Zeitgeist

In Today's Populist Issue

 

Zeitgeist
Not Quite "Geist"
Popular
Random
Word (To your Mother)

The Zeitgeist is a concept from 18th to 19th-century German philosophy, translated as "spirit of the age" or "spirit of the times". It refers to the concept of an invisible agent or force dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history.

Not Quite "Geist"

Beans means Heinz

Hey rock and roll

Never trust a hippy

Go buddy go

Go to work on an egg

Put Tiger in your tank

Snap crackle pop

Its Blankety blank

I’m lovin it

Finger licking good

Shoop doggy dog

Boys in da Hood

Every little helps

Its Asda price

The better way to shop and save

Its naughty but nice

Yabba Dabba doo

Suffering sucatash

Supermarket sweep

Jumping Jack Flash

Dribble, piffle, plop

Yackety yak

Something something something

Errm quack quack quack

Popular


Michael Jackson "Thriller" is the best-selling album of all time, with sales over 110 million copies worldwide

Tetris had 100 million paid downloads, making it the best-selling mobile game of all time

Rubik's Cube remains the top-selling single toy of all time with 350 million sold

McDonald's The largest fast food chain 35000 outlets throughout the world

"Avatar" £2,787,965,087 billion Is the highest-grossing film of all time

Snickers best-selling candy bars in the world £3.6 billion

Finding Nemo Best selling DVD of all time 40 million copies

Snow Beer (China) is biggest selling beer in the world

Football is the most popular sport with 3.5 Billion fans

Random Joke of the Day

Flattery is telling others exactly what they think of themselves.

Word of the day: SKÄMSKUDDE (Swedish) -
literally "embarrassment pillow", the feeling you get when seeing something so embarrassing that one gets the urge to hide one's face in a pillow or couch cushion

Hymn for Him

In Today's Issue

Hymn for Him
Hymn
Top 10
That's Amaaaaaaazing
Random Joke
Free Audio Story

Hymn for Him

  

Give us this day

Our daily bread

Give us this day

And a bed for our head

Give us the night

And a warm cozy place

Give us the night

Our own safety space

Give us all our past

A place we can visit

But not linger there

It’s not life’s prerequisite

Give our present

This moment in time

Give us our present

Our reason and rhyme

Give us the future

Of hope, health and peace

Give us a future

From our burdens release

Hymn. hymn Song of praise or gratitude to a god or hero. The oldest forms are found in ancient Egyptian and Greek writings and in the Old Testament psalms of rejoicing. In strict Christian church usage, hymns are religious songs sung by the choir and congregation in a church, distinct from a psalm or a canticle.

Top 10 Most Popular Hymns at Funerals

10. Ave Maria

9. I Watch the Sunrise

8. Morning Has Broken

7. Old Rugged Cross

6. Jerusalem

5. Amazing Grace

4. How Great Thou Art

3. All Things Bright and Beautiful

2. Abide With Me

1. The Lord Is My Shepherd

That's Amaaaaaaaaaaazing

There are more than 950,000 Christian hymns in existence. The music and parts of the text of a hymn in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri from the 2nd century are the earliest known hymnody. The earliest exactly datable hymn is the Heyr Himna Smi¢ur (Hear, the Maker of Heaven) from 1208 by the Icelandic bard and chieftain Kolbeinn Tumason (1173-1208).

Just walked into the local and asked for some helicopter flavour crisps. “Sorry mate.” The barman said “We’ve only got plane!”

Free Audio Story

Here is a new story by myself that was only last week recorded for radio.
It's a short story all about knitting and revenge.

It's called Knit one, pearl one, drop two

Bubble Rap

In Today's Pop(ular) Issue

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day
Bubble Rap
Bubble Wrap
That's Amaaaaaaaaazing
Random Joke

Feeling a little stressed lately.? Then, this special day is made for you!

It's Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.

As anyone who has ever come in contact with it knows, bubble wrap is not just a protective wrapping for things. It is also a wonderful stress reliever! Just squeeze the bubbles in the Bubble wrap, and feel the stress disappear with each POP...POP...POP.

So, grab a piece of bubble wrap today, and go to town!


BUBBLE RAP

Little blisters of air

Bubbles suspended in plastic

How they get there I don’t

Know, I think it’s fantastic

Protective convex covering

Almost see through

Peek into the packaging

Your prize just in view.

