Couch to 10k - week 3

On Monday I wrote about my decision to fundraise for the Abortion Support Network (ASN), by training to for a 10k run.  The Programme I am using is located here.  For every session I complete I will donate £1 to ASN.  I would also like to ask my readers to sponsor me, perhaps by donating for each session that I complete.

Why am I fundraising for ASN?

They are the only organisation that provide funds for Irish women who require abortions in the UK.  The laws around abortion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are very, very restrictive and it is really difficult to get an abortion.  So if women find themselves pregnant and require an abortion the nearest place to go is the UK.  Which means money for travel costs, accommodation and the procedure itself.Without ASN many, many women can't afford to come to the UK - it costs between £400 and £2,000 to travel and pay for the procedure.

ASN is a charity almost entirely funded by the donations of individual supporters, and your donations will go directly to helping a woman in need.

To donate to them you can do so via paypal, standing order, or bank transfer.  Please see the donate page of the ASN website for details on how to do a bank transfer.  If you are a UK taxpayer don't forget to gift aid your donation.

Here is a report on my third week of training.:

Week 3
Session 1 - 45 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times, 23/07/2013

I came home from work intending to have dinner at 6.30 then go out at about 8pm, while it was still light, and when the temperature had lowered a bit.  Whet actually happened was that the boyfriend came home with chips so I ate them.  They were good.  Then I decided to go out at 7pm, about 45 minutes after I’d finished eating.

Big mistake.  I felt like I was going to throw up for the entire period.  I have never felt so ill.  I got back home and sat down and refused to be touched.  The boyfriend helpfully brought me some water and I drank some of that then went and lay on be, exhausted.

On the plus side, I managed all but 30 seconds of the running.  With a full stomach that’s pretty good.  I felt very tired afterwards.

Session 2 - 34 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times, 26/07/2013

I still felt tired, 3 days after the last session.  But I did the running, albeit very slowly and grumpily.  This session was the one where I thought I need to get sponsorship for this or I’m never going to do it.

I saw a little white and brown piebald mouse.  It must be an escaped pet because I can’t believe wild mice would survive for long with that colour coat.  It was moving in an odd way, it didn’t look injured, but was waddling.  Perhaps it was pregnant.  It was right in my path and not moving so I assumed it was dead.  When it moved I let out a yell and stopped to watch it for a minute or so.  It’s really cool to see all this wildlife.

Session 3 - 40 min. Run 3 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times, 28/07/2013

I was dreading this session.  It was so hard to do the first session of week 3, and this was the same thing.  Add to the fact I’m still tired and I had a slight hangover, I was really apprehensive.

However, I did mange to do it all.  I’m learning my way around the woodland where I run and understanding how the different parts link up.  In the first week I of running I was maintaining a reasonable sense of direction, but I appeared to have lost hat today.  Although I discovered how separate parts lined up, I couldn’t work out what direction the road was in and when I came out on the road I had to ask some walkers where to go.  I’m hopeless.

I saw a lot of butterflies.  Probably because I was out mid morning and not early evening.  No dogs tried to chase me this time, which was nice.  A rather enthusiastic puppy was very interested me in one session in week two.  Eek.  I am a little scared of dogs.

I have no idea how I’m going to manage to do this whole programme because I feel shattered.  Knowing that I’m raising money for ASN will keep me focused and will provide the motivation for me to get out there and complete it.

Total money raised: £9

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Found on this tumblr: http://dailydcu.com/post/34658230432/wonder-woman-pants-costume-xd
Man, I really want to do a Wondy costume with trews now.  I have a belt, lasso, bracelets and tiara already.  And a red vest that I could put an eagle or WW insignia on.  I'd just need some red boots.  And possibly a jacket like this lady has.

Couch to 10k - week 2

Yesterday I wrote about my decision to fundraise for the Abortion Support Network (ASN), by training to for a 10k run.  The Programme I am using is located here.  For every session I complete I will donate £1 to ASN.  I would also like to ask my readers to sponsor me, perhaps by donating for each session that I complete.

Why am I fundraising for ASN?

