Earth Shattering Local News

[Birdie]

Kane Jones, I like your new avatar.

[Kane Jones]

Eurostile is the only thing I'd imprint on my luna base or robots.

Eurostile has been tainted as I have to use it for designing a Nordic skin care product on an almost daily basis.  It just reminds me of dry scalps and itchy skin now.

[Blumf]

Eurostile has been tainted as I have to use it for designing a Nordic skin care product on an almost daily basis.  It just reminds me of dry scalps and itchy skin now.

It's A Clockwork Orange all over again.

[Kane Jones]

It is, Blumf.  It bloody is.

[buttgammon]

There was something wrong with me at one point. Like Thomas, I was a serial user of Calibri in essays. Then, I started having to send them to the biggest typeface pedant in the department, who formulated the guidelines about which typefaces, size and spacing we have to use (and who writes everything in what appears to be a massive, blue version of Berlin Sans). Not wanting to get in trouble the first time I had to submit any work to her, I used Arial and the rest was history. It's hardly thrilling but it does the job.

I'd use Verdana if it was allowed, of course.

[Zetetic]

I pine for Frutiger.

Does anyone have a good introduction to typography?
I'd really like something with a good mix of artistic criticism, historical context and reference to psychology/user experience science[nb]And the moon on a stick, thanks.[/nb].

[Danger Man]

Ariel 12pt is skill.

[Kane Jones]

I pine for Frutiger.

I overdid it with Frutiger about 8 years ago and can scarcely bear to even look at it now.

[sirhenry]

I overdid it with Frutiger about 8 years ago and can scarcely bear to even look at it now.

I know that one, but I can bear it now, I just don't use it.

Papyrus, on the other hand, will never be acceptable again, despite only having used it once.

[Birdie]

Damn, I should have used font talk to derail a  certain other thread - who'd have thought it would be so interesting? I was just coming on to Kane.

Oh and yes - Arial rocks but 10pt is enough.  12pt?  What are you - visually impaired?[nb]Blind[/nb]

[biggytitbo]

I'm an arial man through ands through but the minimum font size for arial is 16px for body text, every fool knows that. Thats why its the default font size in all web browsers.

[Subtle Mocking]

Oh and yes - Arial rocks but 10pt is enough.  12pt?  What are you - visually impaired?[nb]Blind[/nb]

12pt is the requirement for my OU essays.

Arial is boring but functional. For the pragmatist in you.

[Birdie]

No shout out for good old dependable Times New Roman?

[Kane Jones]

No shout out for good old dependable Times New Roman?

It's functional and not unpleasant. Like one of those heated toilet seats.

[sirhenry]

No shout out for good old dependable Times New Roman?

Upstart. The original is the best. You needn't take my word for it, even Alan Sugar thought so when I designed a Times-like font for his machines. Sadly, the only time I designed a font for money. Thankfully the only time I ever worked for Sugar.

[Birdie]

And on that bombshell, I must leave you it's way past my bedtime.  I look forward to seeing how this pans out overnight. I almost wish I'd started a font thread now...

[Danger Man]

Oh and yes - Arial rocks but 10pt is enough.  12pt?  What are you - visually impaired?[nb]Blind[/nb]

Ariel 12pt seems to have become the unofficial font for writing scripts in the UK.

Not in the USA though, where they still want you to pretend that you've used a 1930's typewriter.

[sirhenry]

A useful rule of thumb for choosing fonts is to look at the lower case 'g'. If it's elegant and/or has the qualities you're looking for in the font, it will show there more often or not.

[mycroft]

Woman finds unexploded Second World War bomb in garden; gives it a wash in the sink before calling the authorities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-22814466

"You can imagine what I said to her," said her husband.

I think these two have all the makings of CaB heroes, like that tinned chicken man...

[Blumf]

What are they feeding their dog?

[Birdie]

We've gone to hell in a handcart here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8774887/Paintball-shooter-in-drive-by-rampage

[biggytitbo]

Woman finds unexploded Second World War bomb in garden; gives it a wash in the sink before calling the authorities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-22814466

"You can imagine what I said to her," said her husband.

I think these two have all the makings of CaB heroes, like that tinned chicken man...

Here we go

[Suttonpubcrawl]

Just seen the typeface discussion above. What's wrong with all you people saying good things about Arial? I know it's a subject that has been done to death (if you ever read about things like this) but Arial is rubbish, it's just a rubbish version of Helvetica. If you compare the two, Arial is like a version of Helvetica where almost every character has been changed, only very slightly, to make it just a little bit worse, seemingly for the sole purpose of creating a font that's like Helvetica but which you don't have to pay as much for. If you have the choice between the two, always use Helvetica.

