What's your opinion of people with 6 fingers?

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The condition of supernumeracy fingers (or toes) is called Polydactyly. When each hand has 6 fingers, this is often referred to as sexdactyly, hexadactyly or hexadatylism . Lots of fingers = lots of names. Even though this particular faqer is Westcountry born and bred - from glorious Devon - I am yet (to my knowledge) to meet anyone with 6 fingers on each hand. Therefore, forming a first hand opinion is not easy. I am however 100% certain that as with most 5 fingered folk, there will be both nasty and nice spirited 6 fingered folk.

Instinct leads me to a positive opinion of 6 fingered people. Diversity is wonderful and difference should be welcomed, valued and celebrated. It's the one thing we all have in common.

Anne Boleyn had 6 fingers and they didn't do her any harm - admittedly she ended up with no head, but that was due to alleged witchcraft, adultery and incest, or moreover being married to a murderous faqer. Sadly not everyone respects diversity and some uninformed people use difference as a reason to discriminate. One Orlando-born guy called Domer, was recently barred from a Guitar Hero tournament as it was considered that having 6 fingers gave him an unfair advantage. Madness.

This faqer believes that we should be keenly embracing difference, whatever that might be; six fingers, three legs, two noses or one eye. There's room in the world for it all.

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What's Noddy's dog called?

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Noddy's faithful bounding hound is called dear little Bumpy Dog.

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Why don't kangaroos just walk or run?

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Why walk when you can hop along with a spring in your step? I know I'd rather bounce along than walk - and many agree with me, hence the invention of the 1969 space hopper, jumping balls, pogo sticks and more recently invented leg springs! It's not just kangaroos; rabbits, grasshoppers and frogs are all at it and human folk are willing to pay good money for a hopping experience!

Intriguingly, fossil evidence from 25 million years ago has revealed that kangaroo ancesters did not hop. Since then though they've come on leaps and bounds and can speed along at up to 40mph in short bursts. It's known they can clear an 8 foot fence from a standstill and can leap 20-30 feet forward with ease. Hopping is more energy-efficient than running or galloping. The faster kangaroos hop, the less energy they expend for the same distance. When scientists put kangaroos on treadmills, they discovered that kangaroos maintain a constant number of hops per minute. Regardless of how much the treadmill speeds up, they simply take longer and longer hops.
Kangaroos function much like bouncing balls; bouncing a number of times without a fresh input of energy. Every time a ball hits the ground, some of the energy is shifted to the rubber, stored there, then recycled in an elastic bounce. Jumping kangaroos store 70% of their energy in their tendons, compared to running humans, who can store and reuse only about 20%.
A hopping kangaroo is said to use less energy to breathe than a parked kangaroo. Part of the secret lies in the way the abdominal organs “flop” within the kangaroo’s body. Instead of using muscle power, air is pushed out of the lungs by the impact of the organs against the diaphragm at each landing.

In researching this faq, we stumbled across another pair of interesting faqs! Firstly, kangaroos cannot walk backwards; the physiological structure of their legs and tail prevent this. Secondly, some scientists believe that kangaroos may hold the answers to helping address global warming: it is alleged that kangaroos can't fart! They are thought to be totally trump-less!

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Is it greedy to have 8 shredded wheats for brekkie?

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YES

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Who's better Simon or Louis?

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As today's 1st November, All Saints Day, we donned our halos and sought devine instruction to answer this FAQ. Of course, the term 'better' is very subjective and it depends to what you're referring - Simon is clearly better looking (angelic), has better insight into the music industry and a better perception of what constitutes 'talent'. Louis however, is clearly better at being a Plonker.

So is this assessment of 'betterness' supported by the beatific vision, the eternal and direct visual perception of God?

Er...it would appear not. Oh Lordy! The unsaintly Simon, although meaning 'God has heard', is the Patron Saint of curriers, sawmen and tanners. Yes, that is it. Of course, all worthy trades, but this list is cruxifyingly overshadowed by that of Saint Louis. While Simon is tanning hides, Louis is Patron Saint of the following:

Against the death of children.
Barbers, hairdressers & hairstylers!
Bridegrooms (& difficult marriages, these often go hand in hand)
Button makers, embroiderers, needlework and haberdashers.
Construction workers, builders, stone masons, stone cutters & sculptors.
Crusaders.
Distillers.
Kings.
Parents of large families.
Prisoners.
Sick people.
Soldiers.

Wow! Louis will ensure that you live healthily into your adulthood, that you're well coiffured, that you and your large family have a roof over your head and something to wear. He'll look after you in sickness, war or crime. On this particluar measure therefore, Louis is King.

(But Simon would still be 'better' at tanning my hide any day!)

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