They are the only organisation that provide funds for Irish women who require abortions in the UK.  The laws around abortion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are very, very restrictive and it is really difficult to get an abortion.  So if women find themselves pregnant and require an abortion the nearest place to go is the UK.  Which means money for travel costs, accommodation and the procedure itself.Without ASN many, many women can't afford to come to the UK - it costs between £400 and £2,000 to travel and pay for the procedure.

ASN is a charity almost entirely funded by the donations of individual supporters, and your donations will go directly to helping a woman in need.

To donate to them you can do so via paypal, standing order, or bank transfer.  Please see the donate page of the ASN website for details on how to do a bank transfer.  If you are a UK taxpayer don't forget to gift aid your donation.

Here is a report on my second weeks' training.

Week 2
Session 1 - 38 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times, 16/7/2013

I felt very nervous about this, given my performance on the first session.  However as I started to do it I realised it was still easier than the first session, as you get a 2 minute recovery period.  My gods the 2 minute recovery period is great!

Session 2 - 31 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times, 19/7/2013

This felt easy.  It’s a repeat of week one, and I definitely felt like I’d progressed, and that I was going a bit faster then the first week.  I know that getting a good speed isn’t my goal, but it still feels good.

Went and bought trainers on Saturday 20th July.  Went to a local shop where they had me run on a treadmill for 30 seconds, recorded it and checked my gait.  Then brought me out the correct shoes for my running style.  They are purple. And expensive, I guess.  But they will save my knees, which are a bit knackered due to cycling for several years (to get to work) and not doing enough stretching.

I’m starting to feel like I can do this programme.

Session 3 - 34 min. Run 2 minutes. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times, 21/7/2013

I was very tired doing this but I kept chugging along.  I possibly shouldn’t have gone tot he gym yesterday morning...

I was a bit concerned about how I’m going to manage next week’s sessions, as my body just feels tired.  I haven’t felt like this since I started going to the gym regularly.

I nearly tripped over a tree root.  I blame the new trainers.  They are a size 7, a size larger than I normally wear so extend out past my foot further than I am used to.  Running shoes need to be a size bigger, because running makes your feet swell, apparently.  The shoes are definitely more comfortable than my other regular trainers, and my feet don’t get quite so hot in them.

If I recall correctly, I got a lot of stitches this week.  Obviously I’m not as fit as I thought.  I also think I saw some young rabbits this session.  I’m seeing a lot of wildlife – birds that I can’t identify, the occasional dead mouse, and the bunnies.  I’m also hearing a lot and I’m trying to work out if the sounds are from blackbirds scrabbling in the undergrowth or if they are from a mammal.

Total donated: £6.

Couch to 10k - seeking sponsorship!

Do you guys remember that I did the 10k Race for Life earlier this year?  If not, here are my blog posts about it.  I walked it, because I believed that I couldn't run.  While seeking sponsorship for it, I said that if I exceeded my target of £250 I would run it next year.

I did exceed my target.

I promised myself I would start training for a 10k run.

3 weeks ago I started the couch to 10k plan.

So far I've achieved every session, but it's bloody hard work.  To ensure that I do complete the training in time to enter the Marriotts Way 10k race, I need external pressure.

So I've decided that for every training session I complete I will donate £1 to the Abortion Support Network, who provide funds for women travelling to the mainland UK, from Ireland, for an abortion.  More on them later.  By myself, I won't be able to raise much money.  So I'm hoping that some of my readers will also sponsor me.

Why the Abortion Support Network (ASN)?

Well, they are the only organisation that provide funds for Irish women who require abortions in the UK.  The laws around abortion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are very, very restrictive and it is really difficult to get an abortion.  So if women find themselves pregnant and require an abortion the nearest place to go is the UK.  Which means money for travel costs, accommodation and the procedure itself.

Without ASN many, many women can't afford to come to the UK - it costs between £400 and £2,000 to travel and pay for the procedure.

I know abortion is an emotive topic.  I'm not asking people to move from an anti abortion stance to a pro abortion stance.  Instead I ask that you consider that without access to abortion women, and their foetuses, will die.  Restricting abortion in law doesn't mean women have the children and live happy meaningful loving lives.  It means that women get backstreet abortions, which are downright dangerous.

There's no use in saying women shouldn't get pregnant in there the first place.  There are hundreds of reasons why women get pregnant and there are hundreds of reasons why women get abortions.  Read ASN's newsletters for stories from the women they've helped.

