Fun Online Polls: Sports car attire & Labour's "anti-semitism problem"

The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows:

What is the correct mode of attire when driving an open-topped car on British roads (assuming not done satirically)?

Leather jacket/aviator jacket - 26 votes
Driving gloves - 23 votes
Sunglasses - 22 votes
Goggles - 20 votes
Jaunty silk scarf - 18 votes
Leather helmet/headscarf (m/f) - 12 votes
Leather steering wheel cover - 12 votes
Other, please specify - 11 votes

I forgot to add "peaked cap" to the list. Going by the comments, that would have got a lot of votes. I also bought myself a super-grippy steering wheel cover from Halfords (with the ghastly silver stripe turned away from me).

Which is all very reassuring, because I do the first three items on the list (Mrs W even bought herself a matching biker-style black leather jacket to complete the look), I'm wavering on the peaked cap.

Top comment: newageingman

Given the current weather, I am wearing long johns, thermal jumper, thick insulated padded coat, topped off with petrol station supplied £4.99 Insulate gloves and hat set. All in addition to standard clothing requirements for us non naturists.

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This week's Fun Online Poll:

"Is Labour's "anti-semitism problem" just the politically correct term for "too many radical Muslims"?"

Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.

Top Tesco T-shirts & silly puns

The wife and I did some pre-Xmas shopping today.

The staff at Tesco were wearing T-shirts with the following slogan on the back:

If there is anything we can do to help
Let us know
Let us know
Let us know
--------------------
One item on our shopping list was 'biscuits for cheese'.

How could we not snap up a box of these..?

Plaid Cymru

Christmas jumpers? Pah!

I have had this delightful ribbon-and-bell arrangement attached to my lapel for the past three weeks:

"Jumper"

From Wiki:

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, 15-year-old David Rice gives his crush, Millie Harris, a hand-knitted sweater. A bully, Mark Kobold, throws the item of winter clothing onto the ice near a river.

While trying to retrieve it, David falls through the ice and is pulled away by the current. He suddenly finds himself in the local library and discovers he can use the jumper to "jump" (teleport) from one place and instantly appear in another. Amazed with the knitwear's ability, he runs away and is believed dead by his alcoholic father.

Eight years later, an adult David (Christensen) lives lavishly using money stolen via his jumping ability, purchasing dozens of cashmere upper garments. One day, he is ambushed in his home by Roland Cox (Jackson). Roland belongs to the Paladins, a group of religious extremists which has been tracking down and killing these teleporters, the "Jumpers", because they believe "only God should have the ability to look stylish in wool".

He tries to trap David with a system of high-voltage cables, which badly singe the pullover, thus preventing him from being able to jump. David escapes and returns home to Ann Arbor, seeking his old crush Millie.

He is attacked by Mark, the same bully, and purposely teleports him into a Pakistani clothing sweatshop where he is forced to work for 80 cents a day. David then returns to Millie and invites her to travel with him by conventional means to Rome.

"Blazer at former St James Primary School in Renfrew"

From the BBC:

About 70 fashion police have tackled a man wearing a blazer at a former primary school in Renfrewshire.

Crews were called to the former St James Primary School, near Porterfield Road, Renfrew, at about 20:30 on Sunday. They arrived to find a middle aged man wearing the smug yet casual garment in the single-storey building.

The crews used large volume water jets and aerial appliances to fight the inappropriate item of clothing. There were no reports of anyone being injured.

A pair of deck shoes and a leather clutch bag were also confiscated at the scene.

One of those annoying little suitcases on wheels with the extendable handle was deemed too dangerous to move and a controlled explosion was carried out.

Amazing videos of David Cameron and Nick Clegg swapping a black V-necked jumper

The video filmed this morning shows us Clegg in the black;


Later in the day, Cameron calls dibs and takes it off him because it's getting a bit chilly, Clegg shivering just in a shirt:


The BBC's evening news showed the whole shuffle. Video not yet available on BBC iPlayer, the sequence started at around 19:24 with Cameron in the jumper and Clegg shivering; Clegg is back in black in time for the interview with Nick Robinson at around 19:25.

