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| BB2109 : Doing
it by Numbers
Sunday
28th - Thursday 4th March
2021
Recently,
I came across a fascinating,
short (and easily readable,
honest) account of the derivation
of the shape of the symbols
that we use for numbers (generally
known as Arabic numbers even
though Arabs traditionally use
Hindu numbers!)
The
article argues that ours should
really be called Kabyle
numbers as they were discovered
being used by that tribe of
people living in the mountainous
coastal area east of Algiers.
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It
shows the very logical way in which the
symbols developed. It is so obvious
that it quite took me aback that it had
never occurred to me. Why wasn't I
taught that at school? Or Uni? Or
have I forgotten?
As
you will have guessed by now, numbers featured heavily
in this week's activities. Each BOOTboy's
covidly compliant outing was to seek out
opportunities for entering photos of interesting
subjects containing numbers. These
should be actual written or printed numbers,
not the count of some things that they saw.
The categories are:
A: Small(ish) Kabyle Numbers with no more than four digits.
B: Large
Kabyle Numbers with as many digits
as you like
C: Other types of numbers e.g.
Roman, Binary, Dice, Missing, Imaginary, Transcendental
or Irrational
Pictures in each category are
judged against three criteria: Most Interesting, Best Looking
and Funniest following which the Victor Ludorum is chosen.
The
Judges :
We
are honoured this week to have as our Judges
no less than Past President of the Scottish
Mountaineering Society, Peter Macd, and Kirstie,
his wife.
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Peter,
of course, is no stranger to
the BOOTboys
and has been out with us (see
BB1525).
Kirstie
has been a friend of Margaret
since they were very young and,
like Peter, follows our adventures
regularly.
Not
that our adventures of late
have been that adventurous and
the judging criteria have little,
if anything, to do with mountains.
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To
give us a glimpse of what we are all missing
on the hills, Peter sent BOOTboys
this photo of the Cairngorms in their current
people-less glory.
Small Numbers :
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Blue
arrow shows the number
Bryan
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A
very happy number, our new grandson's
birthday
Terry
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Click
to see 1832 and 195? on this
monument
Bryan
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Come
in Number 9, your time is up
Bryan
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What
is this on?
Mike B
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Wouldn't
it be nice?
Mike B
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.jpg)
The
not-so old Town Jail?
Don
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Heathrow
quarantine breakfast 100% good
Mike
B
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.jpg)
I
thought 1636 was early.....
Don
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.jpg)
.....until
I saw 1338
Don
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Millennium?
Mike
B
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.jpg)
Quite
right
Don
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Can
we call that a 10?
Tony
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.jpg)
I
half understand this
Don
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.jpg)
2,340
pints, please Landlord
Don
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.jpg)
Not
quite out of my depth
Don
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.jpg)
44
Reasons to be Cheerful?
Don
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.gif)
Beware
bylaw 22
Don
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.jpg)
Remembrance
wreaths and stones
Don
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One
more for the collection
Mike
T
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The
best number
Tony
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Extreme
social distancing
Robin
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There's
only one.....
Mike B
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.....
Oh, maybe another one
Mike
B
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Continuing
a musical theme
Mike B
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Such
precision
Don
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Should
be recognisable by some BOOTboys
Mike
T
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MB's
house?
Mike T
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The
pump for .....
Mike T
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.....St
Mary's Well
Mike T
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Rush
hour
Robin
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Head
for heights
Robin
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It's
just not cricket
Mike B
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Restoration?
It all deepends!
Don
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Back
to the future?
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Tony's
new numbers?
Stan
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More
for Tony; one for fishing, the
other for beer!
Stan
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This
MUST be a winner!
Tony
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Large
Numbers
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.jpg)
Grip-Fix
when you Needham
Don
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Back
to my childhood. Saw 150138
today
Bryan
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Does
that get round Lockdown drink
rules?
Don
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Eastings
& Northings walk here or phone
for a beer
Robin
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How
many glasses of wine since lockdown?
Mike
B
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How
many beans make 5?
Mike B
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Anyone
know what this lot means?
Mike
B
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Other
Numbers
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Missing
numbers
Robin
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Joinedice
Mike
B
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Dicing
with one
Mike B
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Roundice
Mike
B
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10
is binary for 2 !
Tony
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V
is Roman for 5 !