ASN is a charity almost entirely funded by the donations of individual supporters, and your donations will go directly to helping a woman in need.

To donate to them you can do so via paypal, standing order, or bank transfer.  Please see the donate page of the ASN website for details on how to do a bank transfer.  If you are a UK taxpayer don't forget to gift aid your donation.

So, hopefully I've explained why I choose to fundraise for ASN.  Please consider sponsoring me for the couch to 10k training.  I will write a blog on each training session so you know I've completed it.  Please then consider sponsoring me for each session, or each week's training.  I don't need to know that you've sponsored me so please don't feel pressured to make your donation public.

To start, here is  a summary of my first week's training.  I will upload summaries of week's one and two then move onto individual session reports.

Week 1 

Session 1 - 34 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 8 times, 8/7/2013

Holy crap that was hard.  Do you know why it was so hard?  Because I’m an idiot and I read the instructions as Run 2 minutes, Walk 1 minute.  So I only managed about 6 goes and had to walk some of the running bits.

Initially felt rather incompetent at my terrible performance, until I realised I’d done it back to front, then I felt rather proud of myself.

Session 2 - 28 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 6 times, 11/7/2013

Well that was much easier.  Not easy, still hard, and I was still huffy and out of breath, but this felt doable.

Session 3 - 31 min. Run 1 minute. Walk 2 minutes. Do this 7 times, 14/7/2013

Like the previous session, this felt doable and I was happy with my efforts.

Total donated: £3

Super Silly Sunday - grossout

GROSS.

It's from a 90s Uncanny X-Men comic.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

What poise! What grace!  Jeez, even her hair is perfect!  I'm a little in love.

Found here: http://www.comicbloc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94325

And because the thread was mocking this guy, I will include and praise him.  I think he rocks.

Gorillas invade Norwich!

My lovely little home city has been invaded by gorillas!  No, not the real flesh and blood ones, but fibreglass ones that stand about 4.5 foot tall, and are each painted with an individual design.  A few years ago we had elephants, now it is 53 gorillas.  The exhibition is called Go Go Gorillas and you can find more info here and follow them on twitter here.

I must admit that I prefer the shape of the elephants, but I am slowly falling in love with the gorillas.  So here are photos of what I think are the best of them.

This is Gordon. He has a bittern on his bum which is a very rare bird, but is found in Norfolk.

  

This is Lily Gorilly.  A beautiful name and a lovely scene:

Gareth. Styled in the Norwich colours, this is a more subtle way to reference the local football team, known as the Canaries:

Boris. Who doesn't want to see Stephen Fry's lovely smiling face:

Gladstone.  I think this is a football referee thing.  He's very sombre anyway:

 Chromilla, with one of the 60 odd (?) little gorillas also around the city:

 Guy. I love this one.  It's an English country garden design, it's beautiful!

 Apples on her bum!

 Chickens and pears, and a hedgehog!

Sunflowers!

But this is Ray.  And I think I love her more.  the design is flawless.  The sun, the fiels, the daffs, the clouds, the colours, it's flawless.

Yo'Man.  Who doesn't love a beefeater?  Unless it's the awful Beefeater from DC comics..

Optimus Primate!
!!!!

Ivan the Iconic Norwich Gorilla.

Juno, a tribute to the Juno beach landings in the Second World War:

Poppyland Hero :

Mack.  I cannot express how much I love this one.  The vibrancy of the oranges and yellows against the black are just amazing.

 Mack's eyes!

Simply gorgeous.

Jungle Jenny. This being an exhibition to raise awareness of the plight of gorillas, it is fitting that one is rainforest themed:

When I find more I'll take more pictures.  There are superhero themed ones too so I look forward to locating those.

They are around till 10th September  so if you can do come visit and see them in person. :)

Super Silly Sunday - polka dots and firearms

Oh how 90s.  Fun though.  I enjoyed this issue and this particular set of stories.  That's Forge in the corner there.  I ha dnot come across him before these Uncanny X issues, but you know what, he's actually quite good.

I don't remember who these two babes with guns are.  Can anyone provide some light?

It's from a 90s Uncanny X-Men comic.

