Archive for the ‘Answer Us Back! Your time to opine’ Category

the price of nuts

June 29, 2011

** Click here for Episode 180 **

This seems an intelligent thesis from Tom from San Francisco:

A couple of episodes back, you discussed why plain nuts are more expensive than salted, dry-roasted or other flavored nuts, even though it seems like they should cost less.

I’m not in the industry, but I do have another theory in addition to the ones you offered: when making salted or seasoned nuts, it’s possible to use lower quality (and thus cheaper) nuts in the process, and the salts and flavours hide the fact that the quality is lower.

Plain nuts, by comparison, need to taste good in order to sell, and they could be using more expensive high-quality nuts for this purpose.

Are any of you readers in the nut industry? Can you confirm Tom’s theory, or reveal the darker secret of the nut pricing disparity? The world deserves to know.

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Stage Hypnosis for Dummies

June 28, 2011

** Click here for Episode 180 **

Here’s a little bit of book-learning now, thanks to Tommy:

Olly’s knowledgeable warnings about stage hypnotists reminded me of a book I found yesterday at the library. It’s from 1907. Photo attached:

That looks like one hell of a show. “Mr Rastus from Kansas” with “Ungentlemanly Actions” for an encore? Beat that, Derren Brown’s Svengali!

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This paper’s going nowhere…

June 22, 2011

** Click here for Episode 179 **

Look, we’re no strangers to shitunusual museums – we drove many miles out of our way to go to the Cumberland Pencil Museum, no less – but Dina from London really is boldly going where nobody else bothers to go unless they’re on a school trip:

Given your clear interest in paperweights last episode, I highly recommend you visit the Paperweight Centre in Yelverton, Devon.

I went there with my boyfriend and we had an awesome time hearing all about the history of the humble paperweight. I even bought one which wasn’t listed in the glassmaker’s catalogue! A one off orange specimen which now resides on my desk in Holborn much at the mockery of my colleagues.

I have never actually used it to weigh down my papers as there is rarely a breeze in my climate-controlled office, however I occasionally play with it when thinking or stare into it when bored. It really is quite mesmerising. I can also confirm that it would be a good weapon in case of attack but as I don’t carry it around in my handbag, and I do not expect to get attacked at my desk, I doubt it’ll ever be used in self defence.

I have now developed a genuine interest in niche museums. The Paperweight Centre is linked with Barometer World, so I look forward to going there next.

Here is a photo of me at the joyous place in question:

Readers. Have you been to a shittermore obscure museum than that? Tell us about it in the comments, so that we – and Dina – can plan our next holidays around it. NB Martin and I visited this one on honeymoon (because nothing says romance better than a nutcracker shaped like Adolf Hitler), so do aim high.

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Every little helps

June 15, 2011

** Click here for Episode 178 **

If any of you are planning some corporate rebranding, and you don’t want an expensive Consignia-style flop on your hands, just call in Mark here for 100% clear-eyed analysis:

Re: last podcast (178) re political colours:

If the Tories had just got rid of the red from their red, white and blue colours, it would have looked as if they were sponsored by Tesco’s value range.

Nothing further, your honour.

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The happiest boy on earth (and it’s not Olly, for once)

June 15, 2011

** Click here for Episode 178 **

We received several emails this week regarding perks from your own or your parents’ jobs, but there was only one that made one Olly Mann shit himself with envy. It was this one from Laurence from Henley-on-Thames:

My parents both used to work for Disney. Because of this, mine and my sisters’ childhoods have been FILLED with masses of Disney paraphernalia – we had every single film on video and DVD, enormous cuddly toys of various characters, and even some original hand-drawn slides from various animated movies as seen in the films themselves, including
The Lion King, Winnie the Pooh and Fantasia!

