Category: Lessons

Apparantly we learn something new every day. To see if this is true my new years resolution is to record what I learn each day. Note it is not to learn something new every day so it must be something I learn as I go about my normal life.

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Lessons

The Last Lessons of August – resolution 2/3rds completed! (9 days for the price of 7!)

Monday

Tony Harrison is not only the name of a tentacled shaman in The Mighty Boosh but is also the name of a playwright and poet.

Tuesday

Chelsea’s 6-0 win at Wigan was only the second top flight english football game with no corners (the first being Newcastle 0-0 Portsmouth in 1931-32).

Wednesday

I learnt how to add youtube videos to our VLE system

Thursday

I learnt how to amend the settings of our VLE in order to use yesterdays lesson.

Friday

I learnt to identify 3 types of edible fungus and made a soup from some of them

Saturday

I learnt a recipe for mushroom pate.

Sunday

The Duckworth Lewis system will sometimes mean a side batting second in a one day cricket game may have a larger target to chase than the first team scored. For example today Surrey needed 292 to beath Somerset’s 290 as the innings had been reduced to 36 overs when Somerset were batting. This meant Somerset had been treating the first part of the innings as if it were a 40 over match not a 36 over match. This needed correcting and resulted in an extra run for the revised target.

Monday

Moles and Gerbils have pups.

Tuesday

Cats are injected in the back of the neck.

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Lessons

August lessons still coming on a daily basis

Monday

I learnt how to upgrade my mobile phone system, and the importance of backing up the phonebook when I do!

Tuesday

I learnt that Arnie says “I’ll be back” in 8 films.

Wednesday

I learnt and am experimenting with the Hippopotamus defence in chess. (Where pawns sit back a bit, the pieces lie in wait just under the water like a hippo. But get too close and the hippo is a dangerous beast… as some claim the hippo defence does).

Thursday

I finally learnt the rules of backgammon.

Friday

Bryan Adams video “Everything I do” was filmed partly around Holford and Kilve in Somerset.

Saturday

Asparagus does affect my urine smell (up to now I had not noticed….)

Sunday

I learnt how to spell béarnaise sauce, easier to spell than mayonnaise in many ways.

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Lessons

Still learning something new each day (August 9th – 15th)

Monday

Asps do not live in Egypt so Cleopatra was more likely killed by an Egyptian cobra.

Most exciting news though is that there is a serious paper published claiming it has proof that P!=NP, which if verified will net Vinay Doelalijar $1000000. Incidently I love the fact that he has annoucned that he has maybe solved one of the 6 most important unsolved mathematics problems under the heading “Basic Research”. I hope he is right as I think life is easier if P≠NP unless you are a travelling salesperson.

Whilst I expect someone will find a flaw I also think that it may well be a serious stepping stone to a final proof.

http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Vinay_Deolalikar/

Tuesday

A pedifile is as the name would suggest a file for use on the foot. However in an australian accent it is almost indistinguishable from the word peadophile.

Wednesday

Male pond skaters bully female pond skaters into mating with them. The male pond skaters threaten female pond skaters by making vibrations in the water that will attract predators. They will stop if the females consent to have sex with them.

Thursday

Swiss speeding fines are linked to earnings, this has meant the world record speeding fine of £650000 is a swiss one.

Friday

Terry Butcher was born in Singapore…

Saturday

In cricket if a ball hits a fielders cap it is only 5 runs if the fielder has deliberately discarded it.

Sunday

Today I learnt that I had been ignorant for the last 30 years about the colour of the roses that represent Yorksire and Lancashire (or The House of York and The House of Lancaster). I knew one was red and one was white but I had always pictured York as being the red rose. Very ignorant but in my defence I am a southerner. From this dat onwards I will know that York is white, Lancs are red. As a further note hopefully Somerset will beat the red rose of Lancashire tomorrow…

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Lessons

August 2nd – 8th lessons

Monday

Einstein found E=mc^2  by guesswork, not by experiment.

Tuesday

I found that I like Old Amsterdam cheese.

Wednesday

A 8 week old kitten has a stomach the size of a walnut.

Thursday

I learnt how to assemble an office chair.

Friday

There is no native toads in Madagascar

Saturday

The scoville scale for chillis was created in 1902

Sunday

A donkey is stronger than a horse of the same size.

