The Never Ending Toadfish Interview Cycle!

[Griffin NoName]

1. Is the population of France really any more than 10 million (I am conducting a survey for the purposes of armament supplies)?

In 1226 the population was 16 million. But I guess you are more interested in the mid-1700s when it was around 21 milloin.

2. Who is your favourite French painter?

I don't know any, but Vanessa Infante has a good pedigree being the fourth generation of a family of French decorators. But I'm unsure whether you meant interior or exterior.


3. What is your favourite French cheese?

I like the ones that come in round wooden boxes best.

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1. How would you cope with a world without packaging?

2. What was you favourite birthday present ever?

3. What would you do if faced with a friendly looking oran-utan?

[beagle]

1. How would you cope with a world without packaging?
I couldn't. 95% of my shopping arrives by mail/van. I'd have to buy a house next to a mega-Tesco.


2. What was you favourite birthday present ever?

Part payment for a collie puppy. Second best, a telescope from my father when I was eight.


3. What would you do if faced with a friendly looking oran-utan?

Make my excuses and leave. You have to draw the line somewhere.


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1  Will you mourn Tony Blair's passing into political history?


2  Richard III, guilty or maligned? (Guess who's reading "The Daughter of Time" after hearing bits on Oneword radio).


3  Why do you always imagine John of Gaunt to be tall and thin?

[Swatopluk]

1  Will you mourn Tony Blair's passing into political history?
If it means that the UK will fall to paleoconservatives instead, then I'd consider him the slightly lesser evil. But at least he had no extramarital affairs with interns .

2  Richard III, guilty or maligned? (Guess who's reading "The Daughter of Time" after hearing bits on Oneword radio).
Not worse than the average English royalty of his time and probably with more brains.
But literature/theatre should still be greatful for Shakespeare's drama, independent of historical distortions.

3  Why do you always imagine John of Gaunt to be tall and thin?
If at all because of Lovecraft's Night-Gaunts, otherwise I do not imagine him.

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1. Will Scotland become (formally) independent within the next decade?

2. Would that be a good or a bad thing?

3. What about Wales (or whales for the non-Brits or otherwise disinterested)?

Bonus question: Why was there no bonus question in the last entry?

[beagle]

If it means that the UK will fall to paleoconservatives instead, then I'd consider him the slightly lesser evil. But at least he had no extramarital affairs with interns .

Actually I'm not sure we're ever getting rid of Blair. Talk about the long goodbye; We'll probably all have to start putting our pyjamas on before he takes the hint it's really time to go.

GB is generally considered more Atlanticist than Blair, very Euro(currency)skeptic and fairly Euro(anything)skeptic. If his time at the Treasury is anything to go by he favours lots of intricately-detailed legislation. The UK tax code has now overtaken even that of India, previously the World bureaucracy champions.



1. Will Scotland become (formally) independent within the next decade?

Hard to tell how much is a genuine wish for independence and how much general griping and resentment at being taken for granted. I think they're canny enough to realise that once the cheers died down they would be in an economic mess, and if they really did turn true socialist they would lose Edinburgh's financial services (and other multinationals) to London.

2. Would that be a good or a bad thing?

Bad overall, because we're a small enough island any way. Probably good economically for English taxpayers though.


3. What about Wales (or whales for the non-Brits or otherwise disinterested)?

Don't hear much about Welsh independence these days (at least not in Cambridgeshire  , so don't know.

Bonus question: Why was there no bonus question in the last entry?

It wouldn't be a bonus if you got one every time.

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1 Nikolas Sarkozy, saviour of France? Mad right winger? Same old, same old?


2 Can France be changed from the top or will street protests stop it?


3 Should France be changed?


Bonus question:  Why are there no French Toadfish? It make borrowing a villa very difficult.

[goat starer]

ah Beagle! never miss a chance to you old polemicist!

Gordon Brown is the new saviour of Britain! Clearly distinguished from his opponents by having a novel idea called 'policies' 

1 Nikolas Sarkozy, saviour of France? Mad right winger? Same old, same old?

this is a trick question as i have it on good authority that NS was you old school penpal. so no comment


2 Can France be changed from the top or will street protests stop it?

they will if i have anything to do with it 


3 Should France be changed?

it needs nore hills in the north


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1) tentacles or wings?

2) would you eat a sea slug?

3) Rabbits. natures edible bounty or cuddly pets? (as Viz once asked "I am planning on making a rabbit stew. Can any of your readers advise me whether it is cheaper to go to the butchers or the petshop?)

[Aggie]

1) tentacles or wings?

Wings.  Easier to cook consistently (important if someone else is cooking), and I'd rather have a pair (workable for flight) than a set of tentacles.  OTOH, I've never eaten a wing that was still moving. 

