Looks like these lads have nearly finished their work of installing nifty anti-vehicle measures to protect the bar. But when they realise what they've forgotten only one word will sum up the situation: Bollards!
Fancy building your own London Eye, meccano-style? Or maybe you're more of a Lego-man? Building's not just for grown-ups, as toy manufacturers have known for generations. Kids love to build things up - and knock them down too. And there's plenty of construction toys available on the Construction Toys Construction Site. It's just a pity they're only available in America...
Check out The Times' cheeky guide to help householders charm their Polish builders. The list of ten top tips on the Polish language includes how to ask for a recommended electrician in the Polish tongue. Useful too, perhaps, for any English builder who lacks the skills of all trades. There's even a handy pronunciation guide. But we'd love to know whether any Times reader has had the opportunity to put the saucy eleventh phrase into practice... Would it really distract a busy builder on the job?
Construction work takes its toll on your back and joints. But one man has found an answer. Trev, the yogic builder, has made it his mission to bring the muscle-stretching, stress-relieving, joint-health-improving practice of yoga to the construction sites of England. His inimitable style of yoga teaching - replacing the downward dog with the builder's bum pose - has already been committed to DVD. To see for yourself, check out the clips online on Trev's yogic website. It's just a pity we bring you this news too late for you to try out the elegance of yoga down the pub: how to light a bird's fag - the graceful movements involved could end up getting you ejected from your local post-smoking ban. Perhaps Trev will have to get his cash out, and work on how to buy a girl a pint...
Everyone likes a laugh, but the boys in these videos take it to the max...and way beyond. Testing the boundaries of what the health and safety exec would classify as 'extremely dangerous', these plonkers make every cack-handed, mal-co-ordinated dullard on 'You've been framed' look like sensible, light-footed ballerinas.
But this is only the beginning. Apparently, they enjoy pain. Fancing losing loads of brain cells? Well, one of these builders does as he gets smacked over the head with a plank of wood. How about losing your legs in wet cement? One of these guys doesn't mind. What a bunch of prats. Mental. Check out their stupidity:
A worker smashing a colleague over the head with a large board for not wearing a hard hat.
A young builder diving head first into a container full of wet cement.
Following on from the videos of stupid builders hurting themselves, there are some more below featuring the carefree geezer's weapon of choice: the cement mixer. Yep, that's right, these dim witted nutters climb inside the mixers while they are turning. Fun? Not really, unless you like the feeling of puking and getting the sack. But then again, these blokes don't care for such things.
Oh yeah, and one of them claims to be 'pissed up' as well. Utter plonkerdom.
A young labourer spinning around in a cement mixer:
Too drunk to spin:
Man in old mixer:
More cement mixer madness:
The Chinese government don't do many things by halves, apart from democracy. So when the time came to start building for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, they decided it was time to get rid of some of those big old structures. First on the list, the Shenyang stadium in Beijing. About as much firepower went into this as you would expect out of the Red Army:
If you're a nutter who wants to destroy anything, especially after a frustrating day of work, then maybe this is the kind of tool you need: a blender. But this isn't any normal blender, this is a machine that can smash practically every single thing ever made by man.
In the example below, an old codger who looks like he is, or should be, a crazy scientist, wrecks a measuring tape. The Box especially likes the part where the tape is set free from its casing, filling up the whole of the blender.
So, if you thought that the recent advert where a pack of fags is blended was a bit, well, tame, then this website is the one for you. There is even one of a brand spanking new iPhone getting the treatment. Look at the glee on the bloke's face as he tips out the ashy remains.
Measuring tape video:
Are you using a dodgy ladder or scaffolding? If so, you better watch out for Bob the Builder. In a shock to many people, he appears to be an actual person who is taking time out of his 'live' show to help promote the HSE's ladder safety campaign.
The Box agrees that ladder safety is an important issue, but getting a children's television character to assist in a safety campaign seems more than a little bit odd and not really sending a serious message to the kind of plonkers you see up 'dodgy' ladders on those accident lawyer ads on the telly.
But, regardless of this fact, you better watch out...because Bob's about!
Related links: HSE article
Nope, this is not some odd perversion of sexuality, but rather a phenemenon which is gripping the world by storm: power tool drag racing.
How? Where? Why? Well, pretty much anywhere, with pretty much any tool, and with pretty much any amount of power. Some unsuprisingly fail, others are magnificent.
The best way to learn about the 'sport' is to log on to YouTube and check out the plethora of videos that grace the site. To help you along the way, BuildersBox has selected some of its favourite vids:
How to make one of these bad boys
In proof that man really is a monster, not a mere animal, the extraordinarily named Bear Grylls takes the word 'beastly' to an all-new level. After watching him you will never again complain about that fly in your cup of tea or hair on your freshly cooked battered sausage.
Part-human, part-wolf, part...well...-bear, Bear Grylls can be viewed on telly performing all manner of disgusting tasks, and now, thanks to our friends at YouTube, you can catch him in action on the net as well:
Fancy eating raw, decaying Zebra flesh? Mr Grylls does, along with freshly caught fish - which, coincidentally, he breaks the spine of in his lap before tucking in, guts and all.
