Sunday 29 October 2017

Nik Nak’s Old Peculiar — 29-10-201: World Stroke Day

Arrrgh!

Remember, yesterday, I said there’d been some confusion … ?

About rotas?

Basically, one manager said I be starting at eleven, another countermanded that, later, and said I’d be starting at two …

Yesterday morning … ?

I got a call from another supervisor, at twenty to twelve, asking me where on Earth I was … 

Oy veh … 

The fact I forgot to hand in my timesheet, for the week, and had to frantically phone work, to ask a work mate to put it on the relevant desk … ?

Is practically incidental … 

~≈Ç≈~

On other fronts?

Someone’s been silly.

I’ve got Radio Four on: as ever.

Which tells us an unemployed chap found a USB memory stick in the street: that someone had apparently dropped.

Found money, in a way: those sticks are useful little things, handy for carrying CVs around, and any files you need to access on a public terminal.

The chap took it to a library.

And handed it into a well known newspaper, after he opened it: and found the thing held detailed maps of Heathrow Airport, and details on the Queen’s protection regime.

There’s been a certain amount of panic, understandably.

And … ?

Well, whoever dropped that stick?

Is possibly panicking!

~≈Ç≈~

Let’s move on, shall we?

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Olga* and Debbi† putting in their answers: with both scoring five out of five.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s themed questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and Video

Q1) 29th October is World Stroke Day.   World Stroke Day was first marked, when: 20207, 2008 or 2009?
Q2) Strokes are caused by poor blood flow to what: the brain, liver or lungs?
Q3) What’s one risk factor: high blood pressure or low blood pressure?
Q4) What’s another risk factor: diabetes, obesity or tobacco smoking?
Q5) Finally … one symptom of a stroke is a loss of what to one side of the body: sight, hearing or taste?
Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers … 

Q1) Chairman Hua Kuo-Feng visited the UK: on 28th October, 1979.   He was the first Communist leader from where, to visit the UK?
A1) China.
Q2) Christian 1’s coronation took place: on 28th October, 1449.   He was king of where: Denmark, France or Germany?
A2) Denmark.
Q3) Gulliver’s Travels was originally published: on 28th October, 1726.   Who wrote Gulliver’s Travels?
Q4) A well known New York monument was dedicated: on 28th October, 1886.   Which well known French statue are we talking about?
Q5) Finally … who was vaccinated against polio: on 28th October, 1956?
A5) Elvis.   (Ironically, Dr Jonas Salk, the inventor of that vaccine, was born in 1903: on 28th October!)
Here’s a thought …
“I don’t really like talking about these things, or certainly being filmed. I didn’t enjoy watching the film. But when you are in public life, and something bad but very common happens to you – 1.4 million people are surviving strokes at the moment – then you have a kind of obligation to share your experience, particularly if it’s positive, and is going to encourage other people.”
Stroke survivor and BBC journalist, Andrew Marr.
And a video … 


Today’s questions will be answered in tomorrow’s Teaser.

Have a good day.



*        I think that’s fairly common in cinema, Olga.   Some of the science fiction films I’ve seen — Prometheus, another Ridley Scott film, suffered with this — get through a few drafts: which doesn’t help the film.   And I have to confess, Hannibal’s a very good film … but it changed the book’s ending.   I hate that!   (I’m glad the Jodorowsky version of Dune didn’t get made, in one sense: they changed the ending.)


†        It’s amazing what you find out, sometimes, Debbi.   Do you remember the bit in Star Wars, where Luke, Han and Chewie rescue Princess Leia?   The bit where Han’s talking over the radio about the reactor leak?   He winged it.   Apparently, it was better than the scripted version.   (Harrison Ford’s supposed to have turned around to George Lucas and said “George, you can type this shit, but you can’t say it!”)

2 comments:

Olga said...

Q1) 2007 (the article says it was proclaimed in 2006 but I guess officially marked the next year, perhaps… although there was a typo 20207)
Q2) Brain
Q3) High blood pressure
Q4) What’s another risk factor: diabetes, obesity or tobacco smoking? They are all risk factors. I’m not sure if there’s a word missing (controllable or non-controllable)… Diabetes is a risk factor because it affects the blood vessels of the brain.
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/stroke/atrisk
https://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Stroke/Pages/Whosatriskpage.aspx

Q5) Sight (although there are more common ones FAST (Face, Arms, Speech, Time…)

Sorry to hear about the mess at work. Yes, I guess communication is not their forte.
I don't know if you ever watched an old movie called the Snows of the Kilimanjaro (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045162/ and I've just discovered there's a French movie of the same title that seems to have nothing to do with this one, anyway). It was based on a short story by Hemingway that I read years back (not a bad story either). Well, the whole point of the story is that the main character, a writer (the Gregory Peck character) is very ill, dying, yes, next to the Kilimanjaro and is remembering some of the things that happened to him. In the story, he dies. In the movie, an airplane comes to rescue him. It completely changes the story and the whole point of it. But, I guess it's Hollywood. It seems Hemingway wasn't very enamoured with it, but I suspect they might have paid him well enough (he told Ava Gardner that he only liked her and the hyena. I'm not sure if in that order).

Debbi said...

I had no idea it was World Stroke Day. It's so true that it can happen, despite having no risk factors. That's what happened to me.

1. 2006
2. thw brain
3. high blood pressure
4. tobacco smoking (I think diabetes is also a risk factor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke)
5. sight

Sometimes, a script simply can't be read. The actors bring a lot to the process.