h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

1694-1778

Voltaire is Zozo?

1778 is a memorable date for us Aussies

has this anything to do with the king of hawaii

did you know that the flag of hawaii has a unionjack on it, so barack obama is the only president born under a british flag since grorge washington

Yes Feisor, Zozo is Voltaire and WD.
I explained earlier about Zozo's gums, his lack of teeth as for this nickname, his family nicknamed him Zozo:He later called himself Voltaire. DGI+3.

1778 is a memorable date for us: I wonder how many of our countrymen could say why.

Boswell,Captain Cook, Voltaire, Dr Johnson, Pringle, ah yes Pringle. He was Dr Sir John Pringle:Physician and philosopher. He was a friend of Boswell's father, Alexander, and of Benjamin Franklin and if he is remembered today it is as the father of military medicine. He has a monument in Westminster.

Boswell met Captain Cook at a dinner at Pringles home just before Cook left on his fateful third voyage.



Right we've narrowed it down even more now and we need to work out what links the croquet balls and 100 year old groceries to the grain silo and Boswell and these famous men.

It really is quite an ordinary thing although most of us do it differently today

No Taff, the only possible connection to him would be Cpt.Cook.

I didn't know that about Obama have a DGI+1.

There's a couple or so more klaxons to go in this one Taff so look out

Fishimg for points here!!

Did you know that the rules for croquet are governed by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London????



GT

For those whose views of Dr Johnson come mostly from Boswell's "Life of..." may I recommend Beryl Bainbridge's "According to Queenie", to consider the possibility of seeing that famous man's relationship to Boswell and their journeys through Scotland in a new and revealing light. Thank goodness Britain is still producing creative writers who don't just 'panda' to accepted academic wisdom.



~jwf~

To be perfectly truthful GT...I did
In my smallish Australian rural town we have a croquet club that sits next to one of the many lawn bowls clubs that infest small towns and attended by crotchedy old men and women in white hats and feasome blue rinse hair.
It was at one of these establishments that I found out that fact over a couple of schooners( glasses of before you ask) as the old guy telling me the story ogled the ladies banging away next door with their croquet mallets.

Should have been worth a couple of DGIs that info!!!



GT

>>>For those whose views of Dr Johnson come mostly from Boswell's "Life of..." may I recommend Beryl Bainbridge's "According to Queenie", to consider the possibility of seeing that famous man's relationship to Boswell and their journeys through Scotland in a new and revealing light. Thank goodness Britain is still producing creative writers who don't just 'panda' to accepted academic wisdom.<<<<<




It is a novel though, a fictionalised account of Johnson's life with the Thrales but it is a good read if you know your Johnson and if you do not then you'll be quite surprised by it all.

I'd point anyone towards Peter Martin's biography 'A Life of James Boswell', where you'll find many of the factual episodes that Bainbridge wrote up in her novel about Hester Thrale (later to become Mrs Piozzi) and her daughter Queeny, it's a very enteresting read and if it's in your library then you'll have no problem answering this QI

That was sorta my question, yes.
I don't really "know my Johnson" and was wondering if the answer's to be found in 'Queeny'.


~jwf~

Well you could certainly find part of the answer in 'Queeny' jwf but all it'd be would be the link joining up all of this...

"Boswell,Captain Cook, Voltaire, Dr Johnson, Pringle, ah yes Pringle. He was Dr Sir John Pringle:Physician and philosopher. He was a friend of Boswell's father, Alexander, and of Benjamin Franklin and if he is remembered today it is as the father of military medicine. He has a monument in Westminster.

Boswell met Captain Cook at a dinner at Pringles home just before Cook left on his fateful third voyage.



Right we've narrowed it down even more now and we need to work out what links the croquet balls and 100 year old groceries to the grain silo and Boswell and these famous men.

It really is quite an ordinary thing although most of us do it differently today"


Not the final question. But once you have the link between all of this it will be fairly easy to get the final question.

I point you to this hint (gosh I wish I could highlight)

>>>> It really is quite an ordinary thing although most of us do it differently today" <<<<

Thought stream...

Croquet Balls - what do they do (if its not to do with Ivory..)
1) Get hit with Hammers/Mallets
2) Roll along a lawn
3) go through Hoops
4) hit the centre peg to finish the game
5) Different colour balls (Red and Blue?)
6) Star prominently in the Thursday next series of books by Jasper Fforde (or the game itself actually)

Pall Mall was another name for Croquet - mentioned in Samuel Johnson's Dictionary (the same Johnson as above?).

What does any of that have to do with Groceries, let alone 100 year old grocery...

Sainsbury is well over 100 years old (IIRC), how old is Tesco, Co-Op, Marks and Spencer (125), Waitrose ?

At a guess Tesco is youngest, Co-op middle centur, and Waitrose early 20th Cen... So it could be just a 100 years old..

ARGH!!! Can't put them together, but sure there's something there, gotta go get a train...

Well that's a really well thought out reply ABTD and it does collect some points albeit negative ones . Have a -5 for Tescoes.

>>>>> " Pall Mall was another name for Croquet - mentioned in Samuel Johnson's Dictionary (the same Johnson as above?)." <<<<<

Yes it is the same Johnson and have a DGI+1 for that information.

Here's another clue

The groceries in question were purchased by a British officer in Boulogne in the late 1830's as he walked away he noticed something odd and rushed back to the proprietess and asked a question...he was thrilled by the answer.

Argh first !

Ok so it was some food, presumably french bought in a french port?

That someone was a british officer, who noticed something odd about the food???

Is the officers name important?

This was 1830 before queen vic IIRC (was wellington still alive, think so as he became prime minister on two separate occasions after defeating napolean in 1815 (according to the frieze at hyde park corner subway)) so maybe officer was wellington, what would make him rush back... but no why would wellington do his own shopping...

1830 was before james spratt (?) Encoded the rules of croquet in the 1860s(?).

More importantly what was the food?

Do i risk a with a guess... not just yet....

Hang on late 1830s, so after victoria came to throne

Is there a food called croquet, sounds french... or is that croquette


Noteiced something odd - 100 year old food, is pretty odd




Not that that helps.

Oh ... i take it is was Boulogne the port, not boulogne sur-mer or pas de boulogne...

ABTD, your heading off in the wrong direction, have a look at post 132 and what could possibly link all these disparate things?


>> Ok so it was some food, presumably french bought in a french port?
My source just says he stopped at a Grocers shop long enough to buy something, it doesn't say what it was.

>> That someone was a british officer, who noticed something odd about the food???

No.

>> Is the officers name important?

No.

The rest of your guesses are way off


Where abouts in France is irrelevant also.

Ok so it something he was given at the grocers, but you don' know what he bought...

So he was given something else....

What do you take from a grocer:
What you buy x
Bag
Change...
Bill, with name on or signature, or date founded (but i feel these are two recent ideas)

So a 100 year old coin? With voltaire on it? No, not if he died in 1778

Ordinary thing done differently today - paying for things

>>> What do you take from a grocer: <<<

Bag.

DGI+1 for that. I'd follow that thought.

Tomorrow, Bed now...