The melody for the American national anthem originally came from a 18th century drinking song in England called To Anacreon in Heaven.

You're welcome, USA.

9 hours ago, jayjayoghani said:

Most do allow their cat to roam though.  We trained ours to accept a leash. 

34 minutes ago, wanderer1984 said:

 

14 minutes ago, jayjayoghani said:

 

Are you sure it's not something those pesky Aussies tell you Brits that move over there?

"Sheila ... SHEILA!!! That Pommy bastard has his cat on a fucking lead again ... The dozy fucking dingbat" 😂

Edited January 20Jan 20 by wanderer1984

12 hours ago, Jol_BWFC said:

How are the mullet and tash coming along?

This trend is raging through the youngsters of Great Britain.

It's fucking awful. 

 

3 hours ago, gonzo said:

This trend is raging through the youngsters of Great Britain.

It's fucking awful. 

 

It's OK though because they are doing it 'ironically' 😁

On 19/01/2026 at 21:46, jayjayoghani said:

Most do allow their cat to roam though.  We trained ours to accept a leash. 

*Lead.

I already knew it but he was on the radio the other day so it reminded me that the Geordie bloke who worked in the garage on Alan Partridge is the voice for the Meerkat on Compare the Meerkat.com.

9 minutes ago, gonzo said:

I already knew it but he was on the radio the other day so it reminded me that the Geordie bloke who worked in the garage on Alan Partridge is the voice for the Meerkat on Compare the Meerkat.com.

Fascinating creatures.

What are Otters up to with their little rocks that they keep safe in a little pouch? 

1 hour ago, gonzo said:

What are Otters up to with their little rocks that they keep safe in a little pouch? 

I don't want to know your thoughts on Otters 😉

Or Bears, or Twinks for that matter

27 minutes ago, Sweep said:

I don't want to know your thoughts on Otters 😉

Or Bears, or Twinks for that matter

I know thr kind of rock that lot carry round these parts

Football isn’t called so for the obvious reasons- it means ‘on foot’ to distinguish it from games played by nobility on horseback, and goes back to the Middle Ages. Those Americans don’t seem so crazy now

On 20/01/2026 at 13:16, kent_white said:

It's OK though because they are doing it 'ironically' 😁

Aw, leave them alone, we were all young once and as a fan of 80s rock I don't mind it so much.

 

If you randomly shuffle a deck of cards (using 52 cards and not including jokers) - there is a Eighty unvigintillion, six hundred fifty-eight vigintillion, one hundred seventy-five novemdecillion, one hundred seventy octodecillion, nine hundred forty-three septendecillion, eight hundred seventy-eight sexdecillion, five hundred seventy-one quindecillion, six hundred sixty quattuordecillion, six hundred thirty-six tredecillion, eight hundred fifty-six duodecillion, four hundred three undecillion, seven hundred sixty-six decillion, nine hundred seventy-five nonillion, two hundred eighty-nine octillion, five hundred five septillion, four hundred forty sextillion, eight hundred eighty-three quintillion, two hundred seventy-seven quadrillion, eight hundred twenty-four trillion to one chance that that exact sequence has ever been drawn before. 

So that's 80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,403,766,975,289,505,440,883,277,824,000,000,000,000/1 

Definitely worth a quid. 

To put it into perspective - if every person on earth shuffled a deck every second since the big bang it's unlikely the sequence would be repeated. Although the odds would still be 3,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000/1

48 minutes ago, kent_white said:

If you randomly shuffle a deck of cards (using 52 cards and not including jokers) - there is a Eighty unvigintillion, six hundred fifty-eight vigintillion, one hundred seventy-five novemdecillion, one hundred seventy octodecillion, nine hundred forty-three septendecillion, eight hundred seventy-eight sexdecillion, five hundred seventy-one quindecillion, six hundred sixty quattuordecillion, six hundred thirty-six tredecillion, eight hundred fifty-six duodecillion, four hundred three undecillion, seven hundred sixty-six decillion, nine hundred seventy-five nonillion, two hundred eighty-nine octillion, five hundred five septillion, four hundred forty sextillion, eight hundred eighty-three quintillion, two hundred seventy-seven quadrillion, eight hundred twenty-four trillion to one chance that that exact sequence has ever been drawn before. 

So that's 80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,403,766,975,289,505,440,883,277,824,000,000,000,000/1 

Definitely worth a quid. 

To put it into perspective - if every person on earth shuffled a deck every second since the big bang it's unlikely the sequence would be repeated. Although the odds would still be 3,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000/1

What about monkeys, typewriters and Shakespeare?

What if you didn't shuffle properly?

2 hours ago, kent_white said:

If you randomly shuffle a deck of cards (using 52 cards and not including jokers) - there is a Eighty unvigintillion, six hundred fifty-eight vigintillion, one hundred seventy-five novemdecillion, one hundred seventy octodecillion, nine hundred forty-three septendecillion, eight hundred seventy-eight sexdecillion, five hundred seventy-one quindecillion, six hundred sixty quattuordecillion, six hundred thirty-six tredecillion, eight hundred fifty-six duodecillion, four hundred three undecillion, seven hundred sixty-six decillion, nine hundred seventy-five nonillion, two hundred eighty-nine octillion, five hundred five septillion, four hundred forty sextillion, eight hundred eighty-three quintillion, two hundred seventy-seven quadrillion, eight hundred twenty-four trillion to one chance that that exact sequence has ever been drawn before. 

So that's 80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,403,766,975,289,505,440,883,277,824,000,000,000,000/1 

Definitely worth a quid. 

To put it into perspective - if every person on earth shuffled a deck every second since the big bang it's unlikely the sequence would be repeated. Although the odds would still be 3,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000/1

I did the same sequence twice in a row then my mate did it after me

10 hours ago, jmjhb said:

What if you didn't shuffle properly?

Then you get sacked from the cosmic casino! 😁

10 hours ago, Zico said:

I did the same sequence twice in a row then my mate did it after me

You can my lottery numbers, anyday! 😁

I never knew Dexter Feltcher was the McDonald's voice over guy.

It's blown my mind.

Only found as I'd noticed Stephen Graham doing at bit for them currently and I'd always wondered who the other guy was.

So its 2026 - its been 30 years since Euro 96. Which means we are now equidistant from the song Three Lions since when we won the world cup.

1 hour ago, gonzo said:

I never knew Dexter Feltcher was the McDonald's voice over guy.

It's blown my mind.

Only found as I'd noticed Stephen Graham doing at bit for them currently and I'd always wondered who the other guy was.

Always melted my head that Stephen Graham was in Snatch. Awful accent

The stone recently used to finish the last bit of La Sangrada Familia came from Chorley

La Sagrada Familia- A day at Brinscall quarry | Armstrongs Group

8 hours ago, SatanGreavsie said:

The stone recently used to finish the last bit of La Sangrada Familia came from Chorley

La Sagrada Familia- A day at Brinscall quarry | Armstrongs Group

A bloke in Barcelona once told me that Antoni Gaudi designed La Sagrada Familia so that it would never be finished. He reckoned that every bit that looked finished at low level had a bit missing, and bits right at the top just weren't done.

Aye, he reckoned Gaudi didn't want people forgetting LSF to look at his many works in Barcelona.

Mind you this bloke claimed to be a tour guide, we were in a bar, both pissed and Gaudi was not available for comment.

So you and Armstrongs could be right.

8 hours ago, Dr Faustus said:

Always melted my head that Stephen Graham was in Snatch. Awful accent

He's a bloody marvellous actor mind.

Watched that clip of him and milky in this England 90 other day, what an actor.

Can't be long before he's in proper films.