Another Quiz to Test your General Knowledge

It seems that most of you scored higher than me on the quiz the other day. Here is another one but which a geographical favour. Some are well known such as the highest point on the earth or the country that consumes the most food per annum. Others are less obvious such as which country consumes the most alcohol per annum or which area has the least rainfall. The answer has to be a desert but which one?

I cannot attribute the author as the person is unknown but I can thank Alan who graciously emailed it to me. The email was timeous as I was just putting pen to paper about the Omar al-Bashir / ICC commitment debacle.

Main picture: Where is the world’s hottest place. Answer further below

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Paraprosdokians by Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill loved paraprosdokians, figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected.

1. Where there’s a will, I want to be in it.

2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it’s still on my list.

3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.

5. War does not determine who is right – only who is left.

6. Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

7. They begin the evening news with ‘Good Evening,’ then proceed to tell you why it isn’t.

8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

9. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out, I just wanted pay checks.

10. In filling out an application, where it says, ‘In case of emergency, notify:’ I put “DOCTOR.”

11. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

12. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street…with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

13. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

14. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.

15. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

16. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

17. There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can’t get away.

18. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.

19. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.

20. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.

21. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

22. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

23. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

24. I’m supposed to respect my elders, but now it’s getting harder and harder for me to find one.

Photographs of Berlin in 1945 and Today

Hitler’s decision to fight until the last man and boy had been killed resulted in Hitler retreating from the Wolf’s Lair in Eastern Prussia and ensconcing himself in the so-called underground Fuhrerbunker near the Reich’s Chancellery in Berlin. Large swaths of Berlin had already been laid to ruin due to the continual bombing sorties by the British and American Air Forces. Now it was the turn of the Russian Army to complete its destruction.

Main picture: These photographs, taken by the Boston Globe, show the same location in 1945 and in 2015.

Cloistered within the fetid and otherworldly atmosphere were Adolf Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun together with the Goebbel’s family – Joseph, Magda and their six children. In spite of the German Wehrmacht being woefully inadequate to prevent the demise of Deutschland, Hitler and his closest aids still lived in a dream world. Accompanied by Albert Speer, Hitler even took a tour of the Reich’s Chancellery in order to view a model of the future Berlin; such was Hitler’s unwavering belief in Germany’s invincibility in spite of the deteriorating military situation.

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Quiz for people who know everything

We all know somebody who knows everything. They are usually tiresome as they have the game of one-upmanship down to a fine art. Any conversation degenerates into a monologue as debate and discussion is impossible. Conceding a point is not part of their agenda. A variant of this personality type is the person who has contracted every time of disease and ailment known to mankind and survived them all.

Undoubtedly a close relation of ours who bores all and sundry with her latest ailment will be the first South African to contract MERS. Not surprisingly her Facebook account is littered with well-wishers consoling comments about her bad luck. Instead of applying the unwritten rule not to sympathise, their remarks pander to the person’s game.

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Eight Words with Two Gender Specific Meanings

  1. THINGY (thing-ee) n.
    Female…… Any part under a car’s hood
    Male …..      The hook fastener on a woman’s bra strap

    2. VULNERABLE (vul-ne-ra-bel) adj.

    Female …. Fully opening up one’s self emotionally to another
    Male …..    Playing cricket without a box

    3. COMMUNICATION (ko-moo-ni-kay-shon) n. 
    Female … The open sharing of thoughts and feelings with one’s partner
    Male …      Leaving a note before taking off on a fishing trip with the boys

    4. COMMITMENT (ko-mit-ment) n. 

    Female ….. A desire to get married and raise a family
    Male ……   Trying not to hit on other women while out with this one

    5. ENTERTAINMENT (en-ter-tayn-ment) n.

    Female …. A good movie, concert, play or book
    Male ……   Anything that can be done while drinking beer

    6. FLATULENCE (flach-u-lens) n.

    Female …. An embarrassing by-product of indigestion
    Male ……  A source of entertainment, self-expression, male bonding

    7 MAKING LOVE (may-king luv) n. 

    Female …… The greatest expression of intimacy a couple can achieve
    Male ……     Call it whatever you want, just as long as we do it

    8. REMOTE CONTROL (ri-moht kon-trohl) n.

    Female ……A device for changing from one TV channel to another
    Male ……     A device for scanning through all 375 channels every 5 minutes

Do They Really Think that we are that Stupid?