Really out of date comic reviews

Here we go..  All these comics are at least 2 weeks old so yeah, spoiler alert, but I bet the content won't be news to many people.  Comics covered are:
Princeless Get Over Yourself Issue 4 and Tales of the Family Ashe, Justice League 22, Fearless Defenders 6, Demon Knights 22, Clockwork Watch: Breakaway, Batman/Superman 1, X-Men 2, Uncanny X-Men 7, Larfleeze 1, Hawkeye 11 and 12.

Thoughts will be short as I've got such a lot to cover.

Hawkeye 11 and 12
11 was told from the perspective of the dog.  It was rather cleverly done.  Lots of unintelligible words and symbols to convey dog thoughts and dog understanding. When I read it I had an awful virus and couldn't take a lot in, so parts confused me.  But I enjoyed it.  Even if I needed a nap afterwards.

12 is told from the perspective of Clint's (estranged?) brother.  the pages are broken up into a lot of different panels.  There's usually at least 10 on each page.  Colours are nice. Dialogue is nice.  Story is interesting.  Good stuff.

Larfleeze 1
This was great fun.  Like the DCU used to be.  This went straight onto my pull list.  It will be interesting to see how and why there are other Orange Lanterns, as I thought Larfleeze could be the only one.  I mean, the whole orange thing is about greed, so I bet he'll go mental when he meets the others.

Uncanny X-Men 7
I bought this by mistake, I intended to get another X comic, that was recc'd to me, but got confused in the shop.  It's got very pretty art and Cyclops did get knocked on the head by a flying rock, which is always nice to see.  Don't think I'll be buying any more though.

X-Men 2
Also great fun.  It's got Jubilee and Mohawked storm, and Shadowcat, Rogue, Psylocke and a redhead from the Summers family tree.  So apart from Psylocke and the Redhead, all my favourites.  This is great.

Batman/Superman 1
Another good offering from DC.  Like Larfleeze this went straight on my pull list.  The art is fantastic, changing to suit the scenes. It starts off in Gotham, and is all gothic, then moves to Kansas and the colour palette goes summery.  It's beautiful.  Even though it's the new 52 Superman and Batman I really enjoyed it.  I have high, high hopes for this title.

Clockwork Watch: Breakaway
This is the second issue in the Clockwork Watch series (issue 1 reviewed over on New readers...) and it moves the story along nicely.  The art is gorgeous and Janav has matured into quite the attractive young man.  Clockwork servants have become more and more advanced, with many resembling humans (apart from their eyes, which have little cogs for pupils).  Janav has been pushed into a sort of police force where he has to hunt down renegade Clocks.

The lettering and speech bubble lines are lovely.  When Janav is visiting his mother's grave his dialogue is written in the style of an Indian alphabet (I wish I knew exactly what).  When he's writing to his childhood friend in India the speech bubbles lines are rough, like that of old paper.  When the Clocks are speaking a little cog is incorporated into the speech bubble.  When Janav is angry the speech bubble drips with aggression.

The Clockwork Watch team is at SDCC this weekend and I think they are previewing the next issue.  I'm jealous because I want to read it!

You can buy copies of both issues here, in hardcopy and digitally.

Demon Knights 22
Oh blimey. The get the grail. The Horsewoman's injuries (?) are healed and she can walk again.  I'm so sad this series will be finishing soon.

Fearless Defenders 6
I cannot get over Valkyrie's ridiculous boob armour.  People complain about sexualisation in comics. They complain about Peej's boob window.  Have I missed all the complaints about Val's costume?  or is that not a thing?
Great issue, but Annabelle got killed. I'm sad.  But I'm sure she shall be back!

Justice League 22
This is the start of Trinity War and Gods help me I actually enjoyed it.  Superman appears to kill Dr Light.  Except he doesn't.  It's quite clear by other characters exposition that he doesn't.  I have little patience for people who took this as badly as they took Man of Steel.  I've put the Trinity War issues on my pull list.  We'll see how that goes.

Princeless Get Over Yourself Issue 4 and Tales of the Family Ashe
As usual, this is brilliant.  If you aren't getting it, go order it now.  The trades are out.  It's so much better than most Marvel or DC fare.  Go buy.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Found at The Mary Sue
Drawn by Amy Rachels.

