Chapter 7: Sunset and Sunrise

I am going to start writing in small print now. This is the last sheet of paper I've got. I have some more in my suitcase in the overhead compartment but I don't think I will bother with that. It would break my monotony and Elle's writing too. I've already lost a few precious moments pondering over it. Writing in small print has reminded me of the time my friends and I decided to do that for fun, in college. One of our professors used to dictate endless pages of notes in his excruciatingly boring class. We came up with unique ways of amusing ourselves, one of which was to write in really small print and see who would use the least number of pages. Some students even wrote on the margins of the page. Our argument that we were trying to save paper did not quite save us from the professor's wrath, when he got wind of our secret game!

I am trying to slow down but my fingers are trapped in a rhythm. It is going to be hard reading small print that I write at this speed. The words in my head are still flying past, so that is not helping either. Now, I'm going back and forth trying to pick up words that I missed. This is not looking good.

The pilot has just announced that we are "440 miles, that is 750 kilometres, north of Melbourne, coming up over the west of New South Wales". He is saying that we are ahead of schedule by 20 minutes and will arrive in Melbourne at 10 past nine by the local clock. He is now reminding us that we need to move our watches forward by an hour. I would love to pull out my mobile and do that now but I think that might be frowned upon. I don't think I'll change the time on my iPad. It doesn't matter.

The sun is shining bright outside. It is strange to look out and see the sun shining so bright at half past 8 in the night. Even if there is daylight till late in summers, I doubt that the sun is this bright at this hour. The time on clocks and watches is redundant up here in space, isn't it? 

The clouds are a beautiful combination of white, light and dark grey, with shades of pink and orange in the mix. The horizon is layers of blue, green, yellow and orange, just like the pictures in our Physics text books when we learnt about refraction. I should stop writing and take a few pictures of this. Yeah, I do that a lot. The pictures I take on my mobile during flights look alright on the mobile but they never look the same when I put them on the computer. I hate it when that happens but it hasn't stopped me from taking pictures on the mobile anyway. "I can edit them on Picasa", I say to myself each time. It has not happened once.

I'm still dogged by the curiosity as to what Elle's thinking about what I am doing. Surely, it is not usual for the person next to you to be scribing non-stop on a flight? She has switched on her ipod and is listening to music quite loudly. I can hear the beats, even though I can't make out the songs. Oh, she has the flight manual on her lap. I didn't see her pick it up. It must have been when I was admiring the clouds outside. That reminds me. I haven't read the flight safety manual on this flight myself. I must do it as soon as I can. I can't do it right now because if she has picked up the manual in the last few minutes, it will look creepy that I do the same. She will suspect that I am watching her, if she already hasn't.

Hopefully Murphy and his law won't come into play in the next few minutes. The one flight on which I forgot to read the manual (because I was busy writing, may I clarify?), is the one where I hadn't flown in a long time and couldn't remember what to do. What are the odds of that happening? I have spooked myself out now, I had better read the manual. It doesn't matter if she thinks I'm copying her. It is a question of my life. If the plane decides to take a nosedive and I die on this plane, they might find my notes and know what Elle is doing. They will know my last few words but I doubt that I want anyone to read this. Even if I die.

There, I've done it. Relief, at last. Knowing Murphy, he will stay away today. I have no problems with that whatsoever. As far as I am concerned, I can brace myself and do a couple of life-saving manoeuvres if push comes to shove. 

Outside, the sun is setting. On the right side of my view, the sky and clouds are a shade of pinkish grey. Up  ahead, it is a bright yellow shine of the sun, not quite ready to set yet. In some part of the world, people must be beginning to wake up to that light. On my left, it is a dull and depressing grey. The sun has set and night has crept upon the cities there. Come to think of it, I am sitting at the right window seat, which means that I am heading towards that darkness. Of course! It will be night time when we land in Melbourne. It makes perfect sense. Did I just see the sunset and sunrise at the same time? Wow!!

The little sojourn I took to read the manual has dulled my excitement to write. My fingers are hurting more than I am happy about. These must be signs. I had better stop writing once I reach the end of this sheet. I will.

Came Here To Write But Ended Up Whinging Instead

I am so over strangers telling me what to do with my life, through the stupid monitors I peer into twenty million times a day! 

