House of Tea and Biscuits

We have moved

2008-06-01T11:45:00.002-06:00

This blog has now moved to a new hosting engine because I have much more control over how the site looks over there. Please go to http://houseofcheese.wordpress.com to see my new blog.

Closed for Renovation

2008-05-27T21:20:00.004-06:00

Hi folks,

During my recent visit to England I found out that one or two people actually read my blog. Therefore I think I should start writing in it again. Watch this space for details on my New and Improved Blog; also a return to the old name 'Ben Kent's House of Cheese'...

BBC NEWS | Business | Egg acts over 'risky' customers

2008-02-02T11:04:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | Business | Egg acts over 'risky' customers

This is quite indicative of the way banks are riding roughshod over consumers these days. British bank Egg (Which incidentally has just been bought up by American giant Citigroup) has been sending letters to customers saying they were too much of a credit risk and then cancelling their credit cards. However it seems that the people receiving the threatening letters were the ones who pay off their balance in full each month and have an excellent record. Obviously these people were not making the Fat Cats at Citigroup enough money in inflated interest payments.

England 2-3 Croatia

2007-11-22T10:10:00.000-06:00

Oh Dear, It's like 1994 all over again.

BBC SPORT | Football | Internationals | England 2-3 Croatia

A bit of Nostalgia for a Saturday Afternoon

2007-10-20T11:44:00.001-06:00

Cheque book and pen anybody?

Hillariousness!!

2007-10-18T16:27:00.001-06:00

Jeff Vader stars in this great Eddie Izzard sketch.

OK, I promise I'm going to write more

2007-09-29T12:39:00.000-06:00

Ok, I know I keep saying this, but I guess I need to stop abandoning this Blog. So much has happened since I last wrote that I'm not going to write a long article about everything, just list some bullet points which I may or may not expand upon in the coming weeks. So, here's the list of headlines:

* Summer has been and gone - The leaves are turning golden on the trees and Autumn is upon us.

* Mrs Teapot and I have started the process of buying a house.

* We have acquired a new Cat - Nelson; who promptly decided he wanted to be the Alpha cat in the house. The vet has now put him on 'kitty Prozac' have been having fun trying to make him take the tablets.

* Mother Teapot has been to visit from England. We introduced her to the Minnesota State Fair.

* My friend Richard came to visit from England.

* I have started the process of getting myself a Public Access cable TV show.

* There was a major bridge collapse in Minneapolis, but all of our friends and family were safe and well.

* I lost my job and got it back again. (Long Story!)

That's about all I can think of right now. I promise I won't leave it so long before I write again.

BBC NEWS | Business | Legal fight over red cross symbol

2007-08-09T05:48:00.000-06:00

If you needed any more proof that drug companies are nasty evil money grabbing bas**rds you just have to read this article:

BBC NEWS | Business | Legal fight over red cross symbol

Sorry folks, I'm Lazy

2007-07-08T12:51:00.000-06:00

OK folks, I have to hold my hands up to being incredibly lazy with putting new articles into this blog again. I promise that I really am going to try harder to make time to write stuff to put here. Loads has been happening lately, so I hope to be able to tell you about it soon.

Lazy Sunday UK (Tea, Motherf*****!) WARNING - Strong Language!

2007-06-19T17:24:00.001-06:00

Come on America, Give us a Break

2007-04-09T09:52:00.000-06:00

I've just returned from A very relaxing break on the shores of Lake Superior in Wisconsin. I however had to take time off unpaid because this country doesn't believe in giving employees paid vacation. My situation is exacerbated by the fact that I am classified as a temp even though I work full time for a large corporation. This status doesn't entitle me to anything, no healthcare, vacation or even sick pay.

Compared to the rest of the industrialised world, the USA is one of the only countries that doesn't mandate ANY paid vacation for workers. In Europe, the average paid vacation is for employees is four weeks, with some European countries giving much more. It can take an American worker many many years of service to achieve this. Most Americans may be given one week of vacation after a year of service, and this is seen as generous. In This Article, you can see that after 25 years of service, the average American will have accrued slightly less vacation time than a European with the minimum mandated vacation time allowed.

In his book Work to Live: The Guide to Getting a Life, Joe Robinson debunks the myth that America has a higher productivity than that of Europe:

“Evidence shows that time off is not the enemy of productivity; to the contrary, it’s the engine,” according to Robinson. “Contrary to the American myth, a number of European countries have caught up with the United States in productivity.”

In fact, as this article states, according to US federal reserve figures. Europe had a higher productivity in 14 of the 19 years between 1981 and 2000.

Surely this lack of vacation time available to Americans will have knock on effects on the health and family lives of American people. For an administration that states that it is in favour of family values to not allow it's citizens to spend time with their families seems like a contradiction to me. It seems to me that stress levels here are much higher than they were back home in the UK. I have never known so many people who are on medication to control stress and depression. This seems to be the alternative to letting people have time for rest and recuperation - just medicate the hell out of people. Although, even this terrible solution may not be available to those who are unable to afford healthcare, but that is another story altogether.

So, why does America insist on this policy of not regulating vacation time. Partly it is due to the stranglehold that big business has over the government of this nation. It is also due to apathy of the very people who have the power to make the change - the workers themselves; This article states that a 2004 poll found that 59 percent of those polled were happy with the amount of vacation they receive, you have to wonder whether that 59 percent were the ones who actually receive the reasonable vacation in the first place. There is no protection for those in lower paying jobs who receive little or no vacation or sick days. It is appalling that somebody who has an illness would have to weigh up whether they can afford to stay home.

