councils would then take over responsibility for maintaining the property and renting it out at affordable rates, returning any profit to the elderly person or their estate.

Just remember you ignorant, arrogant tosspots-every old fart has a vote....

And U-Turn Dave

Has resolved to distance himself from the Top Gear presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, after embarrassing him once again, Cameron has decided to put as much clear blue water as possible between himself and Jeremy Clarkson, whose latest jape was to involve the Prime Monster in an edition of Top Gear which resulted in a complaint to the BBC from the Indian High Commission over its lack of cultural sensitivity. “The Prime Minister has no plans to see Mr Clarkson in the foreseeable future,” one of Cameron’s most senior aides said.

Clarkson joins a growing list of individuals that the PM is now straining not to be seen with. It includes Rebekah Brooks, the disgraced former News International boss, and her one-time colleague, Andy Coulson, whom Cameron hired as his director of communications because he felt that he deserved “a second chance.”

When he last encountered Clarkson, unexpectedly, at a private gathering in Chipping Norton on New Year’s Eve, not long after he had seen the crass Indian edition of Top Gear and decided that he “did not like it,” Cameron turned on his heel.

Still U-Turning then.....

 

The Royal Mint

Has come up with a way to stop us going to town, snacking and making phone calls; millions of 5p and 10p coins could be rejected by parking meters, vending machines and payphones as the Royal Mint rolls out new-sized coins from this month.

The new coins will be slightly thicker, and customers will be left fumbling through their change to find a coin that will be accepted, since some machines will no longer take the old-style coins while others will reject the new ones.

The new coins were originally meant to be introduced last year, but were delayed because of a campaign from the vending industry. They are a cost-saving exercise for the Government, because the current coins are made of an alloy of copper and nickel, which has become more expensive. The new coins, which the Royal Mint started to produce at the beginning of January, are made of steel.

According to the Government’s own impact assessment of the introduction of the new coins, they will save the Treasury between £7m and £8m a year. However, the cost to industry and local councils of the transition will be around £80m over two years.

 

Who voted these wankers in to power? Oh yes-no one....

Dahn Unda

A snack called Nuckin Futs will go on sale after a lawyer's successful argument that the word "f..." is a normal part of Australian speech and so cannot be deemed offensive under trademark rules.

The trademark application for "Nuckin Futs" was at first rejected by the register as being scandalous and offensive due to its similarity to the phrase "f...ing nuts".

The Trade Marks Examiner ruled that "Nuckin Futs" was an "obvious spoonerism" and deemed it ineligible for registration under section 42 of the Trade Marks Act.

Under the law such terms must be rejected if likely to be regarded as shameful, offensive or shocking to the ordinary person.

But solicitor Jamie White, Director of law firm Pod Legal, who submitted the application on behalf of his Gold Coast client, argued that "Nuckin Futs" was not offensive because it was commonplace in everyday Australian language.

In a five-page legal document, seen by news.com.au, which catalogues the history of controversial product names, Mr White argued the words "f..." or "f...ing" were "now part of the universal discourse of the ordinary Australian".

Mr White assured the Examiner that the product, mostly comprising of edible nuts, would not be marketed to children as his client only intended to sell it in pubs, nightclubs and other entertainment venues.

The trade mark is due for registration in April 2012.

Cupid Stunts...

Dahn in Welsh Wales

Solar panels were fitted on a council house – facing AWAY from the sun.

Tenant Gerald Evans pointed it out to the fitters but claims he was ignored.

The retired labourer said he pointed out that the panelling would be best at the front of the property where it would be exposed to the majority of the sunlight during the day

But he said: "I was told the correct positioning had been assessed using a compass."

They continued with the original plan of putting the panels at the rear of his home, on the roof over a bedroom and kitchen.

The contractor, social housing refurbishment specialists, Forrest later apologised for the error on a bungalow in Chirk, near Wrexham.

They have agreed to fix them the right way round free of charge.

And buy a new compass...

And finally:

Over to the left

The Fredericton SPCA is fundraising to help Tiny the cat live up to his name.

Margo Bird, the executive director of the Fredericton SPCA, said Tiny was dropped off in a box on Dec. 30.

But she said staff members originally assumed the box contained a donation of office supplies or pet food: until the box meowed.

“Lo and behold, there was our 30-pound wonder. Tiny and another normal-size cat Rapunzel, he was tucked underneath Tiny. So, I think, they were happy to get out of the box, to say the least,” Bird said.

Tiny is a friendly male with long grey fur and green eyes and, the SPCA says, he weighed 13.5 kilograms when he was dropped off.

Tiny is the largest cat they have ever seen at the Fredericton SPCA. He is three times the size of an average cat.

Tiny moved to a foster home on Thursday and a local veterinarian has volunteered to monitor his diet free of charge.

The Fredericton SPCA has launched a weight loss challenge to help fundraise to pay for Tiny’s food.

The canned cat food is estimated to cost $4 to $5 per day.

Bless.....

 That’s it: I’m orf to build a Lough generator in the moat.

 And today’s thought:

Angus

Fromage a la Smoke: Beeb bonuses: Big Apple-big bills: Matchstick man: BMW box woes: Museum of moving lingerie: and a Bum gun.

‘Tis cold, crispy and calm yet again at the Castle this morn, the study is overwhelmed with wonky what knots and his Maj has discovered the joy of shredding the shower curtain. 

