Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
[Eleanor Roosevelt]
Category Archives: amusements
July Quiz Questions
Again this year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.
July Quiz Questions: Medical
- In a woman where would you find the pisiform bone?
- When was insulin first used to treat a patient with diabetes?
- What is tachycardia?
- Who introduced inoculation against smallpox to England?
- What is a Sphygmomanometer used for?
Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.
Unblogged June
| Thu 1 | Well that really was a bit of a slog. But we pretty much got there. |
| Fri 2 | #000000;" />Last of the proceeds from the smokery. Smoked duck breast. In salad with lettuce, tomato, asparagus, pine nuts & croutons; served with a lemon & olive oil dressing. Followed by raspberries and cream. Washed down with a bottle of Falanghina. A passable Friday evening repast. |
| Sat 3 | Just watched a 10 minute film To Scale: TIME on YouTube demonstrating the age of the universe. And one has to wonder what really is the point, and why do we bother? |
| Sun 4 | What a lovely day. And the gardener came. So the place looks a bit tidier, except for the deliberately unmown lawn which looks like what it is: a scruffy meadow. Pottering in and out and took a few photos.  |
| Mon 5 | Oooo … next door’s marmalade cat so nearly got that squirrel – despite looking heavily pregnant. |
| Tue 6 | Mid-afternoon and the garden is awash with juvenile tits, some still being fed by parents. They were going everywhere; continually flitting hither and yon; and little clubs of then in a couple of places just hanging out. Half a dozen Blue Tits and as many Great Tits – and that’s just what I counted; there could well have been twice that. Plus a couple of sparrows joining in. |
| Wed 7 | Somewhere in the house there are three cats. But I’ve no idea where as I’ve hardly seen anything of them all day. Rosie appeared for a share of our lunch – no change there. Tilly and Boy have put in the odd guest appearance but no more. Other days they’ll all three be in and around all day. |
| Thu 8 | I blogged about the roses in our garden, but having walked round today I realised that we have both wheat and barley growing amongst the unmown lawn. Just a couple of ears of barley and a couple of dozen wheat, so not enough to make bread or beer. But they’ll not go to waste; if they don’t feed us they’ll feed the birds or mice. I guess they’re seed that got lost from the bird feeders last autumn. |
| Fri 9 | So why are there feathers on the dining room rug? Which cat is the villain? They’re dark and small, so probably sparrow. But there’s no sign of a corpse. |
| Sat 10 | It’s a wonderful hot sunny day, but sadly annoying on several counts. First I can’t sit outside because of my hayfever, even having had my usual antihistamine my eyes are streaming; guess that’s some part down to the unmown prairie called a lawn. There’s continual noise of someone, somewhere strimming or the like. And of course the neighbours are all sitting outside talking. One in particular never stops; never draws breath; it just the rivers of babble-on. |
| Sun 11 | Bad light stopped play this afternoon, and despite much stomach rumbling in the gods, nobody thought to provide any rain. |
| Mon 12 | Another hot and sticky day; lots of thunder in the afternoon and about 30 minutes light rain. And for once nothing in the schedule which had to be done – not that this stopped the day going tits up fairly early on. |
| Tue 13 | A new book available from the literary society. So I spend all afternoon consolidating payments, packing and posting. It’s a thankless job, made worse when Royal Mail’s online postage system doesn’t work properly. |
| Wed 14 | It’s uncomfortably hot, even for me. So I spend the day indoors without clothing (not unusual). Can’t sit outside as the pollen gets my hayfever going withing minutes – itchy, watering eyes mostly, despite daily antihistamine and regular eyedrops. Very annoying, especially as I’ve had hayfever since I was about 6 years old. |
| Thu 15 | The gardener comes this morning. Oh! No, the gardener comes after lunch. I see … The gardener comes not; he’s tied up sorting some leaky plumbing for another customer. I wonder if Saturday will bring more luck? |
| Fri 16 | Phew! What a day. Who would think that a trip to the hospital to get new hearing aids would be so tiring? OK, so it was a hot day; but audiology appointmnets aren’t invasive or threatening, they’re actually quite benign. It’s all the hassle around it that’s so draining: from middle of the night hypos, to early supermarket deliveries and getting taxis. But we won! |
