puzzle

This is an old puzzle. I was given it in a maths lesson when I was 12. The teacher had a comb-over and died of a heart attack at 64. I would try and do the puzzle on paper, but could never get the answer right. Then computers came along ;-) It still intrigues me.

A man did a favour for a king. The king asked the man to choose his reward. The man asked for a grain of rice to be placed on the first square of a chessboard. He asked for this to be doubled on the second and all subsequent squares. How many grains of rice did he end up with?

feminine hygiene VII

the darker side of effective hand washing

hotel milk

hotels and B&Bs must have 4 cartons of UHT milk on each room's hospitality tray. it's a rule. this is regardless of the number of people staying in the room, the size of the cups, the number of teabags and coffee sachets, or even the price/poshness/star rating of the hotel.  

no more and no less.

i have only seen this regulation breached twice: the occasion of less milk appeared to be a rushed-room change, the occasion of more milk just seemed like a flagrant disregard :)

already dead II

iar: magazine B

B = Bodyfit [Launch Issue May/June 2010 £3.50 pp 132]

feminine hygiene VI

beauty amongst the grey IV

feminine hygiene V (TM)

surprising win

 

tub chair in Caffe Nero in a small town (population 30,340)

beauty amongst the grey III

beauty amongst the grey II

beauty amongst the grey

already dead

 

slice of cooked lamb

railroad tracks IV

looking down

railroad tracks III

going nowhere

pink blossom III

 

pink blossom II

pink blossom

iar: magazine A

26 weeks - 26 magazines I've never read before (starting with the letter A... then B... then C...) - 26 different shops.

A = AnOther Magazine [18th Issue Bi-Annual Spring/Summer 2010 £6.95 pp 365+cover]

rainbow II

the struggling optimist

 

the view from here

fight club

the first rule of fight club is...

rainbow

railroad tracks II

Drunk on the last train home

railroad tracks

Suit waiting for the 7.03

white wedding

happy new year II

Happy Thai New Year. This week was really lucky - won a tenner on the lottery,  twenty-five quid from premium bonds, and got two free glasses - statistically something bad has to happen now to balance it out.

 

happy new year II

Happy Thai New Year! This week was really lucky - won a tenner on the lottery,  twenty-five quid from premium bonds, and got two free glasses - life is sweet!

it started by...

watch the man

he's watching you.

feminine hygiene IV

a group of women attended a 'how to crochet' workshop. a woman in her mid-20's said that she would only go to the loo in her own house. if she was out all day, even at work, she would wait until she got home in the evening. 

hole in the wall

nature nurture III

beverage identity dysphoria

iar: bread machine #5

#5 Saturday: challah [page 127]

picking up a woman II

I picked up this discarded photo from the floor of London Bridge Station, near the ticket barriers.

picking up a woman

the papers were discarded on the tube floor. A man with bags got on. He kicked at the magazines as he sat down, but then picked one up and flicked through it. Three stops later he self-consciously stuffed the magazine into his bag - failing on the first attempt - and got off the tube.

iar: feminine hygiene III

there's a woman in an office block who won't touch anything in the toilets. I haven't watched her in the cubicles, but at the sink she turns the taps on and off through a bundle of paper towels. Leading into the toilets are two seperate doors with large D-shaped handles. Holding (fresh) paper towels she struggles to pull each door open, barely allowing her paper-covered fingertips to touch the handles. This iar is dedicated to her.

objective: photograph every toilet handle used for a week, after using it.

why?: it's a rule

top banana

iar: bread machine #4

#4 Sunday: pitta breads [page 102 - recipe 2]

feminine hygiene II

I love peeing at the Barbican :)

iar: bread machine #3

#3 Wednesday: rice bread [page 78]

vagina monologue

(if you don't read every word you won't get it)

vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vagINA vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa vaGINa VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGina VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina VAgina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina Vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina vagina

iar: bread machine #2

#2 Sunday: sun-dried tomato and cep loaf [page 166]

iar retro: end of the line 2

...and it continues

iar retro: end of the line 1

the objective: to go to the tube stations at the end of all the tube lines on London Underground.
the facts: on the day I did this there were 29 'ends' (it does change). 

dean

Dean is drunk. He is in a kebab shop offering a woman chips with chilli sauce. She is waiting for a chicken shish. He is a freelance steel erector. Her dad and grandfathers used to be steelworkers. He is currently doing nights in Basingstoke but has worked all over the world including in Sheffield and Israel. Her dad and grandfathers used to be steelworkers in Sheffield. His friend has a bad eyebrow piercing and looks at her warily as he says goodnight; realising he has been dumped for a few minutes of conversation with me. I pay at the counter, shake hands and say goodnight. Dean stares at the picture on the wall.

go green!

iar: bread machine

I have a bread machine book with lots and lots of tasty recipes. I have made two. 

the objective: use a random number generator to pick a page out of the bread book, and then a recipe - happy baking!
the rationale: bread is tasty :) Oh, and a push of randomness makes one try new things. 

the facts: the book has recipes on pages 65-251

the decisive moment

town gigolo II

It really didn't seem like that kind of town.