DRESSING UP

30 movies with prom night scenes:

1 Carrie
2 Pretty in Pink
3 Saved!
4 American Pie
5 Valley Girl
6 Whatever It Takes
7 The Girl Next Door
8 Grease
9 Jawbreaker
10 She's All That
11 Diner
12 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
13 Zapped!
14 Rad
15 Mean Girls
16 Skeletons in the Closet
17 Napoleon Dynamite
18 Never Been Kissed
19 The Truman Show
20 The Major and the Minor
21 10 Things I Hate about You
22 In Her Shoes
23 Crossroads
24 Born on the Fourth of July
25 Peggy Sue Got Married
26 Fast Times at Ridgemont High
27 Angus
28 Back to the Future
29 The Next Karate Kid
30 Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion

Thanks to TW for the idea; I'm sure there are many more - let me know if I have missed any very famous ones

 
MERSEY ZOO / FAB FEAST

Creatures mentioned in lyrics sung by The Beatles:

1 birds (Till There Was You / Money / Dear Prudence) / bird (Free As a Bird)
2 glow-worm (Roll Over Beethovan)
3 bees (Money)
4 dog (Matchbox / A Hard Day's Night / I Am the Walrus)
5 cows (When I Get Home)
6 butterflies (It's Only Love)
7 horse (Being For the Benefit of Mr Kite)
8 walrus (I Am the Walrus / Glass Onion / Come Together)
9 pigs (I Am the Walrus) / piggies (Piggies)
10 pilchard (I Am the Walrus)
11 penguin (I Am the Walrus)
12 fish (Penny Lane)
13 bulldog (Hey Bulldog)
14 sheepdog (Hey Bulldog)
15 bullfrog (Hey Bulldog)
16 tiger (The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill)
17 elephant (The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill)
18 lizard (Happiness Is a Warm Gun)
19 blackbird (Blackbird)
20 eagle (Yer Blues)
21 worm (Yer Blues)
22 monkey (Everybody's Got Something To Hide... / Too Much Monkey Business)
23 octopus (Octopus's Garden)
24 pony (Dig a Pony)
25 canary (Bad Boy)
26 cat (Bad Boy)
27 cocker spaniel (Bad Boy)
28 duckling (So How Come No One Loves Me)
29 sheep (So How Come No One Loves Me)

And the food and drink:

1 honey (A Taste of Honey / Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby)
2 wine (A Taste of Honey / Norwegian Wood / When I'm Sixty Four / Her Majesty)
3 home brew (Rock and Roll Music)
4 peanuts (Drive My Car)
5 rice (Eleanor Rigby)
6 tangerine (Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds)
7 marmalade (Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds)
8 marshmallow pies (Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds)
9 tea (Lovely Rita)
10 cornflake (I Am the Walrus)
11 custard (I Am the Walrus)
12 semolina (I Am the Walrus)
13 cake (It's All Too Much)
14 onion (Glass Onion)
15 Coca Cola (Come Together)
16 chocolate cake (The Ballad of John and Yoko)
17 peaches (Matchbox)

All vegetarian, notice!

See also the number Savoy Truffle which mentions: crème tangerine, montelimar, ginger sling with pineapple heart, coffee dessert, Savoy truffle, cherry cream, apple tart and coconut fudge.

I've omitted most of the ones where it's obviously not the actual food / creature that is being mentioned eg rocking horse people, dove-tail joint, honey pie, moon dog, Strawberry Fields, Rocky Raccoon, the local bird-and-bee, Blue Jay Way, honey (as an endearment).

 
NATIONAL SERVICE

50 'national dishes' (sorry, this is a long list, but it makes your mouth water - well, some of it!):