Correction - Winter in the City

2007-04-04T05:33:00.000-06:00

Well, I guess I was a little premature with my proclamation that summer had arrived, the temperatures are again below freezing and there's snow on the ground. Sometimes I really wonder why anyone wants to live in Minnesota.

Summer in the City

2007-03-26T20:08:00.000-06:00

It was 81F (27C) in Minneapolis today, this is pretty amazing for the end of March, especially considering that just a few weeks ago we were in Sub-Arctic temperatures.

One of the things about Minnesota is that as soon at it is above freezing, they all go out in shorts and start barbecuing. Last weekend it was about 40F (4C) and I swear I could smell charcoal burning.

The New Comic Relief Single

2007-03-24T09:22:00.000-06:00

Magic! - I love all the celebrity has-beens. Don't forget to donate ... http://www.rednoseday.com

Emergency! Emergency! There's an Emergency Going On!

2007-03-03T10:12:00.000-06:00

But don't panic too much, this is a snow emergency. I've always thought the word 'Emergency' is a little dramatic for what it actually is. A snow emergency generally means that you can only park on one side of the road so that they can plough the other one. It really should be called a 'snow inconvenience' or something like that.

The first time I heard them say 'A snow emergency has been declared', I was expecting sirens to be going off and people running about in the streets screaming, I didn't realise that it was just 72 hours of inconvenient parking measures. I'm surprised that they don't try to blame it on the terrorists and their magic snow making machines!

Well, I guess I'd better get into the Snow Emergency bunker and wait until spring, see you soon!

New Car

2007-02-22T18:35:00.000-06:00

We are now the proud owners of a brand new Honda Civic. This is the first time we've owned a new car, but we thought we'd just take the plunge, considering that it wasn't much more than buying a new Honda.

The picture is the same model and colour as the one we bought. It's very nice to drive, and very unusual to be able to drive a car that isn't thirteen years old. The added bonus is that I don't have to take the bus in Sub Arctic temperatures any more.

Another Week, Another...

2007-02-14T19:35:00.000-06:00

Well, another week seems to have passed by since I last wrote anything. The main reason for this is life at the moment mainly consists of the following pattern...

Get Up... Go To Work... Eat... Watch TV... Bed (Repeat until fade.), occasionally a weekend will get in the way of this routine and you'll have to find something to fill up the 'work' part of the day. This has not been easy since neither me or Mrs Teapot have received a full pay cheque yet.

So, I'm sure you'll agree that this would not have made very exciting blog entries.

As I mentioned in my previous entry, we've been having a bit of a cold snap here in the Twin Cities, which is great fun when you have to walk a mile to the bus stop after work because you're having to share one car. They don't believe in providing proper public transport here, I think they think it's a bit communist or something. It's far better to drive around, one Hummer per person, killing the planet as you go!

Anyway, I promise that you'll be the first to know when something interesting happens in my life; maybe I should start taking notes so I will at least remember what has been happening.

Well, I think I've bored you enough today, feel free to go about your business....

Getting sorted now

2007-02-04T10:21:00.000-06:00

Ok, so we're back in Minneapolis and we're starting to get settled in.

We now have our computer back and an internet connection, so I'm going to try to keep this blog updated much more frequently.

The first thing I have to say about Minnesota is I'd forgotten just how cold it can get. It's currently -20C outside, with a much lower wind chill temperature, so I don't think I'm going to be going out today if I can avoid it.

I have my old job back at the place that I worked before, which is nice. I spend most of my time doing nothing, and just trying to look busy. They've even given me a pay rise. I think I'm now pretty well paid for an admin assistant.

Mrs Teapot now has a job too, so I think that once we start getting two pay cheques in, we should start getting a little more financially stable.

Not much else going on right now, but I promise to try to keep this blog updated more frequently from now on.

We'll be Right Back

2007-01-14T13:00:00.000-06:00

Don't worry folks. I haven't abandoned this blog. I've moved to the USA and am currently awaiting an internet connection. Currently I have to go to the library to use the internet. As soon as normality has been achieved, I'll be updating regularly again.

2006-12-11T09:36:00.000-06:00

Remember This?

Paul McCartney's Classic 1984 children's song We All Stand Together... Who could forget such a thing!

2006-12-01T12:20:00.000-06:00

A Global Warning...

Train companies get away with extortion, yet again

2006-11-28T08:02:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | UK | Train passengers face fare rise

It is unbelievable to see that the train companies will yet again be putting up the price of rail travel above inflation. My local train company ONE will be putting adding another 5% to their already extortionate fairs in the new year. It already costs us 6 pounds for a 15 minute train journey, which is ridiculous anyway.

A representative from the Association of Train Operating Companies said : "While no-one likes to pay more for their travel, we need the revenue to pay for the ongoing improvements to the railways that passengers expect - and overall satisfaction levels are now at an all time high of 80%."

"Train operators will continue to raise their game, delivering further improvements to the railway and enhancing the travel experience of passengers."

I have yet to see any evidence of these improvements anywhere, especially on our line. It seems to me that services are just getting worse. The fare increases do not go into improving services, but instead go into shareholders pockets.

I just wish that they would see some sense and re-nationalise the railways, the railways should be a public service, not a way for shareholders to get richer. It won't be long before they are the only people who will be able to travel on the railways.