2) would you eat a sea slug?

They tend to be rather toxic, but I'd try a nontoxic species.  I've eaten land-slug-with-a-shell-on (snail) and sea snail, so why not?

3) Rabbits. natures edible bounty or cuddly pets? (as Viz once asked "I am planning on making a rabbit stew. Can any of your readers advise me whether it is cheaper to go to the butchers or the petshop?)

Both!  I've considered raising rabbits as dual-purpose animals - keep the parents for breeding and eat the young.  Rabbits are one of the all-around cutest domestic animals that are also (relatively) socially acceptable to eat (of all the domestic consumables, I don't think I could slaughter goats for meat - same for species that are usually companion animals like potbelly pigs, dogs, and horses.  Would have less of an issue with cows, sheep, meat hogs, rabbits and virtually none with poultry).
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1. Is it the weekend yet?

2. Do you keep houseplants?

3. Ever jumped off a cliff?  If yes, how high (max - mine's about 30 ft into water)?

[Opsa]

1. Is it the weekend yet?

It is always the weekend to a free mind.

2. Do you keep houseplants?

Yes indeed. I have a couple of small potted palms, several types of geranium, a couple of peace lilies, a small cactus, a dragon-winged begonia, a spider plant, a snake plant, a Christmas cactus and three giant pink bromeliads that look like they could eat me.

3. Ever jumped off a cliff?  If yes, how high (max - mine's about 30 ft into water)?

I have jumped off many a small cliff, and walked off a few short piers, as well.




1) Have you learned how to drop it after you've made your point?


2) Do you smile at strangers sometimes, just in an attempt to brighten their day?

3) Do you make it a point to acknowledge people in wheelchairs?

[Sibling Chatty]

1) Have you learned how to drop it after you've made your point?

It took a while, but usually, yes.

2) Do you smile at strangers sometimes, just in an attempt to brighten their day?

Yes. They always think I'm up to something.

3) Do you make it a point to acknowledge people in wheelchairs?

About a third of the time I am right there with them, so yeah, I do. Most of us aren't slow, but we may be easy to catch...
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1. List the ingredients in the Perfect Sandwich.

2. Which first? Read the book or see the movie?

3. How far do you live from your best friend?

[Kiyoodle the Gambrinous]

1. List the ingredients in the Perfect Sandwich.

Two beers and a shot of slivovitz in between.

I don't really know how my perfect sandwich would look like, as the usual sandwich I make is bread, butter, some meat (mostly ham or salami) and cheese. I guess it could do some improving. (maybe two loaves of ham and one loaf of cheese between it?)

2. Which first? Read the book or see the movie?

Always the book first.

Unless the books is based on a movie and not the other way around.

3. How far do you live from your best friend?

Very difficult to say. I don't really know who I should consider my best friends. I have a lot of good friends in several countries, that I would consider my best at the given moment. I can't say which one is the my best of them all.

If I consider the one that I have been very bound to for a long time, then my answer would be around 700 kilometres.

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1. There is a theory that true friends do not exist. Do you agree with that? _{(on a sidenote, I don't)}

2. What would you do to a person that would hurt your friend?

3. Would you enjoy that?


Bonus: Define what pleasure is for you.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

1. There is a theory that true friends do not exist. Do you agree with that? (on a sidenote, I don't)
I wonder what person would say that. I do have true friends.

2. What would you do to a person that would hurt your friend?
I may try to do some payback but in most cases the wound is (quasi) self-inflicted: "That person is not good for you", "you shouldn't go out with him/her", etc, that usually in the end becomes the classic "I told you so..."

3. Would you enjoy that?
Nope. Getting back at that person will not stop the pain of my friend.

Bonus: Define what pleasure is for you.
A good chocolate truffle, a good wine, a beautiful landscape/view/painting/etc, a nice steak, a good song/symphony/work, sing/play a good work, good sex, etc, etc

1. How often do you ignore good advice?

2. Do you tell your friends if they are (in your view) spoiling their children?

3. As a tourist do you prefer going to the museums or to the shops?

Bonus question: Praeludium or Fugue?

[Swatopluk]

1. How often do you ignore good advice?
Regularly, especially my own.

2. Do you tell your friends if they are (in your view) spoiling their children?
The intersection between friends, people having children and me having knowledge about the latter's educational methods is unfortunately negligible. But I think I would.

3. As a tourist do you prefer going to the museums or to the shops?
Clearly museums, shops only insofar as they provide something that I want but could not get at home. I tend to stroll through museum shops though (clarification: not shops where you can buy museums).

Bonus question: Praeludium or Fugue?
D minor please

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1. Are you a vengeful person?