1 Brazil – feijoada (meat and black bean stew)
2 Austria – Tafelspitz (boiled beef)
3 Malaysia – nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk and served with side dishes)
4 Benin – mokoto (stewed tripe etc, tomatoes and chili served with manioc flour)
5 USA – fried chicken*
6 Belarus – galki (balls of meat or fish mixed with buckwheat and served with sour cream)
7 Morocco – tajine (spiced stew with olives and lemons)
8 Uzbekistan – pilav (rice dish with meat and carrots)
9 England – fish and chips**
10 Kazakhstan – besbarmak (mutton and horse meat with broth and pasta noodles)
11 Dominica – mountain chicken (a large frog, currently banned due to rarity and infection)
12 Mexico – mole poblano (chili, bitter chocolate and fruit dish, usually with chicken)
13 Ivory Coast – attieke (cassava porridge with fried fish) and foutou (spiced boiled yams)
14 Scotland – haggis (spiced offal minced with oats, served with mashed potatoes and swede)
15 Vanuatu – laplap (grated yam, manioc and banana cooked in coconut cream)
16 Kenya – ugali (cornmeal hash)
17 Vietnam – pho (spicy beef broth)
18 Korea – kimchi (pickled vegetables)
19 Senegal - thieboudienne (spicy fish and vegetable stew)
20 Spain – cocido (meat, chickpea and vegetable hotpot)
21 Jordan – mansaf (lamb, rice and sour milky broth)
22 Grenada – oil-down (meat stew with calaloo, breadfruit and coconut)
23 The Philippines – adobo (chicken / pork stew with a sour flavour) or lechon (roast pig)
24 Ukraine – vareniki (potato or cheese dumplings)
25 Portugal – bacalhau (salted cod) or cozido (beef and cabbage)
26 Myanmar (Burma) – moh hin gha (fish broth with rice noodles and banana tree core)
27 Germany – Eisbein (salted ham shank, usually served with sauerkraut)
28 Egypt - ful mudammas (fava bean stew)
29 Belgium – carbonnades flamande (beef and beer stew) or frites / friets (potato chips, often eaten with mayo and mussels)
30 Ethiopia – doro wat (thick, hot chicken stew with boiled eggs)
31 South Africa - bobotie (spicy mince with fruit, topped with egg batter)
32 Cuba – ajiaco (meat and root vegetable stew served with black beans and rice)
33 Norway – lutefisk (lye-cured jellied cod) or fårikål (slow-cooked mutton with cabbage)
34 Venezuela - pabellon criollo (shredded beef with rice, plantains and black beans)
35 Poland – bigos (smoked meats with mushrooms and salted cabbage)
36 Hungary – gulyás (meat stew with paprika and caraway seeds)
37 Iraq – massgouf (spiced, roasted fish)
38 Indonesia – rijstaffel (rice served with various side dishes)
39 Costa Rica – gallo pinto (rice and beans flavoured with peppers and orange juice)
40 Iceland - hangikjöt (smoked lamb)
41 Lithuania - cepelinai (meat and potato dumplings)
42 Liberia – dumboy (mashed cassava, served with okra and peanut soup)
43 El Salvador - pupusas (filled corn patties)
44 Singapore – jifan (chicken with rice and soy and ginger sauces)
45 Czech Republic – svickova (sour cream and vegetable sauce served with meat or dumplings)
46 Thailand – pad thai (fried rice noodles with peanuts, tofu, shrimps etc)
47 Peru – ceviche (cured fish served with citrus fruits and hot peppers)
48 Jamaica – saltfish and ackee
49 Greece – musaká (lamb with aubergines with bechamel sauce)
50 Bhutan - ema datshi (chili peppers and cheese)

*Other suggestions: pizza / hot dogs / casserole
**Other suggestions: beans and toast / chicken tikka masala / roast beef and Yorkshire pudding

Source: various – few states have an official national dish, so those above are open to debate. The following countries are fairly impossible in this respect - India, Australia, Canada, Sweden, China, Ireland, Japan, France - despite various suggestions.

 
YAWN AND ON

The Boring Top Twenty

1 Being Boring by Pet Shop Boys
2 Therapy by Bored Stiff
3 The Message by Jeremy Borer
4 Little Red Rooster by Big Jesse Yawn
5 Exhausted by Eric Borelius
6 Horsey Don't Snore by Lullaby Baxter Trio
7 Back in Time by Seventh Day Slumber
8 Two Sleepy People by Frank D'Rone
9 In Dreams by Nowhere Slow
10 Tedious (Extended Mix) by Junior Murvin
11 Dreary Days and Nights by Lulu
12 I'm-A-Waking-Up by Ho Hum
13 I Grow Tiresome by SnagLoopDog
14 Drag by Drag
15 The Most Boring Song in the World by Canadian Studmuffin
16 Tired Yet by Giant Drag
17 Blah-Blah-Blah by Iggy Pop
18 Insurance by Dennis Dullea
19 Rust by Joyless
20 Lifeless Sentiments by Ice Ages

and dropping off the chart this week is..

