10 things we didn't know last week!

Snippets from the week's news, sliced, diced and processed for your convenience.

1. Bees act in a similar way to serial killers.




2. Liz Taylor has broken her back five times.




3. Lake Baikal in Russia holds about a fifth of the world's fresh water.




4. The blank stickers for visa stamps are called vignettes .




5. Dyslexics can find it particularly difficult to learn the piano.




6. Van Gogh often reused canvasses to save money.




7. Seals can naviagate from the position of the stars.




8. Mick Jagger's officially a pensioner.




9. Being single in middle age can increase your risk of dementia.




10. In a drinking contest between a pen-tailed tree-shrew and a human, the former would win.

From the BBC news Magazine.

Q What is your first name and what does it mean?
A: Gaelic meaning Fair White - Latin it means Wine .....

Q2: What is your last name and what does it mean?
A: Duthie and I have no idea what it means - it is not actually mine...

Q3: How old are you?
A: Do I really need to tell you that?.....

Q4: Where do you live?
A: Bonnie Scotland

Q5: Any Hobbies?
A: Travel Photography Walking Reading Stamp Collecting Garden Soduku T'ai Chi
Bridge

Q6: What colour socks are you wearing?
A: Blue

Q7: Club or Bar?
A: Dance venue

Q8: What time did you get up this morning?
A: 07:03 (is that precise enough?)

Q9: When is your birthday?
A: August 16th (Leo)

Q10:What is your favourite TV show?
A: The Apprentice (UK version)

Q11:What did you have for breakfast?
A: Banana + a Cuppa

Q12:What is your favourite cuisine?
A: Homemade Roast chicken + all the trimmings

Q13:Your favourite potato chip?
A: Sour Cream.

Q14:What is your favourite CD at the moment?
A: Dont really have one

Q15:What kind of car do you drive?
A: Hyundai Getz - nips around all over the place....

Q16:Favourite sandwich?
A: Egg Mayo +Cress

Q17:What characteristics do you despise?
A: Dishonesty

Q18:Favourite item of clothing?
A: Casual trousers and tops

Q19:If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
A: Governor's Camp in the Masai Mara in Kenya

Q20:What colour is your bathroom?
A: Blue and white

Q2: Favourite brand of clothing?
A: What ever catches my eye

Q22:Where would you want to retire to?
A: Masai Mara - but it will have to do where I am here in Scotland

Q23:Favourite time of day?
A: Early a.m. or sunset time

Q24:Where were you born?
A: Zomba Malawi

Q25:Coke or Pepsi?
A: Coke

Q26:Are you a morning person or night owl?
A: Morning

Q27:What size shoe do you wear?
A: 7 (UK)

Q28:Do you have pets?
A: Yes - 4 cats

Q29:Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone?
A: Yes, I managed to type out a list of 100 things....

Q30:What did you want to be when you were little?
A: Air hostess - so I could travel.

Q31:Favourite sweets/candy bar?
A: Black Magic Chocolates...mmmmmm yummy!

Q32:What is your best childhood memory?
A: Swimming in crysal clear sea water in Mauritius

Q33:What are the different jobs you have had in your life?
A: Hotel Receptionist Private secretary Leisure Centre manager Accounts clerk
Best of all, tho the hardest at times, 'Mother'

Q34:What colour underwear are you wearing?
A: White with blue daisies

Q35:Nicknames?
A: Fifi Hifi

Q36:Piercing?
A: none..never

Q37:Eye colour?
A: Grey green

Q38:Ever been to Africa?
A: Yes - Malawi Kenya Nambia Zimbabwe Zambia South Africa Mozambique Botswana Egypt

Q39:Ever been toilet papering?
A: Don't know what that is.

Q40:Love someone so much it made you cry?
A: Yes.

Q41:Been in a car accident?
A: Yes

Q42:Croutons or bacon bits?
A: Croutons

Q43:Favourite day of the week?
A: Saturdays

Q44:Favourite restaurant?
A: Prefer home cooking.

Q45:Favourite flower?
A: Difficult one this, rose I think just comes top

Q46:Favourite ice cream?
A: Vanilla

Q47:Disney or Warner Brothers?
A: Disney

Q48: Favourite fast food place?
A: Any chinese takeaway

Q49. What colour is your bedroom carpet?
A: Peach

Q50: How many times did you fail your driver's test?
A: Zero, I had the son of the Ministry of Transport teaching me.

Q51: From whom did you get your last email?
A: My Airmiles account statement

Q52: Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
A: It would have to be a travel agent

Q53: What do you do most often when you are bored?
A: On my computer

Q54: Bedtime?
A: Usually 10.30 - 11p.m.