My Gmail crashed 5 times during an email that might have otherwise finished in 5 minutes. The Chrome help page says I should disable my anti-virus and do a few things before I turn it back on, to fix the issue. I'll be damned if I stay connected to the vast world of viruses and malware out there, without protection!

Facebook thinks I need more friends. So, I have these random strangers flung at me each time I go to the Wall for my news feed. Off late, they even show me events that my friends are attending, with an option to RSVP. I nearly RSVP'd, in the affirmative, to one before I realized it was a private party!

I logged into Blogger to write about something. My memory fails me now. I got distracted into ranting because there was this on top of the home page

You should occasionally check the comments in your spam inbox. 

Sure, why not? Why don't you also tell me what to wear today and whether I should have eggs for breakfast this morning? I don't care for spam and if I ever find out you're putting valid comments into my Spam folder, I will come after you!

I'm told by Shelfari that I haven't read enough books this year. Yes, I know I haven't been reading much! Where do I find the time to read? I mean, seriously, between work and social life, I barely manage to read a few lines on my commute. On nights that I'm drunk, only 1 trip on the train allows for reading because the return trip is a fight to stay awake long enough to get off at the right train station!

Twitter's been nagging me to check out their 'Activity' tab where I can view tweets & re-tweets from my followers and those that I follow. What else is Twitter if it is not that? Aren't I already doing that? Stop creating different views of the same thing! More importantly, stop haranguing me to check them out!

I could go on but what is the point? I've lost a brilliant idea to write a blog. The moment of creativity has flown, thanks to the interference from the monsters of the Internet-world. Even my coffee has turned cold. It's just one of those days... 

Queensland's Wildlife

I've realised that it is not so much the driving in India that is the problem but the drivers. After a 30-minute near nauseous bus drive to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary today, we finally arrived. Indian driver. Sad.

Expensive as the entry was, one can easily spend a good half day with the animals. Our first encounter was with this little advertised pony.

Then we met Mr. Little Kangaroo. The fella was grazing all by himself and did not move when I went up to him. Excited, I asked my husband to quickly take a picture. If he had, there would have been me standing and traces of a kangaroo pentaloping. We walked around the lake with numerous ducks and a couple of raptors, before moving on to watch a show of the birds of prey.

We met Milo, the barn owl, Schnapps, the barking owl, Omega, the wedge tailed eagle, Illuka the white-bellied sea eagle and Zephyr, the brahminy kite. Such grace. Such agility. What charisma!

Kelly with Illuka

Our next show was the sheep one. It was my first time watching the sheep-dogs (Border Collies and Kelpies) get the mob in order and drive them into the yard and then the shearing area. The shearing itself was another experience. It was a little painful watching the poor animal going under the knife and hurt a little each time he protested. However, when Daniel was done shearing, he flung the rug of fleece on the counter and it was impossible not to admire his handiwork!

Once the shows were over, we moved on to meet the famous Aussie buggers.

Hungry Emu

Sleeping Koala, how cuddly

Kangaroo poses, "Will you leave me alone, now?"

The rest of the guys are all in cages, like any other zoo I've seen but all different animals. From platypus to monitors, dingoes, crocs, snakes to beautiful, coloured parrots, larakeets, turkeys and flying foxes hanging upside down, there is such a lot to watch. A big part of my 'new culture' learning experience.

Now, if only I could convince my husband to go to the Ekka with me tomorrow, it would be one hell of a farm life experience.

Urgent!! Spellchecker Required!!

Is it odd that this totally bothered me at the stadium the other day?

Creating Opportunities for VULNERABLE Children

While we're at it, can someone define 'vulnerable children' to me, please? Are we.. er.. uh... they all vulnerable?

Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart by Dr. Gordon Livingston

One of my Christmas presents this year was a book called 'Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now', by Gordon Livingston, with a foreword by Elizabeth Edwards. Dr. Livingston is a physician, psychiatrist and writer. Edwards is one of those he met on an online bereaved parents forums and has drawn strength from him to reclaim her life. 

It's one of the best books I have ever read. I'm still reading it but I wanted to write about it. Dr. Livingston gives a fresh perspective to so many things. Some of the things he said were new to me, some simply surprised me by the obvious nature of it and how I'd failed to see. The chapters are named such that you only need to read the contents page for a host of quotes to think about. Edwards' foreword makes good reading, makes you wonder if you will get the same benefits out of this book that she did. 