But forget your purchase

It’s the wrapping raps

For it the joy of the pop

When you squeeze in the gaps

A stress release

Tiny small joy

Blahdy Blahdy Blah Blah

Helen of Troy

(I think I run out of steam a bit there)

 

USES FOR BUBBLE WRAP

Sleep on air while camping: 
Get a better night’s sleep on a camping trip. Take a 2m roll of wide bubble wrap to use as a mat under a sleeping bag. If you don’t have a sleeping bag, just fold a 3.6-metre-long piece of wide bubble wrap in half, bubble side out and gaffer-tape the edges. Then slip in and enjoy a restful night in your makeshift padded sleeping bag.

Its original purpose was wallpaper: In 1957, in an attempt to create a textured wallpaper, engineer Alfred W. Fielding and Swiss inventor Marc Chavannes sealed two shower curtains together in such a way that air bubbles were captured, giving the wallpaper a textured appearance.

It can insulate your windows:
Is your home feeling drafty? Simply cut a sheet of bubble cushioning to the size of your window, spray the window with water, and place the flat side against the glass for instant insulation. Since it’s clear, you won’t lose the natural light.

Protect Produce in the Fridge:
Line the crisper drawer with bubble wrap to prevent bruises to fruit and other produce. Cleaning the fridge will be easier too – when the lining gets dirty, just throw it away and replace it with fresh bubble wrap.

Stress Relief:
Get popping! Research shows that one minute spent popping bubble wrap relives as much stress as a 30 minute massage.

THAT'S AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING

The most people popping bubble wrap simultaneously is 2,681, achieved by the Denver Area Council, Boy Scouts of America (USA) at the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch in Elbert, Colorado, USA, on 19 September 2015.

Random Joke of the Day

I met this bloke with a didgeridoo playing Dancing Queen. I thought “That’s ABBAriginal!”

Virus

In Today's Dirty Issue

International Clean Your Computer Day
Virus
Virus Facts
That's Amaaaaaazing
Random Joke

Clean Out Your Computer Day is a day to logically review, and delete old files and programs.

Most of us add programs and files to our computer with reckless abandon. After all, computers have huge storage capacity.  Many of these files and programs are forgotten over time. Overtime they clog memory and cause confusion during retrieval and use of other files. And, some may slow down your computer.

Somewhere along the way, a (most likely) computer geek or service person, created this day as an opportunity for us to remember to cleanup and delete old and unused files.

Virus

My laptop got a virus
I was surprised that it could
I tried to give paracetamol
But it did it no good

I poured in chicken soup
It works with my cold
But it just started fizzing
And the keyboard developed mold

I stuck in the bath
All soapy nice and hot
But it did not seem to like that
Oh, it certainly did not.

And now its sound asleep
It doesn't want to stir
I think I've killed the hard drive
As it no longer makes a whir

I'll have to get some software
to inoculate it better
And make sure it stays dry
and never gets wetter.

I hope I haven't killed
my little robot mate
It the virus I didn't like
and those hackers that I hate!

About 70% of people, who prepare and disseminate computer viruses, are part of an organized crime syndicate. That means that their motives may be a lot more sinister that you could ever imagine.

About 40% of all households contain at least one computer, which is infected with a virus. That means that many of us are literally walking on ice. What is really frightening is the fact that many who are affected do not even know that their systems are infected.

About 90% of all emails are infected with some type of malware. The people that send and receive it are often unaware of what is going on until it is too late.

The “MyDoom” computer virus was the most costly malware ever made. It is estimated that it caused losses of up to $38.5 billion. That is a lot more than many third world countries make in a full year.

That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing

First human infected with a computer virus On 27 May 2010, Mark Gasson (UK) from the University of Reading,UK, announced that he had implanted an RFID(radio frequency identification)chip into his hand, which he then infected with a computer virus.

Random Joke of the Day

I grew up in a rough area. When I was a kid people used to cover me in Chocolate and cream and put a Cherry on top of my head.

Life was tough in the Gateau

All the small things.......

In Today's Tiny Issue

Small Things
How small are we
That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing
Random Joke
You Tube

I write about big things.

But, it’s time to talk of the small,

of little pleasures of smaller joys.

