Monday 29 September 2008

Help Me Do My Research?

For some reason I've never been much good at getting quick results from online research. I either spend hours disappearing down blind alleys or just get bombarded with irrelevant info and run away quickly in despair.

So anyway, I'm just doing a final polish on my second book before it gets sent to the German translator, and I'm checking / researching a few things. Can you answer any of the following qus? If so, let me know in the comments.

1. How many words might you be allowed to use when describing yourself for an online dating site?

2. If you lived in Hebden Bridge and wanted a good night out at a nearby Bingo hall, would Roxy Bingo in Sowerby Bridge be a suitable choice?

3. Does it make sense to talk of them "doing a special feature" on a particular news item on News 24?

4. There is an old man, let's call him G. He has a younger girlfriend / partner, let's call her T, who then becomes mother to his son. He also has a grandson, L, who has a son, P. P is the result of a one-night stand between L and P's mother, we'll call her H.
What relation is H (the grandson's one night stand) to T (the grandfather's girlfriend)? They're not blood relations and neither of them are married to the fathers of their children. But their children are related (T's son is great uncle to H's son). If they were both married to the fathers of their sons, T would be H's step-grandmother-in-law. I think. Because G is L's grandfather, and T would be L's step-grandmother. And H, as L's wife, would be G's granddaughter-in-law, so T would be her step-grandmother-in-law. But they're not married. Are there equivalent terms for these relationships when the parties aren't married to each other, or are they just undefined?

5. If you were trying to create a hypnotic tribal effect, might you have drummers using bongos and tablas at the same time?

6. What are the main places people commute to from Hebden Bridge? It's actually pretty much surrounded by conurbations, so I could mention Burnley, Halifax, Rochdale, Bury... the list could go on and on. But would it be reasonable to just list Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield and Manchester as being major commuter destinations from Hebden Bridge?

7. Does the British Magic Circle's Inner Circle have some kind of head honcho, and if so what is their title? Is it President? Secretary? Grand Master?

Thanking you in advance...

9 comments:

B.E. Sanderson said...

The only question I can even come close to answering is the first one. If I remember correctly, online dating sites gives you a series of questions to answer and then you get a 250 word blurb to write anything you want. Match.com is the one I used to find my husband, and they give you several places to write blurbs, but each one only gave 250 words. (Of course, that was years ago, so they could've changed the parameters by now.)

Oh, and for #4. I don't think H and T are related at all. There's no blood or legal tie to connect them.

Hope that helps. =o)

Jenny Beattie said...

Oooh sorry Clare, I can't help at all with anything but your novel sounds great fun - bonkers - but fun.

Zinnia Cyclamen said...

No. 2: I don't know whether it provides a good night out, but as far as I can tell it's the nearest Bingo hall to Hebden.
No. 5: I think so - and perhaps also djembes. (I'm not an expert though.)
No. 6: I think it would be reasonable, yes.
No. 7: yes, it's President.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Hi Clare, I don't know much about Hebden Bridge myself, even though I once visited. A good place to start might be on Wikipedia, which I use a lot for my research.

Rachel Green said...

1-3 No idea, sorry.
4 - No relation, but informally P might call T 'Great-Gran'
5 Oh yes!
6-7 No idea

KayJay said...

1 I think anything between 3 and 300 would be believable
2 Ha ha! I'm definitely reading this book; anything set in Hebden Bridge has got to be genius! (Sorry, am totally ignorant about Bingo though)
3 Yup, they do that kind of thing all the time, don't they?
4 Blimey, I need a lie down...but I think the answer is anything you like.
5 I think you might well. And I think it might like to hear it.
6 Yes and yes.
7 They probably won't tell you unless you join...

Sarah said...

I wouldn't call it a bongo, though- try douff and tabla, which are Egyptian, and have been used in sacred trance dances- of course, the douff is traditionally the woman's drum, made to dance and drum at the same time. The tabla is for the 'twiddly bits' they say, the musician must sit down, the drum on his/her knee.
You might get a few purists saying 'only the douff'. I think bongos are a Pacific instrument?
Check out 'Sufism'- you can find its trance music on CD on Amazon or itunes?

Leigh Forbes said...

No.4 - that'll be 'step grandmother-in-sin', then.

Alternatively (although less frequently used, I believe) you might hear "step grandmother-in-common-law' or for humorous effect 'common-step-grandmother-in-law'.

A slightly more corny (but sweet) expression would be 'step grandmother-in-love'.

Anonymous said...

"bonkers - but fun."

That's probably an accurate assessment!

Thanks all, that's all very useful. And I just finished the final edit, about which I am very pleased. Editing whilst looking after an 11-wk-old baby is NOT an easy task!