2006-11-12T06:20:00.000-06:00

FOR ALL THOSE

- who have died or are dying in wars

- who have died or are dying because resources that could have fed or housed them have been wasted on war and war preparations

- who will die until we learn to live in peace

WHEN SHALL WE EVER LEARN?

The Great Telephone Swindle

2006-10-25T09:26:00.000-06:00

Do you have one of those 'Unlimited Local & National Calls' packages on your telephone line? If so, you may or may not realise that most telephone companies do not include calls to 0845 (so called "local rate" numbers) or 0870 ("national rate"), you will probably only find this out by looking at the very small print at the bottom of the advert.

Unfortunately most companies that you have to call use these numbers for their call centres, and make you think that they are saving you money by saying "calls charged at local/national rates". This is incredibly misleading, especially since these companies often leave you sitting in a queue listening to 'your call is important to us' for hours on end. To make matters worse, the companies often receive a cut of the revenue from these calls.

I've found a great website saynoto0870.com which has a searchable database of companies geographic numbers which you should be able to call for free using your inclusive call packages.

Yeah, Stick it to the man!

Earl & Lady Grey's Teahouses of the World

2006-10-21T13:00:00.000-06:00

After my plea for contributions yesterday, I was contacted by Earl & Lady Grey (Of the refreshing citrus infused tea fame). They have agreed to contribute a new feature to my blog, in which they will be reviewing tea rooms from around the world. I may even have to submit a few reviews myeslf (Can't let them have all the fun). Hope you enjoy sampling these tea shops.

Introduction

While Lady Grey and I were on Honeymoon recently we popped into a couple of Tea Rooms for a cup of tea and a bit of something nice. While enjoying ourselves we felt that other connoisseurs of tea such as ourselves might be interested to know about the quality of the tearooms we were in. Therefore we have written the following short reviews.

Rectory Farm & Tea Rooms, Morwenstow, Cornwall

Quality of Tea -
A Bit of Something Nice -
General Ambiance -
Service -
Value for Money -

What can we say about the Rectory Farm and Tea Room except that if you are in the area you have to visit this Tea Emporium. The setting itself is stunning. You can sit either inside in the beautiful parlour or outside in the beautiful garden with views out towards the sea. The tea is top quality. It doesn't get better than this. For a bit of something nice I had a traditional cornish pasty followed by a cream tea. Lady Grey had a bowl of apple and parsnip soup followed by a cream tea. Everything is made on the premises and mostly from local ingredients. The pasty was as good as anticipated and the soup was gorgeous and exceeded all expectations. The cream teas were just divine. Two huge scones and homemade jam with thick clotted cream. Mmmmm.

If I absolutely had to find a criticism at all it would be that it is not hugely cheap. A pot of tea for one and a cream tea is £5.95. However, the overall quality of the experience is so good that we still felt we were getting value for money so we haven't marked this down. As I said above, if you're anywhere near here you really should visit it. We couldn't fault it.

Website: http://www.rectory-tearooms.co.uk

Earl Grey

---oOo---

Cottage Tea Rooms, Clovelly, North Devon

Quality of Tea -
A Bit of Something Nice -
General Ambiance -
Service -
Value for Money -

Clovelly was the home of Charles Kingsley, author of the Water Babies and is an amazing place stuck in a time warp. Cobbled streets lead down a very steep hill to the historic harbour. The Cottage Tea Rooms are about two-thirds of the way down the hill on the right hand side.

When you enter the tiny parlour you have to queue up to order and pay before sitting down and waiting for your order. The service was slow and we had to wait five minutes for someone to come and take our order. This was despite the fact that it didn't seem to be hugely busy. I had a pot of tea and a cream tea which came in at £3.95 while Lady Grey had a 'Gentleman's Delightful Tea'. This consisted of a salmon and cucumber sandwich and a cream tea with one scone (my cream tea had two scones). This was £4.95.

The food was delicious although the scones were on the small side. However, the Cottage Tea Rooms was let down badly by the standard of it's tea. The tea was simply not very good. As this should be the strong point of any tearooms we were left feeling disappointed by the experience. We would recommend the food but improvements could be made in service and the quality of its tea.

Earl Grey

Writers Block

2006-10-20T12:44:00.000-06:00

Once again, I find myself without anything interesting to say to you.I know this is a very bad thing for a blogger as I know that nobody will want to read my blog if I don't post frequently.

I'm going to try very hard to think up some interesting stuff to say, but not sure that much in my life is going to be that interesting to you people right now.

If you visit, why not just put a few words in the comments field, just so I don't go mad talking to myself here. Maybe something you say will spark off an Idea and I can bring something new to the world through the medium of the House of Tea and Biscuits.

Tags: Writers+Block, Boring, Entry, Blog, Comments

FCC Song Take 2

2006-10-05T06:11:00.000-06:00

I tried to post the Audio of this yesterday but it went wrong. I've found a version of it on you tube, but the video is a bit lame.

If you didn't see yesterday, this is a song that Eric Idle wrote after he was fined $5000 by the FCC for swearing during an interview. As well as the FCC, he spouts opinions about the rest of the US administration.

***Warning - Contains very strong language throughout. Do not watch / listen if you are easily offended or a Republican***

If you can't fix it with Duct tape it's too broke!

2006-10-05T04:32:00.000-06:00

Telegraph | News | Crumbling cathedral held together by tape:

"Canterbury Cathedral is falling apart at the seams, with chunks of masonry dropping off its walls and a fifth of its internal marble pillars held together by duct tape."

