The word ‘divine’ means being associated with or derived from God — it can also be used to describe anything that is admirable or treasured — her divine pair of shoes, comes immediately to mind.

The reason I mention this word is because the United States has named a bomb test, planned for next June, ‘Divine Strake’.

Divine Strake will test a gigantic 700-ton bomb that has been developed to destroy deeply buried military targets (like bomb shelters) and will be the biggest open-air chemical blast ever at the USA’s Nevada Test Site. Link

Interestingly, in a society where 70% of the population refer to themselves Christian, God can now find a bomb test named after Him. This God-bomb or maybe I got the meaning wrong and it’s a party-pink bomb with divine’ polka-dot tassels that wave in the breeze, humming ‘God Bless America’ as they float to the ground — anyway, whatever its meaning, you can be sure of one thing — it won’t be divine if you’re on the receiving end.

Strake (noun)

1. continuous line of planking or plates from the stem to the stern of a ship or boat.
2. protruding ridge fitted to an aircraft or other structure to improve aerodynamic stability.

Dan Ilic, produced a parody video of the ‘Where The Bloody Hell Are You’ advertising campaign used by Australian Tourism. He inserted alternative images of Australian life and changed the strapline to ‘Where The F*#king Hell Are You’.

You can watch his video at YouTube | Link

Well not any more. YouTube says: This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.

These guys must be highly enlightened beings, they just go with the flow. Smooth is this weeks Photo Friday assignment.

English is my native tongue and like all good Englishmen I have refrained from learning any other language. I figure it this way — communicating in one language is hard enough especially when it comes to the opposite sex, so why push your luck.

When I was younger I spoke a reasonable French but got discouraged because I was never able to speak it well enough. By that I mean ‘well enough’ for the Parisians that I had to parlay with back then. In the end I got fed-up with the raised eyebrows and started speaking to them in English — they of course would reply in French. It was only a short jump from there to decide — if they understand English then why am I bothering with French!

I also had a short foray into German but I found German hard to learn and like French I had a real problem finding the right gender for a cup of tea.

Last year I visited China and let me tell you nobody, I mean, NO BODY speaks English in China. There were no signs in English and no English speakers. I travelled alone in the boonies but I found my hotels, I bought my bus tickets, I ordered my food and I did it all without speaking one single word of Mandarin, to anyone.

The Chinese people I met understood me, eventually, as I did them. They laughed thinking it funny that I didn’t understanding simple Mandarin words and concepts. And sometimes one of them would grab my hand and sit me down and try to explain whatever it was with a gentle smile on their face as if to say: Now listen here John! I am speaking to you in kiddie-talk and I’m doing it veeerrry slooowly and distinctly so that you’ll understand.

In truth, communication in China was often accomplished with surprising ease. Rarely did I experience frustration or anger or disinterest and I often experienced considerable warmth and patience accompanied by lots of happy smiles.

Will I be heading off to learn another language soon? I’m sure there are many good reason why I should, but for now I’ll stick with English and the universal language of a smile.