It’s downtime, so time to see what’s out there in web land… And my goodness, there’s some strange stuff. Even stranger than the last time I looked.
First, one for PC fans, especially those with a professed hatred of all things Apple (which doesn’t include me). Here’s a wonderful comparison of the Apple Ipod vs the humble tape cassette (people over 30 will remember these, there’s more than you ever wanted to know here at www.tapedeck.org). Which is better? Daniel Turek, while perhaps a Mac user himself judging from his web page address, has no doubt…
Now then. We all know that at some point over Christmas you will encounter a young child with a) a drum b) a tin whistle c) a Moog synthesiser. (Well, okay, you probably won’t encounter the latter but just imagine the horror…). Simply check out this site and respond with these Air Raid Siren sounds: www.airraidsirens.com. No, really. It’s almost as crazy as the Tape Deck site I mentioned above. I say almost.)
Of course, you will have to consider that ageing relatives may be thrown into blind panic by some of these sounds, suffer heart attacks as they are awoken from post Christmas dinner stupor thinking they are back in the Second World War.
We must be careful out on the Interweb. There are many strange things you can find when you have time off from the usual daily grind. Dangerous things that will make you question your own sanity far more quickly than reading the collected works of M. R. James, or perhaps the thought of albums like this ever being made…

No, I speak of course of sites such as Pet Food Labels. Beware such sites, they are evil incarnate. Still, could you live without knowing that canned dog food first appeared in the 1910s? I thought not.
Have a great Christmas everyone!


The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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