For Fox Sake

2006-10-04T07:50:00.000-06:00

"Fair and Balanced" US 'News' Channel, Fox News, have been struggling to find a way to spin the Mark Foley scandal in favour of their friends, the Republicans. They sank to desperate measures last night during the show 'The O'Reilly Factor' when they, on several occasions, showed pictures of the disgraced senator erroneously captioned as a Democrat (D - FL) instead of a Republican (R-FL). The captions were removed on a later broadcast of the programme, but that one showing was enough to instill in some peoples minds, the notion that he was a Democrat. It all seems very suspicious to me.

Arrest over Cheney Barb Triggers Lawsuit

2006-10-04T07:26:00.001-06:00

A Denver-area man filed a lawsuit today against a member of the Secret Service for causing him to be arrested after he approached Vice President Dick Cheney in Beaver Creek this summer and criticized him for his policies concerning Iraq.

read more | digg story

Hamster Wheel Gone Wrong

2006-09-29T08:28:00.000-06:00


Sorry, this just made me laugh. Poor Hamster!

Things to do when you've rally nothing better to do...

2006-09-29T05:16:00.000-06:00

Part one of a new occasional series 'Things to do when you've really nothing better to do...'. This guy decided to drive twent miles to heathrow in the middle of the night to see what happens at that sort of time. He seems genuinely surprised to find out that nothing does...

Airport at Night on Vimeo

Watch this space for more exciting episodes of 'Things to do when you've really nothing better to do...'

Ace of Spades - George Formby

2006-09-24T05:29:00.000-06:00


One of his lesser known wartime songs. Later covered by UK heavy rock band, Motorhead.

Interesting English Stereotype in Get Fuzzy Comic Strip

2006-09-22T05:21:00.000-06:00

Click on the pic to make it bigger:

Follow 'Get Fuzzy' here : http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/index.html

Supposedly, bucky's English relative is from Manchester, but it seems like a bit of a strange dialect. Maybe he went to the 'Daphne from frasier' school of acting!

Technorati Tags: Get Fuzzy, Bucky, Cat, english, Relative

Cool but frustating game

2006-09-15T08:01:00.000-06:00

tontie.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)

It's kind of like 'whack a mole'. I'd be interested to know if anyone can get past level 5.

Little People - a tiny street art project

2006-09-15T05:10:00.000-06:00

Little People - a tiny street art project

This is a pretty fun site. The author has taken pictures of tiny little model people in various places around london. Check it out!

Blog problems again

2006-09-15T04:56:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the downtime this morning. The blog was showing A server error 500. It seems to be back now; however it's not displaying quite right. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

BBC NEWS | US Iran report branded dishonest

2006-09-14T11:43:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | US Iran report branded dishonest:

"The UN nuclear watchdog has protested to the US government over a report on Iran's nuclear programme, calling it 'erroneous' and 'misleading'."

Hmm, I think we've heard this somewhere before. Could it be that the US is trying to goad the world into another disastrous war?

PDF file of US Report

PDF file of IAEA Response

Normal Service Resumed

2006-09-14T05:05:00.000-06:00

The pictures are back, yay!

Normal Service will be Resumed Shortly

2006-09-14T03:03:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the lack of images today. It appears that my image server photobucket is doing a little emergency maintenance. Hopefully the pictures will be back soon.

In Memory of 9/11

2006-09-12T05:49:00.000-06:00

Sorry it's a day late, but I've just come accross this clip online. It's Jon Stewart's speech at the beginning ot the first edition of The Daily Show after the events on September 11th 2001. It is one of the most moving speeches I have ever seen.

UPDATE: This video and all Daily Show videos have been taken down by a bunch of bastard Lawyers. It's a shame, it was only generating interest in their channel. I hope the money they enjoy the money they've earned out of this.

If it doesn't work in embedded player, click here for link.

The Best War Ever!

2006-09-12T05:35:00.000-06:00

Bristol Stag Doo

2006-09-11T08:44:00.000-06:00

Went to Bristol last weekend for a friends Stag Party. I've never been to the city before and I was pleasantly surprised, it is a very pleasant city.

The Stag Party was fun, during the day, we did an 'Urban Adventure Challenge' which involved going around the city in teams doing a sort of treasure hunt type thing, this was followed up by a stint of rock climbing. For the main event in the evening, we went to 'The Elbow Room'; this is a trendy city centre bar / pool club, we had a mini tournament where I was well and truly thrashed. Returned to the hotel around 4 am after consuming a few lemonades and spent today recovering from the weekend.

Official Announcement

2006-09-06T06:02:00.000-06:00

After a lot of thought and consideration, Mrs. Teapot and I have decided that we are going to move back to Minneapolis. The main reason for doing this is that we've found everything so expensive here in comparison to the US. When you compare prices, you find that they charge the same for things here in Pounds as they charge in Dollars in the states, which makes everything twice the price; don't even get me started on the price of petrol and public transport here!

One other reason is that I have found it almost impossible to find a job other than the disastrous one at Pissy World. I'm thinking about going back to University when we go back. Quite like the idea of being Dr Teapot, or at least Hungry Teapot, Master of Stuff.

Anyway, I'll fill you in with more details soon.

My Resignation Letter

2006-08-16T05:05:00.000-06:00

Dear Mr. Bloke,

It is with great regret that I find myself in the position of having to offer my resignation from PC world as of today, August 11, 2006.

The main reason for my resignation was that I had been asked on many occasions to go against my principles in order to put what was in my opinion, undue pressure on customers to entice them to purchase our PC Performance plan.

