Pointless Purchase of the Month – February

I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking, “Straight out of Christmas there’s no way that he could have money to burn and even if he did there’s no way he’d be stupid enough to put it up on the Beans.” Well clearly you’ve never met me because I’m much more stupid than that.

Yes! The glorious pothole that is the Pointless Purchase section. Let’s take a peek at what has been taking up space in the cupboard:

And why we’re these a Pointless Purchase? Let’s go to our official mascot, Pointless Purchase Panda.

1. The main reason would be that these are all blu rays and he doesn’t own a blu ray player. Even if he wanted to watch them he couldn’t.

2. The second reason is that he already owns them all on dvd, so there was no need to buy them again.

3. To make matters worse he watched the aforementioned dvds a couple of days before making the purchase just to really make the whole thing even sillier.

Thank you, Pointless Purchase Panda. I suppose the icing on the cake would have been if they were blu rays from a different region but never mind. I think I’ve made my point.

I can hear Kev’s blood pressure rising as I type… A job well done!

Tap Saga

Coming soon to a multi cineplexical screen near you…

“In a world where bathrooms are neglected, in a world where taps are taken for granted, in a world where washing your hands is no longer a common practice… he appeared!”

I’m going to go shopping for taps!

“It started off as a regular Sunday afternoon of bathroom fittings shopping with his lunatic wife, but fate had a different plan in store for Kevindo Menendez…”

In B & Q, the excitement is building! Tapgasm!

“His last minute substitution for taps and need for unnecessary DIY was about to send him on a journey he wasn’t prepared for, nor wanted to go on…”

FUCKING ARSE BOLLOCKS (sound of a breaking sink) WHO FUCKING FIXES IN A TAP WITH RESIN???

“… and so Kevindo Menendez was faced with a broken sink, a ruined finger and a thirst for adventure. This March feel the excitement, feel the magic, feel the tapgasm of the Tap Saga!”

A pox on Parcel Force!

“Sinking into cinemas March 27th.”

Newsboost – Quantum Quo Quandary

“Legendary” rock and roll outfit Status Quo have had their 2013 film ‘Bula Quo!’ banned in the United Kingdom for being just too funny.

Originally the BBFC were planning to issue every copy of the DVD with a health warning that should you attempt to watch the film in one sitting you may struggle to cope with the sheer level of hilarity and should have the emergency services on standby. This was upgraded to a full frontal banning however after it was revealed that several members of the public have been admitted to hospital following recent viewings of the film.

Indeed having conquered the musical world it was only a matter of time before the band moved onto other exploits. “‘Bula Quo!’ is and still remains one of the most well-received, well-loved and financially successful British films of all time” admits Chancel Boxridge, senior executive at the BBFC, “beating ‘Skyfall’ by a cool one hundred million pounds at the box office thanks to it’s amazing mix of well-timed comedy and thrilling set pieces. That said though we cannot allow it to remain available to the general public, especially those with weak dispositions as it could easily bump off a third of the population within its ninety minute running time.”

Following the announcement, copies of the film have been exchanging hands on eBay for up to two hundred and fifty times their original price. We attempted to procure a copy only to be outbid by a septuagenarian in Wales.

Police were despatched to a man’s garage in Stockport yesterday only to discover illegal screenings of the film taking place up to five times a day. Several people were reported out of breath and very red around the cheekal area; nine were taken to hospital and three were arrested for attempted manslaughter.

If you are or have ever been anywhere near this film we strongly urge you to move away now.

Ten Years

It was on this day some ten years ago that one more person was added to the world. There may have been others born that day, more than likely, but were they as important as one Reuben Aiden McIver?

It’ll take a small team of BBC researchers and two psychologists to work that out if you’re looking for actual scientific proof so for now you’ll just have to accept my word for it; they weren’t as important as him and not just because he’s my son.

Over the last ten years the times I’ve laughed the loudest and the longest were with and because of him. Practically every photograph on my phone and on Facebook is of or in some way connected to him. I speak to him every day in some capacity and those closest to me know that if I go somewhere he’s usually trotting somewhere behind.

Granted since his birth I’ve been kicked in the crotch and punched in the face more times then I can remember. He trapped my thumb in the door, shot me in the eye point blank range with a nerf gun, shouted incriminating things about me in public places and almost got us thrown out of a swimming pool once for “questionable behaviour”. Still I wouldn’t change a thing about him. Well, the world could possibly do without Mama MaCootchie but unless she goes into space again that’s not going to happen.

Here’s to the memory of the reminder of the recollection of the thing that is Mr Reuben Aiden McIver. Cheers.

A Dearth of Posts

This is an emergency broadcast on behalf of the members of the PB Committee.

