Bureau of Un-Googleables

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I should do the ask a librarian thing first, really but I already pulled the trigger on eBay. It looks promising.

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64

I ate too much cheese last night.

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Time frame for when you would have taped​ this?

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66

Early 90’s

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67

I’ve just thought of one. This is a short story I read when I was a child, in some sci-fi anthology. The story could date from almost any time since the Golden Age through to maybe the Sixties. Thinking about it now, it feels a bit like Fredric Brown.

A random group of humans find themselves abducted and trapped under (I think) some giant transparent dome, where they’re occasionally observed by giant aliens. The aliens’ behaviour is utterly incomprehensible: I remember sometimes they would go to some machine and make deafening noises, which the prisoners wonder might be alien music. Eventually the humans start to wonder if these might not be alien scientists, as they’d assumed, but instead alien children, doing their equivalent of trapping bugs in a jar: which raises nasty thoughts about what might eventually happen to the bugs. I can’t remember exactly how it ended! - but I think most of the humans escape.

Ring any bells, anybody?

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68

I got the Gourmet but I don’t think that was the one. I’m going to ask the Librarian to look it up. There was a lamb recipe and boy was that a little time machine back to the 80’s, but no lamb en croute.

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I too have read that story. No idea who wrote it mind.

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70

The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Stack Exchange has a story identification tag that you could use for this.
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/story-identification

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71

“Grass-combing buggers”.

It’s one of the more memorable insults in Patrick O’Brien’s Aubrey/Maturin series, but I can’t find anything on the etymology of it.

Is it a reference to dishonest agricultural practices? A euphemism for dodgy sexual habits? Obscure rhyming slang? I’ve got no idea.

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I found this on a discussion board about slang. No idea if it’s actually right, but it sounds right:

“Grass-comber: Nautical English slang for a landsman (e.g. someone who “combs the grass” is a farmer)”

So like “land-lubber” sorta.

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73

There are snippets of a song I heard in my foggy youth. At the time I couldn’t find out what the song was or even what all the words were. Yet half-remembered bits would resurface in my brain periodically.

I listened out for this song over the years, but it seems that after its initial release it quickly faded away. I couldn’t Google it because I really wasn,t sure what the words were.

Last night, through some random circumstances, I found the song at long last. And I am happy to report, I like it and I like the words.

It is from 1983, New Song by Howard Jones.

I don’t remember hearing the name “Howard Jones” before. I will have to read about him.

I’ve been waiting for so long
To come here now and sing this song
Don’t be fooled by what you see
Don’t be fooled by what you hear

This is a song to all my friends
They take the challenge to their hearts
Challenging preconceived ideas
Saying goodbye to long standing fears

Don’t crack up, bend your brain, see both sides
Throw off your mental chains

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74

OMG so much 80s goodness! The asymmetric haircuts! The double synch keyboard! The 80’s story video format! Punks! The baggy sweaters! Sweet time capsule.

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And yes, if I remember correctly (most of the alcohol came later), most of the live performances of this did also include ‘Mr. Chains’ there and his literal performance of ‘throwing off your mental chains’.

(See


for instance)

Edit: Found him:
http://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/once-and-for-all-jed-hoile-named-least-essential-sidekick-of-80s-rock/
Ouch!

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76

Great performance.

I think those two used to work together before fame, during their “lean years.”

Personally, I would have named Flava-Flav as least esential sidekick, but I suppose he doesn’t fall within the world of rock.

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77

Aha! That makes more sense, I guess.

Yeah - I know Q’s old (oooooooold) ‘Great Moments in Rock’ cartoon feature used to joke at his expense a bit, but that article was a bit harsh.

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78

OTOH, he was their main MDMA supplier, so you could argue that he was the most important member of the band.

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79

I read his biography and he’s a grade A selfish twat.

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80

Somebody wrote a biography of Bez???

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Never heard of this “Bez” before.
Apparently he was the Bentley of Madchester.
:thinking:

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