slanderhour

The Victorian Era provided the optimum conditions for the development of Logic through the marriage of mechanical development, ingenuity and an insatiable curiosity for the unknown and the strange. By the end of the 1900s, logic had developed a language and spectacle of its own, either  residing within an act on a music hall variety bill or presented in a stand-alone show in venues such as th...

In British advertising in the 1980s, Weetabix anthropomorphized the biscuits, representing a group of 'street-wise' young teens, beginning as 'skinheads'. Their appearances on the packaging and associated publicity featured catchphrases such as "titchy breakfast cereals" to describe rivals, "nasty little w**flakes" to describe Cocoa Pops, and any pointed question from the media was met with the re...

The Mousetrap game, a long-time family favourite, is always good for zany action and lots of laughs. Scurry around the board collecting cheese and stealing cheese from other players, watch out for the trap! While kids are engaged in playing the Mousetrap game, they can also practice  valuable skills in construction, cause and effect, and decision-making. As they interact with the trap, a work...

Are you a group of women going on holiday? Do you wish it was socially acceptable to bring your spouse along to your hen do? Do you need directions? It sounds like you need to get yourself at least one, if not three, White Knights

Remember magazines? They were like the original Internet. You could find out about all sorts of stuff. Join us as we smear newsprint all over our hands and feel really nostalgic and delirious.

Stickle Bricks are a construction toy primarily intended for t he people of Barnsley invented by Denys Fisher in 1969. The brand is owned by Hasbro , and as of 2016 is sub-licensed to Flair Leisure Products plc . Several companies manufacture similar toys, not all of them  compatible. Names for these toys include "Nopper", "Bristle Blocks",  "Fun Bricks", "Clipo", "Krinkles", "Multi-Fit"...

Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday Today it is Friday, Friday (partyin’) We-we-we so excited We so excited We gonna have a ball today Tomorrow is Saturday And Sunday comes afterwards

“At this moment I bit into one of my frankfurters, and -- Christ! I  can't honestly say that I'd expected the thing to have a pleasant taste .  I'd expected it to taste of nothing, like the roll. But this -- well,  it was quite an experience. Let me try and describe it to you.       The frankfurter had a rubber skin, of course, and my temporary teeth  w...

See, the hardest thing for me was leaving  the life. I still love the life. And we were treated like movie stars  with muscle. We had it all, just for the asking. Our wives, mothers,  kids, everybody rode along. I had paper bags filled with jewellery stashed  in the kitchen. I had a sugar bowl full of coke next to the bed.  Anything I wanted was a phone call away. Free car...

"The caged bird sings with a fearful trill, of things unknown, but longed for still, and his tune is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings of freedom." "And if I stay here with you girl, things just couldn’t even be the same, ’cause I’m as free as a bird now, and this bird you cannot change."

Often misrepresented, always misunderstood, Mark E Smith was a king amongst men, a noted polyglot; a wildly generous philanthropist that helped us found this very podcast.  Gone, but not forgotten. 

Spider-Man swings through the air and sees something that's horrible as can be; An arsonist is about to set a church on fire and I'm speaking truthfully. Spider-Man lands on the ground so he can stop the arsonist, which is cool; The arsonist is a total fool. Spider-Man spins a web on the arsonist's lighter and snatches it away from the ******; The arsonist is also a maggot. When the arsonist sees...

When was the last time you got out your best china for depression coming round? Why do you insist on pressing snooze so much? Are you depressed or are you actually compressed?

Customers in my store had a sense of entitlement - they tried to get as much as they could from you beyond what is available. I found this ironic because it was in a hard-pressed area. However, this also meant you get some crafty customers as well who  constantly tried to cheat the system - so you need to have your wits  about you. Having said that, you get to recognise the regulars, and...

Do you long to learn? Do you wish to be an ACADEMIC?  In this episode, The Three offer a self-help guide for anyone with a desire for learning. 

"come here little one...tssch tssch tssch  do you want a treat little one? yes you do, come here and get a treat... tssch tssch tssch  you're big dad's favourite aren't you? yes you are.  come and get some kibble.  tssch tssch tssch "

You wake up. You slouch off to the bathroom. You half-heartedly wash your face with the ferric liquid still left in the cistern. You long for warm water but somebody didn't pay the bills did they? You put the requisite pea-sized amount of Colgate on your index finger. You rub it in vain across your neglected gums. You cast your arid mind back to your last wholesome meal, the bucolic sound of cutle...

What are you afraid of? Are you afraid of getting some on you? Are you afraid someone might tune into your smell? You do smell you know? No level of hosing, scouring or ablution will ever rinse you pure.  Is that your fear? Someone might notice that your body has odour. 

This week, The Three gouge away at failure.  In what is their most eagerly anticipated episode of the year, they look at the career of disgraced national treasure Olivia Coleman and try to quantify the depths of her descent into a sludgepit of despair and torment. 

Do you have a hobby? My hobby is being a member of my Neighbourhood Watch. Which is sort of like being a Cowboy, when you think about it. I stand, bolt upright, surveying my cul-de-sac, allowing myself to blink precisely every 90 seconds.  I have developed a technique where I gulp in large quantities of air, almost as if I am taking a gigantic bite of the atmosphere so that any trespassers wo...

I think it was Sir Alf Ramsey who once said 'It is better to have loved when lost than to have never lost anything at all'.  Well, I'm not sure what he was talking about specifically there, but it sounds like he was suffering from some level of Regret.  Regrets are not your fault, and they will get in you in the end. So accept it, and move on. 

You are Of. We all are Of. Of isn't something you can just switch off, or even put on standby.  Before you were born, you were If. All of your gametes are If.  But what came before If?  Probably more Of is what I say. 

Admit it, you've got a favourite thing.  My favourite painting? Gotta be Ophelia by John Everett Millais .  Favourite piece of music? Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams Favourite Designer? Alexander McQueen Favourite Chef? Maangchi Favourite Actor? Does it matter? Read between the lines, please. 

The Birth of Dirtypantz tells the biographical story of Geoffrey Hayes (Kris Marshall), a Ticket Inspector in service with the Transpennine Express Train Company. After almost choking on a pineapple flavoured Jolly Rancher in 1979,  Geoffrey awakens in 1977 to find himself working for a predecessor of the Transpennine Express, the First North Western/Arriva Trains Northern, and placed on gard...

A fellow who’d spent his last dime On a reference book about rhyme, Wrote light verse day and night. Some was trite.  Some had bite. But none sold, so he moved on to crime.