what I have learned today.

[robgul]

The brand name SONA for metal teapots, milk jugs etc made back in the 50s and 60s is derived from Stratford ON Avon where the manufacturer was located (the site is now housing, a BUPA care home, a Travelodge and an ALDI) - the similar products under the SWAN* brand were also made there.


*Swans are very much associated with SuA with the fearsome things on the river, one of the theatres, an orchestra and the Black Swan pub (a.k.a. The Dirty Duck)

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

The the Cambridge house fire which sadly killed a woman and two children over the week end was caused by an electric bike which was on charge at the time.

I think the next question is what was the bike/battery ?  . . . . . there are some notoriously poor quality bikes and batteries out there . . .   From data I've seen I doubt it was an established/mainstream brand.   Whatever, not leaving the battery on-charge unattended is prudent.
[/quote

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=126102.0

[Giraffe]

BBC reporter kept calling it "electronic" - it is, of course, but not as common useage would have it.
On Look East it was "electric".

[Mr Larrington]

Today I are learning that Luis Ocaña died from a self-inflicted gunshot :'(

[LittleWheelsandBig]

There are several pro cyclists who chose their own time to check out. Ireland’s first yellow jersey wearer, for one.

[Mr Larrington]

1990 KOTM Thierry Claveyrolat too.

[Beardy]

Switzerland doesn’t formal have a capital city. Bern was chosen as the seat of the Swiss parliament 170 odd years ago, but nowhere in officialdom is it named or recognised as the Capital. History apparently.

[geraldc]

Marty Robbins recorded a follow up to El Paso

https://youtu.be/74AkX3D35fo

[T42]

Rabid homoeopaths have almost wiped out the wild arnica that grows on the Grand Ballon, the highest mountain in the Vosges.

[T42]

Marty Robbins recorded a follow up to El Paso

https://youtu.be/74AkX3D35fo

I had a boss who always took a Marty Robbins cassette along to play in the car when we went to client sites. The trips were often a few hundred km long.  I got to know the first damned El Paso thing by heart.  "One little kiss" my arse and Faleena can FOAD.

[Legs]

I share a birthday with notorious sex pests Roman Polanski and Huw Edwards.  A bit relieved that I don't also share it with Prince Andrew or Kevin Spacey.

[rogerzilla]

Orson Welles' last gig as director was the "Follow the bear" adverts for Hofmeister lager.

[rogerzilla]

I share a birthday with notorious sex pests Roman Polanski and Huw Edwards.  A bit relieved that I don't also share it with Prince Andrew or Kevin Spacey.

Thatcher died on my birthday, which didn't in the least put a dampener on things.

[Mr Larrington]

Today I are learning that

The term "conspiracy theory" is itself the subject of a conspiracy theory, which posits that the term was popularized by the CIA in order to discredit conspiratorial believers, particularly critics of the Warren Commission, by making them a target of ridicule.

It’s turtles conspiracies all the way down!

[T42]

Theoretically.

[Kim]

That USB really is The Devil's Anbaric String: https://social.treehouse.systems/@marcan/110755293718273847

[Legs]

That Qantas haven’t had a fatal air crash since 1951.

[Mr Larrington]

Today I are learning that Jack Kerouac was originally admitted to Columbia University on a football scholarship.

[Cudzoziemiec]

That Geneva has a Rue des Garages. And it's aptly, if depressingly, named:
https://goo.gl/maps/VbpDZt75VVWppH729

[Kim]

+0.75 for intermediate vision my arse.  I've no idea what it needs to be, but it's definitely negative...

TIL that the 'Add' column heading on an optical prescription means you add that value to the distance prescription, which indeed gives a more reasonable small negative number.  Clue's in the name I suppose.  I look forward to seeing all the pixels on my new monitor.

Related learning:  Glasses frame fashions are getting worse again.  The 1960s plastic chunkiness that replaced sensible 1990s wire frames is now giving way to colourful abominations with gold trim and rounded corners.  I had to resort to titanium...

Can also confirm that there isn't actually a Ƶ on the anbaric Snellen chart thing, however much my astigmatism disagrees.

[andrewc]

I had to resort to titanium...

Plain grey or those lovely colours that Snowpeak used to do ?

[Kim]

I had to resort to titanium...

Plain grey or those lovely colours that Snowpeak used to do ?

Worse than that, there's PURPLE anodised twiddly bits on the arms (on the basis that if you have to have anodised twiddly bits, it's the best colour).  But the bit that sits in my visual field is thankfully thin and grey, and they're a decent fit on my freakishly small head.

[andrewc]

I always fancied a PURPLE Snowpeak mug, but could never justify the cost.  Perhaps a bit bright for eyewear, but you'd never lose them.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I had to resort to titanium...

Plain grey or those lovely colours that Snowpeak used to do ?

Do you mean the shimmery colours like an oilslick puddle that they still do?
https://uk.snowpeak.com/collections/drinkware-collection

[Mrs Pingu]

You people are a bad influence