You don't need to be suffering to read Dr. Livingston's book, he just steers you to look in another direction. Each person could get something else to take away from each chapter, often not what the title says. I tweeted one such, from each chapter of the book and am reproducing it here. I've copied from Twitter, so you need to read backwards (starting from the last occurrence of 'bumblebee' to the first, which is from chapter 18).

bumblebee Ch18. There is nothing more pointless, or common, than doing the same things and expecting different results! bumblebee ...hope, chance, intuition, and a willingness to be surprised.  


bumblebee (contd) Often it is the dalliances and the detours that define us. There are no maps to guide our most important searches; we must rely on...  


bumblebee  Ch16. Though a straight line appears to be the shortest distance between two points, life has a way of confounding geometry. (contd)  


bumblebee Ch15. The process of building has always been slower and more complicated (i.e. less immediately satisfying) than that of destruction.  


bumblebee (contd)... people fall out of love, the demands for explanation are insistent.  


bumblebee  Ch14. It seems ironic that when people fall in love, no justification for their attachment is necessary. When, on the other hand... (contd)  


bumblebee Instead I ask them to examine what it is that has so far dissuaded them from killing themselves.  


bumblebee Ch13 Suicide is the ultimate expression of preoccupation with self. When confronted with a suicidal person I dont try to talk them out of it...  


bumblebee ... of inestimable value to those who survive us.  


bumblebee Ch12. (Old age) If we can retain our good humor and interest in others even as the curtain closes, we'll have contributed something...  


bumblebee Ch11. We simply pay too much attention to words - ours and others' - and not enough to the actions that actually define us.  


bumblebee ...our different roles demand different attitudes.  


bumblebee ...worker, partner, parent, friend, is a challenge. We think of ourselves as the same person whatever we may be doing at the moment. But...  


bumblebee Ch10. A certain amt of compartmentalization in necessary to succeed in different areas of our lives. Juggling our mutual responsibilities...  


bumblebee Ch9. Life is a gamble in which we don't get to deal the cards, but are nevertheless obligated to play them to the best of our ability.  


bumblebee The best hope is to introduce them to the paradox of perfection: in some settings (relationships), we gain control only by relinquishing it.  


bumblebee ... can render them insufferable in their personal lives. To be less controlling in their jobs would render them ineffective.  


bumblebee Ch8. The problem with perfectionists and their pre-occupation with control is that the qualities that make them effective in their work...  


bumblebee Ch7. I did my best to fit in. I just got tired of it.  


bumblebee (contd)... to alter their behaviour in ways that allow them to exert greater control over their lives.  


bumblebee Ch6. While medication can provide crucial, sometimes live-saving relief, people also have an obligation... (contd)  


bumblebee Ch5. While it takes two people to create a relationship, it only takes one to end it.  


bumblebee Ch4 Finally, if a person I'm talking to appears wedded determinedly to the past and unwilling to contemplate a better future, I grow impatient.  


bumblebee Ch3. Many are the ways that parents instill a sense of obligation in their children. In fact, our children owe us nothing.  


bumblebee Ch2. He says, "Past behaviour is the most reliable predictor of future behaviour" What about when people change? How do we acknowledge that?  


bumblebee Ch2: We love someone when the importance of his or her needs and desires (to us) rises to the level of our own.  


bumblebee Ch1: If the map doesn't agree with the ground, the map is wrong.  


bumblebee 18 chapters. Want to write one best line from each. Let me try. It's gonna be harder when there are more than one lines...

Maybe when I'm done with the book, I'll pull out a line from the rest of the chapters. 

You can read this book as many times as you want and still be touched by it. The quotes above won't spoil the book for you, if you ever mean to read it, just like Dr. Livingston's titles didn't change what I would take away from his observations. 

I'll end this by quoting one of the reviewers/readers of Dr. Livingston's book(s). Mark Helprin, author of the books A Soldier Of The Great War and Winter's Tale says about Dr. Gordon Livingston, "To read him is to trust him and to learn, for his life has been touched by fire, and his motives are absolutely pure."

