Little donkey, on a dusty road
People have really got involved with yesterday’s uncompromising give-me-your-birthday inquisition. I feel like old Augustus Caesar conducting a census a few years back and making certain people go to Bethlehem and we ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT. If this census turns out half as well in turns of producing a saviour, I’ll be well pleased.
Several birthdays have been named twice and, touchingly, those people have been saluting their new Watsonian twins through the Comments. The idea of this is obviously very much up my street, and I think it’s almost inevitable that 2011 will see some sort of attempt by me to put these pairs – seemingly appointed at random by fate – into touch with each other. More on that soon. I think (and I’ve not looked over it all as thoroughly as I want to yet, because I was wrongfooted by the number of replies) that only one day, July 7, has achieved a hat-trick of birthdays so far. So it’s the frontrunner to become Official Watsonian Jubilation Day. But there’s still time to register your details. Do it after yesterday’s blog, though, so we have all the replies in one place. Thank you kindly. This is fun.
I noticed – again, without being able to have a proper look, that the excellent statistician Tibbs has already done some work plotting these figures on some sort of chart. Tibbs, I’d be most grateful if you could keep updating this so we have all this data together. It would be superb to have everyone’s birthdays mapped out across the year. Then we can get to work recruiting in areas of the year where we’re weak.
I mentioned a while ago the idea of doing a ‘proper’ census, i.e. collecting lots of information from regular readers for fun/future blog-enhancement/selling to mailing lists. I think since we’ve started with ages, I will soon be unleashing some more questions. Makes sense to do it now in honour of that more famous census, and also as a nice where-are-we-up-to-at-the-end-of-2010 type of thing. I was going to hold it around the first anniversary, but we’ll be doing other stuff then, like letting off Party Poppers.
(I don’t actually like Party Poppers. Or balloons. Or anything that might bang. Some of you know this.)
So – Tibbs and other statistically-minded people, are you ready to help me collate? And everyone else, are you ready to either reveal more, or completely ignore future enquiries? YOU’D BETTER BE!
Oh, by the way, a couple of people were asking on Twitter whether this is actually a cult and I’m planning to end it with a mass suicide. The answers are (a) I don’t think so, less sinister than a cult, and slightly less pressure to stay on board; (b) I don’t think so – don’t wish to die myself, and it’s unsporting to initiate large-scale suicide without taking part. So, relax. For now.
Posted by Andrew on December 7, 2010
Forgot to say, upon arrival here the phrase “Andrew I understand your definitely pain immensely” struck me as one of the least grammatical sentences I’d ever read. Of course, it makes perfect sense in context.
Posted by Andrew on December 7, 2010
Ooh, I feel all guilty now. I didn’t imagine that the causer of my definitely comment might pop back and see herself publicly lambasted. Rachael, if it makes you feel any better you have my favourite name, albeit one that my wife refused point blank to entertain for our daughter. Trick to remember definitely – it has a real word (finite) in the middle of it.
Posted by Josh on December 7, 2010
Oh we are definitely a cult.
All hail Grandpa and all that.
Posted by Lora on December 6, 2010
The census sounds fun, I would also be willing to help collate any responses because I always find those kind of things interesting.
Posted by Lydia on December 6, 2010
The census thing sounds fun, I look forward to your questions.
I don’t like popping balloons either. I somehow got burnt by one once. It popped right on my arm and left this massive triangular burn which took a few days to go down completely.
Haha, thanks for not making us kill ourselves.
Posted by Rachael on December 6, 2010
Sorry about the definitely thing, all this time I genuinely didn’t know that I was spelling it wrong! I do know my there/they’re/theirs and you’re/yours though.
Posted by Cat on December 6, 2010
Andrew I understand your definitely pain immensely. Although you’re, your, there, their and they’re irks me way more when people don’t get it!
Posted by Andrew on December 6, 2010
Ooh, balloons. Horrible, aren’t they? I hate them and so does my wife, so the kids have pretty much gone without all their lives. Although balloons are not as bad as lolly sticks. I just sent a shiver down my own spine even thinking about lolly sticks. Surely I can’t be alone in this?
Other issues. 1) Mark, can you do something to try and teach people how to spell definitely? Of all the many solecisms one encounters in daily life, for some reason this one particularly irks me. 2) If there is to be a census, can one of the questions please be what was the first gig you went to? Because my answer is Kraftwerk, which 29 years on remains the only cool thing I have ever done.
