Robert Hampton

I’m spending Christmas at my parents’, with limited internet access (pray for me) but I’ll be back in a few days with some exciting news for all my readers.

In the meantime, here’s a lovely little video from Den of Geek, for anyone who is feeling a bit lonely this festive season. Susie Dent and Luke Goss in the same video? It happened!

A little cheesy perhaps, but its heart is in the right place. Besides, it was either that or I link to the Robert Dyas advert.

Too Many Cooks is my favourite 1980s sitcom. You will be humming the theme tune for days, I guarantee it.

It’s the last day of 2012, and time to say a fond farewell to the calendar which has given me many months of fine service, taking pride of place on the wall in my bedroom:

But what to replace it with? Well, there is the 2013 Beautiful Men Wall Calendar which does what it says on the tin, and does it well – although, after buying it, I noticed that one of the photos shows a model with a ciggie in his mouth, which is just off-putting, frankly.

However, if you’re of a charitable bent, there are of course a whole host of organisations whose members are lining up to remove their clothes and pose with a slightly embarrassed expression. Forget the Women’s Institute and strategically placed cakes, these are highly artistic endeavours, and all for a good cause. Excellent stuff.

First there is the London Titans football club, who are donating funds to The Food Chain, a worthy charity which ensures that people in London with HIV have access to the nutrition they need. That’s got to be worth £10.99 of anyone’s money, surely? I was completely unaware of this calendar until my friend Andrew got me one for Christmas. He knows me so well.

Finally, we have the Warwick University Rowers, whose “Brokeback Boathouse” calendar has generated a lot of interest around the Interwebs. Their chosen charity is the amazing Ben Cohen Standup Foundation, which will use the funds to help in its fight against bullying.

The calendars flew off the shelves and sold out before I was able to get my hands on one. However, the downloadable “Making Of” video which is also available comes highly recommended. The downloads can be purchased from the Warwick Rowing web site. There’s even a calendar featuring the women’s rowing team, for those who like that sort of thing (I’m not judging).

Whether you have an attractive man on your wall or not, I hope you all have a very happy new year!

…and a reduced service tomorrow, I can explain it. All the bus and train staff are hiding in shame after taking part in seasonal singalongs.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOoXWoOHDhY?rel=0&w=640&h=480]

The above is from Network West Midlands, the Artist Formerly Known as Centro. For sheer musical wonderment, however, the video below – an unofficial effort from Greater Anglia’s finest – wins out. Do They Know It’s Christmas? Do they know the tune?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMJ14IIiYXI?rel=0&w=640&h=480]

I shouldn’t be churlish, I suppose. Well done them for getting into the Christmas spirit. Season’s greetings to you all.

This catchy song is, believe it or not, part of a railway safety campaign for Metro Trains Melbourne.

I found this article a while back. I was going to Tweet a link to it, but thought that it was worthy of inclusion here on the blog proper. The headline is “The Scariest (True) NYC Sublet Story You’ve Ever Heard”:-

After living with Jack for a few months, Doug was running home through the middle of a raging rainstorm, and noticed that Jack’s window was wide open, water pouring into the room. He rushed up the stairs, still dripping wet, and knocked on Jack’s door … Neatly piled into stacks were Chinese food containers, some 10 boxes high, some already toppled, with their half-eaten contents strewn on the floor. The cartons covered all the available area on the floor except for a narrow walkway to the bed and the desk.

Please note, the above is NOT the horrifying part. Read the rest of the story if you dare.

This is either terrible or brilliant, depending on your point of view. I think it just about makes it into the latter category, despite a dodgy rap about halfway through. The woman at 2:15 is my favourite part of the whole thing. Bonus points for using the Calvert font for the titles and credits.

Hat tip to @TwopTwips on Twitter for alerting a grateful nation. Now, who’s up for Merseyrail: The Opera?

Christmas is a time for the whole family, but it can be difficult to keep everyone entertained for the whole day.

Fear not, for help is at hand to bridge the gap between the Christmas puddings and the Doctor Who special. Have fun with my printable Super Fun Christmas Activity Pack, full of puzzles and games to entertain everyone!

Download (1.32 MB PDF file)

Here is a short coda to my Brighton trip. On the train home I was listening to more Adam & Joe XFM podcasts from 2006. Unbeknownst to me, this included this hilarious discussion of R Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet album, which caught me unawares and induced helpless laughter in me.

Aware that I was getting strange looks from my fellow passengers, I tried to stifle my laughter. My attempts only resulted in a coughing fit, which earned me even more strange looks.

Adam and Joe must be two of the most entertaining people on the radio. I really wish they’d hurry up and return to their 6 Music show.

So the X-Factor final is tonight. I’m not particularly interested since the main reason to watch the show exited a few weeks back.

I’m completely over the whole TV music show thing, mainly because it rarely delivers on its premise. For every Will Young and Leona Lewis there is a Michelle McManus, Leon Jackson or Steve Brookstein. Simon Cowell and his mates rake in the cash and everyone else gets trampled in the process (remember when the Christmas number one wasn’t a foregone conclusion?)

So rather than dwell on it, I’ll post this video from the BBC Comedy site, featuring Mr Saturday Night Telly Voice Man himself, Peter Dickson.