I have been in awe of crickets administrators for their complete stupidity for years. We have a bank holiday when many, not all, people do not have to work. For those willing to idle away their free time watching cricket, this would seem an ideal time to play the longer form of games – county cricket, but only some 20/20 games are scheduled – no wonder the game is moribund!
QUIZ 2025 ANSWERS
General Knowledge
1. Soho
2. Great Bear; Ursa Major
3. Skittles
4. Bauhaus
5. Mr.Watson come here, I want to see you.
6. 9 minutes 33 seconds
7. West Bromwich Albion (The Hawthorns)
8. Peter Elliot
9. Yellow dwarf or G-type main sequence star.
10. Avatar
Geography
1. A croat
2. Addis Ababa
3. Kalahari
4. Cambodia
5. 9 PM
6. Peru
7. A shadow of a person cast on top of a cloud.
8. Reykjavik, Iceland
9. Botswana
10. Easter Island
History
1. 13th Century
2. Bahamas
3. Napoleon Bonaparte – horse was called Marengo
4. Burkina Faso
5. Elenor Roosevelt
6. 19
7. Calais
8. Town where tin was assayed (tested), stamped (coined), taxed, and sold,
9. Coventry
10. Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Nature
1. Giant sequoias are the largest by volume, other trees, like the Coast Redwood, can be taller
2. Butterflies
3. A charm
4. claws on feet are 2 forward and 2 backwards
5. Magpie
6. 42
7. Passenger pigeon
8. Avocet
9. Arctic tern
10. Hippopotamus
.
Anagrams
1. Steart
2. Cheddar
3. Watchet
4.
5. Nether Stowey
1. Vinci
2. Tracet Emin
3. Munch
4. Emily Bronte
5. The gluttonous Augustus Gloop, the spoiled Veruca Salt, the gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde, the television-obsessed Mike Teavee, and the kind-hearted Charlie Bucket
6. Enid Blyton – Julian, Dick, Anne, George – and their dog Timmy.
7. Polish
8. Danny Boyle
9. Bruegel
10. Keith Moon
11. The Impossible Fortune
Politics
1. 11Downing Street
2. Ursula von der Leyen
3. Wool (the cushion is called the Woolsack)
4. Iceland
5. Spencer Percival
6. Maggie F Thatcher
7. Lenin
8. Sri Lanka
9. Forming a trade union
10. 1647
Air Travel
1. Dallas
2. Singapore
3. Funafuti International Airport (FUN) in Tuvalu,
4. Bhutan
5. British Antarctic Survey
BUDGET
Why the fuss? RWPress getting knickers in twist as they say the Chancellor changed her mind, or pre-budget staements were false? Whatever – why the huge fuss? Did someone lose money on a dodgy bet? Or is their ire due to Misogyny? Which woman will they pick on next? They also seem not to have finished with Angela Rayner and Badenoch is too useless to bother about.
Attacks on the judiciary by Jenprick should lead to a prosecution for attacking our basic democracy. He should fuck off and join the rancid racist low life in Reform. Although Labour are now imposing cruel right wing policies themselves, namely not allowing disabled people to supplement mobility allowances themselves to get better models – Lee half-wit Anderson suggested a return to blue 3 wheelers.
Enough griping! I put up the christmas lights on the bay tree outside – I might have to rearrange them as I was frustrated that they had managed to get tangled all by themselves in the last 11 months. Still effort made! If it warms up a bit without raining I might prune the Mulberry trees.
On weather is the Met Office scared or a BBC style attack? Its weather forecasts have been overly pessimistic recently? I guess that issueing a warning is better than not, but not at the expence of crying ‘wolf’ with every shower! Oh god – I am still sounding miserable! And I am not! maybe a little hung over though! Sunderland came back from 0-2 to win 3-2, next up is Liverpool!. A win at Anfield would be a great early Xmas pressie. The bottom 5 look like they will scrap out to avoid relegation. Frank Lampard seems to be making a miracle in Coventry.
Trees – why do people not plant a fruit tree on their unused front and back lawns – if they have kids to run around them ok, but many are just green deserts and often sprayed with herbicide. My lawn now has an apple tree and an apricot with an undergrowth of raspberries at the back – the front has Abby tree and 2 mulberries with rosemary, thyme and sage thriving along with roses, lavender and hot lips.
SHAKESPEARE
Or’ much ado about nothing’. The orange man baby is having a tantrum, political appointees to the BBC are acting out traitors. The BBC is not perfect but generally gets it ok. Glastonbury might have upset the Jews and the Trump cut, the right wing. But every news outlet is vulnerable or very guilty of bias. The RW are running scared at the moment – their momentum might not keep up – Tories are desperate for anything to attack the Government, even their own manipulated BBC!
CAERPHILLY
Byelection results are generally votes against the government of the day, but …. Caerphilly has always voted Labour. So the result of Plaid Cymru 47%; Reform 36%, Labour 11%, Conservatives 2%, green 1.5%, Lib Dems 1.5%. is a real shock and serves warning to Labour. 18 months since their massive landslide we have seen little evidence of open government (desperately needed after the buffoonery of the last 10 years), or optimism for the future. Whilst this is definitely a protest vote – is the Welsh population turning towards independence? I doubt it. Reform at around 36% seems to be about par (given that 50% of the population have average intelligence it would follow normal distribution curves for the bottom 36% to be racist thick bigots!). Greens and LibDems will not be concerned about their low votes in South Wales in an area of fossil fuel history!. However the Conservatives must be shitting themselves. Whilst they have never done well in Caerphilly they could have expected the protest vote to be for them rather Welsh Nationalists and racist flag shaggers.
