Saturday 25 November 2017

10 unusual town names (part 2)

It's time for another look at more weird and unusual town names.  Most of the following towns are from the United States, but a couple are from elsewhere around the world, and all of them are real actual town names...

The town of Earth, pictured from very very far away.
Also the planet Earth, pictured from an appropriate distance.

1) Earth


Earth is a perfectly sensible name for a planet in my opinion, but it's kind of a weird name for a town.  However, someone obviously disagrees with me because Earth is a real town in Texas.

Imagine having the following conversation...

Stranger: "Where are you from?"
Resident: "I'm from Earth."
Stranger: "Yes, I know that.  But where specifically?"
Resident: "Earth."

I wonder, are people from the town of Earth known as Earthlings?



2) Nameless


Nameless is the inaccurate name of a town in Tennessee.  Nameless by name, named by nature.

Saturday 18 November 2017

Photoshopped Or Real?

This week the Charles Fudgemuffin blog takes a look at a few random photos ... but have they been photoshopped, or are they real?

You can find the answers at the bottom of the page.

1) Quarterly Colours


When I first saw this photo I instantly assumed it was four separate photos which had been photoshopped together.

But on closer inspection perhaps not every quarter has been photoshopped?


Photoshopped or real?

Saturday 11 November 2017

How many times would you have to fold a sheet of paper in half for it to reach the moon?

Occasionally on the Charles Fudgemuffin blog I ask readers for help, for example with preference of book covers, or for other input when writing new stories. Once again I'm in need of help and this time I'm looking for a cross sample of how people would respond to a specific question. This is the scenario...

The Moon.
Reachable by origami, hypothetically.
In a forthcoming book which I'm writing called The Quiz Master, the main character asks a group of people the following question...

"How many times would you have to fold a piece of paper in half before it would be thick enough to reach the Moon?"


Now in reality you can't fold a regular piece of paper more than 7 or 8 times before it becomes impossible to fold it any more, but if it was a hypothetical situation where you could fold a piece of paper as many times as you wanted, how many times would you have to fold it before it was thick enough to reach to the Moon?

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to find out the actual answer. I know how to use Google so if I wanted to know the answer I wouldn't go to the bother of creating a poll! In fact a friend asked me this question many years ago, so I already know the answer. What I'm interested in is what other people would guess, and what sort of typical spread the main character would get with the answers.

Saturday 4 November 2017

10 words and phrases which sound like other words in a different accent

Apologies to any native speakers if I haven't got all of the following accents quite right, but here are a few words or phrases which when pronounced in a certain accent sound like a new phrase altogether...

Bacon sandwiches could cause confusion in Jamaica.

1) Beer Can


If you say 'beer can' in an English accent, it sounds like 'bacon' in a Jamaican accent.



2) Jam Ear Can Beer Can


Taking it one step further, if you say 'jam ear can beer can' in an English accent, it sounds like 'Jamaican bacon' in a Jamaican accent.