And finally, we used to have free access to all the Disney theme parks

At this point we had to stop reading, as Olly’s apoplexy was reaching dangerous levels. Thankfully Dan from Coventry brought him back round with a dose of schadenfreude smelling salts:

I work at a go kart track. I can go on and race, but I choose not to because it’s so boring. I prefer sitting and watching people crash.

Of course.

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mucky-mouthed mum

June 15, 2011

** Click here for Episode 178 **

Last week we talked about mothers’ mucky-mouthed malapropisms. Here’s one from Adam:

My mom refers to the hot cooked sandwiches that you get at Starbucks as punanis!

Really not sure if she’s trying to be funny or not but I’m not going to say anything.

Bless her, Adam’s mum is still trapped in the late 90s, when any reference to Ali G was guaranteed a good reception. If she sticks with it long enough, it’s bound to roll back into vogue again, right? Like mullets and right-wing politics.

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law-abiding Citizen Smith

June 8, 2011

Last week, we discussed the time that the comedian and star of Morons from Outer Space Mel Smith courted controversy at the Edinburgh Fringe by flouting the rules to smoke on stage. But now we find out that his Madonna-kissing-Britney-AND-Christina moment was mere rumour! George corrects us:

The council sent environmental protection officers to the venue (Assembly Rooms) on the first day of Mel Smith’s show and threatened the venue with the revocation of their temporary theatre licence if he were to light up on stage, thereby obviously scuppering their entire Fringe operation.

Mel never smoked on stage in Scotland. He did however take a puff out of the window for photographers on the street below.

And judging by this article George sent to us as corroborating evidence, Mel didn’t handle the matter with much grace either. But today, I am willing to forgive him, having just watched this, the nadir of on-stage ruses to stir up controversy/interest.

Honestly, Rihanna, do you think Nina Simone would have resorted to listlessly dry-humping a poor, foolish concert-goer? Just throw a handful of Quality Street into the crowd. It works for panto, and even a scrum of people fighting to grab a piece of foil containing 0% cocoa solids is less of a degrading sight than this.

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pared-down penis party

June 1, 2011

** Click here for Episode 176 **

Here’s another lovely story of a classy soirée, courtesy of Chris from Chiswick:

I once went to a circumcision party. At the age of 16 my friend Tom had to have a circumcision because I think he didn’t wash and it got infected or something. Anyway, on return from the hospital he had invited us all to be there for his a arrival without a foreskin. After a few celebratory circumcision drinks, he then showed us his bloody stitched penis sans prepuce. I think I may have vomited.

That seems a reasonable response.

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ghost sex party

May 31, 2011

** Click here for Episode 176 **

Judging by your feedback by last episode’s call for your stories of parties on a par with menarche parties, people all over the world are fighting for their right to party in a way that makes everyone they know feel very uncomfortable. Rachel from Fife:

I have once been to a Titanic-themed party, hosted by some neighbours who always hold a themed party to celebrate New Year. In finding this choice slightly odd and as a teenager feeling determined to not enjoy any social event also attended by my parents, I opted for jeans and an ‘I Heart NY’ t-shirt, while others donned fancy dresses and painted themselves blue.

Rachel also points out that, if you actually like the sound of this party, and you’ve got spare funds and a strong conviction in the notion that lightning doesn’t strike twice, you might want to set sail on a Titanic Memorial Cruise. Frozen DiCaprio not included.

We’d’ve steered clear of the party bags and the finger buffet at the party Dave in Cardiff went to:

The weirdest party I’ve ever been to was an ‘I’m about to get a shag” party. Allow me to explain.

When she was 16, one of my old school friends became delusional and convinced she could to talk to a ghost. She thought she’d fallen in love with the ghost and wanted to be with him for the rest of her life and even afterwards when she would become a ghost too.

But, she still wanted to have kids, and her ghost boyfriend wanted her to be happy. So they came to the arrangement that she could have a human boyfriend. However, the ghost was still jealous and made her promise not to have sex until she’d a made commitment to the ghost as her ‘main’ boyfriend. She found another nut-case who believed in the ghost. He arranged this frankly bizarre ritual, where my friend and her boyfriend had their relationship approved by the ghost at a big party. To which I was invited.