I believe that if a customer refuses to take out the plan after a sales advisor has explained the full benefits of the plan, and offered the customers one promotional offer if necessary (i.e. the first month for free). Any further attempt to "encourage" the customer to take out the plan is both unethical and poor customer service. I also believe that this is against the spirit of British Retail Consortium Best Practice Code for Extended Warranties on Electrical Goods (December 2001) which states in paragraph 2.5:

"Those selling extended warranties and warranty providers will take steps and have a policy to prevent undue pressure to purchase being applied at the point of sale..."

I understand that the DSG international business model is largely based on the sales of these services, and the company would probably cease to be profitable without them. However I cannot bring myself to engage in these high pressure sales methods.

I would be grateful if you could ensure that any remaining pay slips and my P45 are mailed to me at the above address.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work for your company,

Yours Sincerely,

H. Teapot

Technorati Tags: resignation, letter, dsg internationa l, pc world, customer service

Breaking News

2006-08-16T02:37:00.000-06:00

At aproximately 13:00 yesterday, perimiter security at Teapot HQ was breached by an organic weapon equiped flying terror vehicle (otherwise known as a wasp), briefly raising the alert level to "Panic Stations". The threat was countered by the purchase of a new high tech counter terror system (A can of Raid).

The threat has now been eliminated and the alert level has been lowered to "Crikey".

Thank You

Breaking News - Leaflet Terror Plot Foiled

2006-08-15T05:33:00.000-06:00

Keene Free Press - Homeland Security nabs Free Stater from home

A man has been arrested for trying to hand a leaflet to a government employee.

Maybe they were worried that he'd be able to inflict nasty paper cuts.

I Quit

2006-08-11T11:14:00.000-06:00

Ok, so the news is that I quit my job. Since I am no longer in their employ I can tell you the name of the hellhole where I worked. You've probably already guessed anyway, it was PC World.

I quit because I got shouted at for the umpteenth time for not following the correct protocol for 'encouraging' people to take out our useless cover plan when buying a computer.

The idea was that when you offered the customers the opportunity to part with their cash for our 'wonderful' extended warranty plan, they would probably refuse (The poor souls are probably deluded and don't know what's good for them!). At this point the sales advisor would offer them the first month for free (the cover plan is a pay monthly scheme). If they still refuse, the sales advisor is supposed to leave the customer to consult with the manager who will then offer the customer some 'amazing deal' (The deal was usually something like a free copy of Norton Internet Security or a laptop bag. Then we would basically repeat the process until they got angry. This, I am told is offering the customer 'exceptional' service.

My advice to anyone who finds themselves in the unfortunate situation of having to buy a computer at PC World is to keep refusing the cover plan until they offer you a load of free stuff, then take out the cover plan and cancel the direct debit the very next day. This way you will have paid nothing for the cover plan and got PC world to give you a bunch of stuff for nothing.

One other thing. If you ever buy a printer from PC World. DO NOT buy the USB cable there. They will fleece you for 14.99, you can go somewhere like Tesco and buy the same thing for about a fiver.

I'm a little teapot

2006-08-05T06:27:00.000-06:00

I have a running argument with Mrs Teapot about this at regular intervals, but it appears that there are two different versions of the nursery rhyme 'I'm a little teapot' depending on which side of the Atlantic you happen to reside on. According to wikipedia the two different versions are as follows:

UK

I'm a little teapot, short and stout

Here's my handle, here's my spout.

When the kettle's boiling, hear me shout.

Tip me up and pour me out.

This should apparently be sung with a 9-7-9-7 rhythm.

US

I'm a little teapot, short and stout

Here is my handle, here is my spout.

When I get all steamed up then I shout.

Tip me over and pour me out.

And this should be sung with a 9-9-9-8 rhythm.

I can't seem to find a definitive answer as to which is the correct version, but I'm pretty sure that it was written by the English and therefore should not be changed!! Quite what the Americans are doing singing about teapots anyway is beyond me, considering they don't know how to make a proper cup of tea. Maybe they should have changed the song to 'I'm a little coffee pot'.

We're Back

2006-08-05T03:59:00.000-06:00

Sorry for not posting more while we were away, but there was a pretty hectic schedule. The journey back was pretty crazy too, but that's a long story. I will be posting more soon.

We're Here

2006-07-17T11:14:00.000-06:00

After a surprisingly pleasant flight, we have arrived in Minnesota to be greeted by temperatures of 100F (about 38C or Damn Hot). Having a nice relaxing time here and it almost feels like we never went away. Not much else to report right now, but I'll keep you posted.

Going Stateside

2006-07-14T11:05:00.000-06:00

Ok, well I'm off to Minneapolis for a couple of weeks from tomorrow morning. I may not be able to post very often while I'm over there although I will try.

See you on the other side,

H. Teapot

Another new Tenant

2006-07-13T02:13:00.000-06:00

This weeks new renter is Stupid People Shouldn't Breed. Apart from having a fantastic title, this blog is full of pearls of wisdom and interesting articles on all sorts of things; there are plenty of good rants too.

Why not pop on over to have a look at this excellent blog (IQ tests will be administered at the door!).

How Long?

2006-07-08T03:57:00.000-06:00

How long must we sing this song?

This Weeks Tenant

2006-07-02T11:02:00.000-06:00

This weeks Tenant is 'Top Drawer Designs', and it's quite an arty blog this week. The author 'Blage' has this to say about her blog:

"Foreign coins, thread, newspaper clipping, single earring, ..what's in your top drawer? What does it say about you? Site dedicated to the assemblage that is all of us...it's the things you leave behind."

