Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself.
Robert G Ingersoll
All posts by Keith
Something to Think About this month
As well as everything else, each month I offer you something to think about and get the brain working. This month …
Night-time is the natural state of the universe; daytime is only caused by a nearby, radiating ball of flame.
October Quiz Questions
Each month we’re posing six pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As always, they’re designed to be difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so have a bit of fun.
Classical & Ancient World
- What is the name of the home of the Greek Gods?
- Which body of the water was called mare nostrum by the Romans?
- Ask and Embla are the Norse equivalent to the Christian what?
- What was the name of the Egyptian God of the Sun?
- In Roman mythology, who is the goddess of the sewers?
- Which word derives from the Latin for “sand” and originally denoted part of a Roman amphitheatre that was covered with sand to soak up the blood from combat?
Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.
October 1925
Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.
2. In London, John Logie Baird successfully transmits the first television pictures with a greyscale image.
3. Born. Gore Vidal, writer and public intellectual, in West Point, New York (d.2012)
5. The Locarno Conference began in Locarno, Switzerland between several European powers to negotiate a security pact.
13. Born. Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England (d.2013)
13. The Locarno conference ended with several agreements in place. German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann gave a closing speech in which he said the conference spelled a new era in European relationships, while French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand said it marked the beginning of a new epoch of cooperation and friendship.
16. Born. Angela Lansbury, actress and singer, in Regent’s Park, London (d.2022)
23. Born. Johnny Carson, American comedian and television host (d.2005)
24. Born. Luciano Berio, Italian composer (d.2003)
29. Born. Robert Hardy, actor, in Cheltenham, England (d.2017)
Unblogged September
Being some things noted in this last month which I’ve not otherwise written about.
Monday 1
Blimey, what a day! It started on dodgy ground, with too much to squeeze in, and went down hill all the way from there.
Follow-up call from GP first thing: Can I come in today? No. Forced an arrangement which much better suits me as I don’t think this is urgent. Downside is I have to go get some blood tests on Wednesday morning.
Then to the optician. We both got away without needing new glasses – result! However the optician spots something in N’s eye(s) that she doesn’t like and insists on her going today to the eye hospital in central London. It takes N ages to get a cab, by which time I’ve had my eye test so I cadge a lift home. Home at 14:00 having gone out at 11:00!
Along the way I forgot to stop and consign the post to a postbox, and drop into the doctors for some sample tubes.
I would have gone with N except we’re due a supermarket delivery between 16:00-17:00. This turns up, unannounced, at 14:35! Gah!
I then forgot all about this evening’s reading group Zoom call.
N finally got home at something well past 21:00 having been buggered around by the cab company!
Tuesday 2
A very unexciting day, which was good after yesterday, and was spent regrouping. A quick dash out first thing to the post and doctors – before the rain arrived. Then, apart from falling asleep for an hour mid-afternoon, spent the rest of the day catching up on admin and paperwork, which should have been done yesterday. Most of the day from mid-morning was punctuated by heavy rain showers – which is good because we really need it.
Wednesday 3
Cometh today the gardener, which was just as well as overnight the metal arch over the path outside the back door has fallen apart (in the wind), and of course taken the honeysuckle and rambler rose with it. We shouldn’t complain as it came from my parents 20 or more years ago, and was not new then, so it’s done well. The rose (which hitherto has not been prolific but which we don’t want to lose) has been propped up, but I suspect we’ll lose one good stem. The honeysuckle has been cut off at about 3 feet for now, and will doubtless come again from the bottom. The upshot was to order a new metal arch. Well it’s only money! And all of a piece with the rest of the week.
Friday 5
Result (I hope)! I discovered I can get this autumn’s Covid booster. The rules say it’s available only to those over 75, but when you read the small print it is anyone who is 75 or over on 31 January 2026. So I creep in by about 2 weeks. I’ve been able to book my Covid and flu jabs for early October, so we’ll see what happens.
Monday 8
8 September 1979 was a gloriously warm and sunny Saturday, so N and I walked the 400m to church to get married.
Tuesday 9
What is happening today? There’s been a lot of helicopter traffic around. We always see a few choppers as we’re close to Northolt airfield, which stables a few including London’s Air Ambulance. But today there’s been much more traffic than usual, including, at about 17:00, three Chinooks in line heading towards Northolt. We normally only see them (and then normally only singly) if there’s some big military event, or a visiting someone who needs extra security. And blimey, they’re huge noisy beasts.
