The Daily Teaser …

You know, I think I’m getting results!

In the sense that people putting up some some pretty good quotes. It’s got me seriously thinking I need to catch up!

Now you might just wonder exactly why I’m thinking that.

It’s mostly because — over the past few months — having both Andrea and Simon — along with Trevor and Tim — putting in some damn good quotes, it goes get me to thinking I should really settle down with a good read, more often!

Actually, yesterday’s Teaser played a part in that. As both Simon and Andrea — along with getting 5 out of 5 — put in a line or two from Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Which got me thinking I should look the Irish born playwright up.

Simon, bless him, also put in a line from Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, which I have read, once or twice, after the big fuss, all those years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed.

And Andrea, bless her strawberry blonde hair-do, put in a quote the late science fiction writer, Octavia Butler: who — and shame on me, as a sci-fi fan — I’ve never actually read. I don’t know how influential she was, but as that rare thing, a woman of colour who was also a science-fiction writer, Octavia Butler stood out … !

Hmmm …

I mite just get me hence to Brentwood’s library …

•••••

But, at any rate, enough of my burbling, on, let’s get to it, shall we we?

And see if today’s questions generate some quotes … Here they are, along with the ‘How To’ and License …

Q1) 25th February, 1964, saw who named as Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World?

Q2) More to the point, who did the Champion beat?

Q3) 25th February saw Samuel Colt receive the patent for the Colt revolver: but in which year?

Q4) 25th February, 1956, saw Josef Stalin denounced at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party: by who?

Q5) And finally … 25th February, 1986, saw who named as President of the Philippines?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 24th February, 1920, saw the foundation of which notorious German political party.

A1) The Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, or Nazi’s. (I’m — to say the least — not a fan of groups like the BNP. You can imagine how I fell about these guys … )

Q2) 24th February, 1836, saw Colonel William Travis issue a call for help, on behalf of troops trapped … where … ?

A2) The Alamo.

Q3) 32 years earlier, 24th February, 1804, saw London’s Drury Lane Theatre burn down: as a result, the theatre’s owner was left destitute. Which PM and playwright was that owner?

A3) Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

Q4) 24th February, 2006, saw the death of which Afro-American science fiction writer?

A4) Octavia Estelle Butler. (A Hugo and Nebula winner, she was also the first recipient of the MacArthur Foundation ‘Genius’ Grant.)

Q5) And finally … 24th February, 1989, saw Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offer a $3, 000, 000 bounty for the death of whom?

A5) Salman Rushdie.

Enjoy those, everyone, I’ll catch you later!

An Interesting Point to Ponder.

You know, I’ve got to admit, there’s times when second guessing a writer, or a TV shows producers, can be fun.

It’s a bit like flirting, out of sight of a partner: fun when it happens, but not something to do on regular basis.

But definitely fun.

•••••

Says I, in the hope that Allison doesn’t read that, she’ll get the wrong impression!

•••••

At any rate, I do know that one service Blogger provides is the ability to follow other blogs on the service that grab your attention.

One of the ones I follow which is Life, Dr Who & Combom.

And — bless ’im — Combom does get the odd bit of hot Dr Who and Torchwood shaped scoops.

On a regular basis!

Bless!!

Bless ’im!

One thing that caught his eye, this morning, was something that also caught mine.

News the the British Government — through Prime Minister Gordon Brown — issued an apology to those who had, as children, been — effectively — deported to various colonies.

NOT one of the old Empire’s brighter moments.

Maybe not up there with slavery, but certainly not good!

But what Combom was wondering was whether this rather nasty little incident — incidents, maybe’s the word, I understand it covered a long period — provided some of the inspiration for Torchwood: Children of Earth.

I don’t know: it sounds plausible, though, doesn’t it?

Mind you, saying that, it wasn’t the first piece of British imperial history I thought of, on watching the series.

Remember, in Day 5, Colonel Oduya of UNIT, asks the 456 representative, why they are stealing ten percent of Earth’s children: and is informed that the 456 are drug addicts, whose drug of choice …

Are children.

Human children.

The idea, now, is as revolting to me as it was on watching the show, then.

But not as revolting as what those who ruled the Empire did to its own, either to those forced to emigrate to the colonies in as part of the Child Migration Programme.

Or to those we sold opium to.

The Empire — through the East India Company — were dealers.

Which, when Oduya learns 456 why the 456 are stealing human children — and told by the 456 they are shooting up on them — I was revolted …

And thinking of the Opium Wars, and the reasons for them.

•••••

After all, Torchwood: Children of Earth, makes it perfectly clear what’s happening, and that the British Government approved.

Indeed, actively cooperated.

You know, now I come to think of it, I’m thinking Combom has a point.

The same applies to both the Child Migration Programme, to Torchwood: Children of Earth, and to the British East India Company’s sale of opium to China.

You know, this could be an interesting area to debate.

Feel free to comment … !

The Daily Teaser …

Oh …

Well …

That’s nice …

UKTV History — now know, of course, as Yesterday — has just shown a catfood advert …

Which is possibly something you didn’t want to know, but there you go.

Let’s get moving on, shall we?

Yes, let’s!

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Andrea, Trevor and Simon going head-to-head: all of them got 5 out of 5, and all three of them putting in some fantastic quotes.

Think Trevor, bless him, had the edge, there, putting in a line from Samuel Pepys and from the Holy Qur’an.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s questions, shall we? Here they are, along the ‘How To’ and License …

Q1) 24th February, 1920, saw the foundation of which notorious German political party.

Q2) 24th February, 1836, saw Colonel William Travis issue a call for help, on behalf of troops trapped … where … ?

