Catching the Westgate wave

Jon C feels quite guilty about sending this one in.

But, until publishers get to grips with checking their output, they're going to continue to upset people unnecessarily and divert much-needed attention from sensitive issues.

He couldn't quite believe what he was reading on his iPad the other day.

Innocently browsing the news items, he came across this.

I'm guessing that's Lt Col Bill Kilgore leading the troops.

Poop scoop

After Wednesday's trip to Canberra, we're staying in Australia for another sign.

As it happens, a crap one this time.

It was unveiled this week in the small town of Mooroopna in Northern Victoria at the opening of the new police station there.

I wonder if there actually is Moorpoopna Police Station than anywhere else?

Like a pig sty, for example.

A singular mistake

After the recent Australian General Election, the new Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, took the controversial decision to include only one woman in his 19-strong cabinet.

So people were not surprised to see that the glass name plate fixed to the office door of newly-appointed Minister Michaelia Cash carried in her title a degree of irony.

Needing a p

Jon C noticed that someone involved with the production of this shop sign in Oxford Street, London not only forgot about the apostrophe in St John's Wood but is also in dire need of a p in West Hampstead.

The journey by Tube from Bond Street to West Hampstead, according to Transport for London, takes about 10 minutes.

They'd better cross their legs.

Hello, sailor

As Tom L says when reading all about the latest Geordie Shore news on heatworld.com, 'They'll let anyone join the Navy these days.'

One thing's for sure.

She'll be going commando.

Killing time

Doesn't anyone at the BBC check anything anymore?

If you were feeling that way inclined, you might have welcomed this opportunity extended by a headline on the BBC News website yesterday morning.

It was changed pretty quickly.

Probably as soon as GCHQ rang up.

I before E

Jon C takes us back to Peterborough today. Specifically to the Virgin Media shop there.

The Manager was doing so well when writing this poster.

'I before E except after C, I before E except after C, I before E...'

Doh.

What's that? Except students?

Must have been giving the Manager too much stick about the spelling.

Katz out of the bag

In only his second week in one of the top jobs at the BBC, Newsnight Editor Ian Katz thought he was sharing his opinions with one of his Twitter friends in a direct message. That's a private message. You know the type. The ones that start with a single letter d.

Katz is a former Deputy Editor at The Guardian newspaper, so you'll already appreciate where this is heading.

Sure enough, he omitted the d, thereby alerting the whole of his 20,000 or so followers, and the rest of the world for that matter, to his private thoughts about his programme and, in particular, about one of its interviewees: Rachel Reeves, the Labour MP for Leeds West and the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

In just four lines he manages to say in one tweet everything you need to know about him.

Ms Reeves's reply was much more succinct, very funny and summed up her thoughts about him perfectly.

Capital offence

Angie J was horrified to see the name of her country's largest city defiled the other week.

You really mustn't welsh on your spelling, Sky Sprots.

It should be a matter of principality.

It's a fig thing

The football team of the Catholic Notre Dame University in Indiana has a nickname: the Fighting Irish.

Unfortunately, last week's game was partially overshadowed by the fact that the 50oz cups of soda, priced at $8, looked like this.

Notre Dame spokesman Dennis Brown declined to say how the typo occurred or whose fault it was.

'It's an institutional responsibility,' he said. 'We're not going to be blaming individuals.'

Hmm. I wonder if that's what the person responsible was told while he or she was being rollocked to high heaven. Unless, of course, it was a gaffe by Dennis himself.

Anyway, you may well ask whether it's typical Irish stupidity.

Yet they're the ones selling a drink of pop for $8.

Welsh threesome exclusive

Sounds like a typical headline from The Sun, doesn't it?

Well, in the same attention-grabbing way, I've lured you into reading more about, well, three Welsh people. And the King of Pop.

Some would say The Sun is a newspaper. I suppose it all depends on your view of what is or isn't news.

It has a twitter account @TheSunNewspaper (thereby proving, I suppose, that at least it thinks of itself as a newspaper) and another @TheSun_Showbiz (sigh). There are probably others but a) I'm not particularly interested in finding out what they are and b) I wouldn't want to promote them; well, not without some massive payment.

Anyway, both accounts have been busy this last week throwing out news, er, facts, er, useful information, er, well, you decide...

First off, @TheSunNewspaper came out with this message on Sunday.

That's Gareth Bale, surely?

Oh well, it's The Sun and it's 'official confirmation' so it must be true. Who knows? Maybe Christian went too. At least the streets of Madrid may be a little safer.

Then, the next day @TheSun_Showbiz led us to believe that not only is Michael Jackson alive and well, but also that he's married (but only just) to Catherine Zeta-Jones.

So what's the exclusive?

I excluded Michael Douglas from the whole post.

Oh heck. Until now.

Peterborough academia

Do you remember the times I had a bit of a go at Peterborough City College and University Centre Peterborough?

I realise that we've not visited Peterborough for a while and I was wondering how its educational establishments were progressing under the watchful eye of long-suffering Peebo resident Jon C.

Oh, I see. Not very well, apparently.

He tells me that these ads appeared on the Peterborough Telegraph website last week.

I'm wondering whether the College runs a course in English. Its unlikely.

But, if there is such a course, clearly spacesare limited.

And the University (yes, I know, but that's what it calls itself) can't even spell its address.

You have our sympathies, Jon, as I'm afraid your suffering is set to continue.

Words in lieu

I know many of the good people of Cornwall are keen on preserving Kernewek.

But I don't think this word, which I saw repeated all over the window display of Stratton Creber Estate Agents in Looe earlier this year, is a fully-paid-up member of that language.

Given that the word brochure comes from the French word brocher, to stitch, broucher hasn't actually strayed too far from its origins.

And it's not asking too much to make broucher sound like brochure, although trying this in the privacy of my own home made me sound like a Liverpudlian for some strange reason.

At least broucher is a lot easier to decipher than lyfryk.