Pump am y Penwythnos / Friday Five - 16/05/14

Dydd Gwener hapus! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! :slight_smile:

  1. If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?

  2. What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?

  3. Where is your favourite beach?

  4. What can we learn about you from your clothes?

  5. What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?

1.If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?
Almost everyone in the British/World political establishment…
2.What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?
Tony Blairs official biography. Though to be fair it was placed in the fiction section of Waterstones.
3.Where is your favourite beach?
Dinas Dinlle in the winter when the whole place is deserted. With no light pollution I would stare for hours at the starry night sky.
4.What can we learn about you from your clothes?
Over clothes nothing…under clothes a lot.
5.What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?
To be selfless.

If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?
Bad people
What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?
Home Production Of Quality Meats and Sausages - free to a good home if you want it!
Where is your favourite beach?
On the southern side of Sydney Harbour, a small secluded beach near Vaucluse
What can we learn about you from your clothes?
That I don’t do ironing
What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?
Less inequality in the world

If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?
Richard Dawkins because he is held in quite high regards as far as non religious people like myself are concerned. IF I was a ghost I’d want him to witness it.

What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?
I can’t remember the name of it but it was a Welsh grammar book I got from the library. It was in the medium of Welsh so I didn’t stand a chance.

Where is your favourite beach?
I love the beach on Shell Island, including the incredible dunes. I’ve got some amazing memories of camping trips from that beach and them dunes.

What can we learn about you from your clothes?
That I want to be 25 again, I really should learn to dress my age.

What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?
Selfish? Limitless wealth but then I’d share it so not really selfish.

Friday Friday Friday! 17 minutes til I finish work :slight_smile:

  1. If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why? Shakespeare, because Shakespeare.
  2. What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read? Can’t think of one at the moment. EDIT: I hated every page of Colm Toibin’s “The Heather Blazing” in high school but in retrospect it was pretty good.
  3. Where is your favourite beach? Conspicuous Cliffs beach in Western Australia. Or, you know, the entire WA coastline.
  4. What can we learn about you from your clothes? That I mostly work with children. (That’s my excuse.)
  5. What’s your one selfish genie lamp wish? Time travel.

Hope you have a fab weekend too, Catrin.

1.If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?
Would be quite satisfying to haunt a few tax evaders and get them playing fairly. Woohooooooo pay your taxes woooooooo.

2.What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?
Have just given up on a book about the health benefits of clay - it was even more boring than it sounds.

3.Where is your favourite beach?
Criccieth Beach because of some happy memories there. But I agree with Kim: Dinas Dinlle when it’s deserted is great - had fun flying a kite there once.

4.What can we learn about you from your clothes?
What I had for dinner Embarrassed

5.What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?
To have good health.

  1. If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?
    Virginia Woolf (see question 2).

  2. What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?
    Twenty five years ago I tried Virginia Woolf’s “To the Lighthouse”, it still makes me shake my head in disbelief.

  3. Where is your favourite beach?
    Atherfield Bay on the Isle of Wight. Ten minutes cycle from where I grew up. Fossils, geological curiosities, butterflies, happy memories, a really distinctive smell of summer flowers and clay, and almost no people.

  4. What can we learn about you from your clothes?
    You’d learn that I’m normally thinking about something else when I get dressed in the morning.

  5. What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?
    The ability to freeze time while I think over my answers. No more coming up with the great retort / Welsh sentence / supportive comment after the moment has passed…

If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why? Nick Griffin, so, using the best Jamaican accent I could muster I’d say, ‘Nick, this is God speaking, you’re in a bit of bother’
2. Worst book? Good to Great - cod philosophy for hopeless suits
3. Beach - Putsborough in Devon or a small beach on Lizard Island off the coast of Northern Queensland. First for laid back longboard action, second one, just because it has the most massive clam garden I’ve ever seen
4. Clothes - whether or not Mrs G has got me ready for the day.
5. I wish that I could run like Kenny Stuart in his prime. He used to just float over the fells and he’s younger than me :frowning: but sadly not running these days

1. If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?
I’d be a benign ghost and stay beside my wife.
2. What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?
That’s a hard one! Probably anything I picked up just to see what all the fuss was about.
3. Where is your favourite beach?
Aberaeron (before they altered it). So many wonderful memories with my grandparents.
4. What can we learn about you from your clothes?
That I’m definitely not the high-flying doctor/lawyer that my mother wanted me to be!
5. What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?
It’s a tie between the power of invisibility and good health.