Q3) 32 years earlier, 24th February, 1804, saw London’s Drury Lane Theatre burn down: as a result, the theatre’s owner was left destitute. Which PM and playwright was that owner?

Q4) 24th February, 2006, saw the death of which Afro-American science fiction writer?

Q5) And finally … 24th February, 1989, saw Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offer a $3, 000, 000 bounty for the death of whom?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 23rd February, 632, AD, saw the Last Sermon recited by whom?

A1) The Prophet Mohammed.

Q2) While we’re on a religious theme, 23rd of February, 1455, is the traditional date of publication for which version of the Bible?

A2) The Gutenburg Bible.

Q3) 23rd February, 1945, saw the US flag raised on which island?

A3) Iwo Jima.

Q4) 23rd February, 1981, saw an attempted right-wing coup: in which European country?

A4) Spain.

Q5) And finally … 23rd February, 1633, saw the birth of which noted diarist?

A5) Samuel Pepys.

Enjoy those, everyone: I’ll catch you later!

Keyboards, keyboards, keyboards ...

You know, I’m going to have to rearrange the table and chair in the hallway, I really am.

Or I’m going to have to go on a diet.

I think …

At any rate, whilst Café World’s quietly going ker-CHING* in the background, I’m happily tip-tapping away in the hallway, on the G3 iMac: the one I installed the Dapper Drake version of Xubuntu, a little while back?

The one that needs the new PRAM battery on it, but which has a clock that works fine, so long as it’s hooked up to the net … ?

Yeah, that one …

I’ve got to admit, over the weekend, we had a bit of a … Teacup … incident.

Yes, a Teacup incident.

That’s the phrase ...

A Teacup Incident ...

Remember last Movie Night?

I had a bit of a crowd in, and, while most of us were happily nattering, Sarah, bless ’er little purple hairdo, borrowed the iMac, to check her Facebook and email accounts.

I took her over a cuppa.

Plonked it down on the table.

And promptly it knocked over, all over the original Keyboard that came with the iMac.

Where could I have put my face … ?

I’m not too sure, actually!

But I am sure of what happened when the old keyboard dried out.

I got a hideous beeeeeeeeep noise, as the jammed letter ‘a’ on the iMac’s keyboard repeatedly entered the letter ‘a’ as my user name …

Mmmm …

Not good …

You can imagine how I felt, can’t you?

I had a knackered keyboard, and, as a result, a vintage iMac I couldn’t make use of .

Until, bless her, Allison came to the proverbial rescue!

We were up town, today, organising some paperwork for her - which is a whole other, very time consuming story - and Allison decided to treat me to an early birthday present. And bought me a cheap and cheerful, generic Texet computer keyboard, at the Brentwood branch of Wilkinson’s.

For which she got a suitable effusive ‘Thank You’!

Now, while it’s not an exact match^, I really can’t complain.

After all, the woman I love decided I should have something to say ‘Ta’ for helping her out.





















* On the Mac Mini, running Snow Leopard …

^ After all, most PC keyboards have no USB ports to plug a mouse, or USB thumb drives, or dongles. But I’m not complaining too much!

The Daily Teaser …

You know, that’s got me tickled …

Yesterday, I — semi seriously — floated an idea past people.

As you’ve probably worked out, by now, I’m quite keen on promoting both Mac OS X, and Ubuntu Linux. And the thought I put to friends, yesterday was this: we know that Canonical names the various releases of Ubuntu after animals, and tends to get alphabetical about it.

So we’ve ended up with various releases: Dapper Drake, Hardy Heron, Jaunty Jackalope, what have you.

The next version is called Lucid Lynx. The one after will use the letter M.

Canonical haven’t announced what it’ll be called, so I asked people to make suggestions, just as a fun thing.

And BOY, the suggestions …

I’ve got to admit, I liked one that Andrea put in: Mystifying Manatee!

There were a few others: but, somehow, I’m thinking that Mammoth Merkin could be … misinterpreted …

Anyway, let’s move on, shall we?

Yes, let’s …

Yesterday’s Teaser saw just Simon manage to get 7 out of 7.

Let’s see how people do with today’s questions, shall we? Here they are, along with the ‘How To’ and License …

Q1) 23rd February, 632, AD, saw the Last Sermon recited by whom?

Q2) While we’re on a religious theme, 23rd of February, 1455, is the traditional date of publication for which version of the Bible?

Q3) 23rd February, 1945, saw the US flag raised on which island?

Q4) 23rd February, 1981, saw an attempted right-wing coup: in which European country?

Q5) And finally … 23rd February, 1633, saw the birth of which noted diarist?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 22nd February, 1983, saw the opening — and LAST — night of the Arthur Bicknell play, generally regarded as Broadway’s worst play and most serious flop. What was its name?

A1) Moose Murders.

Q2) 22nd February, 1997, saw Scottish scientists announce they had successfully cloned a mammal: what species was that mammal?

A2) A sheep.

Q3) More to the point, what was that mammal’s name?

A3) Dolly.

Q4) 22nd February, 1879, the city of Utica, in New York state saw the opening of the first branch of which shop?

A4) Woolworth’s.

Q5) 22nd February, 1797, saw the start of the last ever invasion of Great Britain: by which European country?

A5) France.

Q6) More to the point, in which Welsh town did this invasion take place in?

A6) Fishguard.

Q7) And finally … 22nd February, 1930, saw the birth of singer, Marni Nixon: in which 1964 film did she provide the singing voice of Audrey Hepburn?

A7) My Fair Lady.

Enjoy those, everyone: I’ll catch you later!