Republic Day Recap

Courtesy Taj Online  http://festivals.tajonline.com/republic-day.php

    26th January 1950 is one of the most important days in Indian history as it was on this day the constitution of India came into force and India became a truly sovereign state. In this day India became a totally republican unit. The country finally realized the dream of Mahatma Gandhi and the numerous freedom fighters who, fought for and sacrificed their lives for the Independence of their country. So, the 26th of January was decreed a national holiday and has been recognized and celebrated as the Republic Day of India, ever since.

    Today, the Republic Day is celebrated with much enthusiasm all over the country and especially in the capital, New Delhi where the celebrations start with the Presidential to the nation. The beginning of the occasion is always a solemn reminder of the sacrifice of the martyrs who died for the country in the freedom movement and the succeeding wars for the defense of sovereignty of their country. Then, the President comes forward to award the medals of bravery to the people from the armed forces for their exceptional courage in the field and also the civilians, who have distinguished themselves by their different acts of valour in different situations.

   To mark the importance of this occasion, every year a grand parade is held in the capital, from the Rajghat, along the Vijaypath. The different regiments of the army, the Navy and the Air force march past in all their finery and official decorations even the horses of the cavalry are attractively caparisoned to suit the occasion. The crème of N.C.C cadets, selected from all over the country consider it an honour to participate in this event, as do the school children from various schools in the capital. They spend many days preparing for the event and no expense is spared to see that every detail is taken care of, from their practice for the drills, the essential props and their uniforms.

    The parade is followed by a pageant of spectacular displays from the different states of the country. These moving exhibits depict scenes of activities of people in those states and the music and songs of that particular state accompany each display. Each display brings out the diversity and richness of the culture of India and the whole show lends a festive air to the occasion. The parade and the ensuing pageantry is telecast by the National Television and is watched by millions of viewers in every corner of the country.

   The patriotic fervor of the people on this day brings the whole country together even in her essential diversity. Every part of the country is represented in occasion, which makes the Republic Day the most popular of all the national holidays of India.

Courtesy wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_Day_(India)

The Republic Day of India marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India and the transition of India from a British Dominion to a republic on January 26, 1950.

Although India obtained its independence on August 15, 1947, it did not yet have a permanent constitution; instead, its laws were based on the modified colonialGovernment of India Act 1935, and the country was a Dominion, with George VI as head of state and Earl Mountbatten as Governor General. On August 29, 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed to draft a permanent constitution, with Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar as chairman.

A draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on November 4, 1947. The Assembly met, in sessions open to public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution. After many deliberations and some modifications, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on January 24, 1950. Two days later, the Constitution of India became the law of all the Indian lands. The Constitution of India came into effect only on January 26, 1950, 10.18 AM IST. Following elections on January 21, 1950,Rajendra Prasad was elected as the president of India. The Indian National Congress and other parties had been celebrating January 26th as a symbol of Independence, even before India actually became independent. Thus, signing the constitution on January 26, to mark and respect January 26 and the freedom struggle and the freedom fighters.

Granville Austin has described the Indian Constitution drafted by Ambedkar as 'first and foremost a social document.' ... 'The majority of India's constitutional provisions are either directly arrived at furthering the aim of social revolution or attempt to foster this revolution by establishing conditions necessary for its achievement.'

The amending mechanism was lauded even at the time of introduction by Ambedkar in the following words: "We can therefore safely say that the Indian federation will not suffer from the faults of rigidity or legalism. Its distinguished feature is that it is a flexible federation.

"The three mechanisms of the system derived by the Assembly, contrary to the predictions, have made the constitution flexible at the same time protected the rights of the states. They have worked better than the amending process in any other country where Federalism and the British Parliamentary system jointly formed the basis of the constitution"

What Sir Anthony Eden, the Prime Minister of Britain (April 1955 to January 1957), said at the time of the emergence of Indian Republic is relevant in this context. He said, ‘Of all the experiments in government, which have been attempted since the beginning of time, I believe that the Indian venture into parliamentary government is the most exciting. A vast subcontinent is attempting to apply to its tens and thousands of millions a system of free democracy... It is a brave thing to try to do so. The Indian venture is not a pale imitation of our practice at home, but a magnified and multiplied reproduction on a scale we have never dreamt of. If it succeeds, its influence on Asia is incalculable for good. Whatever the outcome we must honour those who attempt it. Even more meaningful was the opinion expressed by an American Constitutional authority, Granville Austin, who wrote that what the Indian Constituent Assembly began was ‘perhaps the greatest political venture since that originated in Philadelphia in 1787.’

