often seen in the street without a hat

The phrase "UK PLC". At first I thought it was a way of moaning about the way the country is run like a business instead of a country (sort of like people saying Bliar instead of Blair), and then I got the impression that UK PLC was an actual thing, like the business arm of the UK, and now I am just confused. It's not a real thing, is it? Googling says that UK PLC is a company that specialises in web domains. I would like to know what people mean when they say it, and also the sort of people that do say it so I can form ill-judged opinions more readily.

I found a piece of a quiz thing I was going to do a while ago in honour of alltheleaves, and then completely forgot about. Better late than never, eh? And hopefully it might entertain some people. Or at the very least, me, as I like comments but can't be bothered to earn them right now. Answer as many or as few questions as you choose in preferably more than one word where applicable.

Which school do Pat and Isobel O'Sullivan attend? (correct spelling please!)

What are the middle names of the Maynard triplets?

Joey Maynard produces triplets and two sets of twins over about a decade. Rosamund Kentisbury produces two sets of twins within one year. Which is the greater achievement?

You awake to find yourself in bed surrounded by incredibly posh women in country dancing frocks. Apparently you have had the temerity to be injured by some psychopathic twins, and now as a penance you are expected to stay in some sort of ruins and work unpaid.
a) How were you injured?
b) How will you escape your fate? Please pay particular attention to the correct use of gentlemen's titles.

Nicola and Lawrie Marlow are identical twins. You have captured one of them but can't work out which. What are some tests you might set to discover their identity?

What is the best ever set of twins you have ever encountered in fiction?

What is the worst ever set of twins you have ever encountered in fiction?

Which twin set would you most like to be one of?

39 people answered the quiz, of whom 6 were American. Other nationalities were British (most people), Irish, Australian and New Zealand. Not enough for proper statistics, but I've put in the numbers of people getting each question right.

( Book Lovers Triv answers. )


So, the conclusion is that it is VERY HARD even if you are American, and we can all stop feeling bad about our lack of knowledge and BLAME THE GAME. Ordinarily I would never criticise Triv, but in this case it seems justified. The Farley Mowatt and Pearl Buck questions were the ones where there was the clearest connection between knowing the answer and being American.

Joint winners, with 7 points each, are oursin and ramblingfancy. Well done!

I won't put names for the rest of them, as people expressed embarrassment in the previous post (you shouldn't! it was really hard!) but here are the scores, so you can check out what you got and place yourselves.

6 (two people)
5 (four people)
4 (five people)
3 (eight people)
2 (nine people)
1 (eight people)
0 (one person)

(but really, this person should get a recognition for taking part, instead of all the people who shirked the challenge because they thought they wouldn't get anything right.)

So feel free to come and claim your rank in comments, though I do have the spreadsheet open so if anyone gets TOO creative with their claims I may raise a private eyebrow. I didn't fill in the poll, but I got three, though I might have been able to think of The Stone Diaries at a push.

I have questions I have been idly pondering for a little while. I haven't really tried to research them, I'm sorry. Think of it as a quiz! Or ignore me and I will eventually find some bothered to be and hie me to google. Or post in the book-finding comms, but for now, some specifics and some vagues:

Which YA book is it where the character goes to a museum and sees a sign for "the most dangerous animal in the world" and is scared to look behind it, but then it turns out to be humans? I think maybe a BSC book? Or the Paula Danziger one where Matthew Martin's class has a sleepover in a museum?

Has anyone read a children's book where they are trying to think of a name for their school, and the character wants it to be a suffragette she's done research on, and the school governors think that her militancy means she shouldn't?

What is a computer game from the early nineties or before, that I think wasn't on a PC though I can't remember what system it was on, where you might have been going around an Aztec place and there were puzzles sometimes?

What is a compter game that I'm fairly sure was on a PC, that I played in the early/mid nineties, where everything was ice, and there were blocks of mazes you had to get through to get to the different levels, and sometimes there was a boat? It turns out that this is "Arctic Adventure", from apogee, and I have now downloaded it and DOSBox, and it is GREAT. It is everything I remembered.

