Urinal

  • Posted: June 3rd, 2010 - 8:17am by Doug Powell

    The public health department in Hamilton, Ontario (that’s in Canada) is failing to properly monitor Hamilton's restaurants.

    But a Hamilton restaurant with mouth-shaped urinals in the men’s room is attracting attention (OK, not from public health inspectors).

    The Hamilton Spectator reports that an audit presented to city council yesterday shows the city isn't meeting provincial standards for food safety inspections.

    It should have performed 4,700 routine inspections last year, but missed that target by 1,200.

    The audit also found restaurants and food services with repeat problems weren't consistently penalized. Out of 450 establishments with multiple infractions, only six were ticketed in 2009.

    Ann Pekaruk, the city's director of audit services, said her department couldn't find an adequate reason why the inspections weren't completed.

    But there is one Hamilton restaurant that has attracted attention.

    After eight months of refusing to give in to pressure from women’s rights groups, politicians and threats of boycotts, the National Post reports a Hamilton restaurant has agreed to take down the controversial mouth-shaped urinals in its men’s restroom.

    The Honest Lawyer in Hamilton bought the urinals, which have big, glossy red lips, in Europe and installed them in the restroom three years ago, said Renee Roth, the restaurant’s operations manager and partner, but it didn’t get any negative attention until recently.

    “The people started saying it was misogynist, sexist and hurtful. That’s not what we meant for it,” Ms. Roth says. “I saw it as a simple novelty. A decoration in my bathroom. But we didn’t want to confuse people to think we support the things the activists were accusing us of.”
     

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  • Posted: May 17th, 2010 - 12:42pm by Doug Powell

    As I’ve said before, when Chapman got his first Blackberry he was so proud he sent me an e-mail from the crapper.

    “Dude, I’m on the toilet, and I’m e-mailing you,” or something like that.

    Last week, the apparently popular Tokyo DJ, Naika_tei, who also apparently doesn’t know to check for toilet paper before laying logs in a public bathroom, discovered the TP shortage after completing his business. The tei played it cool in the electronics store and sent out this tweet:

    "[Urgently needed] toilet paper in the 3rd floor toilet of Akiba Yodobashi."

    Five minutes later, he sent another desperate tweet.

    After 18 minutes, he tweeted again:

    "The toilet paper arrived safely! Thank you very much!"

    No amount of tweeting would help the fellow in the video, below. According to one of my language correspondents, the folks in this clip are speaking Dutch, and the dude tried to wash his hands in the Pissoir -- the portajohns were apparently there for the women. When she asks: For the record: is that the pissoir? The guy in the red shirt says: yes, a pissoir.

    The blond with the microphone says she is speechless.

    At least when I was a kid and went to Maple Leaf Gardens when Toronto had a winning hockey team (yes, I am that old) the communal urinal trough was level with the floor, not at handwashing height.

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  • Posted: April 7th, 2010 - 1:38pm by Doug Powell

    The iPad is all the rage, but I just don’t get it. Amy’s got her iPhone, and it has a camera, so she doesn’t care; me, I figured out how to take my 17-inch MacBook Pro everywhere, including the bathroom, years ago. It may not be subtle, but it works.

    For those of you looking to better combine your computing and recreational experiences, Albert Amgar of France and friend of bites.ksu.edu sends along this video.

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  • Posted: May 19th, 2008 - 12:30pm by Doug Powell

    A Chinese restaurant in Changchun city has been criticized for keeping 20 fancy carp in an over 12-foot-long urinal trough in the mens' bathroom.

    The restaurant says the fish are not in any danger and that the water is running and staff change the water at least twice a day and add oxygen into the water much like a regular fish tank.

    The restaurant's owner adds the fish are just an attraction and not used in dishes.

    Guests say they're surprised to see the fish swimming in the trough which has a sign saying, "Please urinate here" above it.
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