1.If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?
My old schools because I hated school and was never made to feel valued there.
2.What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?
Bravo 2 Zero
3. Where is your favourite beach?
Gypsy Cove, Falkland Islands
4.What can we learn about you from your clothes?
I am desperately trying to cling to my youth… lol…
5.What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?
To have enough money to retire to Aberdaron

  1. Hope I’d be a cheerful ghost of the "Nearly Headless Nick/"John Cleese type whom people didn’t mind having around, and (breaking the ghost rules) I could still be bought drinks and enjoy them :slight_smile:

  2. That a friend of mine could be restored to good health. Selfish, because then I could stop worrying about him and just enjoy his company.

If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?

My children, although I’m far from certain they’d notice the difference.

What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?

Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Gravity’s Rainbow’. It’s rare indeed for me not to finish a book. Meanwhile, I’ve got to ask if Andy G is referring to ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins - which is one of the few management books I’ve read that’s based entirely on enormous qualities of practical research, and about as free as possible from preconceptions - it’s literally on my bedside table at the moment, and I know I’m going to be re-reading on multiple occasions…:slight_smile:

Where is your favourite beach?

Tricky. Either the Coral Beach in Claigan just north of Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, or Praia de Marinha almost due south of Porches in the Algarve, or Polhena Beach in Weligama on Sri Lanka. In fact, I’d like all of them, please.

What can we learn about you from your clothes?

Er. Not much?

What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?

A new back, please.

1.If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?

Aran and Iestyn! Hopefully I would pick up loads of useful tips.

2.What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?

Lord of the Rings! Never got beyond Chapter 1 and I’ve tried a few times. It still sits on our bookshelves. And I have never seen any of the films either, but I have seen some of the stunning scenery in New Zealand that was used in the films.

3.Where is your favourite beach?

Cathedral Cove, on the Coromandel Coast of New Zealand. It is very difficult to reach and we canoed there via an off-shore sea arch. When we arrived our leader unloaded a stove, kettle, real china tea set and teapot, cafetiere and we picknicked lavishly before setting off back.

4.What can we learn about you from your clothes?

That I am not stylish! I like clothes for their practicality - easy to wear, wash, dry and no ironing! On the right occasion I do scrub up nicely though!

5.What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?

That respect for other people, their views and their property becomes fashionable again! - soon!

<Meanwhile, I’ve got to ask if Andy G is referring to ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins)> Yes, I was, and everything you say is true, it’s just that years of large organisations turned me into a management refusenik (I was always down that road but the cash came in handy :-)). So, a complete lack of integrity, it seems. And yes, I think you deserve a new back too :slight_smile:

Should have added that I still started to growl when passing the management section in Waterstones at lunchtime. :slight_smile:

it’s just that years of large organisations turned me into a management refusenik

Ah, I can well imagine how suffering real-life implementation of anything managementish in large organisations would create a certain hungry desire to stamp on authors in the field with the heaviest boots available…:wink:

Meanwhile, Alison has put me in a double-nelson with her desire to see respect for other people’s views (with which I agree strongly) and her verging-on-the-criminal choice of the Lord of the Rings…:wink:

Now you see, I do have a bit os sympathy with Alison’s view on LoR. A read through it once is enough :slight_smile: and for really shocking writing, there’s always Mr Archer, not that I can claim to have finished one of his books …

1. If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?

Can I haunt Aran and whisper ghostly things about user settings? :wink:

2. What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?

I have painful memories of being forced to read Tess of the d’Urbervilles in English class, but then again forced reading in school is rarely fun. More recently, I bought something called Sol War One on the Kindle store on a whim, and regretted it after a few pages.

3. Where is your favourite beach?

Maybe Vík í Mýrdal. Not exactly your traditional golden sand situation, but has a dramatic, bleak kind of beauty, like all of Iceland.

4. What can we learn about you from your clothes?

That I’m afraid of wearing bright colours. :confused:

5. What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?

Teleportation.

Can I haunt Aran and whisper ghostly things about user settings? :wink:

Seems like a waste of a special power - I had the distinct impression that you already were:wink:

  1. If you were a ghost, who would you haunt and why?

My family, giving them guidance, comfort and helping them find all kinds of lost things. :wink:

  1. What’s the worst book you’ve ever attempted to read?

Nothing comes to mind.

  1. Where is your favourite beach?

Probably Afonwen between Penychain and Cricieth. As access is tricky so it’s mostly quiet. It has a wonderful view of Cricieth castle and the Snowdonia mountain range, has wonderful bird life and some fabulous driftwood.

  1. What can we learn about you from your clothes?

That I’ve had many years filled with some terrible fashion disasters to reach this stage of being able to leave the house without drawing unnecessary attention to myself.

  1. What’s your one selfish, genie lamp wish?

For all my family to live healthily to a ripe old age, and to eventually die peacefully of natural causes.