21. Dull by Nothing More

Thanks to Jonathan for this list

 
AFRICAN HOOCH

Local high-alcohol brews in Botswana tend to be given cautionary names - here are a few:

1 monna-tota (real man)
2 motse o teng godimo (there is a home in heaven)
3 chechisa! (hurry up!)
4 o lala fa! (you sleep right here!)
5 laela mmago (say goodbye to your mother)

Source: Botswanan embassy website

 
ON THE OCHE

A few nicknames of darts players past and present

1 Ronnie Baxter – The Rocket
2 Phil Taylor – The Power
3 John Walton – John Boy
4 John Lowe – Old Stoneface
5 Bob Anderson – The Limestone Cowboy
6 Peter Evison – The Fen Tiger
7 Shane Burgess - Bulldog
8 Andy Fordham – The Viking
9 Les Wallace - McDanger
10 Co Stompe – The Matchstick / Pencil
11 Wayne Mardle – Hawaii 501
12 Ted Hankey – The Count
13 Jamie Harvey - Bravedart
14 Eric Bristow – The Crafty Cockney
15 Steve Beaton – The Adonis
16 Bobby George – Mr Glitter
17 Chris Mason – The Prince of Dartness
18 Mike Guiragossian – The Rug
19 Raymond Barneveld - Barney
20 Keith Deller - Babyface
21 Kevin Painter – The Artist
22 Peter Manley – One Dart
23 Colin Lloyd – Jaws
24 Roland Scholten – The Tripod
25 John Part – Darth Maple

Source: various

 
WITHOUT FEATHERS

Bird names used as slang for people:

1 parrot – a copycat
2 chicken – a coward
3 pigeon – girl with attitude (black slang); a newcomer to Alcoholics Anonymous
4 owl – a wise or studious person
5 canary – an informer
6 swan – a show-off or overdressed person
7 cuckoo - an eccentric
8 kiwi – a New Zealander
9 drongo – a disreputable, untrustworthy character (Aus. slang)
10 crow – a boaster
11 peacock – a show-off
12 bantam – someone with a small build
13 gull – an stupid, easily conned person
14 jay – as above (US slang)
15 goose – a silly one
16 coot – a man with no hair
17 turkey – a failure
18 galah – a highly-strung or foolish person (Aus. slang)
19 hawk – a warlike or sharp-eyed person
20 vulture – a callous opportunist
21 nighthawk – one who inhabits the night
22 gannet - a glutton
23 magpie – a hoarder or pilferer

 
PATCHY

Unusual vegetable variety names:

Aubergine: Kermit / Black Beauty / Easter Egg / Mini Fingers / Moneymaker
Beetroot: Rouge Crapaudine / Pronto Baby / Blankoma / Boltardy / Burpee's Golden
Broad Beans: Stereo / Super Aquadulce / Bunyard's Exhibition
Broccoli: Rudolph / Green Goliath / Spike / White Eye / Munchkin / Purple Peacock
Brussels Sprouts: Red Bull / Peer Gynt / Beford Fillbasket / Brigitte / Igor / Brilliant
Cabbage: Derby Day / Greyhound / Cheers / Duncan / Christmas Drumhead / Roulette / Pixie / Fun Jen / Myatt's Offenham Compacta
Carrot: White Belgium / Early Market Horn / Babycan / Parabell / Nigel / Flyaway / Purple Haze / Jaune Obtuse de Doubs / Little Finger / Mello Yello / Flakkee / Resistafly
Cauliflower: Penduick / Celebrity / Winkle / Snowball / Sydney
Celery: Utah / Solid White / Picador / Golden Self-Blanching
Chicory: Sugarhat / Witloof
Corn: Sweet Nugget / Red Stalker / Bodacious / Minipop / Jackpot / Whiteout / Midnight Snack / Lark / Chubby Checkers / Bloody Butcher / Cutie Blues / Sweetie / Sugar Buns / Seneca Snowshoe
Courgette: Kojac / Eight Ball / Bambino / One Ball
Cucumber: La Diva / Crystal Lemon / Boothy Blond / Telegraph Improved / Boston Pickling / Burpless Tasty Green / Marketmore
French Beans: Lingua de Fuoco / Cropper Teepee / The Prince / Yard Long / Hunter / Triumph de Farcy / Slenderette
Garlic: Elephant / Sprint / Mother of Pearl / Vigour / Music / Brown Tempest / Long Keeper / Messidrome
Kale: Hungry Gap / Darkibor / Dinosaur
Leek: Oarsman / Poncho / Mammoth Pot / Pandora / Giant Cobra
Lettuce: Buttercrunch / Tom Thumb / Continuity / Rusty / Devil's Tongue / Great Lakes / Can Can
Onion: Winterover / Purplette / Sweetened Sandwich / Latin Lover / Red Beard / Ramrod / Walla Walla
Parsnip: Tender and True / Javelin / Student
Peas: Onward / Canoe / Bikini / Waverex / Tall Telephone
Peppers: Hungarian Hot Wax / Bell Boy / Big Bertha / Sweet Chocolate / Bull's Horn
Potato: Austrian Crescent / Purple Chief / Pink Fir Apple / Russian Banana / Linda
Pumpkin: Baby Bear / Jack O'Lantern / Tom Fox
Radish: French Breakfast / Red Meat / Sparkler / 18 Day / Long White Icicle
Runner Beans: Enorma / Lady Di / Polestar / Painted Lady
Squash: Sweet Dumpling / Blue Ballet / Vegetable Spaghetti / Warted Hubbard / Turk's Turban / Jack Be Little
Tomato: Banana Legs / Lunch Box / Mini Charm / Pink Stuffer / Husky Gold / Sweet Baby Girl / Pink Brandywine / Sun Baby / Tigerella / Jelly Bean / Taxi / Black Krim / Big Boy / Shirley / Orange Banana / Floridity / Green Zebra