I think that pretty much sums it up. If you want to take a look, click on the image at the top left of my page.

I don't Like Sundays

2006-07-02T06:28:00.000-06:00

Today is Sunday, one of the most loathsome days of the week (Second only to Monday). I just hate the fact that you spend the whole day thinking about having to go to work the next day, and it gets worse as the day goes on. To top it all off, nothing is open and there's sod all on telly! Here's to a three day weekend!

Tenant No. 3 Welcome

2006-06-25T06:39:00.000-06:00

Today we bid welcome to our third tenant here at the House of Tea and Biscuits. This weeks tenant is Aeowolf. It is another collection of eclectic posts about all kinds of topics, why not spare a few minutes to pay him a visit.

Bloody B******s

2006-06-23T03:21:00.000-06:00

Well, it seems like someone is using my domain name as the from address when they are sending spam as I keep getting all these 'undeliverable mail' messages from people who I don't know and the message attached is always spam. I am sure that a good number of spam messages are actually gettuing through to people and they think I am sending them spam, which is really annoying. I don't know how to combat this, as far as I know there is no way to stop people using any 'return to' address they like on their e-mail.

Does anybody have any ideas how I can stop this?

Teapot FM Takes to the Airwaves

2006-06-20T07:41:00.000-06:00

You may have noticed that there is a new widget at the top of this blog. This is the new blog 'radio station' feature provided by myblogtunes.com which alows you to listen to music whilst you read my blog.

To start the music playing, just go to the 'select station' drop down box and select 'Teapot FM', upon doing this, delightful sounds will fill your room.

The system is still in Beta right now, so the tunes are a bit limited, but the providers promise more soon. If you want anything added, let me know and I'll see if it's on their list.

BBC SPORT | Football | World Cup 2006 | Italy 1-1 USA

2006-06-18T04:40:00.000-06:00

BBC SPORT | Football | World Cup 2006 | Italy 1-1 USA

Me and Mrs Teapot watched one of the most interesting games of the world cup last night as we saw the USA (Mrs Teapot's home country) draw 1 - 1 with Italy.

After the humiliating defeat by the Chech Republic, USA were actually looking like a proper football (sorry, soccer) team and at times seemed to have the upper hand over Italy.

The game was a bit of a bloodbath with Italy's De Rossi being sent off, closely followed by Pope and Mastroeni from the USA, leaving the States to hang on to their draw with just nine men.

All we need now is for USA to beat Ghana in their next match and Italy to beat the Czech Republic to go through to the next round.

There's a big fly in the room....

2006-06-17T09:24:00.000-06:00

...and it's making me kind of dizzy. Flies are starnge creatures, they don't fly anywhere in straight lines and expend loads of energy flying in zig zags and round in circles. They really should sit down, plan their route and then fly, it would be a much more efficient way of travelling. Why is it so difficult for them to find the same open window that they flew in through?

Welcome New Tenant

2006-06-17T08:57:00.000-06:00

I'd like to welcome my new tenant from BlogExplosion: The Battle Rock Spot This blog is described by the author, battlerocker as "The 2nd rate blog of a 2nd rate law student".

It's difficult to find words to describe this blog, since like mine, it is quite an eclectic mixture of all kinds of things, so if you have a spare minute or two, go and check it out.

I say, I say,I say, My dog has two noses...

2006-06-17T05:37:00.000-06:00

This is a picture of a dog with a harelip. Due to his unfortunate appearance the rehoming centre in Newcastle at which he is currently resident have been unable to find him a home since he has been branded a freak by visitors, a very sad state of afairs. I hope he finds a new home soon.

Story Here

Customer Service in the 21st Century

2006-06-16T04:51:00.000-06:00

There's been a lot of fuss recently about this story; It's about a guy who needed to cancel his AOL account, but having heard of the trouble that other people had had, he decided to record the conversation. This is really quite typical of the state of customer services at the current time, and the fact that the big corporations thing they have a right to manipulate us.

For example there's a large consumer electronics chain that would rather see you leave the store with nothing than buy a computer without a warranty plan and an armful of gadgets and consumables that you may not need. They have cut the prices right down on their computers and laptops so that hardly any profit is made on them, so therefore sales advisers have to apply pressure for customers to buy other services and "essentials".

I think a much better way of selling to people would be a much more welcoming store where people would want to spend time, maybe include a coffee shop or Internet cafe where people can think about making those big purchases. Surely a customer will be more happy with a product that they have decided to buy themselves rather than having been railroaded into the purchase.

I'm not saying that the extended warranties are no good to anybody, in fact it is quite a good package for a computer novice. I think the best way to sell it though would be to advertise it and its benefits in newspaper ads and on TV, rather than just advertising prices, if people made an informed decision to purchase, they'll feel happier about that purchase and more likely to come back, and they will recommend the store to their friends.

Do I really want to go back to Minnesota?

2006-06-05T06:34:00.000-06:00

Here's a quote from the Minneapolis Star Tribune from the current Republican governor Tim Pawlenty; spouting those liberal views of his:

"I can tell you what your worst nightmare is. It's one of the big-spendin', tax-raisin', abortion-promotin', gay marriage-embracin', more welfare-without-accountability lovin', school reform-resistin', illegal immigration-supportin' Democrats for governor who think Hillary Clinton should be president of the United States."

