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____________________________________________________________________________
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*******NUMBERS 236 TO 240*****************************BY DANIEL BOWEN*******
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*****Please note, some of the quoted addresses within this file may no*****
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***longer be correct. Please always use tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu for enquiries***
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"Warning: Toxic Custard"
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A WARNING TO ALL ATTACHED MALES:
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Tuesday is Valentine's Day. Forget this, and three of your objects
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may not stay attached for very long.
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@@@@ @@@@ @ Toxic Custard Workshop Files
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@@ @ @ @@ Number 236, 13th February 1995
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@@ @@@ @@ @ written by Daniel Bowen
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@@@@ @@@@ @@@@ ------------------------------
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Yes hello, this is the personality shop, isn't it?
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WHY YES SIR IT IS. CAN I HELP YOU?
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Oh yes please. Glad to make your acquaintance. There are a number of
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things that I would wish to purchase from your establishment. I'll
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just inspect the list that I so thoughtfully prepared prior to
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arriving at this location. Let's see. Ah yes. I'd like an ounce of
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pity, and a pang of guilt, please.
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I'M TERRIBLY SORRY SIR, WE'RE ALL OUT OF GUILT. CAN I OFFER YOU
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SOME FEAR INSTEAD?
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No thank you, I'm afraid I'm up to here with fear. Would you have any
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anger instead?
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NO, BUT WE PROBABLY HAVE SOME IGNORANCE.
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...Umm, I don't know what that is.
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WON'T BE NEEDING THAT THEN. WHAT ABOUT SOME PREMONITION?
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Ah yes, I could do with some of that. I don't know why I didn't
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realise sooner. I'll tell you why I need it, too. I can't see where
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the author is going with this.
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ME NEITHER. I GET THE FEELING IT CAME OUT OF A COUPLE OF
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ONE-LINERS ABOUT OUNCES AND PANGS, AND HE'S TRIED TO SPREAD SOME
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VERY BASIC JOKES OVER THE SPACE OF A FEW PARAGRAPHS
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Exactly, and now he's run out of ideas, so he's getting the
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characters to rebel out of the joke and discuss the merits of the
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writing. Well it don't wash. I'm leaving.
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ME TOO. HE REALLY SHOULD STICK TO HIS USUAL INANE DRIVEL.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Have you ever considered the advantages that being clinically insane
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can bring? People who are quite mad, and look it, never get asked in
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the street for money. Nobody ever asks them to go and get a
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newspaper. (Nah... he's MAD mate; he'd probably nut the newsagent and
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eat the newspaper on the way back).
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Yes, insanity is the KEY to avoiding your responsibilities.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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I SAID INANE, NOT INSANE. JUST DO THE HISTORY. THAT'LL KEEP YOU
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OUT OF TROUBLE.
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TOXIC HISTORY OF THE WORLD
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Part 32. When will it all end?
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1526 AD
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Babar, Moslem warrior king, captures Delhi. He is helped by
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confusion amongst the defending army, who are mistakenly told that
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the barber had arrived to give everyone a quick trim.
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1528
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Conquest of Peru. Ummm... by... someone. Not sure who. Does it
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really matter? Probably not, after all, it was a *terribly* long
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time ago.
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1529
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The Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, having taken
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Belgrade, the island of Rhodes and Budapest, attempts to storm
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Vienna but is beaten back.
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Suleiman the Magnificent, eh? I wonder who thought up that
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name? From all accounts, his enemies called him Suleiman the
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Smelly-Trousers. My money would be on Suleiman's own campaign
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directors.
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<Insert Cockney accents and cheap suits here>
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"Ullo Bob."
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"Ullo Phil. What are we gonna call Suleiman during this coming
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invasion of Vienna then?"
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"Well Bob, since he's already invaded Rhodes and Budapest, what
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say we go for Magnificent?"
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"Phil, I've said it before, I'll say it again - You are a
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genius my son."
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1529-1542
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Henry VIII gets through more wives than you've had hot dinners.
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Including Jane Seymour. Wow. I didn't know she was *that* old.
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1534-1536
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Jacques Cartier discovers Canada, and tries to sell the locals a
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rather nice line in wrist-watches.
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1553
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Queen Mary persecutes English Protestants, and becomes known as
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Vodka And Tonic. Oops, I mean Bloody Mary.
