The "And in other news..." thread

[DaleCooper]

No doubt when he's back up before the beak he'll be looking at some bird.

Perhaps the jury will swallow his story and tern him loose.

 

[Cowley]

Perhaps the jury will swallow his story and tern him loose.

Depends if he gets a fair herring.

 

[najaB]

I know it's a lark to be swift with the bird puns, but can we consider what this bearded twit has done and how un-pheasant it was for the poor little gull.

 

[DaleCooper]

I know it's a lark to be swift with the bird puns, but can we consider what this bearded twit has done and how un-pheasant it was for the poor little gull.

The story would have been much better if the man was Albert Ross and the seabird thrown was a shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) or booby (Sula leucogaster).

 

[LOL The Irony]

People are angry that Sony hasn't changed the PlayStation logo for 11 years
https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020/01/07/new-ps5-playstation-sony-logo-company-gives-up/

You hyped about Sony‘s upcoming PS5? Yeah? Well, you’re about to pee yourself from excitement, BECAUSE THE NEW LOGO IS HERE!

Slam your peepers on this badboy:

Look familiar? That’s not too much of a surprise, because it’s reminiscent of the current PS4 logo.

 

[coradiafan2000]

People are angry that Sony hasn't changed the PlayStation logo for 11 years
https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020/01/07/new-ps5-playstation-sony-logo-company-gives-up/

I'm surprised people are mad about it. Xbox's has remained basically the same, albeit with minor adjustments. It is kind of a boring logo, but I'm certainly not up in arms over it.

 

[edwin_m]

People are angry that Sony hasn't changed the PlayStation logo for 11 years

Are they in-console-able?

 

[coradiafan2000]

Are they in-console-able?

Good one!

 

[LOL The Irony]

Xbox's has remained basically the same, albeit with minor adjustments. It is kind of a boring logo, but I'm certainly not up in arms over it.

It's remained unchanged since 2005, a further 4 years longer than the current PlayStation logo.

Are they in-console-able?

I'll fetch you your coat...

 

[GusB]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...glary-foiled-after-prosecco-distracts-raiders

Things went flat for two burglars who broke into London bookshop Gay’s the Word, after police caught them quaffing prosecco in the shop’s basement.

Front and back windows at Gay’s the Word, which became the UK’s first gay bookshop when it was opened in 1979 and which featured in the film Pride, were smashed last Sunday. But after ransacking the shop and drinking a bottle of tequila left on the premises after a member of staff’s birthday, the burglars were caught by police in the store’s kitchen drinking prosecco. They were subsequently sentenced: one man was jailed for six months; the second given 16 weeks, suspended for 12 months.

“They had been there for some time,” said bookseller Uli Lenart. “I think they were looking for cash, but when they didn’t find any, they started bringing up computer equipment from the basement. As I went through the shop afterwards, I found an empty bottle of tequila, and an open bottle of prosecco on the kitchen table downstairs. They seemed to have been boozing up mid-burglary, which probably wasn’t the most prudent thing to do.”

Lenart said a member of the public had heard the window being smashed, and had called the police. “[The burglars] got distracted by the booze and were here when the police arrived,” he said. “It puts me in mind of a Joe Orton play.”

No books were taken, said Lenart, with the thieves only taking money from the box on the counter where they had been collecting for the LGBT+ youth charity Mosaic. The shop reopened on Monday and was quickly repaired. “We’ve been at the broken windows rodeo before,” Lenart added – the store has been the target of homophobic attacks in the past, the latest of which took place in 2018.

At a book launch on Thursday for Sophie Ward’s debut novel, Love and Other Thought Experiments, customers were informed about the break-in. “We explained we were resilient about the whole thing,” said Lenart, “but that we were sad about the money for charity – and we received so many donations we’ve got far more money for Mosaic now than we had before. The positive community response has been wonderful. Customers turning up with bunches of flowers, people dropping off bottles of prosecco, publishers sending us free books and boxes of chocolates. We’ve felt really held and supported, and we’ve found that deeply touching.”

 

[Cowley]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...glary-foiled-after-prosecco-distracts-raiders

I don’t think they’re readers...

 

[341o2]

And in local news...

Lymington Town Council have banned the local brass band performing in public, apparently because they are amateur musicians and breach covid-19 rules by doing so

In a statement, Lymington and Pennington Town Council said it had had no choice but to stop the band from playing.

It said: “Unfortunately at this current time brass and wind instruments are not permitted to play in public following 11th July guidance.

“Singing and the playing of brass and wind instruments in groups or in front of an audience is limited to professionals only, and that is what restricts Lymington Town Band from being able to play to the public as they are an amateur band.”

https://www.advertiserandtimes.co.uk/lymington-town-band

 

[pdeaves]

And in local news...

Lymington Town Council have banned the local brass band performing in public, apparently because they are amateur musicians and breach covid-19 rules by doing so



https://www.advertiserandtimes.co.uk/lymington-town-band

If playing wind instruments 'spreads germs', what does it matter whether the player gets paid for doing so or not? Do viruses only target amateurs? Something is wrong with the rule or its interpretation somewhere!

 

[LOL The Irony]

So amateur musicians spread germs but professional musicians don't?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

So amateur musicians spread germs but professional musicians don't?

Professional musicians' safety will be the responsibility of whoever hired them. "He who pays the piper calls the tune", as the saying goes.

