Five questions from chickenfeet2003
Nov. 22nd, 2009 05:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
f4f3If you want to play, leave a note here and I'll supply the five...
1. Supposing Scotland became completely uninhabitable, to where would you move?
Beautifully phrased...
There's a number of places I've visited and thought, "I could live here", and a number I'd be willing to give a chance to prove themselves to me. So, in no particular order, amongst the places I've been: San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Delhi, Varanassi, Essaouira, Crete, Prague, places I'd like to try, New Zealand, Austin, Singapore and a particular beach in Thailand. Oh, ok, and possibly London, under very particular circumstances.
2. What do you think of whisk(e)y other than the Caledonian variety?
Depends where it comes from, and how it's made. Most of the North American whiskies I treat as blends - fine for mixing, not so much for sipping. I do go through little phases of taking Woodford Reserve with ice, though, since I don't tend to put ice in malts, and a good, smokey bourbon can stand up to it. Irish whiskies I like fine, but wouldn't search out much, except for Red Breast, a fine pot still malt, and Black Bush, a blend from Bushmill's which I usually only drink in Jinty McGinty's in Ashton Lane (it's an old joke between the landlady and I). I've had some fantastic Japanese malts, and rate the best of them (typically the independent bottlings I've had through the Scotch Malt Whisky Society) as highly as any Scottish malt. The commercial bottlings I've had, though, can be very shallow - nice when first tasted, but no great length. I've never tried the Welsh malt, but I'd give it a go.
3. What author has most influenced you?
Probably someone who isn't read much these days, Damon Runyon. If he's known at all it's as the writer of the stories which the musical "Guys and Dolls" was based on. His racy, knowing, and very, very human voice got under my skin when I was around 12 years old, and I've never found anything to match it. He got in just before Chandler, Hammet and Zelazny, on the North American side, and comfortably before Wodehouse, McIlvanney and Orwell over here. I should give a special mention to Stan "The Man" Lee, though.
4. Will the LHC lead to the discovery of the Higgs boson?
I don't think so. It has the potential to do so, but I don't think the instrumentality is good enough yet. It's like looking for extra-solar planets with our current telescopes. We can't see them, just infer them. But the next generation of colliders (or some totally different approach) should do the job. And no, I don't believe that the search is pre-doomed...
5. Are there any foods that you wouldn't at least try?
Depends on circumstances. Given the luxury of choice, I would choose not to eat most cetaceans, humans, or cats and dogs. If it were that or starve, then pass the BBQ sauce.
1. Supposing Scotland became completely uninhabitable, to where would you move?
Beautifully phrased...
There's a number of places I've visited and thought, "I could live here", and a number I'd be willing to give a chance to prove themselves to me. So, in no particular order, amongst the places I've been: San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Delhi, Varanassi, Essaouira, Crete, Prague, places I'd like to try, New Zealand, Austin, Singapore and a particular beach in Thailand. Oh, ok, and possibly London, under very particular circumstances.
2. What do you think of whisk(e)y other than the Caledonian variety?
Depends where it comes from, and how it's made. Most of the North American whiskies I treat as blends - fine for mixing, not so much for sipping. I do go through little phases of taking Woodford Reserve with ice, though, since I don't tend to put ice in malts, and a good, smokey bourbon can stand up to it. Irish whiskies I like fine, but wouldn't search out much, except for Red Breast, a fine pot still malt, and Black Bush, a blend from Bushmill's which I usually only drink in Jinty McGinty's in Ashton Lane (it's an old joke between the landlady and I). I've had some fantastic Japanese malts, and rate the best of them (typically the independent bottlings I've had through the Scotch Malt Whisky Society) as highly as any Scottish malt. The commercial bottlings I've had, though, can be very shallow - nice when first tasted, but no great length. I've never tried the Welsh malt, but I'd give it a go.
3. What author has most influenced you?
Probably someone who isn't read much these days, Damon Runyon. If he's known at all it's as the writer of the stories which the musical "Guys and Dolls" was based on. His racy, knowing, and very, very human voice got under my skin when I was around 12 years old, and I've never found anything to match it. He got in just before Chandler, Hammet and Zelazny, on the North American side, and comfortably before Wodehouse, McIlvanney and Orwell over here. I should give a special mention to Stan "The Man" Lee, though.
4. Will the LHC lead to the discovery of the Higgs boson?
I don't think so. It has the potential to do so, but I don't think the instrumentality is good enough yet. It's like looking for extra-solar planets with our current telescopes. We can't see them, just infer them. But the next generation of colliders (or some totally different approach) should do the job. And no, I don't believe that the search is pre-doomed...
5. Are there any foods that you wouldn't at least try?
Depends on circumstances. Given the luxury of choice, I would choose not to eat most cetaceans, humans, or cats and dogs. If it were that or starve, then pass the BBQ sauce.
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Date: 2009-11-22 06:55 pm (UTC)