Posted by Rachael on December 6, 2010
This is definately more fun than the official census. I’m looking forward to finding out what the typical watsonian would be.
Posted by Adele on December 6, 2010
I like the census idea, only yesterday I found myself wondering if Roger and I would be having the first blog reader wedding?
Posted by Rick Procter on December 6, 2010
I quite like July 7th – that was the first hat-trick hit, wasn’t it? Plus it’ll stuff the terrorists. And what’s more, the nearest weekend date this year was July 10th – which just so happens to be when we held the Watsonian picnic! Must be fate – it’s as if we were prophetically celebrating our group-birthday together without even knowing it.
Posted by lisan66 on December 5, 2010
Two things….
1) A huge census sounds like a fabulous idea
2) I just made my mam order Eleven on amazon for me for Christmas because I can’t seem to find it in Ireland….is it on sale in Ireland? (Not that it really matters now I suppose, considering it’s ordered)
Posted by Misha on December 5, 2010
Also, another look reveals may 5th (my birthday ahem) to be another hat trick. i always knew it was a good day.
Posted by Misha on December 5, 2010
I’ll save my worry for when you start up a Watson Town then? /nerdyreference
I personally would be happy to help collate, i’ve got a long month off at Xmas with little else to do.
Unrelated, I was musing how nice audiobooks of your work would be. Any plans? If not, I might just make someone read one into a tape for me.
Posted by Josie on December 5, 2010
I don’t think I’d mind if this was a cult anyway; it’s quite a nice cult to be a part of.
The mass census sounds like a good idea as well! I’m saddened that there weren’t more people born on February 15th. Having said that, I know 4 people other than myself with the same birthday in real life, and apparently you can’t have your cake and eat it.
Posted by Meg on December 5, 2010
The title of this blog brought back a whole lot of old memories of school nativity plays and christmas assemblies. Being a firm atheist from quite a young age made me disregard most of the stuff we were told about God and Jesus but I always loved the christmas songs. Little Donkey always makes me smile. The guy who wrote it died last year. Very sad.
On the subject of the actual blog, a proper census sounds like a great idea! I hope you won’t order us to go to Bethlehem on a donkey though. Or organise a mass suicide. That would be a bit of a downer after 10 years of a lovely, caring community.
Posted by Tracey on December 5, 2010
Hi Mark. I certainly don’t mind revealing more information if required.Tracey x
Posted by amycool on December 5, 2010
I secretly miss those really nosy e-mails you used to get in 2001/2002 with about 30 questions on, sent from the kind of friends you didn’t really want to be giving details to. First album you bought, favourite colour etc. So I would be up for disclosing loads of personal information to a bunch of strangers and a few people I vaguely know.
And I can’t wait for the charts. It’s been ages since I made some Excel charts.
Posted by max on December 5, 2010
A Watsonian census sounds like fun!
Posted by Emily on December 5, 2010
(Not that I expect May 5th to have stopped being a hat-trick of birthdays if I were to check again. But there were no others aside from that and July 7th when I last looked.)
Posted by Emily on December 5, 2010
I have also been collating birthdays, mostly because I have more important things to be doing, and last I checked, May 5th was also a hat-trick of birthdays.
Posted by A lot of Rachels on December 5, 2010
A general consensus would be a lot of fun. But then again I enjoy answering questions/being nosy.
Also weird that when I click on the blog site I was listening to Little Donkey christmas carol.
Posted by Tibbs on December 5, 2010
I will certainly keep updating as more dates come in (and I may put up a few charts; I’ll see how the mood strikes me). The term “collating data”,which I had previously only come across in an episode of Firefly, amuses me more than I can really explain.
Are party poppers cone-shaped things where you pull a string and sparks and confetti and stuff comes out the other end? Because if so, I share your hatred completely. Not of all “things that might bang”, though; I quite like most of those. But things that I hold backward the first time I try to use them and end up burning my hand with, those I detest to the depth of my soul.
Posted by MusicalLottie on December 5, 2010
Who needs the official census next year when we have this blog?
Posted by Rachel/Pandora on December 5, 2010
Yes, the worst thing about leading a mass-suicide is that its ‘unsporting’. Made me laugh.
I already have me a birthday twin, so shouldn’t be too much effort required there! I’m also available for any data collecting that needs to be done. I’ll need something else to keep me occupied once the iPod Challenge is over!