Back in the mid-1980s, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones had a TV show called 'Alas Smith and Jones'. Along with Blackadder II, it was the first grown-up comedy show we were allowed to stay up and watch. Needless to say, it was aces.
One of the highlights of Smith and Jones was a series of sketches called 'Home-Made Video'. Conceived around the time that the camcorder became a status symbol, the sketches followed the lives of a family (and their dubious mate Mel Smith) as recorded for posterity on an awkwardly-formatted cassette. They were shoddily-made, they revealed the grottier side of suburban England, and we cried with constant laughter from the opening shot of a title scrawled on a torn piece of cardboard, right through to the closing credits scrawled on a torn piece of cardboard. This was laughter which hurt, dammit.
This is going somewhere, honest. On a late-night Coke-n-supermarket-vodka Youtube trawl this evening, what should turn up but the Smith and Jones Home Made Video Christmas Special? This was the holy grail of 1980s comedy, a feature-length Home-made Video screened once over Christmas 1987 and, as far as we know, never repeated. Within 5 minutes, we were in tears all over again (the wreath did it for us). Please, get yourself a drink and spend 30 minutes watching something very funny indeed.
Oh, and look who plays the son.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
PS We realise we should probably wait 'til the Christmas Period before blogging this. However, since the first adverts for Christmas stuff now seem to pop up in late August, we thought it was close enough.
Sunday 29 July 2007
Monday 23 July 2007
The Online Curiosity Shop
We like to think we sell some interesting stuff at RunForYourLives.co.uk. Bar stools, t-shirts, minature trebuchets, anything without which we think your life would be an emptier existence. We're always scouring the web's better shops in our quest to gather a load of ace stuff to buy.
However, earlier today as we were on our regular trawl for great things to stock, we came across possibly the most fantastic thing we've ever seen for sale.
We've just teamed up with Famous Retail, a site which offers all sorts of authentic signed photos, prints and collectors' items (we would say 'Our friends at Famous Retail', but we're not that close yet), and we've just added some of their great things (and weirder items) to RunForYourLives.co.uk. Anyhow, to cut a long blog post short, in amongst the fascinating items we found, we stumbled across this;
A genuine letter from Charles Dickens.
We love this; A note written by the hand which penned Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities and The Muppets' Christmas Carol. It's guaranteed authentic and comes beautifully framed with a picture of the man himself. How else could you become the owner of an item created by one of our greatest Britons? It's a piece of history and possibly the most brilliant thing we've seen for sale online. And it can be yours.
(Don't worry, there's still plenty of cat's-arse-pencil-sharpeners in stock too)
However, earlier today as we were on our regular trawl for great things to stock, we came across possibly the most fantastic thing we've ever seen for sale.
We've just teamed up with Famous Retail, a site which offers all sorts of authentic signed photos, prints and collectors' items (we would say 'Our friends at Famous Retail', but we're not that close yet), and we've just added some of their great things (and weirder items) to RunForYourLives.co.uk. Anyhow, to cut a long blog post short, in amongst the fascinating items we found, we stumbled across this;
A genuine letter from Charles Dickens.
We love this; A note written by the hand which penned Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities and The Muppets' Christmas Carol. It's guaranteed authentic and comes beautifully framed with a picture of the man himself. How else could you become the owner of an item created by one of our greatest Britons? It's a piece of history and possibly the most brilliant thing we've seen for sale online. And it can be yours.
(Don't worry, there's still plenty of cat's-arse-pencil-sharpeners in stock too)
Sunday 22 July 2007
News Just In
Scary news from the BBC today: Social-networking sites can leave you open to identity theft.
According to experts, "The problem is that people don't realise the significance of the kind of information they are putting out on the web and who may be accessing it".
We're fairly shocked by this news; Since when did the list of acceptable forms of ID for opening a bank account include a long boring blog about what you had for lunch, and a photo of you with a condom on your head?
According to experts, "The problem is that people don't realise the significance of the kind of information they are putting out on the web and who may be accessing it".
We're fairly shocked by this news; Since when did the list of acceptable forms of ID for opening a bank account include a long boring blog about what you had for lunch, and a photo of you with a condom on your head?
Thursday 19 July 2007
Don't Tell Us You're Still Using That Old 4-Way USB Hub...
Is there a better USB hub out there*? If there is, we've yet to see it.
*Yes, we do realise that this is probably the dullest question ever asked. Sorry.
Wednesday 18 July 2007
Stay Classy, Britain
When we first dreamt up RunForYourLives.co.uk, we decided that our aim was to bring together an eclectic yet selective range of products. Whether you were looking for a unique gift for a loved one, or simply felt like treating yourself, RunForYourLives.co.uk was the place to come. Everything from wine-tasting days to beautiful artwork, with all kinds of music, books and essentials in between.
So with this in mind, what is currently the most popular product on the site?
A pencil-sharpener in the shape of a cat's bottom.
On the plus side, you people must have some very relieved cats.
So with this in mind, what is currently the most popular product on the site?
A pencil-sharpener in the shape of a cat's bottom.
On the plus side, you people must have some very relieved cats.
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