New routes, old masters!

Strange but true, I love strange news, odd bits of bonkers stories from around the world and around the corner! It really makes me smile, here's a tiny selection of headlines recently - John Lennon makes TV commercial 28 years after his death! 6 officials sacked in China for falling asleep in meeting. Russian companies top the world bribe index. Australian man plays with electricity for a hobby. Bakers in Bucharest set a new record last Sunday for the world's heaviest cake, weighing in at 281 kilogrammes! They like things long in Bucharest, for last Saturday they completed the worlds longest smoked sausage - 1286 feet long!

Another strange odd and crazy thing I saw recently was that story about poodles! I hate poodles, I hate them with a passion. Actually I'm not being fair, it's not the dogs themselves that I have anything against, it's their owners, who preen their animals so sodding much. I mean we've all seen those poodles being walked along the street with sill hair-do's in pinks and blues and the like, well honey, you ain't seen nothing yet!

Take a look at these pet pouches, groomed beyond all recognition, would you wanna take one of these dogs for a walk in the park? Hold on, is it actually a dog, or is it a turtle or a camel?

Enough is enough, a woman has given birth to her 18th child, all under the age of 20! No, you fool not the woman, her children! She comes from Arkansas, and has no plan's to stop popping out the kids. Indeed the very very religious couple have decided to have as many children as "God saw fit" I wouldn't want to have to remember all those Birthdays!

German authorities were called to a flat in Berlin just before Christmas by neighbours worried about the noise and small coming from a two bedroom flat occupied by a single 60 year old man. It turns out the chap was sharing his home with......... 1700 budgies!

Boris Johnson, the new(ish) mayor of London and a committee have picked the new replacements for the old routemaster buses that were consigned to the dustbin of transport in London by the former mayor, Ken Livingstone. What really surprised me most but the new designs that had cost a fortune to produce, was just how similar they are to the old ones.

The Routemasters were a popular sight on London's streets from the 1950s to 2005, thousands gathering to watch the final regular-service journey of the bus back December 2005, although the old double decker buses with an open platform at the rear are still used on a couple of routes, mainly aimed at tourists. Blundering Boris said the design was "the shape of the future" However, Transport for London (TfL) said the plans failed to answer the problems of safety and accessibility that led to Routemasters being phased out in December 2005, the bus operators also think it's a bad idea - Mike Weston, London Buses director of operations, said "conductors would have to be re-introduced at a cost of £600m per year and the costs of a new design would be onerous" Onerous, now that's a nice word! I'm not sure, I liked the old Routemasters, they seemed to help symbolise London as a unique capital city, full of traditional charm, known around the world, just like red post and phone boxes - very errm British. As for the new design, well it's not much different, but times have changed and moved on, perhaps it's the old adage - 'Everything new was once old!" But who was it that once said that only a moron would axe the Routemaster? Oh yes, it was Ken Livingstone! .

The recession maybe taking it's toll on us, with retailers going bust every second, however there is one shoe maker that's doing record business. The head of Baydan Shoes said business is booming after some unexpected publicity, "Between the day of the incident and 22 December we have received orders totalling 370,000 pairs" Baydan shoes make model 271, which has been renamed 'Bush shoes' and the incident he's talking of that's so boosted his business was the time that a journalist threw his shoes at George Bush at a press conference. At last George Bush has proved useful and done some good!

Lastly the 'High School Musical' star Zac Efron snacked on some cupcakes his girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens had left on the table, but was shocked to discover she had bought them for her dogs. A source said: "Vanessa bought her pet dog Shadow some cakes from upscale pet store The Wagging Tale. She left them on the counter, and Zac ate a few. Now that's what gives him that nice shiny coat and wet nose!