Category Archives: amusements

amusements, personal

Another Daft Meme

OK, so I spotted this meme on Facebook the other day. Although I’ve answered some of these questions before there are some here which are new. So I give you the whoel sequence, which I’ve de-Americanised.

  1. Person you were named after? No-one as far as I know.
  2. Last time you cried? A couple of weeks ago when we lost our 1-year-old boy cat.
  3. Do you like your own handwriting? No; at best it is produced by an arthritic spider.
  4. What is your favourite lunch meat? Cold sausage or garlic salami.
  5. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes. My parents (probably wrongly) refused to let them be removed.
  6. Would you bungee jump? No way – ever.
  7. What is your favourite cereal? Barley growing in the field ready to make malt for beer!
  8. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Only if I’m wearing them at the time.
  9. Do you think you’re strong? No; neither physically nor mentally.
  10. Favourite ice cream? Good strawberry or good chocolate.
  11. What is the first thing you notice about someone? Face, head, hair.
  12. Football or baseball? Neither really, but football if I must choose.
  13. What colour trousers are you wearing? The Emperor’s new ones.
  14. Last thing you ate? Banana.

  15. What are you listening to? Silence.
  16. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be? Lime green.
  17. Favourite smell? Coffee, baking bread, frying onions, spices, roses.
  18. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? Taxi company.
  19. Tattoo or piercing? Piercing, though I’m happy with both.
  20. Hair Colour? Mostly grey, going on white, but some remaining mid-brown.
  21. Eye colour? Blue.
  22. Favourite food to eat? Curry.
  23. Scary movies or chick flick? Neither; I can’t abide films.
  24. Last movie you saw? It’s so long ago I have absolutely no clue.
  25. What colour shirt are you wearing? Again, the Emperor’s new one.
  26. Favourite holiday? Sun, sea & sand to relax and do nothing (or something if I choose) but not lying around getting grilled.
  27. Beer or wine? Both, but beer preferred.
  28. Night owl or morning person? Neither.
  29. Favourite day of the week? Probably Saturday.

OK, so now it’s your turn. Just cut’n’paste the questions, replace my answers with yours, and post to your blog, Facebook, wherever. Enjoy!

amusements, personal, ramblings

Ten Things

Summer is here. Well at least we’ve had a few glimpses of it. So Ten Things this month has a summery theme.
Ten Summer Things To Do

  1. Eat ice-cream
  2. Watch a cricket match (in person not on TV)
  3. Eat strawberries (and cream, of course)
  4. Sit in the garden (or on the beach) drinking wine
  5. Swim nude

  6. Paddle in the sea
  7. Go to a garden and enjoy the roses
  8. Sit by the river and watch nature and the world go by
  9. Spend a day in the nude – in your garden or on the beach – and enjoy the feel of sun and breeze on your skin
  10. Visit a farm to pick your own strawberries, asparagus etc.

Of course, doing these things is not necessarily restricted to summer, but they’re all better in nice weather. So now we just need the sunshine!

amusements

Five Questions, Series 9 #5

So at last, here we are at the last of this ninth series of Five Questions.

★★★★★

Question 5: If you had to marry your “significant other” where you met where would the wedding be?
I’m not sure I can answer this question! No, not because I don’t want to but because I really don’t know exactly where (or when) Noreen and I first met.
Certainly it would have been somewhere on the campus of University of East Anglia in Norwich. But precisely where on campus is a mystery.
There is a good chance that we first met in the lounge bar of The Pub (the student bar) in the Student’s Union building, somewhere between Spring 1974 and early 1976. If not there then in the university residences known as Waveney Terrace, in late 1975/early 1976 when Noreen would have been visiting her then boyfriend for the weekend (she was by then working in London).

That’s when and where we first met, so according to the question that’s where any wedding would have to be. At least somewhere on the UEA campus.
After meeting a handful of times, we then more or less lost touch with each other. We didn’t start going out together until we met up again in Autumn 1978, by which time I was also in London. We actually married in September 1979 in Chiswick.
What about you? Do tell where you first met your significant other. It would be really interesting to know if there are any trends. I bet there are!
★★★★★

OK, so that’s the end of this series of Five Questions. I hope you’ve enjoyed it, maybe learnt something (if only about the oddness of my mind) and possibly even had a think yourself.
As before, if I can find enough good questions I may do another series, perhaps later in the year. So if you have a good question, or something you want to ask, then do please get in touch. And yes you can ask literally anything you like!
Meanwhile, in the words of the great Irish comedian, Dave Allen, “May your god go with you”.

amusements, science

Five Questions, Series 9 #4

With question four we’re getting near the end of this series of Five Questions.

★★★★☆

Question 4: How many even prime numbers are there?
I’m not sure if this is a trick question, mathematically, or not.
First let’s be clear what a prime number actually is. It is a integer number which is divisible only by itself and 1. All even numbers (2, 4, 6, …) are divisible by 2. So 2 itself, is therefore the only even numbered prime number. And given that the technical definition of a prime number is that it has to be greater than 1, the answer is that there is just the one even prime. And there is no trick. (See Wikipedia for a fuller description.)
But why might this have been a trick question? Well I thought it might be a trick, because I did wonder about 0. Is 0 odd or even? Well actually it doesn’t matter because dividing 0 by anything you get 0, not 1, which seems to negate the question, regardless of the technical definition of a prime number.

amusements

Five Questions, Series 9 #3

OMG, question 3 of this ninth round of Five Questions is really horrible. Why did I pose this one?

★★★☆☆

Question 3: If you had to be executed but could choose the method, what method would you choose?
Eeeek!!! What a question! What a choice of possible answers!
How can one tell until what one would do until one is in the situation?

However I suspect the answer would probably be the most painless way possible. This seems to me to be a huge overdose of general anaesthetic and/or barbiturates, as we do for out pets when the time comes. That seems to be quick, painless and humane – indeed these are the overriding veterinary requirements for euthanasia. To do anything else would seem to be taking revenge, which is hardly ethical.

amusements

Five Questions, Series 9 #2

Here we are at the answer to question 2 of answers to this ninth round of Five Questions.

★★☆☆☆

Question 2: How do we guarantee “this” (whatever it is) never happens again?

Whatever “this” is, you can’t guarantee it never happens again. It doesn’t matter how many laws, procedures, checks, firewalls or storm-troopers you put in the way there will always be a loophole, or a stable door left ajar, somewhere; and they will be exploited, sometime, by someone – if only by some ingenious idiot.
Moreover, anything which the system allows – or more correctly doesn’t prevent – will be taken advantage of by someone. See, for instance, the rows in recent years about MPs’ expenses.

amusements, personal

Five Questions, Series 9

3 Comments

Yet again it is around a year since I started my last round of Five Questions.
So here is this new series of five questions, ranging from the interesting to the downright crazy and even morbid.

★★★★★

The five questions for Series 9 are:

  1. Has reading a book ever changed your life? If yes, which one and why?
  2. How do we guarantee “this” (whatever it is) never happens again?
  3. If you had to be executed but could choose the method, what method would you choose?
  4. How many even prime numbers are there?
  5. If you had to marry your “significant other” where you met, where would the wedding be?


Like the last series, I will post answers on a regular basis, because I’ve decided to write the answers up front, possibly before this post even goes live!
As always you’re all invited to sing along and join the karaoke – I’d like it if you all joined in! You can either answer the questions, as I answer them, by posting in the comments or by posting your answers on your own blog (in which case just leave a comment here so we can find your words of wisdom).
The answer to Question 1 should appear in a few of days time and then they’ll be at roughly weekly intervals.
Enjoy!