Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 23-4-2025 — By The Book

23rd April, 2025: By the Book/World Book Night.

Did I mention I’ve got a film on order … ?

I’ve got a film on order — The Rubber-keyed Wonder: 40 Years of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum — which should be with me, today.

In case you’re wondering … ?

It’s a documentary about one of Britain’s best known home computers: the ZX Spectrum.

I had one, myself.

Given that … ?

You can bet I was interested in get a copy of the documentary.

We’ll have to see if I can review it at some point.

Or find an online copy of Atic Atak.

That was possibly the best game written for the machine!

~≈🌈≈~

Today is Saint George’s Day, Payday … and probably a very good day to do shopping.

Now, really!

Except there’s an issue.

Yes: it’s officially bucketing down, out there.

I’ll tell you what: I think there’s going to be some very happy cabbies, out there!

~≈🚖≈~

The Daily Teaser — 23-4-2016: The Bard Is Back

Well, it’s now officially World Book Night.

Well … 

Literally, the day of it.

And … ?

Well, I am, as ever a volunteer for the scheme: one with copies of SJ Parrish’s Treachery to give away.

Quite how I balance that, with the fact I’m working 3 ’til 10, I really don’t know!

~≈Ÿ≈~

The Daily Teaser — 5-12-2014: Nelson Mandela

Have I ever told you I volunteer for World Book Night … ?

It’s been held every years, since 2011: and basically involves a host of volunteers giving away free books.

I’ve volunteered for it, for the past few years: and have to admit, it’s quite something, seeing people’s reaction to suddenly being given a free book.

At any rate … ?   I’ve just recently received this years list of books: and realised I hadn’t read any of the books on the 2015 list.

Saying that … ?   Saying that, the one title that caught my eye as one I’d like to hand out was Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice: so I immediately decided to remedy having not read it, by getting a copy from Brentwood Library.

I’m five chapters in.   And frankly … ?

Frankly, it’s possibly one of the most beautifully written things I’ve read … 

~≈®≈~

The Brentwood Gazette’s Weekly Teaser — 23-4-2014: Saint George’s Day

 Oh, BLAST … !

I totally forgot to post up a Friday Question Set, last week!

Drat and blast … !

Still … !

I should be able remedy that, this coming Friday!

I hope!

~≈‰≈~

The Daily Teaser — 23-4-2014: William Shakespeare

It’s official … 

It’s World Book Night … !

And you know what that mean’s, don’t you?

It means it’s Free Book Time …!

AHEM!

Just so you know, World Book Night’s been going since 2011: the idea is to encourage reading for pleasure.

The charity that organises it has a list of books, each year: and arranges for multiply copies to be given to a horde of Givers — volunteers like me — who hand them out.

Be warned … 

You COULD get lucky … !

~≈Â≈~

The Daily Teaser — 17-4-2014: Little Green Men

Ah-HA!

It’s official.

My World Book Night books are in!

Just in case you DIDN’T know, World Book Night has been held on 23rd April, ever since 2011: and I’ve volunteered to hand out a good read, ever since.

The book I’m handing out this year … ?

Is Armistead Maupin’s Tales Of The City: which will possibly raise an eyebrow or, around here, given Brentwood is — basically — very conservative!

Hmmm … 

Let’s on, shall we?   I’ll let you know how that goes, on the day … 

~≈Ê≈~

The Brentwood Gazette’s Weekly Teaser — 16-4-2014

Ah HA!

That’s my World Book Night books delivered, then … !

Just so you know, I’ve been volunteering for that for about three years, now: quietly handing out multiple copies of whatever good read’s on the World Book Night list since 2011.

The one I’m handing out, this year … ?

Armistead Maupin’s Tales Of The City*.

Hell, let’s raise some eyebrows … !

~≈fi≈~

The Daily Teaser — 24-4-2013: The Fall Of Troy

Blimey … 

That seemed to go well … !

Did I tell you I’ve been a World Book Night giver … ?   For the second year in a row … ?

