Happy halloween! If I was organised I’d have a spooktastic set of randomness for you today, but, err, I was working all weekend, so no dice ;o)
1. Now how long do you reckon your bathroom suite will last for? A few years? Possibly a few decades? Well how about some Roman baths still being used in Khenchela, Algeria, which are still in use after over 2,000 years? I do hope they’ve at least changed the bathwater in that time…
2. Speaking of random historic related things, but going in the opposite direction, did you know that the Futurama series has the number 1729 hidden in a number of episodes? This totally appealed to my inner maths geek as it is in memory of a little known mathematical genius from a remote area of India, Srinivasa Ramanujan, who taught himself pure maths from a library book, and started coming up with theories that had the academic at Cambridge, who finally received them, mesmerised. They worked together for a few years, until Ramanujan’s untimely death at the age of 32 from TB. Hardy recalled, in his memoirs “I remember once going to see him when he was lying ill at Putney. I had ridden in taxi cab number 1729 and remarked that the number seemed to me rather a dull one and that I hoped it was not an unfavourable omen. ‘No,’ he replied. ‘It is a very interesting number. It is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.'” Your homework for this week is to create a quilt with 1729 squares in it… ;o)
3. From one futuristic thing to another, did you know that the Isle of Skye has been twinned with ‘Skylands’ from the Skylanders video game? Well I suppose if Boring and Dull can be twinned, there’s nothing to stop you reaching out to a virtual world for a partner! I can totally spot the resemblance…
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4. So how many of you are currently on a diet to try and fit into a nice party frock at Christmas then? I’m sure I’m not the only one ;o) Anyway, apparently if I spend 3 hours a day on my feet rather than plonked on my arse at my desk, then I could live 2 years longer. Hmm, not sure I can persuade HR that they need to give me 2 different height desks…
5. Finally, a payout on one those bets that you’re baffled that people even make has paid off for Peter Edwards, who netted £125,000 when his grandson became the youngest footballer to play for Wales at a senior level recently. I wonder how many other grandfathers are currently shepherding little tots round the garden with a football, then legging it down to William Hill’s…
Linking up to my fellow Randomeers:
Also so informative, Katy! I always consider it my trivia fix for the week. 🙂
Also, Season 5 of Republic of Doyle started here last month – the first episode was beyond terrible but the rest is interesting! Hope you get Season 4 soon.
Where do you find this random stuff?!!!
only you would want to work standing up… lol
My bathroom is so old it’s coming back in fashion but even I cant beat 2000 year old baths…this part of your random post made me feel much better about my retro bathroom.
One of my colleagues has a standing desk . Hers is for back pain though …I’ll take the plonk my arse model thanks. Im so lazy…
Fabulously random as always.
Thanks for the randomness. My hubs has a podium in his office that he often stands at while working just to get him on his feet. :o) I think if you worked up a nice presentation about how much more productive you'd be, happier knowing you'll be living longer, etc, I'm sure they'd help you out! Right? [crickets] Uh…right? [more crickets] Well, it wouldn't hurt to try!
Those Roman baths just go to show that practical never goes out of style!
Well done to that Welsh grandfather too 🙂
Amazing randomness. As always.
I love your list of randomness today!
Your randomness knows no bounds-great range!
You are the random queen 🙂
Love the maths geek element even more than the rest!!!!!
Well the water looks clean, but who knows????
Hugs
I am going to give a higher spot at my desk some thought. And I am so sad to hear that math genius died so young. I am totally going to put 1729 in a quilt soon, but not via the number of squares.
Number 1 simply proves the point that things really were built to last at one point in history. 🙂
Oh you and your fun and interesting randoms! Maybe I should read blogs while standing, and I could fit into a nice frock, rather than a plum pudding costume. Are we going to start seeing 1729 everywhere…
Oh my you are certainly educating us!