Tea? (Part 2)

[Arch]

Orignal home of Winnie the Pooh? I thought that was in Sussex, or Surrey, or something?

I've been out and booked a couple of tickets for Jour de Fete tomorrow at City Screen - I'm going with a workmate who's seen most of Jacques Tati's films, but not that one - whereas it's the only Tati film I have seen...

My Saturday sushi treat this week was real - sold to me by a couple of real Japanese chaps on the ethnic food market. They had headbands on that reminded me of kamikaze pilots...

This afternoon, I have laundry to do. And I should wrap Oli's birthday present. But I'll have a cuppa first.

 

[Speicher]

Arch, a question for you, and any one else...

What have telephones, baskets, and Zulus got in common?

 

[Arch]

Um.....I'll think about it while I'm up to my elbows in suds...

 

[Speicher]

Good idea.

It could be googled, but that would be cheating not be exercising the grey cells.

You could also ponder how on earth it came about yesterday, that I nearly sold someone a bicycle.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Nearly sold a bicycle Speicher? Does that mean you realised you want it for yourself so as to get the miles in B)

As for your puzzle. I'm thinking too. But it should be noted that I'm dense on these kinds of things - so don't hold your breath

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Answer - Buttons

Telephones have buttons
Baskets have buttons in them (well some do)
Zulus have Belly Buttons

 

[Speicher]

First the bicycle. I was at the Worcester Resource Centre, which recycles all sorts of art and crafty items for all sorts of projects in schools.

They also have a small display area for the recycled bicycles from an organisation called Motov8. Yes I am getting there, slowly, have patience. Anyway, when I finished with the computer that I was using in the Library area, it decided that it needed to update lots of puter type thingies. I had looked at said cycles earlier in the day, noticed the price, the number of gears and the new knobbly tyres. So while waiting for said puter to close down, I wandered over to the cycles again. I must have had my friendly/approachable/knowledgeable physog on, so a lady started asking me about the bikes, and I was able to tell her the details. She obviously had not noticed the large label, with the details on it, so she thought I was trying to helpfully sell her a bicycle, but she decided she would prefer a lady's crossbar.

 

[Speicher]

Have you given up with the baskets question yet?

 

[Arch]

Have you given up with the baskets question yet?

Yes, pray tell...

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Have you given up with the baskets question yet?

I posted the answer already Speicher.

And why did you not buy the bicycle for yourself??

 

[Speicher]

I was helping to catalogue all the reference books in the Library at the Resource Centre, and there was a book called "Wired". It is all about Zulu telephone-wire baskets. I kid you not. They looked very colourful and have a practical use. I will try and find the link that shows some of the pages.

I was getting very distracted trying to categorise the books, instead of reading them. Lots of fascinating subjects from Gaudi, Native American art, felt-making and folk art.
As well as power drawing (aka drawing to express emotions) and a children's book about "The old woman who swallowed a fly".

 

[Speicher]

I posted the answer already Speicher.

And why did you not buy the bicycle for yourself??

Er well, I have two very little used bicycles in the garage. One of which is a bit big I think, and the other one only has three gears. There were four bikes on display. The one we were looking at was a dark blue mountain bike, with the knobbliest tyres possible. It was described as 17" frame, but I get very confused with frame sizes.

Oh yes, your answer, while not incorrect, was not 100% accurate either.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Er well, I have two very little used bicycles in the garage. One of which is a bit big I think, and the other one only has three gears. There were four bikes on display. The one we were looking at was a dark blue mountain bike, with the knobbliest tyres possible. It was described as 17" frame, but I get very confused with frame sizes.

Oh yes, your answer, while not incorrect, was not 100% accurate either.

Nah - quite right - don't buy a MtB with knobblies. They are so much hard work I'm not surprised it's been handed in for recycling.

As for frame sizes - I get confused too. With a variety of sloping top tubes and the like it's a nightmare.

Now if the one in the garage with 3 gears is your size why not have a gentle pedal on the flat? One of the gears will be about right for that. You might surprise yourself and enjoy it B)

As for my answer - I thought I did pretty well

 

[Speicher]

You were close with the buttons connection, but the wire in the telephone (exchanges) is the common factor.

The Zulus have been using the wire to make colourful baskets, within their family groups, as opposed to travelling to work in factories, as I understand it.

Found "Wired" here. http://www.amazon.com/Wired-Contemporary-Zulu-Telephone-Baskets/dp/0890134499

Click on the picture of the cover, to see some examples of the work. The first few pages are blank, for some reason.

Notice the name of one of the co-authors. There were some giggles trying to spell that name accurately on the database.

 

[Arch]

The Zulus have been using the wire to make colourful baskets, within their family groups, as opposed to travelling to work in factories, as I understand it.

I read an article in an archaeoloical journal once that said that when they first put telephone wires across the Austrailian outback, they had trouble with the glass insulators going missing from the tops of the telegraph poles. The Aboriginal people were used to making cutting tools from obsidian, which is naturally occuring volcanic glass, so the insulators were valuable lumps of raw material. Apparently the engineers solved the problem by leaving 'offerings' of spare insulators at the bottom of the poles.