MANORMONKEY? - cdn.waterstones.com · Children's Miscellany 1 interior China 14/6/07 15:26 Page 27....
Transcript of MANORMONKEY? - cdn.waterstones.com · Children's Miscellany 1 interior China 14/6/07 15:26 Page 27....
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Children’s Miscellany Volume One
MAN OR MONKEY?
Apes and humans share 98 per cent of their genetic
material. However, there are some differences:
APE
• Small brain
• Arms longer than legs
• Hand-like feet with
opposable big toes
• Walks on all fours
• Spine joins skull
from back
• Knee joints will not
lock upright
• Very hairy body
• Completely brown eyes
• Vocal cords only capable
of simple sounds
MAN
• Large, variable-sized brain
• Legs longer than arms
• Feet for walking,
not climbing
• Walks upright
• Spine joins skull
from below
• Knee joints lock upright
• Short hair over most
of the body
• Mostly white eyes
• Vocal cords capable of
complex sounds and singing
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HOW TO MAKE A RAINBOW
You will need: a sunny day, a glass, white paper, water.
1. Fill a glass with water, almost to the top.
2. Place the glass so that it is half on and half off the
edge of a table.
3. Place a piece of white paper on the floor.
4. Make sure the sun shines directly through the water
onto the white paper.
5. Adjust the paper or the glass until a rainbow forms
on the paper.
TEN WAYS TO SAVE THE PLANET
Volunteer for an environmental charity.
Switch off electrical items when not in use.
Walk or cycle to school instead of being driven.
Take bottles, glass, cans, paper and plastic to be recycled.
Turn down the central heating by one degree.
Use energy-efficient, compact, fluorescent light bulbs.
Take quick showers rather than deep baths.
Take out re-usable bags when shopping.
Use products that are environmentally friendly, such
as recycled paper.
Take an interest in environmental issues: on television,
in magazines and on the Internet.
HORRIBLE SOUNDS
Knuckles cracking • Fingernails scratching down a blackboard
Skin rubbing against a balloon • Wool grating between teeth
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PIRATE PUNISHMENTS
MAN OVERBOARD
If a pirate was found guilty of a serious crime, he would be
forced to walk the plank or flung over the side of the ship.
Particularly nasty captains would tow the treacherous pirate
behind the ship on a length of rope until dead from
hypothermia, exhaustion or drowning.
MAROONING
Pirates found guilty of mutiny were either left on a remote,
deserted island or cast adrift on a tiny raft, with no provisions.
DUNKING
As a less severe punishment, pirates were strung upside down
from a mast and lowered down into the ocean several times,
then left hung up to dry in the blazing sun.
BIRDS THAT CANNOT FLY
Emu • Kiwi • Ostrich • Dodo • Penguin
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DISGUSTING DISHES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
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JELLIED BLOOD (China)
Congealed duck or pig
blood is served on a plate in
the shape of a pizza, with
herbs and rice crackers.
STINKHEADS (Alaska)
Eskimos chop the heads
off raw fish, particularly
salmon, bury them in ice for
three to four months, then
dig them up and eat the
foul-smelling result.
DRIED ALGAE (Africa)
The Kanembu, a tribe living
on the shores of Lake Chad,
harvest a common variety
of algae called ‘spirulina’, dry
it on the sand, mix it up into
a spicy cake, and eat it with
tomatoes and chilli peppers.
MAGGOT CHEESE (Sardinia)
Cheese is left out covered
with cheesecloth so flies
lay their eggs in it. When
the maggots hatch, the
resulting mess is spread
on bread and devoured.
1000-YEAR-OLD EGGS
(China)
A duck egg is buried in
garden soil for 100 days then
dug up, the shell cracked
and removed, and the
greyish-green hard yolk cut
into slices and served.
BLOOD STEW (Philippines)
This stew is made from pig's
heart, liver, head and blood
and is often more pleasantly
known as ‘chocolate pork’.