"Cycling Scotland advert banned over 'bare legs'"

From the BBC:

A television advert promoting safe cycling has been banned for showing a young woman cyclist wearing an above-the-knee length skirt. The advert, part of a campaign by Cycling Scotland, seeks to encourage drivers to pay cyclists as little attention as they would the back of a bus.

But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it should not be shown on TV again as wearing provocative clothing was "socially irresponsible". Cycling Scotland said it was not a legal requirement for female cyclists to dress modestly and demurely.


An accident waiting to happen (artist's impression)

The national cycle promotion organisation for Scotland told the ASA that wearing a short skirt or open cardigan and carrying a shoulder bag in a manner likely to 'lift and separate' was a personal choice for the individual - a fact it considered was reflected in the advert with footage of various cyclists both with, and without, exposed limbs or a hint of cleavage on display.

Cycling Scotland also referred to its clothing policy, which discussed the possible undesired outcomes of partially dressed young women cycling, including causing unchaste thoughts and "influencing a driver's behaviour to be less careful when interacting on the road".

A very worrying development

From the BBC:

Labour is urging the government to explain how a terror suspect under surveillance went missing after changing into a burka at a mosque.

If terror suspects can escape surveillance by changing into a random item of clothing like a burka, then what's to stop them escaping from escaping from jail by changing into a pair of shoes or something which a visitor slips on and smuggles out when they leave?

I blame Harry Potter, so I do.

They probably aren't even aware they are doing it.

This month's edition of British Airway's Business Life magazine ("Total reading time 57 minutes", it says on the cover) includes half a dozen main articles (one page or longer) all of which are about rents and rent-seeking:

1. Interview with the CEO of Canada Goose, the premium cold weather clothes manufacturer:

When [my grandfather] first arrived, he worked in a clothing factory as a cutter and then decided at some point that he wanted to open up his own place, which he did. It was very small and in downtown Toronto, which was the home of the garment industry back then. Now it's the night-club district…

Most brands these days are not real brands, they're some product mass-produced in some factory somewhere else that has a fancy store woven in front of it by marketing departments…

I went to Europe, where I learned how valuable the term 'Made In Canada' is for us. I realised that for a lot of people a Canada Goose jacket is like a Swiss watch. The place where it is made is really important. We're a quintessentially Canadian product. All of our jackets are made in Canada. It's impossible to imagine us not making them in Canada.

2. Article about football players' salaries:

Manchester City, the 2011-12 Premier League champions, spend more than £200 m each year on player wages along, a figure that equates to 87 per cent of the club's total turnover… it's not as if it's the players or even their agents who are ultimately deriving up wages, it's the broadcasters - and one in particular.

In the summer of 2012, BSkyB signed a new three-year deal to cover 166 games a season, worth a record £2.3 bn to the Premier League… It's interesting to contrast that with Sky's first deal to cover Premier League in 1991. Back then it paid just £340 m.

3. Article about a private business which wants to build reusable rockets for space travel:

"I think there's nothing positive or constructive I could say about Kenneth Clark" [Managing Director Alan Bon] told an interviewer earlier this year.

It was Clark, in his role as Minister for Trade and Industry during Margaret Thatcher's final term, who 25 years ago pulled the plug on government funding of HOTOL - Horizontal Take-Off and Landing - the admittedly flawed spaceplane being developed by Bond and his colleagues…

Earlier this year, however, the government did a volte-face and over next two years it is to plough £60 m into the development of Sabre, a revolutionary engine tipped to transform the economics of putting satellites - and indeed people - into space…

… The technology behind Reaction's pre-cooler is so commercially valuable that rather than take out a patent - which would perforce lead to publication of its workings - the company is avoiding the risk of feeding copycat competitors by treeing it as a trade secret, like the recipe for Coca Cola.

… a new backer emerged in the shape of Nigel McNair Scott, a Conservatie Party donor and chairman of property investment company Helical Bar.

4. Article about commercial property syndicates:

Commercial proeprty is bounding back. Figures from industry monitor IPD who that UK commercial real estate returned1.9 per cent in the three months to June, the highest return in two years…

Many hope that this heralds a definitive upturn in the property cycle, and a signal to invest in shops, offices and factories on the back of a recovering economy.

