James Dixon

Geez, it’s going to be quite a thing when I try to visit New York and get my historic beef with the president thrown back at me by an immigration officer

15 years since the ‘I agree with Nick’ leaders debate….

PSA: Vegan Ben & Jerry’s is 99p in Farmfoods

Good band name from my 5 y/o daughter’s school history workbook: Gie Forks and the Plots

I know some folks feel like they’re unable to do as much as they want to support Palestinians - but this is a great opportunity to donate to what you can and get your impact doubled thanks to people matching donations!

Please donate generously and share widely!

Thanks!

Yeah, the quotations are the hard bit!

This has brought me a lot of joy just now, not least for the absolute blast of nostalgia that was being reminded of Hairy Maclary (from Donaldson's dairy)

A Trip to the Library Answers The real dogs, in order, are: Hercules Morse, Bottomley Potts, Muffin McClay, Bitzer Maloney, and Schnitzel von Krum. A point for each and a bonus point for the correct order. The films are: All Quiet on the Western Front; Rebecca; Around the World in Eighty Days; The Sound of Music; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; The Silence of The Lambs; The English Patient; The Return of the King; Twelve Years a Slave; Nomadland. One point for each. For the bonus point, The Sound of Music was based on a book called The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. One point if you got that. The correct order of the history books, with subjects, is: 2 (the Greek-Persian wars); 10 (Pompeii); 7 (the Vikings); 8 (Magna Carta); 3 (Chaucer); 6 (the wives of Henry VIII); 5 (the English Civil War); 9 (1666); 1 (Queen Victoria); and 4 (Suffragettes). One point for each book you have in the right chronological position. The five classical authors, whose names all appear in the holiday paragraph, are Austen, Bronte, Hardy, Defoe and Dickens. A point for each. The first parts of the jokes are: What did the policeman say to his stomach?; What’s brown and sticky?; Where did Napoleon keep his armies?; What did the 0 say to the 8?; Why did the cow cross the road?; How does the moon cut his hair?; What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple?; Why didn’t the orange win the race? One point for each. This part of the quiz operates on an honesty system, so if you have a different joke question for any of the answers, tell it to someone and if they laugh you can have the point. The books with those subtitles are: Frankenstein; The Hobbit; Peter Pan; Tess of the D’Urbervilles; Brideshead Revisited. A point for each. The inspiration quotes were written by: J.R.R. Tolkein; Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Daniel Defoe; and Thomas Hardy.

#worldbookday #quiz Answers @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social

Barnacle Beasley

Right, that’s it, library trip done. On the way out you glance up and see a series of inspirational literary quotes painted onto the wall. Who wrote them? (small clue, they’re all authors you’ve already encountered in the library today) 1. “Not all those who wander are lost” 2. “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart” 3. “Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful” 4. “It’s never too late to be wise” 5. “Ladies know what to guard against because they read novels that tell them of these tricks” FIVE POINTS You recognise them all, of course! Smug, you go through the doors and into the street, heading home to read…

#worldbookday #quiz Part 7 @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social

Well, it’s been a strange old trip to the library but at least you’ve relaxed with a coffee and picked up a few books for your holiday. There are a few more on your list too so you wander the Fiction section to find them only to realise that somehow all the books you’re looking for have only got their original subtitles on the cover and not their more common names. You roll your eyes and get stuck in. What five books do you pick up? 1. The Modern Prometheus 2. There And Back Again 3. The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up 4. A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented 5. The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder FIVE POINTS

#worldbookday #quiz Part 6 @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social

Just as you’re feeling happy and excited about the prospect of a holiday of peace, quiet and books, you’re accosted again by the children from earlier who now have another problem and clearly see you as some kind of library superhero. A particularly creative toddler has grabbed their favourite joke book and somehow scribbled through it so precisely, or not, that only the punchlines can be read. The children need you! Add the questions to these punchlines. A: You’re under a vest A: A stick A: In his sleevies A: Nice belt A: To go to the moo-vies. A: Eclipse it A: Finding half a worm A: It ran out of juice EIGHT POINTS

#worldbookday #quiz Part 5 @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social

You mooch onwards and encounter one of the quirks of the way this library is organised. So odd that they’ve put the Travel and Classics sections next to each other, but maybe at least Travel will help you decide where to go on holiday. You browse the shelves and think: You’ve been to Aus ten times, so not there. You’re not welcome in LA after making a nuisance of yourself last time trying to pitch Le Bron teabags to all and sundry. Hike to Machu Picchu? Nah, too hard. You know what? As much as you defo expect to be abroad again soon, this summer you’re going to staycation, read books and eat spotted dick ensconced in your comfiest armchair. Good job the Classics section is here after all, you can pick books by your five favourite authors… but who are they? FIVE POINTS

#worldbookday #quiz Part 4 @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social