| Sat 17 | The gardener actually got here this afternoon and did some planting and tidying. At he same time we spent a nice few hours outside as well, doing some potting, fixing the watering system, and getting some sun (but not sunburn!). Sent the gardener away happy with a couple of chilli plants and some homegrown coleus. |
| Sun 18 | Weatherman speak with forked tongue, again. Instead of thundery showers, we managed just 30 minutes desultory drizzle, which is no good at all for the garden. |
| Mon 19 | A day marking time; no physical or mental go. |
| Tue 20 | Today is Tuesday 20 June 2023, and that’s not something you can say every day. |
| Wed 21 | Day 3. Hill. Jelly. Treacle. Toothpicks. Rinse and repeat. Why are washing machines so endlessly boring? |
| Thu 22 | Last evening there was a lovely crescent moon (apparently 14% illuminated) and Venus in the western sky just after sunset (like my sketch below). More please! |
| Fri 23 | How is it that a friend you knew as a teenager when you were newly married is now celebrating their 60th? Even if I accept that I’m a geriatric, the friend in question certainly isn’t 60 already. Tempus fugit velociter. |
| Sat 24 | Sad to be missing the friend’s 60th birthday bash – and her younger son’s 21st too – but N and I still don’t feel comfortable and safe in large indoor gatherings. And although it’s only been 28°C today, with the humidity thrown in, it is just too hot to get dressed up. |
| Sun 25 | Shortly after 06:00 this morning our resident fox was still on the prowl. And right up by the trail camera so we got a good shot of the top half as he/she was so close. We’ve had this fox around all year, and I think it may be the only one we now have; at most we have two; whereas we did have at least three individuals (although they’re difficult to differentiate from poor night-time trail camera images). And boy are they a good disposal system: put out a plate of scraps (chicken carcass, cold baked potato, disliked digestive biscuits, lamb bones) and it all magically disappears during the night. |
| Mon 26 | I’ve been saying for some time that I’d revamp the Anthony Powell London tour I originally did as part of the 2011 conference. I started on the rewrite a couple of months ago and put it down, as one does. Today was the day to find all the ends and tuck them in. Several hours later and the tour notes are done, complete with street-by-street navigation. At 20 pages this version is twice the size of the previous one, and is definitely not a coach tour as it includes places you’d not want to try to get a 50 seater coach! The notes have been sent off to my friendly local black cabbie (who does lots of tours of London) for comment. It’ll be interesting to see what I’ve got wrong! |
| Tue 27 | Technology. When it works it can be a real benefit and a time saver. When, all too frequently, it doesn’t work it’s a complete PITA and wastes so much time. Spent and unhappy afternoon fighting with Royal Mail’s on line system and, separately, the phone system. I think I won the former but definitely didn’t win the latter. Came away feeling totally smacked. |
| Wed 28 | So in the end we did something we’ve not done since the before times and ordered in pizza. |
| Thu 29 | Still at least I didn’t drown in the shower. Had I done so it would have been all of a piece with the rest of the day. |
| Fri 30 | On a wonderfully damp evening I’ll leave you with something cheerful: the flowers on our recently acquired scented geraniums. |
June Quiz Answers
Here are the answers to this month’s five quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.
June Quiz Questions: World Geography
- Until 1930, what was the Turkish city of Istanbul called? Constantinople
- What country has the most islands in the world? Sweden, with 267,570.
- What is the largest desert in the world? Antarctica
- What country is located between France and Spain? Andorra
- What is the smallest country in the world by area? Vatican City at 0.49 sq km
Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2022.
Self-Portrait, June
[Click the image for a larger view]
Quote of the Month
The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.
[George Orwell]
June Quiz Questions
Again this year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.
June Quiz Questions: World Geography
- Until 1930, what was the Turkish city of Istanbul called?
- What country has the most islands in the world?
- What is the largest desert in the world?
- What country is located between France and Spain?
- What is the smallest country in the world by area?
Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.