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FREAKY FASHIONS
In Tudor England, people
wore huge collars and
ruffs around their necks
that sometimes stuck
out further than their
shoulders.
In Renaissance Italy,
women shaved off their
eyebrows and shaved
their hair several
inches back from
their natural hairlines.
Fashionable women in
medieval Japan gilded
or blackened their teeth.
In ancient Rome, women used a paste of chalk mixed with
vinegar as perfume.
Some of the earliest cosmetics, made from mercury and lead,
disfigured faces and sometimes poisoned people to death.
The hobble skirt, popular in the 19th century, was so narrow
below the knees that it made it difficult for women to walk.
The practice of foot-binding began in China around 960BC.
Infant girls had all their toes (except their big toes) broken and
their feet bound with cloth strips to stop them growing larger
than 10cm. Foot-binding ceased in the 20th century.
18th-century hoop petticoats made getting through a door
difficult and getting into a carriage almost impossible. If the
wearer sat down too fast, the hoop could also fly up and hit
her in the face.
In ancient Egypt, rich women placed a large cone of scented
grease on top of their heads and kept it there all day. The
grease melted and dripped down over their bodies, covering
their skin with an oily, fragrant sheen.
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KNOCK, KNOCK. WHO’S THERE?
Major................Major look, Major stare, Major lose your underwear.
Boo..........................................................................Don’t cry. It’s only a joke.
Nunya.........................................................................................Nunya business!
Al......................................Al bust this door down if you don’t let me in.
Amanda..........................................................A man dat wants to come in.
Toby...............................................Toby or not Toby, that is the question.
Atch.........................................................................................................Bless you!
Albert.......................................................Albert you don’t know who I am.
Elma.....................Elma-ny more knock, knock jokes can you take?
According to legend, Rome was built by twin brothers,
Romulus and Remus. When they were babies, their wicked
uncle put them in a basket and left them by the River Tiber
to starve. They were rescued and looked after by a she-wolf.
Years later, Mars, the god of war, approached the boys and
told them to build a city where they had been found. They built
the city, but ended up at war with each other. Romulus won
the battle and as a result the city became known as Rome.
ROMAN NUMERALS
1 I
2 II
3 III
4 IV
5 V
6 VI
7 VII
8 VIII
9 IX
10 X
20 XX
30 XXX
40 XL
50 L
60 LX
70 LXX
80 LXXX
90 XC
100 C
200 CC
300 CCC
400 CCCC
500 D
600 DC
700 DCC
800 DCCC
900 CM
1,000 M
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TAE KWON DO (‘The Foot Hand Way’)
Origin: Korea • Self-defence
• Emphasizes impressive high kicks
and hand techniques.
KARATE (‘Empty Hand’)
Origin: Japan • Self-defence • Very
energetic, focuses on strikes and kicks.
KUNG FU (‘Skill/Art’)
Origin: China • Developed by the
Shaolin monks • Focuses on strikes and
kicks • Develops balance and speed.
JU-JITSU (‘Soft/Gentle Art’)
Origin: Japanese Samurai and Chinese
monks • Strikes and throwing
• Uses grappling techniques to turn an
opponent’s own strength against him.
AIKIDO (‘The Way of the Harmonious Spirit’)
Origin: Japan • A mental art of non-resistance • Relies on
using the opponent’s own momentum and force against him
through holds, throws and locks.
JUDO (‘The Gentle/Soft Way’)
Origin: Japan • A modernized form of ju-jitsu • Uses leverage
and balance to throw an opponent of any size to the floor.
MARTIAL ARTS
HOW MANY DAYS?
Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
Which has but twenty-eight days clear,
And twenty-nine in each leap year.
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HOW TO FIGHT BACK IN A SHARK ATTACK
If a shark attacks you, use anything in your possession to
hit the shark. Aim for the shark’s eyes or gills, which are
the areas most sensitive to pain (unlike the nose, as is often
believed). Make quick, sharp, repeated jabs. Hitting
the shark tells it that you are not defenceless, which means
that it might leave you alone.
