Spotting this picture pop up in my Facebook feed, it was hard to resist following the link to the full story at The Poke, a collection of funny blogs, posts that bills itself as 'time well wasted'.
And it nicely follows on from my post a few weeks back about the folks at Flickr who I thought handled a fairly major server outage rather well.
I really hope that this isn't a fake. Or at least the deflty-handled response purported to be from the Director of Corporate Communications at St Andrews University, Niall Scott, who was asked to verify if notice which appeared on campus was legitimate.
Let's face it, it's a funny fake. And a po-faced official might have taken a dim view to a Freedom of Information request enquiring about the veracity of the notice. Mr Scott's response is a lesson in the art of a well-balance riposte of fact, humour and policy.
Taking into consideration the subject matter, there's so many ways this could've gone wrong and I wonder how long it took to knock out (pun very much intended) this response.
Well, played. Like I said, I really hope the response isn't a fake. The names check out and I've emailed Niall to double-check. In the meantime, here's a snippet of his response:
A strong clue that the notice is fake is the line “Please go home and masturbate if you are bored.” As a matter of policy, the University would never encourage students to go home during term time.
I understand that two copies of the notice were attached, with chewing gum, to doors of the male toilets in the University of St Andrews Main Library on or about the afternoon of Sunday November 13th 2011. The notices were removed by Library staff shortly afterwards.
Far from having a policy on masturbation or outlawing the practice, as the bogus notice alleged, the University encourages the study of it, academically at least. Among the titles in the University Library is “Solitary Sex : A Cultural History of Masturbation” by Thomas Walter Laqueur, pub Zone Books, New York, 2003.
Available from the short loan section, and as of 3 p.m. this afternoon, one copy still available to borrow.
The full response is available in the original blog post on The Poke. It's worth a read.
UPDATE: Just heard back from Niall at St Andrew's University who confirms that the incident is true, and his response is genuine. Top work.
To try and understand the financial crisis from which the economy is slowly, probably, emerging, a rudimentary grasp of economics would be helpful.
For those of us without any formal training the self-proclaimed Stand Up Economist, Yoram Bauman PhD simplifies matter, with tongue firmly in cheek.
Hat tip @benjaminellis
Regular readers of this blog, may be familiar with some previous foul-mouthed episodes.
However, they are merely way-points on the motorway to swear-town. Tim Minchin (@timinchin), a maestro of catchy tunes and speaking his mind demonstrates both these talents in his latest missive on the latest church scandal.
I can't stress enough that this is likely to offend and couldn't be more NSFW. Worse still, there's a good chance you'll be humming the chorus for the next couple of days.
Don't say you weren't warned...
I blame Twitter. After being sent a link to an intriguing product in the depths of Amazon, I got sucked into a world of bizarro goods and their reviews.
Check out ten of the best with a taster of their reviews. And make sure you've got nothing planned for the next hour or so.
I agree with the previous reviewer about this being a great addition to any kid's room, but did you parents know that this lovely figurine ALSO readily converts into a nightlight?! 2 large Christmas bulbs fit *perfectly* inside the reaper's eye sockets (I recommend red), and the string is easily hidden behind the cloak so you're not left with any unsightly cords.
All I can say is, this is NOT an appropriate item for a hospice ... lesson learned--the hard way!
Read all the reviews on Amazon...
Ran out of toothpaste, and remembered how you're supposed to be able to use baking soda to clean your teeth, so of course, I accidentally used this instead, and Wow! all I can say is, my teeth have never been cleaner! They sparkle, they tingle, and for some reason, they STAY clean now, no matter what. Highly recommended!
Truth be told, I ran out of buttocks ointment. I was really chafed and irritated after a long day of wearing my new dungarees. The high humidity did not help. In my predicament I was willing to try anything for relief. I swabbed a two finger amount of this Uranium Ore on the effected area, and was pleasantly surprised of its instant relief qualities. It glowed a little through my pants, but other than that, no noticeable problems.