Saturday 13
We seem to have made a habit of of having king prawn salad on a Friday or Saturday evening. And so it came to pass this evening. But who knew cats like prawns? We always keep them two or three prawns, which are divided out between whichever helpers appear when we’re eating. This evening we had all three cats, within two feet of each other, sitting there saying “I do like prawns. Please Mum, are there more?” It’s a good job we always buy plenty of prawns as they probably got through the best part of two large prawns each; and that was after cleaning their bowls of their weekly treat of fresh cooked cod.
Tuesday 16
Make up your bloody minds! Tooth op tomorrow and I was originally given an 11:30 arrival time. Then a few days ago they decided to change it and get all the surgeon’s list in for 07:00, so no food after 02:00! This afternoon it was changed back to 11:30; much more civilised. Apparently the surgeon’s secretary told the hospital they weren’t having patients sitting around all day to no purpose; so some of us were moved back to a sensible time. I must say I was rather relieved, and welcomed the elbow room. And this is private healthcare too!
Wednesday 17
After a few days of panic, the surgery to remove the remains of my molar was easy – apart from still spending too many hours sitting around the hospital and feeling apprehensive (as below).
Everyone eventually found their correct hymn sheets and agreed I was having sedation and local anaesthetic, which was brilliant. The sedation turned out to be only like having downed a full bottle of wine!
I was in and out of theatre in 45 minutes – arrive at theatre at 14:20; in Recovery by 15:05; home before 18:15. Yes it’s a bit painful, but I have strong painkillers if I need them.
Along the way the senior theatre nurse spotted my infected elbow (which I’ve had for years). I was robustly told off and ordered to go to my GP.
Thursday 18
I slept well and tooth much better than anticipated. Yes, some pain, but controllable with ibuprofen. Gradually getting back to food: soup and softer things; will likely be almost back to normal tomorrow. Spent the afternoon with friends as, somewhat ridiculously, I was supposed to have a babysitter for 24 hours (and N was at hospital herself) – probably wise as I do still feel somewhat disconnected.
Friday 19
Definitely improving. Eating pretty much normally, although being careful. Almost don’t need painkillers. But still dozy in the head, so nothing accomplished except a request to GPs to look at the elbow.
I was sent home from hospital with antibiotics (because elbow), opioid painkillers (which contain paracetamol and thus conflict with the antibiotics), and some laxative (because opioid painkillers). What a complete waste; I’m taking the antibiotics but not the opioid painkillers and hence not the laxative – so these last two will just end up being taken to the pharmacy and destroyed.
Saturday 20
Blimey; it’s blowing a gale out there this evening. Mind there is a yellow weather warning out, so we can’t say we’re surprised.
Sunday 21
This evening I rescued a small fruit fly from N’s wine. Obviously it was wet and doused in alcohol. Will it survive? Of course it will. It sat on my paper napkin for quite a few minutes. Firstly running around, possibly to clean the feet and get the body working. Then, which I’ve noticed before, it used its front feet to clean its face; and back feet to clean its wings; rinse and repeat many times. After maybe 5 minutes, poof, it was gone. Clearly all systems restored. I continue to be amazed at the delicateness of these creatures; fine thread-like red-brown legs; tiny black heads; black & yellow striped abdomens; delicate transparent wings. At first sight you think they’re just black; but they aren’t. And how you can make something that small, which works, defeats my brain. They’re amazing little creatures.
Monday 22
Today we picked the apples from our two small (planted in large containers) trees. Although they’re not yet fully ripe, many were getting eaten (snails, ants, etc.) so we needed to cut our losses. A huge number from one of the trees (Falstaff), although many are small and will have to be used for chutney or the like. Not so many from the other tree (Pinova), but they are large.
I’m still feeling pretty washed out after the tooth op, which I guess is the body needing to recover from the stress and shock. So taking things gently.
Tuesday 23
It is wonderful to be able to eat fresh, tasty, organic apples – even if they are still slightly tart, which I don’t mind (I have been known to eat Bramleys as a dessert apple!).
Thursday 25
This morning my annual diabetes check-up with the nurse at the doctors. I spent almost 40 minutes with her; we covered a lot of ground, and not just diabetes. Overall she is very happy with me and trusts my numbers on blood pressure, weight etc. No blood tests as key ones were done a few months ago; but she suggested we do them again in December (before Christmas). Moreover she likes the way I track some things and took a couple of my charts away to use with other patients!