Tony
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This
really is Roman for 1818
Tony
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.jpg)
Friends,
Romans & Countrymen, Lend
Me Your Hands
Don
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Time
to celebrate
Robin
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Heversham
Church Clock
Mike T
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Now
that is social distancing
Mike
B
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What
happened in MDCCCCX?
Stan
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Divide
circumference by diameter
Don
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Legs eleven
Mike
B
I couldn't
decide whether to allow this
picture as a small number, or as
a large number
or as something from a totally
different numbering system,
possibly "Curatic"
which I am sure you will
know derives from the Latin
for legs.
Well you
might know, I didn't. I
made it up with the help of
Uncle Google.
Or maybe
it / they should just be amputated
from the competition. What
say you? Ed.
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The
Results
Peter and Kirstie were
judging blind- they had no information as
to who took which picture. Before
revealing the winners, here is the reveal
of where Peter was today:
Peter
reports that "I had a good day out in the Fannaichs (between Inverness and
Ullapool) with my friend Roger. Our hill was not a Munro, only a Corbett
but it has the distinction of being the one with the longest name, Beinn
Liath Mhor a’Ghuibhais Li which is Gaelic for “big grey hill of the
coloured pines”. They were burning the heather as you can see."
So,
on to the results. Here
are their winners:
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Small
Numbers
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Large
Numbers
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Other
Numbers
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Most
Interesting
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The
pump at St Mary's Well
Mike
T
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Back
to my childhood.
Saw 150138
today.
Bryan
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Roundice
Mike
B
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Best
Looking
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2,340
pints, please Landlord
Don
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Grip-Fix
when you Needham
Don
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Friends,
Romans & Countrymen,
Lend
Me Your Hands
Don
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Funniest
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44
Reasons to be Cheerful?
Don
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Anyone
know what this lot means?
Mike
B
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Legs
11
Mike B
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.jpg)
Friends,
Romans & Countrymen, Lend
Me Your Hands
Don
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Well,
that was a bit embarrassing!
Thanks,
Peter and Kirstie.
Are
they the ones that you would have chosen,
dear reader?
Don,
Thursday 4th March 2021
One
Way Road To Beer
Mike
T discovered a very useful predictor for
the unraveling of social beer consumption
restrictions. Click on the picture
for the latest countdown
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Comments:
Tony:
As soon as I saw this week’s challenge, a 99 ice cream
sprung immediately to mind but, due to the pandemic, I hadn’t seen
one for goodness knows how long so thought I’d have to look for something else
just as iconic. However, Saturday night, I received a
text from my young neighbour opposite to say she’d organised an ice cream van
to come up our street at 1pm on Sunday and to let people know!! (Just proves
there is a God!!) So my first pic goes to prove 99 is
number 1!!
Following the same theme, another must
have pic was the 1657 chocolate house on Branthwaite Brow which I thought must
also be a choice of others so Monday morning I ran into town (Ok Ok a bit of
literary licence there) to grab a pic before anyone else - nailing a bonus
roman numeral pic on Miller Bridge on the way.
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Don:
We
had two forays this week. First
we went to Staveley and had
a much more searching tour round
than our usual visits there
(which are generally limited
to Wilf's, the Brewery or the
Eagle & Child). However
I didn't find as many decent
photo opportunities as I had
expected. Consequently
two days later we invaded the
hunting ground of a certain
other BB, Grange-over-Sands,
and completed the collection.
Although
the sun was shining in the late
afternoon, visibility across
the estuary was very limited.
For once, even with the
greatest imagination or the
use of the sea front pointers,
Blackpool Tower was not to be
seen, nor was the Heysham Nuclear
Power Station. Very atmospheric.
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Chris:
A huge thanks to you for publishing another most
interesting NUMBER of photographs + the stories behind them. Since the
Westmorland Gazette has increased
in pulp and decreased in local news the arrival of the BOOTboys' latest exploits
provides a weekly filip and is much appreciated.
Great fun and great banter . . . long may it continue.
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Later,
down
in the BOOTboys
ZOOMbar:
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Tony
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Don
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Stan
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Stephen
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John
PL
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Martin
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Mike
B
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Mike
T
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For
the index pages of our various earlier outings click
on the relevant link below:
Photos
have been gleaned from many sources although mostly
from me and other BOOTboys.
Likewise written comment.
I apologised if I have
failed to acknowledge properly the source or infringed
copyright.
Please let me
know and I will do my best to put things right.
Unless stated
otherwise, please feel free to download the material
if you wish.
A reference back to this website
would be appreciated.
BOOTboys
2021
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