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1557-1580
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Sir Francis Drake sails around the world in the "Golden
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Hindquarters", a ship named after his favourite sailor. What can I
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say. You've got to loooove the Drake. One for the Seinfeld fans
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there.
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1558-1568
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Elizabeth (the first one, not the one we have now) succeeds Mary
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and works out a compromise between the Catholics and Protestants.
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Then, to show she's not all sweetness and light, she imprisons Mary
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Queen of Scots by tricking her into thinking the Tower Of London is
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a tourist attraction.
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1571
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Fleet of the Christian League, led by Spain, defeats the Turkish
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fleet at Lepanto and destroys Moslem sea power in the
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Mediterranean. Yes! The Christian League! Temporarily modifying the
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sixth commandment to read "Thou shalt not kill except for Moslems,
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whom thou shalt smite and sit upon and shove red hot pokers into".
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Well, something like that, anyway.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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You know what I think? I think that cameramen must be the saddest
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group of people on the planet. Otherwise, how would they film
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concerts or comedy without grooving to the music or laughing their
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heads off, and subsequently wobbling the camera?
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Toxic Custard back-issues. FTP. WWW. Details.
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tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Copyright (c) 1995 Daniel Bowen. May be freely distributed
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without profit provided no modifications are made.
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--
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Daniel Bowen, in Melbourne, Australia - land of a thousand bank machines---
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Work: bowed@cpgen.cpsg.com.au---> Computer Power Education, ITS R&D Project
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Play: dbowen@gnu.ai.mit.edu-----> TCWF: tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu----------------
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All opinions are naturally my own. My brain. My hands typing. All mine.----
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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"Neolithic Toxic Custard"
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***** *** * * ***** TOXIC CUSTARD WORKSHOP FILES #237
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* * * * * 20th February 1995.
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* * * * * **** Written by Daniel Bowen
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* *** * * * With some help this week from Brian Smith
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Archaeologists have recently found evidence of direct marketing in
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the Neolithic period. Found on a cave wall were markings that have
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been translated as:
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"Dear Mr Og. You may have already won five mammoth steaks"
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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An excerpt from "The Really Complete Beatles Recording Sessions"
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16th February 1967. Studio 2, 8pm-4am.
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"Ganja Fields Forever" (takes 1-3), "Lizards Are Crawling Up The
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Wall" (takes 1-7), "Pus" (takes 6-9), "When I'm Sixty Four" (takes
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1-2)
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A week after the session when they couldn't get into Abbey Road
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(imagine the poor bastard who had to tell them that the studio was
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booked by Ralph Atherton and his Singing Weasels), the Beatles try
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out some songs that were eventually left out of Sgt Pepper's Lonely
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Hearts Club Band. These include John Lennon's possibly drug-
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influenced songs "Ganja Fields Forever", "Lizards Are Crawling Up The
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Wall" and "Pus".
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Also recorded was an early version of "When I'm Sixty Four", in which
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Paul McCartney tries to predict his future:
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When I get older, losing my hair
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Many years from now
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Will I still be touring with these three twerps
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Knocking back pills with a pint of turps
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If I'd released a bad cover song
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Would I end up poor
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Will I be chased by grandmother groupies
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When I'm sixty-four
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Fans'll be older too
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And if they say the word
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I could sing Hey Jude
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I could get married, find an Eastman
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How about Linda
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You can write a vegetarian cookbook
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Sunday morning go for a steak
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Touring Australia, jailed in Japan
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Who could ask for more
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Will you remember, will you buy tickets
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When I'm sixty-four
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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An excerpt from "The Complete Toxic Custard Writing Sessions"
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12th May 1991. Bedroom, 8pm-10pm.
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FFF joke (takes 1-17), Fart joke overdub, MacBeth (takes 1-9)
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Another Sunday night session. Editing of TCWF 48 continued. A fart
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joke was overdubbed to bring the underlying incontinence gag to the
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fore. Several takes of the Macbeth spoof destined to appear in TCWF
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50 were attempted. It is to be the last great Shakespeare spoof for
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some time. The final released version was a combination of takes 5
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and 7, with Inspector Unnecessary-Violence's lines overdubbed on the
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15th of May, by an unknown session writer.