It has been brought to our attention that between the mirth of Ian’s birthday and the joys of frantically planning for Christmas, there has been a distinct absence of posts on da beans. In order to facilitate and satisfy the general public’s desire for new posts this post has been posted in order to fill the gap until more new posts can be shipped in from abroad.

Staff are working round the clock to ensure that fresh posts will be delivered within the next 48 hours. All that the members of the PB Committee ask is that people are patient enough to wait a little longer, indulge a little further, drink a little harder, and before you know it you will be swimming in factual information and endearingly hilarious titbits.

There will also continue to be the overwhelmingly distinct absence of Kevin.

Thank you.

The Edge of Popular Culture

You see me, right? I’m not very good at keeping up with what is fashionable and popular amongst the general population. I must say, however, I was downright confused when I came across this in Primark:

So, I guess this is a thing. Has everyone else been wearing mens lingerie and they just haven’t told me? Are there underground mens lingerie clubs where people strut around in their hosiery and take photos on selfie sticks? Has my imagination ran away and hid under the stairs because such a thing cannot possibly exist, or has the world lovingly embraced dudes in delicate pants?

Please. Your comments please.

From Newcastle to Leeds (and back again)

Now I know that everyone loves it when I put up posts about pointless things that I bought and there hasn’t been one for a while so no doubt people are salivating at the prospect of one for November or December. The truth is though that I haven’t had much spare cash to fling about in the face of sensibleness. I almost did on a relatively expensive thing but changed my mind at the last minute. So how about something a little different?

Last Monday I undertook an epic quest (?) to Leeds Brudenell Social Club in order to see two brilliant Canadian bands called P.S. I Love You and The Rural Alberta Advantage. There are several points to consider though:

1. I don’t live in Leeds anymore
2. I don’t drive yet
3. I needed to be at work the next morning

With this in mind it all seemed a little crazy, and it was. I board my train from Newcastle just after 6pm. It went straight through to Leeds with no detours, which was good, but the whole journey takes about 90 minutes and I’ve never been to the Brudenell before so I have to take a taxi. I caught one and arrived around 8pm and as the doors only opened at 7:30pm I hadn’t missed anything. Great. I take a seat and read the schedule; first band on at 8.20pm and second band on at 9:20pm.

I have to catch a taxi back to the station at 9:50pm in order to catch my train at 10:10pm. This means I will catch about half of the second band’s set which isn’t too bad.

But then disaster. P.S. I Love You don’t clamber onto stage until 8.35pm. Whilst they perform a blistering 30 minute set to an almost empty room I enjoy every minute of it. At first I sit towards the back so I can take in the whole stage. It is only ten minutes in that a group of people then choose to stand right in front of me, despite most of the room being empty, to watch the band. One woman even turns around, looks me dead in the eye and then carries on standing right in the way. I choose to move forward and sit on the steps closer to the stage. Another man then blocks my view about twenty minutes in however he is the sound guy and must be checking the levels. He’s clearly upset as he returns several times to check. All I can hear is ear-shattering rock n roll music however I do not work in the music biz and my ear drums were destroyed at least two decades ago from listening to Dr Hook and the Medicine Group way too high.

So this delay then sets a chain reaction off. P.S. I Love You leave the stage but the second band don’t get back on until around 9.36pm (I’m being precise for a reason). I get to see around twelve minutes of the Rural Alberta Advantage before I get the call back from the taxi firm and have to head off. I leave just as Amy Cole is explaining that she visited a honey farm during the day and spent about fifty quid on honey products (bless).

The expense doesn’t end there though. My train back to Newcastle does not arrive until midnight, by which time the Metros have stopped running so I am forced to get another taxi home. What do the numbers look like? Let’s run them through down here:

Gig Ticket – £12.00
Train ticket to Leeds – £14.00
Food for the train – £3.00
Taxi to Brudenell – £6.00 (I gave a respectable tip)
Gig Merch – £10.00 (P.S. I Love You were kind enough to sign them too)
Taxi to Leeds Station – £6.00 (another tip)
Coffee at McDonalds – £1.50
Train ticket to Newcastle – £14.00
Taxi Home – £12.00 (such a generous tipper)

Total – £78.50

I spent a full £78.50 for less than fifty minutes of music. I think that makes me dedicated and much better than everyone else and I knew that before I even started writing this post.

What? Eh? What?

What the hell is this?

Just… can someone give me a hand here? I can see something, there’s definitely something there right in front of my eyes, because my eyes register that there is something on the screen. But what is it?

I think it’s a picture of some description. There are some people on it but none of them are really looking at each other.

My brain cannot process it. To me it resembles a really poor attempt at trying to cobble together an idea for an album. It’s as if some people decided to release an album but couldn’t be bothered writing any songs so they just stole a bunch from other, more successful, more talented artists.

Can anyone help?

Pouring
Beans

Author: Ian “Toasty” McIver