Q&A

A cross between Blondin and Blondel

A: My best new year's celebration was in 1963, I think - we were completely snowed in

Q: What's the nicest/cosiest thing about Christmas?

Ok so im evil I love watching my daughter squirm at wanting to open the family presents that are under the tree ( the ones from Santy ofcourse dont come until christmas) but i love how she snuggles with me while watching the tree tis majical i tells yas

Do you think that the reason suicides jump during the holidays is the fact that nolonger are we celibrating hope reborne but rather celibrating greed and materialistic ideals?

Actually I think the holidays are about spending quality time with close friends and family, so if you are lacking in those categories then it might get kind of depressing...

What's your favorite holiday food?

..flavoured cheeses!! :popcorn:

http://www.traditionalcheeses.co.uk/cheese_selection.htm

and cranberry sauce with the turkey..

What's your favourite?

Christmas cake - I love the marzipan..
What's your favourite food at Christmas?

I have two... Turkey with all the fixin's (stuffing, potatoes with gravy...) for Christmas dinner, and on Christmas Eve we have a totally delicious meat pie called Tortiere (which is actually a French Canadian traditional dish that we adopted when visiting my Aunt and Uncle living in Ottawa at Christmas time when I was young... I have the recipe in soft-copy if anyone's interested).

/me drools just thinking about it

Next? (What's your favourite holiday food?)

Roast patatos You roast them seperatly from the beef but in the same over crispy and hot and UMMM UMMM Delisch OOh and Yorkshire pudding to go with the roast beef and taters (For those not in the know Yorkshire pudding is a belgian waffle thats served with meat and gravey)

Next

And what is your fave part of the holidays?

Snow would be nice, at this time of the year - :sun:

- has anyone got any snow to spare?

- guess I'll settle for the snow between Glitterdelve and Glacern, instead..
- or maybe I'll head for Snowbrook Haven..

What's the weather like, where you are?

You're not gonna believe this, but it was Blondin again...!!

Oh I believe it.

The weather is somewhat cold and we have lots of snow right now.

Are you gonna make a new years resolution?

No. If I have the "resolve" to do something I just do it... I don't need an excuse for making a resolution I really mean. History has taught me that making a resolution just because it is New Year's doesn't work for me... I never fulfull them. As an example, I resolved for years to quit smoking on New Years Day, and then one regular ole day I just decided to quit (for reasons unrelated to any previous "resolutions"). Done. That was over ten years ago, and I've not bought a pack of cigarettes since (not even tempted after the first couple months... I was in University at the time, and had to avoid drinking / pubs for a few weeks to avoid uber temptation, and THAT was torture I tell ya... ).

What's your favorite holiday memory of all time (any holiday, from any time of year)?

LOL drinkin tequila at a firefighters 4rth of July had the cops there the Ambulance crew there and then i started lighting off some bombs (I had enough high explosives to overthrow a small country) ( i only lit off my 3/4 stick of TNT the really big ones i saved till later) What was funny was months afterwords i had freinds coming up asking to see my fingers to make sure i hadnt blowed them off.

Good times i tell yas goood times

Christmas with my daughter are the most tender sweet and awesomes of holidays

Whats your fave?

Hey KMD - I hope you got some snaps - for the GGO Blog..

here's one of me on my old GT200 - cruisin' into town on this little bird with me mates and drinkin coffee and going dancin' - aaah, that was a good summer!!

- well the days seemed longer then...
- and the skies were filled with lil-lil-lil-lil-lttle fluffy clouds!

Q: What's your best ever holiday memories..??

Stylin Blondin STYLIN and yes pics are on ma blog (more to follow as ive been down with Pnumonia and im finally startin to feel better feel better)

Since i already answered it Blondins Question Stands Q: What's your best ever holiday memories..??

...I am currently reading The World According To Clarkson

Q. What book are you reading at the moment....??

I'm currently rereading Terry Goodkind's "Naked Empire" (fantasy fiction, with excellent themes). I bought "Chainfire" recently, and wanted to go through the preceeding book in the series before reading the latest one for the first time (to properly immerse myself in the world again...).

Who is your favorite author (or authors if you have multiple fav's)?

My Fave Author Is Hmmm let me see
I Absolutely adore Terry Pratchet From his Discworld series to Good Omens (Co Written with Neil Gaimen)
(Ive got 23 Books that ive reread and continue to read)
http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com
Douglass Adams
George Owell
Terry Goodkind
Stephen King
Dean Koonts
WEB Griffin
been big into the D&D Books (Mainly Dragon Lance)
A couple of Iclandic authors that names are a bitch to remember let alone spell

Books that i think are absolute must reads
ANy Terry Pratchett (Wee free men and A Theif of time are some of my faves)
The Legend of Huma, Kaz the Minitaur, Kaz
The Backman Books (Stephen Kings early work)
and one very special book

Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintanence: By Robert M Persig
heres a review of this book
In my (1/e)*100 years on this planet, during which I devoured at least ten times as many books, I have read only two more than once - "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is one of them. In this monumental 1974 work, Robert Pirsig has achieved what few others have managed before him and, to the best of my knowledge, nobody else has accomplished since: a perfect unification of philosophy, adventure and mystery. His "Chautauqua," or traveling tale, takes the reader on a profound tour of ancient Greek philosophy, the steppes of Montana, and even a little bit of Zen Buddhism, with endless surprises and much original if not truly inspired thought along the way. Through his self-portrayal by means of the unforgettable and eerily enigmatic character Phaedrus, Mr. Pirsig shares his far-reaching search for the meaning of life, and himself. His fundamental concern is with the following seemingly simple but in effect infinitely complex question: "How can one distinguish "good" from "bad?" The question is posed and addressed in many different forms throughout the book, and in the process the concepts of truth, value and quality are dissected, reassembled, and again dissected and reassembled many times. Mr. Pirsig has an uncanny sense of timing, and he never allows the heavier passages to labor on too long. This is avoided by craftily interspersing his philosophical discourse amongst very down-to-earth and charming observations made during a motorcycle trip that takes the narrator and his seemingly troubled son Chris from the American Prairies to the Pacific, and forms the prevalent background for the entire "Chautauqua." "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is a totally unique creation. Not being one to lend himself easily to corny clichés, I nevertheless believe that this is one book that definitely could dramatically change your life, whether or not you believe in Zen or have ever sat on a motorcycle. If you love somebody, buy them this book

Some of yours now please

Have to agree with you KMD, on the Terry Pratchett - I often laugh out loud while I'm reading him.. I got THUD! as a Christmas present...
And Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance has to be one of the best books of the last 40 or 50 years... it reminded me of On The Road by Jack Kerouac - you can almost feel the writer waking your consciousness as you read...
- I reckon you'd enjoy Jeremy Clarkson's ruminations.... the chapters are only about 3 or 4 pages long, and they are hilarious in their bluntness...

I see that you and the shark have both listed Terry Goodkind - where should I start with him?

Q: who are your fave authors... and what about poetry?

I enjoy the Dragon Lance Saga and also War of the Spider Queen by Tomas Reid.

KMD: that review of "Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintanence" sounds very interesting... I think I might have to give it a look after I've done the reading what I have lined up (three books in queue).

blondin: My fav. TG book is "Faith of the Fallen", but his work is all in one long fantasy fiction series, which starts with "Wizards First Rule". The first book is a good place to begin...

My fav. authors are:
Terry Goodkind (his Sword of Truth series is an incredible mix of fantasy fiction and philosoplical themes... awesome at times)
Ayn Rand (The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged are true masterpieces)
Tom Clancy (a master of his genre...)
Kim Stanley Robinson (the Red Mars sci-fi series was excellent...)
Ian Flemming (my first favorite author... the world of 007 is so entertaining)
There are a few Tom Clancy clones I enjoy too, but his work trumps the imitations...

I don't read poetry anymore... so I don't really have a fav. there.

Do you enjoy reading poetry?

Poetry - mostly old stuff - the language meant more back then - Longfellow, Wordsworth, Keats and of course Will Shakespeare..

Lawrence Binyon's "Burning of the Leaves" and Ernest Dowson's gloomy rhymes.. "..the days of wine and roses"

Ted Hughes has a good go at the language, though... "Stars sway the tree/ Whose roots/ Tighten on an atom."

..and Philip Larkin's middle-class claustrophobic nastiness is just hilarious.

- and don't forget dear old Spike Milligan, who's child-like vision sets him way up on high...

- Do you read any poetry...?? :whistling:

..oh, no - not again? 8O

- no, that's not my question...

- Do you read any poetry? (- yes that was it!)

I like Writing Poetry but i dont go out to buy some to read ive had freinds show me poetry they like but i still prefer to write it

Oh and i forgot to put the most articulate philosopher of the modern era
"Calvin and Hobbes" by Bill Watterson
Included inside are such Philisophical jems like:
"Reality keeps messing up my fun"
"They really dont want creativity they want silence"
Hobbes "what did you find?" Calvin "A rock, some grubbs, a worm THERES TREASURE EVERYWHERE!"

What / who is your fave philosopher and some quotes please

Neitzsche:
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

I think the common man is often the best philosopher... y'know, things like "Life's too short", etc, etc

- but, to continue - who is your fave philosopher/philosophy ..and add a quote or two.)?

While I'm not 100% on board with Ayn Rand's Objectivism, I do see a great deal of my own opinions expressed by her philosophy:

What was / is your favorite subject in school?

Loved the science classes ( already new most of the stuff as ive been watching documentaries since age 6 or so)

Now 90% of the classes ive taken ive thouroughly enjoyed 3.3 gpa in 400+ level undergrad classes

what subjects do you hate?

A: Sorry, I don't remember school..

Q: Isn't the USA's current immigration control policy a bit of an expensive failure?

- If the USA were more welcoming, fewer people would try to get in illegally, wouldn't they? :?

No. Example: Canada. We currently have a very liberal immigration policy, but there are still plenty of illegal immigrants. Obviously not as many as the U.S. (because of your border with Mexico) but IMO, as long as there are any limits or conditions on immigration, there will be people who don't want to play by the rules.

Do you know who Stephen Harper is?

this Stephen Harper?
As one of the founding members of the Reform Party, he served as an MP from 1993 to 1997 before leaving to head the National Citizens Coalition. After the ouster of leader Stockwell Day in 2002, Harper became leader of the Canadian Alliance. In 2003, he successfully reached an agreement with Tory leader Peter MacKay to merge the Canadian Alliance with the Progressive Conservatives. In March 2004, Harper was elected leader of the new Conservative Party. In the race for the January 2006 Canadian Federal election, the Conservative Party leads in various opinion polls.

He is the Member of Parliament for the Calgary riding of Calgary-Southwest.

No i dont

WHat was the last thought that scared you?

(Yes, that's the guy... looks like he's going to be the next Prime Minister of Canada).

The last time I've truly been scared by a thought was when I was thinking about how fragile life is, and how much I value those close to me. The scary part that got to me was the possibility of losing them (to accidents / health problems / age...). The thought of being truly alone in life is almost too much to consider at times...

What makes you laugh the most?