Read all the reviews on Amazon...
Not only does this thick Tuscan Whole Milk, 128 fl. oz, do a body good, but also makes the most convincing milk "moustache" in the business, with actual hair in it.
After a long hard week full of days he would burst through the door, his fatigue hidden behind a smile. There was an icy jug of Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz in his right hand. With his left hand he would grip my waist - I was always cooking dinner - and press the cold frostiness of the jug against my arm as he kissed my cheek. I would jump, mostly to gratify him after a time, and smile lovingly at him. He was a good man, a wonderful husband who always brought the milk on Friday, Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz.
Read all the reviews on Amazon...
Although I chose not to go for any of the extras - a mirror ball in the vestry and a tiger skin-print font are too 'modern' for my conservative tastes - I was still surprised that this item came with a complete Hillbilly family inside.
Well, I for one, am dissapointed..my chapel arrived, but it was just a bunch of wooden planks...abut 178 of them to be exact...I asked the UPS guy to help me assemble it and he just stared at me. (I think he was a bit pissed off having to haul so many peices of wood up to my door step) Well, alas, now me and my fiance have to wait another 2 months until I can put this damn thing together. She is getting pretty impatient. If worse comes to worse I'll just forgo the roof and we'll have an outdoor wedding.
Read all the reviews on Amazon...
One is immediately drawn to this vintage by the colour, which is an elegant, pale straw hue with an appealing peachy fruit on the nose. It has an incredibly effervescent bead -- the whole glass teams with bubbles -- culminating in a frothy layer at the head.
Today is Valentine's Day and I hoped that a little splash of this would drive my lady wild. But alas... I sleep alone again. Also I keep hearing all this howling outside my bedroom.
Read all the reviews on Amazon...
This is one hot and steamy Deer ass. Dont be fooled by imitations. This is the authentic ass of a deer. If you have ever found yourself out hunting alone. You know that sometimes, when looking down the scope of your winchester rifle, the ass of a deer looks mighty fine.
On a hunch, I bought one of these for my weird old Uncle Crotty, who lives in my mom and pop's attic. He'd been having problems and was trying to bite through his chains, but Pop says that since he's received the Deer Rear, he's happy again. Crotty has even stopped leaving funny stains on the carpet and begun writing Muzak for the Otis Elevator Company. Who could ask for more?
Read all the reviews on Amazon...
This is an awesome product. I have performed my first two bypasses using this kit (on myself of course), and I have lost over 200 pounds. There was some initial bleeding that occured, and I needed to be rushed to the emergency room due to "severe internal hemorrhaging" but the three week stay was well worth the cost I saved by doing my own bypass.
Read all the reviews on Amazon...
This book lacks criteria for discerning between huge ships and merely really big ships. Some well-designed lists, charts or colorful pop-up sections would have been nice for readers who were unsure what size of ship they were avoiding.
This is a must-read for anyone who encounter huge ships daily and do not want to get run over by them. I found this book extremely helpful. To this day, I have never been run over by a single huge ship!!
Read all the reviews on Amazon...
I had been trying to figure out how the strawberries got there after my frequent blackouts, and this book answered that question for me AND told me where to hide the bodies. Thanks Vanessa!
I had hoped this would have advise for handling situations where one finds strawberries on various parts of their anatomy. I've had strawberries on my buttocks for some time now and don't know what to do. Unfortunately this book focuses solely on the nipples. Hopefully the author will pen a followup.
Read all the reviews on Amazon...
I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!".
This toy would be a lot more realistic with about 350 people standing in line for an average of an hour. It still makes a nice set with the interrogation room.
Read all the reviews on Amazon...
That's yer lot. Now put down the credit card and step away from the keyboard.
It's been one of those days, in fact one of those weeks. Knee-deep in unexpected documents that demand total concentration. Six pages of contract terms and conditions. Anyone? No, I thought not. Much to do before the fun stuff.
