TTT (actually Today's Top Trivia)

[PeterL22]

As I have been undercover for a little while, I thought I'd start with spies & MI6 (Bond and all that)

The British espionage agency MI6 - for whom Bond works - was started in 1909 and its first director was a naval chap called Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming (make your own jokes about that last bit!). He gradually dropped the Smith bit and often signed himself as Cumming. This was often just shortened (by him) to the initial "C".

Thus in the Bond films they have it all wrong - there is no "M"! As Smith-Cumming signed his letters/memos etc as "C", it went on to be a tradition that his successors also signed themselves as "C". That persists right up until the current day.

The other cool thing is that C always signs his letters or notes in green ink. That goes back to the fact that Smith-Cumming was a naval chap and Commanders/Captains in the Royal Navy always made their entries in the ship's log in green ink.

Seeing as you are asking I'm 0011/2 - licence to irritate.
Aren't you glad/sorry (please delete as appropriate) that I'm back?

[stickyvicky]

Interesting link if you like James bond! 60 facts u didn't know!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.useles ... -bond/amp/

[PeterL22]

Interesting link if you like James bond! 60 facts u didn't know!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.useles ... -bond/amp/

BEFORE THEY WERE BOND

Sean Connery had (among others) a job as a coffin polisher (not a euphemism).
Roger Moore was a model for knitting patterns
Daniel Craig (a bit more boring) worked in a restaurant.
Piers Brosnan trained as a commercial illustrator at ST Martins school of art, but ran away to join the circus after seeing (and asking to be taught how to do it) a fire eater!
George Lazenby was a model and a used car salesman before he became Bond.

Quiz - no cheating and using Wikipedia
1. Which of these guys are English (like Bond)?
2. Who was originally wanted as Bond before second choice Connery?

[stickyvicky]

I know Roger Moore was definitely English! He was knighted by the Queen for doing charity work!

[stickyvicky]

Love the new avatar by the way!

[Andrew35]

Roger Moore was born in England, so yeah he was English

[Andrew35]

Craig was also born in England

[PeterL22]

Good effort chaps!
For the record both Roger Moore (London) and Daniel Craig (Chester - so he's almost Welsh) are English.
Lazenby is an Aussie, Brosnan is Irish, Conneru is Scots and to complete the list Timothy Dalton is Welsh (Colwyn Bay in North Wales).

The first choice for Bond when the first film was being made was an Irishman also - Patrick McGoohan!

I'll think some more stuff up in the next day or so!

[PeterL22]

Did you know, on average, when you talk to someone you blink 29 times a minute?

When you are reading you only blink 4 times a minute.


Finally, it is impossible to keep your eyes open when you sneeze!

[stickyvicky]

I heard you blink more when you are lying also?

[PeterL22]

I heard you blink more when you are lying also?

There is also a tendency to look downwards and to the left!

You need to watch the great TV series "Lie to Me" with Tim Roth about a psychologist who reads micro-expressions. Really good!

[PeterL22]

Quick one today.

Berlin - got its name from the old Slavic word for Swamp - the city is built on a sandstone base that retains water.

[PeterL22]

Navel gazing time!

The Belly Button Biodiversity Project.

"We launched the Belly Button Biodiversity Project back in 2011," Prof Rob Dunn told reporters in Raleigh, North Carolina, "to investigate the microbes inhabiting our navels. Given the belly button's status as one of the world's most rarely scrubbed crannies, it offers researchers a chance to study a pristine microbial landscape, and explore the microscopic life that calls this protected moist patch of skin home.Belly buttons are ridiculous enough to appeal to almost everyone, and hundreds of navel gazers participated in the study, twirling a sterile swab in their navels to collect the microbes.
From 60 belly buttons, we found 2,368 bacterial species, 1,458 of which may be new to science. Some belly buttons harboured as many as 107, although most had around 67, some of which only showed up in a single subject. One science writer harboured a bacterium that had previously only been found in soil in Japan, where he had never been. Another more fragrant individual, who hadn't washed in years, hosted two species of extremophile bacteria that typically thrive in ice caps and thermal vents. Data collection stopped several years ago, but we continue to chug along with analyses. Science can be painfully slow sometimes."

[PeterL22]

So today is Guiness Day (aka St Patricks day).

Did you know that St Patrick wasn't actually Irish? He may have driven the snakes out of the Emerald Isle, but he was actually a Welsh monk who was captured by a marauding band of Irish guys who took him back to Ireland!

Today is also St Gertrude's Day - she is the Patron Saint of cats and people who are afraid of mice!

Now you know

Next time I'll tell you all about freezing the balls off a brass monkey!

[PeterL22]

As promised - freezing the balls off a brass monkey!