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Watching the news brings into existence the idea for one of the most
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controversial jokes in Toxic Custard's history. Though denied by
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Bowen, the Fascist Fuckwit's Federation is later attacked on UseNet
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as being racist. TCWF fans rally behind it, pointing to the blatantly
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anti-racist message. It is said that Bowen is making a comparison
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between the KKK and the FFF, although some of the original drafts of
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this joke show that the KKK was not the inspiration.
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A claim that by reading signature of TCWF 48 backwards you can read
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"We'll fuck you like supermen" is later proven not to be true,
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although an allegation about Satanic messages in TCWF 66 was
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justified.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Did you ever go through that phase when you were a kid that you
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thought your mother might be some kind of supernatural being? Because
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she always seemed to know what you'd been up to...
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***WARNING! NO LINK - Code#543a @ line 90
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Why do we go up to the shop, and buy a loaf of bread, which is in
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plastic... and then get a plastic bag to put it inside to carry it
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home? Are we at risk from supergerms that can penetrate a mere one
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layer of plastic? Or is the grip on the bread bag so inadequate that
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we'll drop it perilously down a drain on the way home? The public
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have a right to know.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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TOXIC HISTORY OF THE WORLD
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Part 33. A very short Part.
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1585
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Holland, losing to Spain at home, are relieved when an army of
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English hooligans, on a day-trip to check out seedy Amsterdam,
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decide spontaneously to have a quick game of "throw clogs at the
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Spaniards". The combined England/Holland team win 3-1. The Police
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later pick-up three of the English after examining paintings of the
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scene drawn by Michaelangelo while he's on holiday.
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1587
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Queen Elizabeth decides to execute Mary Queen of Scots after Mary
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reminds her of that time that Elizabeth couldn't get a date for the
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Prom, and called her baldy.
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1588
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Philip of Spain sends a Great Armada against England. When the news
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is incorrectly passed to English captain Francis Drake as being an
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invading "great armadillo", he decides to finish his game of
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tiddlywinks before fighting.
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Aww shit, I can't be bothered with any more this week.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Toxic Custard back-issues. FTP or WWW, the
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choice is entirely yours, just be sure to
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email tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu for details.
|
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Copyright (c) 1995 Daniel Bowen and Brian Smith. May be freely
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distributed without profit provided no modifications are made.
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--
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Daniel Bowen, Melbourne - I love the smell of kangaroo shit in the morning
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Work: bowed@cpgen.cpsg.com.au---> Computer Power Education, ITS R&D Project
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Play: dbowen@gnu.ai.mit.edu-----> TCWF: tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu----------------
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All opinions are naturally my own. Honest. Mine. Only mine. And Brian's----
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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"Tropical Cyclone Custard"
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* __ `||====|
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***** / \\ // ||
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* < \\ //\ // ||==| Toxic Custard Workshop Files
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*** \__ \\// \\// .||. Number 238, 27th February 1995
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Right. Hello. This bit is true. I was watching the news on Friday,
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and the story about Tropical Cyclone Bobby hitting the Western
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Australian coast came on. And as usual, they mentioned those "brave"
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(read stupid) people who had decided not to evacuate, but to risk
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staying with their homes. And possibly evacuating later. In boxes.
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Normally, these people are the old idiots who have "lived all my life
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here, and no tropical death blood volcano barbed-wire bastard cyclone
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is going to frighten me!" They usually don't mention that in the last
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50 years of living at that location, the worst thing nature has
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thrown at them has been an irritable blow-fly, and that big spider in
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the dunny in 1953.
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This time, it wasn't them. It *sounded* like it was. But no - the
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footage gave it away. Instead of Bill Fuckingmoron, 68 years old, it
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was a picture of two men, pissed as newts, with bottles in their
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hands, rolling around on a bench!
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"Come on mate, you can't stay here"
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"Nah fuck off, fuckin' copper, we're fuckin' stayin' here with
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our beer. No fuckin' cyclone is gonna get us!"
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"Yeah, leave us alone or we'll thump ya."
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"Oh yeah, what the hell. Have a nice time! Here's some aspirin for
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tomorrow morning when you wake-up with a hangover and realise what
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deep shit you're in. If not from the cyclone, from your parents when
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they see you on the telly."
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Fun run. Fun run. Fun run.