Of course they do. And we are. First we had President Zuma laughing his way through a Parliamentary session on the Budget. Then the Minister of Police had to the temerity to insult our intelligence by baldly stating that the most unlikely expenditure on Nkandla, Zuma’s private residence, were all installed for security purposes. Then FIFA bribe scandal broke. To cap it all, is the ongoing saga about Eskom.

After Nkandlagate the next episode of the soap opera that is South Africa under Zuma was released. Then came the FIFA imbroglio in which the American FBI allege that the South Africans paid a bribe to a FIFA executive amounting to $10 million. What has been the government’s reaction? Bluster, lies and cover-ups from the Minister of Sports, Fikile Mbalula. At the best of times, he first has to remove the one foot from his mouth before he can insert the other one. Upon closer inspection after every denial, investigative journalists would undercover another piece of the jigsaw puzzle which would undermine part of the denial. Like the seasoned politician that he is, he just dug himself a bigger hole through more bluster.

Main picture: Silo collapse at Majuba Power Station

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Signs that prove that South Africa is different

The ubiquitous sign in bold lettering PENIS ENLARGEMENT is plastered on almost every stop sign, wall and bus shelter especially in the decrepit ramshackle areas. What image does this conjure up in the minds of foreigners about South African males? In less bold lettering beneath the prominent words will be a whole plethora of ailments and desires which this magic potion or muti, in the local Zulu parlance, can remedy.

The list will include items such as finding a job, retrieving a lover from the arms of another man to finding another wife. Of course the whities or mulungus sneer and roll their eyes at such quackery but in certain segments of black society, these concoctions clearly have credence and an allure otherwise these flyers would not be as prolific.

Main picture: Perhaps in the case the muti will be effective because all it is “designed” to do is to enlarge and not to find a girlfriend

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Only in Israel

After doing a number of blogs on Only in South Africa and one on Only in Australia, it must be time for another country. I have a whole bunch of new photographs on South Africa which epitomises the cultural divide in here which I might even use tomorrow night but first let us have something different.
Main picture: Your date brings het M-16 along with her

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The Lipid Hypothesis of Heart Disease under Attack in South Africa

With the eminent Professor Tim Noakes facing the wrath of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) for advocating the LCHF diet for all people, this issue has again been dragged into the public domain. What particularly irked the Professional Board for Dietetics and Nutrition in South Africa was his assertion that his diet was suitable for infants. What is the significance of this decision and what are the long-term implications of general adoption of this diet?

A Personal Odyssey

Of the few struggles in my life which I have lost convincingly, by a knockout and not on points, has been my weight. At periodic intervals I would yet again attempt to lose 8 to 10kgs. After six months of excruciating hunger, lassitude and enervation, I would have attained my desired weight level only to regain it within one month thereafter as I resumed my normal eating habits.

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Are these really South Africa’s Top 10 Landmarks?

This is the list compiled by the Trip Advisor. It is always highly debatable what the top ten items are in any category; similarly with this list. Do you also have other landmarks in mind which are more significant like Kimberley or the Castle in Cape Town which should be on that list? Being totally unbiased I nominated Number 7 Castle Hill Port Elizabeth for the top position. The owner of the oldest extant house in Port Elizabeth and I have something in common. The Reverend Francis McCleland was my great great grandfather and the minister of the first church in Port Elizabeth.

According to the Heritage Collection:

No 7 Castle Hill was the residence of Rev. Francis McCleland and his family. He built his parsonage in 1825. The picturesque cottage is one of the oldest remaining dwelling houses in Port Elizabeth and is furnished as a family home of the mid-Victorian period, depicting the early Settler way of life. The house was declared a National Monument in 1962 and became a museum (No 7 Castle Hill Museum) in 1964.

Main picture: Number 7 Castle Hill in Port Elizabeth

 

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