Like a lot of sayings, this can be traced back to The Forces - actually, the Royal Navy back in Nelson's time.
The Brass monkey is not an ape, but a brass attachment on the gun deck of a warship (when cannons were loaded via the barrel) to keep the cannon balls ready for loading. In very cold weather the brass would contract a little bit and the (cannon) balls would no longer fit and roll off the "Monkey".
Hence, the expression - "It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a Brass Monkey!"

A second naval origin (and I do know a civilian explanation too) for a popular saying - "Let the cat out of the bag"
Generally, this expression means to let a secret out , or to let something slip that causes chaos or trouble.
The RN explanation , again, goes back to the late 18th, early 19th Century and punishment in the Royal Navy.
Back then, if a sailor had committed a serious misdemeanour he could be flogged - hit across the back with a split knotted rope called a "Cat o' Nine Tails". The "Cat" was kept in a leather pouch or bag that was on display to remind sailors NOT to do wrong. When a punishment was about to take place, the Cat was taken out of the pouch.
Hence "Letting the Cat out of the bag" - obviously nothing good would ensue when that happened!!

[stickyvicky]

Navel gazing time!

The Belly Button Biodiversity Project.

"We launched the Belly Button Biodiversity Project back in 2011," Prof Rob Dunn told reporters in Raleigh, North Carolina, "to investigate the microbes inhabiting our navels. Given the belly button's status as one of the world's most rarely scrubbed crannies, it offers researchers a chance to study a pristine microbial landscape, and explore the microscopic life that calls this protected moist patch of skin home.Belly buttons are ridiculous enough to appeal to almost everyone, and hundreds of navel gazers participated in the study, twirling a sterile swab in their navels to collect the microbes.
From 60 belly buttons, we found 2,368 bacterial species, 1,458 of which may be new to science. Some belly buttons harboured as many as 107, although most had around 67, some of which only showed up in a single subject. One science writer harboured a bacterium that had previously only been found in soil in Japan, where he had never been. Another more fragrant individual, who hadn't washed in years, hosted two species of extremophile bacteria that typically thrive in ice caps and thermal vents. Data collection stopped several years ago, but we continue to chug along with analyses. Science can be painfully slow sometimes."

That is absolutely disgusting! I would not want to be the scientist studying that!

[PeterL22]

Some news you may have missed - from Yle News 13th Feb 2019

"Just because my Teatiamo company specialises in wooden dildos," Tea Latvala told reporters in Rovaniemi (Lapland), "that's no reason to deny state funding. Wooden dildos are designed as sex toys, but they stand at the crossroads of art and consumer products. I've already sold more than a thousand of my organic lacquer-finished dildos, at prices between 199 and 249 euros each. I have proven myself, and now want to be seen just like any other startup company"
With the help of business specialist Antti Salminen, Teatiamo has now received a state loan of 200,000 euros from Business Finland, despite criticism from some members of the public. "We're pushing back against the moral police," Salminen added, "by getting the state to support a sex toy enterprise. The adult toy industry is estimated at an annual 30 billion euros globally, and winning even a small share of that pie would be an extremely lucrative prospect. Tea uses Finnish organic birch in her wooden dildos and anal plugs, so we see this as a new opportunity for the Finnish timber industry. She is a great entrepreneur with convincing sales, and her product range is doing particularly well in the natural products sector."

[PeterL22]

Long time no post - sorry!
I have just come across a great online store for Scandinavian food and drink called Scandikitchen - just ordered me some chocolate!
They have some great bits of trivia too .........

If a Dane says something is "hot potato" he might be referring to a tricky situation, (known as en varm kartoffel). If you call someone a lucky potato (held kartoffel) , you are saying that they are really lucky!

The old Norse word for hangover is "kveis" meaning "uneasiness after debauchery"! - specially for you rokker!

Did you know that Iceland is home to one of the World's oldest democracies (Althing), established in 930.

Another Icelandic one (my personal favourite) is that in Iceland Batman is called Leourblokumaourinnn, which translates as "Leatherflappingman!!!!!!!!!

Finally, how to work out your Icelandic name :-
Children take their names from their parents' names.My father was called Thomas, and I'm a boy, so I would be Peter Thomasson, and my son (Owen) would be Owen Petersson (Peter's son).
A daughter is dottir, so my daughter would be Petersdottir - e.g. Mary Petersdottir.
It is therefore, not surprising that on Iceland people are listed in the phone book by their first names!
Have fun working your own Icelandic names out!!!

[greggl]

Tweety Bird of the loony toons cartoons created in 1942 was originally pink but the censors complained that it make him look naked and I guess you couldnt have a naked bird because Warner Bros. quickly changed him to yellow. And yet Porky Pig can still walk around with no pants.

[CGYMike]

Tweety Bird of the loony toons cartoons created in 1942 was originally pink but the censors complained that it make him look naked and I guess you couldnt have a naked bird because Warner Bros. quickly changed him to yellow. And yet Porky Pig can still walk around with no pants.

And what's up with that friggin' duck??