Super Silly Sunday - the X-Men scare a tree

I have no idea what's goin on here and I don't care!

BWWAAGGGHHHHH!!  I'M A TREEEEE!!!  BWWAAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!

From a 90s Uncanny X-Men comic.

BWWWAAAGGGHHHHHH!!

Super Sexy Saturday

Hommina hommina.

From here: http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?396497-Batman-panties-or-no-panties

Reviews! Of absolutely nothing recent!

Several weeks ago I won some comics in a London Super Comic Con twitter competition. Hurrah.  I have finally read them and so here come the reviews.  They are all pretty old so there's no real danger of spoilers.

The Walking Dead 100

This was surprisingly good.  Given that I enjoyed volume 1 of The Walking Dead, and thought vols 2 and 3 were extremely boring and by the numbers, I'm quite pleased with this.  However it is far more violent, in feeling as well as action, than I expected.  I guess part of that it that is the 100th issue, and events are ramped up for 100th issues, but man alive, this was a bit shocking.  One of the characters gets his head mashed (I mean literally mashed) with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.  There's very little zombies in this, it's all human led violence.  The build up to the scene gave it a greater sense of inevitability and horror.  It kind of reminded me of the way that George R R Martin kills of his characters.  So it's well written and well delivered, but I don't want to read it again.

The Waking 1

Utter shit. Absolute dross.  Published by Zenescope so the cover is all zombie tits and ass and the inside is all moody crap.  With a sex crazed wife who insists on sex every hour.  Her husband is clearly traumatised by this but of course 'the man who doesn't want sex' is just a joke.  Ugh. Absolute crap.  This deserves burning.

Bedlam 1

This is written by Nick Spencer, who I only knew from that one Supergirl issue he was involved in. This is a 44 page comic and the quality of the pages is superb.  It's a bit of a confused comic, but confused in a deliberate sense. The reader is meant to be as mixed up as the events, I think.  The villain is Madder Red, a batshit crazy serial killer.  Then there's a dude who I think is meant to think he's Madder Red, but may not be.  There's a hostage situation, an arrest, threats of suicide and murder and some street muggings.  It is incredibly well put together, very well written, and the art is something else.  Half of the pages are reds and greys.  The rest are muted and everyone looks a little ill.

This is a really great comic and has made me reconsider Image's reputation. If the rest of their books are like this then I get why they are such a big deal and I am now very tempted to check out the rest of their offerings.

Shuddertown 1
This is another crime comic. Again, really great art.  Our hero is a cop with 4 dead people on his hands.  All appear to have been killed by someone who died at least 2 days previously.  There is a long monologue about truth and about how the hero sets people free from lies.  It's a good comic, possibly a great comic, but it's not for me.   I just don't like crime stories that much.

Revival 1
I don't like crime stories except for the occasional times when I do, and then they blow my socks off.  Like Revival.  Man, this is a-mazing.  I will be buying the rest of this series.  There's a town in America where dead people keep coming back to life.  There's a cop and her sister and an old lady who keeps pulling out her teeth but they keep growing back.  There's an FBI investigation into biological terrorism and there's an old pensioner who keeps hitting on women half his age.  This book is amazing and I will be adding it to my pull list.

Star Trek/Dr Who crossover 7
This was pretty crap.  I'm not really a fan of spin off comics, or Dr Who this really isn't for me.  The art is pretty - it's painted and everyone looks like the actors.  But I do not care for it.  Not one jot.


Criminal 1
It's another crime comic, this time with a corrupt cop.  The main villain is looking after one of his dad's mates, who is a heroin addict and has Alzheimer's.  I didn't really care for it.

Valiant 2013 sampler
Utter shit.  I don't like any of Valiant's stuff, and in fact we reviewed Harbinger on the last episode of Radio Bamf and I explained why I thought that series was dross.  None of the other offerings in this sampler make me more impressed with the publisher.

Marvel Zombies 5
I loved this!  I thought I'd hate it, I thought it would be a gimmick, but no, I loved it.  It is really good fun.  It has the robot from nextwave calling people fleshy ones. It's set in the old midwest.  There are adverts for a Dazzler ongoing in it.  I liked all of this.  I will be tracking the rest of the series down.

