draliman on life

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World. It’s a maxi-length Halloween special this week so I’ll try to keep my answers short! Melanie has done a special spooky SYW banner too especially for the occasion 🙂

Name something you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark forest or in an abandoned building.
Justin Bieber in full song.

Share the creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone.
It was there somewhere, lurking in the shadows. Was I tracking it or was it stalking me? Huge, an efficient killer. Just one of these things had killed my entire crew, acid for blood, huge jaws… no, wait, that’s Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley out of Alien, not me at all.

What would you like your last words to be?
What bus aaaargh…

Do you believe in any ‘mythical’ monsters like chupacabras or shadow people?
I’ve never heard of “shadow people” but they sound very cool, so I definitely believe in them.

How long do you think you would last in a horror movie?
Straight away I’d suggest splitting up and then I’d pop outside to have a bit of a look around armed only with the light on my mobile phone. It wouldn’t be long before I ended up strapped to a garden chair with my guts all over the lawn.

Are you afraid of or find clowns creepy?
I’m in the “creepy” camp.

In the zombie apocalypse, what would be your weapon of choice?
We need to destroy the brain. A baseball bat would work but a sword would be better. Good for stabbing and slashing. Chop their legs off and they can’t run after you.

Have you ever had your tarot cards read?
Nope!

Anyone know the reason behind putting candles in jack-o-lanterns?
To make them look cooler and spookier?

Do you think putting special emphasis on certain holidays – like Halloween is ‘spooky’ for example — is a good idea or just more mindless entertainment for the masses?
This happens to a lot of days. Halloween, formerly All Hallows Eve (the eve of All Saints Day), formerly the Celtic festival of Samhain has become an evening for kiddies to dress up and get sweets. Christmas (formerly the Roman festival of Saturnalia) has become a day to see family, eat a lot and give/receive presents. There’s no harm it it, I guess.

I’ve been trying to work out why people keep referring to Halloween as a “holiday” and then it struck me – since the English word “holiday” usually translates into American as “vacation”, I guess the American word “holiday” has a slightly different meaning.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

Name two books that have influenced you and share how.
The first book has to be “Off to Play”, by ground-breaking author Mabel O’Donnell. It’s  basically a minimalist treatise on the surface simplicity of life in 1950/60s England, but the dark undertones quickly become obvious. Here’s an extract from the beginning of the book:

“This is Janet. This is John. This is Mother. This is Father. See Janet, Mother. See Janet play. This is Father. See John and Father.”

See how it’s already polarised along gender-specific lines? I mean, blimey. Deep or what?

The second book is “Geometric Multiplication of Vectors: An Introduction to Geometric Algebra in Physics (Compact Textbooks in Mathematics)” by Miroslav Josipovic. I don’t understand any of the words but it has lots of cool pictures of shapes and stuff.

In your opinion, where is the line between art and not art? 
That line is in an individual’s head. Everyone likes something different. For example, take one of the most famous works of art in the world, the Mona Lisa. But why? Countless people go to see it every year and stare at it in awe. They see it as art, I see it as some old painting. I don’t get the “brilliance” of it.

Trivia for Halloween: What item is banned only during Halloween from 12am October 31st to 12pm November 1st in Hollywood California? (I know the answer, but I do not have any idea WHY)… c’mon… hazard a guess!
What could it be? What could it be?

Film cameras. Car chases. Stunt doubles. Socks. Kitchen utensils. Small dogs in handbags. Okay, I’ll look it up.

It’s aerosol string (usually sold as brand “Silly String”). After a reported US$200,000 clean-up operation one Halloween, the stuff got itself banned 🙂

What is something that really annoys you but doesn’t bother most people?
Teaspoons thrown carelessly onto the draining board at work. The people – animals – responsible will be hunted down like dogs, dragged in chains back to the kitchen and forced to clean, dry and put them away properly like what they’re supposed to.

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

What’s the biggest screw up in the kitchen that you were responsible for?
Screw up? In the kitchen? I’ll have you know I’m a master of chefs, a culinary genius. Just look at this little creation, worthy of the most expensive of 5 star establishments.

Pasta with sauce made of tinned tomato, garlic, herbs and little sliced up hot dog sausages. Oh yeah 🙂

In my new chain of restaurants, “DraliGrub”, this will be my signature dish only it’ll be one-tenth the size and will cost £95.50.

What, in your opinion, makes people believe absurd conspiracy theories?
They’re being influenced by the shady and mysterious “Council of Five” who run the world from their secret volcano hideout – it’s in their best interests to keep people on edge.

And our secret alien overlords who silently invaded in the 60’s and now run our planet (in conjunction with the Council of Five) – it’s them too.

It’s all true, because the internet says so.

In 40 years what will people be nostalgic for?
Just one thing – freedom. For our alien overlords will be secret no more.

People won’t be nostalgic for anything else, as all record and memory of other things will have been erased.

Is a hot dog a sandwich?
No. You can slice up a sausage and put it between two slices of bread. Then you have a sausage sandwich.

What wonderful thing happened to you this week that you’d like to share? It can be a gratitude moment or something that just made you feel very happy at the time or made you laugh.
After many delays my new car finally arrived! They’ve finally updated the interior of the Fiesta so now it’s more like a modern car 🙂

Here is my post for Melanie’s Share Your World.

Do you prefer Apple (‘i’ products) or Android for your technology ‘fix’? 
I prefer Android. There’s a better range of prices and choices and they tend to be much more compatible with everything else. Once you’re in the Apple ecosystem, you’re pretty much stuck there.

What’s something on your personal bucket list?
I absolutely have my heart set on the galvanised steel titanium-reinforced Buck-omatic 2000^TM. Truly the king of buckets.

Oh wait, I get it now. I’m hoping in the next couple of years to go back to Scotland where my Gran lived and see all the old haunts again.

What would you name your boat if you had one? The Unsinkable 3? The Please Don’t Sink? Your choice! Also, what would it look like? Do you want a motor yacht, a sailboat, or perhaps a dinghy?
“The Unaffordable”. It would be a nice little size with a cosy little cabin.

Which fictional character would be the most boring to meet in real life? 
That chap. With that name. From that programme. I can’t remember any details. That’s how boring he is.