I woke last night a little before 1AM and felt the rubble beneath me. The earthquake rippled past and a moment of sleepy conversation erupted over what had just happened. I haven’t felt a quake like that in years and then I experiened the ripple pass beneath me as I worked at my desk. The experts say we have around 200 quakes a year in the UK, but most of those only register on sensitive machinery designed specifically for the purpose. Having that many noticable quakes would certainly take the novelty value out of it.
Oddly, when I heard the quakes originated from near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, one of my first thoughts was whether Jim Broadbent still had family in the area who might be effected. A big fan of radio comedy, the series ‘Saturday Night Fry‘ (which you might just be able to track down on the Internet or BBC7) featured a skit where Stephen Fry probed Jim on his family background, which noted that there had been Broadbents in the Market Rasen area since the 60s (or something like that). The essence of the skit comes down to the fact that Hugh Laurie had spent the last week trying to forget something but he can’t remember what. Only when Stephen takes an interest in Jim’s family history do we discover Hugh had in fact spent the last week trying to forget Jim’s surname – an activity now rendered completely pointless.
Funny how these things come to mind entirely at odds with the sort of things you probably should be thinking about – like whether half your roof has come off during the night.
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