With almost two years left of my law degree, and with no intention of doing anything so idiotic as actually attending lectures or studying law, I had plenty of time to come up with my next bid for online fame. The Griff Rhys Jones TV project had stalled after a couple of meetings when everyone involved realised that the idea - to pipe broadband comedy programming into the nation's workplaces under the noses of bosses - was a bit of a non-starter. But I had become quite good friends with Rhys Jones's partner in the project, a comedy writer called Charlie Skelton, and he, Clare and I frequently met to brainstorm possible projects we might work on together. It was during one of these meetings that Clare proposed the idea of starting a comedy magazine - something like Private Eye, but for the Internet generation. My days as a school magazine publisher had taught me that printing magazines and distributing them was a royal pain in the arse and, anyway, if it was to be a magazine for the Internet generation then shouldn't it actually be on the Internet? The Zingin.com newsletter had attracted a ton of subscribers and had a distribution cost of basically nothing so why, I suggested, didn't we start a weekly comedy ezine, sent out by email? And, in a nod to Charlie's failed office comedy project, we could target it at bored office workers, sending the email to them on a Friday afternoon to cure the crushing boredom of those final few hours of the working week. And with that, The Friday Thing was born. To promote our fledgling publication we came up with a brilliant ruse: an online petition to have Friday afternoons declared a national holiday. British people worked harder than any other Europeans (we made up) and so it was only fair that our working week should end at noon on a Friday. We created an official website explaining our demands, registered a web address - letsgetitoff.com (snigger) - and sent a press release to the media. Clearly we had tapped into a seam of strong feeling among the nation's overworked... Who had a stalled TV project? - not enough information - Griff - Clare - Charlie
Griff
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I'll go one farther back than that. I almost never had a first date. A young lady I met in the hospital cafeteria where I worked as a pharmacy intern (she was an X-ray tech) I asked out on a date. Would you like to follow me home? she asked. I said SURE! She got in her car, hit the freeway, went over the top of the hill..and was gone. I went 75 mph desperately trying to keep her tail lights in my line of sight while swerving in and out of traffic. I thought if you don't really want to go out with me, just tell me, don't try to ditch me! I finally caught up with her but found out she always drives that way. If Janet Guthrie wasn't the first woman to drive in the Indy 500, she would have been. Over the years as she got older, collecting speeding tickets got old so she became a more responsible driver. I'm glad, because I had to help pay for those tickets over the last 30+ years we've been married. Glad I caught up to her that one night on the freeway. EDIT, AND BACKSTORY: She ate lunch with her X-ray tech coworkers. She left the table first and I approached the others and asked what was her name, the girl that just left. They told me, and about a half hour later called the radiology department from the pharmacy phone and asked for her. She said all the girls in the department were huddled around the phone and giggling while we talked. It's the handsome blonde intern in the pharmacy, they told each other. Oh, you mean THAT one?! Ooooh! Like the final scene from "An Officer And A Gentleman." Pretty funny. For how long has the author been working at the pharmacy? - A couple months/years - 10+ years - 30+ years - not enough information
A couple months/years
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U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch visited Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday, nine days after what she called a "shattering attack" at a gay nightclub. Lynch told the city's devastated gay community, "We stand with you in the light." She also announced a $1 million emergency grant to help Florida law enforcement pay for overtime costs related to the shooting, and she met with prosecutors, first responders and victims of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Her visit comes as investigators continue to dig into the background of Omar Mateen, the gunman who killed 49 people and injured dozens more on June 12 at the Pulse nightclub. Lynch said it was a "cruel irony" that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community one defined almost entirely by love is so often a target of hate. She told the LGBTQ community, "We stand with you to say that the good in the world far outweighs the evil; that our common humanity transcends our differences; and that our most effective response to terror and hatred is compassion, unity and love." Also Tuesday, Orlando police reopened streets near the nightclub and wound down their investigation at the crime scene. A makeshift memorial that went up nearby shortly after the massacre was still standing Tuesday, with chalk messages on the sidewalk and utility poles. Among them are drawings of hearts, the message "God bless'' and the hashtag "#Orlandostrong.'' Lynch declined to answer questions about the investigation and whether authorities are looking to charge anyone else in connection with the case. She said investigators will "go back ... and see if there's anything we could have missed or anything we could have done better'' in terms of spotting Mateen as a threat. She said "people often act out of more than one motivation,'' adding that a motive may never be known. Mateen was shot and killed by police during the attack. What is Lynch's favorite pet? - A cat - not enough information - A dog - A bird
not enough information
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WHITE HOUSE A debate over patriotism and the right of free expression is continuing in the United States with President Donald Trump extending his criticism of professional athletes who decline to stand for the national anthem. The controversy was on display Tuesday afternoon on the White House South Lawn, where Trump briefly presided over a quickly reformatted celebration after his administration accused America's champion professional football team of attempting to turn the event into a "political stunt." Trump the previous day had disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles from what was to be a celebration of their Super Bowl victory. Many of the Eagles' players had indicated they would not attend in response to Trump's harsh criticism of athletes who have refused to stand during pregame performances of the national anthem even though all the Eagles stood for the anthem last season. Trump relabeled Tuesday's gathering as a "celebration of the American flag." Speaking for 3 minutes, he told flag-waving invited fans of the team that he wanted to explain why "young Americans stand for a national anthem. Maybe it's about time we understood." One attendee shouted at the president to "stop hiding behind the armed services and the national anthem." That prompted booing and the man was escorted from the event. Trump concluded by saying that the celebration turned out to be "even bigger than we anticipated" had the football players attended. Media reports said as few as five to 10 players had planned to attend Tuesday's event. "The vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans," the White House said in a statement Tuesday. "The Eagles are the ones who tried to change their commitment at the 11th hour," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters just prior to the event. "If this wasn't a political stunt by the Eagles franchise, then they wouldn't have planned to attend the event and then backed out at the last minute." A White House statement said Trump withdrew the invitation "after... What did Trump think of having his party without the Eagles? - he regretted it - not enough information - he was upset - he was feeling fine about it
not enough information
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