Trivial Pursuit Week (1 of 3); Talking Italian & lots of wind.

On Saturday, we decided to have a night of playing Trivial Pursuit. In the normal course of things, this is always going to be a rich source of Gems. On this occasion, Julie decided to to partake of the grape. To put it another way, she drank a bottle of wine (some fizzy, cherry flavoured muck). The result? Enough Gems to gift you with a double dose each day - and a bonus Gem on Wednesday ONLY for people who follow the Gems Facebook page. (click HERE to visit the page and become a fan!)

So, without further ado, here's the first of today's little crackers.

I'll be fair to Julie here; as soon as I'd facepalmed that comment, she realised what she'd said...

Today's second Gem seems to have an interesting story itself. First, let's have Julie's take on it.

What?? Was the bugger land-surfing through a hurricane or something?

The name Webb was ringing a bell for me. I know that a certain Matthew Webb was the first person to swim the English Channel (or, if you happen to be French, La Manche), so I was wondering if Jonathan was some kind of relative and a-Googling did I go. 

The result? Distinctly unclear, if not downright opaque. I could barely find a trace of our hero and the little I did manage to find had been thoroughly trolled. It seems Jonathan had indeed been the Grandson of the swimmer Matthew, but some correspondent had obviously been having a little fun at the expense of the forum posters by indulging in a little troll science. Take a look at the relevant part HERE - but scroll down to the larger, blue-type section about half way down the page.

COMING UP NEXT TIME:

Slow food during war and the reason for Liberty's enigmatic expression.