Six implausible things

[j4]

Doing the rounds at the moment -- six things I have done that you probably haven't (mostly because I'm being absurdly specific about them):

1. Played a musical instrument with the Hallé orchestra.
2. Made 200 pairs of cardboard glasses, like 3D goggles but with green acetate in both sides, in one afternoon.
3. Read Titus Groan while sitting outside a ruined castle at the top of a mountain (well, okay, a big hill).
4. Copied Luke's gospel in Anglo-Saxon onto a cake.
5. Been exactly (well, to the year) half the age of my first car.*
6. Painted my nails in chessboard patterns while being driven through Milton Keynes.

But I'm willing to be proved wrong...

* edit: I'm rephrasing this as "Bought a first car which was twice my age", & hopefully that will make the wilfully obtuse leave me alone.

Comments

[teleute.livejournal.com]

#4 -- all of it??

[j4.livejournal.com]

Not all of it, no! But enough (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~janetmck/cakes/C-H-cakes.html)...

[liv]

Wow, that cake is very cool. I'm most impressed.

[teleute.livejournal.com]

*gasp*
wow
gosh
wow

[brrm.livejournal.com]

5. Been exactly (well, to the year) half the age of my first car.

Does it count if I was 11 at the time, and the car was owned by some bloke in Crawley, not me? :-)

[j4.livejournal.com]

No. HTH. :-P

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

#4 I'd be impressed if you'd painted the Book of Kells version of Luke.

Where did you get that icon?

[j4.livejournal.com]

I so want to do a Book of Kells cake one day! (I did a cake that was supposed to look like "The Book of Kells" by R. A. MacAvoy, a fantasy novel that my mum was desperately trying to find a copy of, as a birthday cake for my mum. But that doesn't count.)

bateleur made the icon for me as a prize for winning his "comment of the month" competition a few months ago.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

I so want to do a Book of Kells cake one day!

Oh yes. If you do, pictures please ?

[ You've seen the front-and-back book cake from my wedding, with reviews including "Comparable to lembas at its best", yes ? ]

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

You've seen me wearing a verse from the Book of Kells.

Before the less gifted members of the congregation ask how much it would cover, On a T-shirt,

Gonna shake that thing

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

1. Played a musical instrument with the Hallé orchestra.

I played a little egg shaker thing at a Halle kids' concert.
I don't suppose that's really a "musical instrument", though.

Re: Gonna shake that thing

[j4.livejournal.com]

Ah, it was a recorder in my case, at the same sort of thing, so only really one step up from an egg-shaker. :)

Re: Gonna shake that thing

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

Rather more musical that shake-shake-shake.
And I was 23 at the time. What age were you?

Re: Gonna shake that thing

[ceb.livejournal.com]

I played my default instrument (viola). Not in a concert, though.

1st Car

[anat0010.livejournal.com]

Hasn't everyone been at one point half the age of their first car ? Presuming you didn't get a car until over the age of 17, and the age of your 1st car was less than 34 years old. The only exception I can see is someone who saves up to buy a 1920's model T and is less than 40.

My 1st car was 13 years old. I was once 6 1/2 years old.

Re: 1st Car

[j4.livejournal.com]

Hasn't everyone been at one point half the age of their first car ?

Well, er. Was it your car when you were half the age of it?

(Besides, if you buy a new car then you'll get a divide-by-zero error!)

Re: 1st Car

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

Hasn't everyone been at one point half the age of their first car ?

Not those of us whose sight is too poor to be let have a car, for one.

Re: 1st Car

[sparrowsion]

There's an implicit "at the same time".

Re: 1st Car

[anat0010.livejournal.com]

Wheee .... pedants corner. Yippee !!!!

Divide by zero ????
Current age = age of first car / 2
Where ?????

Not those of us whose sight is too poor to be let have a car, for one.
Not necessarily. The age of your first car is yet to be determined. You may well still buy a car. There is no restriction on you *buying* a car, just driving it, which you may do some time in the future. Or a long-lost absent minded rich aunt may buy one for you as a birthday present.
Only when you die and your estate is settled will it be possible to say that age of first car is invalid since you will never own one. At this point, come and tell me and I'll concede the point.

There's an implicit "at the same time". *implicit* ???? where ?
Been exactly (well, to the year) half the age of my first car, at the same time. - doesn't parse.
At the same time, been exactly (well, to the year) half the age of my first car. - doesn't make much sense either.
Been exactly (well, to the year), at the same time, half the age of my first car. - doesn't work either.

I think we need to say - At an instant of time when I was the owner of my first car, my age in years, when rounded down, was equal to exactly half the age of the said car, when rounded the age of the car was also rounded down and expressed in years.

Simple really.

Re: 1st Car

[j4.livejournal.com]

Right, not divide by zero, zero-divided-by-two (I have flu, I wasn't thinking clearly) -- but I still maintain that you can't be half the age of a new car. You're being deliberately obtuse, & I hope it's making you happy, but it's making me extremely irritated.

My first car was 50 years old when I bought it; I was 25 at the time. That's all. Now go and do something more interesting.

Re: 1st Car

[anat0010.livejournal.com]

Sorry miss. Shall I go and sit in the corner ?