Friday 26
Tooth now pretty much back to normal. Just a slight niggle remaining so I’ve not needed any painkillers for at least 48 hours. Still having to be careful with the toothbrush, and not chewing on that side.
Sunday 28
After all this time it does feel slightly odd to be going out socialising. We had a very pleasant lunch today with friends who looked after me 10 days ago – so the treat was on me. They took us to their local tapas restaurant. Surprisingly for Sunday lunchtime it was not packed, with just two other tables occupied, one of four people (as we were too) and the other with a party of, I think, seven. Plenty of plates of tapas shared: salads, whitebait, sardines, sausage, chicken, patatas bravas …; followed by the obligatory churros with chocolate sauce. And it was good; nothing much more needed today; and the healthy eating option satisfied for the week – maybe!
Tuesday 30
I’ll leave you this month with a fairly rubbish photo of Tilly Cat in repose this afternoon amongst the miscellaneous garbage in the study.
Monthly Links
Here’s this month’s action packed collection of links to items you may have missed.
Science, Technology, Natural World
It’s that time of year again, when the Ig Nobel Prize winners are announced.
Two articles:
Tipsy Bats and Perfect Pasta, from Scientific American. [££££]
Teflon diet, garlic milk and zebra cows from the Guardian.
And so to something else approaching reality … the oldest known ankylosaur fossil shows the creature was “bristling with spikes”.
I’m not sure this isn’t so obvious it qualifies for an Ig Nobel, but it seems that primates with longer thumbs tend to have bigger brains.
While on brains … apparently the brain’s body map is surprisingly stable even after you lose a limb. [££££]
Researchers have done an incredible amount of work to map out every nerve in a mouse. [££££]
And still with brains … here’s a look at what owning a cat does to your brain and theirs.
On top of which, like humans, cats can get dementia.
When is a dancing spider a different species of dancing spider?
One guy noticed that thousands of flies kept landing on an oil rig in the middle of the North Sea, and then leaving a few hours later.
How do you manage to track, find and record invasive Asian hornets in the UK?
Now a couple of items for the deep nerds out there … first, much of advanced maths and data analysis depends on Fourier transforms. But what is a Fourier transform?
Now here’s a look at conceptagion – the idea that an outbreak of “mass hysteria” can cause physical symptoms.
OK, so a shift of focus … there’s what appears to be a huge crater in the sediments at the bottom of the North Sea, which most scientists now think was caused by an asteroid impact.
So a robot lander may (or may not) have found signs of ancient life in Martian rocks – but we won’t know for certain at least until scientists get their hands on the samples.
Health, Medicine
The death of an American child shows just how measles can kill years after the initial infection. [££££]
Here’s some low-down on a virus almost everyone gets – HPV.
And here’s a short tutorial on immunology and the basics of vaccines …
… And a look at how hard it was for germ theory to become the prevailing understanding of infectious disease.
Environment & Ecology
A rare continental ladybird has been recorded for the first time in southern England.
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
Somewhat surprisingly there is a dearth of historical items this month …
First off, the story of human evolution is being radically changed by a Denisovan skull. [££££]
Here’s an introduction to a new(?) website of maps of some English cities showing the incidence of violence in 14th century.
Finally here … Ten things you maybe didn’t know about forks.
Food, Drink
The UK’s food system is based on keeping prices low, but recent droughts are showing up where and how this fails.
There are increasing concerns over the quality of our food, and here are some red flags on spotting chemical ingredients, kitchenware etc.
Which begs the question: do we actually know what we’re eating?
And how do we tell ultra-processed foods from minimally processed foods.
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
Ladies … here’s a theory of why your husband “forgets” everything you tell him.
Here’s a piece on the Māori and their tradition of nudity.
And finally for this month, one young lady asks why nudity is such a big deal.
What Happened in 1625
Here’s our next instalment of things that happened in ..25 years of yore.
Some Notable Events in 1625
3 February. Francesca Caccini`s opera La liberaziune di Ruggiero has its premiere in Florence.
11 February. Dutch-Portuguese War: One of the largest naval battles ever fought in the Persian Gulf takes place in the Straits of Hormuz as fleets of the Dutch East India Company and the English East India Company defend Persia against an attack by ships from the colony of Portuguese India.
