Guinness, contrary to popular belief, isn't black. According to Guinness themselves, it's actually classed as a "ruby red" beer. You can try this out for yourself by holding a freshly poured pint up to the light, and looking at the bottom of the pint.

Ducks really are quite remarkable things - by rights, they should be extinct. If one applies even the most basic Darwinian principles to the species, they should have died out æons ago. They are stupid, ungainly, and are not naturally designed to survive in their own environment. They make terrible parents, and lack any instincts to care for ( Read more... )

Swifts are very interesting creatures. Once fledged, the adult bird doesn't roost for the next eighteen months, only doing so when it's found a mate. For eighteen months they eat, drink and sleep whilst constantly mobile - drinking is done by swooping low over water and scooping a beakfull at a time whilst still in mid-flight. Also, their wings ( Read more... )

Once upon a time, Mincemeat used to be just exactly that - minced meat. Usually lamb, plus sugar and sweet spices like cinnamon, clove, ginger, all the usual stuff you'd get in a tub of mixed spice. The spices helped to mask the taste of rancid meat, as well as acting as antibacterial agents to stave off the threat of gastro-intestinal infection ( Read more... )

The theme music used for Captain Pugwash was a Northumbrian tune called the Trumpet Hornpipe. (follow the link for a sound clip) Although this was widely believed to be a traditional tune, the composer was in fact one Tommy Edmondson - an accordion player from Northumberland. Tommy always maintained that he was never credited with the composition ( Read more... )

The song "Vienna" (Ultravox, 1981) was originally written following the demise of Tiddles, who appeared for many years in Rising Damp as Rigby's Cat.

Yoghurt makes you burp.

Actually, all dairy products make me burp, especially yoghurt and any kind of processed cheese. I think it's something to do with it turning into lactic acid in the stomach, and releasing carbon dioxide. Hence the burping. One for the Brainiac boys, perhaps.