There was lots of singing and chanting, a big meal and disco, but the climax of the day was at the end when my friend and her boyfriend said goodbye to everyone and went off to have their first fuck together. To make matters worse, my friend had not just invited mates to this ‘prelude to banging’ party but also her family.

The whole thing made me very uncomfortable but even more so because everyone else seemed to think it was normal. At the end of the evening when my friend and her boyfriend left to have coitus, I had to rush outside to be sick.

To make matters worse I’ve got another three of these shag parties to go to before the end of the year.

It may seem weird now, Dave, but in a couple of decades, ghost sex parties will be so normalised as to be passé. And then maybe Ang Lee will make a film about one.

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the true price of partworks

May 24, 2011

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Episode 175 feels like a lifetime ago to us, but stirring in the depths of memory is something to do with partwork magazines and who the hell buys them and at what lifetime outlay etc etc…you remember, right? Well, anonymous newsagent has been in touch to confirm the financial and emotional devastation they wreak:

I work in a newsagent’s, and the tragic fact about those partwork magazines is that some people do genuinely buy all of them. One man has bought more than 120 of The Pocket Watch Collection (£7.99 fortnightly), with no sign of the end of the collection as yet. The poor old man can’t stop buying them, as he wants the whole set, and has spent about a grand on them altogether so far! Poverty befalls all who purchase, but he does have a rather large collection of watches now, if that’s any consolation.

With some, they extend the initial run half way through, so will cost way more than originally expected and run for even longer than the 80 or so expected, or just stop making them a few issues in if they’re not making enough money.

Now I have betrayed the secrets of my trade, I am prepared to be clapped in irons and slung out of the print media selling community.

Don’t worry, you still have chewing gum and jazzmags to fall back on. As it were.

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Parkour classes, and perv prevention

April 18, 2011

Remember AMT175? Nor do we! But fortunately Nick from Tadley does:

Helen questioned how you would start learning parkour. Olly suggested starting on small walls or some other thing, which is partly true. However, recently, there are actual sessions in gyms which dedicate themselves to this. How else would people learn how to kick the moon or corkscrew? Also, it’s great fun just chucking yourself from a high platform into a foam pit and landing like some kind of ninja!

Excellent! If Olly ever feels like dislocating his other shoulder, we’ll sign him up.

Our most recent podcast also provoked Cat from London to write in:

You asked whether you should tell someone if their fly was undone. I was on the tube once, getting off at Kings Cross, and for ages I agonised over this question: to my side I could see right into a lady’s top (not that I wanted to, I am a straight female).

When I finally decided that she probably would appreciate the sisterhood of telling her about it, I said, “Excuse me, your…” only to realise her earphones were in and I had to repeat myself (without embarrassing her in front of the man near us).

So I just gestured to my own bust area with a panicked look on my face, and pointed at her button. Luckily she smiled and laughed in embarrassment and did it up, and that was that. Job well done.

A crisis averted – with mime! If only they were all so easily solved.

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archaeology smackdown

April 7, 2011

** Click here for Episode 173 **

The surprising number of archaelogists that listen to this show (ie more than O) are throwing down their trowels, dusting off their knees and getting ready to scrap. Duncan in Wellington says:

I must make a point of order about the expert commentry provided by Nick from Oklahoma. He described pre-European Easter Island as being prehistoric because they didn’t have writing.

In fact they did, and this writing, Rongorongo, was one of possibly only four independent instances of writing being invented.

Now for sure no one is able to read this writing, so perhaps until we can the time remains prehistoric. But I still feel the need to defend these crazy islanders.

If any of the rest of you feel this need as well, there’s no better time than now. Go to the comments and tell us how actually the Rapa Nui invented the bicycle.

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