Sharks live in every ocean of the world and shark attack is
a potential danger for anyone who swims in shark-inhabited
seas. But don’t panic – you are much more likely to be
struck by lightning than attacked by a shark.
GREEK AND ROMAN GODS
GREEK ROMAN
Aphrodite Goddess of sensual love and beauty Venus
Apollo God of prophecy, healing and music Phoebus
Ares God of war Mars
Artemis Goddess of hunting Diana
Athena Goddess of war and crafts Minerva
Demeter Goddess of agriculture Ceres
Dionysus God of wine and ecstasy Bacchus
Hades God of the Underworld Pluto
Hephaestus God of fire Vulcan
Hera Queen of Heaven Juno
Hermes Messenger of the gods Mercury
Poseidon God of the sea Neptune
Zeus All-powerful father of gods and mortals Jupiter
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Moths are not attracted to light. They fly towards the
blackest point which appears to be behind the light.
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THINGS WE USE TREES FOR
Oxygen
Shade
Fuel
Buildings
Furniture
Musical instruments
Reducing noise pollution
Lowering air temperature
Vital drugs
Paper
Rubber
Building blocks
Homes for birds
Tree houses
SHAKESPEARIAN INSULTS
‘Your bum is the greatest thing about you.’
(Measure for Measure)
‘Pray you, stand farther away from me.’
(Antony and Cleopatra)
‘Thou art a boil, a plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle.’
(King Lear)
‘You Banbury cheese!’
(The Merry Wives of Windsor)
‘Thy food is such as hath been belched on by infected lungs.’
(Pericles, Prince of Tyre)
‘Were I like thee, I'd throw away myself.’
(Timon of Athens)
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ABBREVIATIONS
AKA.................................................................................Also Known As
ASAP....................................................................As Soon As Possible
DVD......................................................................Digital Versatile Disk
ETA............................................................Estimated Time of Arrival
ISP...............................................................Internet Service Provider
MRSA..................Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus
NB.....................................................................Nota Bene (note well)
RSVP.............................Répondez S’il Vous Plait (please reply)
TWAIN....................Technology Without Any Interesting Name
FIFO...............................................................................First In First Out
AWOL..............................................................Absent Without Leave
BYO...............................................................................Bring Your Own
TBC............................................................................To Be Confirmed
SWAT.................................................Special Weapons and Tactics
SCUBA....Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
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FAMOUS
REAL-LIFE DOGS
Pickles, the dog who found
the stolen Football World
Cup in 1966.
Strelka and Belka, who
returned safely to earth
after a day in space in 1960.
Barry, a St Bernard who
rescued over 40 people
stranded in the Alps.
Rico, a Border collie who
understands over 200 words.
FAMOUS
REAL-LIFE CATS
Sugar, the cat who walked
some 1,500 miles across the
USA to rejoin her owners,
who had given her away
when they moved.
Scarlett, who rescued her
five kittens from a burning
building in New York in 1996.
Solomon, the white chinchilla
longhair who played Blofeld’s
cat in the James Bond films.
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2. Fold it again, to form a
smaller triangle. Then unfold
the sheet and lay it flat.
FORTUNE FINDER
To make a fortune finder all you need is a square piece of
paper and some coloured pens.
5. Turn the sheet over so
that you can see four
squares, and fold in half with
the squares on the outside.
4. Turn the fortune finder
over, and repeat step 3,
folding the new corners into
the middle.
3. Fold each corner of the
square into the middle, so
the corners all meet at
the centre.
6. Finally, keeping the
squares on the outside, fold
in half the other way.
1. Fold the square in half
from one corner to
the other.
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10. Slide the thumb and
forefinger of both your
hands under the flaps of
your fortune finder.
7. Use coloured pens to put a different coloured blob on each
of the four outer squares.
8. Write a different number on each of the eight inner triangles.
9. Lift up each of the numbered triangles and write a fortune,
such as ‘You will be rich and famous’ or ‘You will live in another
country’ underneath.
