Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 16th January 2025.

16th January, 2025.   (Six Questions!)

Right … it’s officially Thursday … 

And … ?

It’s officially quiet … !

I’m planning very little: beyond writing, a little shopping … and possibly watching TV.

One bit of good news that has brightened my day … ?

Is the email that turned up, yesterday.

Apparently?

I qualify for a Department of Work and Pensions Cold Weather Payment of twenty-five pounds.

That will be useful: and something that goes into my bank account by Tuesday.

That can’t come soon enough: It’s been cold!

~≈🥶≈~

Let’s move on.


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

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s six question set, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video.

Q1)        16th January is the feast day of Pope Benjamin 1st.   He was a Pope of where: Alexandria, Rome or Byzantium?

Q2)        He was a Patriarch of what: the Coptic Church, Roman Catholic Church or Church of the Tin Vagabond?

Q3)        Mohammed Reza Pahlevi fled Iran on 16th January, 1976.   Pahlevi was the country’s last what: King, Emperor or Shah?

Q4)        Bernard Lee — the original M, in the James Bond films — died on 16th January, 1981.   Who’s the most recent actor to have played M?

Q5)        16th January is Teacher’s Day in both Myanmar … and where else?

Q6)        Finally … ?   Christopher Tolkien died on 16th January, 2020.   He’s best remembered for editing which of his father’s books: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers … 

Q1)        15th January, 1867, saw ice collapse on a boating lake: killing forty people as a result.   Where was the collapse: Regent’s Park, Hyde Park or Saint James’ Park?

A1)        Regent’s Park.   (The lake’s bottom was raised, as a result: and its depth, decreased, by some twelve metres.)

Q2)        The Alvor Agreement was signed on 15th January, 1975.   It saw the end of a war of independence, where: Angola, Botswana or Chad?

A2)        Angola.

Q3)        15th January, 1975, saw Sara Jane Moore sentenced to life imprisonment.   For attempting to assassinate the US President.   Which US President?

A3)        Gerald Ford.

Q4)        Gamal Abdel Nasser was born on 15th January, 1918.   Until his death in 1970, he’d been the second president of where: Algeria, Tunisia or Egypt?

A4)        Egypt.

Q5)        Finally … ?   15th January, 1990, saw customers lose their phone service.   Customers of whom: AT&T, BT or O2?

A5)        AT&T.   According to the linked article? That outage cost the company some $60 million.

Here’s a declaration …

“I am actually a perfectly capable modern man who can cook, clean, wash, and find my way to places, but nobody believes it.”

James May, born born 16 January 1963.

And a song …

The next ten question set on 29th January: it’s about Desert Island Discs.


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



Decisions about scores are final.

Thank you for coming: have a good day.

*        Hello, Mum!

†        Yes, I remember hearing about that, Olga: from what I recall, the avatars were aimed at people with auditory hallucinations, and gave them a chance to deal with them by interacting with them.   There’s a couple of abstracts, here and here.

        You’re right, though: helping yourself heal seems to have appeal.

        At any rate?   What mildly surprises me?   Is that no one’s built a horror story on the idea§.   Digital dead, coming back to haunt people, must be up some writer’s street!   Feel free to pinch the idea!

‡        Ah HA!   Hopping!   I know what you mean, Debbi¶, I do!   But just seeing the word got me thinking of an old song I saw on a children’s TV show, many years ago.   As I can’t find it … ?

§        It’s been used in SF, Olga: William Gibson calls them ‘personality recordings’, and uses them in at least two of his Sprawl trilogy.   Look out for the Dixie Flatline.

¶        How are you with the digital dead, Dead … ?   There’s possibly an idea going spare … …