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I've come to a conclusion about fun runs. The actual fun occurs
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before, and after, but not usually during, the run. The run itself
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generally involves counting the kilometres go by agonisingly slowly
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while the hot sun beats down. Even more agonisingly slowly if the fun
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run is actually a fun walk. The consolation is that there's less
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actual strenuous effort.
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It all begins with one of those harmless looking coupons you pick up
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or see in the newspaper, send in, and safely forget about until the
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sticker, map and sheet of instructions turns up in the mail. The
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actual day arrives (why are these things always, but always, on
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Sunday mornings?) and you try to be energetic enough to get there
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early to get the free breakfast. (Which, if you miss, you'll be
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swearing about for the next four hours, because you deliberately
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elected *not* to have breakfast at home).
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And so, you arrive at the designated venue, generally a park. Just
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you, and fifteen thousand others, all queuing up for twenty minutes
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just to get your yoghurt and piece of fruit. And just as you're about
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to think "call this breakfast?" you spot the other stall, with the
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free breakfast cereal. And no queue. As Homer would say, "D'oh!" If
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all goes well, you'll manage to scoff that all down and grab all your
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other freebies before the warm up begins.
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There are many wondrous and magnificent sights in the world. The
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pyramids of Egypt, the Eiffel Tower, Mrs Rashomon's Laundromat. While
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these have the historical significance, there is an equal amount of
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appeal in seeing fifteen thousand people doing early morning aerobics
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in the park. It just looks so surreal.
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(While we were waiting in the park on Sunday for the Rev walk, I
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observed an interesting phenomenon. It is the sound made by thousands
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of humans when they hear or see another human having something happen
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to them that makes the thousands very glad they are not the one. If
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you see what I mean. Close your eyes, and try to imagine hearing
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this, as I did: <Car horn Honk honk> <screeeeeech> <bangsmash!>
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<sound of 15,000 people going ooooooh...> That ooooooh is a sound of
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sympathy for that one person's next insurance premium. Reminds me of
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the time I was at a large computer site, and the lights dipped, and
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all the computers reset. Cue the sound of 700 people going ooooooh,
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each feeling sorry for the poor sod who pressed the wrong button that
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did it. And being glad it wasn't them.)
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And so, around 9:30, fifteen thousand people, all with stickers or
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tags denoting that they are one of the fifteen thousand, try to begin
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running/walking/rollerblading/cycling/wheelchairing the x kilometres
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of the course. The chaotic start gives way to the closed-off roads,
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the woefully few drink stops, and above all, the searing sun beating
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down on thousands of people all trying to remember if they slipped
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(on a t-shirt), slopped (on some sunscreen) and slapped (on a hat).
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"Or did I just slip and slap? Did I slop? And if I slopped, did I
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slop enough?"
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It all gets rather tiring after the first hour or so. Every toilet
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block you pass, there's dozens of people queuing. Every signpost with
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spot prize numbers, there's hundreds of people milling around trying
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to see if they won anything. But there's consolations. Like the look
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of despair on the faces of the car drivers at every intersection you
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pass, because they know they're going to be stuck there for at least
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another twenty minutes before the police find a suitable gap in the
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crowd to let them through. The police themselves look happy, because
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they'd rather be directing 15,000 fun runners than 15,000 rioting
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demonstrators (or our closest local equivalent here in Kennett
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County, Grand Prix demonstrators).
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So a couple of hours later, you cross the finish line, go get a
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drink, listen to the band, listen for any prizes you might have won
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(nope), and finally leave, wishing you'd just gone down the river
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path, or jogged around the park that morning instead. But then, you
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wouldn't have got a free cap.
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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TOXIC HISTORY OF THE WORLD
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Part 34.
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1606 AD
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William Janszoon is walking home one day, trips over a piece of
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lead piping in the ground, and discovers Australia. It turns out to
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be such a wide, sprawling brown land that he writes an article in
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his favourite Explorer's Journal entitled "The Wide, Sprawling
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Brown Land Down Under". Janszoon realises the tourist potential of
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the place, and hires a fellow Dutchman, Paul Hogensom, to try and
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advertise it. The campaign is scuttled when Hogensom leaves his
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wife and marries a bimbo he has met on his travels. When asked
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about this, he compares the two, saying "Nah, that's not a wife....
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Now *that's* a wife!"