 

[3rd rail land]

So amateur musicians spread germs but professional musicians don't?

I am an amateur musician. My reckoning is that the government are worried about the economy much more than the risk of spreading germs/causing illness. Pro musicians will be claiming benefits, not paying tax and therefore spending less all because they don't have any work. Pro musicians who are employed might be alright but many are self employed/freelancers. There may also be pressure from the unions such as the ISM or MU. The groups I play in, mostly amateur orchestras, hardly contribute anything to the economy so the government has probably figured we can wait indefinitely until they decide it is safe for us to resume which could easily be sometime in 2021.

Professional musicians' safety will be the responsibility of whoever hired them. "He who pays the piper calls the tune", as the saying goes.

Many pro musicians are self employed/freelancers and if there is no gig/show/session/concert/whatever they don't get paid. A lot of jobbing musicians don't earn lots of money, sometimes just enough to get by.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Many pro musicians are self employed/freelancers and if there is no gig/show/session/concert.whatever they don't get paid. A lot of jobbing musicians don't earn lots of money, sometimes just enough to get by.

Oh I know, two of my in-laws are musicians in orchestras (orchestrae?) and both are struggling at the moment, there's only so much Zoom teaching you can do. I just wanted an excuse to use a musical metaphor in a non metaphorical way!

Musicians do have to be careful with COVID-19 though, as many (violin) cases are acymbalmatic.

 

[edwin_m]

But a trombone is very effective in enforcing social distancing.

 

[341o2]

Fire crews called to smouldering tree stump as a result of someone trying to burn out a wasp's nest

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/n...ce-called-man-set-wasp-nest-fire-shaftesbury/

A MAN was “significantly stung” after he took a flame thrower to a wasp nest in Shaftesbury.

A spokesperson for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service said: “We were called to a property in Cann, Shaftesbury at 6.20pm yesterday evening after a man had set fire to a wasp nest.

“One crew from Shaftesbury attended the incident and found a tree stump smouldering on arrival, which was aggravating the wasps further.
“Firefighters extinguished the fire using one hose reel jet – the stop came at 6.39pm.”
A tweet from DWFireControl confirmed the man had attempted to destroy the nest using a flame thrower.

 

[najaB]

Fire crews called to smouldering tree stump as a result of someone trying to burn out a wasp's nest

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/n...ce-called-man-set-wasp-nest-fire-shaftesbury/

Can we take a moment to consider the thought process that lead from "wasp nest" to "flamethrower"... Did he have the flamethrower and start looking for things to use it on, or did he start with a wasp's nest and end at flamethrower? If so what else did he consider using the flamethrower on/using on the wasp's nest? Is there a trail of successfully burned objects in the Shaftesbury area? Enquiring minds want to know!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Is there a trail of successfully burned objects in the Shaftesbury area? Enquiring minds want to know!

Possibly some over-baked Hovis loaves...?

 

[341o2]

The Echo is infamous because of its poor journalism with meaningless statements and typos, there is a garden device to kill weeds on patio or path, I suspect it was one of those, and he only used it in his own garden. What he failed to take into account was that the wasps would still be active, and workers returning from foraging took a dim view of someone trying to burn them out

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

Linking to the first post..

Obsevers called the police after seeing a man climbing into the boot of a car, which then drove off, could have been an abduction
..
Turned out he was a mechanic trying to identify a strange sound the vehicle was making

I know that feeling, my Avenger used to rattle, turned out a rubber grommet on the handbrake equaliser rod was missing

 

[najaB]

Man blows up part of house while chasing fly

A man has blown up part of his house in France while trying to swat a fly.
The man, who is in his 80s, was about to tuck into his dinner when he became irritated by a fly buzzing around him.
He picked up an electric racket designed to kill bugs and start swatting at it - but a gas canister was leaking in his Dordogne home.
A reaction between the racket and the gas caused an explosion, destroying the kitchen and partly damaging the roof of the home in Parcoul-Chenaud village.

No news on the health of the fly...

 

[341o2]

Reminds me of the incident which occurred earlier this year, when someone wanted the interior of his car to smell really nice, so he used copious amounts of air freshener, satisfied with the result,he lit a cigarette and blew the windows out

 

[Cowley]

Man blows up part of house while chasing fly

No news on the health of the fly...

I think I watched a Yosemite Sam cartoon once where he destroys his house by getting angry and shooting at a fly.

 

[52290]

I think I watched a Yosemite Sam cartoon once where he destroys his house by getting angry and shooting at a fly.

Perhaps it was the inspiration behind the Fly episode in Breaking Bad?

 

[341o2]

Elderly couples old TV knocked out wifi throught the village - source Yahoo news

A retired pair have been revealed as the couple who wiped out their village's WiFi every day with their old £30 TV.

Alun and Elaine Rees were totally unaware that their 16' Bush television set was causing problems for their neighbours in Aberhosan, mid-Wales.

The couple would turn on the faithful TV set in their bedroom at 7am every day, unknowingly causing “electrical noise” that interfered with the internet signal for the entire village.

Engineers sent to the Powys village had been baffled as to why the WiFi cut out “like clockwork” at 7am.

 

[najaB]

Elderly couples old TV knocked out wifi throught the village - source Yahoo news

Absolutely believable. When I worked for BT we had a similar case except caused by a faulty alarm system.

 

[341o2]

A correction is that while I read about it on Yahoo News, the story was originally aired on Good Morning Britain