KENDRIVE

Leaving it all behind for . . .

My hotel in Costa, Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece.

Blog postings will recommence on September 17.

FATHER'S FURY OVER 'PORNOGRAPHIC' SWEET WRAPPERS

A father-of-two has spoken of his disgust after spotting fruity cartoon characters appearing to have sex on sweet wrappers.

Simon Simpkins was buying Haribo Maoam candies for his children when he noticed the 'pornographic' illustrations of limes, lemons and cherries romping with each other.

Mr Simpkins, of Pontefract, West Yorkshire, said: "The lemon and lime are locked in what appears to be a carnal encounter."

Fruity: According to Mr Simpkins, the lime has a 'particularly lurid' expression on its face during its encounter with a lemon

Debauched: The lime enjoys a similarly smutty experience with a willing pair of cherries

"The lime, whom I assume to be the gentleman in this coupling, has a particularly lurid expression on his face."

He said: "I demanded to see the shop manager and, during a heated exchange, my wife became quite distressed and had to sit down in the car park."

A spokesman for Haribo said the 'fun' packaging of the sweets was introduced in Germany 2002 and added: 'This jovial Maoam man is very popular with fans, both young and old.'

(Mail Online)

Any suggestions?

Perhaps "Don't climb the wall - or else".

This sign, prohibiting 'performing' in the street and directing to the nearest public facility, is in Tallinn, Estonia, near the central railway Station "Balti Jaam".

OUTSIDE THE TAJ MAHAL

Location: Rowington Village Hall, Warwickshire

I live about four miles from Thorpe Park, one of the UK's largest theme parks.

However, in view of the following report, it is probably just as well.

THORPE PARK GETS STRICT ON BODY ODOUR

Thorpe Park revellers are being banned from putting their arms in the air on rides - in case they've got bad body odour.

The combination of super scary rides and summer heat has proved to be the pits for the Surrey theme park which has received a number of complaints due to perspiring punters.

From Wednesday, August 19, the park will be banning visitors from riding their star attractions with their hands in the air when temperatures top 25°C in a bid to crack down on summer body odour problems.

The unprecedented ban will kick-start on Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to reach 29°C, making it the hottest recorded day of the month.

The new ban will involve the implementation of ‘Say No to B.O.’ signs in the queue lines of some of the Park’s most terrifying rides including Stealth, Colossus and Nemesis Inferno.

Divisional Director at Thorpe Park, Mike Vallis, said: "It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster summer in regards to the weather but we have found that when the temperature gauge tops 25°C the level of unpleasant smells can become unacceptable and we do receive complaints.

"Coupled with the fact that our rides are really scary and people sweat more than normal due to the fear and anticipate they experience whilst queuing up, it can get really pongy.

"We felt a ban in temperatures of more than 25°C would be the best way of ensuring our guests have the most enjoyable experience and aren’t exposed to any unsavoury armpits."

The park's dedicated ‘thrillologist’ Brendan Walker, uses his uniquely developed ‘Thrill Technology’ to record the changing physiology of a rider during high-adrenaline forms of entertainment, like rollercoasters.

He said: "The anticipation and terror felt by people whilst queuing to get on really scary rides will certainly fuel the odour levels at the park this summer.

"When people are scared they produce more sweat due to the sympathetic nervous system kicking in. Those queueing to go on the ride will produce lots of sweat as the skin’s pores open up to cool the body down and prepare it for action."

(Surrey Herald)

On Monday 16th October 1939, the first German air attack on British territory took place, when Luftwaffe ‘planes attacked shipping in the Firth of Forth.

In nearby Edinburgh, where the sirens had not been sounded, people crowded into the streets thinking that it was a practice drill. Shrapnel from anti-aircraft shells fell in both Edinburgh and Dunfermline and two people were slightly injured.

The public were warned that “It is foolhardy, and not heroic, to stand in the streets to watch the combat.”

Exactly five months later, on 16th March 1940, the first British civilian to be killed by enemy bombing, James Isbister, died when a German plane, sent to attack Scapa Flow, jettisoned its bombs over Orkney.

Almost immediately after Chamberlain finished his radio announcement that Britain was at war with Germany, the air raid sirens sounded. It turned out to be a false alarm.

But in Whitehall many Londoners, believing that Hitler was about to launch his knock-out blow against the capital, took refuge in the trench shelters in St James’s Park.

The Defence Regulations banned the operation of “any siren, hooter, whistle, rattle, bell, gong or similar instrument” which might be taken for an air raid warning. It was also an offence to give imitations of the sirens.

Nine Birmingham youths who did so with the intention of “sending the **s to the shelters” were each fined 15 shillings, (75p)

During the blackout in the last quarter of 1939, a total of 4,133 persons, 2,657 of whom were pedestrians, were killed on Britain’s roads.

The death toll for the corresponding period of 1938 was 2,494. The highest number of deaths, 1,155, occurred in December. In Birmingham that month road casualties increased by 81 per cent and in Glasgow they almost tripled.

