Out of the mouths…

A stranger was seated next to a little girl on the airplane. He turned to her and said, ‘Let’s talk. I’ve heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.’

The little girl, who had just opened her book, closed it slowly and said to the stranger, ‘What would you like to talk about?’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said the stranger. ‘How about nuclear power?’ and he smiled.

OK, ‘ she said. ‘That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff – grass. Yet, a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?’

The stranger, visibly surprised by the little girl’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, ‘Hmmm, I have no idea.’

To which the little girl replies, ‘Do you really feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don’t know shit?

My Ponytail

Imagine my surprise when my Ponytail plant suddenly sprouted what appears to be a flower more than half of its existing height.

I bought the plant probably 6 or 7 years ago, the various websites that I’ve visited to find out a bit more info on it tell me that it’s a very slow grower, they are dead right, if my plant has grown more than 10 cm in all the time that I’ve had it I’d be surprised.

For the record, the plant now stands approx. 70cm high, (excluding the new ‘growth’) the flowery stalky bit which has suddenly shot up overnight is more than half of that, I measure it at 37cm from the ‘crown.’

The plant (Beaucarnea recurvata) is apparently native to Mexico, stores water in its stem and can go for years without or with very little water. Perhaps our recent 3 year drought and my positioning of it in full sun for all of its life have encouraged it to do what comes naturally to most other plants in my garden (that is flower.)

I’ve included a picture of the complete plant on the next page…

Continue reading “My Ponytail”

We’ve definitely been invaded

I believe I’ve mentioned in passing that biltong is available almost everywhere in South East Queensland (not in other States or territories), due to the large influx of Saffers into Brisbane and the surrounding area.

But I was still quite surprised this morning when we went to daughter’s for Sunday breakfast, to find her partner busy at the barbie cooking not only bacon, but also boerewors.   Apparently it’s now available everywhere in SEQ, including in the large supermarkets – Woolies and Coles.

So I reckon Sipu should stop regarding Queensland as a foreign country with a strange culture.   It’s merely an outpost of SA, now. 🙂

 

A great night out

Yesterday, Mrs FEEG and I caught the train to London and had a decent nosh in a Cafe Rouge chain restaurant in town.  After that, we caught a tube to Earls Court and went to the British Military Tournament, the revived but somewhat modified Royal Tournament.

You may remember that the treacherous barsteward, Tony Blair, cancelled the original one, ostensibly on the grounds of costs, but really because it conflicted with his ideas of Britain as a part of Europe!

We had seen a Royal Tournament before it was cancelled so could compare directly. The main elements were all there, the horse, massed bands, demonstrations of military tactics and so on. It was themed on the “Special Relationship with the USA” and had some very good displays from the US Army, and diplomatically they forgot to mention that they always turn up late for World Wars :-). There was even a Field Gun Race which, held between two teams of Sea Cadets from Wellington College using half sized guns, was still exciting. Since the idea of all this was to raise money for Military Charities, it was all very worth while and money well spent. In spite of all the cuts the UK military is still extremely capable and competent.

I hope David Cameron has seen this, since he saw fit to write a foreword in the program. We need the military more than ever so STOP CUTTING MILITARY EXPENDITURE AND MAKE CUTS WHERE THEY SHOULD BE MADE!

Effin dangerous

This is the story of a some innocent denizens of a village in County Limerick who wanted to be part of the great phenomenon called Facebook which only a few, like Backside and me, avoid like the famine (allegedly).

But as fate would have it their village is called Effin (in English, not in their native tongue). So as seems to occur with all such electronic media, it could not speak its name.

I presume (for I dare not put it to the test) that one should not refer to a festive furkin either?

(Please note this post is split into short, easy-to-read paragraphs and avoids any link to a media report or a relevant stock photo selected for the amusement of cherished members.) 🙂

A Christmas Quarrel

“You can’t go on strike. You don’t have a union.”

Thus spake Lofty Ghost, the host of the annual meeting of ghosts in a disused warehouse on the edge of town. Every year the spirits wanted a few days off. People aren’t scared at the holiday period, they complain. We should get time off, same as the living, they demand. Jasper Ghost made an impassioned plea.

“After the Queen’s speech, Morecambe and Wise and a full dinner, folk are too full of beans to even half-scare.” Continue reading “A Christmas Quarrel”

Nando’s, Mugabe & the Chinese take-away

Sipu recently published the latest ad from Nando’s titled “Last Dictator standing” lampooning bob mugabe, if you missed it or haven’t seen it yet here it is , go and have a look, it will help you make sense of this, Wigget’s latest cartoon published today in my local weekend read.

Sipu also posted a comment linking to a Business Day report which stated that Nando’s had been pressured into withdrawing the ad, well they didn’t, I’m pleased to report that I saw it flighted again today, I’ve now probably seen it perhaps 10 times since its launch on Thursday.

Funny enough, all the ads that I’ve seen have had the Chairman Mao (Karaoke bar) scene omitted, perhaps Nando’s Beijing shareholders hold more sway than                                                those up in Harare 😉

Update (Sunday 04Dec. ( pm))

Nando’s have pulled the ad, press release published in my Sunday Times here 😦

Oh! The cartoon, on the next page…

Continue reading “Nando’s, Mugabe & the Chinese take-away”

Economics for Dummies

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.”

Wilkins Micawber

Sounds perfectly sensible to me, but then I’m no economist!

Now moving on to the bright ideas of John Maynard Keynes:

Continue reading “Economics for Dummies”