Source: various

 
LIFE'S A DRAG

Words for cigarettes:

1 cowboy killer
2 chalky
3 coffin nail
4 durrie
5 tab
6 cancer stick
7 filter tip
8 ciggy
9 rollie
10 fag
11 bifter
12 gasper
13 smoke
14 clop
15 snout
16 oily rag

 
THE MAGIC NUMBERS

One of the monthly music magazines has a feature where a musician has to talk about the next seven tracks which play randomly on their Ipod / Itunes. Here's what mine threw up, out of 1319 songs:

1 Camera Obscura - Suspended From Class – a bit of Scottish indie to begin with. One of those Glasgow bands with both a male and female lead singer. I think it's good and right that they use the word 'arse' in this song as opposed to the Americanised 'ass', but the girl doesn't sound too happy singing it at all. I think everyone who played cello or a wind instrument in Glasgow schools in the 1980s is now in a tweetronica band.

2 Tristeza – Memphis Emphasis – I love Tristeza, but don't know much about them. Californian post-rock chiming guitars, like a jazzier upbeat Mogwai, they remind me of one of the great lost UK bands of the 80s – Dif Juz. This isn't one of my favourite tracks, but always good to hear.

3 In Embrace – Shouting in Cafes – probably the best remembered (if at all) song by this early 80s band, who were often compared to one of my favourite groups Eyeless in Gaza. Smooth, smoochy and camp, with a nice piano sound – it is similar in time and tune to the better known 'First Picture of You' by The Lotus Eaters.

4 And talking of Liverpool bands, the fourth song to come on is There She Goes by The La's. This song has been nominated as one of the greatest pop songs of all time, and in its simplicity and straightforwardness, yes, it probably is – Cole Porter and Phil Spector would tap their toes. Sounded good even when throttled by Jesus rockers Sixpence None the Richer.

5 The Blue Aeroplanes – Bury Your Love like Treasure – more UK indie! - I saw this band twice in the early 90s – a good live band with three lead guitars and a Pole dancer (I mean, a Polish guy who danced with them on stage). Not my favourite TBA song (that would be 'Weightless'), but redolent of that post-acid era when indie and dance met head on.

6 Red Box – Lean on Me – oh, come on! This exercise is making me out to be the retro, synth-pop indie-boy that my flatmate thinks I am! Where is the Fennesz, the O'Jays, the neo-folk, even the Petula Clark, for godsake! Mind you, I love Red Box – unashamedly bouncy. Not as good as 'For America', their great pop song, but it should have been number one hit, in the bloated, bleached jeans days of Live Aid.

7 Bjork – Hyperballad – well, it is her best song. Especially around the 3 minute mark when all the production kicks in. I love the way she pronounces 'cutlery' and sounds very Shetlandy. She has a thing about cutlery, Bjork – that bit in Birthday about 'huge spoons'.

