Category: Offbeat

  • Stairway To Gilligan’s Island

    Stairway To Gilligan’s Island

  • Curious comment on our viral bird-strike YouTube video

    Curious comment on our viral bird-strike YouTube video

  • The magic Sevilla Bridge on San Juan River, Manila

    The magic Sevilla Bridge on San Juan River, Manila

    How’s this for planning! As a temporary measure during the construction of the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, the old Sevilla Bridge on San Juan River was demolished and replaced with a special temporary bridge. So why demolish a functioning bridge? On 10 occasions during the construction of the skyway they need to get large…

  • Group photos and the smart phone shuffle

    Group photos and the smart phone shuffle

    In the Philippines no social occasion is complete without a group photo. In a restaurant, a passing waiter is called to take the photo. In a public area one of the group might take the photo, or often someone passing by is asked. These days  everyone has a smart phone with a reasonable camera. So…

  • Tony Abbott – flag count competition – new record

    Tony Abbott – flag count competition – new record

    You might have noticed some social media and press commentary on the number of flags appearing behind Tony Abbott at his press conferences and prime ministerial announcements. One site, Eclectic Owl, is reporting a pole count surge with a recent sighting of eight flags. This seems quite significant after an average of just 1.5 flags per…

  • Mother injects her child with Botox

    Mother injects her child with Botox

    The woman who injected her 8 year-old daughter with Botox for beauty pageants has lost custody of her daughter.

  • Case Insensitive (or Sentenced to Confusion)

    Case Insensitive (or Sentenced to Confusion)

    have you noticed that an increasing number of people are no longer beginning sentences with a capital letter? this trend is particularly noticeable in social media and also in comments on blogs and articles in online newspapers. in some examples i’ve even seen people using lowercase for the first person singular personal pronoun (i). i’ll…

  • Our watch-dogs do their duty

    Our watch-dogs do their duty

    About 6:30 this morning our two dogs, who sleep in the kitchen at night, began quietly woofing. Thinking they wanted to go outside to relieve themselves I got up and opened the kitchen door for them. However they chose to remain inside, so I closed the door and returned to bed. A little while later the…

  • A group of heavily tattooed men were in court today…

    A group of heavily tattooed men were in court today…

    The title of this post appeared in an ABC news story this morning, and it immediately reminded me of my parents’ prejudice about tattoos, or more exactly, those who had tattoos. They believed you could identify the less desirable elements of society simply by the presence of tattoos. So, according to my parents some 50…

  • The 1973 Australian Rugby League Kangaroos team

    The 1973 Australian Rugby League Kangaroos team

    In 1973 the Australian Rugby League Kangaroos team were touring Great Britain. It was a great side, including players such as Arthur Beetson, Bob Fulton, and the aggressive Tommy Raudonikis. In one of the warm-up county matches, the Aussies were leading 75-nil at half time. Beetson said to Raudonikis, “This county side is hopeless. We’re…