Does anyone have a good introduction to typography?
I'd really like something with a good mix of artistic criticism, historical context and reference to psychology/user experience science[nb]And the moon on a stick, thanks.[/nb].

I believe the book you are looking for is this:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_My_Type

[mycroft]

The new Doctor Who and his assistant.

[BlodwynPig]

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/pile-up-hell-after-police-4283378

Not earth shattering, but I liked these two things:

Pile up hell after police car pursuit in Newcastle

A one car "pile up".

and

While Nathan Senior, from Newcastle, said: "There was any amount of them forensics and that."

Whoooooo are you. Who Who Who Who?

[cosmic-hearse]

"It makes me wonder why we bothered fighting in several world wars"

http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Couple-return-holiday-grass-street-cut-different/story-19155350-detail/story.html#axzz2Vznuv0Ir

[copyingdogs]

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/women-arrested-after-topless-brawl-outside-school-29344418.html

"They were beating the heads off each other. The next thing the tops were pulled off each other and then a bra went flying through the air."

[syntaxerror]

Thought this was worth bumping the thread for

Is this the biggest chip in Gloucestershire?

[castro diaz]

*Spoiler Alert*

It's not even that big a chip.

[Nuclear Optimism]

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/education/dedicated-dinner-lady-1-5877900

Dedicated dinner lady

At a conservative estimate, Thea Quirk has cooked and served 10 million meals to students at Ballakermeen High School in Douglas.

Thea hung up her apron last Friday after 44 years working in school kitchens, the last 39 of them at the Douglas school.

Thea was presented with flowers and gifts by school staff at a function to mark her final day.

At the event, attended by the school's governors, Thea was serenaded by the full 'workhouse chorus' from the school's forthcoming production of Oliver! singing Food, Glorious Food.

Thea will shortly receive an illuminated address – a framed certificate from the Isle of Man Government marking lengthy service – from the Department of Education and Children.

Thea said: 'I never thought I'd end up cooking at the school I went to as a pupil.'

Thea left school at 16 and attended the College of Domestic Science in Kingswood Grove for a year before joining the school meals staff at Braddan Primary School in 1969. She transferred to the then separate Douglas High Schools for Boys and Girls, on the current Ballakermeen site, in 1974.

In those days, girls only mixed with boys when they entered their building for lunch.

Thea recalled that there was a set meal, with no choice: 'It was a main meal and then a sweet and that was it. It could be stodgy and boring but we have branched out a lot since.'

In the kitchen, Thea said, there was a big boiler in the middle of the floor where vegetables and potatoes were cooked, plus two large steamers.

In those days, 500 to 600 meals were served each day. However, contrary to people's perceptions of school dinners back then, Thea has never once dished up semolina.

More recently, in the kitchen of the current 11-18 secondary, Thea has been part of a 12-strong team under cook supervisor Kath Slattery that feeds 1,200 students a day at break times and lunchtimes.

Staff once took turns as cashiers but students now have swipe cards rather than carrying cash, an initiative the late headteacher Ian Masterton introduced to combat any bullying, she said.

Thea said that despite advances that mean the school now serves dozens of options, including healthy and vegetarian meals, the students' perennial favourites are chips with cheese and gravy, curry sauce or chicken nuggets.

Thea, who is 61 and lives at Cronk-y-Berry, plans to carry on her part-time job at the Villa Marina and, unfettered by the school calendar, is looking forward to a holiday she'll take with friends early in the new academic year. 'I'll send the kitchen staff a postcard,' she said.

She'll miss her colleagues and the company and the students, who, she says, are unfailingly polite.

Headteacher Adrienne Burnett has invited her back to school to enjoy lunch anytime she wants to, so she is hanging on to her own swipe card.

However, Thea says she'll wait until the new, bigger kitchen and dining facilities – works starts on them this week as part of a £3.2 million extension – are complete.

Mrs Burnett paid tribute to her retiring staff member, saying: 'Thea has been a loyal and cheerful member of our catering staff, working at Ballakermeen High School for an impressive 39 years.

'To the best of my knowledge, Thea is the longest serving school meals employee on the Island.

'There are 1,500 students at Ballakermeen. If we assume that an average of 1,200 students have lunch each day, this means that Thea, by working for 8,360 school days, has helped to serve an incredible 10 million meals.

'We think she deserves a rest and wish Thea all the best, although knowing her as well as we do, we know that she will continue to work somewhere.'

This is actual news. I think it's the length of the article which tickles me.