7 March. Died. Johann Bayer, German lawyer and uranographer (b.1572).
21 March. James Ussher is appointed Archblshop of Armagh (Church of Ireland) and Primate of All Ireland.
27 March. Died. King James VI & I (b.1566). He is succeeded by Charles I.
18 April. Born. Sir John Baber, English physician to Charles II (d.1704).
9 May. Born. George Pitt, English politician (d.1694).
5 June. Died. Orlando Gibbons, English composer and organist (b.1583).
13 June. King Charles I of England marries Catholic princess Henrietta Maria of France and Navarre, at Canterbury.
18 June. The English Parliament refuses to vote Charles I the right to collect customs duties for his entire reign, restricting him to one year instead.
23 June. Born. John Fell, English churchman and influential academic (d.1686).
July. The Barbary pirates attack south-western EngIand and in August they enslave about 60 people from Mount’s Bay in Cornwall.
27 July. Born. Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich (d.1672).
18 August. Died. Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche, English diplomat (b.1556).
6 September. Died. Thomas Dempster, Scottish historian (b.1579).
8 September. The Treaty of Southampton makes an alliance between England and the Dutch Republic, against Spain.
2 October. Born. Vere Essex Cromwell, 4th Earl of Ardglass, English noble (d.1687).
1-7 November. Cádiz Expedition: English forces commanded by Admiral George Villiers are decisively defeated by the Spanish at Cádiz.
12 November. Born. Sir Edward Dering, 2nd Baronet, Irish politician (d.1684).
9 December. Thirty Years’ War: The Netherlands and England sign the Treaty of The Hague, a military peace treaty for providing economic aid to King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway, during his military campaigns in Germany.
Unknown Date. The Dutch settle Manhattan, founding the town of New Amsterdam. The town will transform into a piece of New York City.
Unknown Date. In England, a very high tide occurs, the highest ever known in the Thames, and the sea walls in Kent, Essex, and Lincolnshire are breached, causing great desolation.
This Month’s Two Tiny Changes
Each month during 2025 we’re offering two tiny changes which may help improve your life. This month …
- Buy secondhand clothes. No not cheap rubbish; you can buy good labels that you couldn’t otherwise afford online or at your local charity shop.
- Carve out more hours than you think you need for sleep.
Monthly Quotes
Welcome to this month’s collection of quotes.
One passes through the world knowing few, if any, of the important things about even the people with whom one has been from time to time in the closest intimacy.
[Anthony Powell, The Kindly Ones]
And it is according to his faith; his faith in the power of numbers, in the stability of order, in the assurance and perfection of law; and deviation and irregularity stand revealed as results of the perfection of order and the assurance of law; or – to go to the essence and reality of which order and law are but the apparent and sensible exponents – of the presence in his providence, faithfulness, and power, of HIM who calleth all these stars out by name, and leadeth them on in order.
[Scientific American; 11 June 1847]
Clubbing is, and always was, shit … If I wanted to feel some sweaty man’s bollocks pushed into the curve of my equally sweaty back whilst being deafened by indecipherable garbagio, I’d hop on the Central Line.
[Harriet Richardson; https://substack.com/@harrietrichardson/p-166601507]
If he ejaculates semen it’s because his body is full of toxins and he has had too many sexual partners. Men are not supposed to have semen, its unclean! Vegan men with few sex partners ejaculate fresh water.
[unknown]
Capitalism is based on ridiculous notion that you can enjoy limitless growth in a closed finite system. In biology, such behaviour of cells is called cancer.
[unknown]
Don’t waste time worrying about things you can’t control. You can’t fight every battle. Choose which ones are worth fighting and let the others go.
[unknown]
The purpose of propaganda is to make one set of people forget that other sets of people are human.
[Aldous Huxley]
Polyamory might actually be friendship operating within a patriarchal framework that continues to essentialize sex and romantic relationships.
[unknown]
A computer can never be spiteful or horny; therefore a computer must never make art.
[unknown]
We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.
[Benjamin Franklin]
Tolerance will reach such a level that intelligent people will be banned from thinking so as not to offend the imbeciles.
[Fyodor Dostoevsky]
September Quiz Answers
Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.
Literature
- Which Tolstoy novel begins “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”? Anna Karenina
- Who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016? Bob Dylan
- Who wrote A Child’s History of England? Dickens, 1853
- Who succeeded Wordsworth as Poet Laureate in Nov 1850? Tennyson
- Apart from his novels, what is Anthony Trollope remembered for? Introduction of pillar boxes to UK
- Which two-word term was popularised by a 1948 Robert Heinlein novel of the same name, which inspired a science fiction franchise centring on a character named Tom Corbett? Space Cadet
Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.