Kids these days!

Posted 30 Jan 2009

Daily Life, Places | 2 Comments 

Some time ago, a blog that the editors of chickenmonkeydog visit on a regular basis (check out our Delicious account for details) posted a photo of a fantastic children’s park in Japan. The blogger lamented that children’s parks in North America paled in comparison with what Japanese kids enjoyed.

I had a very similar thought when the local primary school had a visit from a real helicopter as part of its focus on transportation as an education theme for the year.

How cool is that! When I was growing up in America, we were lucky to get a visit from the local fire brigade. Here in England, the children get visits from helicopters. Kids these days! They don’t know how good they have it! Ha-ha!

A promise for your love

Posted 29 Jan 2009

Commuting, Language, The Little Things | Leave a Comment 

The Yardbirds were a quality rock and roll band from the 1960s. They had a plethora of legendary musicians in their ranks over the years (Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page to name but three). I am a fan of their music. One of my favourite songs is For Your Love.

As I was driving home from somewhere the other day, I had the Yardbirds playing on the car radio. As I was singing along with Keith Relf, it suddenly occurred to me that the singer doesn’t make the greatest of offers/promises to the one he pursues. Sure, he gives her diamonds and the like, but consider this lyric:

For your love.
For your love.
For your love.
I’d give the moon if it were mine to give.
For your love.
I’d give the stars and the sun ‘fore I live.
For your love.

Well, I can promise the moon too. I could also promise shiny diamonds. Heck, I might even promise fidelity and love. But since I can’t possibly deliver the moon or diamonds, do I have to deliver the fidelity and love bits?

I know it’s a rock and roll song, but still, I think the lyrics fall down a little there. Good thing the music is so tight.

Who is at the blunt end?

Posted 28 Jan 2009

Daily Life, Guest Post, Signs | Leave a Comment 

The advert on the side of a truck (parked near the York Minster) made us wonder, who is on the “blunt end” of poverty?

The verbiage in the ad doesn’t make me think of a starfish; rather, it conjures up the image of one person holding another at knife-point.

“Cutting edge”

“Sharp end”

Not exactly what they’d intended I’d wager.

Despite the confusing ad, check out the work done by the Starfish Initiative. It seems like a innovative way to use technology to help out people in poverty.

We would like to thank Christine and Christian Shipp who contributed the picture for this post, taken while visiting the Formby area. And, dear readers, please remember that we always encourage the submission of pictures of the quirky happenings you stumble across in your daily lives.

Kiss her where?!

Posted 27 Jan 2009

Commuting, Language, Signs | 14 Comments 

As I rode the Underground last week, a poster caught my eye as I left Nottinghill Gate. ‘Kiss her where?’, I thought after seeing the poster. ‘No, I couldn’t have read that correctly.’ I wondered what it had said.

Then, as the train pulled into South Kensington, I saw it again.

In case you can’t read it in the photo above (shot from within a moving train), here’s the text:

Kiss your partner somewhere they’ve never been kissed before.

Bournemouth.

Blimey! What a fantastic advert! Edgy enough to catch the eye … and yet innocent enough to make me smile. Better still, I spent the rest of the journey thinking about it after only catching the poster quickly at Nottinghill Gate.

As I spent much of the train ride wondering what the ad said – and now that I am blogging about it – I guess this is just another reminder that good advertising, like a good tagline, can get people, places and things noticed. Congratulations to the creators of this ad!

Free TV and Air

Posted 26 Jan 2009

Places, Signs | 3 Comments 

The Abbott Hotel is a quaint little hotel not far from where I live in Chicago. It is one of those hotels that surely makes its money off nostalgic folk who like the idea of a hotel which hasn’t been updated in forty years.

Now, I can’t speak to the inside of the hotel as I’ve never been in, but I think that what they market on their outdoor sign seems a bit misdirected, even for when it was brand new.

So, if I stay at this hotel I can expect:

• Free TV — That’s good

• Color TV — That’s even better … but do I have to pay extra for that?
• Free Air — Wait a second … Free Air?

Seems like we’re going a bit far there doesn’t it? Charging people for the air they breathe seems a bit ridiculous (although I am certain that some airlines would try it if they could figure out a way to measure it!). And if color TV was the newest technology available offering when this sign went up, I seriously doubt they had any technology at this hotel to measure the amount of air one breathed. I guess it could have been a flat rate charge.

“So, did you want to stay in our vacuum-sealed air-less rooms or would you like to upgrade to the executive air-filled suite?”

Now, my bet is they meant Free AC, but why write “air”, when “AC” is shorter and more clear? Perhaps they did it just to provide a chuckle to my askew sense of humor.