Shrunken head

Those folks at Lombard tickle me with their quiet humour.

Here is their Christmas themed homage to the afterlife waiting room in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice.

Madonna and Child in 3D

After seeing Sir David Attenborough present Life in the Third Dimension at the Regent Theatre, some us weren't sure what to do with our 3D glasses. A guy ahead of me popped one on the lady. Chuckling as I passed I went back to pop mine on the child. We both took photographs on our phones with cheeky grins on our faces!

Virgin Mary Costume 'Adult'

In the latest catalogue from Lombard, party shop, they have Christmas costumes. Inevitably the costumes for women are sexier than the ones for men. That is a subject explored by many other bloggers and columnists so I'll leave it to you to explore further.

This one is a little unexpected nonetheless. See through stripper heels on the Virgin Mary? Really?! It would have been better to have her barefoot if no appropriate shoes were available for the photo shoot. I hope that isn't part of the costume. My housemte suggested that it's probably a sneaky injoke.

The 'most inoffensive and gentle creature,' the giraffe.

'In some parts the natives also dig pits in which to trap it.'

Illustration and text from Holiday Stories, published by George Routledge and Sons, London, c. 1890s