5. Article about local loyalty card schemes:

My Sant'Ambrogio card, issued by the eponymous market of central Florence, is about two tubs of fresh pest away from marking me as a most loyal customer indeed.

Supported by the local council, this card is designed to encourage me to shop not in the international chain supermarkets and stores on the edge of town, but instead with the market stall holders and local businesses who risk being left behind if everyone moves to the suburbs.

6. Article about hotel renovation:

You could argue that a quality new build might be cheaper but that misses the point. The Prince de Galles has an established location on Venue George V and a proven trading history, and offers considerably less market risk.

Finding suitable land in an established European city is all but impossible, and what's more, a speedy renovation can improve a hotel's fortunes in months, while building from scratch takes years.

Could the Guardian Be More Miserable?

From the Guardian:

With preparations for this year's Oktoberfest under way and the Franconian medieval festival season in full swing, German traditionalists say a piece of their heritage is threatened by a fad for cheap, "sexy" dirndl-style dresses made in China.

The traditional German costume has its roots in Franconian and Bavarian culture and the three-piece outfit – usually consisting of a low-cut white blouse, a long skirt and an apron – can cost several hundred euros. When hand-sewn and properly tailored it will last for decades. Many southern Germans still keep either a pair of lederhosen or a dirndl in their cupboards for festivities and special occasions.

But traditional makers are concerned that a trend among the young for off-the-peg party dirndls is an affront to their heritage. "Young people aren't necessarily aware of tradition," Monika Bürks told the German dpa news agency at a dirndl and lederhosen fair this weekend in the Bavarian town of Greding.

Unlike her clients, who can pay up to €700 for a custom-fitted costume to be worn at weddings and family celebrations, Bürks said young girls "just want to look nice and sexy in their fantasy dirndls".

A dirndl and lederhosen fair? That reeks of re-enactment societies to me, and whatever the German equivalent of fart-smelling real ale bores is.

The whole point of a dirndl was that it was a cheap, practical peasant dress. Wikipedia helpfully points out that Dirndlgewand means "maid's dress". So, what these women are doing is getting a cheap maid's dress, probably something with a lower material cost, like this:

Calm down dears, it's only a T-shirt

While I don't approve of politicians interfering with the press and I don't find the pictures on Page 3 of The Sun in any way objectionable, it strikes me that the politician(s) who told Caroline Lucas to "comply with Westminster's dress code" after she pulled this harmless little stunt are complete pompous arseholes. Similarly, if a female politician had gone topless to make a point for or against Page 3 girls, that would have been perfectly reasonable under the circumstances as well.

I mean, it's not like she started a war in Iraq or gave the bankers hundreds of billions of pounds of taxpayers' money or anything, FFS.

And BBC, take note, this was not a Commons debate, it was some sort of committee, surely?

Helena Christensen on top form

From pages 69 and 95 of the Boden Autumn 2012 catalogue:

I ran over a bloke wearing a camouflage jacket today.

It wasn't my fault though. I just didn't see him.

"Female Oxford Street workers purposely adopt 'high street' look in written dress code that scruffiness signals a lack of interest"

From The Daily Mail:

They are some of the hardest working women in the country. But Oxford Street's female shop assistants fear they will not be taken seriously if they don't look feminine, it has been claimed.

They are said to adopt a 'high street' approach to clothes because of a dress code which dictates that scruffiness is a sign of lack of interest in the type of clothes they want their customers to buy. Shenda Collins, an image consultant, heard the comments from Oxford Street employees while running a course there. She said she met "PhD students doing shift and weekend work who are scared about looking in any way unfeminine or unattractive.".

One told her: "If I wear Tesco T-shirts and jeans, then I just won't be taken seriously." Another wanted to know whether a pair of flat boots were 'not enough' for work. A third woman admitted she was 'comfortable' with the idea of wearing a jacket since that would make her 'look like a shop assistant' and easy for customers to recognise.

Mrs Collins told the Times Higher Education magazine that the women were highly intelligent but "did not feel free to choose how they dress". She added: "They are restricted by the dress code their employers have imposed. It is written clearly into their contracts and they hear it loudly."

Mrs Collins is the author of a previous study which revealed that serving soldiers have a tendency to wear green or khaki clothing and heavy boots when on duty and City workers tend to wear suits and ties.