Do YOU have what it takes to be a pulp nurse? It's a demanding, exciting, glamorous and sometimes dangerous occupation you know!

Let's look at a few job opportunities in this field... #FridayFeeling

Today in pulp I look back at the world of Soviet women's fashion!

It's not all berets, but it mostly is...

Now you may think that fashion and the Soviet Union go together like Groucho Marx and Friedrich Engels. However that is to misunderstand the nature of the Commad Economy: if she commands it, you'd better buy it for her!

So there is a rich history of fashion and fun (along with the tractor factories and endless ballet performances) in the old USSR. Let's take a sashay along it...

At the start of the Soviet years women's fashion, let's face it, tended towards the functional. Red was popular, as were headscarves, hobnail boots and the ability to field strip a 3-line rifle.

But all that was about to change...

...because Russia had a new fashionista in charge: Stalin! He hated the peasant look of War Communism because it made socialism seem synonymous with poverty. He ordered Soviet Woman to spruce herself up.

In the shadowy corners of the shortwave spectrum lurk the Numbers Stations: strange radio broadcasts of mysterious blocks of numbers in creepy monotone voices!

It's actually an old form of spycraft which is still in use today. And as it's #WorldRadioDay let's take a listen...

A Numbers Station is a type of one-way voice link for sending information to spies in foreign countries.

Operating on Short Wave radio bands they transmit a secret code of spoken numbers. Use of Numbers Stations peaked during the Cold War, but some are still operating today.

Numbers Stations are operated by various national intelligence agencies. At set times on a pre-arranged frequency a musical tone is played, followed by a speech synthesised voice reading out blocks of numbers. To most listeners it sounds both creepy and meaningless.

However to spies it can be vital. The numbers can be decoded to reveal a message, provided the spy has the right One Time Pad (OTP) - a random number key that is only used once before it is destroyed. OTP encryption is impossible to break if done correctly.

Why broadcast your secret message on Short Wave? Because it can be picked up across the globe. All a spy needs is a shop bought SW radio, a pencil, and the correct One Time Pad and they - and only they - can decipher the message. No complex kit is required.

Happy #WorldEggDay everyone! Let's share a few egg facts to celebrate.

Did you know... a chicken's earlobes can predict what colour egg they will lay?

Fake chicken eggs are a problem in China. Manufactured false eggs made from resin, coagulent and starch in a counterfeit shell are being sold as real by fraudsters. #WorldEggDay

In 1806 con artist Mary Bateman scratched the words "Christ is coming" on numerous eggs before inserting then back up a chicken. She then charged people to see the 'miracle eggs' being laid. #WorldEggDay

The world record for eating hard boiled eggs is 65 swallowed in 6 mins 40 secs by Sonya Thomas. She could have eaten more but they ran out of eggs. #WorldEggDay

And finally... Canadian scientists concluded in 2008 that the egg did indeed come before the chicken: dinosaurs were laying them long before they evolved into birds.

Every day's a school day... #WorldEggDay

Which book took you the longest time to actually finish reading?

For me: Underworld. 17 years from buying it to actually getting around to reading it, and maybe 19 months on and off to make myself read it until the end.

Still, ticked it off the list ✔

Second place goes to The Charterhouse of Parma, which Stendhal wrote in 52 days. According to the Oxfam Books receipt I used as a bookmark I bought it on 11 April 2009. Finished it last month.

Coming Up For Air was torture. It's nature's punishment for autodidacts.

At it's #NewYearsEve we're going to end the year by playing the Agatha Christie game!

I'll show you the book cover artwork by Tom Adams, and you guess the Fontana edition Agatha Christie novel it's from.

Here's your first one...

A little bit trickier for question 2...

A lot trickier for number 3, but the clues are there if you know your Christie...

And here's your last Agatha Christie cover for this round - quite a famous one.

I'll post the answers in a bit, so get your guesses in now please!

Here are the answers to round 1 of the Agatha Christie game. I hope you got a few right, as round 2 will exercise your little grey cells a little bit more...