[the non-meme] pride and shame

I read somewhere once that you should only leave your home in the morning once all things have been taken care of, as if it were your last day on ths earth.

All disputes should have been resolved, all bills paid, all incriminating evidence removed and you should have already made peace with your Maker.

What legacy would you leave behind? Could you name five things you'd be remembered for? In Higham's case:

1 The things he wrote - the blog and novels;

2 That he tried to spread a bit of happiness round, with partial success;

3 The energy, organization and strange sense of humour;

4 That he was sure he'd stumbled upon the answer to life;

5 Exposure of the cabals which run this world.

Which five things would you least like people to find? In Higham's case:

1 Love letters and photos of former lovers;

2 Flat that needed renovation and hadn't been done;

3 Uncompleted novels;

4 The true state of his finances;

5 The backlog of good intentions never brought to fruition.

"I am just going outside and may be some time."

[In Higham's case,he plans to be back, either in person or in spirit.]

[small whale] visits ny then dies

Why do whales do this sort of thing?

A 12-foot-long whale that had surfaced and frolicked near the mouth of the Gowanus Canal on Tuesday, delighting and surprising even the most hardened of Brooklyn residents, died yesterday, officials said. The whale — a minke, the second-smallest whale species — had been thought to be in good health because it was not surfacing erratically. Like other ocean mammals, whales must surface to breathe.

They must be extraordinarily sensitive. I wish they wouldn't do it.

[new blogger trick] hide the photo

Blogger's latest game is to hide the photo. The Form Guide and Whale posts both have pics. By the time you read these later in the day, perhaps Blogger will have relented and allowed the pics to come back, making this post a nonsense.

However, at the point of posting now, no photos can be uploaded and posted. The html is in there all right but the photo itself ain't.

Have a nice day.

[quiz] a complete waste of time

1 What is a sum of money given but not loaned, for example, to establish a new business? [5]

2 What is considered to be the opposite of 'immigrant'? [8]

3 Which commune is of the département of Calvados, in the Basse-Normandie région, in France [14400]? It can also refer to a creature which is not an ant. [6]

4 What is a very large, supposedly mythical person, sometimes confused with an ogre? [5]

5 What would be the acronym for the Humanist Association of the Northern Territories? [4]

6 What is considered to be the opposite of 'emigrant'? [9]

7 What word means Oxford 'students who have qualified but not yet been admitted into their degree'? At Cambridge, they are 'graduands'. [10]

8 Which enlightenment philosopher changed his name from 'Emanuel' to 'Immanuel'? [4]

9 What is a water dispensing utility in the street, often used by the fire brigade? [7]

10 Which creature is from the family Formicidae, belonging to the order Hymenoptera which also includes sawflies, bees and wasps? [3]

11 What is the National Association of Nephrology Technicians known as, in acronymic form? [4]

The first letters of each word make the name of a famous warrior emperor whose name is now associated with a creature named at the end of each answer.

[killings] what's the common thread

When the news of this new construction was announced, I felt then that it was just a question of time until another incident like this occurred:

Three people have been killed in an attack on a Turkish publishing house which prints Bibles and Christian literature, according to media reports. CNN Turk television said the victims' throats had been cut and that police had detained six people in connection with the incident on Wednesday at the Zirve publishing house in Malatya.

What puzzles me is how these things seem to recur, for example in Indonesia, Thailand, Algeria, India and Holland, to name but a few. Before one blames a certain religion for this, it cuts both ways - Srebrenica, Kathankudy and so on.

And what possesses someone to blow up 178 people in market places? Why do such things happen in these sorts of places but usually not in Britain, this aside of course and in America, this aside of course?

Is it religion, mental illness, modern society's dearth of values, what?

[doctor who] answers and next six

Answers

1] Louise Jameson

2] Debbie Watling

3] Wendy Padbury

4] Lalla Ward

5] Billie Piper

6] Elizabeth Sladen

Six More Questions [answers tomorrow]

1] In which detective series did Louise Jameson play Susan Young, the girlfriend of the detective?

2] Which Doc was a bodyguard for the Rolling Stones?

3] Who made his singing debut on Pebble Mill at One?

4] What was Jon Pertwee's other alter-ego [other than the Doc]?

5] Which recurring Dr Who baddie despised cheese of all kinds and colours?

6] Which two Blogpower members are the Dr Who experts?