I spent an hour or so in the garden trying to move a large “mock orange” shrub, after digging all the way round the roots and then attacking the hole with my new axe, shoving a pry bar underneath it and jumping up and down on the handle, digging even more soil out around the blessed thing it hasn’t even moved a smidge-think I need a plan “B”.

And a happy 70^th birthday to Mohammed Ali-he was the greatest.

Up in the Smoke

There is a new experience; L'Art Du Fromage, the first speciality cheese restaurant in Britain. The menu is built around cheese-based dishes: there are fondues, raclettes, a glorified version of cheese on toast and even cheese ice cream.

Mr Ledogar and his business partner Jean-Charles Madenspacher, who are both 24, have left their village outside Strasbourg, Alsace, to move to the UK. Their mission: to banish the British obsession with mild cheddar and ignite an altogether fierier relationship with aged milk curd.

Their restaurant, off London's King's Road, near Chelsea, has just opened for business.

The cheeseboard offers Roquefort (replete with the Penicillium roqueforti fungus and its "healing properties") and Langres (bathed in Champagne), and one of the dearest, the Salers de Buron.

Opening day didn’t go too well, the sole couple tucking into their cheeseboard lunch at L'Art Du Fromage were actually French relatives of the proprietors.

 

Good luck with that-I hope Worrall Thompson doesn’t get a whiff.....

Staying in the capital

Allegedly four senior BBC executives have been paid hundreds of thousands of pounds in bonuses despite a pledge by the director-general to scrap the payouts.

The managers shared around £275,000 in top-up payments last year, Chris Kane, receiving £155,000 in addition to his £206,000 salary, according to the flailing sail, Chief technology officer John Linwood received a bonus of £70,000 last year, making his total pay £358,000 - a total which included a pay rise of £40,000.

On Demand general manager Daniel Danker, who is responsible for the "strategy and delivery" of the iPlayer catch-up service and Red Button interactive services, was awarded £40,000, taking his total pay package to £213,000.

Human resources director of vision, north and nations Claire Dyer received an additional payment of £11,000.

Nice to see that our license money is going to good causes....

Left to the land of the sick and the home of the computer error

Patients at a Bronx hospital are getting billed for tens of millions of dollars because of a computer error.

Alexis Rodriguez says he almost had an asthma attack when he received a bill for $44.8 million from the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Centre.

Rodriguez told the New York Daily News that he was hospitalized last spring with pneumonia and was afraid the bill was legit.

Turns out the company that prepares the bills had mistakenly put the invoice number in the space where the invoice amount should go.

The billing company is telling patients to ignore the multi-million-dollar bills. It is sending out corrected ones.

There was no immediate response from the hospital on Monday, which was a holiday.

That’s one way to cut the waiting lists....

Right more than a lot

Bulgarian artist Plamen Ignatov, has spent the last 16 years of his life making a detailed matchstick model of the Rila Monastery, from around 6 million sticky things that come in small boxes.

Rila Monastery is the largest and most famous Orthodox monasteries in Bulgaria, and is regarded as one of the most important cultural and historical monuments in Southern Europe. It is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Never heard of it, and I hope he has fire insurance…

And talking of things that come in small boxes

Nearly 30,000 Mini Coopers are to be recalled in Britain after makers detected an electrical fault which could lead cars to catch fire.

German car maker BMW said the recall concerns 235,000 vehicles worldwide.

Safety checks revealed a problem which can cause the water pump to fail, potentially causing the car to overheat.

Manufacturers are investigating one case in Britain where a fire is being linked to the water pump, a spokesman said.

The recall relates to two models - the Mini Cooper S and the Mini John Cooper Works.

The company said owners will be issued with a recall notice in the next few weeks.

But a spokesman insisted the vehicles remain safe to drive and there is a "very low incidence" of the fault.

It seems that BMW are getting very close to British Leyland’s “that’ll do” mantra.

Right a whimsy to the land of cheesy museums and a big metal tower

Paris's Musee D'Orsay is threatening to sue a lingerie company after three models paraded around the museum in bras and knickers.

Works by artists such as Van Gough and Renoir had to compete with models from lingerie firm Etam for the eyes of bewildered spectators.

The models were filmed for a video intended as a viral marketing campaign. It starts with the girls waiting outside the art gallery in trench coats.

Once the models are inside the gallery they shed their overcoats to reveal their scantily-clad bodies to astonished art lovers.

However, the museum was not amused by the stunt and has called the incident "a serious infringement of the Orsay's rights and the rights of others".

The museum's director has reportedly threatened legal action against Etam if the lingerie maker does not remove the video from its website.

Now that is art…..

 And finally: 

Back over to the right to bear arms place

Police in Georgia believe that despite multiple searches after a traffic violation , a suspect managed to sneak a 10-inch gun into a prison last Monday by concealing the weapon in his rectum.

One day later, officers confiscated the .38 revolver from the jail cell of Michael Leon Ward, arrested Jan. 9, a statement from the Onslow County Sheriff's Office explains.

They'd performed a strip search on Ward and even required that he "squat and cough" to see if he held any contraband, but nothing turned up, according to MSNBC.

He was initially arrested because police allegedly found drugs and related paraphernalia during the traffic stop.

Jailhouse guards discovered the handgun in the toilet after other inmates reported Ward.

 

Ye gods! I pity the poor sod that has to clean it.

That’s it: I’m orf to get me face scanned.

And today’s thought:

Angus