11. Ask a friend to choose one of the colours on the flaps of
your fortune finder. Spell out the colour, opening and closing the
fortune finder for each letter. On the last letter, hold the fortune
finder open and ask your friend to choose one of the four
numbers that show inside.
12. Count out that number, opening and closing the fortune finder,
then ask your friend to choose another number and count it out
the same way.
13. Ask your friend to pick a final number. Open up the flap
beneath that number and read your friend’s fortune.
You can use finders for lots of other things
by changing what you write under the
number flaps. Instead of writing fortunes you
could try dares, questions, insults, the names
of your friends’ true loves, or anything else
you can think of.
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VITAMIN DEFICIENCIES
VITAMIN AND WHERE SYMPTOMS OF DEFICIENCY
TO FIND IT
Vitamin A Scaly skin, poor growth
(carrots, cabbage)
Vitamin B1 (thiamine) Beriberi: loss of appetite, tiredness,
(peas, beans, grains) aching joints, numbness in hands and
feet, heart problems
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) Poor digestion, eye disorders, dry
(cereal, milk) and flaky skin, sore red tongue
Vitamin B3 (niacin) Pellagra: weakness, skin
(chicken, tuna) inflammation, diarrhoea, weight loss,
depression, confusion, memory loss
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) Depression, nausea, weakness,
(beans, fish) greasy and flaky skin
Vitamin B7 or H (biotin) Heart abnormalities, appetite loss,
(eggs, spinach) fatigue, depression, dry skin
Vitamin B12 Anaemia, fatigue, nerve damage,
(beef, shellfish) smooth tongue, very sensitive skin.
Vitamin C Scurvy: tiredness, aching, sores that
(oranges, strawberries) won’t heal, swollen gums,
teeth fall out
Vitamin D Rickets: deformed skull, curved
(salmon, eggs) spine, bowed legs, knobbly growths
on ends of bones
Vitamin E Nervous-system problems
(green leafy veg)
Vitamin K Thin blood, danger of bleeding
(broccoli, cheese) to death
Ask a friend to think of a word that
rhymes with orange, purple or silver.
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THE CHINESE CALENDAR
1995.............................................................................................Pig
1996...........................................................................................Rat
1997.........................................................................................Cow
1998........................................................................................Tiger
1999.....................................................................................Rabbit
2000..................................................................................Dragon
2001.....................................................................................Snake
2002.....................................................................................Horse
2003.......................................................................................Goat
2004.................................................................................Monkey
2005.................................................................................Rooster
2006.........................................................................................Dog
And then back to pig – it is a twelve-year cycle.
TOP FIVE ALL-TIME WORLDWIDE BOX-OFFICE HITS
ONE
Titanic (1997)
TWO
The Lord of the Rings:
The Return of the King (2003)
THREE
Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's Stone (2001)
FOUR
Star Wars: Episode I -
The Phantom Menace (1999)
FIVE
The Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers (2002)
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self-esteem
respect
imitation
hope spirit-uality
agree
cause
place
kindnessnature
compare
love of praise
conscio
us-
ness
love of
the grand
love o
f
posse
ssions
constructiv
eness
tune
love of beauty
persev
erance
fun
cautiou
snes
s
union for
life
com
bativ
eness
parental lov
e
secretive
ness
destr
uct
ivene
ss
conc
en-
tration
love o
fhom
e
time
mem-ory
orig
inal
size
form
talk
numbers
blin
d
sightorde
r
love
of life
appetite
PHRENOLOGY
According to phrenology, all the many aspects of a person’s
character can be seen in ‘bumps’ on the surface of the brain.
