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The other day I was driving home from my nightshift and found myself sitting in traffic waiting for the lights to change. In my rear view mirror was a tipper truck from a company called Space Rubbish who do commercial rubbish clearance. Their logo caught my eye. It looks like this.

Obviously the Comic Sans lettering is eye-catching enough as it is, but the colourful logo on the left is what I found myself staring at. I knew that from somewhere. I’m pretty sure it was clipart that I’d used to make my own logos back when I first got a PC. I think – but after extensive internet searching and AI asking, I still can’t be entirely sure – that it came with Microsoft Publisher ’97. It looked a bit like this. (I had to draw it myself because I can’t find the original.)

I was just smiling to myself at the idea that this company had made their own logo in Publisher 97 using clipart and Comic Sans, and that they were still using it now, with versions of it plastered over all their lorries nearly 30 years later, when the traffic going the other way came to a stop and just to my right was a van owned by a company called Pride Installations Limited. Apparently they do electrical work and refurbish houses for landlords, that kind of thing. Anyway, the logo on the side of their van looked like this.

I don’t know if the drivers of the two vans saw each others’ logos, but I hope they did. Now I wonder how many more companies are using the same 1990s clipart as their corporate logo. I hope there’s loads of them.

Avatar It’s back

They moved the sign indoors before I could photograph it, but don’t worry, I got proof.

The rumours are true. It’s back.

Finally, after all this time, the Richoux Cruffin is back. You’ve been waiting a long time, I know you have. It’s been agony. We’ve all felt it. We have all felt the hollow feeling inside since the Richoux Cruffin left us.

You’ve been bereft without it. You’ve tried to satisfy yourself with other Cruffins – but all of them were inferior. Nothing was ever quite like a Richoux Cruffin. And on the rare occasions you managed to get some other Richoux products, none of them ever had that quintessential Cruffinniness.

You might wonder where the Richoux Cruffin went. Where did it go, and why did it have to leave us for so long? But that’s private. The Richoux Cruffin does not answer to you. It departs on a whim and it comes back when it’s ready. The only thing to do is be grateful that it has finally returned.

You have been dreaming of this moment for such a long time. So, go. Go now and get yourself the Richoux Cruffin. It’s back, and now you and the Richoux Cruffin can be together forever.

Avatar Airport review: Addis Ababa

I can now add “Ethiopia” to my list of “places I have technically been to because I transferred flights there”. This list also includes Latvia, Colombia and the United States of America. We had two transfers in Addis Ababa, so we got to experience Bole International Airport twice. And you, lucky reader, can vicariously enjoy the experience through my review.

Read More: Airport review: Addis Ababa »

Avatar Cheese sponsorship

I think I’ve found the weirdest food marketing ploy since special edition Elton John Marmite.

The other week we decided to get some nice burgers from the butcher and have a home made burger night. (It was absolutely banging, thanks for asking.) We needed cheese for that, obviously, so we got ourselves a pack of sliced Jarlsberg.

The cheese was, as you would expect, perfectly aged for maximum flavour, a source of calcium, high in protein, and somehow lactose free. (I don’t understand the last bit, it’s cheese, but OK, that must be something to do with the secret recipe.) But this Jarlsberg has another, much more unexpected, property.

Yes, this is the official cheese sponsor of The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical. Not the film, you understand, no – presumably another cheese sponsors that. But Jarlsberg is the cheese providing the financial backing for the stage musical, and presumably reaping the benefits of the show’s fans when they come pouring out of the theatre, hungry for cheese, and all rush to the dairy aisle of the nearest supermarket to get themselves a pack of ten slices of medium strength Dutch cheese.

Avatar Old tat? Yes please!

How are you for gravel? Got enough?

Are you looking for a beautiful hand-made gift for a loved one?

Are you craving some more bits to fill up your cupboards, drawers and/or shed?

Free and affordable items are few and far between these days. Luckily there are mega chads still out there willing to part with their prized possessions for next to nothing, and sometimes nothing.

My local Facebook group has never let me down. Let me show you some of the treasures that have come up over the last month:

My favourite, by a mile and a half, has the be the one below because it makes me smile so much. I burst out laughing the first time I saw it:

The words, “whatever you see them as” will forever send me into tiny giggles. I’m considering writing them on the wall in the living room; it’s the new ‘live laugh love’.

Take a look at YOUR local Facebook group. Perhaps YOU’LL find something too.

Avatar YouTube Promo 3

Hey guys, Face Uncle back to rock-k-k-k-k your world.

Yeah, let that hit you like a brick.

You know me, guys, I’m a pretty silly person when you get down to it. I’m known for my wacky sense of humour and I’m pretty much up for anything. Sometimes though you have to get serious. Sometimes you think of something and you can’t let it go because it means something.

Sometimes science needs a helping hand.

You don’t need me to tell you whether or not birds need lips but I’m hoping you’ll watch my video where we finally decide whether or not birds need lips.

Don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe!

Avatar Fancy pub checklist

Pubs all used to be more or less the same, back in the day. Dark brown furniture, brass rail along the bar, limited range of warm beers that were predominantly bitter and included something called “mild”, and the only food offering was pork scratchings.

Nowadays pubs come in a wide spectrum, from the old man boozer to the soft play family carvery. Most pubs serve food of some description. But every now and then you find a pub that is genuinely fancy.

How fancy? Well, now you can find out by scoring your pub against this helpful checklist.

  • Guest ale on tap: 1 point
  • Guest gin with home-made marketing display on the bar: 2 points
  • Man at bar is wearing a gilet and has an extremely large dog asleep at his feet: 1 point
  • Dog snacks on the bar are in a stylish glass jar: 1 point
  • Separate “restaurant area” for dining, though you can also eat in the bar if you want: 1 point
  • “Please wait to be seated” sign in dining area: 2 points
  • Separate menu for Sunday lunch: 1 point
  • Separate menu for dogs: 2 points
  • Exposed wooden beams: 1 point
  • Exposed wooden beams that are actually structural and may be grade II listed: 2 points
  • Table service for diners: 1 point
  • Table service where the waitress is an actual waitress and not one of the bar staff: 2 points
  • Made-to-order bar snacks available: 1 point
  • Made-to-order bar snacks feature miniature fish and chips served in one of those fake mesh buckets as though it’s just been lifted out of a deep fat fryer: 2 points
  • Made-to-order bar snack menu features n’duja, olive tapenade and padrón peppers: 3 points
  • Men’s toilets do not smell of urinal cakes: 1 point
  • Men’s toilets look clean: 2 points
  • Men’s toilets actually are clean: 3 points
  • Men’s toilets have hand lotion in little squirty bottles by the sink: 5 points