"During recent years, it has become fashionable among some citizens to disparage the founders and their document. These individuals disappointed by the developments in the country since 1950, have called for changing the constitution explaining that it has not 'worked'. Such thinking, in my view, is misguided. Constitutions do not 'work', they are inert, dependent upon being 'worked' by citizens and elected and appointed leaders"

It is one of the three national holidays in India

10 Honest Things About Me

When I first started blogging, it was just about keeping myself in touch with writing - keeping my written English a tad cleaner than the spoken, to be more precise. So it has remained, until this day. I am not a regular follower of anyone's blogs nor have I attempted to invite visitors to my own or make new friends. The quiet privacy accorded by Blogger suits me just fine and I refuse to move out to a more open space, although I have considered it on one occasion.

A friend and fellow-blogger, who's very active on the blogging scene posted this yesterday and invited me to read it http://jeeney.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/i-have-received-so-i-give/ . Now I'm expected to come up with 10 honest things about myself. This is hard. As hard as writing up a self-assessment for that annual appraisal or putting together a resume for a new job. I was procrastinating on this activity until this morning, when someone pushed me to give it a shot. There are some people I just cannot refuse anything, so here I am.

• My name means music but as the husband puts it I "cannot sing a tune to save my life"

That reminds me of my earliest days at Engineering college. As fate would have it, I was one of those bakras (scapegoat) trapped by seniors to be 'ragged' and I was asked to sing songs in all the languages that I knew. Try as they may, they could not get me sing or even remember lines of any of the songs they wanted. Eventually, they settled for making me wear salwar to college for an entire week, with flowers in my hair. Those were the days when wearing a salwar was, for me, dressing up for a costume party

• I can speak 3 & 1/4 languages and understand another 3 (somewhat)

English is the language I speak best (uh umm) and think in. Kannada, I speak better than a lot of Bengaluru Kannadigas. Hindi, our national language and that which saved the day when I first moved to Mumbai. Malayalam is my mother-tongue. Whereas I can understand a fair bit of it, I barely manage to say much and even then it would be in a strong Kannadiga accent. Hence, qualifies as 1/4th of a language in the language count.

Every South Indian must (atleast every Bangalorean must) understand a smattering of Tamil and Telugu, and so I do. My Mumbai days has familiarized me with a few words in Marathi...

• Although I am mostly seen in trousers/jeans and shirts/tees, my wardrobe has more girly dresses/tops/salwars

I attribute this mainly to the fact that on days that I am wearing the 'girl' cap, I end up having shopping binges and buy clothes by the dozen. Considering that I hardly wear them, they last longer and the wardrobe just grows bigger.

• My best friends have always been boys

For a long time, I use to check out girls because that's what boys do and that's what I did with my best friends. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with one cute guy, married him and never found anyone else cute ever again. How many cute guys have come and gone while I was busy checking out the same girls that they were?

I guess it's never too late to make up...

• I've only met one girl in my entire life who was anything like me and we shared some wonderful times together

My roommate and I stayed up late nights watching Tom Cruise movies or crying over 'Life Is Beautiful', allowed the boys to cook for us while we watched Just-For-Laughs on Pogo, spent hours at the beauty parlour, went shopping at Borivli the first week of every month to pick up cheap trousers for 50 bucks off the streets, slept late into the mornings until the boys went nuts knocking at our door to go out for breakfast and then there were some crazy stuff we did...

• I've been wanting to get back to yoga for some time now. It's been over 11 years and I'm still saying...

Need I say more? I wasted 250 bucks on a CD by Shilpa Shetty. Well, I played it once...

• I love pets

I used to be terrified of dogs until, one day, at the age of 15, I decided that I wanted one. After much persuasion, my parents let me get a pomeranian, the cheapest available at the vet, for 600 bucks. There's been no looking back. After Sonu, there's Lucky. I also have fish and some trying times managing them! I wouldn't change any of that for anything

• I am terrible with clothes

During my college days, I was really thin and I wore over-sized men's shirts and baggy trousers. Now, I'm fat and want to wear clothes that I cannot carry off!

