My Blog

Two men around my age were walking through the forest when they saw a frog. “Kiss me”, said the frog, “and I will turn into a beautiful princess, and I will do anything you want!”.
One of the men then picked up the frog and put her in his pocket. “Didn’t you hear what she said??” cried the other. “She’ll turn into a beautiful princess and do anything you want!! Go ahead! KISS HER!!!”.

“Naaaaa”, said the first man, “At my age – I’d rather have a talking frog.”.

Look at the difference between what a search for Tiananmen Square protest from Google returns in China (left), and in the UK (right). We can only assume that this is what the ruling Chinese regime means by building an harmonious society.

(Click to zoom)

This might be the most entertaining video I’ve seen online in a long time. Watch the Muppet’s take on Queen’s mega-hit Bohemian Rhapsody. The YouTube link here is available at 1080p resolution, meaning you can playback the video  at true high definition. Just press that HD button and you are on.

The bragging season is now officially open. To those of you in the know, here is a pair of shots of both the cover and interior pages of my first attempt at a book. Called There and Back, it is a selection of reputable poems I published in this blog for a period of  almost four years. Quite a labor of love it has been, and amazingly enjoyable to boot.

In what goes to prove that we are far from immutable, and our tastes change more often and broadly than we like to admit, here is a Iron Maiden song I came to fancy during last week.

Now, with the “2012″ movie in the cinemas with its two hours, multi-million dollar, special effect induced take on world destruction, it is refreshing (in an old school way) to see this silent five minute cartoon from 1928, aimed at detailing the exact same thing.

Koko the Clown and his dog Fitz circumnavigate the globe to find the control center for all the earth. A mischievous Fitz can’t leave well enough alone, even betraying animated “reality” to bring about a Fleischer fuelled cataclysm.

A graphical history of the Coca-Cola bottle. The first two bottles contained Coca-Cola with real cocaine, up to nine milligrams per glass. Cocaine as an ingredient was removed in 1903.

Left to Right: 1899 – 1900 – 1915 – 1916 – 1957 – 1986

A FLEA thus questioned an Ox: “What ails you, that being so huge and strong, you submit to the wrongs you receive from men and slave for them day by day, while I, being so small a creature, mercilessly feed on their flesh and drink their blood without stint?’ The Ox replied: “I do not wish to be ungrateful, for I am loved and well cared for by men, and they often pat my head and shoulders.” “Woe’s me!” said the flea; “this very patting which you like, whenever it happens to me, brings with it my inevitable destruction.”

(Aesop)

Enjoy a 360° panoramic view of the Dom Luís I bridge in my home town, Porto. Thousands of other panoramic photos from all over the world, tied together with Google Maps, can be found at the original site,  360cities.net.

Ponte Dom Luis in Portugal

This animated rendition of Maurice Ogden’s poem “The Hangman” (published in a previous post) was produced in 1964. Narration is by Herschel Bernardi, while the music was composed and conducted by Serge Hovey.