I’ve been a World Book Night giver: and 2013 was the second time in a row.

The title I was handing out … ?   Was the John Wagner overseen The Dark Judges.   And I have to admit, it pleasantly surprised me, the amount of people that went for it.

Including the one young women who — with an incredibly cheeky grin on her face — said, “Well it’s not what I call a graphic novel … !”

Let’s get moving on, shall we … ?

While that line goes down … 

]]]†[[[

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi putting in her answers: along with letting us know she’s formally started work on her screen-play*, she also bagged seven out of seven.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s themed questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the ‘How To’, License and video … 

Q1) 24th April, 1184 BC, is traditional date for the Fall Of Troy,  at the end of the war between the Trojans: and whom … ?

Q2) More to the point, the war ended when the Trojan’s enemies — famously — gave them a wooden … what … ?

Q3) Which blind poet famously wrote about the Trojan War … ?

Q4) The war was started when who eloped with Prince Paris of Troy … ?

Q5) The remains of the city are in what’s now which country … ?

Q6) And finally … who was the German businessman and amateur archeologist who excavated Troy … ?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 23rd April is World Book Night: in which year of the 1990s was it first celebrated … ?   

A1) 1995.

Q2) In part, World Book Night marks the death of William Shakespeare, on Saint Georges Day: in which year of the 17th Century … ?   

A2) 1616.

Q3) Equally to the point, that day also saw the death of Miguel de Cervantes.   Which of his works is considered by many to be the world’s first novel … ?   

A3) Don Quixote.   (Which — handily — is one of the few books you can sing about: in a conveniently melodic 1980s fashion.)

Q4) There are twenty World Book Night Books being handed out in the UK, this year: name any one of them … ?   A4) The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry, Noughts And Crosses, by Malorie Blackman, Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier, The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde , Casino Royale, Ian Fleming, The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory, A Little History of The World, E. H. Gombrich, Little Face by Sophie Hannah, Damage by Josephine Hart, The Island by Victoria Hislop, Jackie Kay’s Red Road Dust, Last Night, Another Soldier by Andy McNab, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, Bernaerd Schlink’sThe Reader, № 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, the classic Treasure Island, by R. L. Stevenson, The Road Home by Rose Tremaine, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal, by Jeanette Winterson, and finally — and my choice of handout — Judge Dredd: The Dark Judges, by John Wagner.

Q5) In which Spanish region are books traditionally given to one’s sweetheart on Saint Georges Day … ?   

A5) Catalonia.

Q6) Excluding things like The Bible, The Qu’ran and The Communist Manifesto, what 1859 book is supposed to be the biggest selling in the English language … ?   

A6) A Tale Of Two Cities.

Q7) And finally … what name is given to the original official publication of Shakespeare’s plays … ?   

A7) The First Folio.

Enjoy those: I’ll leave you with Troy, by Sinead O’Connor … 

And with this thought from a certain well known, blind, Ancient Greek poet …

“Victory passes back and forth between men.”

Homer

Have a good day …

*        Good luck with that … !   :D   (And, yes: I thoroughly enjoyed WBN: you do know there’s a US end … ?   Just a thought … )

The Daily Teaser — 23-4-2013: World Book Night

You realise it’s the 23rd of April … ?

You’d worked that out, hadn’t you: you’re As capable of checking a calendar as I am.

Which means you’ve possibly worked out two things.

1)        It’s Saint Georges Day.   Have a good one, if you’re celebrating it.   Try and avoid the dragons, I’d prefer a live audience that’s not been eaten by green scaly mythological creatures.

And 2)        It’s ALSO World Book Night: marking the birth and death of William Shakespeare, the death of Miguel Cervantes, and an old regional Spanish tradition that sees lovers give each other a book.   (Usually of love poems.)

Either way … ?   Have fun, today: if you see me, I might just give you something to read … 

As I’m one of the volunteer givers for this year.

Let’s move on … 

}}‡{{

Yesterday’s saw Debbi and Adrence putting in their answers.   With Debbi mentioning Big Bang Theory*, it also saw Adrence bagging nought out of seven, and Debbi bagging seven.

