Miscellaneous/Amusing News Items

[Faded Rose]

We often get miscellanous new items posted...Should we start a thread specifically for any odds and ends that are amusing, interesting, gross or whatever which are not necessarily going to promote discussion but may be of interest to members of the board?

[blueone]

My "Granny Grows A Horn" thread would have been ideal here.

[Sydneyfan]

I've never heard the Australian accent described as a "lilt" before but anyhow....something else to blame Neighbours for:

The traditional refined English accent is in danger of disappearing, and the hit Australian TV soap Neighbours could be partly to blame.

Casting directors for a range of plays, TV shows and films in Britain are struggling to find actors who can speak proper English. The problem appears to stem from a drop in the number of young people brought up to speak with a clipped English accent known as received pronunciation (RP), The Times newspaper reported.

Known as "the accent of educated south-eastern England'' and famously used by BBC announcers, RP is gradually being replaced by the classless estuary English, which is based on non-regional and south-eastern English pronunciation and intonation.

And it seems parts of Australian accents could be filtering into the mix. TV producer Suzan Harrison said she had found casting children in British dramas difficult because many had picked up "an Antipodean lilt from watching Neighbours''.

[blueone]

But who the hell would want to sound like a posh tosser?

[Starlite]

Originally Posted by blueone

But who the hell would want to sound like a posh tosser?

Not when you can like us, hey mate?

[blueone]

Correct, sheila!

[Starlite]

Fair dinkum!

[blueone]

Dingeu oite moi boibee!

[la twinkle]

Originally Posted by blueone

But who the hell would want to sound like a posh tosser?

Is that the James Blunt type of english accent?

[blueone]

Yup.

[la twinkle]

British accents rule, but that one... ewww!

[blueone]

Arrrh, dun't come the raw prawn, moayte. Shtroof, Oi've knocked around the Territry for twenny years. Reckun Oi know a thinger two.

[Faded Rose]

This amused me - cut from The Times:

Ladies, it's time to take care of your hair, and this time I'm not talking about the ones on your head. You may already be au fait with the streamline style of a Brazilian and the purifying properties of a Hollywood but now you can also indulge in a Mexican. No not a moustachioed beauty therapist wearing a protective poncho and playing Guantanamera while relieving you of any unwanted nether-region fuzz but the newest trend in bikini hair design: making sure your collor and cuffs match.

At Scin the organic boutique spa in Notting Hill you can "cover grey, change your look, and make sure that everything matches" with a new sensitive range of hair dyes designed specifically for our more private parts.

Are they serious?

[Sydneyfan]

Sometimes, the internet is scarier than it looks:

A US Navy technician who got mad when someone mocked him as a "nerd" over the internet climbed into his car and drove 2100 km from Virginia to Texas to teach the other guy a lesson.

As he made his way toward Texas, Fire Controlman 2nd Class Petty Officer Russell Tavares posted photos online showing the welcome signs at several states' borders, as if to prove to his internet friends that he meant business.

When he finally arrived, Tavares burned the man's trailer down.

This week, Tavares, 27, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading no contest to arson and admitting he set the blaze.

"I didn't think anybody was stupid enough to try to kill anybody over an internet fight," said John G. Anderson, 59, who suffered smoke inhalation while trying to put out the 2005 blaze that caused $US50,000 in damage to his trailer and computer equipment.

"All I did was call him a nerd and he came to kill me."

The feud started when Anderson, who runs a haunted house near Waco, joined a picture-sharing website and posted his artwork and political views. After he blocked some people from his page because of insults and foul language, they retaliated by making obscene digitally altered pictures of him, he said.

Anderson, who went by the screen name "Johnny Darkness," traded barbs with Tavares, aka "PyroDice".

Investigators say Tavares boiled over when Anderson called him a nerd and posted a digitally altered photo making Tavares look like a skinny boy in pants too short for his legs, holding a gun and a laptop under a "Revenge of the Nerds" sign.

pictured left is the victim and right, the image he displayed on his website after the court verdict.

[Sydneyfan]

btw if you've ever wondered how you keep 1500 Philippino prisioners amused (and who hasn't?), this YouTube clip has the answers. The chick with male pattern baldness is the star.

You Tube

[Starlite]

Originally Posted by Sydneyfan

btw if you've ever wondered how you keep 1500 Philippino prisioners amused (and who hasn't?), this YouTube clip has the answers. The chick with male pattern baldness is the star.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o

Wow, the best-behaved prisoners ever!
I see they've done an entire series:

[blueone]

None of those prisoners look particularly brutish...

[blueone]

Utilikilts!

http://www.yahoo.com/s/638268

Who wants some, eh?

[FrigidRoses]

Ha. Sounds like something Tim Taylor would wear on Tool Time.

[ishellmay]

Famous people and the names they check into hotels with:

When the Killers checked into the Hilton at Copenhagen Airport earlier this month they booked into Executive Kingsize Rooms under these names:
Gunner Lovejoy
Will Ryker
Jellyrole Morton
Bat Masterson

Elton John - Fanny Beaver Snatchclit
Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson - Iffy Boatrace
Tom Cruise - Mr Bellacon
Kevin Costner - Tom Feral
Lenny Kravitz - Pepper La Bijou
Drew Barrymore - Anita Mentor
Benji of Good Charlotte - Michael Jackson
Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder - The Clearly Brothers, Ike and Seymour.
Cat Stevens in the 70s - Ivan Toby Allen (I vant to be alone)
Mischa Barton - Marianne Antoinette (at the Berkeley Hotel)

[blueone]

Originally Posted by ishellmay

Famous people and the names they check into hotels with:

When the Killers checked into the Hilton at Copenhagen Airport earlier this month they booked into Executive Kingsize Rooms under these names:
Gunner Lovejoy
Will Ryker
Jellyrole Morton
Bat Masterson

Will Ryker!

It's a Star Trek reference:

[Starlite]

Originally Posted by blueone

Utilikilts!

http://www.yahoo.com/s/638268

Who wants some, eh?

Cargo skirts!
A tad pricey though.

[Quincy]

Was that guys name Vile Gas?

[blueone]

Yes, yes it was.

[Faded Rose]

This doesn't really fit in here but it is (for me) an amusing news story - in the music section of the Times and I apologise if it's been posted elsewhere:

" Book now....Ryan Adams. Alt-country's most erratic practitioner is back on form, judging by his latest album Easy tiger. His tour - backed by Neal Casal's Cardinals - starts November 11 Millennium Centre Cardiff."

Neal Casal's Cardinals? There was me thinking they were Ryan Adams' Cardinals.