Well, I reckon that little exercise has me damned as an aging indie-kid. Thankfully, at 38, I still fit my raincoat and have enough hair to head off now to the kitchen to find a pudding bowl and give myself a haircut.

 
LIVE THROUGH THIS

Twenty things described as a 'rite of passage':

1 a summer job
2 the first kiss
3 hazing (dangerous initiation high jinks)
4 losing milk teeth
5 scarification
6 Las Vegas
7 rioting
8 first car / bike / mobile phone
9 alcohol use
10 getting lost on a car journey
11 baseball pitchers' arm surgery
12 pilgrimage
13 barebacking
14 'crossing the soul's river' (sic)
15 prom night
16 bullying
17 back-packing
18 the adoration of boy bands
19 learning to drive / swim
20 the sod-turning ceremony

 
CATCH ALL

When I was in the Mid-West last year, lots of people were using the catchphrase 'Get her done'. This is apparently the catchphrase of a US comedian who has a 'redneck mechanic' alter ego. I was thinking of UK comedy catchphrases - from sitcoms and comedians and game show hosts - from the past few decades which would make little sense to other readers. So here are some UK catchphrases – most of these have entered the social fabric of British life and are well known – but they will be strange to non-UK readers (around 80% of this site's traffic comes from outside the UK):

1 Ooh Betty!
2 That's you that is!
3 Pure dead brilliant!
4 You will, you will, you will, you will
5 Suits you, sir!
6 Nice to see you – to see you – nice!
7 I have a cunning plan...
8 Shut that door!
9 Titter ye not!
10 Power to the people!
11 Rock On Tommy!
12 Naff off, Godber
13 You wouldn't let it lie!
14 Don't panic! Don't panic!
15 You plonker!
16 I don't believe it!
17 Hello I'm Julian and this is my friend Sandy
18 A-ha!
19 I didn't get where I am today...
20 You dirty old man!
21 ...this play what I have wrote
22 and it's goodnight from me
23 I shall say zis only once
24 Is it because I am black?
25 What are the chances of that?!

 
WORLD OF SPORT

40 national sports:

1 Pakistan - hockey
2 Bhutan - archery
3 Canada – lacrosse (officially, though ice hockey is more popular)
4 Bangladesh – kabbadi (team tag game)
5 Iceland – glima (form of wrestling)
6 Anguilla – boat-racing
7 Afghanistan – buzkashi (players on horseback compete to carry an animal carcase to a goal)
8 Ireland – hurling (hockey-style game)
9 Thailand - muay Thai (form of boxing)
10 Japan - sumo
11 Bulgaria - weightlifting
12 Wales – rugby union
13 Norway – Nordic skiing
14 Uzbekistan – kurash (form of wrestling)
15 Finland – pesäpallo (baseball-style game) (rallying, javelin and ski-jumping also popular)
16 Iran - wrestling
17 USA - baseball
18 Sri Lanka – volleyball
19 The Philippines - sipa (ball kicking game), arnis (martial art) (basketball is most popular)
20 UAE – camel racing
21 Columbia – tejo (metal discs are thrown at targets which explode)
22 Spain - bullfighting
23 Switzerland – hornussen (baseball-style game)
24 England – football*
25 New Zealand – rugby union
26 Korea – tae kwon do
27 Jamaica - cricket
28 Venezuala – baseball
29 China – table tennis
30 Mexico – charrería (rodeo-like team sport)
31 Turkey – yagli güres (oil-wrestling)
32 Taiwan – badminton (or baseball)
33 Papua New Guinea – rugby league
34 Chile - rodeo
35 Malaysia - sepak takraw (similar to volleyball, but using the feet)
36 India – hockey
37 France - cycling
38 Brazil – capoeira (martial art)
39 Ethiopia – distance running
40 Cuba - baseball

Note: some countries have an official national sport, in others the 'national sport' is assumed to be the most popular sport, or the most famous traditional sport; *football (soccer) is the national sport of many nations, as far apart as Egypt, Italy, Paraguay, Myanmar (Burma) and Nigeria

 
NOW AIN'T THE TIME

Some things not worth crying over:

1 the last day of your holiday
2 hand-me-downs
3 Bambi's mum (she's just a celluloid doe)
4 the missing jigsaw piece
5 last orders
6 the thought of people sleeping in igloos
7 creases in your clothes
8 the bit about the blind man in 'Under Pressure'
9 missing pet posters (they've upgraded to a better home)
10 spilt milk