A lick from the dog

Clean sheet smell

Chinese chicken curry

Melodious church bell

Sun through the curtains

A really good sneeze

Elvis on the radio

Quite a strong cheese

My spex with no spots

A pair of odd socks

Bacon and eggs

Soft ticking of clocks

Smell of cut grass

I’m Captain Kirk

A free parking space

A weekend off work

A freezing cold pint

I nice new haircut

Batman and Robin

Nice clean smut

The laugh of a child

A fresh coffee pot

A blackbird’s singsong

A nose clear of snot

Our sun is one of at least 100 BILLION stars, just in the Milky Way. Scientists calculate that there are at least 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe, each one brimming with stars. There are more stars than grains of sand on all of Earth’s beaches combined. 

The Milky Way is a huge city of stars, so big that even at the speed of light (which is fast!), it would take 100,000 years to travel across it.

 Roughly 70% of the universe is made of dark energy. Dark matter makes up about 25%. The rest — everything on Earth, everything ever observed with all of our instruments, all normal matter adds up to less than 5% of the universe.

If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, Earth would be the size of a penny.

The sun accounts for almost all of the mass in our solar system. Leaving .2% for all the planets and everything else.

Edwin Hubble discovered that the Universe is expanding and that at one point in time (14 billion years ago) the universe was all collected in just one point of space.

 Four American spacecraft are headed out of our solar system to what scientists call interstellar space. Voyager 1 is the farthest out — more than 11 billion miles from our sun. It was the first manmade object to leave our solar system. Voyager 2, is speeding along at more than 39,000 mph, but will still take more than 296,000 years to pass Sirius, the brightest star in our night sky..

That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing

Smallest Hypothetical Object in the Universe: The smallest hypothetical objects in the universe is a thing which does not have any mass and dimensions. Its existence is also not proven yet. According to string theory, all universe is made up of tiny vibrating string-like structures which interact with each other and give rise to mass and energy.

Random Joke of the Day...

My Dad always told me “Don’t be quick to find faults.” 

Great Dad, terrible geologist.

YOU TUBE

If you pop over to You Tube you can find several radio plays that have been created from my short stories....

 

You  can use this link.....go have a look.....pweeeze.....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kswRLrIeDU4&t=191s

Now the Drugs Don't Work....

In Today's Dosset Box Issue

Maraca Man
Drugs
That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing
Random Joke

Maraca Man

If you hear a rattle
don't be worried
It's meds in my system
they won't be hurried

I take so many there
in a jam
Lines up in my system
I'm the maraca man

Side effects and sweats
shakes and the shivers
They shoot through my bloodstream
like Robin Hood's quivers

I see my pills
so ordered so neat
Like an astronauts food
my freeze dried treats

Drugs

In Colombia, illegal drug trading is worth around 10 Billion Dollars each year.

30% of world famous rock stars are dead because of extreme drug or alcohol use

In Holland, there are official institutions that you can bring your own drugs to get their quality checked.

In Singapore, possessing or using narcotic drugs is punished by the death penalty.

There is a special nail polish that was developed to detect drugs in your drink!

Every year over 100,000 babies are born addicted to cocaine in the USA.

In North Korea, marijuana is legal and it is not considered to be a narcotic drug.

In 1994, 75 bundles of cocaine were thrown from the air in Florida. Surprisingly, the cocaine bundles were thrown to an area where a summit against crime was happening.

Many antidepressants cause sexual side effects and limit the feelings of love and romance.

Only 1% of heroin addicts agree to go to rehab

That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing

In January 2011, it was reported that Colombian drug dealers had attempted to smuggle marijuana into a prison using a pigeon as a carrier. A 45-gramme (1.6-ounce) package was strapped to the pigeon and it was released in the direction of the Bucaramanga jail. The package, however, was too heavy for the bird, and it was found by police officers flapping on the ground near the prison. Inmates of the jail probably trained the bird, and they had been used previously to smuggle mobile phone SIM cards into the jail. 

Random Joke of the Day

WHAT'S BLUE AND DOESN'T WEIGH MUCH? LIGHT BLUE

 

From - Tales of the Unaccepted comes a new radio play, written by myself performed by Sheffield Radio - Witness.

What if you witnessed a murder right in front of your eyes but no one listened to you?

Well here's the answer...

 

Go over to You Tube for more free audio plays....and if you'd like to buy my books ( pweeeeze )

Then find them on Amazon.... Thanks x

 

The Cat.....oh and another audio play !!

