Everything stops for tea.

Hi Carolyn,

 
 

Whatsay we start with the riddle stuff.  The last one was tea. I'm not sure if the judges will accept "teatime" as an answer, but I think they should. The inclusion of " commonwealth clocks "  sprung from our last major vacation.  We were pointedly reminded of just how thoroughly British tradition perseveres  here in Canada when we were out in Victoria B.C.- which is probably more British than Britain, even though its half a planet away! -  a few years ago.  One afternoon we thought we'd stop and check out the oft-touted "High Tea" at the Empress Hotel.



Well, from what we saw it's  ceremonial to an extent that makes the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace look like a random mob scene.  As we were told whilst being turned away peremptorily by an officious fellow in a waistcoat at the foyer entrance , "You simply must  reserve well in advance". 


 
Raaaather...!





We were down in Stratford, Ontario earlier this week and were again reminded of the  Anglo-Saxon cultural  torch that burns constantly and brightly in certain corners of the colonies. In  Stratford it's all thanks to Mr. Shakespeare, and the Festival Theatre of course. The upscale shops that populate the downtown area include a number that feature Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish merchandise. The eateries are likewise inclined and I had a very nice and straightforward beef brisket sandwich for lunch, along with a pint of draught Strongbow cider.  


All things considered, we had  a jolly good time in the few hours we were there. We hope to get back before the snow flies. 

BTW - I'm somewhat proud of myself, at this moment,  for not stooping to low-brow punsterism by referring to this Stratford,( second only to its British namesake as a Shakespearian venue,) as a delightful little hamlet. T'would be misleading, alas, as it's much larger than that.




Anyhow, now that I've gotten back on course from the tangent that the tea riddle sent me off on,  here's another riddle to have a whack at at your leisure...  ( you do partake of leisure  these days, I hope. )

 Gotta pull strings to make impressions

Counterproductive  if not tuned in

An expressive axe for Jimi, Chuck, Eric et al

 

 

I  fess-up to playing the devil's avocado about the cursive writing thing from last time around. The value of learning, very early on , to connect letters in an efficient and efficacious way to communicate is crucial, for more than just honing fine motor skills, I agree.. Those who do it artistically and calligraphically  are even more to be admired, for sure. One's writing style can almost be as individual as a fingerprint, too.

Still,  I wonder what Steve Jobs or Bill Gates would have answered if asked about keeping cursive writing in the grade school curriculum.

Intriguing, and a bit portentous isn't it, how many hands on skills and dexterities technology is stealing from us in the name of speed and convenience. 









Okay, now that I've bemoaned technology it's only fair that I do some cheerleading  too. Between your mention of the "Luke" project awhile back and our recent adventures vis-a-vis the possibility of an artificial knee for my LSBH,  I've done some nosing about in the wonderful world of prosthetics and artificial body parts. I am amazed by some of the stuff out there just like you were when you checked out the Luke item.






The most fascinating part of my research had to do with how these replacement parts and pieces are better than that which they replace. And  future directions and developments suggest that amazing leaps and bounds await. ( Pun intended )   Synthetic muscles that occupy the same space as our own but lift exponentially more,  synthetic limbs that make us faster. And prosthetic  eyes ,ears and noses  that elevate our senses and much more. Can a real world Ironman or Robocop be on the horizon even now?



 Boy, I sure wish I could hang around for about another two centuries, just to see where it's at by then.






A little technology sidebar here.  I think you'll be glad you opted for a touchscreen. It took me almost no time to adjust to that aspect of computing when I got my iPhone  and iPad awhile back. There have been many occasions since  when I've been at the desktop pc or my LSBH's laptop while in Mexico and have found my right forefinger instinctively darting at the non-touchscreen screen simply because it's become such an entirely ingrained behaviour now. A mouse or a touchpad seem almost quaint in comparison.



Son of a gun, Carolyn, your next entry here will be posting #200 for this "conversations" blog.  I  haven't run out of words yet, how 'bout you?


TTFN



Don.



My apologies to seminal and highly musical bluesy Brit, Long John Baldry, for appropriating his album title for this go-round. Apparently, he too had "touchscreen finger". 

All images sourced from Google Images

Fig. 1 - changeddesktop.com

Fig. 2 - www.trekearth.com

Fig. 3 - eighteenwaterloo.com

Fig. 4 - www.noupe.com

Fig. 5 - colouringbook.org

Fig. 6 - weburbanist.com

Fig. 7 - www.shutterstock.com

Fig. 8 - www.newgrounds.com

Fig. 9 - www.eltonjohnitaly.com