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1609
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Holland frees herself from Spain, and is soon to be a great power,
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leading the world in trade, art and science and founding an empire
|
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in East and West Indies. So, looking back almost four centuries
|
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later, one has to ask - What happened?
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1618
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Outbreak of the Thirty Years' War, last attempt of the Catholics to
|
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stamp out the Reformation in Europe. Okay, it leaves me wondering.
|
|
Did they call it the Thirty Years' War *during* the war? And if so,
|
|
was it all planned in advance? "Okay, you guys, now we've only got
|
|
until 1648 to fit this all in. Seventy great battles, nine
|
|
overthrown kingdoms, ten national leaders executed..."
|
|
|
|
1620
|
|
Pilgrim Fathers decide they're sick of hanging around Plymouth, and
|
|
sail in the Mayflower to found the first colony in New England.
|
|
Yep, I can see the passport now.
|
|
Name: John Smith.
|
|
Occupation: Pilgrim.
|
|
|
|
1642
|
|
Abel Tasman discovers the island just south of the Australian
|
|
mainland. He returns home afterwards to find pandemonium. Screaming
|
|
fans, merchandising, in fact, total Tasmania.
|
|
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
You can get Toxic Custard back-issues. If you
|
|
really want, that is. Details from
|
|
tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
Copyright (c) 1995 Daniel Bowen. May be freely distributed
|
|
without profit provided no modifications are made.
|
|
--
|
|
Daniel Bowen, Melbourne, Australia. May koalas not piss on you from above--
|
|
Work: bowed@cpgen.cpsg.com.au---> Computer Power Education, ITS R&D Project
|
|
Play: dbowen@gnu.ai.mit.edu-----> TCWF: tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu----------------
|
|
All opinions are naturally my own. Honest. Mine. Only mine. Mine mine mine-
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
"Grey Toxic Custard"
|
|
|
|
|
|
====\/====// || || /==
|
|
\/ // || || ||_ Dynamic exciting number 239
|
|
\/ \\ || || || || 6th March 1995
|
|
\/OXIC\\CUSTARD\__/\__/ORKSHOP_/ILES written by Daniel Bowen
|
|
|
|
It was another grey, cruel day in the city. I looked through the
|
|
sheet of rain as I waited on the corner, a copy of The Daily Grind
|
|
under my arm. I'd been on the case for a good five minutes now, but
|
|
still couldn't quite see over the wall. I got off it, and walked
|
|
around the perimeter, trying to find a way in. Actually, I was more
|
|
used to Imperial measurements, but walking around the periyard just
|
|
didn't sound quite right.
|
|
|
|
The laneway was deserted, the only sound the gush of the rain going
|
|
into the gutter. I could hear the water droplets shouting "all right!
|
|
A holiday in the drains!"
|
|
|
|
A gate rattled and opened, and a big black car came out, splattering
|
|
me with mud as it passed. Huh, joke's on you mister, this is a dead
|
|
end street at *both* ends.
|
|
|
|
I lit a cigarette in a vain hope to look cool, and ducked through the
|
|
gate, trying to look inconspicuous. I made a note to get rid of the
|
|
duck suit. Inside the wall, the factory looked foreboding and
|
|
industrious. Workmen moved two and fro between the doorways,
|
|
whispering conspiratorially. One of them approached me. He looked
|
|
stupid, but you can never tell. He might not be as stupid as he
|
|
looked.
|
|
|
|
"Who're you", he asked suspiciously. "Health inspector?"
|
|
|
|
"No", I replied. "They won't promote me past seargant". Damn, I was
|
|
meant to be undercover.
|
|
|
|
"Police?" he said, wide-eyed.
|
|
|
|
"Ummm no, no. I'm a... umm.. travelling duck costume salesman."
|
|
|
|
"Oh." So. He was as stupid as he looked.
|
|
|
|
"You wanna buy any travelling duck costumes? Only a duck. I mean
|
|
buck."
|
|
|
|
"Well yeah, okay. But don't tell the others".
|
|
|
|
After finishing the transaction and changing back into my normal
|
|
clothes, I made my way up some stairs towards the office. The door
|
|
was slightly ajar, the healthy aroma of thick cigar smoke wafting
|
|
through the gap. Lucky doors don't have lungs.
