Radical approach

John Cleese takes a firm line (20 seconds):

"I'll have what she's having"

That single line immortalised Estelle Reiner.

Rat slippers

They're big in Japan.

Old folks ham

At 78, Colin Dexter makes yet another cameo appearance in a TV show derived from his work. But can you remember the previous ones?

"He just gave up on society"

Two thousand people call for a plaque in memory of David Mee, who sat in Derby city centre for more than thirty years.

Scary

Unnerving British public information films from the Seventies (5 minutes):

Orwell the blogger

His diaries go online in real-time, exactly seventy years after each entry was written.






(Samuel Pepys got there first though.)

Sealing sewer entrances

We used to; we don't now; but we should.

Strictly Cwmdonkin

Dylan Thomas's childhood home has a makeover, 1914 style.

Seen and not heard

Two Japanese acrobats - one surprisingly youthful - do extraordinary things for Edison in 1904 (2 minutes):

Banned in Hackney

This monster dared to criticise the Olympics.

I Went To A Marvellous Party

…fluted Noel Coward, little dreaming that one day his song would be noisily reworked by The Divine Comedy and given this suitably unhinged retro video (4 minutes):

Best Obama Facts

Walking on water ain't the half of it.

Icelanders aren't terrorists

Yeah, yeah. Who are they kidding?

In other news

The United States will shortly cease to exist. World war will follow. "Billions will die! This time will far exceed even the very worst times in all human history." And you almost didn't hear about it.

Oddest of couples

Joan Collins and Leonard Rossiter in a series of Cinzano ads from 1978-83 (3 minutes):

Irreplaceable

Carmen Callil says a beautiful farewell to the much loved literary agent Pat Kavanagh.

Mess with your mind

Surf the web as it was in January 2001. (Where a page no longer exists, there's often a link to an archived version.)

Real life

If I had children, this is the toy I'd buy them:


Hat tip: Ben Locker

Been playing this constantly

The original recording of "You're No Good" by Dee Dee Warwick, who died on Saturday (2 minutes):