I've been spending too much time on Alan's blog.
Last Thursday I took the "Political Compass" test (see this post) and the surprising outcome was that I am a left-winger with slightly libertarian tendencies as per the following plot:
That put me somewhere twixt Nelson Mandela and Mamoud Abbas. Fair enough, I thought.
This afternoon I went to the URL posted in Patrick Vincent's comment and took the full test there.
The result?
I'm hoping for a more modern procedure than this, but TBH almost anything's better than nothing.
🙂
See you later.
Today's top news stories...
BONG!
In a freak accident at the weekend a Midlands woman managed to fall out of a cardboard-recycling bag while squashing down the contents.
It was an impressive display of gravity overcoming gymnastic ability.
Luckily, the resident professional clean-up squad was on hand to mop up the mess when the loaded tea-tray was sent flying...
The offending recycling bag. The victim declined to be interviewed for this report, but is said to be "embarrassed".
BONG!
In a totally unrelated incident, the same woman discovered too late the perils of not adding enough water to the breadmix...
The not-so-wholesome wholemeal "loaf".
BONG!
GCSE exams started today after a weekend of cramming and intensive revision.
The five-week forecast predicts a sustained period of stress and angst,
this to be followed by a period of indecision and uncertainty and then a jubilant celebration before calm is restored...
Stress/Strain (Young's Modulus)
BONG!
A middle-aged bearded man has been caught planning a wildcamping weekend in the Lake District.
When questioned by the authorities, he also admitted to being involved in planning a fishing, camping and coastal walking operation in Wales...
Archive picture.
BONG!
There have been reports of a large wild black cat terrorising the neighbourhood...
Felis sedatum.
BONG!
In a fitting tribute to the quality of Skoda cars, RAB passed his MOT again today despite "irregular" servicing and maintenance...
Archive picture.
BONG!
And finally, the international news...
Reports have started coming in from the Task Force that set out across Scotland to marvel at the spread of wind-farms...
Scotland's Renewable Energy Policy in action (artist's impression).
In all probability, further details can be found by Googling "TGO Challenge 2011".
DON'T Google "TGOC" unless you have a strong constitution!
From the election results declared so far, it looks like change is a comin'...
There'll be more windfarms and less wild land, I'll wager.
'Who is Sarumather?' asked Piggin. 'Do you know anything about his history?'
'Sarumather is an MSP,' answered Treebeardedgit. 'More than that I cannot say. I do not know the history of MSPs. They appeared first after the Great Schisms; but if they came with the Schisms I never can tell. Sarumather was reckoned great among them, I believe. He gave up wandering about and minding the affairs of the voters, some time ago -- you would call it a very long time ago: and he settled down at Holyrood, or Pàrlamaid na h-Alba as the Men of Alba call it. He was very quiet to begin with, but his fame began to grow. He was chosen to be Shadow Enterprise and Economy Wizard, they say; but that did not turn out too well. I wonder now if even then Sarumather was not turning to evil ways. But at any rate he used to give no trouble to his neighbours. They used to talk to him. There was a time when he was always walking about the constituency. He was polite in those days, always asking leave ... and always eager to listen. Folk told him many things that he would never have found out by himself; but he never repaid them in like kind. They cannot remember that he ever told them anything. And he got more and more like that; his face... became like windows in a stone wall: windows with shutters inside.
'I think that I now understand what he is up to. He is now the Wizard for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism. He has a mind of metal and wheels; and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve him for the moment. And now it is clear that he is irresponsible. He has taken up with foul folk, with the RES... Worse than that: he has been doing something to them; something dangerous. For these renewable energy developers are more like wicked Men. It is a mark of evil things that came in the Great Darkness that they cannot abide the natural landscape; but Sarumather's RES can endure it, even while they pillage it. I wonder what he has done? Are they Men he has ruined, or has he blended the races of Eejuts and Men? That would be a black evil!'
Treebeardedgit rumbled for a moment, as if he were pronouncing some deep, subterranean Anglo-Saxon malediction. 'Some time ago I began to wonder how the RES dared to pass through the countryside so freely,' he went on. 'Only lately did I guess that Sarumather was to blame, and that long ago he had been spying out all the ways, and discovering the secrets. He and his foul folk are making havoc now...
With apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien and to fellow LOTR fans everywhere.
Original text sourced from here.
Reason here.
There's got to be a suitable collective noun for such an unruly collection of outdoors socks.
This website suggests that it's either "an odd number", "a stink" or "an oddnumber", but none of them fit the bill for my stash.
Other terms suggested to me so far are "a plethora", "a foot-fall" and the one I like best so far - "a march". If you've any others, feel free to let me know.
FWIW, here's my stash after I'd culled the duffers:
