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

Fire bright fire,
glow and spark, my love's eyes spit.

Earth to earth,
Clod and turf, by love trod on.

Airfresh air,
my love's lungs recycled air.

Cold and wet,
Seronader shivered.

Very cool approach, Waz... you've come -->| |<-- close to turning the whole thing into one poem!

Two questions :

1. Seronader?

2. Ser-o-na-der shiv-er-ed = seven? (hehehehe)

m

ooops

Cold and wet,
seronader shshivered.

then?

Hi LLLWaz,

fire: Eyes spitting fire! Great!
earth: Ubiquitous Love! Also great!
air: A touch of the sweet breath stuff...Lovely.
water: A clever and effective use of the syllable count!

I'd say, all in all, a very sophisticated approach!


f.

oops the second.

Cold and wet,
Serenader shshivered.

m-much b-better!

m,
Are you telling us this was your contribution at the time of the original challenge?

f.

no


m

Sorry,m,
I am referring to the 'breathe in' version!

f.

I lost my ability to count LLLWaz's last syllables!

f.

You mean s-syllables . Turning it into one poem is cheating really. As is sh-shiver.

More favourites:

Of Cyzacki's;
'I'm on cloud nine
I don't want to come down'
because of the cloud/down thing and there's seems to be something in nine/down too though I don't know why there is.

Frontiersman's;
'your body is
smoother in the Jacuzzi'
because of the i's and oooos.

And m's;

'the moon
in your eyes
pulls me
to and fro'
with its ebb and flow is very cool, and just beats the giggle in dig.

LLLWaz,

Ninepins down!? By some kind of circuitous association, perhaps?


f.

Ninepins f? I know tenpin.

Perhaps I'm hearing a touch of oz accent.

Ninepins was the old version LLLWaz, me old son!

I think that is the game played in English pubs in Ye Olde Daze!
No; not a trace of antipodean ancestry in this neck o' the woods!
A bit of Welsh and Scots, yes. But English by birth and breeding.

Correction: I have just looked it up in the ever faithful COD, it was the original bowling alley game! So, my earlier guess was right for once!
(I always was 1 pin short of the modern game!)


f.

I think the extra pin was imported from America!
Er, m. might enlighten you there; but don't ask me why!

f.

Although I have no idea why the fiesty frontiersman would think I might have some insight into things American, I'll report the following...

After a quick and thoroughly unscientific survey of friends, acquaintances and a number of complete strangers stopped at random in Krakow's Market Square, we conclude that most know approximately nothing striking about the game known variously as bowling, skittles and (in one case) Kegel.

As regards the question of nine pins versus ten, we found no consensus on the primacy of either number, and just to complicate the issue further, there were vague recollections of a variation using five.

Among the interviewees, a significant percentage mentioned balls, frames, splits, lanes and alleys, with several specifically using the word ‘boring’ and at least two stressing the importance of beer. Several claimed to fancy bowlers (most referring to the hat, but one very clearly thinking of a cricket player) and one had once visited a city called Bowling Green but claims to have avoided alleys while there.

A fellow of apparently Hessian descent said he believed playing Kegel was once a sinful crime punishable by death in Germany – he seemed to think that was around the 6th Century – and another individual swears that the wives of many bowlers in the US believe it still should be.

Anyone for a friendly game of Bocce ball?

m

A wonderfully thorough piece of street-interview research, m.

Just to make a small contribution to your dissertation (which deserves at least an MSc!). Whereas the American game arranges the 'pins' in a triangular layout, I believe the original alley game in Britain arranged the nine pins into a square. Geometrically, it's not possible to arrange the odd 9 into a triangle anyway.

Now, watch this space for some young clever-clogs trying to prove otherwise!

f.

Well, OK. I might as well.

ooooo
_ooo_
__o__

Sorry. Couldn't help myself.

But yes, f, you are quite right. Tha American game (10 pins) has them arranged in a triangle: 4-3-2-1 (back to front, of course)

The original game had a square (or diamond, depending on your point of view): 1-2-3-2-1 (back to front or vice versa, of course)

I really *must* start putting my brain to better use.

(that was me, the old dull-clog pretending to be a 'young clever-clog')

Yikes! There I go again, spouting 'facts' that don't stand up! (or in the case of ninepins/tenpins, do stand up!)
I should have tried the arrangement myself before professing geometrical 'knowledge'
I deserved that 'kick in the pants,' too right I did!


f.