The Cat on the Mat

In Today's Feline Issue

The Cat on the Mat
Cats
That's Amaaaaaaaazing
Random Joke
Witness

The Cat on The Mat

Einstein's Cat
It sat on the mat
Relative, but true
Schrodinger's Cat
Was dead on the mat
Or was it one of a two?

Which cat is alive?
Which one is dead?
The concept within
Confuses your head

If the cat on the mat
is the one that's alive
Then how did it die?
Or did it survive

I think the thesis
Maybe perturbing
Anyway
I'm Pretty sure
The Mat was
Green.

CATS

Unlike dogs, cats do not have a sweet tooth. Scientists believe this is due to a mutation in a key taste receptor.

When a cat chases its prey, it keeps its head level. Dogs and humans bob their heads up and down

The technical term for a cat’s hairball is a “bezoar.

A group of cats is called a “clowder.”

A cat can’t climb head first down a tree because every claw on a cat’s paw points the same way. To get down from a tree, a cat must back down.

Cats make about 100 different sounds. Dogs make only about 10

There are more than 500 million domestic cats in the world, with approximately 40 recognized breeds

While it is commonly thought that the ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate cats, the oldest known pet cat was recently found in a 9,500-year-old grave on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. This grave predates early Egyptian art depicting cats by 4,000 years or more.

During the time of the Spanish Inquisition, Pope Innocent VIII condemned cats as evil and thousands of cats were burned. Unfortunately, the widespread killing of cats led to an explosion of the rat population, which exacerbated the effects of the Black Death.

During the Middle Ages, cats were associated with withcraft, and on St. John’s Day, people all over Europe would stuff them into sacks and toss the cats into bonfires. On holy days, people celebrated by tossing cats from church towers.

The first cat in space was a French cat named Felicette (a.k.a. “Astrocat”) In 1963, France blasted the cat into outer space. Electrodes implanted in her brains sent neurological signals back to Earth. She survived the trip.

The group of words associated with cat (catt, cath, chat, katze) stem from the Latin catus, meaning domestic cat, as opposed to feles, or wild cat.

The term “puss” is the root of the principal word for “cat” in the Romanian term pisica and the root of secondary words in Lithuanian (puz) and Low German puus. Some scholars suggest that “puss” could be imitative of the hissing sound used to get a cat’s attention. As a slang word for the female pudenda, it could be associated with the connotation of a cat being soft, warm, and fuzzy

According to Hebrew legend, Noah prayed to God for help protecting all the food he stored on the ark from being eaten by rats. In reply, God made the lion sneeze, and out popped a cat.

A cat’s hearing is better than a dog’s. And a cat can hear high-frequency sounds up to two octaves higher than a human.

A cat can travel at a top speed of approximately 31 mph (49 km) over a short distance.

A cat rubs against people not only to be affectionate but also to mark out its territory with scent glands around its face. The tail area and paws also carry the cat’s scent.

Researchers are unsure exactly how a cat purrs. Most veterinarians believe that a cat purrs by vibrating vocal folds deep in the throat. To do this, a muscle in the larynx opens and closes the air passage about 25 times per second.

When a family cat died in ancient Egypt, family members would mourn by shaving off their eyebrows. They also held elaborate funerals during which they drank wine and beat their breasts. The cat was embalmed with a sculpted wooden mask and the tiny mummy was placed in the family tomb or in a pet cemetery with tiny mummies of mice.

In 1888, more than 300,000 mummified cats were found an Egyptian cemetery. They were stripped of their wrappings and carted off to be used by farmers in England and the U.S. for fertilizer.

Most cats give birth to a litter of between one and nine kittens. The largest known litter ever produced was 19 kittens, of which 15 survived.

That's Amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing

The longest domestic cat is Ludo at 118.33 cm (3 ft 10.59 in) long. He is owned by Kelsey Gill (UK) and was measured on 6 October 2015.

 

Random Joke of the Day 

 

I just ordered my colleague a ‘hope you get better soon’ card. She’s not ill. Just rubbish at her job.

 

From - Tales of the Unaccepted comes a new radio play, written by myself performed by Sheffield Radio - Witness.

What if you witnessed a murder right in front of your eyes but no one listened to you?

Well here's the answer...

 

Go over to You Tube for more free audio plays....and if you'd like to buy my books ( pweeeeze )

Then find them on Amazon.... Thanks x

The Secret of Love

Happy Valentine's Day !