He's just been re-nominated by the republican party to stand as governor again. I am truly hoping that he doesn't get back in. Minnesota used to be quite a liberal state, but it's now being taken over by the crazy evangelical right wing, just like the rest of America. Very Worrying!

Stuff and Nonsense

2006-06-05T04:23:00.000-06:00

Not much to report right now, I have a day off today, which is nice. The weekend was fantastic with scorching weather which resulted in me receiving a sunburn.

Been watching the news lately and am quite shocked to see that some terrorists were hiding a cosmic death ray or something, just around the corner from where I used to live in Forest Gate; Although they don't seem to have found the death ray yet.

The job's been going ok, they've actually let me loose on the customers now and I've even sold a few things. One day they may even pay me.

Not much else to report right now I'm afraid, but I'll be sure to let you know if anything interesting happens.

Job Update

2006-05-24T15:52:00.000-06:00

Well, I told my boss that I wanted to quit; but he talked me out of it. Things have been a bit better this week, I've actually been doing something interesting as well as just staring at those interesting training materials! I'll keep you updated.

It's the Arockalypse

2006-05-21T03:05:00.000-06:00

Here's to the best Eurovision winner ever 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' by 'death metal' band Lordi from Finland. With lines like 'It's the Arockalypse' and 'The day of Rockening' you can't go wrong... ROCK!

This was another favourite of mine - Lithuania's L.T. United, prouldy proclaimed themselves the winners of Eurovision, in a fantastically tongue in cheek song...

Well it was much better than the rubbish we put in, we didn't even deserve the 19th place we achieved...

Awwww Ducklings

2006-05-19T08:50:00.000-06:00

The ducks that come to our back door have been busy creating baby ducks. I took some pictures of the ducklings today, you can see them here.

Well, I have a job... for what it's worth.

2006-05-19T07:50:00.000-06:00

So, I've sold my soul to the devil and got myself a job in a large computer shop. I have spent the last couple of days embarking on their rigorous 'training programme' which consists of sitting in a room on my own reading their training materials and watching their cheesy corporate videos.

I think they completely forgot that I was even there yesterday and left me on my own. I came very close to just walking out. I don't think it's worth the £35 that they are going to pay me. Although I'm crossing my fingers that I'll even get that, nobody has taken my bank details yet.

America Voted

2006-05-17T14:53:00.000-06:00

I was thinking about the fact that more people vote for American Idol than vote in the US General Elections. I wondered what would happen if the Political Elections were like the phone - in on American Idol and put together a little montage like the ones they do when a contestant gets voted off. Imagine that I'm Ryan Seabreath or whatever his name is....

"Tonight America has voted and it's time to say goodbye to our old friends in the Bush Administration. Let's have a look at the highs and lows of your time in office..."

Link Here

Guess where I've been

2006-05-15T11:26:00.000-06:00

I travelled to Sheffield for a friends Stag Weekend. It wasn't quite a weekend of drunken debauchery (at least not on my part O:-)). One of the weekends activities was paintballing, this is something that I have never done before. Whilst the activity was lots of fun, it was also very painful and I have the bruises to prove it.

Anyway, having considered this very carefully I have decided that my verdict on Sheffield is that it is a city in the North of England.

P.S. I would heartily reccomend Midland Mainline, as they provide free tea to all passengers... you can't ask for more than that.

Freedom is Slavery

2006-05-12T09:37:00.000-06:00

Following recent news stories about the further infringement of civil liberties by the great dictator of the land of the free. I decided to check out the website of the agency behind the controversy, the NSA. They have a kids site called 'The Cryptokids' with a whole host of great friendly characters, including:

Crypto Cat

Crypto cat is involved with preventing the great leaders information from reaching the liberal media who's unpatriotic mission is to prevent freedom and the American way. Any member of the liberal press who leaks information of how the great one is protecting our freedoms by listening in on our communications is aiding the terrorists.

Decipher Dog

Decipher Dog is charged with the task of protecting the freedoms of the people of America by listening in to 'carefully selected' citizens conversations to ensure that people can sleep safely in their beds. Sometimes, this may involve 'inadvertantly' listening in on innocent civilians personal communications, but this kind of 'collateral damage' cannot be avoided at a time of war. Remember people, war is peace.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

Operation Best Buy

2006-05-12T04:22:00.000-06:00

This is great. The clip below is of a group called Improv Everywhere. They do large scale improvisations in public. In this 'mission' they decided to gather 50 people to all dress up in Blue shirts and Tan Trousers and enter Best Buy (A large American electronics chain - The US version of Dixons, only better.) you can read the story here. You should check out some of the other clips on the page where the 'agents' recount the conversations they had with store security and police.

Best Buy on Vimeo

Not for the faint hearted

2006-05-10T05:43:00.000-06:00

Aparently it was never aired, it was recorded by the Rainbow cast for the staff Christmas party.

Link Here

It's been around for a while, but it's great.

2006-05-10T04:30:00.000-06:00

If embedded player doesn't show, click here.

Looking for a job

2006-05-06T10:03:00.000-06:00

I have been unemployed now for 5 months, it's really starting to get me down. I am trying to make a change from my previous career as a theatre technician (Since it is very difficult to find work in this field where we currently live) to something else. I have sent out lots of application forms for all kinds of jobs.

I started out looking mainly for admin work, as this was mostly the sort of work I was doing in the states, but I don't seem to be able to find that sort of work here. I am now starting to submit applications to shops etc., but have so far had very little luck.

I have a diploma and an undergraduate degree in theatre related disciplines, but this is not a lot of use for work in other areas.