How about squeezing water out of a pile of poo? Of course, that's a good source of hydration, says Bear.
Or, maybe, in the final, most outrageously foul of all his 'skills', how about eating maggots off a thoroughly diseased animal corpse? Don't be a wimp, get stuck in! He exclaims, drooling.
Ray Mears, wimp. Andy McNab, bedwetter. Bear Grylls. Grrrrr! Yes, I really do think that is his real name as well.
Now, the Box is pretty easy going when it comes to matters of taste, but these rugs stretch even our flexible boundaries to the limit. If you thought tiger or bear rugs were a bit 'full on', then these 'war on terror' rugs may not be your cup of tea. Yep, you heard me right, war on terror rugs. I can practically guarantee if you ever see one of these in a house, get out, straight away.
Oddly, the Box thinks they are kitsch. No, really. Anything this bizarre can't be sold seriously, can it? Well, I would like to live in a world where it isn't.
Now, BuildersBox likes a good bit of plant, and there is nothing more satisfying than seeing an enormous digger lifting a whole load of soil, but the idea of spending thousands of pounds on miniature toy versions of excavators seems a little bit excessive. Yet this is exactly what a whole community of geeky enthusiasts do, producing a bizarre world of mini-diggers and tiny trucks.
Unsurprisingly there is a glut of videos of toy plant on YouTube, here is a selection:
Builders may not have much time for DIY 'experts' who get it wrong time and time again, but surely even your cold, bitter hearts have a place for the 90s US TV classic 'Home Improvement'.
The imaginary frollicks of Tim 'the tool man' Taylor and chums highlighted the comic pitfalls of trying to do work which the average Joe Bloggs knows deep in their heart should be done by the professionals, like you.
So if you fancy cheering yourself up and feeling better about the work you do, or if you just want to laugh at tool-based silliness, check out the vids below:
And now for something completely different...if you are a fan of the traditional tools that your grandfather may have used, then this may well be the site for you. OldTools.co.uk offers a wide range of antique woodworking tool collectables and old engineering products. So, if you fancy buying something for the mantlepiece, or maybe you would actually like to use some of the fine items on display, check out the website:
Undoubtedly you are sitting right now, reading these very words, in front of a dull-toned grey or black monitor and keyboard. But, wait a second, are you not a builder? Do you not love to construct things? Why are you not painting your screen, sanding your keyboard or planing your mouse? Because that would ruin a perfectly good computer, of course. Well now, at last, is your chance to spruce up your virtual life once and for all.
Boffins at the 'Steampunk Workshop' - where apparently the industrial revolution has returned and 'this time it's personal' - have spent far too much time producing an overtly decadent and quite funky looking monitor and keyboard in what can only be described as a GCSE Design & Technology project gone mad.
It's quite possible that you too might be able to make the IT suite, as all it requires are a few basic tools and some spare time. If any of you do make it, please email me with some pics so I can laugh, I mean, applaud your work.
Related links: The Steampunk monitor and keyboard
BuildersBox recently discovered a Dutch oddity. Not satisfied with imposing 'Big Brother' across the globe, the Dutch have now made...wait for it...elevator toilets.
Unfortunately these are not as insane as they sound. Its just a normal bog decorated as an elevator, not a working elevator with a toilet in it.
It has been created for a Dutch reality show. What a surprise.
Please, don't tell Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, just have a look at it yourself instead.
Oh yeah, on the website the lift loo features on there are also some crazy video ads to the far right of the screen that are worth checking out, under the title 'bekijk de tv spots', and involving pink rooms, paintballing, and an excessively large collection of ceramic cats. Tarrant, eat your heart out.
Demolition can be a difficult job at the best of times, especially with all the health and safety issues that it involves. But one company clearly decided that such worries were not important, as the following visual evidence testifies.
There isn't really much point BuildersBox saying 'Don't try this at home', because no one would be stupid enough to in the first place. Well, at least that's what the Box thought until we saw these pics.
There are plenty of high street stores that sell a variety of rubbish gadgets and tools, most of which you find at the bottom of your stocking at Christmas, wishing the loved one that bought it hadn't wasted their precious pounds.
But here is one gadget that might just be worth having; a hammer with a bottle opener. Superb, but not recommended for use on site.
You can buy it from Gadgetsuk.com.
If imploding buildings is your cup of tea, then this is probably the website for you. Produced by our friends across the pond, ImplosionWorld features demolitions by both American and British companies across the globe. The Yanks don't do anything without a bit of pomp and ceremony, and this site is testament to that fact with fireworks and implosions mixed into one.
The 'Cinema explosif' section is where you can find all of the filmed action, including a particularly impressive demolition of the Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Woh Yeah!
Related links: Implosion World
Unique Daily's gallery of weird buildings from around the world is definitely worth a quick visit if you are into wacky office designs and silly houses.
BuildersBox's favourite has to be the Polish 'Crooked House'. It takes a good few seconds to realise it is an actual building and not a photographic trick. Now building that nutty structure must have been a challenge.
Related links: Unique Daily website
This page contains all entries posted to Builders' Fun Stuff in July 2007. They are listed from oldest to newest.
August 2007 is the next archive.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.