Coffee finished, you start to wander and happen upon a display of the staff’s favourite history books. To amuse yourself, you decide to put them in chronological order of the events they cover. What is that order? 1. Lucy Worsley’s look at 24 days across the life of a woman who became a queen aged 18 2. Herodotus’ take on kings and battles 3. Marion Turner’s study of the life and travels of ‘the father of English poetry’ 4. Fern Riddel’s look at the life and diaries of activist Kitty Marion 5. Diane Purkiss’ people’s history of ‘the wars of the three kingdoms’ 6. David Starkey’s analysis of a tragic series of royal marriages 7. The Horrible Histories book that terms its subjects ‘vicious’ 8. Dan Jones’ work on the signing of a famous legal document by a beleaguered king 9. Rebecca Rideal’s research into a year marked by fire and plague 10. Mary Beard’s portrait of a town unfortunately close to a volcano TEN POINTS

#worldbookday #quiz Part 3 @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social @lucyworsley.bsky.social @drfernriddell.bsky.social @wmarybeard.bsky.social @rebeccarideal.bsky.social

You decide to start with a coffee and sit down next to the Film section where someone has left a book on the table. Lucky for our theme, it’s all about Oscar-winning book adaptations. Below are clues to ten Best Picture winners adapted from books; you’ve got the year the film was released, the author of the book, and an actor from the film. Name the films. 1930, Erich Maria Remarque, Lew Ayres 1940, Daphne du Maurier, Joan Fontaine 1956, Jules Verne, David Niven 1965, Maria von Trapp, Julie Andrews 1975, Ken Kesey, Jack Nicholson 1991, Thomas Harris, Jodie Foster 1996, Michael Ondaatje, Kristin Scott Thomas 2003, JRR Tolkien, Viggo Mortensen 2013, Samuel Northup, Lupita Nyong’o 2020, Jessica Bruder, Frances McDormand Bonus point time… one of these films has a different name to the book it was adapted from. Name that book.

#worldbookday #quiz Part 2 @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social

A Trip to the Library Ah, what more fitting way to relax on World Book Day than a trip to the library? A chance to browse, read, relax, and, because your library is one of those trendy ones that has a café and runs clubs, you can get a coffee and meet some people too. Even more exciting, this trip to the library has been merged with a quiz with a total of 50 points to score as you enjoy your afternoon. So, head through the front door, hand in your returns, and off you go… You immediately encounter a children’s story group who are all upset that the book they’re supposed to have read to them, Hairy Maclary, where a little dog and his chums have a face-off with a cat, has lost all its pages. The good news is that there’s a children’s book expert in the library! The bad news is that it’s you! You step in to take charge. Which of the below are real friends of Hairy Maclary and which are made up? One point for each real dog and a bonus point if you can put them into the order they first appear in the book and please the children. Muffin McLay, like a bundle of hay Towering Tony, as tall as a pony Robbie Rush, with his tail like a brush Bottomley Potts, covered in spots Hercules Morse, as big as a horse Declan Yapp, who likes a good nap Schnitzel von Krum, with a very low tum Peregrine Pup, who fits in a cup Bitzer Maloney, all skinny and boney Carrington Cox, jet black with white socks

#worldbookday #quiz Part 1 @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social

Would anyone like to try a @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social quiz I wrote for the teachers at my daughter's school as part of a PTA fundraiser, which is absolutely just general knowledge, but which the staff rep on the PTA has hilariously deemed 'too hard' for the teachers? #worldbookday #quiz

Would anyone like to try a @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social quiz I wrote for the teachers at my daughter's school as part of a PTA fundraiser, which is absolutely just general knowledge, but which the staff rep on the PTA has hilariously deemed 'too hard' for the teachers? #worldbookday #quiz

Heritage delivers so much for nature, as havens and homes. Sitting in the church yard, just four minutes and so many birds shared their song. I walked by the pond to get here and saw a kingfisher and a heron. Heritage preserves more than earthworks and mortar.

El torero

This was north of Manchester, near Bury

Walking just before Xmas we came across this lovely cosy pub, warm, full of people, nice staff, great looking food… we couldn’t stay long but we resolved to return and we today we did! Nearly empty, stank of piss and VERY average food.

A mere seven hours later, I’ve remembered what it was I went to the shop for

Lots of disgruntled cycling fans out there! What will you do?

I def don’t mind paying a bit more… but a cheaper Nordic sports package would have been good

At least it’s a short season. I’m thinking of it as £120 for the year. I can sort of live with that, esp if I watch more cross country and biathlon

Let me know if you find anything

I’m now trying to find a radio alarm clock with a function for the volume to gently increase until I wake up but getting nowhere

A mere three weeks after I’ve felt able to afford the basic Discovery+ package (6.99) to start watching ski jumping again, Discovery ‘reorganise their subscriptions’ and say that I can only watch ski jumping if I also shell out for premier league football (30.99). Ffs the sheer greed of these orgs