Some time ago, Louise bought me the above book, partly because she knows I'm a fan of the comedian Richard Herring, but mostly (I suspect) because she knows I'm crap at making small talk. The book promises "1001 conversation starters for every occasion" and so I thought I'd use them to encourage a little conversation on this blog, rather than it all just being about me trying to convince you that Huey Lewis deserves more of your respect.
So I'm going to select a question every week or so and give you my answer. Hopefully then you can leave your own answer in the comments box. It'll probably fall flat on its arse as most of these things do, and I'll quietly bury the idea in a couple of weeks, but let's give it a go, eh?
I skipped the first two questions because they were too silly or inappropriate, but question three was right up my avenue of interest...
3. Have you ever seen a ghost?
Now I'm not actually going to bore you all with my answer to this, since I wrote about it in detail some years ago starting here.
I will tell you though that for his part, Richard Herring responds to his own question by saying, "Interesting fact for after the question has been answered: ghosts do not exist. Anyone who says they have seen one is thus mentally imbalanced." But he's a comedian, and comedians often talk bollocks for humorous effect.
I'll throw in the next question for good measure...
4. Have you ever seen a Bigfoot?
Only on film. And as I'm sure I've mentioned before, I wholeheartedly believe the Patterson–Gimlin film was not a fake.
(My money's on Ernie for this one.)
And to finish off...
8. Has your sibling ever seen a ghost?
Actually, I'll settle for anybody in your family or close circle of acquaintances. As long as you believe them. And why wouldn't you?
Why is your money on me to have seen a Bigfoot?
ReplyDeleteI haven't. The closest is probably is Bob Common from The Yetties or orangutans in Sarawak but I don't think anyone disputes their existence. If they do this cool dude can prove otherwise (to avoid any doubt this is an orangutan not Bob Common):
https://flic.kr/p/WSMF5J
Only because of your status as an International Man of Mystery, Ernie. And "I wanna be like you-ou-ou..."
Delete"Has your sibling ever seen a ghost"
ReplyDeleteDoes that include the holy ghost?
Well, at this time of year, it'd be rude to say no.
DeleteOoh, interesting, I like this premise, as I too am crap at small talk and may take some helpful hints from you and Mr Herring. I'm not sure that asking someone if their sibling has ever seen a ghost is going to work... but could lead to some interesting facial expressions in response if nothing else!
ReplyDeleteMy own response is that I haven't, nor has my sister, but I have met more than a couple of other people who are convinced that they have. And then there's your spine tingling anecdote from your radio days too.
Now I'm going to have to find something else to ask you in Bristol...
DeleteMy mother in laws house is an old Thatch cottage and it is of course haunted. I've not seen a ghost there. But man, I've heard them.
ReplyDeleteSwc.
Have you ever written about this in more detail, SWC? I'd love to hear more!
DeleteI have. Only once, during lockdown. I wrote about it over at my place.
ReplyDeleteJM
Link, John? I've probably read it before, but maybe not...
DeleteNope. But that doesn't mean they don't exist.......
ReplyDeleteWhat's that behind you, JC?
Delete