|
|
|
|
Also wafting through, in between the molecules of smoke, were a
|
|
few of words. Words from that baron of crime, Baron Von Git. I
|
|
guessed there'd be someone else in the room, because the Baron didn't
|
|
usually talk to himself. In any case, I didn't hang around to hear
|
|
any more than two, because I got a sinking feeling they were talking
|
|
about me.
|
|
|
|
"Kill him."
|
|
|
|
With all the style that only a high school student can muster, I slid
|
|
down the bannister. I drew my gun (just a quick sketch), and bolted
|
|
to the exit. The exit was bolted too. Damn. Nothing else for it but
|
|
to scale the fence. The fence's scale was 1:1, but it didn't look any
|
|
higher than it could have been. I started to climb, only pausing to
|
|
change direction when I reached the top. Lucky I did, because as I
|
|
leapt towards the ground, a shot rang out. It passed over my head,
|
|
and would have swung round to hit me, but it couldn't. I decided I no
|
|
longer regretted not being a basketball player.
|
|
|
|
I ran out of the laneway, to the safety of the bustling street. Just
|
|
another day for Jake Spam, Public Detective.
|
|
|
|
Now, where did I put that case?
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
TOXIC HISTORY OF THE WORLD
|
|
Part 35.
|
|
|
|
1648
|
|
Someone realises it's time to stop, and so the Thirty Years War
|
|
comes to an end. "I survived the Thirty Years War" tunics are a big
|
|
seller for several weeks afterwards.
|
|
|
|
1648-1658
|
|
Oliver Cromwell, the man known for banning soft-backed chairs, also
|
|
bans every other fun thing he can think of. Including ice-cream,
|
|
Nintendo, sex, making air bubbles with BluTack, jokes; you name it,
|
|
he bans it.
|
|
|
|
1664
|
|
War between Britain and Holland; the British capture New Amsterdam,
|
|
and rename it New York. The Dutch laugh heartily, saying the new
|
|
name will never catch on.
|
|
|
|
1665
|
|
Great Plague of London.
|
|
|
|
1666
|
|
Great Fire of London. Not such a great decade for London, really.
|
|
The Arson squad are still investigating. Shame the Great Fire
|
|
Brigade didn't respond. Or maybe they didn't have one at the time.
|
|
|
|
1670-85
|
|
Charles II gets friendly with the Catholics, attacks Holland with
|
|
France, runs out of cash, and eventually dies. Busy guy.
|
|
|
|
1681
|
|
William Penn establishes the colony of Pennsylvania as refuge,
|
|
where persecuted Quakers can shelter, some of them no doubt quaking
|
|
in fear.
|
|
|
|
1683
|
|
The Turks make a final effort to carry Islam into the heart of
|
|
Europe, but are defeated at Vietnam. Oops, I mean Vienna. (Okay,
|
|
who gave Ronald Reagan access to this file?)
|
|
|
|
1701
|
|
Yet another Louis (the XIVth) declares France will take on all
|
|
comers at the coming Euro Bun Fight. Britain, Holland and Austria
|
|
form a "Grand Alliance" to stop him. But they back down when faced
|
|
with an army of French container lorry drivers.
|
|
|
|
1707
|
|
Following approval from the Monopolies Commission, England and
|
|
Scotland announce a merger. They promise that there will be no
|
|
redundancies, and that profitability of both countries will be
|
|
enhanced.
|
|
|
|
1714
|
|
George I becomes king. The fact that he can't speak English and has
|
|
no interest in English affairs is not seen to be a problem by the
|
|
English parliament, who take advantage of it by being able to chew
|
|
bubblegum in the house.
|
|
|
|
1720
|
|
A financial crisis, the "South Sea Bubble", produced by wild
|
|
speculation, ruins thousands. Rumours that the crash was caused by
|
|
a computer error prove untrue, and it is later blamed on some guy
|
|
who has disappeared to Singapore.
|
|
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
You can get Toxic Custard back-issues. If you
|
|
really want, that is. For details, send email
|
|
NOW! to tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
This issue of Toxic Custard is provided for humorous purposes only.
|
|
The information contained in this document represents the current
|
|
view of Daniel Bowen on the issues parodied as of the date of
|
|
publication. Daniel Bowen cannot guarantee the relevance or
|
|
timeliness of any spoof presented on, before or after the date of
|
|
publication.
