h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There has recently been a spate of cruel ads, too. I can think of a bunch of parachutists stuck in some trees arguing about who's going to call for help and use up minutes, and one of them gets dropped quite a distance. I can also remember an ad that involved a girl and her girlfriend driving along in the ex's car, laughing at his phone call...

I'm giving the impression that I watch a lot of tv, which isn't true. I never turn the thing on until I sit down with my evening meal, and then I rarely watch more than an hour, unless West Wing is on.

If I watched more telly, I might be able to name more good ads.

The ads that used to annoy me in Russia were for beer which featured, frankly, teenagers living it up. I mean, in general I thoroughly approve of the Russian attitude to health and safety, which would make Hypatia's horrifying story an absolute impossibility, but that was taking it too far.

I wonder if Mrs Busybody has a hectic social life, or if no one dares invite her round in case she gets the house declared a health hazard?

I always like adverts with s and s in them they are so cute. There is one with a large silver striped tabby for Whiskas cat food, who sits on a chair at the table. He has The Look, with his ears very slightly flattened, just like Cassie does when she is really p*ssed off!

Blimey, talk about backlog! All I did was go to sleep!

I got my information about douches as contraception from 'The Group' by Mary McCarthy - they were used in combination with caps which were dusted in talcum powder. Talc of course has now been associated with various gynecological cancers. It amazes me anyone ever had sex with that amoung of before and after kerfuffle.


>> It almost makes you want to go out and get Herpes so you too can be one of those beautiful, attractive, happy, romantic people taking the medication

There was a joke about a teenage boy going to buy tampons because he wanted to be able to swim and skate and play sport! Bless.


>> The governor at the time reacted by going to a diner with a camera crew, ordered fried eggs on the runny side, and ate them.

Nice one. But I was still disgusted by John Selwyn Gummer feeding his 8 year old daughter bugers for the cameras during the 1980s BSE crisis.


>> Do we have to give up raw fruits and vegetables too? Rinsing them only does so much.

When I was a nipper I would go into the garden, pull up young carrots, give them a wipe on my jumper, and eat them. Very little since has tasted as good as those carrots, though they were a bit gritty.


>> And I am so glad we have moved on from tea to douche.

(which brings me back to coffee enemas!


>>red rubber bag and weird plastic hose in the shower

Looks like there is a whole track of sexual and gynecological childhood confusion and trauma that Brits simply don't have.


>> I really should write the incident up for the AWW. I'm still just astonished over the whole thing.

Please! Pretty please!


>> I've started categorizing advertisements...

There is also the clever-clever kind. Thus: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/honda-ad.html and at the bottom of http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new_cars/new_golf_hatch

B

In a just world the Smell fungus and Mrs Busybody can occupy each others time and do the rest of you a favour, hear's hoping.

Z thanks for asking, I has a suspicion what a douche was, but if a medical type isn't sure of the validity then I can feel less ignorant

Blimey, talk about backlog! All I did was go to sleep!

I got my information about douches as contraception from 'The Group' by Mary McCarthy - they were used in combination with caps which were dusted in talcum powder. Talc of course has now been associated with various gynecological cancers. It amazes me anyone ever had sex with that amoung of before and after kerfuffle.


>> It almost makes you want to go out and get Herpes so you too can be one of those beautiful, attractive, happy, romantic people taking the medication

There was a joke about a teenage boy going to buy tampons because he wanted to be able to swim and skate and play sport! Bless.


>> The governor at the time reacted by going to a diner with a camera crew, ordered fried eggs on the runny side, and ate them.

Nice one. But I was still disgusted by John Selwyn Gummer feeding his 8 year old daughter bugers for the cameras during the 1980s BSE crisis.


>> Do we have to give up raw fruits and vegetables too? Rinsing them only does so much.

When I was a nipper I would go into the garden, pull up young carrots, give them a wipe on my jumper, and eat them. Very little since has tasted as good as those carrots, though they were a bit gritty.


>> And I am so glad we have moved on from tea to douche.

(which brings me back to coffee enemas!


>>red rubber bag and weird plastic hose in the shower

Looks like there is a whole track of sexual and gynecological childhood confusion and trauma that Brits simply don't have.


>> I really should write the incident up for the AWW. I'm still just astonished over the whole thing.

Please! Pretty please!


>> I've started categorizing advertisements. #1) The scary kind. #2) The irritating kind. #3) The funny kind. #4) The kind that make me cry

There is also the clever-clever kind which make you ask 'how did they film that?'. Thus: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/honda-ad.html

B

All this talk of adverts had me looking them up on the web and I found this http://www.absolutelyandy.com/tvadverts/ I haven't actually tried downloading any yet as i am on a dial up at work but I remember some, like the Boddingtons ads, being very funny.
Aren't you glad I didn't go looking up douches.

You might remember that I was sad to see the back of my parent's dogs when we finished dogsitting a few weeks ago? Well, I've been in contact with a dog rescue center who initially said that because we are out 9-5 they wouldn't consider homing a single dog with us, only a pair so they can keep each other company while we are out. We would put in a dog flap so they can get out into the garden while we are at work. I've been keeping an eye on their website and a lovely pair are due in this weekend so I gave them a call. I spoke to a different person today who said that under no circumstances would they home any dog with people that work, and that only people who are at home most of the time should ahve dogs.