Let’s see how they — and you — do with today’s World Book Night questions, shall we … ?

Here they are, along with the ‘How To’, License and video … 

Q1) 23rd April is World Book Night: in which year of the 1990s was it first celebrated … ?

Q2) In part, World Book Night marks the death of William Shakespeare, on Saint Georges Day: in which year of the 17th Century … ?

Q3) Equally to the point, that day also saw the death of Miguel de Cervantes.   Which of his works is considered by many to be the world’s first novel … ?

Q4) There are twenty World Book Night Books being handed out in the UK, this year: name any one of them … ?

Q5) In which Spanish region are books traditionally given to one’s sweetheart on Saint Georges Day … ?

Q6) Excluding things like The Bible, The Qu’ran and The Communist Manifesto, what 1859 book is supposed to be the biggest selling in the English language … ?

Q7) And finally … what name is given to the original official publication of Shakespeare’s plays … ?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 22nd April, 1915, saw which gas used as a chemical weapon, for the first time … ?

A1) Chlorine.

Q2) During the second battle of where … ?

A2) Ypres.

Q3) 22nd April, 1993, saw the release of the world’s first successful web browser: what was it called … ?

A3) Mosaic.

Q4) 22nd April, 1977, saw the first use of optical fibre, to carry live what: tv shows, phone conversations or computer data … ?

A4) Phone conversations.

Q5) 22nd April, 1971, saw the death of Dr Francois Duvalier: president — and dictator — of where … ?

A5) Haiti.

Q6) More to the point, what was his nickname … ?

A6) ‘Papa Doc’.

Q7) And finally … 22nd April, 1912, saw the first publication of Pravda: what’s the meaning of the word, Pravda, in English … ?

A7) Truth.

Enjoy those: I’ll leave you with this rather relevant Elvis number … 

And with this thought from Umberto Eco …

“Books are not made to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry.”

Umberto Eco.

Have a good day … !

*        I’ve got to admit, Debbi, I’ve never actually seen it: I’ve got Freeview, as it’s free … !   Which means I can never work out something my friends are raving about is on … !

The World Book Night Pick-up …

Hmmm ...

Look’s like Blogger'as not exactly compatible with the version of Internet Explorer*, anymore.

Which is ...

Well, it does make for a certain amount of awkwardness, uploading the photos I meant to show you.

But, at least, I've now managed to get hold of the books I'll be handing out, on World Book Night, this coming Saint Georges Day.

Of course, the one problem, at the moment … ?

Is how exactly to get them home.

The box is a BIT bigger than I was expecting … !!!

*        I initially posted this from Brentwood Library, where the books I’m due to hand out had been delivered … 

World Book Night: Oooh … !

Hmmm …

Just missed him.

Meant to corner the neighbour who quietly emailed me to let me know that one or two of the neighbours had concerns about the fire engines getting through to the area … !

Oh, well …

I’ll catch him later … !

»»·««

At ANY rate, I thought let you briefly know about a couple of things.

Firstly … ?

Well, I’ve probably mentioned I’ve been scanning a lot of old family photos onto Bruce, haven’t I … ?

Well I have: too the point where I’ve actually managed to move my iPhoto library to my external drive.

With help from this link, here.

OK, 7½ gigabytes isn’t much in the way of space, or photos.

But it’s a fair old chunk of Bruce’s hard-drive, thanking you … !

»»·««

Next off … ? Next off is the simple fact that I’ve had the email in that lets me pick where I’m going to collect my World Book Night books from.

Me being me, of course … ?

I’ve picked Brentwood Library.

Here’s hoping I can shift them …

World Book Night: Currently Unreachable, but with options …

Oh, nice to know …

I’ve just had an email back from the World Book Night people.

And the good news is … ?

Come 23rd April, I’ll officially have 25 copies of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens to hand out.

Bang on me door, folks.

And check out the website.

Once they’ve recovered from the huge amounts of hits!