|
|
|
|
JOKES PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY
|
|
OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
|
|
THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF HUMOUR, AND FITNESS FOR LAUGHING AT. I'm
|
|
not sure you've figured it out yet, so let me say again that the
|
|
reader assumes the entire risk as to the funniness and the use of
|
|
this document. This document may be copied and distributed subject to
|
|
the following conditions: 1) All text must be copied without
|
|
modification and all jokes must be included; 2) All copies must
|
|
contain Daniel Bowen's copyright notice and any other notices
|
|
provided therein; and 3) This document may not be distributed for
|
|
profit.
|
|
|
|
Copyright (c) 1995 Daniel Bowen. May be freely distributed
|
|
without profit provided no modifications are made.
|
|
|
|
I think they've got it now.
|
|
--
|
|
Daniel Bowen, Melbourne, Australia. May you not be eaten by crocodiles-----
|
|
Work: bowed@cpgen.cpsg.com.au---> Computer Power Education, ITS R&D Project
|
|
Play: dbowen@gnu.ai.mit.edu-----> TCWF: tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu----------------
|
|
All opinions are naturally my own. Only mine. No one else's. Just mine.------
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
"Finally, it's Toxic Custard"
|
|
|
|
|
|
^^^^^ ^^^^ ^ ^ ^^^^ Toxic Custard Workshop Files
|
|
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Number 240, 14th March 1995
|
|
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^^ written, as usual, by Daniel Bowen
|
|
^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^
|
|
|
|
This week's issue is a little late, due to a little bit of a moving
|
|
house situation, and a certain large telecommunications company being
|
|
unable to get our phone working over the weekend. And due to this
|
|
throwing my routine out completely so I forgot to be in possession of
|
|
vital files at the appropriate time for mailing. Oops.
|
|
|
|
Moving house is one of those things that no matter how many times we
|
|
do it, and how painful it is when it happens, it almost always ends
|
|
up happening again at some time. Obviously the memory of traipsing up
|
|
and down stairs with boxes fades with time.
|
|
|
|
The most surprising thing is what's in the heaviest boxes. Lead
|
|
weights? No. Medicine balls? No. Books. Books, which are made of
|
|
paper. The Olympic committee should seriously consider getting
|
|
weightlifters to lift people's boxes full of books at the next Games.
|
|
|
|
So anyway, first comes about a week of painstakingly packing every
|
|
single little thing into a box. (Which is generally accompanied by a
|
|
week of pleading with local shopkeepers, who you will most likely
|
|
never see ever again, to give you their spare boxes.) Of course,
|
|
there are various things that won't go into boxes. And things that
|
|
can only go into boxes after being wrapped up with copious amounts of
|
|
old newspaper. And various other things that are already in boxes,
|
|
but need to go into bigger boxes with other things in boxes to
|
|
prevent any of the smaller boxes getting lost along the way. And then
|
|
there's boxes that have remained unpacked since the last time you've
|
|
moved. Hopefully some of them will get lost along the way.
|
|
|
|
The morning of the move arrives, and two amiable blokes arrive with
|
|
their truck from the company whose ad caught the eye in the Yellow
|
|
Pages. Which, if it was one of the first listed, probably has a name
|
|
beginning with an abnormal number of "a"s. The guys arrive, and with
|
|
no further ado, start piling stuff into the truck.
|
|
|
|
When we last moved two years ago, we had bugger all. A couple of
|
|
computers and a can of Coke. Since then, this situation has changed.
|
|
So much that, when it all came down to it, not everything would fit
|
|
into the truck. It was a tight squeeze getting the furniture all in,
|
|
but eventually just about everything went in, and the truck drove off
|
|
to pastures new. (Well, okay, Caulfield).
|
|
|
|
The two amiable blokes arrive at the new place in the truck, and it
|
|
becomes apparent from the amount of swearing going on that they
|
|
haven't been told the destination is upstairs. C'est la vie(*). Just
|
|
thank Christ it's a larger place, to the extent that it didn't really
|
|
matter where all the boxes were left, it was "dump 'em anywhere"
|
|
time.