Avengers 1
This is dated July 2010.  It's issue 1 in yet formation of an Avengers team.  It's pretty bog standard.  OK for what it is, but really suited towards current readers who are familiar with the characters.  I'm not fussed.

Another episode of Radio Bamf is up

You can listen to it here: http://wearearcade.com/?cat=1479.  Actually, because I'm slack at announcements there are 3 new episodes you can listen to.

#18 has Jeremy Whitley, writer of Princeless as a guest.  #19 is all about Marvel and Batman/Superman. #20 has lots of news, talk about London Film and Comic Con, mystery comics with a variety of responses, and the launch of our new competition - give it a listen to find out out how to win a mystery comic.

Go on, listen in. :)

Wonder Woman Wednesday

 By Jamal Igle. This is the only 4th july inspired thing I enjoyed looking at this year.

Uncanny X-Men

I'm going to start blogging Uncanny X-Men pictures.  I read through this lot:

That's about 80 Uncanny X-Men issues, covering the Phoenix Saga, the first Days of Future Past issue then pretty much every issues cover dated from March 1990 to the end of 1995.  That's a lot of X.  I quite like the X comics now.   There was a lot of daftness in there, some irritation but quite a few really good issues.  I am going to blog the most memorable moments.  At the very least you guys will get regular blog posts from me for the next few months!

I have about another 40 assorted X issues to read, namely this lot, so I think I'm in for more fun!

Smallville season 2

I just finished re-watching this season.  It's a lot better than I remembered.  The cast have far more nuanced acting than I thought and the plot has moved on quite far.  It's no longer a monster of the week scenario and the caves got introduced!  Martha starts working for Lionel Luthor and gets pregnant (not by Lionel Luthor).

Jonathan Kent is still a patriarch but I have more sympathy for him this time.  He's not deliberately disrespecting Martha, he's just doing what he knows, which is trying to support, feed and clothe his family.  His only priority is his family, and he thinks it's his responsibility to look after them.  So he gets a bit annoyed when he sees Martha putting other people first, except Martha isn't.  She goes to work for Lionel because the family need the money.  That's her main motivation  Sure she wants to work too, and use her brain and academic training, but her first priority is her family, that's what drives her to accept Lionel's offer of a job.  And she's good at it.  She's shown to shine in her role.  She's shown as vitally important to Lionel.  She gets far more agency than I saw on the first watch through.

I had the impression that Lionel was a bastard investigating Clark at this time.  Not true.  You don't see that he's got any malice towards Clark at all here.  He is malicious towards Lex, sure, they've got a really twisted fucked up relationship.  Poor Lex is trying his best to outsmart his Dad and prove his worth, but Lionel is just better at it than he is.  Lex is still young and impetuous.  Then he meets Helen Bryce, the doctor, and tries to improve himself.  And gets dumped.  Then Helen comes back.  My gods Helen is beautiful.  Truly truly beautiful.

Lana isn't anywhere near as annoying as I remember either.  She has more depth and range too.  She's not all wet.  And she dresses like a teenager.  She's got a really stupid jacket that is very teenage.  I think Clark et-al are meant to be 16, and when you remember that their actions and their relationship with the adults makes a lot more sense.  When I watched it before I had severe difficulty reconciling Clark looking about 25, with him getting told off by his parents and acting like an emotional idiot.  But if he really is meant to be 16, then it makes more sense.

I'm also loving the Christopher Reeves Superman theme they keep playing.  Then I laugh quietly to myself as I remember it took them 10 seasons to put Clark in the suit...

I really enjoy this show.  I'm just gutted that I don't have seasons 3 and 4 on DVD. :(  I think I might go back to my X-Men comics to get my fill of superhero soap opera, then buy seasons 3 and 4 when i've got more cash.

Beef and Bevatron

So I know these guys were all part of Emma Frost's Hellions in the 90s X comics:

But seriously, Beef and Bevatron?!  What's their back story?  Low rent porn?! Ha! I know I could look this up but it's much more fun chatting to folk about it!   How did they get named as such? Who invented them?  Did the creators know how dodgy they sound? Ha!

Of course, now I'm wondering what searches will end up leading to this blog..!!