Pedestrians were encouraged to wear or carry something white and the newspapers published photographs of men with white hat bands , their shirt tails hanging down and white patches on their jackets.

Most department stores sold blackout “accessories” such as luminous badges, buttonholes, walking sticks and gas mask containers. And one advertiser urged his customers “Carry A White Pekinese!

A Catholic priest has walked along an 80ft (24m) high wire to re-create a stunt by 19th Century French tightrope walker Charles Blondin and raise money for charity.

Father Jerome Lloyd, 43, walked on a wire without a safety harness on Hove beachfront, while wearing his traditional soutane and saturno.

He held on to the shoulders of wire walker Chico Marinhos during the stunt.
Blondin carried his manager on his back as he walked on a tightrope across Niagara Falls in 1859.

The feat had to be adapted on Thursday as Mr Marinhos, who performs with Zippos Circus, was unable to stand up with Father Lloyd, weighing 12.5st (80kg), on his shoulders.

The pair carried out the stunt to raise money for the Sussex Beacon which provides specialist care for people with HIV.

Father Lloyd, a missionary priest from the National Catholic Apostolic, said: "It did actually feel fine. I wasn't really at all nervous as I'm not actually scared of heights.

"The only thing I was concerned about was I was worried that I would make Chico nervous."

The stunt was carried out at the Zippos Circus big top at Hove Lawns.

Mr Marinhos, who is Columbian, carried out another of Blondin's feats in June when he walked along a high wire and cooked himself an omelette halfway across.

(BBC News)

During the Munich Crisis of September 1938, 38 million gas masks were distributed to the civil population.

www.iwm.org.uk/wardeclared

The advice given in this wartime poster would appear to be just common-sense.

The blackout began on 1st September 1939, and although there was progressive easing of it from September 1944 onwards, it some areas it remained in force until VE Day. Britain’s 2 million private motorists were immediately affected by blackout restrictions, and from 23rd September 1939 by petrol rationing. To dim their car headlights motorists were initially told to insert a cardboard disc, with a small half moon aperture in the middle, in the lights. Side lights and rear lamps were to be reduced in intensity by using tissue paper. From early 1940 an improved headlight mask with a series of horizontal slits became obligatory.

In this ARP (Air Raid Precautions) recruitment poster, the woman cowering in the background looks more afraid of the man with the shield than impending air attacks.

The first planning for Air Raid Precautions took place in 1924 and was based on the experience of German air raids on Britain during the First World War in which over 1,400 had been killed.

In January 1939, a pamphlet entitled “National Service”, with an introduction from Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, was delivered to every British household detailing the various organisations that one might join.

I am continuing the series of Second World War posters with this one calling for "First Aid Parties".

Who is bringing the beer?

Recruiting for ARP was intensified at the beginning of 1939. First Aid Parties were formed to deal with those injured by bombing who needed immediate attention. A First Aid Party consisted of four men with a driver and transport for themselves and vehicles for the injured. The latter were provided by the Ambulance Service. First Aid Posts were usually set up in specially equipped buildings. By 1942, there were 383 fixed and 187 mobile posts in the London Civil Defence Region that could draw on the full or part-time services of 3,750 doctors and 2,800 trained nurses

The message aside, this illustration is a very nice example of 1930s/1940s art.

The Women’s Voluntary Service for Air Raid Precautions, with Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary as joint patrons, was founded on 16th May 1938, under the auspices of Lady Reading. Its purpose was to give women the opportunity to help in the civil defence of Britain in the event of war. By September 1939, the organisation had 165,000 members. In the next six years they were to perform a wide range of tasks including vital help with the Government Evacuation Scheme. During the course of the war, members of the WVS won 5 George Medals for gallantry, and 241 lost their lives in the course of their duties.

Almost as soon as war began the Government launched a £ 44,000 poster campaign designed, according to Mass Observation, “to win the nation’s heart”. 800,000 copies of “Your Courage” were printed to be exhibited on commercial poster sites and hoardings throughout the country.

Smaller versions with the same wording were found in railway stations, shop and bank windows, the front of buses and in newsagents.

As Mass Observation put it “the vivid red splash permeated Britain, a counterblast to the black-out drabness.”

But the campaign was not a success. The “Your” and “Us” distinction was disliked, while many people thought “Resolution” was something you only made at New Year.

Identity cards have not recently been issued to citizens of the United Kingdom although, as a supposed counter to terrorism, there has, over the past few years, been immense pressure to do so.

The last time they were issued was at the beginning of WW2. I still have mine.

On 16th August 1939 the Registrar-General Sir Sylvanus Wood announced that in the event of war everybody in the United Kingdom would receive a National Registration number and an identity card. The National Register Bill, introduced by Minister of Health Walter Elliott, received Royal Assent on 6th September 1939 and National Registration Day took place on Friday 29th September 1939. 65,000 enumerators were employed to distribute the cards which contained name, address, National Registration number but no photograph. At the time their issue was regarded as an “essential basis for conducting the life of a nation in arms, when every individual must be potentially a servant of the state.” Identity cards continued to be issued until March 1952

I was almost six years old when WW II broke out and nearly thirteen when it finished, so I remember the blitz and barrage balloons over London.