You know catechism? Is that a current thing for Christians, the question and answer things? If it's not a current thing, when did it stop?

(Have been reading The Best of Myles and the cliche catechism made me wonder.)

Has anyone seen The 39 Steps, as in the play that's 4 actors playing 150 roles and was best comedy? If so, how much of it is dependent on having seen the film? I actually haven't read the book either, but could do so in time.

When you go for a smear test (or similar), are there stirrups?

I've usually heard Americans talking about stirrups for such incidents, while I'm under the impression that I've only heard British women refer to them for ante-natal use. When I go, I just have to do that frogs' legs thing (which is awkward if the table is against the wall on one side).

I was watching Jo Brand on Live at the Apollo, and she talked about stirrups as if they would of course be used for a smear. Have I just always had lo-tech medical care? I don't feel like I have had a particularly sheltered outlook, at least four medical professionals have investigated my nethers.

I just took a survey that asked me whether I was married/co-habiting, divorced/separated, or PRE-MARRIAGE. For fuck's sake.

I also got pissed off (this is a HILARIOUS pun that won't become apparent until a later paragraph) with a question I had to answer this morning about whether or not I had used a condom the last time I had sex. There was not a box for "there really wasn't anywhere to put it", so I ticked no and then pointed out to the person that the question was distinctly lacking. And now I think I should have left it blank, because I suspect that it's going to get used to say "omg these stupid women don't even use contraception". Anyway.

These questions were on a form to get tested for Chlamydia. I went because I was attracted by the word "free", by the fact that it was the only non-sporting activity in the graduate email, and really it's better to know. Also I am a bit of a hypochondriac, and sometimes think that I have Munchausen's syndrome. I had an AIDS test a few years ago because it was free. It was a scraper thing in your cheek.

It was only when I got to the graduate common room today that I realised that I didn't actually know how they tested for chlamydia, but it turned out to be urine, and may I just say that I absolutely aced the weeing into the tube thing. She said half full, and half full it duly was. They are going to send me a letter to tell me if I have it. I also got a badge with an elephant and "don't forget" on it, but it doesn't really say what it is that you shouldn't forget. I don't think that it's particularly effective advertising.

Ebay update - red boots now at £16.51 with 11 watchers. Don't just watch, join in! Bid higher and higher!

[Poll #1123308]

( Explantation of my interest... )

So now we know.

I did the completion survey for the skirted tampon recently. I was almost entirely negative about its many facets, though they didn't give me a write-in box so I couldn't fully unleash my venom. This was my favourite question:

"How would you rate the Tampax's applicator for each of the following characteristics?"

Its appearance before using

They then had a further option to rate it on how sleek it looked. The APPLICATOR. Unfortunately I did actually have an opinion on the applicator on account of the top looking a bit like a space ship docking bay, but they didn't have an option for that.

Then, rearing its ugly head again:

"Benefits and feelings you may have experienced from the product you received from us."

"Does not make me feel embarrassed or insecure"

"Helps me to forget I am having my period"

I have to say that I had entirely forgotten about tampons during using the mooncup. But no, tampons don't make me forget I'm having my period. Having to remember to take tampons to the toilet with me, and thinking about whether it might need changing is a complete pain. And I don't like the feeling of the tampon sliding out, and I especially don't like the feeling of the tampon not sliding out, and all round hurrah for the mooncup, say I.

Then I did a survey on mobile phones, and it asked me to think about the following points:

"It is important to me that the look of my mobile phone reflects my masculinity or my femininity"

"I would have fewer friends if I did not have a mobile phone"

For the second one, I sincerely hope not. I don't think any of you would shun me? I get what they're saying, but really. Internet on the other hand - not having that would be drastic. I told them that my gender identity wasn't really related to my mobile phone, and they retorted that in that case they didn't want to talk to me and didn't even give me ten points for my time.