Dear Santa.......

They don't build motels like this any more!

CoralCourt specialised in catering for the US clandestine assignation trade from the early 40's until it was demolished (SHAME!) in 1995, the integral garages (to hide your car from spying eyes) were a big selling point.

For pattern lovers

Images from Bourgoin's Arabic Tessellations, 1879.

198 public domain, high quality images here on Flickr

Natures revenge

I was clearing out the memory chip on my phone and found this (so sorry about the quality!) Daizy and I went to visit the Blue Reef Aquarium at Tynemouth a couple of weeks ago and one of our favourite tanks was the one full of heavily pregnant daddy seahorses, this one was so fat it couldn't get off the tank floor......it's a small victory, but worth celebrating!
More details on Wikipedia and from the Knysna Seahorse Project

This weekend's 'point and click' challenge

Found on Neatorama......haven't tried it yet, I'm off to a wine tasting tonight to sample some Festive Fizz

For fans of point’n'click puzzle games, “Guest House” has a different
twist to it with strange contraptions, Egyptian hieroglyphics and interesting
music. More games of the genre can also be found at Lazylaces with “Rental
House” and “Terminal House”.
Source: Lazylaces

So this is Christmas......

In the 60's child star Shirley Temple re-emerged into the spotlight by
announcing her candidacy for Congress. She lost the election, but Temple
displayed her trademark tenacity and went on to enjoy a long and successful
career with the United Nations and the State Department. Currently retired, she
reports that she is at peace with her life and proud of her accomplishments in
two of the nation's most influential arenas. "If I had to do it all over again,"
Shirley Temple Black recently declared, "I wouldn't change anything."

Hmmm....maybe she should revisit that opinion.....just listen to this!

Mass attack

Addictive Flash game.....even up the scales by growing and dropping balls......sounds easy but it gets harder!

Link

MUCH LATER.....Haven't made it past level 3 so far, I'm putting it down to a temporary senior moment and a sticky keyboard!

Brian and his techie mates......

.....(actually only half of Brian, he shuffles off stage left early in the procedings) appear briefly at about 1min 28secs in (they were probably out taking a mass tab break!!) and are cajoled into wishing the world at large a happy christmas. I'm afraid they don't measure up to Johnny's virtuoso performance, so don't hold your breath......

The Gem

This one's for Ma.....a film from the Haltwhistle Film Project featuring one of her favourite places...just don't get her started!

Porky Pig sings Blue Christmas

French kissing map

"Over 18.000 votes have been cast in a poll to determine once and for all the answer to the burning question: Combien de bises? That’s French for ‘How many kisses’, and kissing in France is a lot more complex than the French’s somewhat overstated reputation for carefree libidinosity implies." Read the rest of the post at "Strange Maps" (dated 2nd December 2007) to ensure you don't commit a crashing faux pas by either pecking too much or too little next time you're in France .

By the way, "Strange Maps" is about just that.....and worth a look!

A tool for telephone blackmailers?

Type in some text and have it converted to an audio file that you can save and use for your own nefarious purposes (choose from English, Spanish and Italian options) at vozMe

My first attempt at raking in top dollar below!

Good things should never end.....

.....but try telling Bex. Here's a contribution from her late employer!
Click on the website name (or maybe twice!) to find out how they're spending the money they've saved on her salary.

Ho, ho ho!.........

We've had loads of fun with this at work today (only during coffee breaks and over lunch of course!) Upload up to 4 headshots (easy editing tools inbuilt) and get ready to dance at ElfYourself

If you get into the head transplant mindset there's others you could amuse yourselves with

• Gizmoz
• ScroogeYourself
• My ABC Adventure (more for kids, but also hilarious for for the young-at-heart!)
• AGE-O-MATIC

How-to videos for science experiments

"Are you a fan of Instructables or SuTree? Looking for a place with just science-related items? SciVee is a site for video clips of science experiments and processes that might be just up your alley. The service originally opened up to the public in late August but today is unveiling a newer, updated look with some new features to help users find and interact with content."

(To my shame I can't remember where I copied and pasted this from.....when I work it out I'll post a credit)

Perhaps someone with more highly developed scientific tendencies than me would like to review, Chris?.....I just thought it looked like it might be interesting!

Sometimes you just can't beat an old-fashioned pencil.....

Conceptis - Few websites do free online/printable number/picture pizzles as well as Conceptis. Try your hand at weekly sudoku puzzles, or get fancy with kakuro, battleships, slitherlink, hashi, and half a dozen varieties of picture-forming puzzles. Some can be played online and all can be printed and solved with a good old fashioned pencil.

Found at Jay is Games, (er....I find a lot of stuff here!!)

Santas workshop

Lots of pop up card templates to print and make here

Harriet Martineau....late of Tynemouth

"Hey, I know that name" I bet you're thinking

That's because you've seen the English Heritage Blue Plaque on the southern side of Front Street, Tynemouth...well, maybe!
Harriet Martineau was an English authoress and temporary resident in the north......
"From 1839 to 1844 she was an invalid at Tynemouth, but recovered through mesmerism" ......but, hey......didn't we all!
There's lots more about the lady at Wikipedia here
You can download a pdf copy of one of her books "Feats on the Fiords" (with very nice art deco illustrations, one shown above) here at the Internet Archive

Confession.....I've never read anything by the woman....I just liked the pictures!

Download free mp3s

Now I'm not sure whether this is all legal and above board....but they say it is!

Try it here Search by artist or title.

Some sample searches and numbers of results

• christmas 1410
• beatles 743
• bob dylan 431
• rolling stones 170

and last but not least......OK, so MAYBE least!

• david essex 1 (sorry anne!)

Trip the light fantastic

An idea for all those discarded cocktail umbrellas you'll no doubt be accumulating over the festive period (but be liberal with the fire-retardant spray before you flip that switch!). On the other hand you could just buy one ready made from Bright Lights Little City , but be prepared to dig deep for the priveledge!