Month: December 2003

blather.net
2445 views

Where the world gets its weird photographs... Ah, you know it's nearin' the Christmas when the post arrives of a Sunday, ha? Today I received the fine surprise of a letter from The Fortean Picture Library, 'a pictorial archive of mysteries and strange phenomena by Janet and Colin Bord'. With it was princely payment for a photograph I'd sent them some seven years ago, of the gravestone in Co. Leitrim, upon which was a carving of an alledged Dobhar-Chú, or master otter, a mysterious beast said to live in a lake beside the mountain of Ben Bulben. Now the photograph appearing in Traveller (Conde Naste) magazine. Nice. Visit the Fortean Picture Library's site »

blather.net
3565 views

An urgent request, as found on a messageboard in Trinity College Dublin by Blather's intrepid 'Agent F'. All (sic): I Wish to no if there is any Paranormal activity in Trinity College,??? Yeah, just like Ghost Busters, floating coffee cups moving on there own accord something along those lines. Alien sightings, visions, space time continuum broken. Also is there any scientists working on X men drugs, I'm free for to discuss these areas like area 51, in the mornings and evening. From Derek Telephone 087- and Email address (withheld out of decency, but will divulge on polite request.) Jumping Jesus on a pogo-stick. Don't they teach our students grammar any more? Seriously though, I'm not aware of any paranormal goings-on in Trinity College Dublin. The closest I've had to an out-of-body experience in the place involved pissing against a tree in front square after a night on the ceramic tiles...

blather.net
2966 views

An arrogant and depraved body of (wo)men... "Blather is here." "As we advance to make our bow, you will look in vain for signs of servility or for any evidence of a desire to please. We are an arrogant and depraved body of men. We are as proud as bantams and as vain as peacocks." "Blather doesn't care." A sardonic laugh escapes us as we bow, cruel and cynical hounds that we are. It is a terrible laugh, the laugh of lost men. Do you get the smell of porter?' - from the original Blather, issue 1, published in 1934 by Brian O'Nolan a.k.a. Flann O'Brien a.k.a. Myles na gCopaleen. More on Flann O'Brien » More on the original Blather » Related: Veritable Streaming Bloody Cunts of Information » Blather doesn't care (slight return) as Jimi Hendrix would say... Then later today... Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Thursday, December 11, 2003: Ancient...

blather.net
4240 views

Because of the recent rise of 'unacceptable content' on blather.net (according to Google) we have decided to go on the offensive. By Barry Kavanagh, Oliver Bayliss, William Shakespeare, and with plagiarism from unknown sources because we couldn’t tell which parts of Bayliss’ crumpled and torn manuscript were copied verbatim from dusty history books. Copyright: whoever. Get the T-Shirt! Because of the recent rise of 'unnacceptable content' on blather.net (according to Google) we have decided to go on the offensive against offensiveness. No more shall we be labelled 'an arrogant and depraved body of men’. Our first task is of course to put a stop to all guttermouth expressions. Let’s start with ‘cunt’. As the source of life (see below), there is no better word with which to begin. Now, we fully intend to keep using this word, frequently, at every available opportunity, so the task is to de-gutter the word,...

blather.net
3563 views

An unofficial cull in Kerry? According to the Irish Independent, the Irish Seal Sanctuary (ISS) says it has received reports of seal killings in Co Kerry during the last few days. The killings seem to be random in nature, and the ISS reckon that they are being carried out by agitators who want a cull. Five dead seals were found in the Banna Strand and Ballyheigue areas during the last fortnight. There was a cull in Kerry during the early 90s, so seal numbers are already quite low there. Back in August, the ISS reported that seals were being shot off the coast of Kerry. More » Irish Seal Sanctuary » Irish Whale and Dolphin Group » Michael Viney discussed seals in Another Life in the Irish Times in October 2000 » Seals and Dolphins Wash Up on Mexican Beach » Greenpeace Dolphin 'bycatch' death evidence » Esperanza: investigating bycatch...

blather.net
2854 views

How to keep George Bush as the number 1 failure... a slight case of googlebombing! Ok, it's going around the net, so I might as well add my €0.10. If you do a search on google for 'miserable failure', the number one hit is for George Bush's biography. As it would be nice to keep this at the number one spot, here's our token link:Miserable Failure. Please click! Later... This post has managed to get me into an unprecedented amount of hassle with the Google Uberlords. See why » The Urban Legends Reference Pages at Snopes.com has a page about the whole Miserable Failure thing, check it out »

blather.net
2155 views

Sick fish and a pasted-in blatherboy. Doncha love that Google, eh? A gentleman by the name of Andrew Lange emailed me earlier today, telling me that he'd found a Googlewhack on blather.net. He'd found 'superimposition blatherskite' in the Klaatu Barada Nikto article on Blather.net So I tried my hand at it. Found valetudinarian conger. Whoohoo! A Googlewhack, by way, is when you search for two words (without quotes) in Google, and come up just ONE result. Getting a fat zero doesn't count. It's not too difficult: Thought of an obscure word: valetudinarian. Then did composite searches valetudinarian banana (21) get more obscure: valetudinarian starfruit (0) valetudinarian pomegranate (4) valetudinarian absinthe (2) - getting close valetudinarian absinth (1) - part of a list, so it doesn't count... think, think think... fish! conger eel! valetudinarian conger (1) tada! Update: Got another: 'snark derailleur'. Visit www.googlewhack.com

blather.net
2678 views

We need your help. No, honestly... A recent Shitegeist entry deals with the apparent resurgence of a very Irish piece of forteana: bleedin and moving statues. As some of you old enough to remember will recall, the mid 1980's saw a veritable national hysteria regarding this subject matter, with half the nations children semingly sucummbing to visions of moving, jiggling and occasionally break-dancing statues. These apparitions were usually accompanied by dire predictions concerning the future of humanity. Despite the enormous media coverage that this phenomena garnered during that time there seems to be a slight national amnesia on the subject. Rarely mentioned, never discussed and almost verging on taboo; this is a subject which merits further investigation and discussion. So, can you help us? We would like you send us any stories that you can recall from this time. Any links you can point us to. Any resources for research....

blather.net
3580 views

There's hardly any fish left on the sea.... but we stumble on, blindly ignorant... Cognitive dissonance, or just wilful ignorance? The European Commission has declated that EU ;cod&lt fishing quotas are to be the same as last year. This is despite being advised by scientists that cod is completely overfished, and that all north sea cod fishing should cease, otherwise a fishery collapse will ensue. Mind you, this was the recommendation last year too, but there was still an official catch of 22,659 tonnes. More from New Scientist>> Only a total ban on cod fishing will prevent a total collapse in populations of cod in Europe, according to new data to be presented to Europe's politicians on Friday. More from New Scientist>> Cod fishing in northern Europe must be totally abandoned, because fish populations are on the brink of collapse, say the scientists who advise the European Commission. More from...

blather.net
2553 views

Padre Pio statue weeping blood. Apparently... In the southern Italian town of Brancaleone, a red liquid is appaarently leaking from the eyes of a bronze statue of the recently beatified Padre Pio, a stigmatic monk known for leaking the red stuff himself. And this comes from the mayor himself, a chap with the wonderful name of Gentile Scaramozzino While the locals are limbering up for a lucrative deluge of pilgrims, the Catholic Church are urging caution, while the national consumer group (Codacons) is warning against a possible hoax. More from the Florida Sun Sentinel >> More on Padre Pio>>