I am really upset now, have been getting very excited about getting a pet and am gutted to be told I can't have them at all.

Hmm, you need to refer them back to the person you spoke to in th efirst place, if only to stop them misleading folk

Back on the food prep, I remember reading in fast food nation, that the US does not have a maximum acceptable bacterial content for meat for consumption, is this still the case?

Kelli, there is more than one dog rescue organisation in the world, and people will advertise unplanned litters with vets.

Rescue organisation people can be unbelievably self-righteous. I had to rehome a retriever once and I was the scum of the earth, simply because my circumstances had changed. And I felt decidedly on the moral low ground rehoming the cats.

Sounds to me as if it is International Self-righteousness Week.

B
(off to London in an hour or so...)

The thing with the unplanned litters is that they are pups, and I do agree with the rescue people that it is hard to housetrain a puppy if you aren't there all the time to 'catch them in the act' so to speak. Better to get adults that are already housebroken, but I guess this centre has more people wanting dogs than they have dogs, so they can be choosey.

Is it fair to have dogs in my circumstances, or is it cruel and selfish?

I, personally, wouldn't get a dog. I'd love to have one but they are very social animals, much more so than cats, and they struggle on their own. My parents have had dogs all my life but there has always been someone at home. Mind you, I don't want to get a cat either because I don't think I can offer it enough time. I'm generally quite selfish with my time as a rule anyway so that probably colours my judgement. Hey ho, said Rolly.

Well, I loved having the cats, but when the stepson moved out it wasn't fair on them. Hand on heart, I think that having dogs if you are both working is not such a great idea. But a lot depends on the individual dog and the breed. Have you contacted the greyhound rescue people? I don't know enough about greyhounds to know if they would be suitable or not.

I take your point about housetraining a pup - kittens come housetrained by their mothers.

B

Get the pair of dogs. Zeppo is much happier during the daytime since I got Jersey Gummo to keep him company. But the idea that people who work should not get dogs is simply ridiculous - this may be more true in the US where animals in shelters are destroyed if they are not adopted, it's better to be alive and lonely for a few hours per day than dead.

Most of the day while I am way Zeppo and Jersey Gummo sleep. I know this because on the days that I do stay home they sleep like clockwork, starting from the time I usually go to work generally right through to the time I usually come home. And just last night there was a report on the TV news where they placed cameras in peoples homes when they were away to see what the dogs did - in most cases they slept, in the few cases where the dogs were destructive they did it all in the first few minutes of being left alone before going to sleep and the solution was for the dog owners to be less wishy-washy - it was a social order problem.

And I don't think Zeppo was unhappy when he was alone. He's the kind of dog that strangers look at and say "what a happy dog!" (I'm not exaggerating, this happens to me all the time) and always has been. He just occupied himself differently when alone, and was more likely to chew something that he shouldn't, and part of that was due to being a puppy.

Greyhounds sleep. and sleep. and sleep. Then they run. My sister got one a few months ago, the rescue people say that is typical behavior.

A very young puppy should not be left alone for more than a couple of hours at a time - they simply can't hold their bladders that long. The dog will need to be about 8 months old before it can be left alone for an entire work day reliably. The general rule of thumb is an hour max without a walk for every month of age.

But the dog flap is a good idea, once you've trained them to it.

My Vinnie is unhappy if I don't spend at least a few minutes of the day playing with him, but they've been brought up with a human who mainly works at home.

Post office gig this morning. The meeting was long but witout incident last night. Just one more special meeting to ratify the new ordinance and it will all be behind us. Whew!

There isn't much difference between s and s. All my s have always had routines requiring a lot of practice naps, snoozes and kips as well as the main of the day, interpsersed with as many meals as they can fool you into thinking they haven't had (Cassie is the finest I have come across so far, at one point achieving four brekkies!) and episodes of frantic activity.

The main difference, as far as I can tell, is that s are trained by thier owners and s train their people, generally speakin gof course.

I think it is always preferable to have two pets, as well when you are at work, they keep each other company when you are on holiday too. So Cassie may well be finding herself with a little chum before long.

[GDZ]

I don't think I would get one dog on its own, we were completely happy with the idea of getting two dogs so they have each other for company while we are out at work. Trouble is the only place we are going to get a pair of adult dogs is a rescue cantre and they won't give us any because we work. I am upset because I really enjoyed having my folks dogs, and they seemed to have a good time staying with us.

I just don't know if I should feel upset, or just accept this edict because what I want is less important than treating pets correctly. I really don't know if it is cruel to leave a pair of dogs alone for 8 hours a day, even if they can get out to play in the garden. The evidence I have seen of other people's pets seems to suggest that this wouldn't be cruel, but the 'experts' tell me it is.

She said they *might* consider letting us have a cat, but there is a fast road nearby and I wouldn't like for it to get run over, and I don't want to lose the fantastic birds from my garden. Hardly anyone around me has a cat, they all have dogs. The one cat I have seen only has three legs so I guess it doesn't roam too far.

I really thought changing my job and moving house would be enough to have a pet but it seems I need to actually retire - I'll look forward to getting one in another 30 years then

There are so many abandoned animals in the US that I have never heard of a shelter being that picky. Here they are thrilled to find people who want to give the animals homes.