Monthly Links
And so to this month’s collection of links to items you dodn’t know you din’t want to miss! Let’s start, as usual, with the tough science stuff.
Science, Technology, Natural World
Some scientists have been thinking about how life would have started and self-assembled. [LONG READ]
Turning the tables round, will we actually know alien life when we encounter it? [LONG READ]
While we decide that, how likely is it that alien life is eavesdropping on our mobile phone calls? [££££]
Staying with the cosmological … Observers have detected the largest cosmic explosion ever seen.
Meanwhile the James Webb telescope has found asteroids in the Fomalhaut star system.
And it gets weirder, as astronomers think they’ve seen live-action of a star swallowing one of its planets.
Coming back a little nearer to sanity … hare’s a look at Alan Turing and the most important machine that’s never been built. [LONG READ]
After which, riddle me this … How do you find a new species of Demon Catshark? By reading it’s eggs, of course. [££££]
But then again, genetics turns up many surprises, including the mutation which turned ants into parasites in one generation. [LONG READ]
More strangeness on genetics … it turns out strawberries have eight sets of chromosomes, which have contributed to their domestication and survival. [££££]
Deeper and deeper into plants, photosynthesis actually requires four photons to complete the transfer of sunlight into chemical energy but the details of the final step are only now coming to light. [££££]
And so back into the (almost) real world. Clever palaeontologists have been able to recover the DNA of the wearer of a 25,000-year-old pendant.
Health, Medicine
How accurate are all those old-wives tales – you know like “chocolate causes acne” and “carrots help you see in the dark”?
So just what are puberty blockers and how do they work? Side issue: should we be using them? [££££]
Medics now seem to have decided that removing just the Fallopian Tubes will significantly reduce the number of women with ovarian cancer. [££££]
Meanwhile, deciding whether to have HRT treatment for the menopause is a difficult decision for many women. [LONG READ]
Sexuality
Here’s the usual, and regular suggestion of ten ways to improve your sex life.
Environment
All the rubbish buried along the Thames estuary is coming back to the surface to bite us. Why do we think we can treat the place like a trash can? [LONG READ]
There’s one thing you do not want in your garden (or anywhere): Japanese Knotweed. [LONG READ]
Social Sciences, Business, Law, Politics
Historian and headmaster Sir Anthony Seldon has been writing book-length report cards on British prime ministers for 40 years. His latest is on Boris Johnson, and he’s not impressed.
Art, Literature, Language, Music
Oh dear. Some of the southern Italians are upset. They’ve decides that a mermaid statue is too provocative. Judge for yourself …
London’s Courtauld Gallery has released almost a million rarely seen photographs from their collections online anf free.
History, Archaeology, Anthropology
The Mediterranean keeps producing ancient shipwrecks. Now one off Sicily has been found to contain ingots of a rare alloy called orichalcum.
A look at the Port of London in Roman times.
A large Roman temple in France could have been used for the worship of many gods.
So what was the Medieval attitude to cats?
Food, Drink
Emma Beddington asks why we’re unable to give up salt – but doesn’t come up with a good answer.
Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs
This is Local London website runs a series of thoughtful articles by senior school pupils on various topics. One recent such looks at attitudes to gender identity.
Here are yet another ten reasons to embrace everyday nudity.
Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!
A study – surely a contender for an Ig Nobel Prize – has discovered that it is “barely possible to identify a beautiful scrotum“. [££££]
May Quiz Answers
Here are the answers to this month’s five quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.
May Quiz Questions: Literature & Language
- What does the word conniption mean? A fit of rage or hysterics
- What is regarded as the world’s oldest language which is still spoken? Tamil
- Who wrote Songs of Innocence and Visions of the Daughters of Albion? William Blake
- Even with a small word list and simple structure it is possible to say almost anything in Basic English. How many words are in the lexicon of Basic English? 850
- In which play do the following lines occur?
“A lioness hath whelped in the streets;
And graves have yawn’d, and yielded up their dead”
Shakespeare; Julius Caesar; Act 2, Scene 2
Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2022.
Self-Portrait, May
[Click the image for a larger view]