post random questions daily and see if anyone plays with me and answers them :)

OK.

So, I think the ‘WTF???’ prize for festive tat has to go to what we saw the other day in a DIY store when hubby was looking for a clamp to fix the conservatory window.

The obvious Christmas gift for that difficult relative who has everything…

...a battery-operated polar bear that sings ‘Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)’.

Unless, of course, you know better. Anyone seen any particularly tacky festive items in the stores so far this year?

if nobody hated their body?

Have you ever given places or people your own names because you remember them easier than their real ones? (Other than pet names for partners, because I think everyone does that.)

I mentioned under an older question that there’s a gift store we know that we always refer to as the Jesus and Elvis Chihuahua Emporium. Likewise, there were two independent record stores near us that we used to refer to as Bert and Ernie’s (because it was run by two old guys who reminded us of, well, you get the idea) and Biffy’s (because one of the guys who worked there was very hairy in a manner that reminded us of Simon Neil from the band Biffy Clyro). Bert and Ernie’s is sadly no more, and while Biffy’s is still around, the ‘Biffy’ guy is no longer nearly as hairy as he used to be…but the name’s stuck.

So are we the only ones who do this? Do tell…

Love it?

hate it?

Why?

Are there limits as to what should be allowed on these shows?

Discuss.

So, today I got my sticky mitts on the CD of the soundtrack from Life on Earth. Yay!

(This was, for those not in the know, the BBC’s amazing series on the development of, well, life on Earth, written and presented by David Attenborough and first broadcast in 1979. You know, the one with the famous gorilla scene. I always loved the theme tune, but it was only available, with other music from the series, on a very limited edition vinyl that was given out solely to the members of the orchestra who played it. Until now. Thank you, Jonny Trunk, purveyor of obscure 1970s TV-related musical geekery.)

Anyway: Are there any TV theme tunes you really love? Whether or not you actually like or watch the program?

(Please post us a link if copyright permits. I’d post you mine but it doesn’t appear to actually be online anywhere. Bummer. It’s rather nicely epic.)

If you were reading a novel by a female author, and it was written in the first person, and it transpired halfway down the first page that the narrator was a male…or vice-versa…would you find it confusing?

Just asking. I can’t recall many books in which this is the case, is all, and as I’m a woman writing a book in which the first-person narrator is male, I wonder if it’s something anyone would find odd.

So, I’m on a bit of a Tolkien thing at the moment.

Have you read The Lord of the Rings, or seen the movies, and what did you think (and if both, how did they compare? I personally thought they were pretty cool for a book adaptation…apart from the bit in Fellowship where Galadriel went wiggy with all the weird light FX…that was a bit OTT. And they left out Tom Bombadil, although on reflection I’m not sure how he would have worked in a movie.)

And, serious geeks, do you think you’d do OK in Middle Earth or would you end up captured by orcs?

Those of you who have ink, a question.

If you had a portrait tattoo done a while back, and you overheard your tattooist telling another customer ‘I don’t do portraits’, what would your response be?

OK, so, imagine you’re putting together a zine about your life.

What sort of articles and bits and pieces have you got in there?

So.

I was at a boot fair this morning and found a long armed stapler. Like, YEAH! I’m now a real zinemaker! And for only £1! (Those things are, like, £25 or so new. Way to go!)

So, for other pack rats, thrift bunnies, boot fair bears, salvage ferrets and all other Creatures of the Pre-Owned Bargain Bin:

What’s the absolute coolest thing you’ve ever found and bought secondhand?