Of Vikings, knickers, dykes, rocks, illuminations, kinky priests and la, la, la, la, la, la

Not for the first time, a Viking Longship has sailed up the Thames into London; this time it's peaceful

On a grey, mizzly and wet day - it's another snippets post, dear reader:

• Beavers vs dykes news: Reintroduced into the Netherlands in the 1980s, the beaver population is now threatening the flood security of low-lying areas of the country by digging through the defensive dykes. No comment.
• Dodgy knickers salesman news: A self-styled clothing tycoon who sold counterfeit socks and pants while operating an extensive fraud ring will have all his UK assets - £90m worth of property and luxury cars - seized to recover the taxes he owes to HM Revenue and Customs. Of course, he's a tax exile in Dubai so no doubt will get away with the rest of his ill-gotten gains.
• You'd never wear that round your neck news: An approximately 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite, weighing a quarter of a ton, has gone up for auction in the Netherlands for an estimated £860,000. An expensive door-stop!
• Fancy owning one of the Dowager Countess of Grantham's frocks? news: Iconic props and costumes from Downton Abbey are on view to the public until they are auctioned-off at Bonhams in London on 16th September! Anything - even "Martha Levinson" (Shirley MacLaine)'s evening dress would do...

• Not so grim up North news: The annual Blackpool illuminations - designed by the flamboyant Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen - have been switched on by pop muppet Olly Murs. There has to be some reason to go there this late in the season...
• Hallelujah here we come news: An ex-Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to obscenity for being caught having sex with two dominatrices atop a church altar in Louisiana has asked for his phones and cameras back. You couldn't make this stuff up!
• And finally: RIP Señor Manuel de la Calva. Who? I hear you ask. Well, he was founder-member of "Spain's answer to the Beatles" Dúo Dinámico, and co-wrote one of Spain's most famous Eurovision Song Contest winning entries way back in 1968. And here it is!

Massiel - La, la, la (1968)

They just don't write lyrics like that anymore...