As the personality developed so would the bumps – those
corresponding to much-used characteristics growing and those
corresponding to little-used characteristics shrinking. These
bumps could change with character over time. The diagram
below shows which bumps relate to which characteristics
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CAUSES OF CROP-CIRCLES: THEORIES
Landscape artists • Evil entities • Aliens
Freak whirlwinds • Unknown natural energies • Hoaxers
Intelligent balls of white light
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ANIMALS THAT CAN CHANGE COLOUR
Chameleon • Flounder • Octopus • Cuttlefish
Golden tortoise beetle • Bark spider
BODY APPENDAGES
CLAY LIP PLATES
(Mursi people, Omo Valley, Ethiopia)
When a Mursi girl reaches the age of 15 or 16, her bottom lip
is pierced and a clay lip plate is inserted. As the lip stretches,
larger and larger plates are inserted. It is thought that the
larger the lip plate, the greater the number of cattle required
in exchange for her hand in marriage.
BRASS NECK RINGS
(Padaung tribe, Burma)
As young girls, women from the Padaung tribe are given brass
rings to wear around their necks. As they grow up, more and
more rings are added and this gives them the appearance of
having extraordinarily long necks. In fact, the rings do not
stretch the neck, but rather the weight of them pushes down
on the collarbone until it appears to be a part of the neck.
EARLOBE PIERCINGS
(global)
In Western culture it is common for men and women to pierce
their ears. Sometimes, by gradually increasing the size of the
part of the ring that goes through the piercing, people
increase the size of the holes to accommodate large earplugs.
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THINGS NOT TO TREAD ON WHEN
PADDLING IN THE SEA
Portuguese man-of-war.......................Jellyfish with stinging tentacles
Stinging seaweed....................Venomous animal disguised as a plant
Fire coral............................Looks like coral but has stinging tentacles
Stonefish........................Looks like a stone but has poisonous spines
Sea urchin............Has poisonous spines that break off in your foot
Stingray..............................................Fish with a razor-sharp spine and
stinging tail that lies in the sand
Blue-ringed octopus................The size of a tennis ball, with poison
powerful enough to kill a human in minutes
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INEXPENSIVE COLLECTIBLES
Chewing-gum packets • Aeroplane sick bags
Crisp packets • Rubber ducks • Matchboxes
Train tickets • Four-leaf clovers • Fruit stickers
Human teeth • Buttons • Ballpoint pens
Fridge magnets • Fizzy-drink cans
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PHASES OF THE MOON
On average, the Moon takes 291/2 days to complete one orbit
around the Earth. This is known as a lunar month. During this
time, the Moon goes through a complete cycle from new Moon
to full Moon and back again. The phases are:
In the southern hemisphere, the above is reversed so that a
waxing-crescent Moon is seen as the left side of the Moon, and
a waning-crescent Moon is seen as the right side of the Moon.
Dark Moon or
New Moon
First-quarter
Moon
Waxing-crescent
Moon
Waxing-gibbous
Moon
Waning-gibbous
Moon
Full Moon
Last-quarter
Moon
Dark Moon or
New Moon
Waning-crescent
Moon
Paraguay is the only country in the world
whose national flag has two different sides.
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
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HOW TO KEEP A DIARY
1. Make sure that your diary
is special to you. You might
want to cover a blank pad
with paper, fabric or photos.
2. Don’t feel that you have to
write something every day.
3. Focus on the details of
your day: who you saw,
what you did, where you
went and how you felt.
5. Don’t whinge in it. Write boldly.
4. If you are writing sensational material about people you
know, disguise their identities with code names.
6. It may help to address your entries to an imaginary person.
7. Keep it somewhere safe and away from prying eyes.
8. Just to be extra sure that no one will ever read it, write
MY BOOK OF ALGEBRA on the cover.
POISONOUS PLANTS
Deadly nightshade • Hemlock
Holly • Death cap mushroom
Mistletoe • Iris • Yew
FAST FLIERS
Peregrine falcon..................................................................270kph (168mph)
Spine-tailed swift...................................................................171kph (106mph)
Frigate bird.................................................................................153kph (95mph)
Spur-winged goose...............................................................142kph (88mph)
Red-breasted merganser...................................................129kph (80mph)
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REAL-LIFE SUPERHEROES
STRETCHY MAN
British man Gary Turner can stretch his skin to a length
of 15.8cm (6.2in). By pulling the skin of his neck up and the
skin of his forehead down, he can completely cover his
whole face. On 27 November 2004, he clipped 159 wooden
clothes pegs to his face, earning himself a world record.