TBH the UK needs a party that is respected and honest to hold a government to account. Reform have shown in numerous councils that they are not capable of doing this. Starmer has banished those withing his own party of speaking out against him. The present tories are evil shits, where are the honourable ones? Government spending and taxes need to be scrutinised and questioned. Most people do not object to taxes if their use is clear, justified and reasonable. Yes there are always the headbangers onthe right who just want to make money for themselves, whatever the cost to society.
My ideal world would see a left leaning coalition of Green, Socialist and LibDems in government but with a centre right opposition of substance making sure each government decision is scrutinised and justified; and publicised. The press would be forced to print opinion in italics or otherwise highlighted. I am fed up with reading what Reeves is thinking of imposing on us in the next budget – the Mail and Telegraph and Express have not got a clue what she is GOING to do. They can surmise, but should phrase it accordingly!
I have got my keffiyeh and am watching youtube as to how to wear it! Solidarity with Palestine!
SUPER-EFFICIENT
I just had my flu jab – In the building for 3 minutes max! No queue, name and D.o.B. Sit, stabbed and goodbye. Thank you NHS.
The garnd old Duke of York eventually has decided that he is down. Time to do away with all the bullshit honours. Andrew Windsor has revealed what a sleaze bag he is – and there are 93 peers who have hereditary privileges in our Parliament. Can we also dispose of the Right Honourable bollox. Does the CoE also warrant having Archbishopsies in the HoL – we are not a christian country anymore although I would suggest that representives of religious bodies could be co-opted into a Second Chamber of government. Aagh – brain ache! Football back to normal today. Oh and a funny – James O’Brien received what is presumably a mis-directed message “I am having a poo. Can you phone Rach!”. made me laugh
ASTON VILLA
Jewes versus Israelis. I am fed up with Israelies hiding behind the Jewish banner. Jews are welcome at Villa Park but Israelis are not. Simple discretion. Israelis who oppose the genocide in Gaza will also be welcome.
So most politicians have weighed in to support Israelis. Most Macabi FC supporters maybe Jews, but their supporters have shown their thuggery in the past – most recently in Amsterdam. Badenoch is talking bollocks with and anti-islamist bent. The police in the West Midlands have made a sensible decisions. Violence is likely without a bank. Should police have to face the inevitable violence – maybe they could all call in sick! Starmer is a Zionist without a doubt. I suspect that Villa Park will be surrounded by pro-Palestinian posters and flags. Trump and the republican fungus will be keen to condemn the UK and support the anti-law and order thugs of Reform and the Nasty Party.
Statement “are you Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Taoist, Shinto, Atheist, Agnostic – just keep it to yourself”.
As a state the actions of Israel are alongside Russia in Ukraine.
AUTUMN
It has kind of creeped in this year – no great storm, just a steady lowering of temperatures and the leaves slowly turning into their finest display of colour. I have just harvested the last of the tomatoes – they seemed reluctant to grow large but their embarrassment at being found out gave them away – a little tough skinned but still sweet – bless! My chillies have been spectacularly awful this year – just one plant with 5 small fruits. Basil has behaved well and hopefully will go to seed. Then I need to clear the greenhouse. Out front the sage and rosemary continue to compete, for volume the sage wins but by keeping its dignity I think the ultimate winner is the rosemary – I need to care for the thyme to make sure her larger aunts are not overpowering her. My 25 mints are diminishing fast – I think they are not accustomed to fertile soil, prefering to scrap with other plants for a grip on life. Chicory and evening primrose flourish when deprived of nurture and love! and fennel takes its chances where it can. Hopefully my roses will flourish next year – the yellow one is spectacular, hey little ones – see what you can become? And finally the apples – every other day I am making a variation on apple stew – at the weekend I might go for an apple crumble with cinnamon and ??? Apricot tree looks OK and hopefully will provide next summer, I will discipline the Mulberry Bush soon – it is getting above itself for the fruit it provides!
NO SURPRISE
I think that it was Trump who said; when asked about Russia spying “of course we do it as well”. So it will be no shock that the Chinese Government has spies in the UK – is that not the main purpose of Embassies? And of course Starmer did not want a very high profile trial when he is trying to get a trade deal with China: especially important when Trump is throwing around tariffs like confetti at a tacky wedding. The knock on impacts of Trump imposing punitive tariffs on China could be China dumping products in Europe, thus undermining our economy. But the fuckwits do not care – they want to undermine the UK economy to get their buddies back in power and stop taxes on the rich – fuckers!
We have a polarised nation between centre right and right. The right want to win at all costs – if the economy tanks they will be ecstatic! Traditional conservatives would have been satisfied to see the economy tank, but not overjoyed – they gave a shit about their constituents. Germany is discussing the return of conscription to fill the space vacated by those young who have a choice! The flag shaggers should be signed up, but not given live bullets until they can pass a simple intelligence test! Interestingly Germany is also proposing large tax breaks to encourage those reaching retirement age to stay on at work. 9% of their workforce is reaching retirement age in next 10 years. Due to migrants the UK figures maybe slightly better. Since my own retirement I have advocated a phased retirement rather than a sharp departure. PS. Is is a requirement of Pointless that at least one member of each team, and preferably both should be retired? Maybe a government should come up with an alternative to SureStart, maybe a SureFinish? Give those retired respect and a non-paying job in society?
SHOP LOCAL
OK I use he supermarket for bulk shopping, but my local shop is wonderful. Yesterday I went to get cash out but screwed up my details and card was locked which also locked by phone card. I didn’t realise until I went to pay and it was refused. With no hesitation the manager who was behind the counter whipped out his personal bank card and paid! No questions or hesitation. Made my shitty day 100 times better thank you.
….The store is Sandford Stores and the great manager is AARON BLEACH -a very nice person.