|
|
|
|
And so, a day, a few car boot shuttle trips, and lots of unpacking
|
|
later, everything is almost settled. And as I did a final skim
|
|
through the old place to ensure nothing had been forgotten, I found
|
|
what almost *had* been forgotten. Of all things, it was two
|
|
toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste. That would have been a nice
|
|
surprise for the next tenant/s. I also found a lump of Blutack. What,
|
|
leave it for the landlady?! Never!
|
|
|
|
(*) French for Tough Shit.
|
|
|
|
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
|
|
|
TOXIC HISTORY OF THE WORLD
|
|
Part 35.
|
|
|
|
1739 AD
|
|
Sir Robert Walpole, first PM of GB, somehow manages to start a war
|
|
with Spain that is called, wait for this, I'm not kidding: the "War
|
|
of Jenkins' Ear". Ah yes, what terrible times indeed when two
|
|
nations go to war over some bloke's ear.
|
|
|
|
1740-1748
|
|
The War of the Austrian Succession. Which is basically as follows:
|
|
Prussia attacks Austria; France invades Germany; Britain attacks
|
|
France; France fights back at Austria and Britain. Etc, etc, etc.
|
|
|
|
1756-1763
|
|
Just when you thought it was safe to turn CNN back on, the Seven
|
|
Years' War breaks out.
|
|
|
|
1767
|
|
Captain Wallis discovers Tahiti. He almost calls it Wallis island,
|
|
but then decides that doesn't sound sun-drenched and relaxing
|
|
enough.
|
|
|
|
1768-76
|
|
Captain Cook sails around the world in the Endeavour, discovering
|
|
and mapping lots of things along the way.
|
|
|
|
1773
|
|
The Boston Tea Party brings to a head the long quarrel between
|
|
George III and the American colonists. When the British governor
|
|
selfishly hoards the last of the Twinings teabags for himself, the
|
|
colonists call him nasty names, and prepare for war.
|
|
|
|
1775
|
|
First shots exchanged between colonists and British troops at
|
|
Lexington. George Washington is made American Commander-in-Chief.
|
|
He is to be known later as "Stormin' Georgie".
|
|
|
|
1776
|
|
On July 4th, 13 American colonies issue the Declaration of
|
|
Independence. They also declare Ya Boo Sucks To The British, and We
|
|
Are The Champions And We're Going To Be A Superpower And You're Not
|
|
So There Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah.
|
|
|
|
1788
|
|
On January 26th, Australia is colonised, ignoring requests from the
|
|
local Aborigines to "bugger off back to Pommyland".
|
|
Meanwhile, the Founding Fathers draw up the American
|
|
constition, the preamble of which goes something like:
|
|
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more
|
|
perfect fried chicken, establish French fries and protect
|
|
domestic hamburgers, provide for the common Pizza Hut,
|
|
promote general fast food and other delicious stuff for
|
|
ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this
|
|
Constitution for the United States of America.
|
|
|
|
1789
|
|
The French Revolution breaks out like a rash of acne. A young man,
|
|
Marcel Remington, makes his first entry into the world of blade
|
|
sales after a discussion with his mate Joseph Guillotin.
|
|
Remington's guillotine blades become so good that one French
|
|
nobleman is just about to say he'll buy the company when the blade
|
|
chops through his neck, leaving him with a slight speech
|
|
impediment. On July 14th, the people of Paris storm the Bastille
|
|
prison and have a warehouse party there.
|
|
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
Toxic Custard back-issues are available by FTP
|
|
and on the very wonderful World Wide Web. Email
|
|
tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu for details.
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
Copyright (c) 1995 Daniel Bowen. May be freely distributed
|
|
without profit provided no modifications are made.
|
|
--
|
|
Daniel Bowen, Melbourne, Australia. May your emu never become sick.--------
|
|
Work: bowed@cpgen.cpsg.com.au---> Computer Power Education, ITS R&D Project
|
|
Play: dbowen@gnu.ai.mit.edu-----> TCWF: tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu----------------
|
|
All opinions are my own. Just mine. No one else's. Mine mine mine mine mine
|
|
|
|
Is California becoming the Bangladesh of the 90's or what?!
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
the Toxic Custard Workshop Files by Daniel Bowen, Melbourne, Australia
|
|
|
|
Copyright (c) 1995 Daniel Bowen. May be freely distributed
|
|
without profit provided this notice remains intact.
|
|
|
|
For subscription and back-issue information, contact tcwf@gnu.ai.mit.edu
|