MR EAT EVERYTHING
In 1959 Michel Lotito of France developed a taste for
metal and glass. So far he has eaten 18 bicycles, 15
supermarket trolleys, 7 TV sets, 2 beds, 1 pair of skis
and 1 Cessna light aircraft.
THE HUMAN LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR
Roy C. Sullivan of the USA has been struck by lightning
no fewer than seven times. He has survived each strike,
but suffered the following injuries:
1942 - lost a big toenail
1969 - lost both eyebrows
1970 - left shoulder burned
1972 - hair caught fire
1973 - legs burned, hair singed
1976 - ankle hurt
1977 - stomach and chest burned
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Czech Republic
St Kitts and Nevis
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Seychelles
Solomon Islands
COUNTRIES WHOSE NAMES BEGIN AND END
WITH THE SAME LETTER
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THE THREE-CARD-MONTE SCAM
1. The scammer shows three playing cards to the audience.
One of the cards is a queen.
2. The three cards are placed face-down on a table.
3. The scammer moves the cards around, changing their
positions, then invites the audience to place bets on which
one is the queen.
4. If the audience are sceptical and hang back, an accomplice
places a bet and wins.
5. Encouraged by this, the audience start placing bets.
6. The scammer secretly swaps the queen for a different card
to ensure that the members of the audience always lose.
7. To keep the bets coming in, every so often the scammer
secretly reintroduces the queen and lets someone win. If
he is a successful con artist, no one will even realize they
are being conned.
BIRD CALLS
Tawny owl............................................................‘Hoo hoo-hooo hoo-o-o’
Peregrine falcon.......‘Haak-haak-haak kee-keee-eeee wheee-ip’
Wren.............................................................................................‘Chit chiti tzerr’
Blue tit.................................................................‘Tsee-tsee-tsee-tsisisisisisi’
Nuthatch.......................................................‘Pew pew pew chwee chwee’
Bittern…............................................................................‘Boom ker-whoomp’
Middle-spotted woodpecker.........‘Kvek-kvek-kvek kuk-uk kuk-uk’
Brent goose..................................................‘Kurr-onk kurr-onk kurr-onk’
Laughing gull...............................‘hah-hah-hah hoo-hoo hah-hah-hah’
Wood pigeon....................‘Coo-ooo-coo-cu-ooo coo-coo-cu-coo’
Egyptian vulture….....................................................................................‘Silent’
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FUN DUELLING WEAPONS
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TEN RULES OF DUELLING
1. You may use a duel to restore honour if someone has
offended you.
2. Challenges are never delivered at night.
3. The duel must take place within a month of the
challenge being delivered.
4. The challenged has the right to choose the weapon
and the location of the duel.
5. Each combatant nominates a ‘second’ of equal rank in
society. The second acts as a go-between – first
attempting reconciliation between the parties, and then,
if this fails, fixing the time and terms of the duel.
6. The duellists start at an agreed distance from each other,
armed with swords or pistols.
7. Seconds must reattempt reconciliation after the specified
time or number of shots or blows.
8. In the case of pistols, a misfire is counted as a shot.
9. If seconds disagree on anything, they may themselves
duel. They should position themselves at right-angles to
the challengers to form a cross.
10. Any wound that causes the hand to shake ends the duel.
Bananas
Water pistols
Flour bombs
Snowballs
Light sabres
Custard pies
Paper aeroplanes
Back-to-front speaking
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TIPS FOR REMOVING GUM FROM HAIR AND CLOTHING
1. Rub the gum with an ice cube. This will harden the gum,
making it easier to pick and scratch off.
2. Squeeze lemon juice on the gum. This will help reduce
its stickiness.
3. Put a few drops of cooking oil or peanut butter on a
toothbrush and scrub the gum.