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Lessons

The very first August lesson (1st August 2010)

I did not know until today that Bilberry (or Whortleberry) and Blueberry were different species.

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Lessons

Last Lessons of July

Monday

there is a debate about the number of species of albatross. Anything from 13 to 24. If the 21 figure (the most common) is accepted then 19 of these are threatened with extinction.

Tuesday

I learnt a card trick that works using the power of mathematics (hence it is a bit duller than other card tricks I have learnt).

Wednesday

Dr House (House) was named as a homage to Sherlock Holmes (as Holmes sounds like Homes). both live at apartments number 221B. Both are also drug addicts.

Thursday

I learnt a neat way of adding a textured fill using GIMP.

Friday

Scottish banknotes are technically not legal tender in Scotland. In fact in Scotland no banknotes are technically legal tender. The English banknotes are legal tender only in England and Wales. Also I learnt legal tender is a bit of a meaningless  term practically.

Saturday

I learnt that a decaffeinated coffee in a local bar is actually instant despite it costing more than the caffeinated coffee. In fact within 2 coffees the jar has paid for itself! So dcaffeinated drinkers are penalised twice, once for not havving the point of coffee and another in being sold inferior coffee at a higher price!

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Lessons

Lessons for a wetter July week (19th – 25th July)

Monday

Marmite is named after the type of french cooking pot which appears on the label.

Tuesday

10th of October is metric day. Wonder if Clintons will make cards for it…

Wednesday

Lattice multiplication has been about in Europe since the 13th century.

Thursday

India recently approved a new symbol for the rupee after a nationwide competition. 

Friday

I learnt a neat trick for sketching cartoons using a blue pencil and GIMP

http://www.georgetoon.com/blog/blue/

Saturday

UK postcodes in the second group of letters exclude the letters CIKMOV as they may be confused with other numbers or letters.

Sunday

Rabbits do not vomit, they are incapable of it. Cecotropes is the name given to the produce of their anus that they eat to give food a second go through their digestive system.

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Lessons

First Week of 6 Weeks of Lazy Summer Lessons (12th – 18th)

So I am having that 6 weeks off that those lucky teachers get. Have found I learn less when I am having a lazy time, but still something new every day…

Monday

The sound of the star wars doors opening was actually some paper being slid from an envelope.

Tuesday

it costs £10.40 for an off peak day return from Taunton to Bristol.

Wednesday

S4C sometimes show Glamorgan twenty20 cricket matches.

Thursday

Michael Jackson’s favourite song was “smile” by Charlie Chaplin

Friday

There is no butter in peanut butter. There are peanuts though.

Saturday

Pandas have a digestive tract more suitable for meat eating, and will actually eat meat if offered.

Sunday

Eric Cartman’s middle name is Theodore. Something I had not noticed until today, probably ignored it.

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Lessons

Goodbye June and all you can teach us (28th-30th)

Monday

“Ich drücke Dir die Daumen” (singular you), “Ich drücke euch die Daumen” (plural you) is german for an equivalent to “I’ll cross my fingers for you” (but is more to do with thumbs).

Tuesday

I learnt a few ways to fold a pocket square, and I will probably model the 3 stairs method on Saturday.

Wednesday

I now know what causes that smell you can smell during a thunderstorm and sometimes just before a summer storm. Apparantly it is geosmins from the spores of the streptomyces bacteria that live in soil. I personally still love the smell despite now knowing this.

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Lessons

June Lessons for the Longest Day and Beyond (21st – 27th)

Monday

Mexico City has the worlds largest University UNAM, (measured by the number of students enrolled).

Tuesday

The Japanese for death by overwork is Karōshi. It is s0mething I am always conscious of avoiding.

Wednesday

Slovenia is the richest Slavic nation, and I learnt exactly where it is which is a bit embarrassing as I really ought to have known

Thursday

The USA came third in the first World Cup (there was no third place play off then but they were recognised by FIFA as having a better record than the other beaten semi-finalists Yugoslavia).

Friday

Apparantly no team has lost a World Cup match after being 2-0 up at half time.

Saturday

Richard Coles of the Communards is now a Church of England priest. Also Ridley Scott directed the famous Hovis advert shot on a cobbled street in Dorset (not Yorkshire).

Sunday

The biggest defeat England have ever suffered in World Cup Finals is 4-1 against Germany in 2010 (June 27th)