I do have some pretty advanced computer skills, but no formal qualifications (other than a GCSE in computer studies). I would love to get into that field, but that is not possible without re-training. I am considering starting an MSc in Computer Science, but this will involve parting with lots of cash, which I don't have because I don't have a job. It's a vicious circle really!

Anyway, I'm going to stop moaning now before I drive all my reader(s) away. Finally, if anyone has any jobs going, please let me know.

Free tea & nice biscuits!

2006-05-05T11:07:00.000-06:00

Free tea & nice biscuits!
Originally uploaded by hugovk.

I don't think you can ask for any more than that! Not any old biscuits here, just nice ones.

I wonder if they mean biscuits that are nice (i.e. M&S Chocolate Viennese Biscuits or Jaffa Cakes (although debate still rages about whether Jaffa Cakes are in fact a biscuit or a cake) or do they mean the biscuits called Nice, which aren't actually all that nice, I think they're a bit boring really.

Anyway I want to work for an organisation that provides free tea and nice biscuits.

Time for Blair to go?

2006-05-05T05:04:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | Politics | Clarke axed in Cabinet reshuffle

Well it looks like the predicted disaster for Labour in the local elections has materialised. Labour has come third in the national share of the vote and have lost 256 councillors and the control of 18 councils so far. The downside to this is that the Tories have taken most of these seats.

Blair is trying to fight back with a major cabinet reshuffle today, finally Charles Clark has been replaced and will return to the back benches. There are some other interesting changes too; Margaret Beckett is to be the new Foreign Secretary and Jack Straw will become Commons Leader.

The hope now is that party pressure will increase to such an extent that it will not be possible for Blair to continue. I am also hopeful for a proper leadership election, rather than power just passing automaticaly to Gordon Brown.

Blue Security Identifies "PharmaMaster" as Illegal Spammer.

2006-05-04T16:49:00.000-06:00

More news from the front line. Click the above link for more information.

Spam War

2006-05-04T11:44:00.000-06:00

For a few months, I've been using a part of a community called Blue Frog, the purpose of this community was to fight back against spammers. The way the software works is that every time you receive a piece of spam, you forward it to blue security, who analyse the e-mail and then go to the spammers website to 'request' that they don't send any more spam to their members. The company get fed up with receiving these messages and should comply with Blue Security's request.

The effort seems to be having an effect as one desperate spammer has been trying to fight back by sending out intimidating e-mails at random to try to catch people who may be using the Blue Frog software; he has informed members that he has cracked the Blue Frog lists, but this is a fallacy and he is simply using lists he already owns.

Today the Blue Security website has been brought down by a DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack by the spammer (This involves using a network of computers to send random requests to their victims servers. The servers then get overwhelmed by requests and fail). I am hoping that they get their servers working again soon, so we can continue the fight against this pest.

The links in this article point to the temporary blog set up by Blue Security while they are working to get their servers working again. The original website is here, but it is currently just displaying an error message.

American Idiot?

2006-05-04T07:15:00.000-06:00

Following the recent success of the new style talent shows such as Pop Idol and Strictly Dance Fever. I think it could be time that all recruitment in Britain was done in the same way. Here's a few ideas:

Britain's next Top Train Driver
Strictly Quantity Surveying
Postal worker Idol
Who Wants to be a Call Centre Operative
The Petrol Station Attendant Factor

Happy May Day!

2006-05-01T05:02:00.000-06:00

Dancing 'round the maypole
Originally uploaded by BKMworld.

Today is May Day, also known as International workers day. It has in recent years been a celebartion of socialism and workers rights. However, it is thought that May day dates back to a historic pagan festival called beltane, which involves such traditions as dancing round a maypole and morris dancing and generally looking silly.

Anyway, the village is having a May Fayre today which will involve some maypole dancing and a silver band, but most importantly there will be a beer tent where warm beer can be enjoyed by all!

La bandera de las estrellas

2006-04-30T10:48:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Spanish US anthem raises hackles

The American right wing conservatives are causing an almighty hoo haa about the fact that someone has had the nerve to translate their anthem into a language other than English. How dare they! even the almighty leader of the free world himself weighed in with his two pennys worth saying that the anthem should be sung in English and anyone coming to live in his country shoud learn the language.

The irony here is that back in 1919 the US department of education (obviously a subversive organisation hell bent on bringing down the country) actually published a spanish version of the song. Not only that but a bunch of lilly livered liberal librarians at the library of congress actually had the gall to publish it on their web page here.

Well, just to be a renegade... Here is God save the Queen in Dutch:

De god sparen onze verfijnde Koningin
Long leeft onze edele Koningin,
God sparen de Koningin:

Verzend haar victorious,
Gelukkig en glorious,
Lang om over ons te regeren:
De god redt de Koningin.

Tea is served

2006-04-30T09:40:00.000-06:00

tea time
Originally uploaded by rosidae.

And those look like good biscuits!

Welcome

2006-04-30T09:18:00.000-06:00

Hello,

Come in, take a seat and put your feet up. I've just made a fresh pot of tea and will be passing round the jammie dodgers soon.

If you've followed me here from the House of Cheese, it's good to see you again. Otherwise, it's just good to see you.

A bit about me... I recently moved back to the UK after living in Minnesota USA for a couple of years with my wife. I am currently seeking employment, which will probably be a recurring theme in my coming posts.

Anyway, I'm excited about my new home and looking forward to meeting some new faces around here.

more soon...