HOW TO BLOW A BUBBLEGUM BUBBLE
1. Put a big piece of bubblegum in your mouth.
2. Chew it until it’s thin and stretchy.
3. Use your tongue to flatten the
gum across the backs of your
top and bottom front teeth.
4. Push the middle of the gum
out between your teeth while
forming a seal all the way
around the gum with your lips.
5. Blow into the stretched gum.
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Children’s Miscellany Volume Three
BUBBLEGUM
The first bubblegum was developed in 1906. It was
named ‘Blibber-Blubber’.
In 1928, the bubblegum recipe was improved by an American
called Walter Diemer, resulting in the first widely sold
bubblegum, ‘Dubble Bubble’. Diemer coloured his creation
pink because it was the only food colouring he had.
Today over 100,000 tons of bubblegum are chewed every year.
The advertising slogan ‘Pepsi gives you life’
was mistranslated into Chinese to ‘Pepsi
brings your ancestors back from the grave.’
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CAR JOURNEY GAMES
I SPY
Look around and choose an object for the other passengers
to guess. Let them know the letter the object begins with by
saying ‘I spy with my little eye something beginning with...’ The
first person to guess correctly takes the next turn.
SCISSORS, PAPER, STONE
Hold your right hand in a fist and get a friend to do the same.
Count to three out loud and then, at the same time, each use
your hand to mime either a pair of scissors (first two fingers
held open), a piece of paper (a flat hand) or a stone (a fist).
Scissors beat (cut) paper. Paper beats (covers) stone. Stone
beats (blunts) scissors.
THE ALPHABET GAME
Choose a category such as ‘things that smell bad’, ‘wild
animals’, or ‘famous people’, and think of an example to fit the
chosen category for each letter of the alphabet.
FIRST TO 20
Each choose something to count: for example, yellow cars,
Belgian lorries or squashed animals. The first to count 20 of
their chosen category wins.
SING THE MILEAGE SONG
Substitute for ‘X’ the number of miles you have left to drive
in the following song: ‘X more miles to go, X more miles
of sorrow, X more miles in this old car and we’ll
be there tomorrow.’
APOLOGIZE PROFUSELY FOR SINGING THE MILEAGE SONG
Say sorry over and over until you reach your destination.
PLACES TO HIDE A SECRET MESSAGE
Under a loose floorboard • In the notch of a tree
Under your mattress • On the ledge inside a chimney
Behind a picture frame • In a watertight jar in a pond
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Children’s Miscellany Volume Three
EXTREME CHALLENGES
THE POLAR CHALLENGE
592-km (368-mile) trek
to the North Pole.
X-factor: Freezing conditions.
DAKAR MOTOR RALLY
9,000-km (5,600-mile) motor
race across North Africa.
X-factor: The Sahara Desert.
VENDÉE GLOBE
37,000-km (23,000-mile),
non-stop, solo sail
around the world.
X-factor: Storms.
DEATH VALLEY
ULTRA-MARATHON
217-km (135-mile) run across
America’s Wild West.
X-factor: Soaring
temperatures.
TEXAS WATER SAFARI
Three-day, 421-km (262-
mile), non-stop canoe race,
along the Colorado River
to the Gulf of Mexico.
X-factor: Swirling currents.
WESTERN STATES
TRAIL RIDE
161-km (100-mile), 24-hour
horse race across the
Sierra Nevada Mountains.
X-factor: Saddle sores.
LA RUTA DE LOS
CONQUISTADORES
483-km (300-mile),
three-day mountain-bike
race in the Costa
Rican jungle.
X-factor: Two volcanoes.
GOOD LUCK
Seeing a black cat before
setting sail
Placing a silver coin under
the masthead
Seeing a swallow
Dolphins swimming
alongside the ship
The feather of a wren killed
on New Year’s Day
BAD LUCK
Crossing paths with a
redhead before setting sail
Looking back to port once
you have set sail
Setting sail on a Friday
Killing an albatross
Hearing church bells
Saying the word ‘drowned’
Drowning
SEAFARING SUPERSTITIONS
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