Dynastic mini quiz answers

Q1. Who was Kublai Khan's grandfather? Genghis Khan

Q2. Who was the great grandmother of Sophie of Württemberg, Queen of the Netherlands? Catherine The Great

Q3. How many great grandchildren did Queen Victoria have? 87

Q4. What relation is a great great grandchild with another of different great grandparentage? Third cousin

Q5. What relation is Abraham Lincoln to George Clooney? Half-first cousin five times removed

And seven places I definitely won't be visiting

⛔Chernobyl. Can't think why.

⛔North Korea. Too close to dangerous countries like, er, North Korea.

⛔Mar-a-Lago, Florida. Apparently my invitation got "lost in the mail".

⛔Caracas, Venezuela. "The most dangerous city in  the world". 120 homicides per 100,000 residents.

⛔Norwich. All Ipswich fans will know why.

⛔Mawsynram And Cherrapunji, India.

⛔Yakusk, Siberia. -40 degrees Celsius in winter.

My seven places to visit

Thinking about the ancient world wonders and the "new seven" wonders, I got to thinking about what seven other places I would like to visit. So here they are.

Uluru, aka Ayres Rock, Northern Territory, Australia.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

Estádio Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Iguazu Falls, on the Argentina/Brazil border.

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.

Polar bear migration, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.

Trans Siberian Railway, Moscow to Beijing via Mongolia.

Let me hear yours!

The new seven wonders of the world

The "new seven wonders of the world" were chosen by tens of millions of people voting in a contest run by a Swiss company, The New 7 Wonders Foundation, in 2007. Here they are, in no particular order.

The Great Wall of China.

Petra, in Jordan.

Chichen Itza, Mayan site in Mexico.

Cristo Redentor, "Christ The Redeemer", in Rio de Janeiro.

The Colosseum, in Rome.

The Taj Mahal, Agra, India.

Machu Picchu, Incan site in Peru.

Next, I will be cogitating on what would be on my list of my "must visit" places in the world. A kind of bucket list, In suppose. Pretty impractical in pandemic times but maybe...... What would you choose?

An apple a day...

...keeps the doctor away.

The phrase can be traced back to 1866, when Notes and Queries magazine published the first-known example of the proverb: “Eat an apple on going to bed, And you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread." According to wonderopolis.org, which is a great name for a web site. [Should that be website?] It's tag line [should that be tagline?] is "Where the Wonders Of Learning Never Cease". Darn, they got there before me.

And it's true. I eat an apple every day - or at least most days - and no doctor has been to my door in, well, years, maybe ever. [Warning to readers: don't confuse correlation with causality]

It's also true that "a brandy at night makes me want to write".

And "a post a week keeps your blog unique".

"Every second must be reckoned". Very profound.

The oldsters sure knew a thing or two. Keep eating those Granny Smiths.

Call My Agent!

This is easily the funniest TV show in a long time. Generally I'm not a Laugh Out Loud person but this show does exactly that for me.

If you need cheering up, this is the show for you. If you want to wake up in the morning happy, this is your dream. If you want to sleep well at night, watch an episode before bedtime. If you're down, watch another episode.

It's a French TV series - with subtitles obviously, the original title is Dix Pour Cent - with an ensemble cast centred around the workings of a Paris talent agency. It's on Netflix and there have been four seasons.

It's basically a French farce, with excellent dialogue and acting. Each episode stars a well known French actor - I've just watched Juliette Binoche in S2 E6.

Thank you Giles Coren of the Times for referencing this and adding joy to my life!