 Valentine Day Facts
That's Amaaaaaaazing 
Random Joke of the Day
The Secret of Love

Valentine's Day started with the Romans.

There are two theories about the origin of Valentine's Day. According to History.com, one is that the day derives from Lupercalia, a raucous Roman festival on February 15th where men stripped naked and spanked young maidens in the hopes of upping their fertility.

The second theory is that while the Roman Emperor Claudius II was trying to bolster his army, he forbade young men to marry, because apparently single men make better soldiers. In the spirit of love, St. Valentine defied the ban and performed secret marriages, History.com reports. For his disobedience, Valentine was executed on February 14th.

Passing out Valentines is a 600-year-old tradition.

Each year, kids in classrooms across America hand out Valentine's Day cards to their classmates. According to History.com, the oldest record of a valentine was a poem Charles Duke of Orleans wrote to his wife when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415.

Wearing your heart on your sleeve is more than just a phrase.

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names to see who their Valentine would be,they would wear the name pinned to their sleeve for one week so that everyone would know their supposed true feelings.

Valentine's Day is a popular holiday to get engaged.

This seems fitting: A 2017 study by diamond retailers found that 43% of millennials chose Valentine's Day as their top choice of day to propose or be proposed to.

That's Amaaaaaazing 

Largest box of chocolates
If you want to make the ultimate grand gesture to your loved one this Valentine's Day, this bumper box of chocolates is sure to please.

On 2 April 2008, confectionery retailer Thorntons and prop-maker Russell Beck Studio (both UK) created a box of chocolates that towered 5.04 m (16 ft 6 in) tall.

Random Joke of the Day

Every time I attend my Kleptomaniacs Anonymous meeting they tell me to "take a chair" I can't see how that is going to help me

The Secret of Love -

Here is a new radio play, written by myself and performed by Sheffield Radio.

For more, check out You Tube and my Amazon page....

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neville-Raper/e/B0759Z1D25?ref=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000

Laurel and Hardy

In Today's Issue

Laurel and Hardy
Trivia
That's Amaaaazing
Random Joke of the Day
Free audio Play




This week I was lucky enough to visit the Laurel and Hardy museum in the place of Stan Laurels birth, Ulverston.

Here is a link to the museum :-

http://www.laurel-and-hardy.co.uk/index.php

I can thourougly recommend if you are a fan of the duo, or even if you are not.
Here is a little poem I wrote after my visit..

Two bowler hats their uniform

Of mirth

One tall and skinny the other

Fuller girth

Men brought together by

Life’s simple fate

Immortalised for ever

On cellulose nitrate

Slapstick timed in a comedy

Ballet

From sands in the desert and

Anchors away.

And in the end their friendship

Always shone through

They brought so much joy

And laughter, their own special brew

Trivia

Few years before Laurel and Hardy officially teamed up they starred alongside each other by chance in "Lucky dog" in 1921".  

Laurel intended to work mainly as a writer and director and not as an actor. However, in 1926 when Hardy was injured, Laurel had to step in and replace them in a movie. Later they became close friends and the Laurel and Hardy team was officially formed. 

Off-screen, Laurel and Hardy were quite the opposite of their movie characters. Laurel was the idea man who contributed a lot to the writing the directing of their movies. On the other hand Hardy was more into socializing and having a good time!

In late 1930s, Laurel had a disputes with their movie studio resulting in the termination of his contract. For this reason, in the movie "Zenobia", Harry Langdon had to replace him as Hardy's on-screen partner. The dispute was eventually resolved and Laurel teamed up with Hardy again. 

After Hardy's death in 1957 Laurel refused to appear on camera again. Instead in its final years, he personally responded to the letters of their fans until his death in 1965. He even left his phone number listed in the phone book and would regulalry talk to fans.

That's Amaaaaazing


The largest shaving cream pie fight consists of 1,180 participants and was achieved by Another Fine Fest (UK) in Ulverston, UK, on 18 June 2016.
Another Fine Fest is an arts and theatre festival held annually to celebrate the town of Ulverston and Stan Laurel, of Laurel and Hardy fame, who was born there.


Did you know the blue whale is so massive that if you put it on a football pitch the match would be cancelled?


Free Audio Play..

Here is a recent radio play, written by myself, performed by my pals at Sheffield Radio.

If you like it, pop across to my authors page on Amazon and treat yourself to one of my recent books.



https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neville-Raper/e/B0759Z1D25/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0