Q55: Last person you went to dinner with?
A: Paul Newman (come on ...I'm allowed to dream aren't I?)...

Q58: What are you listening to right now?
A: Nothing, am busy Working on a List.....(This is hard work)

Q59: What is your favourite colour?
A: Blue

Q60: Lake, Ocean or river?
A: Ocean

Q61: How many tattoos do you have?
A: None - Never

Q62: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
A: Egg of course !

Q63: Which seven famous people would you invite to your dinner party?
Nelson Mandela Ian Smith Joy Adamson James Dean Doris Day Jon Bon Jovi The Queen
A:
Q67: Which animal best describes your personality?
A: A Purring lion

Q68: 'Centre of attention' or 'on the sidelines'
A: On the side

Q69: Ideal partner: Blonde, Brunette or Redhead
A: It doesn't matter.

Q70: Claim to fame
A: I am me .......!!!

Q71: Bank or spend?
A: Bank then spend...

Q72: Mend or throw away?
A: Don't break in the first place!

Q73: Hot climate, cold climate?
A: Like both, but it is easier to warm up than cool down.

Q74: What would the epitaph on your gravestone read?
A: " ...at least she had a go"

Q75: Are you left or right handed?
A: Right handed

Q76: On what side of the bed do you sleep?
A: Left hand side

Q76: Cinema or sofa?
A: It all depends who with :)

Q77: PJ's, shorts or nothing?
A: Nothing

Q78: A day at the Mall or a day by the river?
A: A day by the river.

Q79: Have you ever lied?
A: Would you believe me if I said no?

Q80: Purpose in life?
A: To be happy and to make people happy...to love and to be loved

Q81: Favourite Drink?
A: Coca Cola

Q82: What would your ideal house look like?
A: Somewhere overlooking a water hole in the African Bush

Q83: What's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
A: Their eyes

Q84: Are you comfortable with your height?
A: Yes

Q85: Have you ever thought that you were honestly going to die?
A: No, but I could have been mauled by a lion once.

Q86: Any regrets about anything?
A: Not really - but I'd like to have my sister and brother-in-law over from South Africa to stay and show them around Scotland.

Q87: Is there someone or somthing you really want?
A: Yes, another trip out to my beloved Masai Mara - am working on it ...

Q88: Does anybody like you?
A: I do hope so...

Q89: Do you believe in God?
A: I do believe

Q90: Have you ever kayaked?
A: No - Unfortunately

Q91: Fireworks..love'em or hate'em?
A: Love'em

Q92: When was the last time you were hugged?
A: 10 hours ago

Q93: Do you speak any other language other than English?
A: Used to be fluent in French and Chinyanga (African)

Q94: Are you allergic to anything?
A: Peniclin

Q95: Favorite Saying?
A: 'Do unto others as you would they do to you'

Q96: Are you close to your family?
A: Yes, they are very important to me!

Q97: When was the last time you went swimming?
A: Tooo long ago

Q98: Can you curl your tongue?
A: Are you kidding?

Q99: Were you ever rushed by ambulance into an Emergency room?
A: No,

Q100: Is there a question that you would like visitors to your blog to answer?
A: Yes, please can you let me know 100 things about you?

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
Grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends,
but not one amend.
If you have a bunch of odds and ends, and get rid of all
but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the folks who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how come a slim chance and a fat chance be the same.
While a wise man and wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
In which you house can burn up as it burns down.
In which you fill in a form, by filling it out.
And in which an alarm goes off by going on.

And, in closing, if Father if Pop,
How come Mother's not Mop?

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese,
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And if I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats not cose,
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren,
Then the masculine pronouns are he his and him,
But imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
Neither apple or pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.
We take English for granted,but if we explore its Paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly,
Boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is
Neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

I really feel the need to add my sympathies as well !

The London Times Obituary -

'Today we morn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in and out of the rain; Life isn't always fair; Maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies(don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year old boy charged with sexual harassment fr kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly stud en, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in discipling their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Ectoplasm to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglars in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights,
I Want It Now,
It's Not My Fault, and
I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.'

And a little extra -
Can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 600 employees and has the following statistics?

29 have been accused of spouse abuse, 7 have been arrested for fraud, 19 have been accused of writing bad cheques, 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses, 3 have done time for assault, 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit, 4 have been arrested on drug-related charges, 8 have been arrested for shop lifting, 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits, 84 have been arrested for drink driving in the last year.

Which organisation is this?
It's the 635 members of the House of Commons, the same group that cranks out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line!