• I love playing pranks

Right from the days of reading Mallory Towers, Chalet School books, I have loved the idea of playing pranks on people. While most children finish their quota during their school days and grow up once they start working, my pranks started only after I started working. I guess I'm growing backwards

• I change my hairstyle every year

I first cut my hair 7 years ago, when I started working and I have changed my hairstyle every year. Each time, I have managed to horrify people around me.

Phew! That took a lot of digging. I wish I had more blogger-friends. I'd like to do what my friend did. Jot down a few names and go 'Tag, you're it!'

Something On Golf

Disclaimer: This is purely a write-up for non-players like me, whose interest lie primarily in the game for purposes other than playing viz. general knowledge, understanding what cute golfers say on their albums, being able to spit out a few terms when drunk and confuse a few fellow-drunks, etc.

Recently, I read that GOLF stands for 'Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden'. It sounded weird that a sport so popular could carry such gender bias. I was looking for a book on the internet and chanced upon a weblink that had FAQs on golf. The second question in the list caught my eye. It asked if golf really stood for 'Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden'. Here's the answer:

Did the word "golf" originate as an acronym for "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden"? That's a common old wives' tale. Or, in this case, more likely an old husband's tale.

No, "golf" is not an acronym for "gentlemen only, ladies forbidden." If you've ever heard that, forget it immediately. Better yet, find the person who told you and let them know it's not true.

Like most modern words, the word "golf" derives from older languages and dialects. In this case, the languages in question are medieval Dutch and old Scots.

The medieval Dutch word "kolf" or "kolve" meant "club." It is believed that word passed to the Scots, whose old Scots dialect transformed the word into "golve," "gowl" or "gouf."

By the 16th Century, the word "golf" had emerged.

Sources: British Golf Museum, USGA Library

Such a relief. Considering that there are women golfers around the world, it's good to know that there is a real story to the origination than cheesy acronyms.

Speaking of origination, there was another interesting question on who invented golf. The answer says that golf "as we know it" emerged from Scotland but it didn't quite originate from there.

Here's what the USGA Museum says about the issue: "While many Scots firmly maintain that golf evolved from a family of stick-and-ball games widely practiced throughout the British Isles during the Middle Ages, considerable evidence suggests that the game derived from stick-and-ball games that were played in France, Germany and the Low Countries."

Part of that evidence is the etymology of the word "golf" itself. "Golf" derives from the Old Scots terms "golve" or "goff," which themselves evolved from the medieval Dutch term "kolf."

The medieval Dutch term "kolf" meant "club," and the Dutch were playing games (mostly on ice) at least by the 14th Century in which balls were struck by sticks that were curved at the bottom until they were moved from Point A to Point B. Sounds a lot like hockey, doesn't it? Except that it sort of sounds like golf, too (except for that ice part).

Something else that lends credence to that idea: Although the Scots played their game on parkland (rather than ice), they (or least some of them) were using balls they acquired in trade from ... Holland.

And the Dutch game wasn't the only similar game of the Middle Ages. Going back even farther, the Romans brought their own stick-and-ball game into the British Isles.

So does that mean that the Dutch (or someone else other than that Scots) invented golf? No, it means that golf grew out of games that were played in different parts of Europe.

But we're not trying to deny the Scots their place in golf history. The Scots made a singular improvement to all the games that came before: They dug a hole in the ground, and made getting the ball into that hole the object of the game.

As we said at the beginning, for golf as we know it, we definitely have the Scots to thank.

What's with golf and the animal fixation? Did the Scots love animals so much as to name their game after them? Or were they plain lazy (I can believe this)? I went through a list of golf slang and they have terms that include cat, dog, duck, chicken, goat, frog and even worm! Amazing! The comprehensive 'not slang' golf glossary is not too far behind either. Albatross, Birdie, Eagle, Fish... oh dear!

Ok, my knowledge of the subject is limited (read nil), so no point pretending to write. Heading off to get a good night's sleep.

Coffee Table Trivia (courtesy Jeena)

• In the 1400’s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"

• Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only…Ladies Forbidden"…and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language

• The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone

• Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. Treasury

• Coca-Cola was originally green

• Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades – King David. Hearts – Charlemagne. Clubs -Alexander, the Great. Diamonds – Julius Caesar

• In Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase .. "goodnight, sleep tight"

• It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon

• In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts… So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It’s where we get the phrase "mind your P’s and Q’s".