Now, seventy years later, the Imperial War Museum is mounting "Outbreak 1939" a special exhibition exploring the build-up to and preparations for war.

The Daily Telegraph is publishing some of the iconic posters of that time, together with comments by Terry Charman, senior Imperial War Museum Historian and I shall feature some of them here over the next few days. This is the first:

The RAF started the war with 624 balloons, but during the Battle of Britain and Blitz this total had increased to just under 2,000 in service. In 1940, Balloon Command was split up into 5 Groups with headquarters in London, Birmingham, Romsey, Sheffield and Edinburgh with Mobile Squadrons at Cardington. At the start of the V1 Flying Bomb offensive in the summer of 1944, over 2,000 balloons were moved in just five days to Kent and Surrey where they formed a long barrier against the “Doodlebugs”. According to the official history, 231 V1s were destroyed exclusively by balloons.

Several UK newspapers have this story today:

A taste for short shorts has landed a Thompson Rivers University lecturer in hot water with Kamloops City officials, who say his outfits are too revealing for the city's largest recreational complex.

Mohd Abdullah, a pilates and yoga instructor who also teaches computer science, says he's been warned twice by officials at the Tournament Capital Centre that the shorts he wears when working out there are too short.

But the 48-year-old has refused to heed the warnings -- and says he'd rather rescind his membership at the centre than toss out the six to eight pairs of short shorts he owns, one of them purchased from a Montreal Wal-Mart in 1997 for $5.

"I think it is discriminating and at the same time, I think it is a double standard," he said. "Here you have women that are wearing shorts that are half my size and with, excuse my lingo, the boobs half falling [out] -- and that's acceptable."

Clint Andersen, sport development supervisor with the City of Kamloops, said there have been a series of attire-related complaints lodged about Abdullah since he began working out a year ago.

They have centered on the length of Abdullah's shorts, as well as their "looseness" and revealing nature, he said.

Meanwhile Abdullah, who said he's getting moral support from his wife and colleagues at the university, is prepared to take his shorts elsewhere if necessary.

"I'm not going to change my style, not when I'm half a century old," he said. "I'm just going to keep wearing what I wear.

(The Province)

His shorts have been compared with these worn by Lt. Jim Dangle (!) in the TV series "Reno 911".

Meanwhile, a survey by TripAdvisor found that 35% of travellers thought that tight-fitting men's Speedos on the beach violated etiquette, although only 24 per cent were against women wearing revealing bikinis.

Finally, here is Mohd Abdullah slightly less indecently dressed:

What are your thoughts on the subject? Perhaps shorts of all kinds should only be worn by younger men and not the elderly.

MOTHER SWAN TAKES BABIES UNDER HER WING FOR TRIP ACROSS THE POND

There comes a time on every family outing when the little ones can go no further and demand to be carried the rest of the way.

One by one, under her watchful eye, the brood clambered aboard for a ride.

Having checked all were present and correct, the mother swan gently tucked back her wings to stop them falling off before gliding back to her nest.

Read more at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1203971/All-aboard-Mother-swan-takes-babies-wing-trip-pond.html#ixzz0NCxxo6J4

This picture of skydivers was in several newspapers yesterday.

108 daredevils jumped from five planes at 18,000ft and linked hands at 180 m.ph. to set a new world record for the biggest skydiving formation while facing head-first towards the ground.

You think that is terrifying? Take a look at this video of a young man who jumped without a parachute

As the American voice at the end says - "AWESOME !"

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1161177/no_parachute_skydiver/

A noisy rooster has been given the chop after his owner was threatened with a £5,000 fine if the bird kept waking neighbours.

Council officials told Paul Wilton, 51, he must keep his rowdy rooster quiet or face legal action after neighbours complained their sleep was being disturbed.

The American Dominique rooster, named Rocky, cock-a-doodle-doed loudly as the sun rose above the countryside village - sometimes as early as 4.30am.

Esso refinery worker Mr Wilton kept Rocky locked up at night and covered the windows of his barn to try to keep the three-year-old quiet.

But when his efforts failed he was issued with a noise abatement notice and given 14 days to silence his prized pet.

He faced legal action and a maximum £5,000 fine if he failed to comply. He could also have been fined an additional £500 for each day after that.

Mr Wilton, who bought Rocky when he was just a few weeks old, said there was no other option but to kill the bird because he could not find a suitable new home.

His 50 chickens have been left upset and leaderless and are now laying fewer eggs.

The married father of four said: 'I'm stunned people living in the countryside have taken to complaining about normal country noises such as a cockerel.

'They should expect to hear animals and farm machinery in the fields and gardens around them.

'If they moved to the city and worked shifts they would expect to be woken by the hustle and bustle on the street outside their home.

'What will be next? Moaning about moo-ing cows and baa-ing sheep?

(From Mail Online)