2. What makes you furious easiest?

3. What do you do about it?

Bonus question: Pistol or cutlass?

[Kiyoodle the Gambrinous]

1. Are you a vengeful person?

Revenge may be beautiful sometimes.

2. What makes you furious easiest?

Stupid and ignorant people pretending to be smart. And talking to the public. And the public listening to them. And doing what they want. I don't know if in that case which makes me furious.

3. What do you do about it?

Unfortunately one can't do much, as murdering stupid people and locking ignorant people up is still illegal.

Bonus question: Pistol or cutlass?

Depends on the purpose, but I prefer cutlass, it's more silent.

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1. Do you consider grey (also called shadow) economy very important for a society?

2. You have to hire one person. You have the choice between a man and a woman that have completely the same qualifications for the job and you think both are equally capable of doing it. Which one do you chose?

3. Your favourite marmelade?

Bonus: Who do you consider the worse actor of all time?

Bonus 2: ... worse musician of all time?

[Swatopluk]

1. Do you consider grey (also called shadow) economy very important for a society?
Of course depending on the definition, I'd say society can't do without.

2. You have to hire one person. You have the choice between a man and a woman that have completely the same qualifications for the job and you think both are equally capable of doing it. Which one do you chose?
If there is no obvious character flaw and the first view sympathy level is comparable, the woman's chances would increase with lack of outer attractivity (as long as she is no gorgon). Plain faces tend to be less likely to cause trouble. I assume that the job description does not contain seduction .

3. Your favourite marmelade?
Difficult to say at the moment because I rarely eat marmelade these days. Plum or stawberry were favorites of old (but not too sweet please).

Bonus: Who do you consider the worse actor of all time?
You mean apart from Daniel Küblböck? Heavy competition these days. From what I hear the Olsen Twins are pretty high up on this ladder.

Bonus 2: ... worse musician of all time?
The people who write/perform "songs" for the European song contest in the last decade?

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1. Your favorite painting?

2. Your favorite sculpture?

3. What would Mozart be/do today?

Bonus Question:
1. Did art go downhill since cave paintings became unfashionable with our ancestors?
2. How do you imagine "cave music" was in those days?
3. Are you in contact with your inner Neanderhal relative?

[Opsa]

1. Your favorite painting?

I love so many paintings. But there is one I go to visit whenever I am anywhere near it: Claude Monet's "Woman with a Parasol" http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pimage?61113+0+0
I don't know why, but the lines and reflected light create a sense of animation I feel I am really there on that sunny hill.

2. Your favorite sculpture?

Again, I love sculpture, too. But when I was a kid, I got to see Michelangelo's "Pieta" in person at the World's Fair in New York. It stunned me. I drove my family crazy begging to go in and see it again and again. When I went to school and was asked to make a crayon drawing of what I did that summer, I drew the Pieta. http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/michelangelo/pieta.jpg.html
(Hmmm... seems to be a mother and son theme going on here...)

3. What would Mozart be/do today?
A zombie. No, you mean if he had been born more recently, I'm sure. I think he'd still be in music, probably avant garde, and possibly not heard of by many of us, but influential to those in the industry.

Bonus Question:
1. Did art go downhill since cave paintings became unfashionable with our ancestors?
No! But much of it remains strictly representational for purposes of communicating to the masses.

2. How do you imagine "cave music" was in those days?
I was briefly in a band where we imagined that early people could not conceive of any number beyond One. There was One thing and Some Things. So we called our band Bamm-Bamm Rubble and One. Our guitarists played on one string and I played a drum with one bone as our lead singer read from Dr. Suess' "Hop on Pop". Needless to say, we only performed once.

I think cave music was probably better than we were.

3. Are you in contact with your inner Neanderhal relative? Absolutely. (Thank you for asking this one bonus question.)




1) Do you think human beings have gone as far as possible, culturally speaking?

2) Do you believe that the human race could experience a quantum leap?

3) If you were all alone on the planet, would you sing?

[Griffin NoName]

1) Do you think human beings have gone as far as possible, culturally speaking?

Culture has to evolve. So no. Unless evolution is dead.

2) Do you believe that the human race could experience a quantum leap?

Yes. Two ways.
a) By combining all our brain stems which I believe to contain undiscovered quantumaness.
b) When they work out what matter's. (decontrsruct)

3) If you were all alone on the planet, would you sing?

No, I'd be too busy listening to the tree fallings.

Bonus Answer: I did not.

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1. Although it is not recorded, someone must have once said tree falleth not by man alone. Who would have it been that said that?

2. If you went on a Quest, what would you like to find at the end of it?

3. Were novels better before the invention of the word processor?