And whilst we're at it, add a spot of post-swine-flu cough (OK, OK, a chest cold) that's slowly moving your lungs from their rightful place to the open atmosphere, much to the disgust of your colleagues. I'm a joy to be around, no, honestly.
Sometimes, a rummage around YouTube will turn up some gems to lighten the mood. First-up, Seth Meyers' opening monologue from the Webby's that happened in NYC a couple of months back.
My favourite line is the title of the blog post, but don't let me spoil it...
"Ashton Kutcher can't be here tonight, I just wish there was a way I could find out what he was doing". Nice.
And on a different tack, sometimes some unbridled negativity is called for. A serious bouth of kvetching can do wonders for yer ying'n'yangs. Check out the missive below from Suzi Barrett.
I'm just wondering where we find a London version...
What happens when a hot new director makes a film, which turns into one of the 1990s' most memorable ads, then turns his powers for good. Wassup? This. Brilliant.
 Thanks to the rather ace Bringing Nothing to the Party blog from Paul Carr.
As I was writing the post about phrases from baseball becoming a part of everyday office jargon, a Sunday evening TV stalwart flashed back into memory. The master of corporate gibberish was Gus Hedges from Channel 4's Drop the Dead Donkey. Played to perfection by Robert Duncan who gave life to Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin's poke at 80s yuppie corporate flannel.
Sadly the copyright void that is YouTube doesn't have any clips of Gus, so you'll have to make do with the written form. Spot any favourites?
Just so you know, I'll be stir-frying some ideas round my think-wok first thing Monday morning. Enjoy...
Thanks to Hazey, Shaolin_Monkey and h2g2 for the quotes. If anyone's got more, do let me know and I'll add them or leave a comment below. Thanks.
This video has been doing the rounds of Twitter, Digg and no doubt dozens of other social network-type tools. Having the dubious privilege of being one of the geekier people in the Chinwag office means what you see below sometimes hs a frightening similarity to my days.
Laydeez and Gentlemen. The website is down...
Whilst on a Friday afternoon diversion sent to me by a friend who knows I have the attention span of a....ooo, look a shiny piece of paper...
My gaze drifted towards this banner advert for Times Online's Good University Guide - and there's an expression that you don't hear often:
Remind you of anything? Ah yes...
Seriously? Are you kidding me?
Aside from the lame pastiche, have I missed the 'obvious' humour in this? Yes, I suppose there is the unintentional comedy in advising potential students on their future academic institution and a film about anti-establishment heroin addicts. Maybe they're trying to say something subversive and politically poignant about the weight of student debt and the difficulty in kicking hard drugs?
Or not.
Following on from a previous post about swearing, I couldn't help but add this to the blog after being sent it by friends who are avid watchers of American TV. As a reminder, this all started with US talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel, started a long-running gag about Matt Damon at the end of his shows.
He'd regularly sign off with, "apologies to Matt Damon", we ran out of time. He even put together a spoof trailer for Damon's film, The Bourne Supremacy, featuring one of the Kimmel show's regular comedy characters. When Damon finally appeared on the show, they ended the show abruptly, once again needling Damon by telling him they were out of time, prompting a proper full-on rant from Damon - staged, but believable. He's a better actor than you'd think.
The culmination of this was a video recorded by Kimmel's girlfriend, comedian Sarah Silverman featuring the much maligned Matt Damon, "I'm fucking Matt Damon". It was intended as a piss-take to be played on Kimmel's birthday. And was very funny.
So, Kimmel takes his time putting his revenge together and it's a corker. Naturally, there's only one way to handle this. Out parody the parody, and what better way to do it than with Matt Damon's movie-twin, Ben Affleck. For your delectation, Jimmy Kimmel, Ben Affleck and a host of Hollywood celebs with the soon-to-be-hit, honest, "I'm fucking Ben Affleck"